Very Good Gardening at Smallfields

Post 18: First Day of Spring!

Today is March 20th, which means two important things. First, it is my husband’s birthday. So, Happy Birthday Wes!!

Second, it is the First Day of Spring!!!!

Here are all of the things that are growing in my garden already. All of these are cool weather crops so if we happen to have a frost or two, they should be able to survive. (Emphasis on should…we will see)

Brassicas

I love cabbage, brussel sprouts and broccoli but wow, they are hard to grow. That doesn’t stop me from trying!

Brussel Sprouts

If you look, there are already established brussel sprouts on the right side. I also planted 8 more in the middle and left. It will be interesting to see what (if anything) grows the best.

Red and Green cabbage

Cabbage is the only crop from the Brassica family that I’ve had any success with. I’ve gotten a few heads. I’m hoping to get a few more this season.

Broccoli

I’ve said this before, but broccoli is my downfall. Here I have 6 plants hoping to survive long enough for me to get a decent sized head.

I bet you’ve noticed that I covered each of these crops in netting. This is to help with the cabbage worm. The cabbage worm grows into those cute little white butterflies that we will be seeing shortly. They lay their eggs on brassicas and then when the worm hatches, it destroys the plant. I’m hoping this can keep the majority of those butterflies out.

Root Crops

I’ve planted some radishes in this vertical planter. As well as lettuce, spinach, and arugula.

Radishes are some of the earliest crop and so satisfying to pluck out of the ground.

Onion sets

I bought about 100 onion sets this year. That may have been too many.

Baby carrot seedlings

I let a carrot go to seed last season. Now I have baby carrots growing EVERYWHERE. I’ll thin them out when they get bigger and I’ll have me some free carrots!

Potatoes

These potatoes were left in a brown bag in my pantry. They all sprouted and now I’m planting them for (hopefully) even more potatoes!

Garlic

I planted my garlic in the fall of last year. Here’s hoping that I get nice big bulbs!

Berries

Blueberry buds

I have 3.5 blueberry bushes. The half bush is because it was heavily damaged by cicadas last summer. I’m not sure it will make it. In the meantime, I’m seeing the beginning of buds here on this one!

Strawberry patch

Strawberries are super strong. In the next few days I will be trying to transplant a few of these to a different part of the yard and I’ll rehome some at the school I work at.

Not pictured: My red raspberries growing some leaves!

Greens

Freckles Romaine Lettuce

How pretty is this!? This is a plant that overwintered in my cold frame. I have all other kinds of lettuce growing in this same bed. I also have arugula and spinach growing in my vertical garden planter and some grow bags.

My son planting some peas along side my carrots

This year I’m trying something else new. I decided to grow some peas in my established carrot bed. I added new carrot seed and placed the supports right next to them. It might fail but just in case I have back-up carrots and back up peas in other places.

Flowers

Hydrangeas

My hydrangeas are coming back! One of my favorite plants on the property.

Pansies

My son and I went to pick out some of the cabbage starts and I told him he could pick out anything he wanted. He picked these. Can’t say I’m angry about that!

However, they were all incredibly root-bound. I suspect that since they were already blooming when we purchased them that they had been in those trays for a while.

Root-bound pansies

I’ve never seed roots that are wrapped around that thickly. It will be interesting if they will be able to thrive in the grow bags I put them in.

Herbs

Chives

Chives are coming back! I’ve already added them to my salads for this week’s lunches.

Horehound

I’m told that you can make some candies out of this. I didn’t get a chance to do much with it last season so I’m glad I get another opportunity this time around. Any suggestions on what to do with it?

I’m sure there is plenty more growing outside that I’ve missed. And there is certainly a lot of growth going on inside! That will have to wait until next post. See you then!