Straight through May and on to June

Well, that escalated quickly.  Once again, I feel as if I turned around and everything brown is green again.

It continues to be a cooler than average spring, and we've had a few storms that were untypically savage. Pouring rain, high winds, and cold fronts.  Today's storm of May 30th brought snow to the upper elevations - nearly six inches to the summit of Mount Washington!  It's been a cold, heavy rain here, but much welcomed.  We've moved the needle from severe drought conditions down to moderate over the past few months.  We've had a few summer sneak peeks of 80*F here and there, but pleasantly cool otherwise.  

The pasture has fully recovered from my accidental torching, and emerald green grasses now cover the burned area.  Reputa took a trip to my small engine guy's garage to see if she was salvageable.  Thankfully the only damage reported was a burned up drive belt, so I told him to give that old wench whatever she wanted, she deserved it.  A new belt, an oil change, new spark plug, air filter and fuel filter...the full spa treatment.  

 

She's back and running like a champ, but I'll admit that the first time I hauled a cart of manure out across the pasture, I was shaking like a leaf.  I didn't dare leave her running and after I'd put her away when I was done, I spent a good ten to fifteen minutes staring at the route we'd taken, checking for smoke or flames.  The next day I ordered two small fire extinguishers online.  One fits snugly into the pocket on the back of the seat cover, and having it has made me feel that much safer. 

On the suggestion of my small engine guy, I checked the mower deck pulleys and sure enough, one had frozen stuck.  The friction from that must have created the heat that sparked the dead grass that burned the pasture that lived in the house that Jack built.  Sorry, got a little carried away with that one.

Reputa is done mowing for the time being, and I'm not sure that I ever want to put that mower deck back on, even if it were fixed.  It's becoming increasingly difficult to lower my broken body to the ground to get it hooked or unhooked from the tractor, and it's even more increasingly difficult to heave my massive bulk back up onto my feet.  I still have the wimpy Craftsman rider for lawn mowing and such.

 In the gardens, I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the species tulips I've invested in.  I've flagged the red with yellow striped looking ones and plan to relocate them to the hot gardens.  The rest will remain in the cottage gardens, where they are just stunning. 

 

 

 Also in the cottage gardens, some of the Snake's Head Fritillary came back, and bonus - a few are pure white instead of the classic pink checkerboard pattern.

Happily enough, the 'Louise' dwarf iris finally emerged.  

 I can't wait to relocate them and the 'Katharine Hodgkin' to the alpine garden.

Oh, updates.  Well...more mule fence went up, but not enough that I can let them out yet.  I finally found someone to help and when she's here, things go three times as fast.  The cat fence still sits on the pallet, waiting for the day I finally start that project.  The hillside garden is an absolute m.e.s.s. - the grass has overtaken half the beds, the cool weather crop seeds I sowed a month ago have basically done nothing, and a bunch of my onions died off.  Weeds are rampant, though.  So hardy, much thriving.

I've ended up buying a lot of started vegetable plants because I just don't have the gumption to start more seeds indoors.  In fact, I've dismantled the racks and put them away for the time being.  I wish I'd taken some recent photos of the winter sown seeds.  They have done fantastic!  Going forward, that's how I plan to do my seed starting.  The only problem was that once the seedlings were big enough to pop out and pot on, I looked at the hundreds upon hundreds of them and said NOPE.  I pulled the seedlings out of the jugs in solid mat forms, broke them up into chunks, and planted them in clumps around the cottage gardens and the meadow area.  The only ones I decided to pay attention to were the Verbena Bonariensis and the white penstemons from my own seeds.  I planted those in clumps in a holding bed, and will try to separate them and move them when they're bigger.  

Speaking of the meadow area, I cannot get over how much growth has happened in just a few weeks.  This is a photo from May 12th and the same area today, May 30th.

One of my quick projects was painting the short metal fence that had been out front to divide the yards and use it in the meadow garden.  Last year the meadow plants grew crazy tall and flopped into the path area, and trying to water or simply walk around admiring my plants was difficult, especially when they were covered in stinging insects like bees and wasps.  Hopefully these will help hold things back a little. I am short a few sections, so I put some grade stake fence in as a placeholder until I can get some more panels.  In the front yard I needed to stake my peony and baptisia, and ended up cutting a ringed tomato cage in half.  I have a bunch more of those type of tomato cages and I may try using those for staking some of the taller plants in the meadow, as well.

I was thrilled to find two of the baptisia I grew from seed came back for a third year.  I'm hoping by next year they'll actually bloom.  The clematis "The President" that I bought at Job Lots last year came back, too.  I secured the dress form to the fence this spring so it has something sturdy to climb.

I'm also happy to report that after three years (yup, I started these seeds in 2023!), my Virgin's Bower plants are finally coming to life.

The three that I planted inside the bird cage are growing like crazy.  They definitely followed the rule of three that my mother reminds me of when I get impatient - the first year they sleep, the second year they creep, the third year they leap.  Since this vine won't bloom until late summer or early autumn, I've also planted some morning glories in with it to add some color.

The yellow twig dogwood is blooming - it feels like this is earlier than normal.

Ugh, look at all that grass.  I had planned to spend an hour every night working on pulling the grass on the bank and fluffing the bark mulch.  Planned.  Old.  Tired.  Too many projects.

Elsewhere in the meadow, spring bloomers are doing their thing.

And around front, the Midwinter Fire Dogwood garden has finished its display of tulips and daffodils, but they were spectacular this year.

The sunset colors of Tulipa 'Marit' were beautiful, and reminded me of the Mango Charm I had a few years ago.  These are a Darwin tulip, and may rebloom for a few years.  Those rich dark pinkish red tulips are leftover 'Artist' from last year, but honestly I feel like they were mislabeled.  I plan to split this clump and spread it throughout the bed, and hope it will come back again next year.  Whatever it is, it's a wonderful contrast to the softer colors of the daffodils, and picks up that pink in the 'Marit'.

With so many projects and everything getting ahead of me, I'm trying to focus on one thing at a time.  Tomorrow I will finally put edging around the hot gardens in front of the barn.  That will probably take me most of the day, but if I have extra time, maybe I can fit in some fence work.  We'll see. 

 

April showers and all that

I love how quickly we go from snow and cold to green and somewhat warmer.  The spring days break the grumpy, cynical nature of the northmen and everyone is just in a good mood.  We've had some much needed rain, and a few days of unseasonably hot weather, both of which have begun to wake the gardens from their winter slumber.

In the pasture, the area that had burned is less of a horror show and more of a quickly fading scar.                

 

The cottage garden plants are forcing their way through the thick layer of soil I dumped on them last autumn.

                            

Yes, that is an outdoor sofa frame.  I'm using that and some wrought iron outdoor tables as plant supports in these gardens, because why not?  Thrifty Yankee.

In the hot beds at the barn, the yellow crocus I planted are in bloom.  I love them, and hope they spread like mad.

   

In the hillside garden, the garlic is chugging away, and the hellebore is in bloom.  She really needs to go into the forest garden.  I've decided that I probably won't be able to get to the entire forest garden this year, but I will try to get at least one small section done.  Hopefully a few of my shade plants will have a new home by the end of summer.

 

 The Katharine Hodgkin dwarf iris have bloomed.  This is a variety I have wanted for many years, and finally found online.  I also purchased some dwarf iris 'Louise', but I haven't seen it emerge yet.  I'm honestly not sure where I planted it.  Both of these will eventually be moved into the alpine garden when that's ready.

The white forsythia I planted a few years ago as bare root stock has about five flowers this year.  I can't wait until it's a fully grown, bushy shrub covered in these delicate white blooms.

In the back yard I've been working to get the cement block borders in place around the bank I mulched last year.  I can't believe how much grass has pushed through the cardboard and bark mulch already!  I'll have to mulch again this spring, after pulling the grass.

And finally, an update on my winter sowing experiment.  I have germination!  Not in every jug, but I'm happy with what's going on so far.  The teasel, flax, valerian, ammi majus, and most excitedly, the white penstemon seed gathered from my own plant have all germinated.  So far the verbena bonariensis and great burnet are not cooperating, but the pimpinella has about three tiny seedlings, so maybe these just need a little more time or some warmer weather.  I'm pretty stoked with the results.

Not-so-pro-tip - when you tape the containers together, don't use Gorilla tape.  That stuff just does not want to peel off!  I may have to cut some jugs open.

For the next week we're returning to more typical spring weather.  Rainy, raw, and temperatures overnight below freezing.   The winter sown seedlings will come into the garage for protection to be on the safe side.  I'd hate to lose them at this point.  I've started clearing the sumac behind the bitch barn so I can get the rest of the snow fence put up, and hopefully get the hillside garden secured.  The doe and her twins survived the winter and they've already been walking through the cottage and hillside gardens.  I'm not losing veg to these marauders this year if I can help it.

I have pasture edges to cut, rocks and soil to move to the alpine garden, mule fence to get done, cat fence to erect, a squash mound to prepare, and hundreds of seedlings to pot on until it's safe for them to go out.  Sometimes there's so much to do, it feels incredibly daunting.  I keep saying to myself "Just get this project done, and next year you'll have more time to enjoy yourself" but it seems the big projects just drag on and never get completed.  I sometimes find myself frustrated because I'm physically and financially hindered, but then I think about the alternative.  I could be living in an apartment, without the means to have my mules, my gardens, and all these things that keep me so busy.  I really am a lucky gal.

A Cool, Cool, Cool Spring

March is going out like lamb, albeit a grumpy one.  We're still seeing freezing temperatures and precipitation fights between snow, sleet, and rain, but most of the snow is gone at this point.  April can be tricky, so I don't want to get too excited.  The forecasts are all calling for a cooler spring, which means I should do better with early season vegetables.  Maybe.  I hope.

I'm still controlling my urge to start too many seeds, but I did just set up the second shelf unit.  Today I'll be starting petunias and morning glories, and possibly some cool weather vegetables.  One of the tricks I read about that I'm doing this year is soaking my seed starting and potting soil mixes with boiling water.  This is supposed to kill any fungus gnat larvae that might be in the soil, and so far, I'm fungus gnat free.  We'll chalk that up to a win!

 

I did start some more of the Tiny Tim tomato plants to give away, and a few pepper varieties.  I used the seed starting setup under the hydroponic system and it worked fantastically well!  The only seeds that didn't sprout were the habaneros, which is disappointing.  

 

The seeds that did sprout were transplanted, sponge and all, into red Solo cups with potting soil.  They're doing very well, so this is a great method for starting, and I'll probably do another round soon so I have staggered harvests. 

 

 

 

I tried starting some of the leek seeds that were leftover from 2024, and had less than 50% germination, so those need to go.  I really didn't want to grow leeks again this year, but I do love mom's potato leek soup.  I may have half a dozen plants to set out when the time comes.

And the Tiny Tim tomatoes finally did turn red, and were tasty little treats.  

The leaves have all dried up and fallen off, though.  The little peppers turned red, but they're solid, so I don't know what's up with that.  

Yesterday mother and I attended a small garden show in Maine, and one of the nurseries we frequent was a vendor there.  They had this spectacular black pussy willow shrub that was so stunning, we ended up driving to their nursery to purchase one on the spot.  I love it, and now I have one more shrub to add to my backyard collection.

 

 

 

And so begins the plant buying frenzy of 2026!
 

Winter Seed Sowing - The Finalists

I've been immersing myself in YouTube videos and Reddit threads about winter sowing, and I think I've made my mind up which seeds I'll try for the first year.  

I have leftover Whorled Milkweed, which didn't fare so well last year when started in the house. I'd really like to get this established in the meadow area.

Teasel, which I discovered can be invasive so I didn't even crack that seed envelope.  If I only sow a few, grow them in pots, and cut back the seed heads before they naturally distribute, I may be safe.  They are a nice structural plant.   

Annual asters (Sea Star mix) are apparently good candidates for winter sowing, and I have about half of a package left from last year.  

I have a package and a half of Rococo blend pansies and I'm trying to decide if I want to winter sow them in containers or sprinkle them around the cottage gardens and between beds in the hillside garden.  These are seeds I purchased in 2023 and started indoors, then transplanted out in containers.  They were spectacular, and when autumn rolled around I'd neglected to empty a small pot of them.  To my utter shock, they came back the next year in that pot and thrived. They reappeared last year, as well.  We'll see if the seeds are still viable.

I'm going to try winter sowing some cool weather greens, too.  I have cabbage, kale, and spinach that I'll attempt to coax to life.  I sowed cabbage seeds last year directly in one of the shadier raised beds and they were not much more than an inch tall by the end of the season.  I sowed spinach directly in a bed twice and both times it failed to even germinate. I think our springs are getting too warm too quickly, and it's affecting these crops.  Hopefully this will give them an edge and get them started in optimal conditions.

All of these seed packets were purchased for previous years, so I'm not 100% confident they'll even germinate, but you never know.  I grew Roma tomatoes from the same seed packet for four years previously, so it's worth a try.  Next step: deciding on the actual containers.  

Addendum - after I hit publish I realized I have other seed packets already in the fridge to keep them cool!  Great Burnet, Verbena bonariensis, Valerian, and side oats; the latter two I also sowed directly in the meadow back in late November.  I have a number of seeds I collected from the gardens, too.  Clematis, Vervain, Ragged Robin, Poppy, Mallow, and Penstemon.  Looks like I'm going to need more containers than I had bargained for!

garden ruminations and the fix

 

As I sit here on a snowy December day, my thoughts turn to vegetable growing.  I fully admit that I start with a bang during spring months that are so filled with promise.  Like an echo, that initial push of excitement fades into the distance as the reality of growing conditions, my own mistakes, and unpreventable climate or weather related mishaps begin rearing their ugly heads.  The hot summer months are when I begin to look around and adopt a defeatist attitude about my gardens.  This isn't a healthy pattern, so I need to fix it.

I've been looking at my simple garden layout and thinking about what has worked well in which beds, what has failed miserably, and figuring out the why of it all.  

 I developed this layout initially to keep track of my perennial stock; to determine which plants I had in which beds.  As I moved the perennials out, I thought this chart would help me determine simple crop rotation for vegetables.  That didn't work because I tend to use any open spot as a perennial holding area for new plants, plants I've started from seed, or plants that need a specific growing condition that I haven't prepared yet, thus throwing my rotation plans into chaos. So what other uses might this chart have?  How about light, and where to better plant specific vegetables according to their need for sun or shade?

This chart is situated as though I'm standing at the bottom of the hill, in the entrance.  The top is fairly west, the left is fairly south, the bottom fairly east, and the right fairly north.  It's not exact, but it's also not evenly split.  The left side of the garden is shaded by the large trees of the forest garden from around noontime to three or four o'clock, then it's hit with full sun for a few hours until sundown.  The right side of the garden gets pretty much full sun all day.  Using this information, I can determine which vegetables will do better in which beds.  Well, you would think, anyway.  Last year I tried growing lettuce in the old tub at the very bottom left, and it was a massive failure.  Likewise, radish and cabbage in the far upper left did almost nothing.  I'm not sure if it was light conditions or if the soil was missing something, but I may revamp those beds altogether and try again.  

Since adding the hay ring in the center, I've been frustrated by the way one side of whatever I've planted at the base of the ring - peas, cucumbers, or pumpkins - grows better than the other.  I've been thinking of adding more trellises in the hillside garden for vining vegetables, and thought...gee, do the trellises need to be a certain position for optimal output?  Well, duh, young Skywalker, they sure do.  The hay ring is positioned east to west; that is, walking through the open center you are moving east to west, with plants on the north and south sides. In this situation, one side gets more sun and grows faster and better than the other.  Trellises should be positioned north to south, so they get the full benefit of light on both sides as the sun traverses the sky.  I'd like to add vertical trellises (and possibly arched) for cucumbers, peas, and possibly some smaller squash varieties.  My beds are all lined so that if I start in one row and bend a trellis up to the next row for arched, they should work great, with the open center running north to south and veg planted on the east and west sides.  If I go with just a vertical wall type trellis the length of the beds, I already know that works because I've done that in the past with a small piece of hog panel.  

My next thought is that if add trellises, I need to know which beds will best lend themselves to the potential shading of afternoon sun from the vining plants.  A quick check on "what vegetables benefit from afternoon shade" led me down a rabbit hole of confusing information.  The internet.  At once the most and least helpful informational tool.  So what do I know to be true?  I know cool season crops need sun but don't thrive in heat, and many can be coaxed through the summer by providing some cooling shade.   

Armed with this information, I'm now going back to my trusty seed box to take stock of what seeds I have on hand, which ones need to be scrapped due to age, which can be started inside, which can be direct sown, and what plants I'm better off letting the garden center start for me.

 Who says gardening in northern climes stops when the beds are buried under snow?