Sunday, May 10, 2009

Wet, wet, wet.

The rain simply doesn't want to stop, here in Oklahomegrownvegland.
Everything is very green..............

....very soggy and VERY LONG. The ground is far too wet to get Herbie out so things are just going to have to get a whole lot longer.
The Happy Gardener will now pull on his Wellington Boots before taking a stroll around.

Plot 1

Everything looks fine. I may start and pull a few of the Winter Onions and get them dried out indoors. Some of the others will steadily get spread around the various plots as I slowly re-open this area of the garden to other duties. My plan is to have a few of these in each plot if possible so I have a continuous but controlled supply. They aren't the prettiest looking plants but are good at keeping out some of the bugs so they pay their way.
Plot 2
The Tomato plants have survived the downpours, but only because I sheltered them with one of my floating row covers.

I've managed to get one African Blue Basil plant so far and that is now in place. I'm on the look out for at least one more, possibly two. A few Winter Onions are now established at the far end. Once things dry out a little I'm considering putting in some All American Parsnip seeds along the front part. If they germinate (and Parsnip seeds are famous for not doing so) I'll leave them in all this season and harvest late Fall/early Winter as and when required. I'm soaking the seeds indoors at the moment in an attempt to stimulate germination before planting.
Plot 3
Potatoes are good so far but I'm watching them like a hawk.

I'm applying Iron Phosphate on a weekly basis just in case. I've already "hilled" these twice, as I have with the ones in Plot 5, so now they are on their own. To the left are two small additions to this plot. A little bunch of Dill and a small Winter Onion which needed a home.
Plot 4
Adding the manure to this plot the other week seems to have giving the Early Purple Vienna Kohlrabi plants the kick-start that they needed.

They still needs to get a bit of move on though if they are going to be "early".
The Red Onions are doing good but I'm worried about all this excess moisture rotting them, a problem I had with some of these last year.
Down the left hand side, the Cherry Belle Radish seeds are through. I mixed these with Nantes Scarlet Carrot seeds, the idea being that the radish come through first and break the ground up for the carrots. Well, it all sounds good on paper............
Plot 5
The Potatoes in here are doing good and the same applies to these as I said about the ones over in Plot 3. At this near end the rainbow Swiss Chard from last year has started to get some decent sized leaves on it and is now ready to be used as required.
These two amazingly hardy plants survived throughout the winter in this plot, simply covered with a layer of straw. There's a small empty patch at this end. I'll have to think about putting it to good use. Marigolds?
Plot 6
Will I ever get anything planted in here, I wonder?

Way back when we were having temperatures in the 70's and low 80's it seemed a good idea to remove the mulch, dig it over and prepare it for use. Now it's a mud bath and will need at least a week of dry weather to get to a state where it can be worked. I now wish I'd left it covered but we are all much smarter with hindsight, eh?

The Mesclun Box is showing progress......


...but like a lot of other things here it needs a little less rain and a little more sunshine.
Due to the downpours the potted herbs at the front of the house have had to be moved to a more sheltered position.

I was up around 5-30am the other morning dragging them under cover as the heavens opened above me.
The Determinate Tomato plant has survived the elements uncovered but it was a pretty
well established plant when it went in.

I've given it a small Curled Parsley plant as a companion
Indoors, the Spicy Globe Basil seeds have produced a fine set of plants.

Here's an example. Germination rates on most herb seeds are low so I sowed plenty and got some. I'm starting to nip the tops off to encourage bushy growth, similar to what I've been doing with the Catnip.
Speaking of which........................

The plants living on my office windowsill have been cut back and are now starting to grow their second batch. The harvest from this heavy pruning now hangs in the kitchen, drying out.
I have more seedlings coming along in the growing room

OK, it's stopped raining so I'm off to the Garden Centre.................