Gas Pains

Tom grew up in Milwaukee, bartended in Wauwatosa in the '70s and moved here in 1984.

Commentary, observations and musings about the outdoors, life in general and maybe Tosa politics and personalities will be the order of the day. He savors a lively debate as much as terrific cooking.

The Garden Chronicles

Gardening, Outdoors

There has been an inch-plus of perfectly-timed rain in the past week.

Radishes, onions, peas, beets, cabbages, spinach, lettuces and peas (planted two weeks ago) are up and looking good. 

My developing asparagus bed came-up really well this spring.  The stalks are three feet tall and starting to look more like a fern.  Next year will be its third year of root development and I think I'll be able to begin harvesting.  We'll have to see.  It took a considerable amount of self-restraint to not pick just a handful of succulent spears the last two years.

Green beans, carrots with radishes and a second row of peas went in today.  Remember - if you are planting legumes be sure to use an inoculant with your seed.

It's been too cold lately to bother with planting winter squash, pumpkins, sweet corn, cukes or the like. The soil temperatures have to warm-up considerably.

The last couple of nights there have been scattered frost warnings so I'm not risking the tomato and pepper plants until the end of he month.  Instead I've been starting to harden them-off by keeping them in the cool garage overnight and bringing them out for some fresh air and exercise during the day. 

Hint - Mix some radish seed along with your carrot seed.  As you pick the faster growing radishes you'll automatically thin your carrots allowing them more space to grow.  You can also plant your carrots in stages up to mid-summer so that you'll have both tender young ones and mature ones.  At the end of the growing season if you leave your carrots in the ground until after several hard frosts they'll taste sweeter. 

If you are feeling really ambitious - in October - cover the  carrots with a thick layer of mulch.  You do not want the ground  to freeze.  That way you can pick carrots in the winter.  Impress your sweetie with fresh garden carrots on Valentine's Day.  This technique also works with other root vegetables like parsnips.

This site uses Facebook comments to make it easier for you to contribute. If you see a comment you would like to flag for spam or abuse, click the "x" in the upper right of it. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use.

Page Tools

Advertisement

Archives