16 April 2008
So, that first round of seedlings, the who-cares, come-what-may round. . . they all died. No big surprise there. I knew there wouldn't be enough hours of sun so early in the year, which I think was exactly what wound up being their downfall. They just never grew big. Unlike some beans sprouts which are threatening to take over the kitchen:
I would be SO pleased with my baby beans plants. . . if only they weren't almost a foot tall. Bum. We had almost a week of cloudy skies right after my latest batch of seedlings sprouted, so everything grew taller and taller, apparently trying to go right up past the clouds. I've had to start new seeds for the kale and broccoli, although the tomatoes (Brandywine) seem to still be holding their own. We'll see how these beans do, but I can't really imagine their long stems holding much more weight than they've already got.
The last couple of days have been brilliantly sunny, and I'm almost beginning to remember what it's like to spend time in my backyard. More after the cut...
Actually, I got out there a little while back, before the week of dreariness hit, to clean away dead plant matter where the perennials grow. And they ARE growing!
There's an assortment of lilies and other bright orange and yellow things in the corner of my yard -- leftover from the previous owner of my house. I'm not crazy about these guys, but it's definitely nice to have something poking its head up at this time of year.
Before the great financial crisis of 2008 struck the Anna household, I had been planning on spending some money on the backyard. This is what it looks like right now:
In the foreground of the photo (the very back of the actual yard) is the corner plot with the perennials. I think I may extend this garden space all the way to the back path, although I haven't decided yet whether to give that space over to flowers or melon/squash.
I'd like to tear out the bushes either side of the back door (eventually, I really want to have a deck on the left side), and I just might get around to that this year. The space to the left gets brutal sunshine all summer long, from midday until late in the evening, so it's a trick to find something that will thrive there. The right side is slightly more forgiving -- I had pansies there early in the summer and eventually a cherry tomato plant that went a bit wild, so it's definitely usable space. Maybe for herbs...
The main vegetable plot is going to be bigger, as you can see in that photo. I'm going to use the timbers I already have, so instead of being 6"x10" (timbers stacked two high), it'll be 10"x12". That's only eight square feet of additional garden, but it looks pretty big to me right now, and I can ALMOST believe I'll be able to fit in everything I want to grow. Well, maybe.
My garden planning got a big higgledy-piggledy last year, somehow. See here. The tomatoes could have used more room to themselves, and for some reason things didn't wind up planted in rows.
Things I want to grow this year that I didn't get around to last year: hot peppers (started some jalapeno seeds today, will probably supplement with a plant or two from the nursery), potatoes, carrots, radishes, more greens (I had two fantastic chard plants last year, and I've started some kale from seed already and will sow lettuce directly in May), snow peas (started today), maybe a melon? And I want a little flower garden for cutting.
If only Minnesota were in a warmer zone...
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