Everything is in the Ground

Last Saturday morning we woke up to a light frost. None of the new seedlings suffered any damage that I could see but I’m glad I hadn’t planted the rest of the garden. When we lived in the Adirondacks, we always waited until Memorial Day weekend or later to plant the garden. Even with the slightly longer season here, that still seems like a good rule of thumb. After a frosty start, the day warmed up and I did finally transplant my tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and herbs. I also planted the rest of my seeds. It took me about three hours to get everything set to my liking. Now all my raised beds are filled.
 

Tomato and pepper plants getting used to their new environment

Yesterday evening I weeded my garden for the first time. There really weren’t many weeds to pull yet but there were enough to compete with the seedlings. Plus, I actually like weeding. There’s something about moving through the garden, pulling out wayward stalks, leaving just the desired plants and fresh, clean ground behind, that I find very satisfying. My back and legs may beg to differ but my muscles get used to it fairly quickly. I also took the opportunity to thin some of the plants. I always feel a little bad about pulling up seedlings before they’ve reached their full potential but it is necessary. 

Pull the grass, leave the chard.

Another thing I felt badly about doing was pulling the flowers off my strawberry plants. I know that keeping the plants from setting fruit helps them grow stronger roots but I really like strawberries. As with all home-grown produce, strawberries taste so much better when you grow them yourself. I may give in eventually and let a few berries grow or I may not. I just have to keep reminding myself that I’ll be grateful for this season’s sacrifice of fresh strawberries next year.

Strawberry plant in bloom

Removed flowers and tiny strawberries – just wait until next year!

It’s amazing how quickly some of the plants are growing. The turnip seedlings appeared just four days after planting the seeds. The pak choi will be ready to pick in no time (it is a miniature variety) and we should have our first batch of arugula in about a week. I’m really looking forward to eating fresh produce from our own garden but as I said to a coworker today, “don’t count your zucchini before they hatch.”

Pak Choi on May 22

Pak Choi on May 27

Unfortunately, I had to cut my adventures in gardening a little short yesterday. While wiring the lattice fence to the posts to make it sturdier, I felt something like spider webs on the back of my hand. Since I had seen a couple spiders while working, I thought nothing of it. Spiders don’t mess with my plants and as long as they are outside I let them be. When the odd, light tickling sensation did not go away after brushing off my hand, I took a closer look. There were dozens of tiny, pale gray creepy-crawlies moving over my skin. I don’t know if they were baby spiders or mites or what but my garden time was over. I put away my tools, went onto my back porch, stripped down, left my clothes outside the door, streaked past my husband and jumped in the shower. I can’t say that the bugs bothered me that much – they are a side-effect of working outside – but I was glad to be all nice and clean again. Hopefully, the tiny beasties were a one-time encounter.

Here a lovely bee to take your mind off a swarm of tiny crawling insects.