Karen's Garden Delights Journal
1st week of May 2011

We've certainly had our share of rainy, gray days this spring. When I needed to pick salad for Tuesday customers, I could choose whether I wanted to get wet or wetter since the rain kept fluctuating intensity. Picking veggies in the rain just isn't my idea of fun and fortunately, there aren't many times that is necessary. One day mid week we did get some glimpses of sunshine. It felt wonderful and the sun seemed like a long lost friend but of course, there were rain showers that followed that brief appearance. Right now, almost every meal we eat has garlic scallions and greens as ingredients. The first spears of asparagus brought some new variety and we are looking forward to cutting the first rhubarb. Meanwhile, the salad from the fall cold frame plantings has peaked and some things are starting to bolt. I hope enough greens keep coming till the spring lettuce and spinach are ready to take over. I am picking lots of stinging nettle both to sell at Local Roots and to dehydrate for ourselves for tea. Another crop that is benefiting from the abundant rain is the hay, the grass is growing thick and lush in the pastures and fields and Olin is looking for an excellent yield. In the garden we moved many of the low tunnels from the salad crops to a new area to start summer veggies. I took a chance and planted some zucchini seeds under one and made rows for the beans but decided to not plant till the tunnel helps warm up the ground for a couple days. The barrels are also moving on to protect nasturtiums and soon tomatoes and peppers.

We worked to get the greenhouse cleaned out by pulling the greens going to seed and moving the pots of perennials outdoors. This made room for planting 8 tomato plants in the ground and to spread out the growing number of seedling flats. It looks so much better and I actually have room to walk around. Last year I made the mistake of letting LOTS of arugula go to seed and it overtook my other plantings in the fall so this time we were diligent in cleaning up before that happened. This week we also transplanted the biggest tomatoes to 4" pots. The challenge is keeping everything well labeled since there are about 15 different varieties to keep straight. I'm hoping they will be established and looking sturdy to go to their new homes in about two weeks. I'll plant around 100 myself with about 150 left to sell or share. I also started cucumbers, melons and Mexican Sour Gherkins in flats. Next week I'll start the squash. Generally, these do best when I start them directly in the ground outdoors but with our cool spring, I want to give things a good head start this year.

I certainly haven't been sitting around twiddling my fingers waiting for the rain to let up. There have been talks to prepare for, a Power Point to create, Mother's Day cards to make for Local Roots, newsletters to type for several Amish friends and other office details. We are also finishing up homeschool projects and have a field trip planned this week to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (on a day that NO rain is predicted)!