Tuesday, May 17, 2011

A Rainy Spring Garden Update

People might not like the cool rain we're getting this May, but my cabbage plants are giddy!


My broccoli is also hanging in there very nicely.  I harvested the main heads over the last few weeks, and now side shoots are popping up in droves.  I think I said it in a recent post, but I'll say it again:  Of the three broccoli varieties I tried, I think Arcadia is my keeper.  I like the way the heads form in clusters, and they don't seem to want to separate and flower as quickly as the Gypsy.


And I've got loads of peas still producing.  Of the three varieties of peas I bought, I think these Feisty are the winners.  This one pea chute is giving me dozens of peas, which is the best production I've gotten from peas to date.  I still have peas left to plant from all three varieties, and I'll see what I get this fall, but Feisty might be my keeper pea.


In short, though, I think it was a good move to get a spring crop of cool-season veggies in before summer hits.  We never seem to get really hot weather until well after May, so why not? 

And, though we've been getting some cooler wet weather, even my warm season veggies don't seem to mind.  These anaheim chiles are taking off!


I've even got baby tomatoes on my Big Beef and Juliet plants.



My regular bells are doing wonderfully.  They're flowering and flourishing even with the low temps.  Granted, I don't think the warm season veggies will take kindly to too much of this, but the forecast is for lots of sunshine coming up, so I think I'll be okay.


I had a chive plant left over from last year that I moved over to this spot that will house perennial herbs.  It started to bloom, so instead of trying to stop the flowers (don't know what that does to the edible chives themselves) I let it go.  So pretty!



And speaking of flowers, the first Passion Flower has opened on a vine that is about to explode!!  Passion flowers are supposed to bring butterflies.  I hope so! 

6 comments:

  1. Everything looks amazing! I love the recent rains and it makes it wonderful that I don't have to water. I am enjoying every second of it.

    Luis

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  2. Forgot to mention that I loooove passion vine flowers. I dontt know about butterflies but I always found many bees all over the vine...

    Luis

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  3. I am, too. I've been doing lots of planting and landscaping, so this drenching was great timing to 'set everything in place'. Though I think my tomatoes would like to dry out now, heh. And good to know about the passion vine! I'm refraining from the sunflowers I planted last year (they shaded too many herbs), so I'm glad I've got something to replace the bee bait.

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  4. Wow, everything looks awesome. The cabbages are just beautiful -- I think I'd actually have trouble harvesting them because they're so pretty! And I love how the peas hang so neatly ready to be picked. I *must* make a trellis and plant climbing peas for the fall!

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  5. I know, aren't they pretty? I wish you lived closer, I'd share. Not sure what I'm going to do with 6 cabbage heads all at once. I never tend to think of that when I'm planting them. LOL

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