I always have hopes of getting the lettuce and other greens into the garden really early. As usual, the hopes don't pan out and the garden gets planted with greens in early April. Part of this is the intensity of preparing seedlings for the market, and part is not wishing to run the deer sprinklers when it can still frost. Therefore, the salad and greens lover in us celebrates these cool, wet stretches as a good way to extend the lettuce harvest (which actually is just beginning for us).
Caitlin was nice enough to dig my tomato holes in the big garden - which was fortunate. The big rains of the past few days resulted in a few of the tomato holes filling to the brim with water, indicative of very poor drainage. Now that I know where that will happen, I can adjust my planting technique for those areas accordingly, aiming to plant higher, rather than in the bowl of water, so that the plants won't drown.
This reminds me to tell you to ensure that wherever you plant your tomato, pepper and eggplant seedlings, be sure you have good drainage. A plant that wilts despite adequate watering is a sure sign that the plant is suffocating due to poor drainage. This should not be a problem if you are using containers with nice, fluffy soilless mix or compost, and have drainage holes at the bottom.
Of course, the flip side to this cool weather is that it will slow down the growth of the heat lovers such as peppers and eggplant. But no worries - it is a long growing season, and a summer of more moderate temperatures may delay harvest a bit, but also cut down on blossom drop and diseases. The most typical fungal diseases we experience, such as Early Blight and Fusarium wilt, really kick in when it heats up, especially when it is also humid. And we don't need that to ruin our 2013 gardens.
My current garden status: All beets and greens are planted, lettuce harvest begins, garden is prepared for tomatoes and basil and beans (but I won't plant for a few days yet), and my tomatoes, peppers and eggplant have been selected for the containers and garden. We may have one more week at the market, and two weeks with an ample supply of seedlings. Work on the book continues, and the book photography is about half done. All is proceeding to plan!
Caitlin was nice enough to dig my tomato holes in the big garden - which was fortunate. The big rains of the past few days resulted in a few of the tomato holes filling to the brim with water, indicative of very poor drainage. Now that I know where that will happen, I can adjust my planting technique for those areas accordingly, aiming to plant higher, rather than in the bowl of water, so that the plants won't drown.
This reminds me to tell you to ensure that wherever you plant your tomato, pepper and eggplant seedlings, be sure you have good drainage. A plant that wilts despite adequate watering is a sure sign that the plant is suffocating due to poor drainage. This should not be a problem if you are using containers with nice, fluffy soilless mix or compost, and have drainage holes at the bottom.
Of course, the flip side to this cool weather is that it will slow down the growth of the heat lovers such as peppers and eggplant. But no worries - it is a long growing season, and a summer of more moderate temperatures may delay harvest a bit, but also cut down on blossom drop and diseases. The most typical fungal diseases we experience, such as Early Blight and Fusarium wilt, really kick in when it heats up, especially when it is also humid. And we don't need that to ruin our 2013 gardens.
My current garden status: All beets and greens are planted, lettuce harvest begins, garden is prepared for tomatoes and basil and beans (but I won't plant for a few days yet), and my tomatoes, peppers and eggplant have been selected for the containers and garden. We may have one more week at the market, and two weeks with an ample supply of seedlings. Work on the book continues, and the book photography is about half done. All is proceeding to plan!
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