Natalie was gone to St. Louis this weekend for Katy’s Bridal Shower, so it’s a working weekend. I dug out the drainage ditch on the south edge of the yard near the house and lined it with the cinder block from the old greenhouse that was stacked behind the compost pit, and topped it with the flagstone salvaged from the old pond.

I moved the stepping stones back to encompass the septic tank as grass wouldn’t grow there (I discovered that there was only about an inch of soil above the tank.) I also lined up the wood walk in the garden with the rest of the path, so that it’s straight now, and I gained a couple feet of width on the west end of the garden.

I graded and tilled the new herb garden and planted, basil plants, basil seeds, lovage seeds and summer savory seeds and 1 plant. I left room for more basil and moved a bunch of garlic chives that were growing on the side of the house into the new area. I cleaned up the flower part of the garden and discovered that most of the perennials I planted last summer had survived, despite my earlier worries.

I also planted a variegated sage plant in the herb garden, and three regular ones at the entrance to the garden by the Rhubarb plant.

FInally I planted a couple of rows of Baby Bok Choy next to the arugula and a row of leeks along the Collards and a row of Green beans next to that.

I planted cucumbers along the back fence and some pickling cucumbers behind the compost pile in the space formerly occupied buy cinder blocks.  The pickling cucumbers were bought by mistake, but I’ll make quick pickles out of them.

I also planted several hills of the lemon cucumbers along the fence behind the Kohlrabi, collards and broccoli. I planted a hill of Lebanese zucchini behind the barn.

I finished out the herb garden with marjoram and chocolate mint in the remaining pots.

I planted another 18″ wide row of Arugula where the first bunch was.

Arugula between the tomato plants planted April 7.

We’ve been eating  a lot of salad, as the spring greens are finally producing well, after a slow start because of the cold spring.

The arugula is starting to bolt so I picked everything from the first planting today in between raindrops, and I’ll probably pick the second planting tomorrow if the weather is decent.

D’Avignon Long Radishes planted on April 7.

I pulled up the first couple of plantings of radishes today. The Easter Egg variety did poorly like other radishes I have grown. Small and woody. I have another planting going and we’ll see if they do any better. The d’Avignon variety which is a longer red radish, did a lot better with most plants producing acceptable roots. I’ll try another planting.

Lollo Rossa Lettuce planted on April 7

I’ll pick the rest of the Spring Raab tomorrow as it is starting to bolt. The Lollo Rossa lettuce is doing well and not showing any signs of bolting. The Altor is just starting to bolt. Corn salad is finally starting to grow and will probably be pick-able in a week or two.

The mustard greens are really growing well and their flavor is mild. I’m able to pick some of the kale that I started as plants also.

Greg found deer tracks in his garden on Sunday and had a tomato plant eaten. The next day he was working in the garage and a young doe appeared in the yard who had no fear of people and was in no hurry to leave.

Tuesday night, Natalie and I were having dinner on the deck and she appeared in the backyard heading for the garden. I yelled and was met with a blank stare. I charged into the back yard and she calmly walked through the garden with me following. She went down the path toward the house and then back around into the garden. She made two loops of the garden with me right behind her and I finally started clapping loudly her so she marched off between the houses, into the front yard and across the street to harass the other neighbors.

We went to Walkup Heritage Farm and Gardens in Crystal Lake to try to find a Mr. Stripey heirloom tomato. Instead, I found a Hungarian Heart tomato that is said to have originated in a village 20 miles from Budapest around 1900. It is a late tomato with 1 pound fruits.

This rounds out my heirloom tomato selection for the year.

Starting to get ridiculous. Cripes, it’s the 23 of May and we should be done with this cold weather by now. I covered everything based on the forecast, but it looks like we were OK, but more outlying areas did have some frost.

Temps in the high 80’s.

Last week’s weather prediction proved rather unreliable. Daytime temps have been in the low fifties and we barely escaped frost on Saturday night. Sunday night’s prediction was more ominous, so, like Peter, I erected 3 tents. (It is good that I was there.) One each over the tomato and pepper beds and the last over the  heirloom tomatoes. I covered the hot peppers, remaining heirloom tomatoes and zucchini with pots.

Everything survived. I don’t know if I needed the covering or not, but it was worth it for the peace of mind. We are out of the cold snap and temperatures tomorrow are supposed to be in the 80’s.

Planted 5 inch pots of Heirloom Tomatoes from Home Depot. Marion, German Queen and Lemon Boy. I couldn’t find a Mr. Stripey so I have room for one more Heirloom.