May 31
Weather: 67º + cloudy
Rhubarbara is lush and beautiful. She's so perfect.
The sorrel did come back! One of them looks really good and the other is starting to come back. I may have lost the last two though.
It's been really hot and dry this year, so trying to keep the garden well hydrated is hard. My pea and green bean seedlings died unfortunately. I didn't upsize them cause I'm lazy lmao. I'm just gonna plant the peas into the ground again. As for the green beans, I keep finding beans I dropped on the ground that are sprouting in random spots, so I transplant them into the green bean spot. I only have one last thing to plant which is squash from seed mid June.
No bees or anything this year. I think I am doing the garden alone mostly. I don't have my paper where I planned the placement of everything, but I got pictures of them to show.
Well.. maybe you can see it. It was so bright the day I took these photos, and my phone doesn't like it I guess lmao.
For the two main beds, I put either tomatoes or tomatillos in the centers with various herbs and peppers surrounding them. On the other edges are things like dragonsnaps. In whatever gaps that were left, I put carrot seeds or onion bulbs. Then, between the beds are marigolds and nasturtiums again. I am a huge fan of both of those, so I put them in the planters on our steps and got a variegated nasturtium for a pot. She's already bloomed!
The strawberries are huge this year. I am hoping someone pollinates them!!!!
Those who have followed last year's garden will know my hatred for morning glories. I hate them so much. I also hate mint. I am dealing with both. Obviously, the morning glory is far far worse.
I spent a whole our picking out morning glory sprouts from my beds. I didn't even get to the actual lawn.
The dumb fucking millenial landlords who are awful with money and think they need another baby even though their rental property is falling apart think it's funny that I am dealing with their morning glory stupidity. It's gonna be amazing if and when we move out, and they have to sell their new house and move back into the rental property with a toddler and a cat.
The mint doesn't make me nearly as mad, and I also hate the mint a lot. The morning glories make me lose my mind because they RUIN my garden. I think I could terrorize the landlords by putting morning glory seeds in their garden beds... I think it will pair well with the virginia creeper they already deal with.
The native flower bed is doing weird things? I don't have poppies, and I feel like I got poppies really early on last year. They're mixed-shirley poppies which should self seed, but they didn't? Supposedly, they're pretty aggressive, and I didn't deadhead any of them. They should have come back. It's a little sad that they aren't around.
Anyways, garden is mostly happy. My mulch selection isn't the best, but it was the cheapest and not dyed. Squash and peas to plant when I get back home!
May 4
Weather: 58º + sunny!!!
No images just quick notes.
Rhubarbara bolted again. She'll do it another six times I'm sure. Other than that, she's good.
I was told that sorrel comes back? I have one coming back, but the others are kinda just dead. Anyone know anything about them?
My seedlings are ready to get into the garden, but the frost warnings are preventing me from doing so. We'll do a big garden day on the weekend. I have to find a solution to keep the rabbits out though.
March 26
Weather: 50º + sunny!!!
The seedlings are going well. I just watered them today. I am kind of thinking that I should have started the peas and green beans later.. They're quite tall now. I am seeing signs of the other ones sprouting. I am a little worried cause the seeds were quite old. I've been looking at the babies obsessively.
The microgreens are going well. Not sure what I am really planning with them. I just find them to be really rewarding to grow, and I am desperate for greens. Our CSA doesn't start until June, and I wanna veggiemaxx already.
March 26
Weather: 44º + cloudy
No images soz
The rhubarb is sloooooow, but she's made a little progress.
I planted seeds the other day. They live in my window under a grow light.
- tomatoes
- tomatillos
- green beans
- peas
- jalepenos
- onions
- bell peppers
- SO MUCH basil
- rosemary
- thyme
- sage
- parsley
- cilantro
- oregano
- micro greens in their own planter; keeping indoors
So far I have planted:
- carrots
- squash
- cherry tomatoes
Yet to plant:
- the native flowers
- citrus splash sorrel
- strawberries
Things that will grow on their own:
I am going to baby these seedlings so much... my children...
March 10
Weather: above 30º thank god, but it's cloudy.
I have some plans set for the garden. I'll go over them in another post after discussing with the gang. For now, we have some plants starting to show.
It might be hard to see, but in the image on the left, the strawberry plants are starting to pop up. This is their third year. From my understanding, they start to be less productive after the fourth year. The strawberries are not my project, but I like them.
The image on the right is of the teeny tiny rhubarb. That's Rhu-Barbara. She's an old lady. Upon discovering this tiny leaf, I put a bucket over her. This is to force her growth. Rhubarb grows rapidly in darkness and doing it this early allows for an early harvest. Last year, it let me harvest all spring and summer. I think I was still yoinking some stalks into the fall a bit.
For those who haven't had rhubarb, it's a sweet and sour stalk that is like celery in texture. It can make you sick if you don't cook it. One or two bites is fine. Don't eat any more than that cause it can harm you. It's usually in baked sweets. I love to make a crisp with it that I serve with a Kemps vanilla ice cream. I highly recommend if you want the true Minnesotan summer experience.
The most urgent garden tasks are to start my seedlings and to clean up the beds. The rabbits have gone wild in them...
January 19
Weather: Cold, highs in the single digits. Later in the week, it'll be highs like -2.
Old garden page archived. I've made this one in place of it.
I don't have much planned for the garden yet, but the gears are starting to turn. As I have mentioned in a previous garden post towards the end of 2025, I want to adopt a more strategic arrangement. Plants that benefit each other or ones that deter pests. All that. I am going to limit our peppers because no one ate any of them. I really want to just plant things that us four will actually eat. I need to get these people to eat these these goddamn vegetables.
I will try to do seedlings this time. Sell or give away any extras (Minneapolis people hmu?). I have a good spot for them, and there's a nice plant light in that spot. The winter sun isn't the best here.
Anyways, I will be updating this more around February or March.