Quote of the Day: Robert Louis Stevenson
“Judge every day not by the harvest you reap,
but by the seeds you sow.”
-Robert Louis Stevenson
It’s that time of year to put aside thoughts of harvesting and canning and plan out your fall garden. I started seeds for mine last week (which is a tad late, but oh well). A lady at the farmer’s market had good luck growing a fall crop of green beans last fall, so I’m trying it this year.
I’m planning on covering them with plastic on those hoops we built. If this fall is colder than usual, as our summer has been, I’m only out $1.50 for the seeds. If it works out, I’ll be eating fresh green beans in October. I also started: red cabbage, brussels sprouts, radicchio, broccoli, cauliflower, and zucchini for my fall garden.
Are you planning & planting a fall garden this year?
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Blooming Already?
I was potting up a few tomatoes on Sunday into the big pots they’ll spend the summer in, and I was surprised to see that they’re already blooming! These are Sub-Arctic tomatoes, they’re supposed to set fruit at lower temps, which is good because we had a frost advisory last night. I’m hoping I’ll get a tomato in a month or so, I’ll keep you updated.
I also noticed that one of my green pepper plants is blooming, I’ve been bringing this plant inside in the evenings, so perhaps it will set fruit, it’s still fairly cold for peppers though with night temps in the 40’s.
This is the time of year when things really start ramping up the garden. I noticed my catmint will be blooming soon as will some salvias.
Anyone else have an early blooming tomato?
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Looks Like Winter?
When we woke up yesterday morning it no longer looked like spring here in Ohio. Everything was covered with a blanket of snow. Fortunately everything I have outside can take a little cold & snow.
I really don’t mind days like this, they make me appreciate the nice days even more. Not to mention, if we didn’t have days like this I’d never get the house cleaned. I also spend the snowy/rainy spring days making up batches of soup and bread for the freezer. They make quick meals on those days that I spend every daylight hour getting outside chores finished up.
What do you spend the snowy/rainy days doing?
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What a Difference a Day Makes
What a difference a day makes in the weather here in Ohio. On Sunday it was sunny and warm with the high around 65-70. Yesterday it was cold and snowing with the lows in the 20’s – BRRRRR.
This is not uncommon in Ohio, it happens quite often in the spring and in the fall. We can even have fairly cold weather in the middle of the summer.
This is the main reason I have a cold frame and the reason we decided to build hoop houses on our raised beds.
My little lettuces & beets are tucked warmly inside the cold frame, it allows me to plant things out much earlier than I would if I didn’t have it. The good thing is that weather will be warming up this week just in time for us to get our bees (that happens on Wed).
Do you live an area with rapidly changing weather? What do you do to extend the season?
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Ushering in Spring
I don’t know what is considered the first sign of spring where you are, but here in Ohio it’s the sunny yellow blossoms of the forsythia bushes.
They are such lovely bushes with their cascades of yellow blossoms so early in the year. I love their weeping nature, I’ve always thought about getting a start and training it as a standard.
I got my forsythia from my mom, she has a huge hedge of them (50 feet long by 6-10 feet wide). They spread easily, so there’s really no point in buying plants if you know someone that already has one. I’m hoping to get a few more this summer to plant around our property, you just can’t beat this lovely plant when you need a tough hedge.
What’s the first sign of spring in your area?
