I knew you would. 🙂
Welcome to My Garden!
You just can’t beat a spring garden. The newness. The freshness. The perfect plants. The green leaves. The fresh earth.
- The weeds are still trying to germinate.
- The fungus hasn’t started yet.
- The cabbage worm eggs haven’t become worms yet.
- There are no spots on the tomato leaves.
- The powdery mildew hasn’t arrived.
- The squash bugs are still in hibernation.
- There is so much lettuce that the snails and slugs can’t make a dent in it.
- There’s no need to water because it rains every other day.
Ah, Yes. Glorious, Fabulous, Marvelous Spring.
Enjoy while it lasts people. If you are normal, it won’t. We will all be rolling up our sleeves and fighting for our lives tomatoes in a few short weeks.
If you know me, you know that I am just getting warmed up. I am a sparitic, spontaneous, schizophrenic gardener who is constantly harvesting and ripping out and planting and sowing and replanting and trying all things in my little garden. Fun!
In the meantime – here’s what I’ve got going on so far.
Sugar Snap Peas – These are super easy and we grow them every spring and fall. They are the candy of the garden. Mine are as tall as me right now and covered in flowers. We’ll be eating peas soon. 
Potatoes! I love growing potatoes. Eating fresh potatoes is something everyone should do at least once. They are so much better than the ones from the grocery. The skin is almost non-existent. Potatoes from super markets are usually dry, old, soft, from another continent and probably have been in storage for months.
When you cook potatoes fresh from the earth they are the opposite. Fresh, hard, crisp, juicy and full of flavor. 
Onions! These guys are standing like soldiers. I have had to pinch off all the seedheads this week so the plants will focus on making bigger bulbs (underground). 
These are my “White Half Runners.” It’s a green bean. The only green bean that is worth growing according to Mamaw. When you ask her why, she will look at you in complete seriousness and say, “White 1/2 Runners are the best. They taste just like a green bean.”
So there you have it. You should all be growing White 1/2 Runners because they are green beans that taste like green beans.
Turnips! Now there’s a sight for sore eyes. This is a crazy, wonderful, versatile plant. Anyone can grow a turnip (I think). They are easy. During WW2 the world ran on turnips. Boiled Turnips. Mashed Turnips. Baked Turnips. Roasted Turnips. Steamed Turnips. Turnip Stew. Turnip Greens. Turnip Coleslaw.
In Kentucky we love our Turnip Greens cooked with some sugar and vinegar. I’ll dice up the turnips & cook them in lard with radishes & potatoes.
Garlic! They just keep getting taller. They’ll stay put until the tops begin to brown and flop over – then they will go hang out with the Christmas Decorations in my basement. 
This is the cabbage worm buffet. Yes, I’ve already seen those stinkin’ yellow butterflies. Let the Hunger Games begin! I’m growing Chinese Cabbage, Broccoli and Kale for the worms this year. 
This is a new crop for me. A friend/ customer at our pawnshop brought me a bag “6 Week Bean” seeds. He said that they are great fun because 6 weeks after you sow the seeds you harvest the beans. Get it: 6 Week Beans.
So far they’re coming along rapidly. I’m sure Mamaw would not approve.
Here are the cucumbers. They aren’t really plants right now. I just put the seeds in the ground. They just sprouted & are looking good.
The salad bed of course. What used to be rows is now a jungle. In here there are 3 different varieties of lettuce (butter crunch, Romaine and leaf) and 2 varieties of Kale (Green and red).
The herb garden is exploding. Everything I cook these days has fresh herbs in it. Have you had scrambled eggs with fresh Thyme? Lord have mercy! Yes.
The pepper plants are tiny, baby plants who are pouting about all the cold and rain.
The squash & zucchini are still in seed packets. They’re time is quickly coming.
The pumpkins will be planted in June. Around here the rule is to plant the pumpkins after the kids get out of school. Which is funny because depending on how many snow days they have to make up you could be getting those pumpkins in late – but we homeschooler who only dream of snow days – are always done on time.
The Sunflowers, Nasturtiums, Sweet Peas, Marigolds and Clematis are planted and should show up soon. My garden is an assortment of edible and non-edible beauties… because I like flowers. Actually many of the flowers are serving a purpose – but that is a story for another day.
Did you notice that there aren’t any tomatoes in my garden? Yup. The tomatoes have been re-stationed. Moved. Eradicated. Excommunicated. Ostracized. Expect the Dealio on that soon in another post.
How’s your garden coming along?
If you haven’t yet, you should join my list so I can send you free farm fun every week! Via email here.
Happy Spring Everyone!
-Candi
