Garden season is underway and a sudden burst in activity has prompted a frenzy of posts to my social media accounts. I’ve made several quick minute-long videos and thought I’d share some of them with you here.
The first set of videos were shot impromptu from my kitchen counter and are quick little snapshots highlighting some of the new seeds I’ve acquired (by purchase or trade) to grow this year.
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Most of this year’s seed acquisitions are leafy greens since they’ve come to be the crops we cherish most. Don’t miss the oddball basil mentioned at the end.
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I’m always on the lookout for edible varieties that are as gorgeous as they are delicious. I’m hoping that ‘Spring Blush’, a sugar snap pea with a bluish-purple blush and bi-coloured flowers fits the bill.
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Lambs quarters (Chenopodium album) is an edible weed that I cultivate on purpose. It really does make a good spinach substitute in the middle of summer. Why not go for beauty too and try its colourful cousin?
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A new orach variety I’m planning to try.
I intended to continue making more daily Seed Talk videos, but spring arrived in my garden last weekend and from that moment on it was all systems go! We had two glorious days of sunshine and mild temperatures in which I was able to do basic cleanup and a whole lot of pruning. So much pruning. We cut back: Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus); raspberry canes; the climbing rose, although it was a tentative pruning just to get a few unruly stems out of the way; honeysuckle vine, and ‘Snow in Summer’ clematis, although that was not the full pruning, just an attempt to see the fence underneath a blanket of last year’s growth.
Here’s a panoramic shot of what the east fence of the garden looked like BEFORE pruning. I forgot to take an after, but just imagine this fence without one hundred pounds of plant material (hyperbole, but really… it was a lot).
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Exploring the perennial edibles that were coming back as of March 25, 2018. I can’t wait to get eating fresh green things from my backyard! I’ve since reconstructed the hoop house and build makeshift protection around several very large pots. With freshly sown seed underneath, it shouldn’t be long before the first new growth appears.
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Spring flowering bulbs and perennials (non edible) that were coming up as of March 25. Since shooting this 3 more types of crocus have appeared and there’s now some spots of colour slowly creeping through the brown palette that currently dominates the yard.
As you can imagine, one hundred and one new events have occured in the garden since I shot these videos last weekend. This is how the spring garden is. You wait and wait and just when you are sure you will lose your mind in waiting, the garden bursts forth overnight and from then on it is a race to keep up. Here’s my spring chore list. Many of these items have been checked off since last weekend. Just this morning I was feeling overwhelmed by all there is to do, but I now realize that I am actually ahead of my usual schedule!
New growth. New beginnings. I am riding the optimism and excitement of change and everything that is to come. We made it through winter!
As always, thank you for the post. I was quietly lamenting a couple weeks ago about my seedlings taking so long. Now I find myself making a mental list, transplant seedlings to bigger pots, what to do with all said seedlings, test soil, when to direct sow, who’s going in a container and who’s going in the garden.
So looking forward to this month.
It’s a rollercoaster of emotions and crazy, frenetic energy!
This is a very detailed post, Gayla. I watched a few of your short videos. Thanks to you, I now know about orach. I never heard of it before.