An April Week in Our Urban Garden

                                           And What a Week It Was!

The bright sun was a regular for this past week, but the evening temperatures kept falling into the mid-30's. Although we didn't have a freeze here in the city of Lancaster, the chilly temps required that our plants be covered nightly through Friday. It's been an unusually cool spring so far, but it looks very much like the temperatures are moderating as we move toward the "merry, merry month of May." And, hope springs eternal!

If your ever seeking a nearly instant garden gratification in early or mid-spring, pick up a pack of your favorite radish seeds. They send up their first leaves in something like a week even with temps in the 30's at night and just mid forties during the day. It's one of those "feel good" moments when the plant world wants to help you stop worrying if any of your seeds will ever sprout. And "snowbird" peas are a pretty close second!

                  No product endorsement intended. It's just what I happen to have.

I should also mention asparagus as one of the early producers. Our first asparagus began to pop up early in the week. Lois sauteed a batch in small amount of teriaki sauce. They were delicious! What a wonderful experience it is to have fresh garden vegetables coming in to the kitchen in the 3rd week of April!  And because we enjoy the asparagus so much, we bought eight more roots to add to what we currently have with the full realization that it will be two years before they are truly productive.

All of the herbs have sprouted. We currently have dill, lemon thyme and  basil, which we bought as plants, and parsley, marjoram, cilantro and tarragon which were our seed starts - and mature chives. Soon, as already with the chives, we will be able to walk just a few feet from the kitchen door to trim fresh herbs to enhance the evening meal.
                                          

   Basil, thyme, tarragon & the calendula top center "chust for pretty" as the Amish say.

As spring has progressed, even if chilly, we have carrots coming up and a second row will be planted this week. The radishes popped up in a week or so. More will be started this week. We also have a row of beets showing their first leaves and a second row will be started this week. The three rows of "sugar snap" peas are looking very strong. And, the strawberries are beautiful with many flowers already in full bloom. And, finally, the broccoli (the row behind the container shown just above) has begun to "take off".

                                                      Strawberries to be!

 Thanks for stopping by. We hope to see you again soon! If you have any comments or questions, contact us at chuckscards42@hotmail.com

Chuck & Lois

 

WE LOVE YOU BOSTON!

The tragedy in Boston this past week was certainly upsetting to all of us. I followed it in the print media. Many of you already know that I very rarely watch TV "news" due to its frequent graphic and negative exploitation of  incidents which is characterized by the expression "If it bleeds, it leads". And our garden provided much needed breaks from even the print and online news. For that, we give thanks.

Early in the week, we plotted the garden spaces to be reserved for green and yellow zucchinis, butternut squash, and spaghetti squash. The recently screened 92 pounds of compost was put to quick use, providing a nice top dressing for the plants.

                    The 4th composted square is in the block at the top of garden

We harvested spinach early in the week. Picked at its peak, it was gorgeous. Lois quickly turned it into "Spinach Cheese Squares". Sometimes I think she dabbles in magic - afterall it IS spinach! They were delicious!

The strawberries made a sudden change. They had been rather sad looking, but suddenly recognized spring and perked right up!

                         The strawberry  flowers are just beginning to come out.

Nadine can look forward to getting her green zucchini plant next week. It's pretty near time to plant it!

                                           "Purrcilla" - Nadine's zucchini

And the cherry tree is full of blossoms. We are REALLY looking forward to a big crop of bright red cherries this year!

Cherry tree

 

 The week ended on a very cold note! All plants were covered with blankets to prevent possible freeze damage. They did well overnight, spent today in the sun, and will be covered again tonight.  It does seem to be pretty typical, at least over the last ten or more years, to get a cold weather snap at the end of April. We always have the blankets handy, just in case!

 

                                                   Warding off the cold

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you again next week and we all can enjoy some warmer weather by then!

If you have a comment about this post, send it to chuckscards42@hotmail.com

Chuck & Lois

Cold Weather Alert

There's some cold nights coming up this weekend. Protect your tender plants or, if they're still in containers, bring them inside overnight.

I'm hoping for warmer weather to follow...for a long time!

More On Compost!

                                    Screening Your Finished Compost

Our good friend and good gardening pal Dot posed a question recently regarding how we screen  compost once it has matured.  Let me start by saying that we actually have two compost piles. They are side-by-side in a shaded garden area. The first pile is the one we started this time last year (and for many years before that) and basically declared it done in November. That pile of vegetative debris - kitchen scraps, garden leaves and other material from our property only - sat over the winter and continued working, if only slowly. Kitchen scraps were added over the winter, but left on the side to become the starting point for next year's pile. So, there is clearly some overlapping of the heaps.

Screening the finished "over-winter" material is a spring ritual for me. When I was much, much younger, I always thought Opening Day in baseball was the official start of spring. As baseball changed, so did I. Opening Day for me is now the first spring day I can get outside and get gardening!  Yesterday, I spent an overcast and cool two hours in the afternoon screening approximately 100 pounds of fresh,  rough compost from our pile. The primary tool is a primitive homemade "sifter" - a 4 square foot frame with plastic/rubber screening.

                                            Homemade compost screen

The rough compost, soft debris mixed with small sticks and chips, is spread in batches on the sifter. The material is spread around with a trowel and the soft material falls into a container below the frame. The sticks and chips remain in the frame to be returned to the heap for another shot at becoming compost.

After all the sifting, there was eight pounds of woody material that need more time in the heap

 

 

 

 and 92 pounds of "soft as silk" compost ready to get to work. And it's all FREE thanks to Mother Nature!

 

Thanks, Dot!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coming Alive!


                                            The Garden In Mid-April

Hello! It's good to be back here. I spent the first week of the month sick and spent no time outside. Last week was a wash due to cool temperatures and subsequent a lack of growth.  Well, now we're about three weeks into spring and our garden still looks pretty barren. But, little-by-little and day-by-day,  it's definitely coming alive. Here's a peak in alphabetical order:

                               Oops! Looks like the yellow zuke needs a drink!

- asparagus are just beginning to pop up
- beets have been planted, but have not broken ground yet
- berries (Blackberry and raspberry) are in full leaf
- broccoli plants are developing very nicely (they liked the weather last week!)
- butternut squash seedlings are developing nicely
- carrot seed has been planted but not yet sprouted
- cherry tree is in full bloom
                                     

- corn seed not yet planted
- herbs (cilantro, marjoram, parsley & thyme) have sprouted, but seem slow
- lettuce seedlings are coming along slowly
- the first 18 feet of snow peas are up; the second planting of 8' hasn't sprouted yet
- spaghetti squash seedling is doing well
- spinach (March planting is about ready to eat; 2nd planting seedlings are growing well)

- strawberries are awake and starting to flower
- tomatoes (Jet Star and cherry) are thriving
- zucchini squash (green, yellow) seedlings are developing very nicely

                          This is Purrrcilla, Nadine's "Adopt a Zucchini" baby!

We emptied the compost heap today. It yielded approximately 100 pounds, give or take a pound. That is in addition to the ten pounds we've used already. Horray! That's more than last year (75 pounds) and a good improvement in what we're striving to do. We'll be spreading all of that "garden black gold" in the main planting areas this week.

 If you don't have a compost pile, now's a good time to start one. Find a small spot in your yard and begin by putting tonight's vegetable trimmings out there. Your compost heap doesn't need to be a construction project, just a shady out of the way spot close to your kitchen door. With spring weather coming, all of the soil microbes and insects will be getting back to work after the winter break. Encourage their presence by providing a garden "restaurant" specializing in vegetarian food scraps. To help the process along, turn over your compost several times a month.

                                          100 pounds of garden "black gold"!

Thanks for looking! I'll be back next week....hopefully with a little more excitement!

A Sure Sign of Spring!

 

 Okay! Maybe winter really is giving way to spring!