New Plants and Strawberries

Strawberry's are coming!  We've had 2 or three strawberries out of the garden so far, most are still a ways off, though.  We'll be keeping an eye on them so we can get the net over them before they get raided by the birds and squirrels.

In the east garden, Kate's pre-ordered plants arrived and she planted them yesterday. Starting on the top left of this pic is Parsley, Salsa Tomato and a Jalapeno plant.  Middle row is Cilantro, Plum Tomato and a Sweet Cherry Pepper plant.  And the two in the bottom of the pic are Oregano and Basil.  Also, we put in a small chickenwire fence that I used last year in front of the peas to help keep them contained and encourage them to grow up instead of out.

Trellis Makeover and Wild Chives

The small pea plants were grabbing for, but not really attaching to, the trellis.  So I had to rethink the design.  I wound up getting some cheap 1x2's to frame it out and some chicken wire to attach to the front.  If they can't climb it now then they can't climb!

We used to have chives at the top of the garden, and this year some just sprang up at the top of the path (which you can see if you look closely at earlier posted pics).  Kate replanted them in the lower right of the west garden, above the thyme plant.  She also planted a few more garlic bulbs in a row above the existing garlic, not pictured here.  There wasn't much as some of the garlic bulbs we had for planting had gone bad.  We should receive the preordered plants this week to start filling out the garden.

I Hate Ants

Only 8 days later than the last post (9, actually, but I took these pics last night) and you can see how the recent daily rainshowers have helped the peas grow.  I'm still concerned about them attaching to the trellis.  I may have to add some chicken wire to the front so they have something easier to grab.
The garlic that we thought was ready is not, so it will be left in for the time being.  I think the very mild winter and oddly warm March may have messed up their growth pattern a bit.  Oh well, we'll leave them be for the time being and maybe check them again in a few weeks or so.

The strawberry plants are looking well with many flowers and teeny, tiny, going-to-be berries.  Last year we had an anthill in the upper left of this garden and they have been back even stronger this year.  I try and try but getting rid of them has not been easy.  I did get some to move, but only over to the other garden, it seems.  I will need to get something stronger that won't hurt the soil or plants, if possible.  I'm open to any suggestions in the comments!

May Day-After Pics

The west garden has not changed yet, except for a little growth.  The peas are growing at the top, reaching for and almost getting the trellis.  The garlic, along the bottom, is almost ready for harvest,  Kate says the dirt just has to be able to dry out some.  And in the lower right, by the garlic, the thyme plant is coming back nicely.

In the east garden, the strawberry plants have plenty of flowers, even a few very small berries-in-the-making.  There is still the bare area at top right.  We're hoping it fills out more with a regular summer and not the baking we got last year.  With the trees and bushes in the area and the angles of the summer sun that corner gets the most sunlight of the whole garden.

Trell Isn't, Trell Is!

Over the weekend I picked up a 2' x 8' trellis (they didn't have any 4' x4'), cut it in half, and now we have a trellis for the peas to attach to and climb.  We still may have to put something in front later on.  Last year I cut a conical tomato cage and spread it open to do this and we may have to use it again this year.

The garlic is looking well.  Some of the bases are pretty thick which should mean big bulbs.  I guess that's the difference between planting it in the Spring versus the previous Fall.

In the east garden, the strawberry plants are getting blooms all over the place.  The plants that Kate transplanted into the upper right are surviving, I just hope that corner doesn't get baked again this year or we may have to find a more sun-friendly vegetable or plant to put up there with the strawberries.

Edit:  Last night we did get some frost here, it doesn't seem to have hurt anything, thankfully.

Strawberry Transplant

Kate transplanted some strawberry plants from the edges to the bare area in the upper right, below in the east garden.  It is strange, but that corner seems to get too much sun.  Last summer was a hot one, though.  Hopefully these will help it fill out some.  We had a frost warning for the last 3 nights and we covered the strawberry plants each night, but I don't think we got frost here.  It was patchy at best in the area, thankfully.  The pea plants and garlic in the west garden are doing very well.  Rain is forecast for every day the next five days or so, then sometime soon we will have more planting to do.

Again With The Frost, Kinda

We had a freeze warning for last night, and we have one for tonight.  Like last post, I'm not really convinced we got any frost here, and I get up pretty early.  It was cold, even just below freezing according to the morning news each time, and probably will be again tomorrow morning, before warming up a bit later in the week.  We covered the strawberry plants last night, I removed the sheet after work, and we will cover them again before dark.  Just in case.  No pics, it looks like the last post.

Fretting The Frost

There is a frost warning tonight, so as a first for this blog we will have a nighttime post!  We went out just a bit ago to cover the strawberry plants, the garlic and pea sprouts (visible in the west garden, top in this pic) should be okay, my wife says they are hardier plants.  Same with all the hostas, irises, day lillies (lilys?) and lily of the valley early growth and sprouts.  But the lilac has bunches of buds that are days from opening, I hope they weather the cold night.

On a side note, you may have noticed the look of this site has changed.  It needed updating to a wider format, and though this is one of Blogger's canned templates, it does not mess up the old posts too much and will do nicely for now.  Also, a friend of mine from work has started a site for his garden and pond.  I urged him in this direction and I think he will enjoy it as much or more than I like doing my sites.  He already has some great pics up, give him a visit here, or on the link in the right column.

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Two posts in two days, it's getting busy around here...
Kate cleaned up and prepared the gardens today before planting the peas at the top of the west garden.

















We got the bulk of the hay out of the strawberries, it will have to be enough.

First Spring Post, 2012

Happy St. Patrick's day 2012!  In the green state of mind on my green garden blog let's take a first look at the green in the garden!

Well, there's not much green yet, just some small strawberry plants and some garlic coming up that Kate planted last fall.  Below the garlic is a thyme plant that is expected to come back.  With the early Spring and great weather things may come together sooner than later, however.  We didn't use as much hay to cover the strawberries this year, in fact we may not have needed to use any at all with such a mild winter.  Other people have told me that they don't cover their strawberry plants and have no problems, but we still have about half the bag left so we will probably continue to use it.

Below is the whole thing, pockmarked by the damn squirrels digging around.  They don't like the garlic but that doesn't stop them.