houseplants

I feel as if i need to give a shout out to the houseplants. Houseplants, we think you're really pretty and really cool even though we can't eat you.

radishes!

We are seeing our first signs of life in the form of little radish leaves popping up. We planted Easter egg radishes that will be multicolored and very pretty. I realized today that a good portion of one plot isn't going to be good for planting. It's super rocky, and I've just got a hunch that it'll be tough to grow on it. In our time off we got a lot done. We planted celery, parsley, lettuces, spinach, peas, garlic, onions, cabbage, the mysterious vegetable oyster plant-salsify (I can't wait to try it), turnips, parsnips, arugula and asparagus (finally). I've been lisening to a lot of You Bet Your Garden http://www.youbetyourgarden.org/and am learning a lot.

Some photos

Here are some photos of our plots and seeds. So far, we've planted onions, garlic, turnips, radishes and beets.

asparagus

The asparagus arrived today...10 plants short. This means we'll only be planting 10 plants because we shared the order with a friend. The woman screwed up my order and can't send any additional plants because most of hers were destroyed by rains. Anyway, this is what they looked like when they arrived. The other photo is of the trench they're going into.

asparagus scam

Over a month ago, I ordered 40 asparagus plants, 25 for us and 15 for a friend. They were due to ship Priority Mail on April 10. We still don't have them. "No big deal," I thought. "I'll just call the woman who I ordered them from." No big deal, but no one answers her phone, her website is gone, and she isn't returning my e-mails. It's possible we were scammed, but I'm thinking that asparagus is a pretty unlikely scam since no one really buys asparagus plants, right? Please say I'm right. The website (when it existed) was elaborate, ridiculously elaborate. Asparagus is frustrating enough on its own because you have to wait two to three years to harvest it. I'm hoping that they come today. We dug a 25-foot trench (about a foot-and-a-half deep), and I'd like to fill it soon.

beginnings

Here it is, April 13, and we have just started planning for this year's garden. We figure this is about 3-4 times the size of last year's apartment garden, and we're so excited! Our asparagus trench is dug and ready for 25 two-year-old plants that are on their way to us from Tennessee. Patrick tilled an estimated 40X40 foot space yesterday. We ordered some very nice seeds, have some potatoes sprouting, and can't wait to visit our friends at Ravenwold Farm for plants.
While we're focusing on vegetables, all of the new Spring growth has us very excited since this is our first Spring in the house. So far, I see daffodils, chives, walking onions and the beginnings of strawberries and rhubarb. What we've done up until this point is mostly prep...I've been very busy raking and mulching. We just got boy and girl blueberry bushes and are excited to see what they bring. Many photos to come as we track our progress.