Saturday, April 23, 2011

Straw, Berries, and More.

Tulips and daffodils brighten the yard on a cloudy, rainy day.My peas are finally coming up. Mixed in is an onion that was missed last season and overwintered. In the back are the freshly planted onions. They are off to a good start.
Some of the potatoes are finally coming up. This year I planted Yukon Gold and Red Norland again.
I can't get a picture that does justice to the bleeding hearts. They are so much more beautiful in person.
I bought two bales of straw from a local nursery. Turns out one bale goes a VERY long way. I used it beneath my strawberries to keep the berries and foliage clean. I will also place it around my potatoes once they get taller and tomatoes when they go in the ground.
I also potted up some of my taller tomato plants. I planted them in large, red tumbler cups deeper than they were originally. That way they can develop more roots along the stem. I removed as much of the peat pots as I could without disturbing their roots too much. The roots had already begun to penetrate the peat walls.

7 comments:

  1. I love bleeding hearts, but seems I never had very much luck raising them into large beautys...Our potatoes are slowly showing too, I think in the next few warm nights they will just about pop out of the ground :o)

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  2. I'm surprised I even have any bleeding hearts. I, for some reason, felt the need to yank them all out when we first moved to our house. If I recall correctly, they were brown and sickly looking. Some of the large root pieces were left behind and they sprang back up the next season. Healthy and lush. They seem to like the east side of our house that only gets around 3 hours of direct sun a day.

    As for my potatoes, I planted them in two waves. Some Yukons that I saved from last season were planted on April 7th. They are the ones showing. The new Yukon Gold and Red Norland seed potatoes I just bought were planted the 21st. I'm hoping the rain and warm days they predict this week will get them going pretty quickly.

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  3. I just love bleeding hearts. I just wish that they would stay in bloom longer. The plant probably needed to be separated and now it is happy and healthy!

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  4. I think you're right Robin. They are really tough plants. I tried to kill them and only ended up making them stronger!

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  5. Hi Kim,

    Looks like we're growing some similar stuff. I'm up in State College, so everything in my garden is a little later than yours. I feel like your blog is like a crystal ball. You can look in the rear-view mirror at my garden at: henfieldhomestead.blogspot.com.

    Elizabeth

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  6. I lived in State College for 7 or 8 years. I really miss it up there. I like your new blog. You're really expanding this season. Moving from 150 to 600 square feet is quite a jump. It opens up so many possibilities. It'll be great to hear how things go.
    Kim

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  7. Well, I was pregnant and caring for a newborn last season, so not much was possible. This year I have a 10 month old. So not much is still possible. : )

    Wish me luck.

    (I've had many gardens of many sizes over the last 15 years, so I kind of know what I'm getting into.)

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