Where Did the Sun Go?

Several days ago, it seems, the sun was out and we were in the garden, gardening!  And now, all that I can see in the sky is miles of clouds.  Where did the sun the go?

Spragel Zeit!

Or, in English, Asparagus! We passed a German restaurant the other day that was advertising "Spragel Zeit!"  We felt that it was a perfect omen to plant the starters that Will had ordered for our garden.  He planted them yesterday.  Each starter clump looks more like an octopus than an asparagus stalk.  I will have to look online as to how they will look when coming out of the ground. 

We-- and by "we", I do mean Will.  Hey, someone has to document the procedure!-- dug several trenches in the side garden and laid them in there, each "head" of the root system facing opposite directions.  Will stated that technically he should have placed them further apart. However, he isn't expecting all of them to make it-- especially since they arrived before he left for England.  He stored them in a beg of wet sand, as instructed, since he wasn't able to plant them when they arrived.  Yesterday, when he went to plant them, several of the roots had mold growing on them; some even fuzzy.  We cut the mold out, but know that will cause significant trauma to the starter plants. 

Fingers crossed, then, that we will get something out of this. Once the starters were in the trenches, Will covered them up again and watered.  Once they get to a specific height, we will start to mound up around each clump.   We planted about 20 plants and are expecting about half to come up.  That is a fine average for me, since I am not the biggest fan of asparagus.  It is a vegetable that begins with a vowel, and we all know how I feel about those...

Backyard Flowers

Here are some of the flowers in bloom in our yard at the moment.  

"Here Comes The Sun" -- originally written by George Harrison for the Beatles, performed live in Belfast by Belle and Sebastian.

Return Goods

William has returned, indeed, baring gifts of chocolate, cakes, and gummy sweets.

I think someone misses the candy from the old country just a wee bit...

Welcome Home!

Will comes home tonight!  I went home for a week and then he went to the UK for work for nearly two more weeks.  I need him to come home: we have lots of gardening to do! 

A Bit of Sunshine...

...goes a long way! Yesterday the sun came out for a little (in between some blown-in, short-lived rain). Today, so far, it has been nothing but blue skies and sun! The daffodils, the rhubarb, the purple thingys we planted but I can't remember the name, and the hyacinths are enjoying a bit of warmth and light. 

The star magnolia tree is about finished with its blooms. Some of the weeping cherry trees in the neighborhood are now popping out. The roses have new growth and some tiny makings of buds on their thorny stems.  Maybe Spring is coming after all!

Checking In with Our Seedlings

Our seedlings are doing fantastic this year! We have some tomato plants that are 8 inches tall and with numerous sets of leaves, even.  The grow lights are the secret!  We turn it on only in the day so the plants get some rest during the night.  I know I perform my tasks better when I am well rested--aren't plants the same way?

We have two growing systems too.  The newer one with the water-absorbing pad, sits the plants higher.  The second and third trays of seeds are just sitting in individual mini-pots on top of water and soil.  The tray with the water-absorbing pad is the one producing the plants that are 6-8 inches tall now.  The other trays have plants that are only about 3-5 inches tall. Same amount of water and same amount of light, but that water-absorbing pad seems to have made all the difference.  

We still are a long way off from hardening the new plants off-- especially since Mother Nature isn't cooperating with the weather (we still are having frosts! and wintery mixes of rain and sleet!). 

This coming week we might be able to stick the trays outside for a few hours in the day to get some real sun light. I think soon we will be transplanting the plants we have into bigger pots since they are getting so tall and crowded in these starter pots. 

 

In talking to my great uncle Jimmy, who is also an amazing gardener, he was going to start getting his ground ready just this week.  He thinks that he is at least another 3 weeks away from even thinking about planting anything directly into the ground.  Considering that he has been doing this for a while and he always produces the most amazing tomatoes, beans, and corn, I will wait to plant our seedlings as well.  It helps having such expertise in the family.