Just enough rain to feel it was ok to not do much outside. Left the cold frames closed due to slow to warm temperatures. Although earlier the day was cool, long after dark it was still in the upper 50s°F.
- Watered indoors and outside as needed (more for the eggcarton seeds than the bare ground sowing).
- Spent time looking at The 2 Hour Garden plan, realized that we’re actually still on track with what we plan to follow this year. Whatever zone the plan is written for, it seems we’re a bit behind frost zone wise. One thing we have realized this year is not all of our plantings were as late as we thought last year, and mostly because we’re still coming to grips with how much shorter the growing season is here. We’re definitely leaning towards building at least a small greenhouse before next spring.
- Speaking of The 2 Hour Garden plan, next week we’ll be hustling to get more beds finished, as we want to plant at least sunflowers and more squashes. We’re hoping for more, but those are our targets right now. We’re still trying to follow the moon calendar, and if whatever above ground isn’t planed by the full moon on the 18th, that would mean waiting until early June. So in two weeks, we plan to finally get the potatoes in the ground as well as the freebie sprouting onions we’re using as sets.
- The neighborhood outdoor cats/ferals are turning out to be an issue that I’m not sure how much I should worry about or not yet. All the newly made beds are filled with cat prints, and one seems to have been used as a litter box recently. I’m not sure what to do to deter this, but so far no seeds have been upended so no harm, no foul. I did watch a hilarious moment as one cat was fighting the wind trying to cover their “toilet” with leaves in the woodsy area. The wind kept picking up the leaves they had just pawed back, and they kept at it before finally giving up and dashing off.
- I realized I still haven’t done anything with the small birdbath I picked up last year. I’m not sure what it’s made of, because the metal is colored like bronze in some spots, but just plain old rusted in others. I need to scrape it a bit on the greeny bits to see if that’s just a finish or not after I give it a thorough rust brush/cleaning.
- I should probably get the bee bath back outside soon. A bit worried about the temperatures, but in reality I can always bring it indoors at night if it seems like we might get a long overnight near freeze temperature range. I’m thinking about making another one this year, but not sure where to put it just yet.
- I can’t remember if I mentioned it, but all the seed potatoes that grew early are leggy. I’ve read a few ways to deal with this, but the most common advice I’ve seen is just hill them. I’m tempted to try one method where you lay it on its side, to allow the stalk to grow roots, I’m not sure how that will work, given the tuber nature of potatoes.
- I spoke too soon about night temperatures not predicted to fall back to the 30s, as that changed with the latest updated forecasts. Most are leaning high 30s instead of low 40s, so it’ll be interesting to see what actually happens.
- I’m having a hard time getting out the old pins in a broken spade handle to put the new one on I bought last year. Hopefully I can figure a better pry system before I have to use a hacksaw.
