Good morning, it is nice to see a steady warming. Recently I noticed that the mulberry trees are swelling and any number of apricot trees blooming. Gotta think “man and there is still a month and a half before the last freeze”.
In 2011 when we had two weeks of severe freezing (almost got down to zero), It was like “it” got out of the system and there was not another freeze until the fall. But it sure did include some hot and dry weather too.
No two years have been similar. There is no way to predict what will come. Short term forecasts give an inkling of what the potential will be in the next seven days. This past winter they forecast cold fronts but boy did they really blow it on the lows. Being a huge fan of fabric, I weathered these huge swings as best as I could. It just can’t be anything but trauma to a plant when it is nearly 80 degrees one day and the next morning is the low teens. The best you can do is to prevent plant mortality, but in the process the plants shut down.
It seems the weather is being more flippant as the years pass by, my garden plan to get the garden well established during the “milder” part of the “spring” has merit.
When I was exclusively hand watering this was even more true. It is extremely hard to adequately hydrate plants with hose end watering. Hose end watering and copious amounts of mulch provided me success.
Once I acquired a drip system, I could delay planting along with forgoing the chance that a freeze might wipe me out, but where would the challenge in that be!! Besides that, there is the chance there could be tomatoes, squash and many other summer veggies arriving at the table much earlier.
Yes, it is a gamble, but the odds are much better than winning the lottery. And very likely tastier than a losing lottery ticket.
Yes, there was a lot of “fried” plants to begin with, but trial and error has prevailed. How many rockets blew up to get to the moon? As my Old Man would say “can’t never did anything”. Words to live by.
As long as I do not do something stupid, spring has sprung in the garden.
It is an exciting time in the garden. The winter veggies are one by one finishing as more and more summer veggies are planted.
The snow peas are blooming up a storm (hope no deep freezes), zucchini is up, beans are emerging, garlic is nearly a foot and a half tall, bulb onions ready to transplant, first bed of tomatoes is planted and the eggplants and chilies are hardening off for transplanting.
This year I plan to have five beds of okra. Last year what with the late freeze there was not much okra available at the market. Even if there is a glut this year, it can be dried or pickled. Last year I was only able to pickle 10 pints (didn’t last long). I tried to force okra last year, it didn’t go well. It just does not like soil less than 60 degrees. So, It will be planted the middle of April. The last bed will be planted in July for a fall crop.
And last but not least the sweet sets arrive around April 15.
The ladies have come back from vacation and the egg production is on the rise!!
Yes!!!! Exciting times in the garden.
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