Monday, April 18, 2011

Funky weather is great for spring crops

I am excited as I have never grown peas or cabbage successfully before but I am watching the cabbage begin to head and ready to start picking peas today. We have had lots of lettuce and spinach almost all year. The bibb lettuce is beginning to bolt as is the spinach so it is being replaced with other leaf lettuces that did well last year. The peas are filling quickly but do not seem to be string-less, however they will be wonderful. The new summer peas are coming up well too so we will get more, I hope.  
I have been doing a lot of mulching all the beds to combat the lack of rain and the winds. I am using lots of shredded newspaper in the vegetable garden out back and shredded cypress mulch from the store out front over paper.  I like it better as I can identify the mulch and add compost where needed too. 


Looking forward, the tomatoes are all blooming and I am finding some little tomatoes on the plants. YEAH!! The peppers have been setting fruit for several weeks and may give some up soon, Green beans are blooming with tiny beans beginning. The pole beans and climbing cucumbers are finding their way up the trellises so I am hopeful. I have several types of squash with nasturtiums planted around them to try and repel the borers this year. Hopeful on this too. 
Time to transplant the dill and parsley into the ground. Maybe I have enough this year to get past the butterfly caterpillars and have some for us too. 



The chard and peppers in the flower beds look beautiful. I have a section of red ruffled lettuce out there too under the tree that should be wonderful to look at and eat.