April 18, 2019
The Buckbrush is beginning to look like popcorn balls. Soon the sweet fragrance of their flowers will fill the land. The warmth of an early spring is increasing, and I've started UV acclimating my squash and melon starts. The forecast has no temps lower than 39ð ahead so I may be transplanting out early this year. I'm acclimating the corn, beans and tomatoes too because the plastic may be coming off sooner than I expected. The ground is not warm yet, even under my greenhouses..
As I planted the tomatoes I noticed that only the top two inches were warm. I should have pulled back the mulch but I was expecting to have until early may before I planted them. The beans I planted are in the top two inches of soil and I got 27 sprouts out of 28 seeds planted. An excellent germination rate. Peppers will be last as they definitely require warmer soil..
April 19, 2019
The overwintered kale have formed three foot tall bushes, and have started to bolt. The bright yellow flowers are the most colorful aspect of the garden right now. I need to leave them for the pollinators because neonicitide has been decimating their numbers. The chemical is used as an insecticide and is not only sprayed by home gardeners, but can be sprayed on the plants and seeds they buy. It's major application is by agribusinesses, and home gardeners are being asked to counter the damage done by providing native species a safe and healthy alternative..
Planting so that there are always some flowers for them, by selecting a variety of plants, can reduce their need to search far and wide, and result in their being around when you want your veggies pollenated. Gardeners are stewards of the earth. We have learned that we must take care of it..
April 20, 2019
I passed by a floatilla of baby goslings in the pond this morning that were packed so tightly together between the adults that I couldn't even count the little peeps heads. You would think I would have learned by now not to count them because then every time you go by you check to see if any are missing. What a great time of year. The sunshine and heat have caused one zucchini plant in each four pack to dominate, by growing tall and spreading out it's leaves. They shade the other three so I'm going to transplant those ones out early..
They will probably do better than the ones left behind because my mini greenhouses are double insulated. The warmth in the ground gets captured during the day and slowly released at night. I'm going to beat my old zucchini record this year as well as the ripe tomato one..
