Easter and spring
Easter, even for us secular folks, means that spring has arrived. Here in the Southeastern U.S., it was a lovely day: warm, sunny, and glorious with spring flowers (wild, ornamental, herbaceous, and otherwise).
My gardening companion filled up the new raised beds with the rich 'created' topsoil this morning, so we're ready to plant next weekend (and build two more new beds!)
Back home in the Piedmont, I tidied the satellite garden, and turned over all of the soil blocks in the main vegetable garden. It's beautiful soil there, but it will either be fallow or filled with marigolds this summer, as an control for the root-knot nematodes that have been a problem in recent seasons (for susceptible cole, pepper, and tomato varieties).
The garlic is looking great in the satellite garden, and the onions are coming along. And the asparagus plants (grown from seed last year) have popped up new foliage, wispy to be sure! The robust asparagus crowns that I planted last week may be better contenders for permanent space, but we'll see.
I've got 3 artichoke plants to put somewhere -- probably in a spot that shallots didn't come up. I can't imagine woodchucks liking artichokes.... do you think?
My gardening companion filled up the new raised beds with the rich 'created' topsoil this morning, so we're ready to plant next weekend (and build two more new beds!)Back home in the Piedmont, I tidied the satellite garden, and turned over all of the soil blocks in the main vegetable garden. It's beautiful soil there, but it will either be fallow or filled with marigolds this summer, as an control for the root-knot nematodes that have been a problem in recent seasons (for susceptible cole, pepper, and tomato varieties).
The garlic is looking great in the satellite garden, and the onions are coming along. And the asparagus plants (grown from seed last year) have popped up new foliage, wispy to be sure! The robust asparagus crowns that I planted last week may be better contenders for permanent space, but we'll see.
I've got 3 artichoke plants to put somewhere -- probably in a spot that shallots didn't come up. I can't imagine woodchucks liking artichokes.... do you think?
How much 'choke could a woodchuck choke?
ReplyDeleteOne wonders...
Lisa, Oh my! Critters with voracious appetites! Let's hope they don't like artichokes... I was wondering what you use for container soil? I am going to try my hand at raising veggies in a few containers and I am low on compost. gail
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm REALLY hoping that woodchucks won't develop a taste for artichokes, asparagus, and whatever winter squash that I plant in the satellite garden!
ReplyDeleteBased on past seasons, onions and garlic are OK, so probably the leeks are as well. But woodchucks are herbivores, par excellence, but maybe there'll be plenty of forage out there for them this year, without succumbing to prickly artichokes!
Nancy and Lisa -- wasn't it lovely to be out on such a great Easter weekend, and nice to think that we span (or at least triangulate) the continent, too!
Gail, good for you to try some veggies in containers. It should be fun. I've had great success with greens, basil, peppers, and some tomatoes & eggplant (depending on the size of the container).
In large pots, I normally use good-quality potting mix that drains well (regular container mix), adding organic fertilizer as needed.
In my new raised beds, I'm using 'top soil' purchased from a local mulch dealer. It's a 80% commercial veggie compost, 20% composted cow manure blend. We'll see how it does, but it looks nice, and will retain moisture better than filling the beds with potting mix!