N & C Midwest—May 2024

Where does time go!?  This Spring is chugging along so fast, and it has finally gotten warm here, buckle your seatbelts!  

I have some things going in this weekend, it has been super wet here, slowing me down quite a bit due to the location of my beds…

Strawberry plants are waking up, I have had 2 rounds of asparagus and it has been delicious!  Sugar snaps are up, not blooming yet, but again these plants have been stunted a bit due to the weather.  

My ground cherries have failed germination, so plan to direct sow those, along with root veggies (carrots, beets).  I am also planning to plant out the Aerogarden herbs.  

What is going on where you are?

You are right, where has time gone!  90ºF today, and it is only May 2nd.

With this warm weather, it seems like I plant the Saxa 2 radishes one day, and the next day we are eating radishes. Guess that is why they are called 18-day radishes.   

Beautiful radishes, OG!  Yummy, too.

There is Fungus Among Us!  After 3 days of rain, some Dog Vomit Slime Mold (Fuligo septica) appeared on the wood chips between the raised beds. Always amazes me how suddenly it appears and grows, and then just as quickly it disappears again. It is beautiful, though.

Planted radishes and some lettuces today, along with my fave Dragon Tongue beans, and new to me, Painted Lady runner beans on a pole!  

My tomatoes and peppers are hardening off, along with a couple eggplants and nasturtiums, and marigolds.  A couple celery made it….

Potted up the Sweet Potato slips today. They have been in water since April 17th, and the root ball mass had gotten to big to keep them there. I only wanted 8 slips to plant, but I potted up 10 of them in case a couple don't survive -- don't know what I am going to do with the other 6 that are still in water.    These are planted in compostable cow pots, so the entire thing can go in the ground when the weather stabilizes enough to plant them outside.

Where do you get your cow pots, OG?

Scorpio Rising wrote:Where do you get your cow pots, OG?

I ordered them from their store. I ordered bulk to last me for a while to reduce shipping costs.  (https://cowpots.com/cowpots-store)

However, since I last ordered them, A.M. Leonard has started carrying them, and since there warehouse/store is only 20 miles from us that would be a better option for me.  

https://www.amleo.com/cowpots-biodegradable-pots/p/VP-CP

I don't know where April went but wow, May is moving just as quickly.

I planted radishes, but they sure don't look as nice as your OG! I have been hardening off my plants and trying to figure out when to transplant it based on temperature.

SR-I lost a few tomato seedlings which is such a bummer. My celery is hanging in there but REALLY needs to get in the ground.

Planted potatoes for the first time this year and starting to see green foliage which is super exciting! 

Peas are up but not producing, carrots and beets have been thinned and spinach is alright (I guess). I had a few projects this spring. Moved my herb garden closer to my back door, created a cattle panel trellis garden for pole beans and that has taken some time. Glad to see that you are all well!

Went out to pull a couple Daikon radishes for dinner, and found this mutant among them. Looks more like a turnip, but it tasted just like a Daikon radish. Apparently, the mother plant that the seed came from had crossed with another nearby radish. 

This year I am trying a new variety of kale, the Siberian Dwarf Kale, and it has really taken off. I planted them one per square, and they are crowding each other already. I have harvested one batch of leaves from them, and they quickly filled in the open spaces. The leaves of this variety seem sweeter than the Lacinato and Red Russian that I usually grow.

JAM23 wrote:I don't know where April went but wow, May is moving just as quickly.

I planted radishes, but they sure don't look as nice as your OG! I have been hardening off my plants and trying to figure out when to transplant it based on temperature.

SR-I lost a few tomato seedlings which is such a bummer. My celery is hanging in there but REALLY needs to get in the ground.

Planted potatoes for the first time this year and starting to see green foliage which is super exciting! 

Peas are up but not producing, carrots and beets have been thinned and spinach is alright (I guess). I had a few projects this spring. Moved my herb garden closer to my back door, created a cattle panel trellis garden for pole beans and that has taken some time. Glad to see that you are all well!

My entire garden is wayyyyy behind, even though I have plants that are ready to go iin yesterday.

My tomatoes and peppers are READY!  My celery had not great germination….but I am gonna go with it.  

And my radishes are nowhere ready!  OG’s radishes are very yum-worthy!  Lol

The sugar snap peas are beginning to bloom, so we'll soon be eating some fresh sauteed peas.

I am plugging along over here. Picked my first radishes yesterday and they are delicious! SR- I just try and do a little everyday so I don't get overwhelmed. LOL

Peas look great OG! Mine look okay too, just no blooms yet!

Yesterday, I got my peppers and eggplants in, and the tomatoes planted.  Not supported, but they are in!!!!  

My radishes are up.  Garlic looks good, so do sugar snaps.  I replanted a few sugar snaps, due to whatever!!!!

I should do that, JAM23….but I get so anxious!

I got my tomatillos, eggplant and about half of my peppers in after work tonight. Working full time is definitely impacting my gardening!! LOL 

I am hoping to get the other half of my peppers in tomorrow as well as my tomatoes and cucumbers. Just getting stuff planted a little at a time.  Wish I had more time, but for now this is the best I can do! I am just happy that the cold overnight temps are behind us!

Transplanted the tomatoes, basil, eggplants, and sweet potato slips into the gardens this evening. Didn't have time to get the peppers transplanted before the rain started, but I should be able to get them tomorrow or the next day.

Planted the sweet potato slips into a couple of the free mineral lick tubs that I got earlier this spring. Looking forward to seeing how they grow and develop. Next fall I should be able to just dump the tubs over onto a tarp to harvest the sweet potatoes.

OG-I haven't grown sweet potatoes YET, but yours are looking good!

Took a half day off of work and got my tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, green beans and the rest of my peppers in. Phew, I am tired but so HAPPY!

Harvested a ton of spinach and a few more radishes. Tomorrow I need to harvest some arugula, tatsoi and bok choy. The walking onions I planted last fall are looking good and I have used a few cuttings for cooking which has been nice. Chives blossoms are starting to open up so I want to harvest some of those as well.

Things are coming along.

Had to thin down the kale plants today. I am growing Dwarf Siberian Kale this year, and had planted three seedlings at one per square. They may be dwarf plants, but they were so close together at one per square that the middle plant was being smothered by the two outside ones. So, I harvested all of the leaves off of the middle plant, and then cut it off at the soil level.  There are now two kale plants with an open square between them.

We are loving eating the leaves & stems of the Dwarf Siberian Kale, though. It is much sweeter than most kale, and it does not have any of the traditional bitterness. But, it is a very heavy producer and we are having to share leaves & stems with neighbors to just keep up with the plants.

This is the kale that was harvested from the middle plant before it was removed from the bed


These are the three plants before the middle one was removed. The left plant had been harvested a couple days earlier