What's Growin' On: 4/29/06

Ugh



Ahhhhh

Realization Of The Day:
This is why I love having a digital camera. Sometimes you just need to be able to capture moments like these and then rush into the house to look at them. And besides, being able to see all that work you've done makes it easier to rationalize buying all that Biofreeze.

Realization #2:
It rained all night long and is still pouring as I type this. I should have just gone and planted the bush beans in this bed yesterday. I mean, all the hard work was done. What would it have taken me--15 minutes tops? I have no idea what I was thinking. Probably too busy clicking back and forth between these photos.

Minding The Moonsigns:
Good news! I just flipped the calendar over to May and discovered that the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th are all (like today and yesterday) fertile days in the first quarter--perfect for starting lettuce, herbs, greens, cruciferous veggies, cucumbers, beans, and flowers--pretty much anything but members of the potato/tomato/pepper/eggplant/squash families. These you want to start in the second quarter; fertile days in May are the 10th, 11th, and 12th (but you've already started your tomatoes and potatoes and peppers and eggplant, right?) Wondering what all this moonsign stuff is all about? Read more here.

So if your planting plans have been postponed like mine (it's been pouring rain for 17 hours straight and shows no signs of stopping), you can relax. There will be plenty of time next week to get everything done. Which is good because last night I found all sorts of seeds I forgot about, like the Nero Di Toscana Cabbage (beautiful plants that tolerate heat & humidity; the young leaves are fabulous in salads), Oriole Orange Swiss Chard (another gorgeous veggie), Red Russian Kale (yet another stunning beauty--hell, who needs to plant fussy flowers?), and some Canton Bok Pak Choy--super stir-fried. All of these seeds are from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

This is in addition to the bush beans: Straight 'N' Narrow Haricots Verts and Masai (both of which I have planted every year for about 10 years because I can never remember which ones I like better), Emerite Haricot Vert (a new variety for me that I never got around to planting last year because I didn't realize it was a pole bean and that would have required extra plotting and planning), and of course my absolute favorite--the incredible (and talk about some gorgeous veggies) Dragon Langerie Yellow Bush Beans. This is actually a misnomer because these huge, prolific, incredibly tasty beans are not yellow, but are more of a creamy white with hard-to-describe pinkish stripes. Trust me, just grow some. They're so good raw I have never once bothered to cook them. They will make any crudite platter look like it was just dropped off by a four-star caterer. I recommend dipping them--and the rest of the crudite platter--in some herbed yogurt cheese. All of these seeds are from Pinetree Garden Seeds.

So what is my new plan for today? Stay as dry as possible, try to figure out where I'm going to plant all this stuff, stop rooting around my seed packet stash, and revel in the fact that my garden is receiving a much needed soaking without my having to lift a finger (okay, I did actually start this rainstorm by watering everything yesterday afternoon). I suppose I could launch an attack on some of the clutter that has obviously been breeding around the house while I've been outdoors (how does that happen?), but I'd much rather bake a few loaves of bread. A girl's gotta have priorities, and mine usually involve food.

So what do you do when you're rained out of the garden?

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