The May Monthly Update

The Garden: May 19th

It's always nice to look back and realize how far our little ones have grown over their short lives. And like good parents, it's always important to let loved ones know what our little bundles of joy have been doing since we last put out the family newsletter.

Okay, seriously, who really likes getting the family newsletters at X-mas time? There's more exclamation points in those things than old Batman episodes. Kerplow!!! The dog got fixed in April!!! Bam!!! Zing!!! Bobby got his first haircut in June!!!!!!! Whoosh!!!! Pow!!!!!

But part of the purpose of this blog is to update what the plants have been doing in our garden. And since the last pic I have of the whole garden was April 19th, I figured I should update everyone on the plant progress on the 19th of every month. So Grandpa and Gramms, Aunt Suzy, Uncle Jimmy, and Cousins Billy Joe and Chantelle....here it goes.

There has been a permanent dark green blob floating over our house on the weather doppler for the past three weeks. We have had a ton of rain this spring coupled with sometimes hot, sometimes chilly temps. I forgot to pull out the plugs on the bottom of the planter I used for my cucumbers. One morning last week, I went out to find the cuke plant was swimming in three inches of water. The soil was soup. Five days later, the soil is still soaked. But the plant still looks healthy.

• Acorn Squash-Still going strong. The vines haven't begun to spread, but it won't be long.
  
• Albatross Bell Peppers- Slow and steady growth...some buds have already appeared.
  
• Jalapeno Peppers- Getting taller with bigger dark green leaves.
  
• Romanian Sweet Peppers- See bell peppers.
  
• New Mexico Espanola Chiles- These NM chiles are slow out of the gate. Unfortunately the squirrel dug a hole right next to one of the Espanola plants and damaged the stem. Today, I dug up that plant and inserted another Espanola plant I had growing to the side.
  
• New Mexico Heritage Chiles- This chile is also slow to take-off. The positive sign is the stem looks a lot thicker and the plant continues to sprout new leaves.
  
• Bush Whopper Cucumbers- I may have to go by arm floaties for the Bush Whopper plant after last week's drowning. But so far it's doing well and continues to grow.
  
• Celebrity Tomatoes- Three times its original size. I already have three small fruit on the vines. I'm trying to pinch a lot of the buds so the plant can continue to focus on growing and developing those first early fruit.
  
• Mr. Stripey Tomatoes- Was a late addition, but is growing at a nice pace. It's behind its brothers and sisters, but it will catch up soon enough.
  
• Patio Tomatoes- Doing what it does best: Growing thick like a bush. I expect to see some fruit developing soon.
  
• Supersweet 100 Tomatoes- The thinnest of the tomato plants, the Supersweets are doing just fine. Like the other tomaters, I've been keeping a close eye on suckers. Also, don't forget to cut off small branches within an inch or two from soil level.
  
• Finger Carrots- Hard to tell how these are doing...but they're thick and the green tops look healthy and tall.
  
• Lisbon Onions- Slowly plodding along.
  
• Dwarf Gray Sugar Peas- These things shot up like a rocket. But so far...no pods. I had to take the cage lid off the strawberries and use it for another support for the vines to grab onto. At the base of the stalks many leaves have gone yellow and died. Today, though, I saw one purple blossom on a stalk. Could pods be in the near future?
  
• Rutabagas- I most definitely overseeded the rutabagas. No way will I get decent sized 'bagas unless I thin out the pots. But I'll be honest...this was not my most anticipated crop.
  

The Fruit File

• Blueberries ('10 Harvest)- Developing nicely. I have some stalks coming out of the ground that are developing healthy leaves and a spiny stem.
  
• Raspberries ('10 Harvest)- Like it's berry cousin next door, the raspberries are growing and looking good.
  
• Strawberries- Mr. Squirrel has done me no favors by digging holes throughout the strawberry pot. I'm down to two healthy plants. The jury's out on the strawberries.
  

The Herb Honor Roll

• Basil- We've ravaged this plant already. Found one caterpillar on the plant having a feast. But he's dead and our caprese salads live on.
  
• Chamomile- I guess it's doing fine. Don't have much interest in it.
  
• Chives- This is the nuclear bomb of the garden. It has exploded. A couple weeks ago, several purple flowers bloomed. They are pretty and tasty.
  
• Cilantro- It has slowed recently and some leaves have died off or lost color. I should probably make some guacamole and thin it out.
  
• Dill-Still young but looking good.
  
• Lavender-Dead. Next.
• Oregano- Can always count on oregano to be healthy and plentiful.
  
• Parsley- Used it in a couple dishes this weekend and looks healthy.
• Peppermint-Growing out of the depths of last year, the peppermint looks like it will be strong again this year.
  
• Rosemary- Doing alright. It will take off soon.
  
• Thyme-Both the garden center plant and the plant grown from seed look great.

Let's Hope This Espanola Chile Plant Takes Root

All-in-all, we're pretty darn happy about progress. This weekend will be the first time I feed the plants. The nutrients combined with warmer weather will probably do wonders. By June 19th, we could have a jungle on our hands.