Yes, I know the first day of spring has officially come and gone, but it is still spring and this is one of my favorite times of the year.
Birds are chirping, building nests, and returning from their winter vacations. The robins and red-winged blackbirds have been here for weeks, and it sure looked like a goldfinch (in all it’s pretty gold color for the season) flew through the front yard earlier this week. Much like the birds, I am also flitting from here to there getting things prepared for the season.
The “To Do” list for each day has more on it that can actually be done, but things just keep rolling to the next day and more tasks are added to make sure that things aren’t forgotten. More beds have been added here and a few more will be set in the up coming weeks. It sure looks like everything can be grown here this year, and that’s a HUGE relief! Now, we’re thinking about how to get water from the hydrant to the gardens more efficiently and quickly. Dragging hoses and using quick-connectors gets old after a few weeks of high heat.
As an experiment and to get my hands in some potting mix after that last deep freeze, a tray of lettuce was planted. Temperatures were like a yo-yo, and they were slow to get started, but there is lettuce ready to pick! Before everyone messages wanting lettuce, I should clarify – this is a trial of very early lettuce, so the quantities are not yet what we normally have in May. So, if you’d like some of this early lettuce, let me know and I’ll start a waiting list and contact you as we work through the list. Some nice spring days will get this first patch really producing. There’s another flat that should be ready to go outside soon, and more will get direct-seeded at that time. THEN, we’ll be in the lettuce season!
Tomatoes, peppers, cutting flowers, herbs, and short sunflowers have been seeded and most have sprouted. The early tomatoes were big enough to transplant to pots this week! Did you read that I seeded sunflowers? That’s something new that we’ll try this season. There are 3 varieties that are quite short (one is a single stem and the others are branching) and would be perfect to add into your planters or in the front of your beds for a burst that sunny yellow color! The plan is to seed these into 2.5″ square pots every couple of weeks to keep them coming. When your little gems have finished, pull them out and replace them with new ones! Please keep this in mind as you start thinking about planters. There is plenty of seed for the branching varieties, so if you think you’d like a larger amount please let me know. They need to be in the pots for about 6 weeks before they’d be ready to go home. Then, they would still need 3-4 weeks in your container/bed before they flower. If it works out, I may be able to hold some here in larger pots to get them closer to bloom time.
Saturday was a monumental day – peas were seeded outdoors!! There are three long trellises and one of the new, smaller trellis seeded and watered in. There were some kale plants transplanted near one of the pea trellises, and I’ll seed some more tomorrow. Now, it feels like we are getting into spring!
Let’s talk briefly about spring plants. In an effort to reduce my time spent on all those potted plants that are so needy, the overall number of plants will be smaller this year. There are still a good variety of peppers and tomatoes, some herbs (that are slowly getting sprouted), and perennials that will be available for sale. I just simply need to reduce time & stress where possible. This is my semi-retirement job and it’s an absolute love, but the amount of stress that those baby plants can cause is less than fun. When the plants have all been potted up for a couple of weeks, it will be clear how many of each variety will be available for sale. At that point, I will let you all know what is available. There are a few new varieties in the mix. During a rainy spell this week, I’ll get you some info about the new ones.
The upcoming week will bring more weed pulling, prep, setting beds in place, seeding more flats, calculating compost & other organic materials, working on the landscape beds, and looking at the forecasts. It would be amazing to see a nice Saturday morning that would allow us to do a little pop-up out front with baked goods, jams, herbs, and a few body products. Stay tuned and hope for some continued good weather!
To quote Life Is Good: Do what you love. Love what you do. Hope to see you all soon!!