New England, May 2015

Beautiful cherry tree, QB! I've been trying to sprout cherries from seed but they aren't taking.
But the Pink Lady apples seeds sprouted yesterday. And my peach tree is flowering as are 3 out of 5 Concord grapes and the strawberries.
Peach blossoms:

I feel so lazy today. It's overcast and cool out, perfect for planting the bee balm that a neighbor gave me this morning, and boiling up old soup bones that have been stacking up in the freezer.

I've also been reading up on raspberries and grapes. Lots to learn, like I need to build a trellis for the raspberries and figure out which canes to cut down at the end of every year. And after all this reading, I'm still totally clueless about the grapes. I have a feeling they'll just have to go willy-nilly this year or put up with my attempt at following directions. But every half hour or so I get up and water another couple of SFG boxes.

The raccoon is still staying off the property - day 4. Thank you Dr P!

While I was eating strawberries from the local organic market for lunch just now I came across three absolutely delicious ones and planted a piece of each out in the strawberry bed. Has anyone grown strawberries from seeds?

Beautiful blossoms, QB & CC!

I had the heat on this morning. So I'm thinking still too early to put out the "hots". They say wait until nights are 55 or higher. 

NOAA revised the chance of rain down the next couple days, and after Tuesday, no rain in the forecast at all. Bleh. Getting a little nervous about lack of rain.

Some of the buckwheat is starting to sprout - yay.

You're right, CC! The purple flowers in my photo before ARE violets. I was thinking African violets.... I didn't know they grow wild.

And I see they're considered a WEED! How can that be? They're beautiful! And I see they're edible, wow. And I think they're a pollinator plant, altho I haven't seen bees on them, maybe there are too many dandelions right now. Which I also treasure and folks consider a weed.

CC, I've tried growing strawberries and raspberries from "seed" by planting out the berry like you did and nothing ever came  of it.  That was way before my days of SFG and MM so it may be that my soil was just too poor because I just stuck them in the ground outside figuring if wild ones grew there, the cultivated ones would do fine.  But nada.  

I'm curious to see how your ones work out, though if they're F1 hybrids, no knowing what you'll get from the daughters, and also no knowing how viable the seeds might be either, come to think of it.  

Aren't some seeds of hybrid plants actually sterile?  Where did I read that?--

OH, and P.S., I don't know if any of you read the post on phenology but it talks about when to plant out what based on observations on other plants' growth stages, etc.  I'm using some of the wisdom gained from these observations to time the plantings in my garden this year.  Being as I live in a cold hole (microclimate), it makes more sense for me to use those markers from the plants near my house because they're probably more accurate than the general suggestions for my zone.  It might give you some clues, NHG as to when to plant out your toms & other "hots".

There's a thread on phenology? I'm so glad you mentioned that! Because I was talking to someone recently who told me she was really getting into phenology and I kept thinking lumpy heads, but she said it's the signs and seasons, like plant your peas when the peepers are out, etc. I googled to see what other sayings there were and couldn't really find that much, so I'll check that thread out.

Yesterday it was winter and I had on the heat; today it's 87 and a sweatbox... that's the way it goes! Weather underground is giving higher % of rain the next few days than NOAA, so I'm sticking with WU. Otherwise I have to get out there this afternoon and water and I'm getting spasms just thinking about that......

Saw a gorgeous mini rhododendron (the bush) at the greenhouse today. $40 tho. But it sure was pretty... picked up some cabbage, CANTELOUP, and jalapeno cell packs. Supposed to be 40F Weds  night, and not much better Thurs night, so I'm not putting my things out until Friday. Except the dried beans, I can plant those. And the pole beans, but I have to decide where to put those. Still some thinking to do....

We can plant beans now??? Wow, I usually plant mine after the peas are about halfway through, but my peas are only about 4 inches tall. Good thing I bought some more trellis fixings in Hyannis this morning. I also got a couple of posts to put at each end of the raspberry box so I can rope them in.

Gosh Molly, I don't even know where in the strawberry bed I planted those little pieces. And as far as them being hybrid, are organic fruits and vegetables allowed to come from hybrid? I have no idea.

Got the leeks planted out today. They're in their holes and well watered. ..about three squares of them.

I also planted a box of dollar store hummingbird wildflower mix. I just spread it around in all the bare spots, walked on it and then watered it in. We'll see what happens. These American seed box mixes haven't let me down yet.

I can't even entertain the thought of rain. Even when the Cape gets rain it completely misses my house.  Someone told me the other day that they heard a meteorologist saying that the highway through the center of the Cape is what causes the Harwich area to have so little rain. Wish I'd heard it cuz I'd sure like to know why.

I can't wait to visit New York this fall. We plan to drive from NYC to Niagara Falls, then east to Maine, then down the coast back to NYC. At least 5 states.

CapeCoddess wrote:
Lyndeeloo, do you cut your raspberries back every fall or leave them up?

I cut them all down to about 3 inches high after the first really hard frost. Have had really good luck with that method. Right now mine have already grown to 2 feet high. Your new raspberry bed looks great!!!!!

Sounds like fun, sanderson! Normally that would be a lot of driving, but in foliage colors it will be a pleasure. Hope you plan a lot of scenic stops!

Spent most of the weekend working outside in the gardens.  Got the newly expanded front yard flower bed in shape. We took up all of the grass on one side of the front yard to make it larger. The grass was always patchy and I've been threatening to do it for years. Moved in lots of herbs, rhubarb, blueberry bushes and planted a new dwarf apple tree in the center. Now it's a flowers and edibles garden.

The fruit trees are blooming and it smells so lovely. Lots of flowers on the strawberry plants. Working on a trellis system for the raspberries to keep them neat and easier to pick.

Fighting the battle with cut worms, they have really done a number on my tender little brassica seedlings. Thankfully I started way too many and can replace some of them. Cut the bottom out of paper cups and plastic containers to make collars for the plants. Hope this works! Planted green bean seedlings and seeds as well as basil, dill and pickling cucumber seedlings. A full weekend and I feel like I really accomplished something, have the back ache to prove it. 

lyndeeloo, sounds like you are going to have a feast! A lot of work at the beginning, but the payoff will be huge, and a lot of those are perennials, so you do the really hard work once.... 

I've been keeping an eye out for blueberry bushes. I like to order them from Fedco and their blueberry shipments are over till next spring, so guess it'll be next spring before those get planted. I just figured out where I'm going to put them.

NHGardener wrote:
I've been keeping an eye out for blueberry bushes. I like to order them from Fedco and their blueberry shipments are over till next spring, so guess it'll be next spring before those get planted. I just figured out where I'm going to put them.

NHG, yes perennials are the greatest things, love them!

Figuring out where to plant everything you bring home is the hardest part. At least for me!  My new blueberries came from HD at their spring black friday sale. They looked so healthy and the price was right.  Hope they do well.

lyndeeloo - They say that careful garden planning is one of the most important steps. However, I find it's hard to know how to arrange everything, where to put them, who likes who, shade/sun issues, etc. I wish I had gone into soil science/garden landscaping... I looked around the greenhouse this past weekend with all the amazing flowering plants, shrubs, trees, etc., and thought - I wish I had a better idea of how to pull something together. They had an outdoor rock water/fountain garden with all the landscaping in place - japanese maple, etc., and I told the man: I'd like to buy this setup please. haha. Just cart that right over to my house.

We need photos, Lyndeeloo!

lyndeeloo wrote: planted a new dwarf apple tree in the center

Where'd you get the apple tree?  The nurseries around here only have semi-dwarf and that's just too big for my little yard.

Lyndeeloo and others fighting cutworms at transplant time......I've found an easier solution.  I always found wrapping the stems with newspaper or paper towels tubes cumbersome and difficult at best.  You also have to handle the young plant too much.   Now I just stick 3 or 4 toothpicks in the soil right up against the stems of the transplanted veg or flower plant.  With the wooden skewer halfway in the soil and half out, the cutworms can't get wrapped around the stem.  The toothpick is in the way.  I haven't lost a transplant to cutworm since I started this a few years ago.  If the plant has several stems, I put in more toothpicks for protection.  As the plant gets larger and the stem thicker, it will push the toothpicks right out of the way and it becomes nature's compost.   This might be easier for some so its worth a try.

Well, since peppers aggravate arthur, & my mom may not come up to the Cape this year, I have decided to experiment with my starts:


Breakfast from the garden (except for the pear on top):

NHG, do you grow your celery from seed?  I tried once from stumplings but around mid summer they croaked.  Do they need more water than once or twice a week?

I do start my celery from seed, and it's in the deck greenhouse as we speak, doing well and looking just like parsley! Two years ago I started from seed and transplanted and it did great. Last year the seedlings were too small and didn't survive the transplant. I think they will this year tho. I think you just have to start it early enough to get it going well before you transplant. Crossing fingers. I don't remember how often I watered  mine the other year, but it was nothing special.

CC, are those dandelion greens? Do you just pick them from the yard? I've never tried that, tho my husband is allergic to grass, and dandelions too. That smoothie looks DELICIOUS! I can't believe you have enough to fill the cup.

NHGardener wrote:

CC, are those dandelion greens? Do you just pick them from the yard?

Yes, I picked them from the yard.  The greens went into the lunch salad and the roots went into the smoothie.  You have to pick them small or they get bitter. 
I've been making green smoothies for a while now.  All the collards and kale are pick-able, altho a few here and there are collapsing like I've never seen before. I'll look into that when I have more time.

Thanks for the info on the celery.  I should try it.  When do you start them?

I started the celery at the same time I started the peppers and tomatoes, I have to check now but I believe it was late March.

Edit: Aha! This is why I love the saved threads here, a written record. I wrote this on 3/28:

Okay, got these seeded this morning:

Onions
Lettuce
Celery
Kale
Peppers
Tomatoes
Eggplants
Broccoli
Basil
Oregano
Parsley
Sunflowers
Bee Balm
Calendula

Quiltbea 
Thank you what a great idea!  That is so much easier than hunting down all those recycled plastic containers!  Nice!!!!!!

CC
My trees came from HD this year for 11.99 each at their spring black friday event. Got a dwarf Macintosh, red delicious and yellow delicious. Plus a moonglow pear (semidwarf) which is blooming, to my surprise and delight. The apple trees are small, leaves are starting but no flowers this year. 

I was just gifted a tiny fig tree for helping someone with some yard work. I am sooo excited now I need to read up on it. And figure out where to plant it. I hope maybe I can keep it in a large pot for a few years. I believe it has to come indoors for the winter.

Will share some photos as soon as I can figure out how to do it. Something has changed since last fall and I am no longer able to post pics to the forum from my phone.

It's amazing how fast everything grows and how energetic I feel eating it again.  No more winter lethargy!

Yummy salads with onions and radishes:

Baby collard & kale for smoothies:



No asparagus for me this year...but next year :


Tomatoes, basil, ground cherries and peppers awaiting warmer nights:
 

Mowed my lawn for the first time yesterday and we got drizzled on during the night.

CC

Beautiful!

That's a candidate for Better Homes and Gardens right there! Pretty!

What are ground cherries? I never heard of them.

What a lovely beginning to the season.  All looks healthy.

Great pictures CC! Everything looks so good!