"Getting rid of everything that doesn’t matter allows you to remember who you are. Simplicity doesn’t change who you are, it brings you back to who you are."

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Between The Rain Drops

The sun came out Monday so SM and I tip-toed between the puddles and ponds in our backyard to check out the garden. 




Everything seems to be enjoying the wet, cool weather we've been having except the tomatoes.  If things don't dry out and heat up a bit, it could be a bust year for them.  In just the past week alone we've had a total of just over 3" of rain with more on the way.

The lettuce is going bananas.  We've been eating salads like crazy and the sugar peas are only NOW starting to bloom. 




Wow!  Usually they're pulled up by May 15th because of the heat. At this rate we might be munching on pea pods by the end of the month.

The strawberries are loaded but still small and only a few of them are ripening.  Unfortunately those have gotten "beaked" by the friggin birds.  They eat them when the berry is only 1/2 red!  The nerve!




So I ordered more netting last week since our beds are 16' long and the hoops are so tall.  The netting I had was just too small.  Since these are everbearing strawberries, I wanted netting that would stay in place all summer and allow us easy access.  We attached the last of the netting this morning so hopefully the berries belong to us now.




SM spotted our first ever apples along with some ladybugs doing their thing.  We're excited that this year might actually be an apple year for us.  Long way till harvest though.  Many are in clusters of 3 to 6 apples.  Should we thin them out or let them be? 

I still haven't gotten the sweet peppers planted yet.  They're still lounging under the porch awning and I'm still bringing them in to the grow light at night.  Maybe this weekend I'll get them in.  They're still so small! 

Sunflowers, winter squash and (maybe) sweet potatoes have yet to be planted.  I've got a few more weeks to get those beds weeded and some compost tossed onto them.

I won't complain about these temperatures though.  It's actually quite nice to not have the AC on.  Even as we speak I've got the windows and doors open.

I know that Mamma N could flip the switch at any moment but other than hoping for at least ONE hot weekend for a beach run, I'd be perfectly happy with a cooler than normal Summer.

And a L O N G Fall.

5 comments:

  1. We had BUNCHES Of ladybugs on the apple trees a few days ago. Happy to see them....but upon closer inspection, found that they were the only good things on the trees....still no apples :(

    Hope your nice weather continues, enjoy it!

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  2. Feel free to send some of that rain our way!

    Your garden looks so good. You've got a lot of space to grow.
    Good for you outsmarting the birds. Ours still haven't found our strawberries this year! ;0)

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  3. Oh, to have your rain! I never thought I'd complain about blue skies and nice, balmy weather - but heck. We are almost 4" down from normal. I am sure we will get torrents now that I've complained. Your garden looks wonderful - so green. I can't wait for lettuce of my very own.

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  4. Yep, I think you should revel in your cooler than normal weather. Enjoy it while you can because you know tomato growing weather will come!

    I've read you should thin your apple clusters to the two strongest looking apples. I'll admit that doesn't always get done on our trees (ahem) but you will really get much bigger apples if you do it. And since most of our apples get made into applesauce, I always ask myself if I'd rather peel and core five small apples . . . or two big ones?

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  5. I'm you with you, Tami. I know that all too soon I'll be complaining about the heat, so I'm enjoying every minute of this cool spring. With all the rain, I feel like the lawn needs mowing every 5 minutes. love the ladybug on your new header pic!

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