Garden Growth–18th April, 2019

We didn’t get as much rain as early as I expected, which worked out because that gave us time to set up one of the rain barrels.  The air was still damp, which added a chill to the near 50°F temperatures.

• Watered the seedlings.  Still no sign of anything in the other herb kit pots.
• Not much time to work outside today, still tried to make the best of it.  Picked up two garden books from the local library while we were out running errands: The New England Berry Book, and The Wildlife-Friendly Vegetable Gardner.  I know I’ve taken out the first before, can’t recall about the second though it seems familiar.
• We stopped by a local nursery and Agway.  I had to order leather gloves in what hopefully will be a size that fits.  I desperately need leather gloves that fit to deal with the Berry Army’s reformation.   We will likely be ordering our addition to the Berry Army for the year there when we return for the gloves–an elderberry.  This will extend our berry picking after whatever the critters leave us into the fall.  We wanted a gooseberry, but apparently there are problems with them here–some sort of fungus. A quick peek at wiki noted they can suffer from white pine blister rust which can damage American white pines.  If I had learned that before, I had forgotten.  So much to remember!
• I had also forgotten that we had found a smaller but sturdier than average shipping pallet which was spot on as a platform for at least one rain barrel.  We could not easily move the downspout as I’d hoped.  Partly because it’s a seamless gutter, mostly due to it being what’s called a K style, so we couldn’t simply unscrew it from the brackets and reverse it, as the molded front won’t nest properly against the porch when flipped.  Still, one barrel in place is better than none even if we have to move it later.  I will not run out of rain water any time soon for the seedlings.
• When the afternoon rains were barely a mist, I did a quick round about the gardens to continue to pick up fallen branches, and spent stalks.
• The weather for Saturday does not look good, and I’m wondering if the Arbor Day events will be partially curtailed as a result.