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Relationships – How The Garden Grows

March 11, 2012

Bishop Gardening, Philosophical, Relationships , , , 6 Comments

A gift of love from the garden!

The photo above has been used in my postings in the past. It just so happens that it has become a bit of a personal symbol of the gifts coming from a well-tended garden. Note: My garden is not always tidy, see my Gardens Gone Wild post on July 28, 2011. This iconic strawberry, shaped like a heart and offered to my wife Kathy as first taste of spring in 2010 turned out to be a well received gesture. She said thank you but deferred to me. She said, ” You take the first bite.” it seems that my gift was acknowledged and she gained pleasure from returning an enhanced gift to me. Now don’t be cynical as you read this. Giving a gift back can be something special, something beyond my Mother’s creative re-gifting penchant. (sorry Mom). I invest a lot of time and effort in order to see my garden grow and sharing the bounty is one of greatest pleasures. This paragraph leads me into the title of the post.

I recently read a book that my brother had recommended, ” The Dirty Life” by Kristin Kimball. This is a realistic and blunt look at what it takes to immerse yourself into the sustainable farming lifestyle. While reading the book I ran across a quote that resonated with me. I found it to be very profound.

“Why is farming like a relationship? Because you do not reap what you sow! That’s a lie. You reap what you sow, hill, cultivate, fertilize, harvest and store.”

I find that for my garden to be successful it takes a lot more than just putting a seed into the ground and later picking a crop. To be successful it requires a significant investment in the “now” as well as looking down the road to keep it all together. It is also very interesting the feedback a garden plot can give you when you don’t invest the effort, time and resources to make it successful. My relationship with my best friend, my lover, my wife is much like the relationship I have with my garden…..I certainly get feedback when my efforts and investment slacks off. The rewards are immense when providing the proper investment. So let me break it down further.

We are always “sowing” seeds, both the seeds we intend and those that were unintended. I don’t have to look any further than the couple of Red Sails lettuces that are growing and thriving under my potting bench. How did they get there? I havent a clue. My planting intentions were for the lettuces to be bunched in neat little rows in the DESIGNATED bed. Intentions are a wonderful thing when executed well. But, as illustrated above, I can on occasion drop an unintended seed or two or three….. In the relationship world it can be a slip of the tongue, a passing comment that landed with a thud or a look that was not received well. On the other side, I need to understand that my life long partner can also drop an unintended seed! I will have to admit that I have responded in the wrong way to the errant seed. Sometimes even letting it take root a become larger than it should have.  Her intentions, I should realize, always have the best of intentions – rather than letting the seed take root I should seek to understand! Note to self, ask more questions and engage in more dialog!!!!

Now when it comes to “hilling” in the garden, my potatoes come to mind. Without hilling I can get a small harvest, but if I continually hill up around my potato plants the returns are significantly multiplied. I have heard the term that love is evergreen. Well, I disagree with that statement. I will agree that love can be evergreen, but it takes a bunch of work….and the work never ends. The returns, with the continual efforts will bear an abundant harvest. Note to self: do more “hilling”.

Now the “cultivating” term in the quote. I did a little internet search and hit on this description from eHow.com.

“An important step in garden maintenance is to cultivate the soil. Cultivating a garden involves removing weeds and rearranging the crust of the soil to promote nutrition, as well as water and air penetration to plants. You can cultivate the soil using different tools, working every two weeks………”

I think this definition can describe a relationship as well. There are always those unwanted and unpleasant things that crop up…we see them, recognize them and remove them before they take over, like weeds and those unintended “seeds”.   Rearranging the crust reminds me to change it up….add somethng different once in a while and look for the beneficial impact. Respond appropriately so the relationship has all it needs to grow and flourish. Tools, we have lots of tools out there for our gardening and relationship building efforts. But I have begun to realize that some are under-utilized – such as the tool of “two-way” communication. Boy, oh boy, that tool has been underutilized by this gardener! …. Note to self: God gave you two ears and one mouth – was that a hint? That last piece of the eHow definition – every two weeks….just ignore that. Cultivation in a relationship is an everyday and ongoing activity.

Now to fertilize does not mean adding or spreading BS! I sometimes have a propensity for spreading BS and unfortunately the humor many times lost on my other half…sorry hun, I thought it was funny at the time. What I should be doing is adding handfuls of soft touches, kind words, a sprinkle of hugs and many more thank you’s to nurture the relationship. Note to self: less BS – that my be hard to do but I will work on it.
The “harvest” part is something I like!!!!!! Man, oh man, that is the good stuff. It leaves me with a twinkle in the eye, a bounce in my step and one of those grins that can’t be wiped off.  That said – both parties need to share in the harvest. Am I providing a shared harvest? I need to ask myself that question a little more often. I was out-of-town this past week and Kathy let me know how much she was enjoying the fresh strawberries every morning. I asked about the asparagus and she had not noticed any. I told her that there a couple of spears poking their heads up through the leaf mulch before I left. The next day she told me how much she enjoyed the strawberries and the steamed asparagus & eggs she had for breakfast that morning. I made me feel so good to hear that she was enjoying the physical bounty of the garden, but it also got me thinking about,  “what does she harvest from the relationship?” – is she getting all that she needs? Note to self: see note above – ask and listen a little/lot more.
The concept of “storing” the returns is pretty powerful. This is an interesting concept in the framework of a relationship. What does it mean to me? I think this aspect of a relationship can be expressed in the memories that we have created. We have built a huge inventory of memories but it is interesting, at least for me, the dominant memories are those that are positive, warm, make me smile and make me feel good inside. Now, we have had our rocky moments and we will probably have a few more, but they don’t seem to occupy much memory space on my “hard drive”. The mechanism or ability to store the best allows me and hopefully both of us, to aways draw upon a stored harvest of our best memories  created in the tending of the “relationship garden”.
I hope my philosophical waxing, the seeds, land as intended…….
Expect a few more posts over the next couple of weeks. My client commitments will allow me to spend more time in the garden. Activities will include; dirt on my hands, the potatoes will be hilled, the carrots will be thinned, the beds will be cultivated, a little harvesting and maybe Kathy will let me store the ugly and mis-shaped berries as jam! Oh yes & ditto for the relationship.
TTFN
Bishop

A Garden Jelly to Delight the Senses

November 25, 2011

Bishop Composting, jam and jelly, mulching, Recipe , 3 Comments

Jars, Jelly and Beer

My Serrano Pepper plant was not nearly as prolific as last year’s specimen. Usually one of these hot pepper plants is more than enough for a family! Last year’s plant must have had the perfect accommodations. A nice view of the sunrise, warm enough throughout the day and into the shade as late afternoon crept in. I think the dining in this location must have suited the plant well. The corner occupied by this plant was in my oldest raised bed, six years in the making.  It had been nurtured with aged compost every year and the worms turning the soil are abundant. The food must have been as good as any ***** establishment….. based on the size and productivity. This year the location was missing the morning sun…and the bed is just 2 years old.

So now – back to the title of the post. From last year’s plant I made several batches of Serrano Pepper Jelly. Each batch was made with a different recipe but they all came out well, each with its own merits. The first was a back to basics batch, I made it with pectin I made from apples. It jelled very well but was not hot enough. The next batch was made using commercial pectin, more Serrano peppers, but didn’t set well. This poorly set “jelly” turned out to be perfect for pouring over soft cream cheese used as a party dip. I tried to replicate the “pourable” jelly and came close. It was all good…just some better than others. Where have I heard that phrase before?????

Now the batch I made two days ago seems to be setting up nicely….. may not pour as well over the cream cheese but I can still blend it in. The remedy for the” jelled-jelly “- just blend it into the cream cheese – it seems to work very well. Recipe number 4 may turn out to be a keeper. I actually wrote it down – not really wrote it down – I typed it into a word document and saved it into my recipe file on the hard drive. I am not sure that many of us really “write” any more. My mother is good about sending hand written letters and notes. It is such a pleasure to see her beautiful cursive script. My grandson recently sent me a hand written thank you note after receiving his birthday card….. made me feel warm inside. I think we need to slow down sometimes and reflect on some simpler pleasures and times.

Where was I going? – oh the new recipe. What I like about it is the abundance of Serrano peppers it calls for. The flavor is nicely warm without causing beads of sweat to break out on your forehead.  I was concerned about having pepper pieces in the jelly so I used a sieve and removed some before canning. In hindsight I should have left it alone. Those that remained give the jelly a pleasant look and a bit of something to chew on. All of the peppers came from my garden ……. I know how they were grown and fed. The recipe basics –  A cup each of finely chopped red and green Bell Peppers(2 total), about 20 deseeded Seranno peppers, I added a half dozen yellow peppers just because they would have been lonely in the fridge, one cup of apple cider vinegar used to puree the Serrano peppers, a box of Sure-Jell pectin and 5 cups of sugar. Yum! Standard directions – heat pepper mix to boiling, add sugar, heat to rolling boil – hold for a full minute (does that make sense, isn’t a minute always a minute?) then place in hot clean jars.

It was a busy day in the kitchen. My wife had left on a trip to California to be with her brother and family as he recovers from a serious surgery. With her gone I could spread out a little more and let the resulting mess linger a little longer…..without her comments – I have learned that she really cares for me and that is why she continues to invest time in coaching me. I had also been delaying the process of getting my beer out of the secondary fermenter and into the bottles. So I combined efforts in the kitchen and completed two culinary actions…..I think I can lump beer into that culinary category can’t I? As you can see from the picture above I was busy in the kitchen. I have to wait a couple of weeks for the beer but the jelly is ready to go. Link to my beer blogging is shown below.

http://pappadeckerbrewing.wordpress.com/

My lettuce growing efforts had a bit of a setback – my son came home from school for the Thanksgiving Holiday and brought his lovely Labrador mix pooch, Sierra, home from school. She apparently still has a bit of puppy in her and loves to dig in good, moist and rich soil. So, where do you suppose my young lettuce plants were…….emphasis on were. You guessed it, like a laser guided missile she made a precision strike on the three rows of young lettuce plants. There is that old philosophical question about a tree falling in a forest. If no one is around to hear it, does it make any sound? Hmmmmm. When young and tender lettuce plants are brutally shredded and no one is there, do their screams of agony not make any noise? Take a deep breath Bishop and remember that the new lettuce seed packets have many hundreds more waiting to be planted.

My to-do list for today will include lettuce planting, green bean picking, turning the compost pile and raking leaves. I wonder what he neighbors were thinking on Wednesday when I cruised the street with my portable leaf vacuum and shredder….. I was able to gather a barrel full of shredded leaves from the neighbor’s yard. Shredded leaves make great mulch and adds carbon to my composting efforts. The leaves are dropping all over the neighborhood so the crazy guy in the big green truck will be gathering leaves today and tomorrow. My wife is still gone so I will not be embarrassing her directly. ;-D

Strawberry rantings coming soon.

TTFN

Bishop

I Thought I Was Being Frugal

November 14, 2011

Bishop Beans, Gardening, jam and jelly, Vegetables , , , , , , 2 Comments

Lettuce not be Cheap

I have been a little disappointed in that most of my lettuce seeds have failed to germinate. I know that the weather has been a little too warm so I have reseeded several times and have seen very few show up in the rows. I am a frugal gardener so I spread the seeds so that I don’t have to do a lot of thinning. Because of that I rarely plant all of the seeds in the packets. Over the course of the past few years I have many packets of leftovers and try to use them ……

I just found this bit of advice while searching the internet today.  “Lettuce also fails to germinate if the seed is old, so use fresh seed each season.” Should I take this advice???? I think I should!

I looked at some of my leftovers and the dates on the packets go as far back as 2008! Looks like I am not frugal but the word cheap might be a better descriptor.
I broke down today and spent $ 6.00 or so for some new, current season lettuce seeds. Weather is still on the cusp of being too warm…we will see 80 degrees this week again. I planted lettuce today for the fourth time this “fall” – Hope I haven’t wasted my money….what if it is more likely the warm weather and not old seed? I guess I won’t ever know.
Peas are coming up

I seem to use up almost all of the pea seeds every year and bought 2011/12 season sugar snap peas for this fall. I love this sequential depiction of peas sprouting. Most of my peas are further along than the right hand image. I noticed today that I have some up into the 15 – 18″ tall range and some flowers are beginning to develop. I am looking forward to the sweetness of fresh picked sugar snaps. The pole beans have just about stopped flowering so it looks like I will have a gap in the harvest. I didn’t have many beans today so most found their way into my mouth before they made the kitchen. They are actually pretty sweet but not like the peas.

Still gathering cucumbers from my volunteer plants. These cukes are so good. Sometimes the Houston heat causes them to grow so fast they become huge and they can be a little bitter. The weather is perfect right now, the size of the cukes just perfect and they taste great.. I grilled some of the fresh red bell peppers from the garden tonight. I have a bunch of Serrano peppers to pick this week and will probably make some more Serrano Pepper jelly. So good over cream cheese as a dip. I also found some red onion sets at the store where I picked up the lettuce seeds and added them to the white onions I planted a few weeks ago. The white onions and the garlic are up and stretching toward the sky. Looking forward to late spring 2012 for the onions to be ready.
I will be in the garden getting my hands dirty again tomorrow…..
TTFN
Bishop

Returning Home From Midland

October 30, 2011

Bishop Beans, berrries, Gardening, Vegetables , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

The Right Side is the Sunnier Side
Left side gets winter shade.

I returned Friday morning from a week in Midland Texas. Kathy kept the thirsty guys and gals in the beds well watered. We finally got some rain Thursday – not nearly enough to put a dent into the drought but it was a good soaking rain. I used my iPhone to shoot the two pictures shown. Not bad for an early generation iPhone…. I havent upgraded yet.

At the entrance on the left side my “volunteer” cucumber plants have been rewarding me nicely. I picked two very nice cukes for my salads and another 6 or so are maturing nicely. The green beans are doing well and I gathered about 3 handfuls. As you can see on the front right… the sugar snap peas are just reaching up to grab the twine. The bush cucumbers, back right, are beginning to produce little cukes but the weather may not let them become full-sized. Also in the right side beds are some radishes – I picked a few yesterday to go with the salads.
The butter crunch lettuce doesn’t seem to want to germinate so I reseeded two rows Friday AM…. hopefully the cool temperatures will help out. The kale has really taken off and the white onion sets put out a week ago are reaching skyward. I need to share a few  sets with my buddy John this week along with some of the extra garlic.  I also transplanted some broccoli today. The plants looked really healthy and they should do well.
I should be getting my strawberry plants week after next. I have 150 coming. 48 of them will be used to fill my vertical PVC towers, 24 per tower.  I am anxious to see how well they do in the towers. I will feature the strawberry plantings in a future rambling.
I am still waiting to see if the tomatoes will break color before the temperatures put a halt to their ripening.  It will be sunny and slightly warmer for the next 7 days and beyond!!!! So, fingers crossed, I will get some home-grown fall tomatoes.
TTFN
Bishop

California Dreamin’

October 16, 2011

Bishop Gardening, Vegetables , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Graceful and Uuuuuugly

No, I wasn’t really calling it a winter’s day and “all the leaves are brown” but I was dreaming of owning my own piece of ground in California. I spent a week in California, five days in Bakersfield and then a quick visit over to see mom in Los Osos. I am  envious as I drive through fields of green and, in this case, field of orange pumpkins. The little valley on the way to mom’s house has the most beautiful dark – almost like dark chocolate-colored soil. Cabbages, broccoli, lettuces, sunflowers, seed flowers of brilliant hues, winter squashes and the list goes on. In the rolling hills are cattle grazing in lush pastures…Does it get any better than this?

My dreamin’ continued as I took a back road to avoid the construction delays on Highway 101. I cut over at Santa Margarita, through to Creston and hooked back into the Highway at Shandon. I fell in love….Santa Margarita area is temptress, rolling hills, big oaks, digger pines and beautiful little ranchettes. The seduction was complete as I rolled through Creston. I heard the Syrens song – I almost stopped and dug my hands in the soil. Here is a place where your California Dreams of getting back to the land can become reality. Warm summers with cooler nights, temperate year round, open spaces and rolling hills. The view is made up of vineyards, pastures, grazing animals, wonderful plots of land …… I didn’t ask about mosquitos! I think I could put up with them here…….I get so tired of them in Houston.

Note to wife….. Kathy – somewhere down the road we may want to consider a little hideaway in these hills. Still close to the beaches but not overrun with tourists and other crazies.

I also chastised my self for not pictorially documenting my field of dreams – oh yes, did I mention corn??? I had my camera and with all the beautiful land around me …..  all  I captured was the image of a buzzard. Now, don’t get me wrong they are beautiful in their own right – graceful in the air as they glide along the ridges searching for their next meal. But on the ground – butt ugly

The drive along Highway 46 back over to I-5 is a growers smorgasbord. Grapes of all types, table grapes green and red, wine grapes, olive tree, pistachios, almonds, citrus, cotton, hay, carrots, black-eyed peas, and so much more. Last spring I was driving along  I-5 and saw some little trees that where both new and, to me , unrecognizable. On this trip I saw that they were loaded up with pomegranates. Oh my…… I absolutely love pomegranate jelly and my mouth was watering thinking about a piece of hot toast, melted butter (real butter!!!!) and pomegranate jelly.

This is my California Dreamin”!!!!!!! Hun….. I want to share it with you. XOXO – Bishop

A Little Rain – Finally

September 29, 2011

Bishop Beans, Gardening, mulching, Vegetables , , , , , , Leave a comment

A week or so away from a fresh green bean

Today we had a nice line of storms come through and bless us with about a half of an inch of rain. Now we are only about 21.5 inches behind. Even better is the fact that a front hits tomorrow and our temperatures will drop significantly! The stress from the heat has been a real pain in the butt! Some of my attempts to direct seed have worked and others are not doing so well. Most of the lettuces are not showing up. I will reseed them over the weekend. The old reliable, the radishes are flourishing as are the beets, turnips, carrots and peas – well most of the peas….

The previously planted pole beans are climbing and now blossoming. I have zucchini beginning to develop and the bush cucumbers may actually produce before it gets too cold. I munched on some late sprouting asparagus shoots this week. Wow, so sweet straight from the garden.

Rain, rain come and stay!

Seeing the water gushing down and out the drain is a good thing. Haven’t seen much of that since early spring. Forecast is for another chance tomorrow. Fingers are crossed, prayers made and maybe, just maybe we will put a small dent into this lingering drought. I will do my part and gather the neighbor’s leaves and shred them for leaf mulch/mold. They must think I am nuts when I go up and down the street gathering leaves……Am I nuts? – Don’t answer that!

Before and After – Ready for the Fall Season

September 8, 2011

Bishop Beans, berrries, Gardening, mulching, Solarizing, Vegetables , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Well it has been brutal working in the garden, adding the extra touches and prepping for my fall growing season. As always I will be experimenting a little – it is all about learning.

When we returned from vacation the gourds and the indeterminate tomatoes had gone wild. There was not a clear and easy path down through the middle of my two biggest beds. Then there was the ankle biting Bermuda grass. You know, Bermuda grass is not so bad when you want it for your lawn, but in a vegetable bed…. it is insidious! I had tried to mulch the Bermuda out but it is just amazing how it can find a little light and burst out. I promise, scouts honor, to not let it get ahead of me this year. Yes, I was a Boy Scout…..not like my nephews that made Eagle Scout – congratulations Wesley and Wade, but I did make about 12 merit badges.

I recently scared off a potential convert. I had been negotiating with my friend John to add a 4X4 bed to his existing 4X4 raised bed. Once he saw my jungle at the end of July and followed my efforts to reclaim/re-tame my plot he backed off. I think we can get him to do another 4X4 – walk before we run.

So, the experiments; I planted tomatoes in August in order to get another bountiful blessing before first frost. The Carmello variety is setting some nice big flowers that may bear fruit. The jury is out on the others. The pole beans are climbing like crazy so I am optimistic for them. The Serrano Pepper plant is loaded with blossoms – 100’s. They just need to set. After solarizing my problem bed for 5+ weeks, I pulled the plastic off a couple of days ago and have begun planting it. I am trying Bush Cucumbers, Swiss Chard (always does well), the first of some staggered lantings for my beet rows, sugar snap peas and I will get some carrots going this weekend. I will continue to stagger plant beets and carrots about every 3 weeks. I have a couple of recently planted squash plants that have not shown signs of distress so I am hopeful. Lettuce will come in another few weeks. I have 150 strawberry plants being shipped the first week of November. I had very few survive this brutal summer.

I also poured a walkway down through the middle of my large beds. I used one of those forms that looks like irregular stones .Kathy wondered why I was pouring during the 105 deg weather and not waiting until December. I didn’t have a good answer other than I just wanted to get it done!  I think it looks good and should keep the mud away…..if it ever rains again. We are over 20 inches behind.

Here is a link to a cool site for backyard farming;

http://www.homefarming.com/

Look for another installment in a couple of weeks.

TTFN

Bishop

After the Winter Hiatus

January 31, 2011

Bishop Composting, Gardening, Vegetables , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Not today’s image!!!!

This is in my dreams for later on this spring and summer. Reality is much more grim!!

 
The garden is pretty bare right now – a few Brussel sprout plants made it through the freeze along with some of the sugar snap peas and an abundance of the beet varieties planted this past fall.
 
I have pretty well filled the compost bins with leaves and shredded leaves to be used for mulch in the near future.
 
I did transplant some lettuce plants yesterday but the labels have faded and I have no clue which variety will grace my table. The small half long carrot seeds planted last week have yet to show their tops. I will plant another round of carrots this week and continue some staggered plantings into early spring.
 
My friend John is allowing me to continue working the 4X4 plot I placed in his yard last year. He loved the abundant returns from the Juliet tomato plant. He had a good number of cucumbers as well as a handful of Texas A&M sungold tomatoes. We may even add another 4X4 adjacent to the first one. Making backyard gardening converts one by one. He has some beets poking up and I planted some chard for him last week.
Checking on my worms – the bottom bin looks done. Almost all of the little guys have moved up to the penthouse for the fresh food. Will probably sort the bottom bin this coming weekend and feed the plants. Speaking of plants – the strwberry plants are full of blossoms and I noticed a few berries that are a week or so away from taste testing. Can’t wait-  but I must!!!!!!
TTFN
Bishop

Companion Planting vs. The Smörgåsbord Approach

April 3, 2010

Bishop Uncategorized , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Smörgåsbord or Companion Planting
Smörgåsbord or Companion Planting

I have been out pulling weeds, removing early berries on the strawberry plants, checking on the blackberries and I just loving seeing it all grow!!!!!
Here is a picture of a mixed bed. I have heard that there are some real benefits to utilizing the companion planting techniques. Problem with that is-  there has to be a plan….. I sometimes just group stuff by height and width…. makes sense to me. So… if you look closely I have;
Swiss Chard, Romaine lettuce, garlic, carrots, asparagus ferns, beets,a few small weeds, potatoes way out in back and empty plastic jugs waiting to be put in service…. they will be mini greenhouses. I call it Smörgåsbord grouping. I can pick a salad without taking a step.
I was down at the farmers market this morning and saw Romaine lettuce going for $2-$3 per head and they didn't look nearly as good as mine. Swiss Chard-  bunches of 5 leaves for $3 to $4 an bunch. People were carting out bags of the stuff. Makes me wonder if maybe I can have a fourth or fifth career selling organically grown veggies….. Hmmm. Maybe I should pull out the business plan forms I picked up a couple of years ago and give it a try. The booths selling eggs ran out by 9:30 AM except for one and the line was 10 back…. $3/dz. for white eggs and $4/dz for brown. Same feed, same pasture, same bugs to eat….. there is not an advantage to buy brown eggs, they taste the same …….. the farmer likes the perceived differences!!!  
Check out my new photos from today's garden visit, Oh, by the way, my latest batch of beer is ready to drink – Farmhouse Ale…. go figure. Even my wife liked the finish, not too hoppy- just right.

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The first berry of Spring 2010!!!!!!

March 20, 2010

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First Strawberry - Note the Heart Shape!
First Strawberry – Note the Heart Shape!

Wow! The first berry of spring and I picked it the day before the official first day of spring. I was not expecting a ripe berry so early because of the wet and cool spring we have been experiencing. I noticed lots of blossoms in my sunniest patch but this was an early surprise.

I noticed something else after I picked it and took a closer look. See the heart shaped image of the berry. Pretty cool huh! I wonder if there is a message here? Hmmmm……

As with any good berry it meets the same fate. I did offer the first bit to my wife Kathy but she deferred that honor to me. – Thanks Hun…… it was so good. The home grown berries just have so much more of the "real" Strawberry flavor. It compares well to the wild strawberries I used to pick in the fields surrounding Fort Lee, Virginia.

Here is the first berry of the spring nestled in amongst the leaves, blossoms and the early berries that have set. It looks like it will be a good and sweet spring. I have found a good organically safe slug and snail deterrent so I hope to share fewer berries with the slimy little buggers. 

First Strawberry of the Spring
First Strawberry of the Spring

On another note….The new June bearing varieties are doing very well. They are establishing themselves well and looking very healthy. The garden is beginning to hop now… The pole beans are up, potatoes looking good, the lettuce so good and lots of snap peas to munch on. The cucumber plants were slow showing through the layer of leaf mulch but I see they are now breaking through. My asparagus, first year, is spindly and needs staking – next year I may be able to get some spears!

Get out and grow something…..

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