Sun and starts

Coming back from lunch, I am wondering if spring is finally here. Watching the nighttime temperature forecast go up and up because at a consistent 7C I can put my earliest tomatoes out in the garden. I’m hardening them off at the moment but putting them outside during the day, I’m thinking I’ll put them in a cold frame this weekend and leave them there for the next week until it’s time to put them in the ground.

All the other tomatoes and peppers are doing well inside under heat lamps at the moment with the exception of a slight yellowing on some of the older plants that spells nitrogen deficiency. A little organic fertilizer is my only realistic solution at the moment.

Lots of little green shoots coming up in the garden these days: peas, spinach, mesclun greens, oriental greens, amish deer tongue, edible chrysanthemum, borage, onions, shallots, and radishes. I also put in a set of leaf lettuce and radicchio starts on the weekend because I couldn’t help myself in wanting a few bigger things to take hold for earlier eating. The weather has been somewhat cool until this week, so nothing is really going crazy yet but I know it’s just a matter of time before those tiny seedlings become lush boxes of salad greens and stir-fry fixings. My chives are lovely right now, I had to nip the first set of flowers off on the weekend to keep them coming in strong. The rhubarb is ready for first harvest.

At the garden center on Saturday my partner picked out a shrub/tree he was drawn to and asked if we had room for it in the backyard. Since I’m all about him having a say on our yard (flowers! he wants lots of flowers) I agreed to the Sambuca nigra he was drawn to. Little did I know that Sambuca is the formal name for an Elder Tree and the flowers and berries are used medicinally as well as in wine making.  One more edible/medicinal plant for our permanent collection! For my part, I picked out the decorative passionflower vine for the corner of our new studio which I’m hoping will create a lovely effect once it grows up and bushes out.

More pictures soon!