Sunday, April 22, 2012

Takin' Out the Trash

My second 4x8 bed is finally planted, I just hope it's not too late.  Things are starting to come together and soon I won't have a to-do list nagging at me every time I sit down to relax.  The second bed is a bit sloppier than the first; somehow I ended up with almost a dozen cauliflower in it and only 2 broccoli, plus a couple unlabeled brassicas.  The seedling tray these plants were in took the most damage when the greenhouse fell over, and I'm guessing that was when the labels got lost.  I think they're cabbages... but most brassicas look very similar at that stage. 

The strawberry bed is growing in beautifully, I can't wait for the berries!  I still have to finish edging the lawn but my back just starts to whine as soon as I think about it. 

Also, I have the best husband ever; he brought his mom's trailer home yesterday so we can start cleaning all the junk out of the back yard and sheds and take it to the dump.  Good thing too, I'm worried I won't have enough room to keep the squashes happy until that area is ready for planting.

The weather is beautiful this weekend, nearing 80 degrees, but after living in Oregon most of my life I have come to expect sneaky cold wet weather late into the Spring.  As a rule, if Mother Nature is going to be difficult it will happen by Memorial day weekend.  This is why I don't plant my hot weather stuff outside until the first of June, last minute cold spells and miserably wet conditions are brutal on the tomatoes, peppers, and squashes; and can lead to some nasty fungal diseases, my least favorite of which is powdery mildew.

I'm thinking if my cold weather plants take too long I can set all the hot stuff on the patio most days and just move them into the greenhouse or house if it gets too chilly for them.  Hopefully we'll have a beautiful next two months though and the brassicas will be done before the tomatoes go in.  Fingers crossed!

2 comments:

  1. The weather has been great this week. I even left my seedlings out all night last night, and it was 60F when I got up this morning! It's supposed to get cold next week though....BOO!

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  2. Same here, it's been beautiful since Friday night but by Wednesday the cold and wet will be back. if I can just my eggplants to sprout before the weather turns nasty I'll be happy. :)

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