Lilacs are something I didn’t see that many of when I lived in California but here in Oregon the landscape is covered with them and May is when they flower. I have several in my garden but since I didn’t plant them myself I don’t know what kinds they are. I have two white ones and this is the first time this one has put off more than a couple of blossom clusters since I’ve lived here. I love it. Philip isn’t crazy for the scent of lilacs in the house, he thinks they’re overwhelmingly soapy. I love it. The scent on this one isn’t particularly strong, a disappointment to me, but at least it’s beautiful.
This is the first time my red currants have produced any berries. The plants (I have two) spend an awful long time in their pots so it’s not surprising. Now that they have a good deep spot of soil to reach into they are much happier and I’ve got several clusters of berries on them. Not enough to do much with but it makes me happy anyway.
Borage is an amazing plant to have in the garden. Bees love it so it helps the pollination of everything else to have it growing near all your fruiting plants. This one’s very small but they do get enormous and they’ll seed freely. Some people think this is a nuisance but I don’t.
This is my bed of tomatoes and calendula. I’ve got: 3 Siletz, 2 Jaune Flamme, and a Sungold. I need to have black tomato varieties too. So I’d better get another bed cleared of quack grass. Yeah, no problem. I’ll get right on that.
I’ve never done square foot gardening but my mom is giving it a try in this bed. She’s got it marked up and soon will plant it out with seeds.
It’s good to mulch your strawberry beds. My mom covered ours with straw and with the sunshine we’ve been getting (not a lot, but enough) and the slightly warmer temperatures have given them an enormous boost of growth and though you can’t see it well in this picture, they are blossoming. This is a bed of ever-bearing which means it doesn’t produce quite as large a berry or as large a June crop but will continue to produce for a few months. Last year I was getting berries through October. Just a few here and there. If you want to make jam or pies with your strawberries you’re better off planting June-bearing varieties that tend to produce large amounts in a single crop and often the berries are of larger size.
Not pictured is my 8×4 bed of pole beans- the first few bean sprouts have emerged. I love green beans and I don’t think you can have “too many” because if I can’t keep up with fresh eating I love to marinate and can them.
What’s going on in your own garden right now?
We have lilacs blooming yes and the strawberries are blooming. There’s a large lovage plant that i put in last year and I don’t really remember why but it’s thriving for sure! Oh and the chives are starting to flower and the potatoes have leaves. I have been thinking about mulching well I need to in the raised beds and I wonder if I should use straw. It’s either straw or hay that can cause weeds? Does your technique work for keeping the weeds down?
I generally forget to mulch at all but my mom swears by it and since she’s now my gardening partner I am following her lead. She says it keeps weeds down and keeps the beds from drying out so quickly. Gardening books all agree with her. for strawberries I do know it’s good for keeping the ripening berries off the ground which protects them from rotting before you pick them. Lovage!! I’m waiting to get some at the garden center. It’s great for soups and stocks. You don’t need much of it. I never got potatoes in this year. I’m sad about that but trying not to kick myself. We’ve got way more planted this year than last.
Steve Solomon says you can plant potatoes until mid-June. And he’d damn well better be right, because mine are still sitting on the kitchen counter, due to their bed not yet being finished, and they were expensive.
So I saw potatoes from Irish Eyes at Wilco and was thinking of you. I’m so tempted to plant them even though I’ve never planted them this late. The only reason I didn’t buy them is that I’m breaking my back digging out quack grass and it will easily be another month before I have another bed prepared for planting.