What did you plant today?

[crowjoy]

:D The spring counterpart to last fall's "what did you harvest" thread.

Got peas in! Favas and beets this afternoon! Hopefully the Swiss chard, kohlrabi, kale and pak choi before the wet weather comes this weekend to make them all at home.

And you?

[Carlyn Buckler]

Wow - you're ahead of me. I still have things in pots - french beans, swiss chard, parsley, sage, a ton of basil (black and green), and others. All are things I started in Feb from seeds. The beans are blooming, so I'd better get them in the ground. I was a bit shy to do so, though, as we're still getting frost up here - I suppose most of the chards, beans and herbs are o.k., though? You're an inspiration, Crowjoy!

[crowjoy]

I'm direct seeding all of that. In the flats I have cauliflower, broccoli and brussels sprouts. I think we can still count on more frost, and I'm reminding myself it could still SNOW so trying not to get ahead of myself but I think the peas and coles can take it. If you have a protected spot and are willing to cover and uncover a few times I bet the beans would be fine too.

I think the basil is too tender to go out, parsley and sage are probably ok? Where are our experienced gardeners?!

[Katie Quinn-Jacobs]

The basil won't make it until the soil is warm. My parsley is up from last year though.

Remember we had killing frosts the past 2 years in the final days of May. And April last year was warmer & drier than May. That said, the Farmer's Almanac is predicting:

April and May will be much warmer and slightly drier than normal, despite a cool and wet start to April.

Summer will be slightly cooler and drier than normal, with the hottest periods in mid-June, mid-July, and early to mid-August.

September and October will be warmer and drier than normal.

[crowjoy]

That all sounds very optimistic for a nice long season this year! Thousand pound pumpkin?? is this the year??? :D

[Gail Blake]

I have spinach, sugar pod peas, and chard planted outside and up, as well as some onions and kale that I overwintered. Cabbage, broccoli, tomatoes, peppers, and some flowers are up in flats. I planted a PILE of spinach the first weekend of April, looking to harvest and freeze it before the tomatoes and peppers need space.

[Katie Quinn-Jacobs]

Planted nut trees: almonds, hazelnuts, pecan. More rhubarb -- am I the only one with deer that kick up the plants and eat the roots? Also two new strawberry varieties: Northeaster & Annapolis.

[crowjoy]

Pecans?? they grow up here?! how exciting! Almonds too, I didn't know. Though, I'm convinced we're really 4b at the warmest on our particular bit of hill Leave it to me to find a COLDER microclimate.

[Katie Quinn-Jacobs]

Yeah...well, CJ, I don't know if almonds grow here either. Pecans I'm more certain of, since they are closely related to hickories and we have lots of them on our property. Planted 3 pecans last year and they look like they made it through the winter. Yet: it's looking very zone 4b out there today with snow scattered across the fields! We'll see...

[Sharon Berger]

Peas, kale, chard, carrots, beets, lettuce, spinach, scallions, radishes -- all direct seeded. We will cover them once they are up and there are frost warnings.

Also, Honeoye and Sparkle strawberries for next year. YUM!

Pepper, cauli, broc, eggplant, basil are staying warm inside until mid-May to June 1. We made the terrible mistake of planting eggplant, basil and pepper seedlings outside last May since the weather had been so mild. A couple of hard frosts at the end of May were very humbling indeed. We will stick with June 1 for planting out the warm weather lovers like basil and tomatoes....

[IthacaNancy]

I put potatoes in the ground, since I had some that were pretty badly sprouted and I didn't want to eat them or throw them away. I planted rainbow chard, peas, spinach, and lettuce seeds in the garden. I moved lettuce seedlings into the ground under a cold frame, and put flats of squash, broccoli, basil, peppers and tomatoes out under a cold frame. I just started flower seeds growing in flats in the house on a grow mat.

I'm glad to see my rhubarb which was new to me last year, came up looking good. I'm looking forward to getting some asparagus started in the new garden, planting fruit and nut trees, grapes, etc. I'm sorry this Saturday will be so cold and miserable, since I'm signed up for the growing fruit workshop through Tioga Co. Cooperative Extension at Reisinger's Orchard. Guess I'll just have to dress warmly!

[crowjoy]

Cold frames! I knew there was something I meant to do!

[crowjoy]

I'm with you... willing to cover some things but otherwise quite shy. Got the Swiss chard seeds down today in the rain. It was almost a perfect day for gardening. :)