May is - Popping!

First asparagus!

     Things are growing fast with the warm weather we've had in May. Every morning I go out and find things - that weren't there yesterday - up 20 cm. or so. The classic example of this is the Solomon's seal (Polygonatum multiflorum) which was invisible on Thursday and up fully 25 centimetres on Saturday. It's related to asparagus, and that's been doing very well also - we've eaten it twice so far. This is its third year, so apparently we can go crazy for 6 weeks, and then let the fronds open and grow.  I am planning to try shaved asparagus pizza this week. It comes highly recommended by Emily.
    Vegetable gardening is coming on slowly - I got all of the dandelions dug out of the raised beds and sent off to the government compost facility (ha! take that, dandelions) and put out the onion sets I had started in pots - I had just sprouted the red ones and a few of the whites, so now that the pots are empty I'll start the rest of the whites. It gives them such a great jumpstart. But that is all I have planted so far. My potatoes are chitting, though.

Sarian in pots in the greenhouse

    I bought 25 Kent strawberries at Veseys and plan to rip out the everbearing ones I got there and planted outdoors two years ago - they *do* produce fruit all summer, but only one or two at a time - and I want more productivity.  I still have the Sarian everbearing ones I got at Thompson and Morgan in big pots. Having hoiked them out of the raised bed where they spent the winter, they are now set up on the old deck steps at the back of the greenhouse and are starting to grow, and even bloom. I would like to to try the Beechgrove method of having indoor (June-bearing) strawberries, then an outdoor crop, and then indoors again, to stretch the strawberry season to the whole summer. But first I will have to see how Kent do in my fruit bed. And maybe collect some seedlings from them.
    Speaking of fruit, the hardy cherry bushes, babied along in the greenhouse last summer and planted out last September, are leafing out. And Veseys came through! and we have two Honeycrisp whips, being babied in the greenhouse in their turn. I have to get the posts set up so I can espalier mine. The other one is Anne's. And then, b*gger if there weren't Honeycrisps on sale at somebody's greenhouse opening - Kent I think. They were bigger than ours, and less expensive too. Ah well. We do have other apples for pollination on the property, but I want to get a couple more trees for the espalier - different varieties, but good new ones.  Anne had gotten three "Anne" raspberries from her friend Lise, sent from Veseys, and I potted them up for her to decide where to put them, when she gets back home. We are planning to stay over at hers and do some cleaning up tomorrow, so I must get myself organized. Much to do!

May's Away

Miniature Iris (Henry) with snail damage on fronds.

      It's been a great month for growth in the garden. I hope the rest of the growing season will be as good.     
      There is a frost warning for tonight, but I haven't put put anything that would be susceptible yet - seedling tomatoes and cukes, etc. are still safe in the greenhouse every night.
I have let the asparagus out of its tent, and am letting it grow up into fronds now. The last bunch of the row, No. 9, had been nibbled right OFF by slugs, so I set a couple of Guinness traps and consoled myself that we still have 8 - and then just yesterday I found No. 9 sprouting again. They look purple and delicious but I am leaving them strictly alone. They have gone through enough with the slugs.
     Speaking of purple, though, I planted the seeds of purple sprouting broccoli the other day in the greenhouse, and they have come up! I fancy they will make for an interesting-looking broccoli salad. I really need regular green as well, but I still haven't found my seed stash from last year. I may have to purchase new ones.

     I have completed the sides on the second raised bed, and have begun work on the third. I fancy that, IF I manage to finish that one, it will use up all of my materials. I hope to visit Arsenault's Mill sometime and get some cedar slabs for the remaining two, and eventually to replace the flooring I've got on the first three beds, before it rots away. It *is* three years for the first bed I 'sided", though, and I  wouldn't have predicted the flooring would last that long. If only it were waterproof - otherwise it is perfect in size for the purpose.
    So far I have planted some basil (no sign of germination), tatties and carrots, beans, and lettuce. I have a few Spanish onions in as well. I like the beds with the sides because there is more planting room in them - you can go right to the edges with stuff. I had planted a few zucchini seeds in the "lasagne" bed, where I had the ground cherries last year. I see one has sprouted. I may have to protect *that* tonight against the frost.
     The strawberries (Sarain) in the pots in the greenhouse have set fruit! I was afraid they wouldn't get pollinated in there, but it seems that they have done.  The outdoor ones are just a bit behind. I saw the June-bearing ones yesterday at the neighbours', and I shouldn't get so excited about mine - the June-bearers set much, much more fruit.

    It's coming up to the Small Halls festival again, but there's no big names to be excited about this time - just local folks we've seen many times before. I suppose they've lost federal dollars ( as so many have), and can't afford the bigger prices. It's too bad, though. The local musicians learn from the big names - or at least, one hopes that they do!
     One of my three new hydrangeas has been totally denuded by the slugs - the poor thing! I have removed the slugs, but I have strong doubts that the plant will come back. I am keeping the one I got at WalMart safe in the greenhouse, and it's sprouting new leaves all over the place - they had clipped it off to fit into the shelving unit and it has responded well. I think it must be one of the vigorous ones. I'm holding back on planting it out, though. The slugs aren't getting this one.

Growing things

Finally cut some of the grass today, between rain showers. Things are just jumping into growth.

I am pleased to report that the blueberries are leafing out and the blossoms are developing. This is a surprise, but of course we don't yet know if there will be berries! I probably should pick the blossoms off, to give the roots a chance. Maybe I will.  The blooms are these tiny pink tips on the branches. The plants are only about 15 cm. tall. The old plants, which have been there for a number of years, are at the same stage, so it looks like I haven't disturbed them much by moving them. That's so pleasing.
I checked my cranberry bog, and I seem to have just one living plant - of the 10 or thereabouts that I put in last fall. Ah well. Blueberries are better - and I shall try again with the cranberries, as soon as I find some plants. ETA: Checked again and I have three! alive out of 10. Better, but not good enough yet.

We have had asparagus twice already. This is the first year of the crowns, so I don't want to discourage them. I am not sure how much more we should pick. I have them under the poly tunnel still, and it is simply amazing how fast they are growing. If I had the time to watch I am sure I would see them at it. I usually open the tunnel on sunny days, because it gets really hot in there - and of course it has to be watered because the tunnel keeps off the rain as well.
       I am hoping to use the tunnel elsewhere in the garden later, perhaps over the tomatoes or something else that needs covering. I am planning to use curtain sheers over the broccoli when I put it in - but perhaps I don't need anything so sturdy to support the sheers. I have lots of plastic pipe saved from hoop-making that I could re-purpose.
     Once the May Long Weekend (a.k.a. Victoria Day) is over I can get back into the planting of the garden in a big way. I have more boards for the raised beds to go on, and plenty of seedlings started in the greenhouse to go in once the beds are ready. Bean seeds are soaking already.
     I was thrilled to find an Eryngeum at WalMart this week and immediately bought it - and another Hydrangea, MUCH bigger than the ones I got from Veseys. I have been wanting the Eryngeum for quite a while. It seems quite innocuous at the moment, though I've heard that it can be prickly and difficult. I need to find the perfect spot for it, so it doesn't prick the unwary.