It rained most of the today - poured actually, and April went down in our record books as the coldest April in the history of that sort of recordkeeping. They say, they've been keeping those sorts of records since the late 1800's. Believe me, that's not one of those records a gardener likes to hear.
April is over now, and as it turns out, it's true, April showers do bring May flowers! This Harvest Monday marks the official first bouquet of the season from my gardens. They're pretty - one bright red, ruffly edged tulip surrounded by stems of delicate little blue flowers (which, by the way, I simply call "little blue flowers" because I do not recall if I ever knew their real name).
Wet, wet, wet was how it was in the garden today as it drizzled. It really was more than a drizzle. It could more accurately have been called a heavy rain, and I got absolutely soaked in the short time it took for me to gather this small harvest. One leek, the little bouquet of flowers, a handful of assorted herbs and a few photos was as long as I dared to stay in the garden without a serious rain coat. My camera doesn't seem to capture rain very well, but you can at least get the idea of how wet it was.
Here's Garden Nbr. 01 in today's rain. With it's soggy walkway, without the straw it would not have been possible to walk in there today. Garden Nbr. 01 is growing - slowly.
And here is Garden Nbr. 02 in today's rain. Again, without the straw, it would not have been possible to walk between those raised beds. It's hard to tell in this picture, but the two largest beds in the front of this picture, on the right hand side, have leeks and onions and garlics growing in them. They are all very small, not quite as big as the straw I sip my mocha with each morning, but because they do so well in our cooler climates, should yield me a pretty good crop this year. Well, as long as they don't rot away from all the rain first. Unfortunately, it's all too obvious in this photo just how well the weeds have adapted to our record cold temperatures - and above average rains.
Back in Garden Nbr. 01, these chives are full of buds. I was hoping last week that some of their buds would have opened and been ready to harvest by now, but, nope, not yet. Guess it's been too cold, and wet. Sigh. In front of the chives are the Chinese stirfry mix on one side with spinach on the other. Both have tiny sets of second leaves, and both do well in our cooler climates. Maybe (maybe!) soon I'll be harvesting those.
The raspberries seem to be absolutely thriving in the rain though and are full of little buds. I love the spring green color that their tender new leaves take on this time of year.
As if that one sunny day we had over the weekend was enough to claim responsibility, the strawberries are full of blossoms in today's rain. The soil in this bed, absolutely soupy from the rain though. Horsetails, loving a swamp, shot up so fast in just a few days that now they threaten to dwarf and choke out my strawberry plants. I've had a problem with horsetails in this spot of my garden before. They are stubborn and so very hard to get rid of. Each year, I dig them out, yet each year they return. Give me one day very soon, a day when the sun is shining - and when I'm not out hiking, and I'll do my best to tackle this problem. Again.
The fava beans I planted a few weeks ago have finally sprouted. Fava beans do very well in the cooler climates too, so lucky me, I love fava beans.
I have several other types of beans yet to plant, other raised beds yet to fill, and all that's needed is for it to warm up a bit more. Our average last frost date is May 4th or 5th. That date is coming up real soon. While I know that's just an average date, and our last frost this year could in reality turn out to be May 14th or 15th, I really am trying hard to be patient. Another sigh. Bigger this time.
Daphne over at
Daphne's Dandelions set up Harvest Monday as a way for garden bloggers to show off their harvests. It sounded fun, and a great way to challenge myself to be more creative with my harvests - especially this early in the spring. She's got a great garden going herself this year. Check out her blog to see what's growing there, and read about what's being harvested.
I have to laugh because the flowers are forget-me-nots, but you have forgotten them. I wish I had leeks to eat. I almost bought some at the store, but then decided not to. I'll have to wait for the fall for my leeks.
ReplyDeleteOh Daphne, that is so funny! Thank you for identifying them!
ReplyDeleteI got those, and a whole bunch of other perennials several years ago when friends invited me over to dig what I wanted out of their side garden because it had become so overgrown. They did not know what most of their flowers were because they were already established when they moved in. I did take the time to research some of the plants and learn their names, and how to care for them . . . but never did get around to doing any research these Forget-Me-Nots. Very funny!