Ending and Beginning

6/1/2009:
Amaranth Seeds

5/31/2009:
Lima Bean Seeds
Carrot Seeds
Butternut Squash Seeds

5/28/2009:
Watermelon Seeds
Kidney Bean Seeds

5/17/2009:
Ground Cherry Plants
Sunflower Plants

At some level, you have to admire weeds — they are the tough guys of the plant kingdom. They’re adaptable, hardy, and prolific — that’s practically a definition.

However, when growth of any kind becomes too strong and aggressive, it becomes almost creepy and disgusting. Witness the underground runners on this quack grass I just pulled out of wood chips (the one going off to the right is about 8″ long):

Yes, it’s only creepy from a human perspective, and I do admire them in an abstract way, but still….

Planted another 30′ of potatoes today, which makes a total of 150′. Today’s planting was of the Yukon Gold that we bought.

The potatoes that got frosted are coming back.

Planted sweet corn, short row of kale, collards, pole beans. Should have planted kale and collards much earlier. Planted collards in a longish row next to the blueberries. I dug it up and turned it over beforehand, and although it looked quite rich, dark with lots of earthworms, there’s a lot of rotting wood chips and bark in there. We’ll see how they do in those conditions.

I planted the pole beans along the wooden fence. I used the top half of the 42 oz oatmeal boxes (used the bottom half for pots). I laid down newspaper on top of sod, set the boxes on top, dropped in a double handful of compost, then filled the rest with garden soil. Planted three bean seeds in each, then filled around each one with straw. They’ll probably need water until their roots get down in the soil under the newspaper. I’ll staple some fencing up on the fence to give them something to grab onto.

Here are the worst of my tomato plants, suffering from a combination of frost a week ago and being inadequately hardened off before we set them out.