Spring Garden

Thanks to having nothing to do during January except cook and clean, I haven't had space in this blog for gardening posts.  Took me until Passover to publish the backlog, then there were all the Passover recipes themselves.

Gardening has been happening this whole time.  Lettuces, arugula, kale, and peas were my winter veggies.  Less successful was the attempt at spinach and beets.  Bugs got the shoots.  The arugula and lettuce bolted a month ago, so there was a lot of salad, and my dwarf kale is threatening the same.  I put the peas on some peanut butter pasta, and kept snacking on the ripe ones before Passover started, to clear the vines until after the no-legume holiday was done.

I decided to start eggplant from seed this year.  I skipped nightshades in 2020, so the bugs could leave the neighborhood.  To Molly's chagrin, I decided to rip out the catnip pots and change them into homes for the eggplants.  One extra seedling is going into the planter that I had hoped to keep open for pumpkin in a couple of months.  It's a big enough planter that I can use another area.

It's time to harden off the seedlings.  They aren't happy with me about that, but haven't died yet.  I'm checking the artichokes every few days, looking for the stalks.  The original Artie is starting to get a bud, but nothing from the other two plants yet.  The boysenberry should also start flowering soon.  This winter was cool but dry, so I'm not sure how that's going to affect the perennials.  One more learning curve in my gardening education.