It's June!

The weather has been very pleasant the last few days--light showers at night and temperatures in the 70s. However, forecasters are saying that it will be in the high 80s and low 90s later in the week.

I was able to get a lot of things done in the garden in the early spring but then time and weather turned against me! I have finally started to get back out and finish some of the chores that I wasn't able to get to earlier.

The violas in the pots are still blooming but I don't think that they are going to survive the hot, humid weather that is coming. I bought four hanging baskets at Targets and transplanted wave petunias in them. The petunias were volunteers from last year and came up in the small bed between the garage and house. (This is the second year that this has happened.) I probably will switch the viola pots for the new ones this weekend.

Three of the tomatoes have flowers on them already--a Roma, a Sungold and a Sweet 100. Eight of the nine asparagus roots that we planted have come up and are looking very good. I finished harvesting all of the green lettuce mix but I have just started to pick the red lettuce. Also, I planted two more rows of onions two days ago for a total of 4 rows. I told Ken that he should be able to start harvesting onions for his 4th of July BBQs.

Yesterday, we planted four Gold Coast junipers in the front brick bed. We also put down a layer of papers and covered them with cocoa mulch. The newspapers and cocoa mulch has really helped to keep down the weeds. There is a marked difference between the beds that had this treatment and those that did not.

The weather has gone from being hot (in the 80s) and sunny to being cold and rainy. Yesterday, it rained like crazy and the temperature was in the 50s. Right now there are black clouds and the wind is gusting. Not only that, but the temperature tonight will be in the 30s. YIKES! Ken planted sunflower seeds the other day so I hope that they make it through this cold spell.

Ken also finished one of the raised brick beds. It looks great. Wednesday, I planted onions, radishes and a red lettuce mixture in it. I left the middle section open so that I have space for the bush beans.



I took this picture of the coral belles over a week ago. Those small buds are now full fledged flowers. The columbines and the bleeding heart are also in bloom. The irises are sending up buds and should be open soon.









On Wednesday, Ken noticed that four of the asparagus roots had sent up stems. If the weather clears up by Sunday, he will take some more of the worm compost and mix it with the soil from the bed. He'll use it to mound around the stems. The russet and red potatoes are also sprouting so he'll have to add more soil to their pots too very soon.

I thinned out the carrots last week. In addition, I should be able to start picking the mesclun mix and some of the radishes. I look forward to making roll-ups for lunch. Not only are they tasty, but they are easy to make. Just spread some vegetable cream cheese on flat bread, put thinly sliced radishes on top, cover with lettuce and then roll. Nothing tastes better than fresh produce from the garden especially in the spring.

The tomato seedlings are growing like crazy. On Monday, I need to repot them. Currently, there are 28 seed pellets but I think that I will only repot about half that many. I'm still trying to decide exactly how many of each variety I will plant in the garden. Any extras that I have will be given away. The jalapeno peppers are just starting to sprout.

It's May!

Earlier this week the weather was on the cool side--in the 50s but yesterday, the temperature was in the 80s. This morning we has a crazy thunderstorm and the rain was intense. In fact, it rained so hard that many of the trees that are in bloom lost their flowers.




The tomatoes that I have been growing under lights are doing great. All of the seeds have germinated and the plants have their first true leaves. I'll have to lower the shelf this week because the plants are almost touching the light bulbs. The pepper plants haven't germinated yet.

Many of the early blooming perennials are beginning to set bloom and even flower. The coral belles are sending up stalks of flowers and a few are beginning to open. The bleeding heart also has flowers on it. The columbines have doubled in size this week and are covered with buds. They'll probably have flowers on them by the end of the week.



Most of the bulbs have finished blooming. There still are a few daffodils left in the back yard but they are definitely at the end of their cycle. The yellow tulips are still in bloom in the front yard but I noticed this morning that the rain storm has knocked the heads off of some of them.


I went to Lowe's last Sunday to buy some more violas but they were out of the six packs that I had purchased at the beginning of the month. I planted the purple and yellow pansies in four hanging pots and six planters but I have not planted the orange ones yet. I'm waiting for the cherry tree in front to finish blooming because I don't want clashing colors.

I also went to Panettas on Thursday to buy onion sets. Ken has finished one of the raised beds and as soon as he fills it with soil, I will plant the onions. I'll place them around the edges and then put green beans in the center when the weather warms up. I will plant the sets close so that we can pull up some to use as scallions and let others mature to full size.