It’s been months since I last posted, and even then I was behind, trying to catch up on the whole summer garden season. I never did, and also didn’t get beyond the garden to talk about other projects I had going on through the summer and fall. I anticipated a long unpleasant winter between COVID restrictions and a northeastern winter. To my surprise, I didn’t find it nearly as odious as I had feared.
Once the snow made its appearance, I strapped on snowshoes for the first time, heading out on the weekend for a trek. It is like walking but somehow not, making for one tired snowshoer after each jaunt. It had the added benefit of a little socializing, as a good friend had also gotten snowshoes around the same time. We really enjoyed it and were a little bummed out when we lost enough snow cover to go out, but we will absolutely do it again next year. It makes such a difference to have something to look forward to in each season, a reason to appreciate the unique opportunities each one presents.
Being in the garden last summer and fall made an enormous difference to my mental health, so I committed to getting outside regularly over the winter. Because I wasn’t going to the gym for morning workouts, I headed out the door for an early morning walk on workdays. Being out in the fresh air, even on cold winter mornings, was an enormous help for both mental and physical health. I really enjoy being out in the quiet of early morning, with the streets mostly to myself. There is always something to see; it’s a good reminder to look up, look around, look.
And while there’s no ruling out one more spring snowstorm (it wouldn’t be the first April snowstorm we’ve had), I am now feeling all the promise of spring and vaccination availability to an unexpected degree. First and foremost is beginning this year’s garden, which always lifts my spirits, perhaps this year even more than others. I have seeds started under grow lights in my kitchen, but today I planted outside; there’s no denying that the 2021 garden is underway!
Last year was my most productive gardening season ever. With pandemic restrictions firmly in place, it’s no wonder—I put in much more and consistent time and quite literally reaped the rewards. Being in the garden and outdoors provided much-needed stress relief in the first half of the pandemic. All winter, I’ve been eating my way through what I was able to preserve, with quite a bit still to go.
I started the bulk of the first round of seeds two weeks ago (I take the same approach each year; you can read about how I make soil blocks and get it underway here) and put them on heated germination mats. I eat a lot of salad and like to mix up different kinds of lettuce for crunch and texture, so I grow red leaf, butterhead, and romaine. This year I’m adding Little Gem romaine, which is a really delicious heirloom variety, along with another more-standard variety.
Be warned, local-area friends: last year when it got warm I had to pull up all my lettuce at once—18 heads!— around the first of July and dropped off enormous bags of lettuce all around the area, and I’m growing even more this year! (Read more about last year’s lettucepalooza here).
Lettuce prefers cool temperatures, so they’ll be transplanted outside earlier than some of the other seedlings. Salad from the back yard sooner for me, and some space freed up under the grow lights for cucumbers, zucchini, and other warm-weather veggies that don’t want to go outside so soon.
In addition to lettuce, I also grow arugula, and have also cut back from six to four plants. My former upstairs neighbors loved arugula but they’ve moved into their own house so, while they still get care packages, I don’t need quite so much. Also underway are Swiss chard and kale, two favorites and excellent candidates for the winter freezer, plus tomatoes and lots of herbs.
But to this year’s veggies first. Last year, I had a bonanza year of Hungarian wax peppers and Rosa Bianca eggplant—the most ever by far (You can read about it here). The plants grew taller than me and produced prolifically right through to the first hard freeze. I started them a little earlier last year than previous years because they take some time to mature before producing. Also, my growing season is a little short for them to get established. I’m following the same schedule this year and got them sown on February 28. They are quite happy under the grow lights and will be inside quite a bit longer yet; they’re warm-weather loving plants and that’s not happening in my back yard for some time yet. I also cut back from six of each to four, as I couldn’t keep up last summer and am still valiantly making my way through the four gallons of peppers I froze. Goodness knows I have plenty to use before this year’s plants start providing me with fresh ones.
Last week we had still had some overnights in the 20s–a little too nippy to put seeds in the ground. This week’s lows look to stay above freezing and today was sunny and in the upper 50s, warming up the soil–a great day to get some spring work done and some seeds in the ground.
Last October we had a gorgeous Sunday towards the end of the month, sunny and around 70. A day like that so late in the season is a real gift, and I took full advantage to attend to a significant amount of end-of-season cleanup. I’m usually doing it on cold, windy, damp days and, I confess, don’t always do a great job because of it. Consequently, this year’s spring cleanup was nicely straightforward with much of it already done.
I always plant clover on the pathways between my garden beds, so I raked in some new seed to fill in bald spots. The clover adds nitrogen to the soil (along with other legumes like peas and beans), and a nice carpet of clover keeps other seeds from taking root and re-seeding themselves in the garden and back yard. It is also a nice green cushion when I’m out there working–helpful to the knees!
Raspberries have started to leaf out on last summer’s canes, which will produce spring berries. They will all get pruned out when they’re done. The new canes are just starting to make an appearance, and those will produce a round in the fall and again the following spring.
And finally, I got my first round of peas in, always the first seeds in the ground. I love peas fresh from the garden and grow a lot of them every year, although some years are better than others. Last year was a real bust. They like chilly temperatures and I think it got too warm too fast. Even the vendors at the local farmers’ market had trouble, which made me feel a little better. The birds also did a real number on them last year, snapping of the tips to eat. This year’s plan is to tent the peas with garden cloth once they sprout to protect them until they’ve grown up the support. We’ll see how it goes.
The few perennials I have in place have woken up, with chives, sorrel, and lovage coming up. It’s a titch too soon to prune back the lavender but one it shakes off winter and starts to green up, I’ll get that back in shape.
My blueberries have not done particularly well in the several years I’ve had them in. Despite that, they’re already starting to bud. This year I’m paying much more attention to amending the soil they’re in and dug in a winter’s batch of compost with a good layer of topsoil. I also added some trellising on the fence behind the blueberries; I have some plans to experiment with some new additions—stay tuned for that.
After emptying the compost, I swapped out the empty one with the one by the back door, full of the winter scraps. The full one will continue to cook and break down to be added into the garden over the summer. Compost is its own topic, for sure, and I hope to get a post up about that in the coming months.
That catches us up with this year’s garden beginnings. There have been loads of other projects that having been keeping me busy over the past months to tell you about. Do I have multiple projects on knitting needles? You bet! Has my sewing machine been put to use over the winter? Absolutely! Did I find some new craft ideas that I’ve been trying out? Mais oui! But all that will need to wait for another day!
Stay tuned! And happy spring!
Russell D McDowell
9 Apr 2021How you make work sound like fun. Years ago I came across a Rodale book on composting–it was only 800 pages or so. Obviously designed for people like you. I do get the rewards you get, from being in nature to eating the ultimately fresh food.
Handmade Bits and Bobs
14 Apr 2021I’m less obsessive about my compost than you might think! The garden feeds the body and the soul.
Auntie
5 Apr 2021I always love reading your posts. Such a lot of work but what rewards and satisfaction!
Handmade Bits and Bobs
6 Apr 2021It’s almost not work since I enjoy it so much, and get such reward from it!