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Tuesday, May 22, 2012

May Sunshine Works Wonders!

We've had an unseasonably nice May here in the PNW and the plants are loving it! My columnar apples actually bloomed this year and I can see tiny little apples starting to form
My bush beans and broccoli are out of the greenhouse and into the ground,
As is my cauliflower.
I nailed left over chicken wire to the fence so the cucumbers have something to climb on. The row of spring onions I planted in this bed are also coming up.
It's the strawberry pyramid's first established spring and it's going to town! All the blank spots I filled in last summer with runners have rooted nicely. I hope to get a bumper crop of strawberries!
And all my potatoes are sprouting. Here are the Russian fingerling potatoes...
And here are the red, Yukon Gold, and Russet Potatoes...
And I even have a couple of voluteer potatoes that I must have missed last year!
The plants in the greenhouse continue to grow like crazy, some of the tomato plants are so big that they are starting to lean over and put out flowers already.
Here are some craft projects I've been working on. I repurposed some plastic soda and water bottles as hanging planters. I've planted salad, thyme, and basil in them. We'll see how well they work- no slugs!
Matt and I built a support for the Raspberries finally. Once they grow tall, we can tuck them in between the wire to keep them from falling over.
My vertical pots are doing well- the larger pots hold water much better and don't dry out as quickly. The parsley I planted should fill out nicely. Again- no slugs!
A nice spring also means lots of asparagus! I bought this batch from Bauman's- a local nursery and market in Gervais. I find it easier to can if I first sort the stalks by size.
Then, I cut the stalks to fit the jars and peel the bottom half of the really thick ones.
Ta Da! Seven quarts of pickled asparagus! I used my brussel sprout brine recipe, since I thought the brine I prepared last year was too sweet. We'll find out in three weeks if it's any good!

1 comment:

IAMARTHURMORGAN said...

The garden looks gorgeous. Keeping my eye on you.... me be the stalker.