I just ate my first salad of the season--a modest toss of fresh spinach, sorrel, and onions. I added kalamata olives, homemade balsamic dressing, and croutons Huck made from homemade bread. I could go on about the other courses of the meal, but I'm too stuffed to think about it!
 |
| Turnips, garlic, spinach, carrots |
Most of he vegetables are looking good and have been thinned. Things range from cotyledon stage to a foot tall. One thing that really surprised me about the early planting is the cold tolerance of sprouting seeds and emerging seedlings. I would have thought kale and chard to be among the most stout, however they were the last of all things to come up and have been the slowest growers. The kale that I started inside then transplanted is looking great though, and they far outshine their garden-sowed same-aged counterparts. Peas, lettuce, and spinach are more stout than I gave them credit for--next year I will plant lots of each in my first plantings for the year.
 |
| Just-planted zukes and squash |
 |
Over-wintered kale going to seed
|
I've been working on making small rock beds on the ends of the wooden
raised beds. They're for perennials and really make the garden look like
a nice place to hang out instead of just a vegetable factory! I never
would have thought a few shrubs and flowers could make such a
difference. I even got my parents to dig up and send a couple of wild
hazel nut trees to me. We'll see how they do! On the sunny day we had a
few days ago Huck grabbed his camp chair and said, "Mom, let's go enjoy
the garden," to which he hauled his chair up the hill, into the center
of the garden, and sat. We're really enjoying the native plants--from
the delicate current flowers to the marsh marrigold flowers, from the
frilly ferns to the wonderful skunk cabbage musk. While all the
vegetables in the garden are off and growing, it's left me with time to do a
bunch of native landscaping. It's been fun, and I'm on my way to my
long-term goal of representing all of Juneau's plants in my yard.
 |
| Villous cinquefoil |
 |
| Trailing black current |
 |
| Yellow marsh-marigold |
Today Huck and I started picking spruce tips from the giant trees in our yard. It's our first time, and we're pretty eager to see what we can make. Huck decided to make tea and I chose jelly, which I found instructions for
here. We picked about half of the 18 cups of tips we'll need.
I've been working on making small rock beds on the ends of the wooden
raised beds. They're for perennials and really make the garden look like
a nice place to hang out instead of just a vegetable factory! I never
would have thought a few shrubs and flowers could make such a
difference. I even got my parents to dig up and send a couple of wild
hazel nut trees to me. We'll see how they do! On the sunny day we had a
few days ago Huck grabbed his camp chair and said, "Mom, let's go enjoy
the garden," to which he hauled his chair up the hill, into the center
of the garden, and sat. We're really enjoying the native plants--from
the delicate current flowers to the marsh marrigold flowers, from the
frilly ferns to the wonderful skunk cabbage musk. While all the
vegetables in the garden are off and growing, it's left me with time to do a
bunch of native landscaping. It's been fun, and I'm on my way to my
long-term goal of representing all of Juneau's plants in my yard. 
