After two days oof heavy labor, I removed the 15-year-old wood herb garden beds and replaced them with new steel beds. It required a lot more labor had I had planned, much of which was caused by the invasive garlic chives.

I am not sure I like the look of the new beds, but the cost was much less than rebuilding the previous structure in Cedar, and I would have had to haul the wood or pay for delivery. I’ll figure out something to make the beds look better. There is definitely more useful space. Tomorrow I’ll buy bags of compost or soil to finish filling up the beds and get the new herbs (and flowers) planted. I still hope to have the gardens done by Memorial Day, which is Monday. The only other major project is to clean out the blackberry patch, which is scheduled for Sunday. Monday, Memorial Day, we are going to Jared’s to celebrate Annabelle’s 7th birthday and to celebrate the beginning of summer and the completion of my gardens.

Yesterday, I had 4 yards of Garden Mix soil delivered from Down to Earth Landscaping.

I was outside at 6:30 this morning, and the temperature was 38°. I installed landscape fabric at the bottoms of the three new beds to help keep the Canadian Thistle under control. Noe and his helper showed up around 7:15, and I showed him where I wanted the soil, and they went to work. I planted the new, large Jalapeño peppers in the container garden, completing the planting there.

Noe and his helper had moved the soil into the new beds and cleaned the driveway by 9:10. I paid him, and they were on their way. I went to the back, installed the trellises, and then planted beans, Swiss Chard, Celery Root, Zucchini, and Okra. That finished up the planting of the garden a little before 10:00! I think that’s a record. I only planted beans by two of the four trellises and will plant the rest sometime in June.

I still need to redo the herb garden and clean up the blackberries and mint garden.

I drove up to Countryside in Crystal Lake and started shopping my list. They didn’t have any Mexican tarragon, and there were no large Jalapeños. The single plants were priced at $4.50, three times the $1.50 that I paid at Woldhuis. I spent about $145. I’ll do better with substituting varieties next year and do my shopping at Woldhuis.

So, the only thing is need is the Mexican Tarragon and the two large Jalapeños. I’ll get the Jalapenos at Goebberts. I need to get thyme and Rosemary when the herb garden is done. Also, I’ll get the geraniums from Jewel whenever they come in. My garden plant bill was about $1200 last year; I should be less than half that this year. Long live Woldhuis!

I went back into the garden when I got home and planted all the tomatoes and peppers, except for the container garden. I put cages on all of the tomatoes and watered the whole garden. I worked until almost 7:30 and made good progress. If I can get out early tomorrow, I can get the container garden done before the rain comes. I am happy with my progress and ahead of last year.

I uncovered all of the plants on Friday, there was a little minor damage, but basically everything survived. I tightened the screws on the 8x3x2 bed and then dug around it to lower it into the ground by 4 or 5 inches. That was a good bit of work, but it is done.

Today, on Saturday, I removed the chicken wire fence and posts from the old pea bed. and tightened the screws on the two 6x3x2 beds and then set them in place. Noe is supposed to come and move the soil into them on Tuesday, but rain is predicted, so that likely won’t happen.

The spring greens are doing well, and we should be picking around the beginning of June.

There was no frost on the grass when I woke up this morning. It was too cold to work outside, and there was intermittent light rain. I went out around 4:00 with the radar showing a storm over me and reporting a thunderstorm. The sun was shining, and the sky was blue. I moved some of the old wood from the planters to the curb. I was going to uncover the plants, but around 5:00, “patchy frost” was added to the forecast with a low of 38°. Tomorrow is sunny and warmer, and I’ll leave everything covered until then. The ten-day forecast shows the lows above 40°. Hopefully, frost is gone until October.

When I planted the past couple of days, the weather indicated a slight chance of patchy frost for Wednesday night. This morning, the frost was out of the forecast, which I expected. I checked again this afternoon before I went out to finish my planting, and this appeared:

Chilly Temps May Affect Sensitive Plants Tonight

Unseasonably chilly temperatures and potential frost tonight into early Thursday may affect sensitive outdoor plants, especially in locations near and north of I-80, away from the Chicago urban core. Take steps to protect tender plants from the cold!

So, I went out and spent the afternoon covering all of the plants.

Tomorrow will tell if this worked…

Monday, May 4 – I went outside around noon to start planting and found that I had somehow purchased Tabasco Peppers instead of Shishito Peppers. I thought I had double-checked everything I bought, but in the chaos of Woldhuis, I messed up. Off to Goebbert’s.

I needed a couple of other plants there anyway. I ran into Greg by the tomato building, and we talked for a while and then went on with our plant acquisitions. I got the Shishitos, two Serranos, and a couple more Gypsy peppers. I also bought two larger Husky Cherry tomatoes for the planters by the deck. I hoped they had them, as they weren’t listed on the website, but they performed very well for me last year.

I headed back home and started planting. I got the Shishitos and Banana Peppers planted and staked. Then I went in and made a pitcher of iced tea. Yes, I am in summer mode. I moved the four cucumber towers over to “Bed 3” and planted and staked the Gypsy Peppers. I’ll plant the cucumber seeds later.

I weeded several of the beds in the back garden. I pulled out the Canadian Thistle from “Bed 13” and the roots were at least 20 inches long! I thought the soil in the bins would smother the weeds underneath. Wrong! The paths need Roundup.

I planted and staked the 4 California Wonder Peppers, 4 Big Red Bell Peppers, 4 Better Belle IV Peppers in bed 13. Then I planted and staked the 8 Jalapenos in “Bed 7”. Thunder had started and I heard one of the lightning sirens go off. I quickly finished up and got in the porch as the rain started. I organized my next three trays to plant and put then on the outside table to get watered. Then it began to pour and I was done for the day. It is going to be cooler tomorrow, but rain is out of the forecast, so I’ll pick up then.

Tuesday, May 5 – Today, I planted and staked the 11 San Marzano tomatoes, along with one Big Mama Roma plant that crept into my purchase.

Then I went and weeded all the other beds except the tomatillo beds. A couple of the beds were loaded with deep-rooted weeds. The weeding took longer than I thought it would.

After that, I planted and staked the Poblano peppers and the four eggplants. They were all supposed to be Classic eggplants, but it looks like one of them might have been a Japanese eggplant. It looks like I need to check each plant, even though I think they are all the same.

I had avoided planting anything but the pansies this week as there was a prediction of frost Early Saturday morning. The temperature dipped overnight to 29°.

Friday afternoon, I brought all of the vegetable plants onto the back porch and brought in the hanging baskets as well. Everything survived. We have a busy weekend, and I will plant on Monday. The 14-day forecast shows no frost, so we should be safe.