Time to get serious!

Hello all,

Thanks to everyone who came out to help on Saturday.

Subject to my obligations to my students, I will make time one evening this week to till in the manure and then would like to suggest that we plan a morning to begin preparing some beds for planting, maybe Saturday May 9?

Meanwhile I think we should put some thought into what sort of things we should plant this year. I will be placing one more seed order this year for my own garden, and if anyone has any ideas or thoughts on what we MUST plant, I would be willing to spring for some extra packets of seed. I also have lots of leftover seed from last year that is apparently viable, so I am willing to share that as well. So, Please read the following and then reply with your thoughts!

I have started extra tomato plants, cucumbers, peppers, and herbs to share with the garden, and will be starting some other items later this week, pumpkins, squash...

We need to put some thought into if and where we should plant some perennials. Asparagus, strawberries...

I have a fantasy that we would grow a nice bed of June bearing strawberries and then make hand cranked strawberry ice-cream as an annual HVCC-DNCG summer event tradition.

Strawberries take a couple of years to get going, so we should think about that ASAP, but we could probably get enough berries from my garden for a couple of small batches of ice-cream anyway.

Asparagus takes three years before there is a sustainable crop, so if we are interested in that, we should get started on it as well.

As far as annuals, I ordered more seed potatoes than I need this year and would be happy to share the extra with the garden if we all decide to grow potatoes. Sometimes I think growing potatoes in the Valley is hauling coals to Newcastle however.

I have lots of different types and varieties of salad vegetable seeds, lettuce, carrot, spinach, radish etc that I am willing to share.

I think we should grow beans and peas.

My experience with corn has been hit and miss, but it would be fun to have a "corn on the cob-fest" to end the gardening year maybe.

There are lots of other things that grow well that we should consider, some of which I don't grow because I don't know how to prepare well, chard, turnips, rutabagas, or just don't like...beets.

We still have a couple of weeks before we need to plant, but they are going to go by fast.

Weathered Out

March is supposed to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb, but for the second year in a row, the opposite is true. My garden notes from last year indicate that warm weather in early March had me out cleaning up the garden and actually planting peas, lettuce, and spinach in early March, and this year was similarly promising.

This year we started ground work for our community garden and then had 6 inches of snow on the ground the following weekend, postponing our plans to haul manure on March 28. Snow greeted us again on the morning of April 4 and 5. Next weekend is not forecast to be much better. I don't mind a bit of cold, but I don't think any of us are eager to shovel manure in the snow.

I think we still have plenty of time though. Last year I recorded and experienced killing cold in my garden around June 14. It would be nice to have all the ground work and planning done in time to plant the first weekend in June.