Lettuce Out, Tomatoes In?

I Was Wondering

If 

lettuce gets bitter 

when it gets warm 

and tomatoes prefer to be planted 

when it gets warm

does it follow

that tomatoes should be planted

when the lettuce gets bitter?

Tomato Day

Even though the nights are still getting cold (40-50F), I decided to put my tomatoes in the ground. Last year, I tried some fancy pants "heirloom" varieties of tomatoes. I was disappointed. They were not disease resistant and did not produce well. It might have been the weather last year, but, with my limited garden space, I decided that I wanted something more reliable. So I put in two 6" seedlings:

1) Better Boy - "vigorous vines yield tasty tomatoes with excellent disease resistance. Indeterminate plant produces a continuous supply of fruit until frost."

2) Champion - "provides high yields of very sweet, solid meaty tomatoes. Disease resistant. Indeterminate vines."

How did I forget last year that seedlings go on sale after Memorial Day. Note to self: Buy plants the weekend after Memorial Day. 33% off! 

I have put in some annuals as well:

1) Stock - Harmony Mix

2) Marigold - French Dwarf - Safari Mix (this one has a pretty orange and yellow petal)

3) French tarragon

4) Vietnamese Coriander (Rau Rahm)

5) Linum Perenne - Sapphire - pretty blue flower

6) Sweet basil - genovese

7) Thai basil

8) Greek Columnar basil 

9) Lobelia - Regatta mix (pink, purple, and blue)

10) Petunia - hurrah blue (that really dark, velvety purple)

11) Fenugreek

12) Phlox subulata - creeping phlox - candy stripe (pretty pink and white petals)

13) Thai hot pepper

The little thai pepper is sad. I think the plant actually shrunk since I planted it two weeks ago. Maybe it likes warmer weather. And I've nearly weeded the Vietnamese coriander out multiple times. It looks like a weed. The fenugreek looks like alfalfa so I have to resist weeding that one, too.

Learning about Trees and Shrubs

We're thinking about buying our first home. As a gardener, that means my options have expanded to include trees and shrubs. So I got a book and I'm starting to teach myself.

Enjoying The Rain

I planted more lettuce on 4/11. It has been raining off and on for the last three days and I'm loving it! Thank you, God, for watering my seeds. It's especially wonderful because the water systems aren't up and running in the garden yet so I would have to carry all of the water from my house to the garden.

I also planted some pac choi and beets. I included this picture so I remember where I planted them.

Garden Bees

Late March Gardening

Lettuce and pea seedlings. They're happy. I got lucky when I planted them. It was warm and it rained and has been raining off and on since then.

Our garlics are happy.

My eternally happy Dianthus isn't looking so happy now. There is green at the tips. But, usually, this is the first and greenest thing in my garden. Did it not like the mild winter?

Morning Glory seeds on the bricks. This is (hopefully) exciting. I'm hoping that there will be lots of volunteer morning glories this year.

Oops! I guess I missed the dwarf irises this year.

If you asked me when asparagus came up, I would not have guessed, "between the crocuses and the tulips/daffodils." I'm always learning. This isn't my asparagus. It's the neighbor's.

Unseasonable Temperatures

We've had highs in the 70s the last few days. It's lovely, but very unusual for March. We didn't get much snow this winter and are badly in need of rain/snow.

The garlics are an inch or more tall now.

I planted seeds in the greenhouse and garden, including: lettuce, spinach, corn salad, miners lettuce, dwarf pac choi, turnips (greenhouse), beets (outside), and peas.

Unfortunately, I don't have access to water yet. So I watered the greenhouse plot, which was dry to the point of being dusty, but didn't water the slightly damp soil outside. The weather forecast has rain for the next five days, so I think that should be fine.

First Flowers

The crocuses have started to bloom in the garden:

Bulbs Sprouting

It has been in the 60Fs this weekend so I went out to look at my garden. Sure enough, the first bulbs are breaking through the soil. Surprisingly, the tallest bulbs are the fall crocuses. Also surprising: my eternally happy dianthus is still pretty brown. Usually, it is the greenest thing in the garden this time of year. But it's been an odd (read: warm, dry) winter.

February Gardening

I dreamed about sun the other night. In my dream, the sun was bright and hot. It is a sunny day today and the sun is dim and warm. So I will continue to dream of tropical beaches and summer-to-come.

But, in the meantime, there are signs of life inside.

I was afraid that I had permanently harmed my amaryllis last year. It spent its summer inside in a sunny window instead of outside in the garden. When the side shoots erupted, but the central bulb didn't, I was afraid that it didn't have enough stored energy to sprout. But, mid-week, this week, the center shoot erupted! You can see the grey-browns of winter outside. I am looking forward to a bright, red, cheery amaryllis.

Petunias delight me. I like their color, their smell, and their desire to bloom always. In some way, I am even charmed by their sticky little stems.

I bought myself a bouquet of color. It is the antidote to the brown-greys of winter and good medicine for the winter blues.

New USDA Zone

The USDA has revised their zone map. Most of the Twin Cities are now zone 4b.

http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/?loc=interstitialskip