Spring Garden Check-In

Two weeks of fake summer in early March really wreaked havoc on my spring garden.  The cabbage moths came out in abundance, and all my cool season plants were ready to bolt from too much heat.  But thankfully, our normal cool rainy spring returned and now all seems right with the world.

Here's what's going on!

In this bed, I've got arugula, carrots and lettuces in their prime.  The large white cube in the background is my portable frost cover for the starts that got too big for indoors but aren't quite ready to plant yet.  I cover them at night when night temps dip below 45 degrees.  They will probably go in the ground around May 1st, once I can be (almost) sure we are past the real chills.

My English peas are producing less than desirable results this year.  For reasons even soil tests aren't explaining, this bed doesn't perform as well as the others.  I probably could have planted twice the seeds.  And the fake summer didn't help.  But there's that saying about the "bad days making you appreciate the good ones even more".  Same is true for vegetables.  Last year we had an abundance of English peas.  This year will be the bad year that has me appreciate the good ones more.

Gypsy Broccoli here and in another space seem to be doing well now that I've sprayed them with Bt to kill all the cabbage loopers the moths brought in.  I fear it's going to be a bad caterpillar year.  Just feelin it.

The star of the garden right now is my garlic.  It's right on time and doing beautifully!

Something else was planned for this spot, but my oregano and chives thrived during a warmer than average summer and are hanging in for another year.  So rather than fight it, I'm leaning into it by planting perennial sage, some thyme and hoping this will be an herb section that lasts for several years.

  

I'd started peppers and tomatoes early, and am now fighting to keep them watered, warm and fed as I wait for the temps to get within planting range.

 And just planted are a boatload of pumpkins, melons, cucumbers and marigolds.  Starting them indoors to give them a head start for the summer, which is right around the corner!