strawberry bed
I was skeptical about my strawberries but (again) nature proved me wrong, or rather, made up (again) for any bungling on my part. I bought 25 crowns from Nourse Farms and planted them the day they arrived in a well-prepared bed (it was crawling with worms). The instructions were to plant the crown so half of it is in and half of it is out of the soil.
Honestly, I had no idea where that mark was, the crowns being so short, and I was in a hurry to get them in as it was getting dark and threatening rain and Amie didn’t have much patience with my gardening that particular day (when so many other plants had gone in as well). Later I forgot to water them a couple of times, since their bed is (as yet) outside the high traffic part of the garden. I checked yesterday and all the crowns have acquired new, healthy-looking leaves.
Also the currants and gooseberries are doing well, as are most of the free raspberry transplants, the kiwi vines (the male in particular) and the hazelnuts. Only my Gamma pollinator hazelnut seems dead, as well as one of the two paw paw seedlings. I still have no clue how to prune and harvest my Sochi tea plants: any ideas?
I poked around in the mushroom bed, but see no mycelium as yet.
In the veg garden the peas and favas are flowering, the overwintered pepper plants have beautiful white blooms and even a couple of tiny peppers. Also one of my tomato plants already has a little tomato.
The new hoop house plastic is arriving next week.
The carrot bed is a pain to weed and some animals (chipmunks?) have been digging for the newly seeded beans. Jacob’s Cattle seems to be their favorite, and who can blame them? I imagine the beans displayed in all their glory on their credenzas, dazzling the guests.
asparagus (Purple Passion) pushing up spears
The mints L gave me survived the transplant. I put them in the small bed next to the house that used to have the daffodil bulbs (which are all drying out so they can be stored and replanted in Fall). The bed has a couple of ornamentals (a hosta, a columbine, a couple of coneflowers) but it is Mainly Mint – ideal, since it is bordered on all sides by concrete.
I went back to L and S’s on Saturday morning to help them put in my leftover asparagus and to clear a patch for a veg bed. L is going to grow tomatoes again! She showed my her defense against cut worms. But that’s for another entry.
I’ve no idea about your area, but we have had evidence of gooseberry sawfly early this season. Usually they strike when the fruit is ripe, and we are only aware of them when all the leaves are suddenly stripped bare.