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The April Garden

SchneiderPeeps The April Garden

Our garden looking pretty good right now. It’s been a little cooler than normal and we got a later start than normal in planting our plants but all in all I feel pretty good about our garden right now.

Last year at this time I was disappointed that we had The Great Pill Bug infestation but was trying to be thankful for what we had. I’m happy to say that we do not seem to have a pill bug problem this year. For that, I am very thankful.

Not to say we haven’t had a few hiccups along the way this spring. But they were lessons learned so it’s ok, right? For instance, don’t expect a lightweight greenhouse you bought on clearance for $7 to withstand 25 mph wind. You might just loose a seed tray or two.

Lemon tree budsOur lemon tree is loosing it’s blooms and the fruit is starting to develop. Citrus really don’t get much of a break. We picked the last of the lemons off this tree in late December. And here it is producing again. This one tree gave us over 300lbs of lemons last year. If you can grow citrus, you should.

comfrey plantThe comfrey I planted just a few weeks ago is doing well. I divided the plant into 3 since the rootstock had 3 shoots coming off of it and they all are doing fine right now. I planted them with our citrus trees as I really want to use them as fertilizer for those workhorses.

Pomegranate flowersThe pomegranate tree has 6 blooms on it this year. I’m not expecting any fruit but that’s more bloom than we’ve ever had. This tree is only 3 years old.

mulberriesThe neighbor’s mulberry tree that overhangs our property is full of berries. We had a late freeze and some of the early berries died but I think we’ll have a good harvest. Our neighbor doesn’t do anything with this tree and he doesn’t mind that we pick the berries. We have a small one growing but it’s still a few years away from fruit.

blueberriesThe blueberries look pretty good. I have 5 bushes in large containers, 2 were added this year. Of the 3 older ones, one has quite a few dead branches that were not there when I pruned in January. I’m not sure what has happened to it, I don’t think it was the freeze as it’s the most protected of the three. But the other two have nice plump little berries.

popcorn plantsThis was a last minute decision. We were working outside and I decided we should try popcorn. So I went inside and got some kernals from our popcorn bucket and Phoebe planted them. We’ll see what happens…

kaleYes, these are our same kale plants that I planted in October of 2012! And yes, they still taste just fine. I’m waiting for them to go to seed so I can collect the seeds. If you can grow kale, you should. If you don’t like it, you should learn to like it. I just cannot believe how hardy it is. It’s been through 100 degree days and 28 degree nights and it’s still here. I have a friend who calls it my “Depression” plant.

bean flowersThe beans have flowers. I miss green beans so much and so do my kids. Last year we only got a few handfuls of beans because of the pill bugs.

tomatoes and buckwheatOk, this is something new I’m trying. I decided to grow buckwheat as a weed suppressant, green manure and for the bees. So I planted a big patch near the bees and then planted some in most of the tomato beds. I think every seed came up and fast. I just planted these a week ago. I’m not sure “exactly” how this is all going to work out. I kind of did this on a whim.

cucumber flowerOur cucumbers are starting to flower. I planted a couple of different varieties. Only a few of us like cucumbers or pickles so I only need a couple of plants.

squash plantsI’m not exactly sure what kind of squash these are – remember the lesson cheap greenhouses shared earlier? I’m hoping they are small ornamental squash since I want them to climb this trellis.

onion plantsThe onions I’m not so sure about. I planted really late. I should have planted in late November or December and well, I just didn’t get around to it. So I bought some transplants in January which I know better than to do and they are already seeding or bulbing. In the bed in the photo I planted some seeds in January. I’m hoping they’ll get larger before starting to bulb. This was the first time I’ve planted onions by seed. I think I’ll do that in the future.

yellow squash plantThe yellow squash is starting to fruit. It’s interesting that this particular plant set female blooms before male blooms usually it’s the other way around. I know what kind of squash is in this bed because I bought a few transplants and then planted seeds instead of using my mixed up seedlings.

corn and melon plantsWell, I wonder what happened here? We’re supposed to have 4 rows of corn and we only have 2 1/4. I’m guessing one of our bags of seeds didn’t germinate at all. It’s weird and they probably won’t pollinate. But the space won’t go to waste. I planted all the mixed up squash/melon seedlings here along with the corn. Then I bought some more melon seedlings to make sure we have enough. Then Carl planted some giant pumpkin seeds. This will be an interesting garden. (Most of the little plants are weeks. Hopefully the melons will grow fast and take over)

cucumber beans and chardHere are my cucumbers, some pole beans and the kale and  swiss chard that I’m keeping for the summer. A few months ago this bed was full of kale and swiss card. We pulled it and fed it to the chickens to prepare to plant a few spring crops in it.

potato plantsThe potato bed. I read last year that potatoes like slighly acidic soil so in the fall I covered this bed with pine needles from our pine trees. When we planted the potatoes, we planted right down into the pine. So far, so good.

carrot plants

These carrots were planted in January. We harvest them as we need them (this is the last of 2 beds) and will probably finish them off in the next couple of weeks. At that point, we’ll work in some compost and plant our okra.

So, that’s our April garden. How is your garden going?

Thanks for sharing with your friends!

Caitlin | The Siren's Tale

Friday 18th of April 2014

Your garden is so beautiful! What zone do you live in? I keep looking around at all these amazing gardens and look at my tiny seedlings indoors, wondering if I'm doing something wrong. Curious if you live in a much warmer area!

Angi Schneider

Monday 21st of April 2014

I'm in zone 9 - along the Texas Gulf Coast. I'm sure you aren't doing anything wrong. What Zone are you in? I have some awesome group Pinterest boards for each of the gardening zones. You can find them here, www.pinterest.com/schneiderpeeps, hopefully you'll find some encouragement there. Come July, I know I'll be needing some encouragement because it will be HOT here.

Katie

Thursday 17th of April 2014

Oh Angi, What a beautiful garden you have! I am sitting up here in central PA freezing my butt off and totally envying you! I have a rag-tag team of little seedlings started in my laundry room. I can't wait to get out there and plant them. I think that kale is the most glamorous veggie in your garden! WOW! Have fun and God bless!

Angi Schneider

Thursday 17th of April 2014

Thanks, Katie. I decided to do montly updates because come summer I really need to remember that at one time, I had a green garden. During late July, August and early September all we'll be harvesting is okra, peppers and Kale.