The Garden Chronicles - May 30, 2009 - The Plot

By end of May the garden is fully planted with seeds, purchased plants, and plants started from seeds in the Bio-Dome. The plot below shows the layout of the vegetable garden.

Peppers and Tomatoes

Beans and Carrots

Lettuce, Kohlrabi, and Swiss Chard

A Showy Lilac Bush

Gallardia Daisies

Dutchman's Breeches and Ferns

A Showy Bridal Wreath

Tremendous Peony

Herb garden is thriving

Lucy and Ricky are close to full-grown now. Lucy is a very big girl!

Back in Wisconsin, the trillium were on display along the forest floor over Memorial Day weekend.

Over the holiday weekend, we took a hike/run along the Red Cedar State Trail.

This bend along the Red Cedar State Trail is the Dunville Wildlife Area where heron are often seen feeding on fish. We did not see herons, but the river was scenic nonetheless.

The Garden Chronicles - May 17, 2009

By mid-May, it feels like spring has come to stay for a while. The apricot and pear trees have finished blooming, and the apple tree is pollinating this week. The strawberries have flowers, too.

We planted seeds in the house in early March, which are now close to planting size. We started them in a Bio-Dome planter from Park Seed Company. After years of starting seeds in peat pots with starter mix, and having moderately good results, we decided to try this new system for starting seeds. The Bio-Dome comes with a tray and a clear lid that protects the plants from drafts and keeps the planting medium evenly moist. The planting medium is a set of little cone-shaped sponges of peat and other material that fit into a styrofoam mold. Our Bio-Dome holds sixty little sponges. We started hollyhocks, petunias, salvia, Savoy cabbage, tomatoes, and basil in the house, and all germinated! Most have survived to now, and we are beginning to harden them this week.




This is a better photo of one of the garden bunnies. We expect to see more of them in the weeks to come. The neighbor's cat got a baby bunny this week, and we suspect that there are more in our yard. We believe the rabbit's den is behind the compost heap next to the garage. Perhaps we have not seen the other bunny in a few days because she is caring for young ones. The garden is ready for them this this year: We have wrapped chicken wire fencing around everthing.

What's doing in the cold frames? The cold frame plantings are getting bigger each day. Radishes will be ready to harvest within another month, and the carrots will remain until almost the end of the summer.

Lettuce, Oriental mixed greens, beets, kohlrabi, and Swiss chard were among the early plantings in the cold frames.

We have had a lovely show of tulips throughout the neighborhood, including these in front of our house. The warm days and cool nights have kept them fresh for a couple of weeks now.

The Garden Chronicles - May 4, 2009

Some rains, some warmer weather, a little sunshine, and spring gardening has improved immensely. Under the watchful eye of a garden bunny, the apricot trees' profuse blossoms were last week's feature.

Another harbinger of spring is our early asparagus, so welcome after a winter of frozen vegetables.

There is more to come from spring, and perhaps more rain this week will help the cold frame seedlings grow large enough to photograph next weekend.