It’s been raining quite constantly for two weeks now and some plants are loving it. The older raspberries we stole from a friend have made lovely baby berries that will ripen into little red gems as soon as the sun comes out. I realize that we should have picked the blossoms off this year to give the poor transplanted canes a break but we are too greedy for berries and have no qualms about unfair enslavement of berry canes. The first-year canes have utterly exploded with new greenery but no blossoms.
The lettuce is by far the happiest thing in the garden. Most of the heads are growing centimeters per day. Some of them got smashed to salad the first night it rained heavily because they sit under the dripline of a ginormous maple tree. I have covered them with a pane of plastic and they are struggling along.
The grape vines are growing just as vigorously as a grape vine should. If I seen any blossoms I will definately pick them off this year to let the canes get nice and healthy before bearing weight.
The pickling cukes and zucchinis have been hiding this whole time and are still not ready to come out. I don’t blame them. A bumper zucchini crop looks doubtful now as the intended patch is on the lower tier and doesn’t get full sun. (“Famous last words” my mom is thinking as she reads this.)
An entire row of sunflowers got smashed by my husband who was recklessly trimming a cedar hedge a few feet away. After I yelled and stomped a bit he finally did feel bad and propped up the bent ones with small twigs. Their future it totally uncertain. (I hope he still feels bad.) He tried to mow down the other sunflower patch with an extension cord but I think those ones have recovered. He is learning to respect my plants a bit more as evidenced by yesterday’s activities with a disgusting harsh defoliant. He remembered to pull my herb pots out from under the edge of the deck so that his eye-wateringly powerfull algae stripper chemical didn’t kill my struggling basil.
Lots of sprouts are in stasis, laying low until the sun comes out. Half the winter seeds have arrived and the others are coming. I may have enough room to go nuts with winter crops.
Filed under: Gardening | Tagged: cold frame, cucumber, garden, raspberry, sunflower, zucchini
