Mid-March Garden

I took some photos a few weeks ago, showing what's going on in my garden (and in my kitchen). Of course this was the year that I really got on the early seeding in indoor flats and just as a few things needed to be hardened off, the snow, sleet, hail and horizontal rains came (and stayed for a week). We seem to be back to rain now, so I'm starting to harden off some oriental greens, lettuce and peas to go into the garden (most under plastic or cloches for a bit yet) by the weekend. Wish me luck! Gardening is always a bit trial and error, but they're only seeds. They can be restarted.



My stalwart rhubarb bed that seems to hang in there every year despite having to deal with the shade and roots from a nearby "hedge" of cedar. I gave them a good mulch of alder leaves this winter and have fed them a few times with manure.



Greenhouse harvest! These radishes were planted last fall and just put on a nice growth spurt. Very tasty; not too woody.



Greens in the greenhouse: arugula and tenderheart (an oriental green, I believe). I have some other small lettuces starting to grow well in the greenhouse as well as mizuna in the garden.



This was the first winter for my little lemon tree. It seemed to survive just fine, despite the cold snaps and the greenhouse being blown apart a few times. I harvest 3 lemons from the tree (which is how many blooms there were on the plant when I bought it). It needs a good fertilize and perhaps a larger pot, but I'm eager to see what it will get up to this year.



I am a firm believer that the biggest challenge we have here is not so much the lack of sun, but the abundance of rain. I usually try to cover beds I'm about to plant with plastic (or glass) for a week or so beforehand. Then, once the seeds or seedlings are in, I also keep the beds covered until I think they are well-established. After that, I keep a close eye on the beds and when excessive rain or wind is on the way, I cover them up for a bit. I also have a small portable cold frame (about 3'x4') that I move around and an old window that I use to cover newly seeded sections of the beds.



Of course the kale is hanging on. This is Lacinato. I'm using most of the kale in juices and green smoothies at the moment as there will be new greens soon! Other plants in the outdoor garden include fava beans and garlic (both planted in the fall and looking well), a few stalwart beets and mizuna.





This year I have done a lot of seeding indoors. It helps that only two of us are at home at the moment, so most of the kitchen table, the sunny window seat and a table downstairs (with my first grow lights) are taken over by seedlings. Here's what I've put in:

leeks, sui choi, artichoke, fennel, broccoli (two varieties), lettuce (two varieties), collards, cauliflower (two varieties), several varieties of flowers (calendula, lupine, cosmos, sweet peas, etc.) I also sprouted peas and fava beans in moist paper towels. This worked very well and all of the sprouted seeds are now in peat pots and I'm hardening off the peas already, with some going in the garden this weekend. (The first batch were planted a few weeks ago in my cold frame.)

Outside, under glass, I have seeded: arugula, corn salad, kale, collard, radishes, carrots (a bit early; but they're only seeds!) and oriental greens (Gai Lan).