By now, most of you are aware of my rodent problem. I've placed spring traps and sticky traps underneath my hoops but no bites yet. (Note to self - sticky traps are not sticky at low temperatures.) Then I came home tonight to find my garden completely flooded. It's been raining nonstop for the past 12 hours and the frozen soil has contributed to some drainage problems. As I stepped into the garden tonight, my boot sank several inches into the mud. My raised beds are practically floating at the moment and we're expected to get a mix of snow and rain for the next five days. I'm not looking forward to the cleanup.
This past weekend, I started my leeks, peppers, chilies, mini-Napa cabbage and first sowing of tomatoes. Amazingly, the cabbage and tomatoes have already begun to germinate. I'm seriously running out of shelf space. At Home Depot, I picked up some grape vines (Concord seedless and Reliance), Victoria rhubarb crowns and white onion sets, which are all lying dormant in my garage right now. I also placed an order with Nourse Farms for some Jersey Supreme asparagus crowns, Jaclyn raspberry canes and an Invicta gooseberry bush to ship in late April. Finally, I ordered Seville orange and Indio mandarinquat trees from Four Winds Growers to ship in late March.
I'm starting to feel as though I've stacked too much onto my gardening plate this year. I still have to dig 2/3s of my garden plot and think about possible irrigation systems. Hopefully, I won't be pulling out my hair in the coming months.
The grapes will be fun to grow. Maybe you will be brewing some of that fruit wine before you know it ;-) We are in for a snow and rain mix to, its going to be sloppy.
ReplyDeleteHugs Thomas. You caught two bad breaks in a row (rats and flooding) and it would be easy to get a little discouraged. I am confident though that you will get your rodent, the water will recede, and you will tidy up and carry on with great success.
ReplyDeleteI have been wanting a gooseberry for some time now. Just cannot find a spot to put one!
Hair pulling and gardening go hand and hand. You may find you don't want to extend your garden season quite so long, and take a month or two of rest before you burn out or get too depressed over some of the setbacks you suffer this time of year.
ReplyDeleteI love rhubarb! I love rhubarb pie, but I mix an egg with my cut up rhubarb, sugar and flour. It cuts the sourness a lot, and forms a slight custard around the fruit...do try it. I would love to find a rhubarb plant this spring, I haven't grown one since we moved to town 20 years ago! I hate gooseberries.
When are you going to run out of room and have to plant in your neighbor's yard like I do?
YAY! Grapes! I love 'em and luckily got one to germinate last year, but they're yet to flower. i am waiting for those violet berries eagerly!
ReplyDeleteI know it's difficult not to add more ingredients onto our plates, but it's a condition that gardeners can never find a cure for.
Growing grapes is fun. Last year we bought 5 or 6 plants, but I’m not sure that they will produce any fruit this year (they had only few leaves last summer).
ReplyDeleteYou DO have a lot going on. Enough so that a few setbacks can be extremely discouraging. Try to stay positive, make a list, and start planning things one by one. Remember that gardening is supposed to be fun. I know these setbacks will not hold you back for long.
ReplyDeleteMy first years gardening had so many discouraging incidents it is a wonder that I am still gardening. I guess you learn as you go and carry on.
One good thing about the flood - you probably just solved your critter problem! Bill Murray/CaddyShack style only nature did it for you! You will love the grapes, although they have some pests that can be tough to deal with. I've had the Reliance grapes for a few years now, but I will need to relocate them away from my veggie garden this year because they attract every Japanese Beetle in town. And then the wasps will suck the juice out of all the grapes, lol! The first year I didn't get much but the second year they went gangbusters with the fruit. This past year I put paper bags over all the fruit clusters to keep out the wasps, it worked and I did a post on it, but it was pretty labor intensive! And wow, Rhubarb & Asparagus! You definitely have alot on your plate, but I think that's a problem with all of us. Every year I swear I'm going to relax, plant less and enjoy more, but we are always looking for the next "fix" !! Will be fun to follow your adventures this summer and I am sure you will have great success.
ReplyDeleteYou have all sorts of goodies there Thomas!
ReplyDeleteYou will be very happy years down the road that you overfilled your plate this year with all of those permanent plantings. It is that kind of stuff I wish I had more room for.....berries, asparagus etc.....
The asparagus will be extremely low maintenance once you have their bed prepared so no worries there Thomas. We are getting rained out too, my vehicle is surrounded by a moat!
I know how you feel, I am putting in two raspberry patches (4 plants each), two blueberry patches, a raised bed just for asparagus, as well as one for strawberries. I ordered 4 apple trees, two peaches, a pear to pollinate the one I already have and a blackberry bush. Oh yeah rhubarb too, I'm exhausted just thinking about it.
ReplyDeleteOnce the weather turns and the sun shines, you will be aching to get outside, just do the clean up a little at a time and pretty soon it will all be done.
I haven't met a gardener yet that doesn't have a lot on their plate -even if it is self induced! Just makes it more challenging - which seems you have a bit of that going on with critters and water.
ReplyDeleteThe good thing about hair is it usually grows back! Good luck with your beds.
I manage to overdo it every year. This year will be no exception. Eventually you run out of space.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to grow some new heirlooms this year. I have the lemon cucumber which i'm excited to try. I will have to do battle with rabits though. THey seem to love mowing my veggies down for me.
ReplyDeleteI have a superstitious friend who swears bad things come in threes. Rodents, flooding, snow. You should be done now, according to her theory. ;-)
ReplyDeleteWhat will you do with your Seville oranges? We have one out back (came w/the house), and I'm freecycling what I didn't use in marmalade because they're not edible raw...
Thanks for commenting everyone!
ReplyDeleteGran - I have a half-acre myself. If I ever need to use my neighbor's land, then I'm in BIG trouble.
Erin - I will have to keep that your paper bag idea in mind for next year. I'm sure I won't be getting any grapes this year.
Momma-S - Yes, I purchased the Seville orange tree specifically for marmalade. I'll have to do a bit of research as far as what else you can use them for. The Chinese use sour oranges in savory dishes. Since the skins are so fragrant, I wonder if you can dry them to use in stir-fries...like an orange chicken of some kind. Plus, I'm sure the juice and zest would make for an excellent sour mix (if you appreciate cocktails like I do!)
Well at least the mice have probably drowned. It has been really disgusting weather recently. My DH and I are supposed to be going to a B&B this weekend to ski. Right now it is raining where we are supposed to be skiiing. I hope it switches over to snow soon or we may spend the weekend in the room.
ReplyDeleteHopefully the rodents are drowned.
ReplyDeleteAll those plantings will keep you busy for a while and don't break your back over them, otherwise it's not fun at all.
Someone referred me to this site last month when I blogged about my oranges. There are a lot of links to canning recipes using oranges. http://tigressinajam.blogspot.com/2010/01/can-jam-january-round-up-citrus.html
ReplyDeleteI've seen a recipe for orange liquor, but honestly, I've never been a big fan of orange flavored things... I think most of the marmalade I made will go to friends, and I've already had people over to take the rest of the oranges off our tree (yay freecycle).