The Versatile Blogger Award

I want to thank Lisa of Tomato Thymes in the Kitchen Garden for this honor.  This is actually the second time I've won this award.  The first time is was last fall from Granny.  Unfortunately, she awarded it to me right after I took an unexpected leave from blogging for several months, so I would like to thank her belatedly.

Here are the rules-

Add the award to your blog

Thank the blogger who gave it to you

Mention 7 random things about yourself

List the rules

Award to 15 bloggers

Inform each of those 15 by leaving a comment on their blogs or on Facebook

Seven random things about me:

1.  I planted my first seeds when I was three.

2.  Someday I'll figure how to embed the award in my sidebar!

3.  I live with my two cousins.

4.  My computer hasn't been updated since 2005.

5.  I have a virtual aquarium program called 'Aquazone' that I have been running continuously since 2000.

6.  I live less than an hour from Washington DC and haven't been there since high school.

7.  I have to go over two mountains to get to work.

Fifteen nominations is tough, considering that my list would mirror Lisa's, and I'd need closer to 150 like Granny. 

I will nominate one blog- Jenny from Simple Gardening Made Easy.

Thank you again Lisa for the honor!



How My Garden Grows- Part 2

The Pool Bed.

The pool bed this year is evolving.  This year it will be edible ornamentals accented with flowers.  Right now it doesn't look like much.  There are some hold overs from last year, 'Powwow Wildberry" echinacea, 'Dolce White to Pink' dianthus and volunteer 'Jubilee Gem' bachelor buttons and 'Carpet of Snow' alyssum. 

The ornamental additions are 'Primero' red cabbage and 'Bright Lights' and 'Lipstick' Swiss chard. 

Not much to look at yet.

'Primero' red cabbage.

Clump of 'Bright Lights' Swiss chard.

 Next weekend I will be adding 'Ruby' lettuce and escarole.

How My Garden Grows

Daphne asked "How Does Your Garden Grow?"

My garden is growing, somethings are doing better than others, but this is nothing unusual.

Today, I did get a lot of planting done.  All of my cabbage, the rest of the Swiss chard and my carrots were sown.

The front section was planted today.  From left to right, two rows of cabbage interplanted with mixed lettuce, shallots, empty row, Swiss chard and the carrots are seeded to the right of the rose.  The spinach patch is the left rear area.

Close up of the cabbage and lettuce seedlings.

The spinach patch.

Notice that the growth is very uneven, I am attributing this to the use of open pollinated varieties.



'America' spinach.



Close up of 'Scarlet' spinach with it's lighter leaves and bold red stems and veins.

The rear bed from left to right, spinach patch, an enormous volunteer 'Bronze Beauty' lettuce, mixed Thai greens with snow peas behind, radish and arugula.

Mixed Thai greens, one week old and already showing an interesting mix of color.

                             

The last bed is to the back bed.  It was planted with peas, but only the row by the fence germinated.  The front portion now has lettuce, radish and beets as well as an over wintered parsley.

This is how my Potager grows.

Tomorrow I'll show how the pool bed is progressing.

Sleet!!!

The seasons are definitely muddled here on the mountain.

First we went from a mild winter to summer.  Summer then quick;y transitioned into spring.  the passed few nights we have had frost warnings every morning and they continue to this weekend.  Mother Nature played her trump card today, one half hour of sleet.  The sky literally opened and by the time it stopped the yard there was at least an eighth of an inch on the ground.  I haven't had the nerve to look outside at the garden yet.

Easter Flowers- 2012

What would Easter be without a few flowers?
Even though the the tulips are passed their prime, their still were some nice ones to greet the day.  This year they were joined by the dwarf bearded iris and one of the tree peonies.

'Fringed Elegance' Tulips.

'Flaming Parrot' tulip.

'Stitch Witch' standard dwarf bearded iris.

One clump of 'Stitch Witch' sdb iris.

'Delsinaugh' daffodil.

Viola odorata clump.

Small cupped, pink daffodil.

Tree peony.

'Queen of the Night' tulip.

 

Perennial Dahlias?

This passed fall I had every intention of being good and digging up my dahlia's and storing them properly.  Then we had 10" of snow two days before Halloween.  The dahlia's never did get dug up.  Today I was poking around and moved some mulch away from the base.  The dahlia that had overwintered in the ground the previous winter has numerous shoots starting to emerge.  I then checked the others, and all have sturdy shoots starting to emerge.  Last year I believed the one that survived was a chance occurrence, now I'm not so sure.  This will give me a real head start and the plants should be much larger from the early start.

Now, can someone tell me why all of my carnations perished during this very mi,d winter...

Today in the Garden- April 1, 2012

I was finally able to get a few things done in the garden today.  The cool, overcast weather broke for a few hours of blue skies and nice temps, perfect to get a few things planted. 

Potager overview.

The spinach is starting to fill out, hopefully I'll be able to start harvesting some soon.

Spinach patch with peas in the back row.

The first of the Swiss chard seedlings were planted.

Swiss chard with a row of beets in the back row.

A batch of mixed lettuce seedlings and some pathetic looking beet seedlings rounded out the transplants.  I did manage to squeeze in a few short rows of the Thai green seed mix.

The chitted beet seeds planted last weekend have sprouted and their germination was excellent.  I have had problems in previous year with germination and hope to get a good harvest this year.

The forecast tonight is for a light rain, perfect for the new transplants.