![]() |
Who can relate?! |
One of the things I love about blogging is that it's an excellent way to document things over the years. Like my garden. In looking back over my May gardens in years past, I can definitely say we had a slow start. But then, we had cooler spring than usual. We had a late last frost, and even though it warmed up a bit after that, we dipped back into cooler temps this month. So much so that we actually lit a fire one evening because the house was so chilly! We've never had a fire in May before!
On the other hand, that kept my cool weather veggies have been happy.
![]() |
Snowpeas. Not a bumper crop, so these usually go into salads. |
![]() |
Jericho lettuce growing happily with snow peas, dandelions, and violets. |
![]() |
Stored grocery store potatoes sprouted like crazy. |
![]() |
I planted some in the garden and some in large containers. |
![]() |
Sweet Lorane fava beans. |
![]() |
Seed patch of heirloom wheat in early May. |
![]() |
Same patch in late May. |
Still to harvest:
![]() |
Multiplier (potato) onion blooming. |
Also in the onion bed:
![]() |
Last year I bought and dehydrated a bunch of celery. I planted the ends of the bunches as an experiment. This one made it. |
Of summer veggies, almost thing has been slow to show and grow. First from the chilly temps, now from heat and no rain. But my tomatoes are doing well!
![]() |
Tomatoes are blooming. |
Most of my frost bitten tomatoes survived; I only lost a few. To fill in the gaps, I planted the last of the seed directly in the ground. I have a long enough growing season to do that.
![]() |
Direct seeded baby tomato plant |
Also in that bed are marigolds, Swiss chard, and one sweet basil.
Then there's corn, another slow starter. I think because the soil was cold the first planting didn't do well. I've replanted all the bare spots now that it's warmed up.
![]() |
Cherokee flour corn. |
![]() |
"Sweet potato" winter squash. |
Speaking of sweet potatoes, my slips arrived the other day and are now planted. My own slip growing hasn't worked out very well, although there's still a chance.
![]() |
These are Virginia Baker sweet potatoes from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. |
![]() |
I've been trying for slips since mid-April! These are my tried-and-true Vardamans. |
I could probably take a bazillion photos of the garden because I try to appreciate everything I see.
![]() |
Little bits of color from volunteer turnips, collards, and radishes. |
Anyway, that's it for May. How about you? Hopefully, June will bring the right amount of rain and our gardens will thrive.