Gardening Between Raindrops

I’m guessing most folks will agree that it’s been a strange spring. When the trees leafed out early, I thought summer was right around the corner. Not so. We’ve had a few warm days, but mostly it’s been rainy and cool. It was so damp and chilly last week that we started a fire in the woodstove one evening, something we’ve never done in May before!

As my blog post title suggests, gardening has been sporadic because of the rain. Still, I’m getting things done. Another thing that’s strange, is that everything seems slow to germinate and slow to grow. I thought it was just me, but we bought some hay last week and the farmer mentioned how slow-growing everything has been. But slow or not, here’s what’s happening in my garden.

I still have a few things from my fall and winter garden.

I started tomato seeds early in April as well. I planted saved seed and Matt’s Wild Cherry tomato to grow on my front porch trellis. Of that first planting of the Matt’s, only one seed grew. I reseeded my little pots with the rest of the seed and transplanted the one.

A couple more from the second planting are sprouting, so I should get three plants from one package of seed.

This month (also in between raindrops) I’ve planted corn, okra, summer lettuce, borage, Swiss chard, calendula, dill, sweet basil, marigolds, pumpkins, peanuts, amaranth, black turtle beans, and more cucumbers and tomatoes. Dan planted sunflowers and potatoes. Also, I’ve been transplanting my tomato starts, but my sweet potato slips have been slow to grow. Still to transplant—sweet peppers, cayenne, and tomatoes as the seedlings get big enough. Still to harvest—garlic. Soon, I should have pictures of all that to show you.

How about you? Is the weather letting you garden?