Breaks in the Rain

The last week has consisted of vast amounts of potting punctuated by mad dashes into the garden whenever the rain stopped. On Thursday afternoon, when the sun actually broke through the clouds briefly, we finished the vertical portion of the fence, and I planted four different kinds of lettuce, gala mache, peas, carrots, and beets. On Sunday, I finished digging out the garden paths, although some still need correcting, and planted leeks and onions. Today, I got some of the rabbit-proofing down. I took rabbit fencing donated to us, rolled it out, bent half of it lengthwise at a right angle, put the more densely fenced half on the ground outside the garden and attached the remainder upright to the vertical fence. (I'll get photos up soon, I promise!) Theoretically, this will prevent rabbits and other critters from burrowing into the garden. Sadly, I had only about 50 feet of fence. Alex bought more rabbit fence after dinner, and I laid it out until it grew so dark, I nearly lost my wire cutters in the grass. Alas, the fence was only half done.

Even so, this afternoon, I planted 25 seedlings each of Earliglow and Honeoye strawberries along that first 50 foot stretch. At last. They were looking rather bedraggled after almost three weeks in the crisper drawer of the fridge. Tomorrow, if there are any further breaks in the rain, I'll plant 25 each of Jewel and Sparkle, along with broccoli, cauliflower, and kale. It looks like the rain won't really get going until 11am, and that should be plenty of time to get this done. If the weatherman is completely wrong and we get no rain, I'll plant marigolds and nasturtiums as well. If, however, the prediction holds up, I'll be in the greenhouse, rolling, rolling, rolling. At this point, all my crops are seeded. I am getting close to having all the tomatoes in 3" pots, and I'll then move on to cilantro, sage, and most of the flowers.

I sincerely hope the coir pots I ordered arrive soon. I took stock of my seedlings and realized that I needed vastly more 5" pots than I'd ever expected. CowPots, after shipping, cost about $.65 each. Multiply that by, oh, five hundred, and we're talking a hefty investment with no guarantee of return. As much as I love the idea of CowPots, I chose to purchase a less expensive but equally sustainable 5" coir (coconut fiber) pot, which costs less than half as much. And I desperately need them. The tomatoes in 3" pots are growing like mad, particularly the Hillbilly tomatoes, which are really impressing me with their vigorous growth. The squash are literally bursting out of their pots, particularly the two Giant pumpkin seedlings I started especially for Annelise. I repotted them in 8" pots I happened to have lying around.

Thanks to everyone who's put in an order, especially those who passed on my info to their friends and neighbors. I'm hopeful that I'll get at least some of these sold. I am, however, probably going to donate the bulk of the kale to the Beverly Bootstraps Community Garden.