For the past month, I have been cleaning my way through the field. More to do than usual, as last autumn much time was spent setting up the new pig field. I am pleased to find that my efforts of the past two years of amending the soil has paid off. Most of the beds are much easier to work; the most recently developed beds are still a bit harder and provide a good comparison. This bodes well for crops that have taken extra time to settle into the hard soil in the past (tomatoes, peppers, squash). I expect these to be ready earlier than previous seasons.
Here are the second round of this year's lettuces in the nursery.
The celery, celeriac, peppers, and onions are al doing well. I have enough tomatoes, though the Cherokee Carbon did not germinate quite as well as hoped.
The onions, peppers, and lettuces have started hardening off. I planted these earlier than usual last year, and was able to protect them during the cool weather and ice storm last May. That has given me the confidence to continue with the early plantings.
The first transplants of the year were trees. Two cherry trees and a pair of native mulberry trees. Apparently, birds prefer mulberry fruit to most commercial tree fruits, so we planted these to use as a "trap crop".
The cherry trees should be ready or harvest in 6-8 years - plenty of time to whet the apatite.
Our first tree planting two years ago appears to not have done well - one pear tree failed and the other is questionable, we should know in a week or two if it is going to settle in or not.
The snow peas have been sown. The ground was still too cold, so I placed some clear plastic on the beds for a couple of sunny days to warm the soil, then kept the plastic their for a few days after the peas were sown. Now the plastic comes of and a thin floating row cover is placed over the peas to protect the seeds from the birds (happened to last years snap peas).
Next for seeding is the spinach; Julia is seeding several different types of flowers for the bees.
The garlic is doing very well. Now that night temperatures are up to 10 C., the Leek moths will be out so the netting is going on to protect the plants.
In the background, beds are covered with the infrared transmitting mulch. Typically it is used to warm up beds and suppress weed growth. In this instance, I am using it to keep moisture in the beds until they are ready for planting.
Not the most picturesque addition to the scenery!
A summer of possibilities stretches before us.
