After a really nice start to an early spring, the month of May turned on us. The first week of May the high temperatures were in the low 50s (that's like 10 degrees Celsius for you all in Canada/UK) with frost or freeze every night. May 13th I woke up to 24 degrees in the garden (-4 C)! My cold frame is usually good for about 10 degrees, which, if the nighttime temps are in the 40s, is more than adequate. But the first two weeks of May it was nowhere near suitable for tender vegetables. My Tomato plants had already been potted up into gallon pots in the mild temperatures of April and were not prepared for the Polar Vortex. They all survived with some minor frostbite on their older leaves but of course they did not grow at all.
The garden Peas, Carrots and Lettuce were snowed on many times and endured a lot of frost with no losses. However, they too refused to grow until things were looking up. This past weekend with rain and sun and heat they have doubled in size and you can almost sit and watch them grow.
My Cauliflowers, Broccoli and Brussels Sprouts were also out in this horrible weather, protected by floating row covers. To me they did not look like they were making any progress either. I did lose a couple to either frost or high winds, despite their being somewhat sheltered. The winds still get in under and can twist off a weakened plant and we had a lot of all day high winds to contend with. This past weekend I switched to a mesh cover, and I can see that most of the plants are comparable to this time last year.
Most of the row covers available in the US are "garden fleece" and not an insect mesh. It seems they were created for frost protection and now double as insect protection. But I think we can do a little better for just insect protection if we try. In the UK, they have a product called Enviromesh which is similar to polyester tulle fabric, but made of UV-stabilized polyethelene. I have found only one retailer in the US that carries it and they are always out of stock. So I found what looks like a very similar product to try instead. The main downside is that it is heavier when wet, but on the plus side you can see your plants. And your weeds :).
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| Brussels Sprouts |
I bought a pack of Castle Dome Broccoli to fill in the empty spots in the Cauliflower beds, and then I could not resist the Cabbages. I'm in the mood for homemade cole slaw. So I bought a pack of Red Acre and Golden Acre cabbages to share the same bed as the Fordhook Lima Beans.
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| Cabbages with a few Calendula seedlings left at the very edge. |
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| Cabbage and Lima Beans |
I have Carminat and Monte Gusto pole beans seeded and I'm looking forward to trying them. Tucked in between the bean poles are a few Pickling Cucumbers since I need to make Dill pickles again this year. Lettuce is planted in the shade of the cucumber frame. These are seedlings I picked out of direct seeded Lettuce in one of the Pea beds.
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| Bean poles and cucumber trellis |
After my frustrating experience with direct seeding cukes last year, all of my Cucumbers and Summer Squash are being seeded in the cold frame. Here is a trick I learned on Facebook. Sometimes I like to use plastic wrap to cover a seed tray and hold the moisture in. But wet plastic wrap is miserable stuff. So instead, I'm using sheets of bubble wrap. It is easier to handle, and clips easily to the sides of pots with clothes pins.
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| Cucumber and Summer Squash seed trays |
A couple of times in the past I have tried Sweet Potatoes with moderate success. I am in the mood again so I've put some Sweet Potato slips into grow bags. Since the seed companies always send me more slips than I could ever want, I have also put them into the three whiskey barrels that I usually plant with annuals. Why waste that large volume of good soil? They sure don't look like much at first, but is a few weeks ought to be off and running.
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| a Grow Bag of Sweet Potatoes |
Due to last year's success with tomatoes in large containers, my best tomato plants are in containers again this year. I do not can tomatoes, and only use them for sandwiches so I don't need a lot of plants. I used to plant dozens of plants every year (hence the name of this blog) but I have learnt my lesson! I may have a few extra transplants that are worth saving (despite the abuse they've taken) and those will get tucked in with the Dill along the Strawberries. The three best plants, two Barlow Japs and one Black Brandywine, look very good and are beginning to grow again already.
This past weekend was Memorial Day weekend. It is as early as it can possibly be this year so gardeners who use it as their benchmark for planting must keep that in mind. We really have one more week to go to get everything in on time. But this week is going to be gorgeous growing weather.
This past weekend was a mixed bag. Friday started out cloudy and I made my sight-seeing visit of the big Amish greenhouse in the morning. That was a disappointment. I did get the hard to find items on my list, and they were good quality plants, but overall the place was picked over and everything looked like July leftovers. Usually when I go in early to mid-May, everything is just at its peak and it is a pleasure just to be surrounded by it all. This year everything is over grown and anemic looking. This is probably because we got great weather with sunshine in late April and then endured two weeks of cold and clouds.
Friday afternoon I dodged rain showers and got a few things done, but the weather was supposed to break late Saturday morning. We went out to work, and the cloudy drizz turned to pretty steady rain showers. We kept on going because once you're wet, you're wet. One plus was that there was no breeze at all so I got my row covers changed out to the garden mesh without having to fight the wind. It did take all day for them to dry though. The rain gave out around 2pm, and we were able to get cleaned up and enjoy a sunny late afternoon, knowing that we had accomplished a lot in spite of the weather.
Sunday all day was beautiful weather. Mid-80s and sunny with high clouds and a light breeze. Again I got a lot done, mulching in the strawberry bed and moving some big planters around. The lawn got mowed. I was able to get down in the soil and plant seeds without dealing with soggy soil. By Monday afternoon we were in the middle of a heat wave. Afternoon temperatures were 88 in the shade, and 93 in the garden.
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| The strawberries are blooming |
As I knelt on the scorching walkway, hovering over damp, steaming mulch, I reached the end of my gardening rope. It was time to go in and take a cool shower and put Memorial Day 2020 in the books. Next weekend is again supposed to be sunny and clear, but 20 degrees cooler which will be welcomed.
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| Dinner Plate Dahlias mulched in This is the last of the spring mulching! |
I have made a final assessment of the Chilly Pear Tree. Its going to live. You can see a few leaf tips got burned by frost but not bad for several days of snow, high winds, and freezing temperatures. When it arrived it did have a few tiny pears set but not surprisingly it dropped those mid-blizzard. Maybe we'll have good luck with it next year. It is grafted with Bartlett, Bosc, Seckel and Summercrisp pears.
The cold frame only moderates about 10 degrees of cold temperatures, but it magnifies hot temperatures. On an 80 degree day, wide open, it will get to about 110 on the gravel. As long as its open, that isn't the actual air temperature, but if you misjudge, you can cook things pretty quick. So for this coming hot week the rest of my transplants have been moved to the east side of the garden shed where they get half a day of sun. I have my eggplant babies transplanted into patio pots. There are a dozen spare tomato plants, only one or two of them look tempting to save. The rest are just average and won't be difficult to toss. The other plants are herbs to be planted into the end of the large area where the pear tree is which I will get done some evening this week. My husband keeps asking me if I'm done yet. Once I get the herbs planted I can say "Yes. For Now" and start round one of weeding and fertilizing.
Bed #1: Sweet Corn seeded 05/24
Bed #2: Pole Beans seeded 05/24, Lettuce transplanted
Bed #3: Prepared for Cucumbers and Lettuce
Bed #4: Prepared for Cucumbers, Lettuce growing
Bed #5: Peas growing (seeded 03/15 & 04/05) - Bush Beans later
Bed #6: Peas growing (seeded 03/15 & 04/05)- Bush Beans later
Bed #7: Cauliflowers and Broccoli growing
Bed #8: Cauliflowers Broccoli and Brussels Sprouts growing
Bed #9: Peas growing (seeded 04/12) - Buckwheat to follow
Bed #10: Prepared for Sweet Corn
Bed #11:Peas (seeded 04/19) and Lettuce growing
Bed #12:Cabbages transplanted, Lima Beans seeded 05/24
Bed #13: Strawberries blooming
Bed #14: Waiting for Summer Squash
Containers: Carrots, Tomatoes and Sweet Potatoes planted
Cold Frame: Cucumbers and Summer Squash seeded
Basement: Herbs and Okra under grow lights
Potatoes chitting for Grow Bags
You've been having a lot of weather challenges, but your garden looks great. Your diligence is paying off! Great idea about the bubble wrap and greenhouse panels. I'll have to remember those.
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