May: The Garden So Far

We're now into late spring, I guess, and it's cold!!  This morning it was in the upper 40s.  Last year around this time, we were already deep into the 80s and only getting hotter.  As much as I complain about the cold, I'm glad we've actually had a spring season this year.  So here's what's going on in the garden now....

So everything I grew in the fall/winter has or is going to seed now.  These are the collards above.  They'll start putting out little green bean like pods and I'll actually be able to collect seeds this year!

This is the cilantro now in full flowering mode.

Here are two of the beds so far.  I'm hoping by the end of this month as the weather gets warmer, the beds will fill out beautifully.  I'm trying out pinwheels in the back bed because the squirrels are still digging up EVERYTHING!  Not that they're trying to eat anything that's growing, but looking for acorns that they've buried.

In the far back bed, I started my Asian vegetables. The reddish green plants are Korean mustards and next to them are komatsuna (Japanese mustard but really kin to turnips I'm told).  They're great stir fried, which is what I'm going to do with them tonight!!  I also have napa cabbages, zucchini, edible chrysanthemums and Chinese broccoli growing as well.  In the back left corner are the garlic plants growing very nicely at the moment.  My nasturtiums are just starting to sprout. I'm a big believer in companion planting more for attracting pollinators and also making the beds look pretty!

In the adjoining bed, this is my mini romaine lettuces and next to them are my red leaf lettuces.  I'm totally in love with these little romaines called Little Gems.  They grew really fast and the slugs haven't touched them as they've grown.  I have to say, I love growing lettuces because they've always been successful for some reason.

I split my thyme plant earlier in the spring and now, this is what it looks like.  I've hardly watered them, totally neglected them all winter and they've spread out and doubled in size.  Helloooo??

I've also neglected my strawberries and again, crazy production!!  I didn't even mulch during the winter, left them outside, allowed the squirrels to dig them all up thinking they would die, and I'm getting the largest amount of strawberries I've ever gotten since I was given this plant!

So what have I learned?  Conscientious neglect.  The more I seem to let the plants do what they want, the better they seem to produce.  I think a little stress really helps the plant be stronger and healthier.  So this year, I am choosing not to water as often and if it rains during the week, not to water at all during the week!  The growing experiment continues!!!