The Plan

We’ve placed our first seed order for 2010 from Pinetree Garden Seeds. Take a look at the potential garden.

SMALL SUGAR PUMPKIN (95 days heirloom)
KIWANO HORNED MELON (90 days)
RED BURGUNDY OKRA (55 days)
BEER FRIEND SOY BEAN
ROSE ORACH (heirloom)
TABASCO PEPPER (85 days)
MINNESOTA MIDGET MELON (60 days)
KENTUCKY WONDER BEAN (66 day heirloom)
CYLINDRA BEET (58 days heirloom)
GERMAN GIANT RADISH (37 days heirloom)
CHERRY BRANDY RUDBECKIA
TENDER SWEET (heirloom)
LEMON CUCUMBER (65 days heirloom)
HOMEMADE PICKLES CUCUMBER (54 days)
TURKISH ORANGE EGGPLANT (heirloom)
LAVENDER TOUCH (F1 hybrid 66 days)
PENGUIN GOURD
PEPINO (95 days)
BANANA MELON (80 days heirloom)
FRECKLES LETTUCE (70 days)
SUHYO TK CUCUMBER (65 days)
ORANGE SUN PEPPER (81 days)
PAPRIKA PEPPER (80 days)
CAYENNE-LONG PEPPER (70 days heirloom)
EIGHTBALL ZUCCHINI (F1 hybrid 35 days)
PAPAYA PEAR SQUASH (F1 hybrid 40 days)
CARNIVAL SQUASH (F1 hybrid 85 days)
DELICATA SQUASH (heirloom)
OREGON SPRING TOMATO (68 days)
KELLOGGS BREAKFAST TOMATO (79 days)
WHITE SWAN ECHINACEA
CHIOGGIA BEET (55 days heirloom)
VIRGINIA GOLD TOBACCO
MOULIN ROUGE SUNFLOWER
FANTASIA MIXTURE SUNFLOWER(F1)
STATE FAIR MIX ZINNIA

We’ve been enjoying bits and pieces from the garden lately. Carrots keep coming, garlic is done, brussel sprouts have begun, a couple of fennel bulbs, a few ripe tomatoes (thanks Jeff!), and I picked the first of what will likely be a good crop of green beans. Anne made some mashed potatoes with the first of the potatoes.

Fennel bulbs are one of those veggies that will stump most employees at checkout. I’m sure they do not sell very many — it’s not a very popular vegetable in the U.S. Then again, I’ve seen zucchini stump some employees, so maybe it’s a question of employee training and/or quality. If you haven’t had fennel, I do recommend it as something completely different from every other vegetable. The foliage smells a lot like black licorice, but you won’t likely find it with foliage on at the store. We often eat it raw, sliced thin, with olive oil and salt.

Artichokes are another good stump-the-checkout-clerk vegetable. We seem to have managed to trick one plant to bloom. The aphids seem to really like artichokes.

We planted squash late so as to avoid some of the squash bugs. Haven’t seen any yet, so that might have worked. The squash vine borers on the other hand are plentiful and likely doing their slow damage to the plants.

It’s a race now to see if the plant can live long enough to bear fruit. Two new mini varieties of summer squash are growing along with spaghetti squash elsewhere in the garden. Also found a nice robust acorn volunteer squash doing very well along side the compost bin. That’s nice since we didn’t plant any acorn squash this year.

It’s tree blooming time. Plums and wild plums appear to be the first to bloom.

And then I might place my money on the cherry trees, but the red buds aren’t too far behind. The crab apples have sprouted small clusters of leaves. I’m not sure, but I think they will leaf out more before blooming. The plums are very fragrant, or they would be if it would stop raining long enough to smell them. We did need the rain, but I’d like to have it stop now for a bit.