Planting Tomatoes - Early!

This spring has been a warm one so far - lots of record-breaking temperatures.  And since no one seems to want to buy our house, today I stuck the tomatoes into the ground!  Usually I plant them out around the 24th of May, but when you have steady nighttime temperatures of around 10 C, you can set them out.  And my plants were getting quite leggy in the hot potting shed!

To combat the legginess, I dug the planting holes to the bottom of the concrete beds.  I trimmed off the lower leaves from the stems and snugged 2 big shovelfuls of screened compost for each plant.  Each plant got a good watering at this point.

Then I filled in the holes gave them another water and fitted a large tomato cage over each plant.  These 6 plants are Health Kick - a determinate tomato that doesn't grow too tall, but produces heavily and needs strong support.

The tomatoes are already sporting flowers!  I have cherry tomatoes planted elsewhere in the garden - Gold Nugget, Sweet Million and Yellow Pear.  A friend traded plants with me and an Indigo Rose (another cherry) will sit in a 4x4 bed with a Gold Nugget. The rest of the bed the Health Kick are now occupying will be planted with peppers - Anaheim, Ancho, Jalapeño and Hungarian Hot Wax.  The sweet peppers - Gypsy - will go in the 4x4 bed with the cherry tomatoes.

The rest of the garden is doing very well.  Snow peas are scrambling up the zig zag fence.

Lettuce is ready to pick.

And this lovely Iris should really be owned by someone who is into growing flowers - my efforts these days are all about vegetables.  It's called Thriller and is an amazing colour!

End of May - Things Are Flourishing!

This post will be mostly pictures so that I can compare end of May progress from year to year.

In one week, the Totem strawberries are plumping out rapidly and a few are starting to take on a bit of colour.  It won't be long now!

In my Tulameen raspberry jungle, flowers are forming.  Raspberries are always later than strawberries and mine aren't in total sun, so they're probably a bit later than most peoples'.

I have moved the cherry tomatoes from the deck.  They weren't getting as much sun as I'd thought they would.  The pots have been positioned in front of the tomato bed.  I bought a small pot of basil and split it into 3 clumps.  They've been planted at the front of the tomato bed as tomatoes and basil go very well together.

Flowers on Health Kick

Flowers are open on the tomatoes in the raised bed and so far all plants are looking very healthy.

The raised bed with the beans planted at the end is progressing well.  This bed houses beans and zucchini at the far end.  Multiplier onions and shallots are at the front.  In between, I've seeded second crops of carrots, beets and parsnips.  The half barrel in the front has a Sweet Million growing in it.  To the right is a bed of leeks with swiss chard at the back of it.  You can see the grapevine scrambling over the fence at the back of the garden.

I have 2 plantings of Italian heritage beans.  Both have been placed where they can get the maximum support.  In the raised bed, they are starting to climb up the bamboo poles which were placed inside their water bottle collars.  By the time they reach the end of the bamboo supports, they'll be well able to withstand the predation of wood bugs and earwigs.

We've been eating asparagus and the dill I planted in with the asparagus has provided new plants this year.  Dill and asparagus are a good pairing as the dill protects the asparagus from beetles - not that I've had a problem with beetles, but a little prevention could be a good thing.

May is such a wonderful month for flowers!  Irises, peonies, perennial geraniums are thriving in the central bed.

A ceanothus shrub in the garden is loud with bees.  Unfortunately they are all wild bees as it's been a few years since I've seen a domestic honeybee in my garden.

Garlic Scapes, Snow Peas, Kale and Tomatoes

Garlic Scapes

Now that we're into June, the garlic is starting to send out scapes.  These are the "flower" portion of the garlic.  Not really flowers, though.  Once matured, the scapes contain lots of little tiny bulbils, each capable of becoming a garlic plant, although it takes a lot longer than if you grow from cloves.  They're best removed, however, as you will get smaller garlic bulbs if you don't.  They should be snipped off before they curl around twice.  One of the nice things about garlic scapes is that they're deliciously edible.  Taken young, they can be eaten raw in salads.  Allowed to get a little older and they become more fibrous, better for soups, stews, etc.  Mine are still young - they've only gone once around in the loop.  I picked off a couple and chopped the stem portions up fine to go in a quinoa tabouli for today's lunch.

Snow Peas

The rest of the garden is progressing well.  The snow peas are flowering and a few tender little pods are forming.

Zig Zag Snow Pea Fence

The fence is holding up well and I'm wondering just how tall these plants will be!  The lettuces in the zags are maturing and it's probably time to start seeding some new plants.  I'll probably sit them in the zags or in amongst the kale so they can take advantage of the shade.

A variety of kale plants.  The garlic bed is behind.

The kale plants are now providing us with good pickings.  In the picture above, the closer rows are younger plants - Vates and Russian Red.  Behind them is Lacinato with it's tall elegant plumes.  Then at the back are 6 plants of the winter kale - Siberian for one which has quickly become my favorite.  I can't resist picking off a leaf and eating it raw on the spot!

My crazy tomato frame

A couple of days ago, I erected the tomato frame.  My raised beds aren't deep enough to firmly hold stakes for the tomatoes.  The uprights in the picture are plastic-coated metal rods from Lee Valley Tools.  To the uprights, I've lashed bamboo poles using hemp twine.  While it looks pretty "Heath Robinson", it's amazingly sturdy.  Some of the tomatoes will climb to the top and drape themselves over the cross pieces.

Iris Thriller and unknown oriental poppy

June is the best month for flowers.  The oriental poppies briefly flourish, irises and asiatic lilies are at their best and peonies flaunt their frothy blooms.

Three Sisters - Part 3 (and another thing or two)

As it's nearly the end of April, I decided it's time to do the final seeding for the Three Sisters Garden.  The squash component of the garden has already been seeded and a couple of zucchini are thrusting through the soil of their pots.

Black Beauty Zucchini Seedling

Today I planted the corn and bean components of the garden.  35 Peaches and Cream Corn seeds were planted in a tray of small pots.  Since corn develops strong roots quickly, they won't be living in their pots for long.  I'm aiming for 30 plants, so 5 extras should allow me to choose the strongest plants.  The beans will mainly be the Italian heritage beans (of no name!) from a friend of my husband's with a few extra Fortex beans to take care of any that fail to sprout.

Corn and Beans Seeded

The Three Sisters Garden bed is prepared and I rake it from time to time to eliminate any weeds.  I won't be planting it until the 24th of May weekend unless my impatience gets the better of me.  Once the seedlings are planted, they'll be protected by remay cloth until the weather's reliably warm and the plants are well established.

The first harvest of radishes

Three Sisters taken care of, what else is going on in the garden?  We've already had one meal of asparagus and I'll have to pick more today.  Radishes are ready to start picking as well and along with arugula they'll go into the salad for tomorrow night's dinner.

Wild Arugula

The mescalun mix I planted is proving to be a disappointment.  It's mostly arugula and is already starting to bolt.  I grew a variety of arugula last year with the same results.  I won't be planting it again.  I much prefer the wild arugula a friend gave me a few years ago.  It's a perennial in the garden, doesn't take up nearly the space these other ones need and is good at seeding itself if I need more.  We live and learn!  However, the snow peas the mescalun mix is planted with are doing wonderfully as is the lettuce.

Too much arugula, but the snow peas are great

Japanese maples around the pond are leafing out

Iris Caesar's Brother