Springtime…and There’s Just Not Enough Time!

It’s mid-May. What!! How did that happen? It was just March and too cold and wet to get much done in the garden. But now it’s May, warming up, and the sun is shining. Time to get the garden going.

And I’m sloooowly getting things done. When I was 17, I was in a serious car accident which resulted in several rather serious injuries, including crushing my pelvis on the right side. Because I was 17, I healed up quite well and lived my life without side effects. But NOW, that is not the case. If I spend too much time bending over, my SI joint (where the pelvis and spine meet) starts hurting. So, to avoid this, I limit myself to 15 minutes working in the garden at a time. Then, after a break, I can do another 15 minutes. I do manage to get things done, but not as quickly as I would like.

And it’s May, the time of the year when there are so many things to get done in the garden. Seeds to plant. Plants to get into the ground. Weeds to pull that have decided to start growing REALLY fast. Drip irrigation to set up. And, of course, herbs and greens to forage.

Plants waiting patiently to go in the ground.

As you can see there are many plants waiting to make it into the ground. There are actually more that you can’t see behind the last post. In case you’re wondering why they are on the railing, it’s because our chickens free range in the afternoon and they will destroy the plants. Add this to all the seeds I still need to plant, and it can get quite discouraging.

But I keep reminding myself how blessed I truly am. I live in a beautiful place and get to spend time outside every day. The air where I live is extremely clean, so it brings life just breathing the air. I have space to plant things, which is something I never take for granted. And there are the results of previous work. Last night’s dinner featured leeks I had planted last year, as well as chicken we raised. My kitchen smells of roses from the bouquet I picked yesterday. We’ve been eating asparagus and soon I’ll harvest rhubarb. The raspberries have lots of little green berries starting. We will be eating so well from this garden in just a few short weeks.

And just today I planted beets and cosmos. I also got the the kale chopped down that is covered with aphids. Well, not all the kale, but those stalks that were growing where I want to plant onions. I even went to the neighbors’ yard to harvest stinging nettle. That’s a win/win. They don’t want it and I do. And the day isn’t over yet.

So, I should just stop complaining and enjoy what I can get done. Sometimes that is hard. But, now that I’ve had time to rest, it’s time to get back out there. Should I harvest the calendula for skin care? Or plant a bunch of green onions? It’s a very good problem to have.

Spring is Springing

Decades ago my friend Dorcas shared some daffodils from her garden with me. These were not just any ordinary daffodils. These had been planted by her mother-in-law. But that is not all. If you have driven HWY 99E north of Harrisburg in February or March (it varies year to year) , you will have seen the famous Daffodil Drive. The daffodils were all planted by a man called Bruce Witmer. According to Dorcas, he was a talented craftsman and a well-known and loved member of the community. And Dorcas’ mother-in-law dug up some of the daffodils from her field to donate to the cause. Since daffodils reproduce through asexual cloning (also from seed, but that is not germane to this conversation), my daffodils are genetically the same as some of the daffodils growing along the highway. In years past, these same daffodils were celebrated at the Daffodil Festival at the Long Tom Grange. Sadly, there won’t be a daffodil festival this year. All that to say, my daffodils are blooming. But just the ones from Dorcas. The ones with history. Originally I planted them along the fence line to start my own daffodil drive. The fence line has been moved, but the daffodils remain, some of them bravely trying to bloom in the gravel of the driveway. Tough things, daffodils.

Dorcas’ Daffodils

Last year I suggested that we move the chickens down into the orchard to control pests. My thought was that we would have a mobile chicken coop that we could move around the trees. That way the chickens could fertilize the trees and eat pests and would have ready access to grass and weeds to make their eggs more nutritious and delicious. And they would stay out of the garden. Unfortunately DH had a different idea and created a permanent coop and pen, meaning the chickens need to be let out daily to wander around the orchard garden. So my garden is a total mess because they are having a wonderful time scratching and totally digging everything up. Not exactly a great plan when you are trying to grow things. Our previous chickens were kept near the garden in a very large pen fenced with moveable fencing. When I wanted them to dig up garden beds, we’d move the fencing so they could get to only the beds I wanted taken care of. But mostly it just stayed in place so that the grass and weeds could grow through the openings. Exactly what was needed to keep the chickens out of the garden. So this week’s task has been to remove it from the grip of the weeds and set it up around the garden. Sounds easy, no? No! Field grass does not like to let go and is hard to pull. But eventually DH was able to get it to release and is in the process of using it to protect the garden. Just in time too. I’m ready to plant chard.

We’ve had a fair bit of rain this week–almost 4 inches. Since I’m a total wimp about being out in the rain– even with rain gear– that meant inside jobs. Of which there are plenty. I have been having mixed results with my sourdough, so I fed it twice just to make sure. It ended up making a lovely loaf of bread that we are enjoying.

Sourdough

Because I hate throwing anything away, I had to do something with that discard. I already have crackers on the shelf and really didn’t want to do flatbread, so I made pasta. Because that’s so much easier. Ha! It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad. I’m still new at the process and it really does take two people to run the dough through the pasta maker. I did enlist DH’s help, but he didn’t quite understand the need to gently pull it out, especially of the cutter. So I had trouble with it sticking together. And I really need a better method of drying it that in little piles. It all clumps together. But it did taste good.

Pasta

The biggest success was kombucha. My friend Cathy showed me how to make it last year and gifted me with some starter and a SCOBY. I have to say that I thoroughly enjoy the whole process. My favorite part is coming up with the flavors. Usually I make fruit flavors, which are our favorites. That means this time of year we have a lot of citrus. But also blackberries from the freezer. DH was quite skeptical at first. I mean have to SEEN a SCOBY? They’re pretty disgusting looking. But now he loves it. I usually do the first ferment for 10 days-2 weeks. Sometimes if I’m busy, it goes a bit longer. But we prefer it more lightly fermented. On kombucha day it takes me only about an hour for the whole gallon process. I get the new batch started with the tea brewing while I am adding flavors and kombucha to the bottles with a little squirt of raw honey. Then 3-4 days later, into the fridge and they are ready to drink. This schedule seems to work out so that we rarely run out of kombucha before the next batch is done.

Kombucha in bottles starting their second ferment

Yesterday I saw a video on making beet kraut, so that will be my next project. Sounds yummy to me. I bought the beets and cabbage today. Stay tuned.

Will I Ever finish With My Spring Planting?

June is almost over and I’m still working my way through the May garden chores. Last week I finished with April, so I am making progress. Just not very fast.

In the picture above are plants I started months ago, which are STILL not in the ground! First we have the basil which is left over from when I actually planted basil. “Why do I still have it on the porch if I have actually planted all my basil?” you ask. Well, I’ll tell you. It’s pretty chilly here, so I grow my basil in black plastic pots on the back deck.

But since I also want to be able to sit at the table on the back deck, there is a limited amount of basil I can put there. I also grew four kinds this year: sweet basil, Thai basil, lemon basil, and holy basil (which is not REALLY a basil, but sort of acts like one). I also grow my peppers in black pots as well, which takes up even more space.

I ran out of space before I ran out of plants. No problem. I have a sunny warm area that I thought might also work, and planted the rest of the basil there. Except I didn’t. That remaining pot was hiding among the other plants on the porch, and I didn’t see it. But that turned out to be a good thing because I won a pocket planter at the Farmer’s Market. It will be a perfect place to plant that remaining basil. If it doesn’t die first.

Next up are the leeks. I love leeks. My husband loves leeks. So, I’ve gradually started growing more and more. They take quite a long time to grow. I probably will harvest them next spring, which is great. Having something to eat during the “hungry gap” is a good thing. I have already planted one of the pots of starts. Unfortunately where they are to be planted is overgrown with last year’s plants and some borage that is, as a friend commented, “boraging.” So I have to clean it out before I can plant anything new. So, the last time I was able to do some planting, most of the time was spent cleaning up. But the important thing is that I did get some in the ground. And it’s been a week and they are still alive.

The last plants are amaranth. Decades ago, I went to Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC with my mom and grandma. One of the plants I fell in love with was “Love-Lies-Bleeding.” It is an amaranth that grows long droopy flower/seedheads. They are so lovely that I try to grow them every year. Emphasis on try. Some years it’s good, some not so much. Those I got in the ground this morning. Not verdict on whether they will live or not. But I decided to try some taller ones this year. The picture in the seed catalog was very pretty. (Aren’t they always!) And you can eat the seeds as a sort of a grain. Win-win. That is IF I can get them in the ground before fall. And IF they survive. I figured out where they should be planted, which, unfortunately is overgrown with weeds. I’m SO good at growing weeds! I spent the time I had taking care of the weeds. The bad news: no planting. The good news: next time I get out there, I can actually start planting.

So many garden blogs and vlogs this time of year are touting their fabulous harvests. I find them quite discouraging. I’m doing my best, but it will be awhile before I have anything remotely resembling a great harvest. So I’m plugging along and I want to encourage you to plug along as well. Enjoy your time in the garden, even if you are battling weeds, slugs, bugs, or just lack of time. Between you and me, I think those other blogs and vlogs are curating their content. I bet they have their struggles too.