I cleared the area behind the barn and planted the three tomatillo plants from Countryside. No one had the purple tomatillos which I prefer. I enriched the soil, which is mostly clay, with soil from under the old compost pit.

The Shishito peppers were from Bonnie plants and Home Depot since Goebberts were out of them. Made the mistake of shopping for plants on Sunday. The larger pepper plants, Bounty, Gypsy, and Cubanelle were from Countryside, the rest from Goebbert’s. The two hills of Spineless Beauty Zucchini were from Goebbert’s. The Eggplant from Countryside.

Here is the list and layout of the tomato garden this year. I started planting last night in an unusual burst of after-dinner energy and finished up this morning. I enriched the soil around each of the plants with a mixture of MooNure and mushroom compost. I added more on the South and West sides of the patch as those are away from the old compost pile and tomatoes did the worst there the past two years.

Tonight is the fourth and hopefully final frost warning that we’ve had this week. Tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers from Countryside have been sitting on the back porch since last Friday because of the warnings. Despite the warnings, there has been no visible frost in the mornings. I am covering the potted tomatoes each night and the unplanted sensitive plants are spending their time in the back porch. I did lose two small potted cucumber plants, but that was all. I hope to start planting tomatoes and the other warm-weather crops tomorrow.

Picked the first greens for a salad tonight. Oak-leaf lettuce, red romaine, spinach, kale, and sorrel. The lettuce was a bit tough as was the spinach. The kale and sorrel were, too, but that would be expected. In any case, the garden is producing.

We were supposed to have rain the past couple of days, but it never happened, so between Friday and Saturday, and recording and livestreaming at St. Anne’s, I got the Spring planting done.

I planted Red onion bulbs, shallot seedlings, and Pak Choi seeds in the first bed, filling it. I set out a dozen Green Comet broccoli plants in the second bed and 2 rows of beets in the third bed. I Planted Easter Egg radish seeds in the front of the bed where the peas are right along the front fence. That way I can set in the eggplants without disturbing the radishes.

I have a bunch or parsley left which I will make a new bed for as well as arugula seeds. There is also a full flat of mint which I won’t plant until the new mint garden is prepped. I need to get some Swiss Chard, but that can wait until later.

I watered all of the new plantings because the weather predictions have not been accurate.

After two nights of hard freeze, the weather finally warmed up and I had a couple of hours to work in the garden this afternoon. The peas should have been in about three weeks ago but the weather and my schedule didn’t cooperate,,,,,,,,,,,so.

It took longer than I thought to get the bed ready as there was a lot of creeping charlie and other weeds that had crept in and with the pavers and trellis I had to weed by hand. This is the former cucumber bed. The trellis was really not tall enough for cukes, but should work well for peas. I planted the full length of the trellis with Alaska Peas from Terroir. I’ll follow the peas with Lazy Housewife Pole Beans, also from Terroir.

In the front of the bed, I’ll plant the Easter Egg Radish blend and then follow that with eggplant. The bed is fenced which all of the plants except the radished require to protect them from rabbits.

I went to Goebbert’s on Sunday and bought a bunch of vegetables, but held off on planting because of the predicted freeze. I planted the Red Romaine today in the first raised bed. I am trying to limit this bed to greens that will be replaced with another crop in early summer, although I have Kale and celery root in the back of the bed.

I have a bunch more spring vegetables to plant and I need to figure out where to put them.

Broccoli Plants
Shallot Seedlings
Beet Plants
Wild Italian Arugula Seeds
Pak Choi Seeds
Candy Stripe Beet Seeds
Red Onion Sets
Plus, an order I forgot about from Hardy Seeds, but at least there are no spring vegetables in that one.