Holy Aphids!

Doing my 'tour of duty' through the yard today I noticed a gajillion aphids all over the roses - already! Those little bugs can do so much damage on so many things. Ugh!!! So I Pepper Zapped them with a mix
1/2 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1 teaspoon of Tabasco
1/8 teaspoon liquid soap
All poured into a spray bottle and if all goes well - hasta la vista aphids!
The Victory Garden is coming along. The onions, potatoes and Delicata squash are all in and yesterday I planted the spaghetti squash. Of the 4 dozen plus onion sets I planted only two were 'inspected' by some critter and everything else is covered with chicken wire in the hopes that they can survive.
My radishes are coming along - though not as quickly as I had hoped. Same for the peas. I think within the next few days I can get the first harvest of radishes and hopefully I can do so without disturbing the carrots growing in the same bed. The peas are taking off but so far no buds or flowers which means no peas but they still have a few weeks left. If they don't come to harvest in the next two or three weeks I am just going to pull them out because I need the space for my tomatoes and zucchini.
I planted Kentucky Blue and Asparagus Beans over the last few days as well. I took a chance and planted the Edamame seeds too and am hoping I have better luck this year than next.
The back yard is looking great - after planting 3" pots of perennials last year I wasn't so sure things would work out. This year everything is growing like gang busters. The Columbine is CRAZY and about to bloom so I can't wait to get some pictures of them too.

Spring Garden Check In

So this is the full on view of my spring garden. The first bed with the row covers is my asparagus bed. Six of the ten plants already have spears growing. I wasn't so sure I planted them correctly but I guess when something wants to grow it just will.
And this here is where all my peas are growing. I also have spinach, lettuce, carrots and radishes in there and hope that they are growing!


I cannot really figure out how people have cool weather AND warm weather gardens. I wasn't thinking when I planted all of this in late March early April. I assumed everything would be done before I needed to plant my tomatoes, cukes, zukes, and beans. Not the case. I am overlapping by many weeks! I think I need to re-graph the layout and move everything around in order to make this work.
Tom and I did till the Victory Garden on Monday so that is all set and ready for seeds. I have my yukon gold and red cloud potatoes from Territorial Seeds ready and I just got the Mars onion sets yesterday so all of the above will be planted tomorrow. I also took the soil temp today and it register at 60 so technically the corn and bean seeds could go too but there is still a couple of weeks before the last frost around here - contrary to the record breaking 93 degree day we had on Tuesday!

Pathetic Forsythias

Are these not the most pathetic looking forsythias you have ever seen?

I have no idea what to do with them. They haven't bloomed for years. I only get the random flower here and there. I would love to just dig 'em up and get rid of them but having done this in the past i know that it takes a lot of effort, time and patience. And then what would I replace them with anyway?
And these here are the ice stick tulips that I ordered from Brecks. Pretty, but they don't really look like the picture, right?

They just opened two days ago so it isn't like they are old and spent. And then this morning they were closed up and tight again. Pretty strange.

What to do with potato seeds?

Now that is the question! I got my yukon gold and red cloud delivered today and don't really understand how to use them. The directions say that you can cut the larger 'seeds' (and by seeds I mean something that looks remarkably like a potato) into smaller 'seeds' as long as three eyes are on each piece. Now to me an eye is one of those unsightly growths that occur when you keep a potato to long. Am I wrong? The yukon golds look ok in size but the red clouds are pretty big. What the heck is an eye? I don't see any of those said growths on any of them! I guess I'll just plant 'em and hope for the best.
In the meantime, the friggin' squirrels have gotten to almost all of my strawberry plants already. And that includes the one planted in the terra cotta strawberry planter and whiskey barrels. I would be mad if they were dug up and stolen, BUT NO these friggin' critters are just digging up the bare roots and leaving them to dry out and die! I am getting really pissed. They stole my spinach seedlings too! I am not for cruelty to animals but this is just pushing me over the edge. Have a Heart my ass! These suckers are going!

Spring Vegetable Garden

What a busy, busy day! After 6 hours outside I accomplished planting 25 of the 50 strawberry plants, set up the spring garden to hold three types of peas (sugar snaps and snows), and some spinach (the carrots and radishes will go out next weekend) removed all the thatch from the front yard, set up and loaded my compost bin, and cleaned up some of the worst areas of the yard. Not to mention refilling the hole my dog keeps digging under an evergreen bush. That was done three times. Drives me crazy no matter what I do he will not stay out of there - but I guess it is better unseen under the bush than some place else. I was hoping to get more done but that thatching took longer than I expected and worked more muscles than I thought. What a workout! It is supposed to rain all day tomorrow so all indoor work I guess....

More blooms and a bin!

I finally got around to getting a compost bin (I know, I know, as an organic gardener I should have had one years ago but just never got around to it). Thanks to New England Plastics and a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection the city of Medford is offering discounted bins to residents. So who am I to turn down a deal?!? The bin isn't exactly what I expected but it does hold/produce 24 cubic feet of compost so I guess all works out in the end. It was a DIY situation to get it together and the directions were pretty clear but they really should have stated right at the beginning that you need four hands or two people to assemble the sucker. Tom (you know my neighbor) helped me out putting it together and now I just need to stake it into the ground and load 'er up! And now since the city is cracking down on only taking yard waste on designated yard waste days (they used to take leaves and such in open barrels all the time) I have tons of brown matter to add and the way I go through fruits and veggies I produce enough green matter to make the perfect mix. And of course a picture will soon follow : )


As for the bloomers going on now in the yard this is a picture of my mini iris - Katherine Hodgkins. They are only 2" high but boy does the leftover greens grow high! These too have multiplied but only by two or three at each planting site. I am not a huge iris fan but I really like these ones. Unfortunately the blooms only last a week or so and then - poof - gone. But the early spring bloomers a quick to follow so all is not lost.

Asparagus has arrived!

And here is the first photo of my ten lovely Jersey Supremes:

Hard to believe that these suckers are going to become 20 year+ vegetable plants! My 50 strawberry plants showed up today too. I thought I ordered plants, but alas they are bare root too. Not even sure where I will put them all, but I am a sucker for a BOGO (buy one get one free) deal so fifty it is!
I did build the raised bed over the weekend and I thought it came out great, however the screws were not so happy in their new found home and promptly popped out of one side when all the compost and manure were added : ( Did I ever mention I suck at wood working?!?!
I just checked on the lettuce seeds that I planted indoors over the weekend to make sure they hadn't dried out and shockingly enough I already have one itsy bitsy seedling poking out! Of course like the overzealous gardner that I am I forgot to mark which peat pots are what so I have no idea if it is the Valamian (romaine) or Salad Bowl (loose leaf) - a surprise later on I guess.
Tomorrow is supposed to be a good 50+ degree day here so I am going to tackle that community garden.