It's outta my hands...

I bet you think that I am done with this blog and the garden. Quite the opposite now that I have completed this past semester and am down to one more. I have been busy, working in the garden, just not busy making posts. How about a catch up slide show?!? As the individual plants grow, I will put more on about them. The photo above is of my Winter Squash vines, perhaps the most exciting thing I am growing this year. There is something appealing about the idea of growing these fruits all summer, and having them all winter to nibble on. On to the rest:

Carrot greens and some overly crowded turnips. These are some more of those grow and store veggies that I am digging growing now. Unfortunately my garden isn't really geared to grow these kids en mass, but it is a good testing ground for the big move in the future. I learn things, like, over crowed turnips grow all over each other, and their greens are about three times as large as I thought they would be. Not a disappointment, just a surprise.

The boxes are still pretty nice looking despite the piles of rocks. I'm working on it.

The tomatoes are looking especially promising so far. They all have blooms and are large, lush and deep green. This year I am growing half as many plants as last year, but a few things are different. For example, I am not over crowding them, they each have a 2x2 square or more to live in a grow. That is a little closer really than I would like, but double the space I had them in last year. I am companion planting shallots in the beds along with them as well, in hopes that once they get large and pungent they might ward off a bug or two. Also, I have cages! Thanks to a horse farmer who had a little extra wire laying around, I have the plants fully supported. All I need to do is put some posts up for the cages. A quick trip to the hardware store and about 30 minutes is all I will need for that. The best thing about these cages is I can use them forever, over and over again.

There are plenty of flaws remaining. The onions are still small, but growing. The dwarf bok choy bolts after about a week of life after the first true leaves set, making it a rather quick spoiler, my rock path is about 25% laid, making it the destroyer of ankles, and there are some bugs... worms, beetles, aphids, etc. Still, if the weather holds and summer is normal, all should be well. Just look at those potato vines! I don't know what I am going to do with them, talk about over crowding. It just goes to show you what good dirt will do. Last year my taters were about half as tall when they wilted. I will grow them in rows next year.

Steppin Out

Well, we made the move. Hence the overly long absence from postings. We just bought our first little slice of real estate, outside the city. I admit, it is not exactly what we wanted, but for us, and for now, it will do. It's quite a nice place after all. Instead of acres of land to farm, we have just the one. Not bad I suppose, especially considering the schedule that keeps things like blogging, gardening, and taking photos of gardening for blogs, just what they are; hobbies. So, let's get to it.

Here is the back yard, with which I am allowed free range to do with as I please as long as it is neat, and doesn't cost much money. The neat part, I can handle, and the money part I can too, despite the obvious restrictions.

This image faces South, South-East, which means that the back yard will be relatively shady. Not ideal for gardening, but the shade should be mostly during the late afternoon, and if next summer is anything like this last one, my plants will thank the trees for the relief. The backyard is bordered by two fence rows which border two fields respectively. The trees along the fence are very typical for this part of the world. They are predominantly Eastern Red Cedar and Hackberry. They account for 80% of the treeline. The rest are a combination of the following: Black Cherry and Sassafras. Not a bad combo for wildlife I suppose. On the east side of the lot there are two trees that, as a gardener, I must take notice of: Black Walnut. Black Walnut is a valued tree for the lumber and the nuts. However, the tree produces a natural herbicide. That's right, a natural one called: Juglone. This is nothing new, most seasoned gardeners know not to plant tomatoes under Black Walnuts.


Fortunately, since these trees border one entire side of my garden, covering nearly 500 square feet of space both above (leaves) and below (roots) the soil, and since I love harvesting and enjoying the walnuts, there are plenty of plants resistant to juglone. Nevertheless, I must plan accordingly.

The other major feature of the garden spot is the limestone. This is still Middle Tennessee, and anyone who lives around here knows that if there is one thing we have ample amounts it's limestone. Unfortunately the rock is nearly useless. It has a high clay content, so it makes poor construction material for buildings. To be honest it is really only good for one thing: gravel. It also reduces the water holding capacity of the soil dramatically and impedes digging, planting, etc etc. I can't readily remove them since they typically come in sizes ranging from Volkswagens to counties...

Still, the lot is quiet, and we are on the very edge of farmland so wildlife is often present. Hmm, maybe I will be visited by them as well. At least I saw a hawk yesterday, hopefully he'll keep the rodents at bay.

Round 2

From the top. Black Prince, Sweet Orange Cherry, Golden Jubilee, and Russian Big Romas. Just a few we enjoyed last night. We will be having the first Amana Oranges of the season in the next day or two. They are really starting to ripen. Once the season is over, I plan on giving a full report on each variety, with pros and cons. That's months away though, no need to look that far ahead. I'm becoming addicted to fresh tomatoes. I don't know what I will eat this winter. Dehydrated ones I suppose.

A many fungus among us..

Number 1

Number 2


Number 3

A sad day for the garden. While this did not happen over night, it certianly spread in less than a week to various other plants. Here are three different afflictions.

From the top: Number 1 is from my black prince plants. They started out the strongest seedlings, with the highest number of fruits among the non-cherry heirloom plants. I found mites on them, and this withering disease. So far my interent research has come up with little explanation as to what this is.

Number 2 is an example of my German Queen. The plant is nearly 80% in this condotion. There are new areas of new growth that is green and lush. However, these areas are now succumbing to whatever is killing the main plant leaves.

Number 3 is the only one I am fairly certian of. It's Early Blight, and with a few applications of a fungicide, it should clear up.
I hate to use it, but otherwise, the plant dies.

Drama in the garden.

Well the usual pests are in my garden. There are insects, like the worm in the picture on the right. I can be as tyrannical with these pests as I wish. Although mustard gas, fire bombing and machine gunning the VZ (Vegetable Zone) all come to mind as ways to destroy the infesting freeloaders, I generally just pick them off with chop sticks and throw them to the birds.

Other pests of course include cats. Cats are a nuisance on a number of levels, but mainly the ones I am concerned with are on the unsanitary side of things. The lady that lived here before likely had a numerous pride, and fed the local cats as well. Which of course turns the flower and garden beds into toilets and mating grounds. I'm sure you can imagine my joy in having to deal with numerous specimens of a species I am already on the fence about. You know what they say; all cats suck, but your own. Especially when the cats dig up your freshly mulched beds to make a little kitty deposit, or back up to you potatoes to let the other toms who's turf it is. Of course, I am a softy, sort of, so my methods of control rely heavily on scare tactics and non-lethal barrages of whatever I am holding at the time I spot the feline felons. Well even my hatred of the second most popular pet in America cannot stop me from enjoying the innocence of their young. Playing in the sun, napping, and even running off when I try to take pictures of them. Enter, the long lens.

However, the most disturbing pest was the 80+ year old non-English speaking woman my wife found picking tomatoes out of our garden Friday afternoon. It was an unnerving phone call, and I of course told her to take the tomatoes away from the elderly thief, but she refused. So, after referring to the manual, I did what would any iron-fisted tyrant should do, called the police! No, I didn't want them to take the tomatoes away from her after they used pepper spray, but before they cuffed and booked her, I just wanted to make sure they told whoever she lived with the scene, and to look out for her a little better. I don't want to have strangers in my backyard, especially when I can't use a hammer or a mortar round to get them out. I need to polish up on my Spanish. Es la bandita!

Luckily these were not taken. I would gladly share with the old bird, but I'm not having her traipse around in the garden. What if she falls?!? I even gave the nice police lady a couple Golden Jubilees I had on the counter. She was nice enough to bring me a couple of nice Japanese Eggplants from her garden. Stir fry tonight. Soon my own eggplants will be in full production. I have already picked one, and more should be coming in the next two weeks.

Garden Update

It's hot and dry here. Spring lasted about two weeks, and Summer has its claws firmly latched around the region. 90s and no rain, and repeat.

Not good for gardening, unless you are raising Jalapeños.

Harvested so far: Beets, Potatoes and Onions.

The beets were, well beety. I wasn't that impressed with their fresh flavor, and will likely grow them for greens from now on. I would rather put in a couple more rows of onions.

Speaking of them, the onions turned out great. They are small, much smaller than store bought, but I had them under black plastic and it's been hot here. That shortened their season. Not to worry. I will put some more in this fall and they should do nicely.

Next is the potatoes. The plants grew wonderfully until about two weeks ago. Then they began to wilt and loose color. I wasn't to concerned since I didn't plan on a banner crop anyway. Still the small single hill I planted produced at least two meals worth of taters for the wife and I. Good eatin up ahead.

The tomatoes are beginning to shake off the BER. None are really turning yet. Man I wish I had cages for them.

Lost all my Aunt Ruby German Greens to a Virus.

Green Sausage is really going to have to turn around to be a worth while plant next year. 10 fruit have been plucked of the one plant due to BER.

Black Prince's are loaded, Black Krims are still having growing pains, but along with the Russian Romas and Amana Oranges, they are coming around.

My Golden Jubilees are loaded but so sprawled out the fruit is getting burned. I might have to rig something to help them get a bit of shade.

German Queen looks great.

Eggplant is blooming.

Peppers are slow but steady.

The damn cucumber is trying its hardest to destroy my garden. It has trailers growing up pepper, tomato and eggplant plants. I really didn't plant but one hill, but those vines are monsters. Good thing is, there are about 50 2 inch picklers on it. yippee!

Just need those tomatoes to start turning...

Visual aid of some Heirlooms

I can't keep talking about these tomatoes and not sharing with you just what all my fuss is about. Forgive the formatting of the photos. I haven't grasped adding these pictures yet 100%.

These are the Green Sausages. I think I have some BER, likely from Calcium deficiencies since this is in a container. Still plenty of manure. I will see if the problem is isolated to one fruit and research quick take calcium options in the meantime. Aren't they all weirdo lookin'?

These are the Black Princes. Nice globes, quiet different. So far the best heirloom producer in the garden. I know it's early.


Here is a Black Krim. He snuck up on me. He was hiding deep in the bush. "I finded him, I finded him!"

A couple of the Big Russian Romas. These lads are popping up in 3-4 clusters, with one per plant. So I guess I should expect about twelve at a time... Almost enough for some sauce.

I will put up a photo of the mess that the rest of my garden is asap. 90s today, gross, I hope I have no blossom drop.

Frankenvine's monster.

I know, I know, it's been nearly a month since I last posted. Well work, and whatnot have kept me busy, and throw in a week at the OBX and you have just that, a month away from the blog. Also, the garden was just perking along, and aside from a couple of very small tomatoes popping up around Mother's Day, there wasn't much to talk about. Plant growth, and more plant growth.


I now see my folly in my naive underestimation of the ability of tomato plants to grow. One day, there are two dozen nice healthy looking plants. I go on a week vacation, hire a couple of cousins to water while I am gone, and come back to Vietnam. I get home and the three or four mini tomatoes I left are now the size of my fist. That's not the surprising part. What is most shocking is the growth of the plants. The two store bought ones are over four feet tall, and the rest, that were hovering on the one foot mark are now nearly 3, even the little guys that were under a foot are now impressive. Some of them are so large, sprawling and ridiculous, I can hardly tell where one plant ends and the next begins. I swear I feel like I am now dealing with Audrey II when I go out to my garden. That or the Predator is going to make that funny noise and then leap out of the tomatoes and get me...

There were two more revelations that the garden provided. One, the banana pepper plant that had three or four 4-inch peppers was purchased as a jalapeño pepper plant. No worries though, I have one of those still and was wanting some banana peppers as well. To bad they are mild.

The second was the amount of tomatoes those three or four mini ones turned to have following them. On the German Queen and the Golden Jubilee there are over 50. That's TWO plants, over 50 tomatoes!!!! Seriously, think biblical plagues here.

On the heirlooms I counted another twenty or so, mostly in the form of Black Princes. They are small and round, about the size of the store bought varieties were when I left.

Tonight I have a few hours of watering and tying up ahead of me. I must be doing something right. Many thanks to the watering duo I trusted to keep the green monsters hydrated.

Keep in mind that I thought I might get 20 tomatoes over a season on each plant. And before June I had 50 on two.

I'd better invest in some canning material before too long.

Drawing strength from Ing

Yesterday I finally put my tomato plants in the ground. Seventeen all told of the various kinds listed below. I hope that my gardens are set up properly and my plants do well. I didn't just plow up the dirt and begin planting. The two beds are both raised, but the soil of each is quite different. The large bed was there when we moved in. The soil here was black, and sandy, extremely sandy I thought. It was soft, and very loose. I added a bit of organic matter in the form of about 20 gallons of horse manure. Not enough, but it should help. There was evidence of the previous year's crops. Tomatoes...

This was both encouraging and discouraging. Obviously they grew in the garden. That means the soil would support them. The bad news is that since last year tomatoes were grown, likely disease resistant hybrids bought at the local mega-mart garden center, there was a greater chance for contamination of the soil, and then my plants. I'm crossing my fingers. I planted seventeen plants, so hopefully even if some of them succumb to the elements, I should have plenty of hardy plants remaining to supply a bountiful harvest.

That is partially where the second, exclusive tomato bed comes in. My dad and I built and put these in at the end of March. In a patch of the yard that was overgrown with a gardener's worse nightmare: Bermuda grass. Still, not to be dismayed, I shaved this layer of grass off the soil, and worked the soil over to a depth of the shovel blade, about eight inches. There was once a tree here. I found a nice large rotten root system in the ground. It was almost 100% composted. This was a nice surprise since the rest of the soil was clay. It was blackish-gray clay and full of worms, but clay nonetheless. So, 9x9 cubic feet of sphagnum peat moss, cow manure, and top soil from a cattle feed lot was added, and mixed thoroughly, multiple times. I gave it a nice watering, and like my main bed, covered the entire thing with black plastic. There it sat for nearly six weeks as I grew my seedlings, and worried and fretted over them being large and tough enough to plant upon the arrival of May.

My main concern with this bed is that some of the organic matter might be too 'hot' for the plants. I suppose it's a little late to worry about it now, but since this second bed contains my main crop of never before planted , all heirloom, varieties I can't help myself. One thing that I am not worried about as much with this bed is contamination from years past. No tomatoes grew among the Bermuda as far as I could tell, so this should be the first time for this stretch of land. I will post the outcome.

For clarity, I should talk a little about first the soil, and second the varieties of tomatoes there in. Now, a note on soil. Soil rich in organic matter like manure, plant debris, etc, is good stuff. That has been my goal in building, and rebuilding the composition of these beds. However, I noticed that the base each of these beds lye on is clay. The dreaded clay of the South! Well not the red stuff from Georgia, or Alabama, as mentioned previously this stuff is black. To me, that sounds good. Also, it is full of earth worms, always a good sign of fertility. Clay is not altogether bad as some may lead us to believe. Now soil composed of nothing but clay is worthless. It is messy, cold, damp, and hard. Then again, soil with an abundance of sand is dry, hot, and so loose it blows away. So if you turn your bed, and run into some clay, don't freak out, just work in organic matter, like peat moss, and break that clay up. It will hold water where sand will dry out, kind of like a camel's hump does. Think moderation people, too much of anything generally turns out to be no good, tomatoes excluded of course.

Next are the varieties of the tomato plants. I do not mean the specific varieties named after the fruit they produce, like German Queen, or The Big Russian Romas. I am talking about heirloom vs hybrid. There is one main difference I am concerned with. Hybrids are plants that have been crossed and bred to be resistant to diseases. These plants stand up better to diseases than other, non resistant types. Those for the most part are the heirlooms. This group contains vast different varieties that have been bred for their differences as opposed to their resistances. If they have a resistance, that's a bonus, but don't count on it. Since most of the plants I put in are heirlooms, I have to be extra careful and attentive to them should they show signs of any disease.

Why go to the trouble? Well, what's the fun of everything being the same? That's why I would make a poor communist, I like diversity. So, for some extra work and trouble, I planted all these neat-o types in hopes they won't contract some epic plague like disease and rot before my very eyes. Since I hope to grow them as organically as possible, I am making it extra difficult since I will be keeping away from chemicals to control such diseases. Wish me luck. I will need it, but since the tomato only bed is new, it should remain relatively disease free, barring insect carriers infesting it.

***Breaking News*** The two early ones I put in have multiple blooms and are nearing stake size!!! ***Breaking News***

Also, I found a few small pink aphids hanging around. I then went to the most lethal pesticides I could find: my hands! A quick, ginger rubbing of the stalk ground these little botanical vampires to a fine paste.

Oh and in case you were wondering about the title, Ing is the Norse god of the Earth. No, I'm not a worshiper of Thor or Odin, though that would be cool, I am just a geek.

Plants plants plants!

Well, Sunday was yard/patio/garden day around the Casa. The wife and I set out some more plant life to further increase the visual appeal of our hodge podge of a rental and to utilize the energy and nutrients from sun and soil.

In the front of the house she planted some small white flowers, and managed the ones she put in earlier in the week. She also made up a window box in the window over the sink in the kitchen. Finally she put a couple of nice potted plants on the deck and now everything looks much better. Please forgive me for just saying plants and flowers.. I don't know much about them. My limited knowledge lies in food plants.

***Breaking News***
Despite my rant on the quality of the cheap soil, I am happy to announce the lettuce has sprouted! Less than a week, that's not bad!

The 50 or so tomato seedlings were set out, with a white sheet canopy to block out the 80+ degree sun we are having but allow them to adjust to the temperature and light before I throw them in the ground next weekend. When I get home today I hope that I do not find four dozen crispy brown plants where I thought my tomatoes would be. I watered them this morning, they should be fine... See Photo for plants before transfer outside. Some of the leaves were sunburned last weekend when I began the hardening process.


Next comes Basil. Recap: I love Thai food, and Thai food uses lots of Basil. Also, I am growing lots of tomatoes, in case you haven't noticed. Well, Basil and tomatoes go hand in hand, at least I like them together. So, I figured I had better get to growing. I planted 4 kinds, Holy Thai, Lime, Siam Queen and a Sweet variety. Some are up already that I put in last week. Soon, I should have too much to keep up with! Won't that be nice?

I also put in some Asian style bunching onions called menegi. They are interchangeable with chives, which so far I have had no luck getting to germinate. I'm crossing my fingers with these.

Next, I put in some cucumbers for summer pickling and fresh use in salads. Only one hill though, since we have such limited space and they tend to sprawl a bit.

Last but hopefully not least, I planted some Thai Eggplants. After doing a project for my Vegetable Gardening class on them, I found out that there were lots of varieties other than the 'Italian' kind. So I ordered some seeds, and planted them. I think all fears of cold weather are past, so now I just have to wait. I went down to the international mega market down the street and purchased some of the fruit. It looked pretty pitiful, but I wanted to try it before I put too terribly much effort in growing some for my own. These specimens looked like they were grown over seas and were likely a couple weeks off the plant. Nonetheless I washed them, and even cut one up, gave it a quick stir fry with some fish sauce, and I must admit my surprise it was delicious!! I can just imagine what they will be like picked fresh from the garden after work when I want some stir fry. I am going to cook these tonight in fact, more on that later.

Nine fine vines... plus 2

I mentioned 9 different varieties of heirloom tomatoes I am growing. Well, how about a run down?

First my source. I order these online from a seed provider named Gary Ibsen. His site is here: Tomatofest He has an amazing variety of tomatoes and is a real stand up distributor. I sent him an email commenting on me, in my novice attempts, failing to germinate a couple of varieties. I was just letting him know for his records, but he sent me a bunch of free seeds anyway. Five stars.

Now the varieties:

Number 1: Black Krim. I had no idea that tomatoes came in anything other than red and green, and I thought the green ones just weren't ripe. Imagine my surprise when I found that there were Black-purple ones! Well I ordered some of these. They are a beefsteak kind, that is suitable for patio growing. Until I made more raised beds, I thought I would be limited to buckets on the deck. Not so! I will put a couple of these in the main tomato bed.

Number 2: Black Prince. These are smaller black-purple tomatoes that I wanted, again for containers. I admit, the picture sold me. If my tomatoes look and taste half as nice as that picture, they will be well worth the trouble. Despite a slow start for these seedlings, so far my two biggest plants are this cultivar. Exciting.

Number 3: Amana Orange. I believe these are pretty well known to tomato growers around the country. According to G.I.'s site, they are late season and make some monsters. Plus they say that orange vegetables, or in this case fruits, increase vigor and slow the aging process. Always a good time to start that!

Number 4: Russian Big Romas. These are large Romas, and are billed as being disease resistant. They should make fine pasta sauce, but their main application will be sun-drying. This way, I can make and eat as many as I want, with no limit, or without any one's permission! Yes, say it, I am greedy for them.

Number 5: Sweet Orange Cherry. These appeal to many levels. Orange, see above, cherry, which means lots and lots, and I can grow them in containers. I plan on giving a couple of these plants away as well. They are my second best growing seedling thus far.

Number 6: Blondkopfchen. These are small golden cherries that are rumored to have a terrific flavor. Stir fry, salad, salsa, etc etc.. I am really looking forward to these and am growing two plants in one large pot. Probably a bad idea, but as rich as that soil it, they should both do fine.

Number 7: Green Sausage. These are the strangest ones I am growing I guess. They are long green-yellow and sausage shaped... Regardless, they looked like good ones to make sauce with and they grow bushy instead of viney, think space people.

Number 8: Aunt Ruby German Green. These are German Greens, with traces of pink flesh. To me that screams flavor and acidity. Also, and I wish I had thought of this when I initially ordered these seeds, this cultivar grew nicely in TN, and we all know where I am. So, hopefully it should do well here.

Number 9: Flamme. A bonus G.I. sent me with my order. I started them late, but these meaty looking cherries might just pay off late in the summer.

The 'plus two' are my early plants I put out. German Queen and Golden Jubilee. I planted these as insurance. Since I've never done any of this before, I figured a couple store bought plants would serve where my seedlings could not. We'll see. I'll put out pictures of the operation soon.

All Thai-ed up!

In case you haven't deducted it from my name, I am a major fan of Thai food. I have not been exposed to as much as I would like, but I am slowly getting a feel for the cuisine. Living in the South, perhaps it is fitting. From June to September it's hot and humid here, quite miserably for a lad like myself. Although the latitude compared to Thailand is quite further North, and the zone, temperate instead of tropic, I feel like the South is in ways as to the U.S. as Thailand is to the East. It's hot here, and many southern meals include spicy food, that sounds quasi-Thai, yeah? Maybe it sounds like that because I want it to, and I am alright with that!

For the last week I have been madly craving some Basil-X stir fry. (The X being interchangeable, shrimp, chicken, etc.) I imagine that the past week of spot searching the internet for Thai ingredients for my garden is what put the taste in my mouth, so be it. Well lucky for me my wife likes stir fry, and was of like mind in that neither of us wanted to cook anything. Another boon to my bellyaching is that we live a mere two blocks away, give or take, to the Siam Cafe, a small Thai joint known for excellent food. We've been there before and loved it. I had gotten their Pad Thai previously and was happy as a clam with the selection. So we went, ate our fill, took the rest home. It was a good night.

Then I got to thinking. Well before I go any further, let me preface this by saying that I would recommend the Siam Cafe to anyone who likes Thai food and lives in Nashville. Seriously it is nice, the service is wonderful, the food is great, atmosphere, price, all winners. Also, I got what I wanted, Basil-X. When I looked back on the ingredients used, while flavorful, and to my virgin-Thai mind, authentic in taste, the dish seemed pretty ordinary. There was nothing there I couldn't get at the local, non-super market. Accept the Basil, which is accessible in any super market.

Ingredients List:
Steamed White Rice
Onion
Green Bell Pepper
Button(White) Mushrooms
Chicken
Red Pepper Flakes
Soy Sauce maybe a Fish Sauce
Oil, likely peanut or veg.

I know, not every dish is some exotic masterpeice. I don't expect that at all, but maybe we could pull a little closer to the mark than that. How about oyster or straw mushrooms? Or some lemon grass, or something a little bit more unique/authentic. Don't get me wrong, again, I must stress that I am a loyal customer that will go back time and time again to our little Thai treat in south Nashville, I just won't order that again. Now, the Pad Thai, it will be hard not to get that one.

I suppose I should prove to myself that this dish can be made at home, with funky ingredients, for more people, at a lower cost per plate. A few miles down the road is a large international market. If I cannot find them at the mega mart I will gather them there.

Our land lords moved up from New Orleans and spoke of backyard gardens of Southeast Asian families that sold produce. I don't know any in these parts but that would be killer. Please let me know if you find one!

Well, I need to order some Holy Basil seeds and some Thai eggplant.

Oh, if you like to make your own Thai food, but need some help: Thai Table

To begin,

While I hope that readers enjoy my successes and learn from my failures (I've had a few already) my main purpose of this blog, other than sharing, is archiving the activities of my garden for future reference. I hope that fellow gardeners in the area, as well as those abroad with more experience will comment their own findings in their gardens. So, where to begin, I suppose with what's in the ground already?

Well as most of this part of the country knows, April has been mean to plant-life. The Easter frost killed off lots of beautiful spring vegetation, and most of the plants are still in recovery. My garden was no exception. The beet sprouts and my foolish attempt at early tomatoes and peppers were destroyed. Not to worry, I was able to replant the beets and they are back in action. I also replaced the peppers and tomatoes. I am keeping my fingers crossed for mild weather until June.

With everything back on the green giddy-up and go let me give a small list of what exactly is planted.

First, Sage, there were 4 or 5 sage plants in the raised bed when we moved in to our little rental. I dug up half of them and trimmed the remaining ones back to the ground. The frost turned their remarkable lime green spring growth into gray withered leaves, but these hardy lads should come back in a week or two. I will trim them back soon.

Onions, I have sweet and red ones. They defied the frost, and actually look promising. I plan on thinning them out in a few weeks to make room for them to grow fat for dry storage.

The Beets are next, red and gold ones. I saw these guys roasted on a competitive cooking television program I am a fan off, and since my only exposure to this root thus far in my life has been in the form of the canned variety, I thought I would give them a try. Like the onions, I will thin them back in a few weeks once they are well established to get some nice big ones for later in the summer.

Lettuce is another one I planted that survived the frost. I planted these in spots instead of just broadcasting them in rows. I think I will go ahead and start more in a container to make up for their lack of numbers. Again, first garden.

The Tomatoes and Peppers, two of each, are just a couple of attempts at getting some nice fresh treats a little earlier. We'll see how they make it.

Last I have potatoes. I was given these from my mother in law. They are performing nicely and have bounced back better than anything from that frigid egg the easter bunny left behind.

In the house I have 9 varieties of heirloom tomatoes. As with the gardening, this is my first attempt at starting any thing from seed. I've made nearly every mistake possible, but at least half should make a somewhat healthy entrance into their own beds we made for them. More on those treasures in the coming week.

The forecast looks good for the garden.