Busy, Busy, Busy

On this sunny Monday morning, after the cool weather and rain over the weekend, I'm planning to get outside. I have lots to accomplish before the next round of rains commence. Rain is in the forecasts my ray-of-sunshine husband frequently checks and shares with me. I rarely need to check a forecast because he keeps me informed.

I'll be filling my walls of water first so my tomato plants will be protected from our still chilly nights. I have already hand-broadcast the granular fertilizer Dennis used to use when seeding our wheat. He's since gone to liquid. I saved several buckets of the granular years ago. I think I have enough left for one more summer. I've also scattered the crushed eggshells I'd saved all winter over the space reserved for my tomato plants. I hand-worked those into that row, which also worked to uproot all the weeds that have been sprouting since I tilled the garden. (I know some of what I uprooted were desirable plants, such as dill, cilantro, and various flowers, but technically, any plant growing where not wanted is a weed.)

I have enough red walls of water for my many tomato plants. I also have a lesser number of green walls of water. I'll use those green ones for my six pepper plants. Those protectors will remain in place for the next month or so. They act as miniature greenhouses until it gets hot enough for the plants to thrive on their own.

After all that work is completed, there's always more work to be done. I succumbed to the allure of the many gardening catalogs I received. I ordered more fruit-bearing bushes. Naturally, those arrived Thursday and it began raining in the early hours of Friday. It was a particularly cold rain, with lashing winds. We saw a few flakes of snow, but overall remained green, but very wet. Other areas saw their ground turn white again.

The new bushes will go in my former strawberry row. I seem to have lost my touch for strawberries as very few of those plants survive the winters. The local deer seem to have developed a particular fondness for strawberry leaves. I've moved the survivors all to one end of that row, and have a few new plants to add to their number.

At the far end of that row, nearest the raspberry rows (they're perpendicular to each other) I'll plant the new golden raspberry canes. I do have a very small section in my established rows of a yellow raspberry that has an apricot/peach flavor. Those berries tend to easily fall apart, and I eat them as I pick them. The catalog listing for the new ones claim they won't fall apart. We'll see if that fall-bearing raspberry (called Anne) lives up to its hype.

Next in line will be my new honeyberries. They're actually called Canadian Haskap Berry Blue, but the first ones I put in years ago were called honeyberry. They're similar to blueberries although the fruit is elongated instead of round. The ones I've beaten the birds to (again, I eat them as I pick them) were very sweet. I ordered two of those along with a pollinator bush, which I will plant between the other two. The established pollinator seems to be failing. The established bush attracts zillions of bees to my garden, which is good. The fruits attract lots of birds, which I wish would leave the fruits of my efforts to me.

The other bush I ordered is whimsical. It's called a contorted flowing quince. I don't really expect to get fruit to consume from it. I expect it to be a treat for the eye.

If I have any energy left (this will probably take today and tomorrow) I'll stick my Walla Walla onion sets in the ground. I ordered them along with the bushes, having been unable to find any locally. If you're wondering, I used Jungs. I've done business with them in the past and trust them. They have a good guarantee, their products perform well, and their prices seem reasonable. The tomato and pepper plants were purchased from our local greenhouses. I've been very happy with my local purchases. I'll be haunting them until they close.

I have a bunch of herbs (also local purchases) which I'll plant in a couple of window boxes to be kept on my front deck, for easy use. My permanent rock herb garden apparently doesn't get enough sun, being in the shade all afternoon as well as part of the morning. I'm going to switch that over to a perennial shade garden. I'll install some hosta plants, lungworts, and maybe a bleeding heart. The only herb in there that made it through this past winter is a creeping thyme. That herb makes a good ground cover. It's thriving out in full sun around some stepping stones in one of my flowerbeds. I don't really use it as an herb.

I'm enjoying lots of chives (in pestos and chopped in salads) as well as fresh asparagus (with lemon/tarragon/shallot dressing) right now. I've shared those recipes in the past. I'm running out of space right now, but I'll throw in one quickie asparagus recipe.

Lemony Sauted Asparagus

Saute 1 1/2 # asparagus, cut in 1" bits, in 1 Tbl olive oil over medium high heat until tender. Stir in 1 1/2 tsp lemon zest, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Cook 1 minute. Serves 4.

To switch that up to Cajun, toss the asparagus with the oil, omit the other seasonings, add 1 tsp Cajun seasoning and 1/2 tsp salt. Roast at 400° about 15 minutes.