Spring Starts

While it's still winter in most of the Northern Hemisphere, my area is past its average last frost date.  We didn't frost at all this year, but that's beside the point.  It's time to put the seedlings outside, and Tu B'Shevat seemed like the best day for it.

Cool weather planting actually started last year.  The last round of peas got nibbled by either bugs or a squirrel.  I'm voting for squirrel.  It moved on to the watercress after I cleaned up the remains of the peas.  I put out some of the chard starts, but only the ones in the sun are doing well.  Same with the two broccoli, so I decided to reserve the second round until I could see how the rest of the cool season was going to go.

Aphids moved in, and I don't know where the mushrooms came from.  The only solution for the first problem was to pull last year's kale, which was starting to bolt anyway and couldn't stand on its own because kale is not a palm tree.  I'm working on the mushroom issue by pulling them regularly, using copper fungicide, and watering less, but it finally started raining, so the top layer isn't going to dry for some time.

Instead, I turned my focus to the pots.  One barrel was seeded with turnips and beets.  The beets aren't coming up, but I keep trying.  The seeds are old.  Eggy is still hanging on to the other barrel, so I put a broccoli in the other large pot.  All the new plants got chicken wire cages so they wouldn't get dug up.  Gotta love wildlife, right?

The Dollar Tree pot I bought was smaller than I thought, so I haven't put anything in it yet.  One parsley joined the turnips and the other is with Eggy and another attempt at beets.  I put the chards in the lettuce patch, in the hope that it will take root with a good rain.  Still waiting their turn is a celery, the last broccoli, and several kale.  They'll go in once I'm sure the Pond is done flooding.

All this gardening is a good distraction for me right now.  Molly passed away from her feline chronic kidney disease a week ago at almost 18 years of age.  There has been at least one cat in this house since 1988, and removing cat accessories has opened up an astonishing amount of floor space.  I decided to start Passover cleaning a month early to keep myself busy.  I haven't ruled out getting another cat at some point and kept everything I can reuse.  It will be after I have taken some long vacations without having to worry about a pet sitter.  I'm trying to embrace the empty-nester lifestyle for now.