March Madness - Part One

We are now just recovering from 3 straight days of unrelenting rain. While we had some minor flooding in our backyard, our neighbor had a virtual lake in theirs. I used to think that us gardeners were much more sensitive to the weather forecast than everyone else, but in times like this, it's hard for anyone to ignore mother nature's power.

I'm glad I was able to get some seeds and transplants into the ground before the weather turned for the worse. I'm even more grateful that my hoops withstood the winds this time around and prevented all of my hard work from washing away with the rain. Hopefully, things will begin to dry out during the next few days when temperatures are expected to reach into the low 60's. I MUST remember to vent my hoops as the internal temperature reached 85 degrees F today even though the high was only in the low 50's. It feels strange to be fighting both frost and excessive heat in the span of a day.

Anyway, just because little work has been done in the garden this past weekend doesn't mean we haven't been busy! I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with my indoor seed starting right now.


In fact, I've had to add another shelf of lights to accommodate all of my starts. With all of seeds that I've been sowing lately (I will have to post a complete list for my own reference) and the seedlings that needed to be potted up, available shelf space is in short supply these days.


These super early tomatoes desperately need more elbow room. I'm really surprised by how quickly they've grown so far.


I think I overdid it with the leeks. We could probably consume all of these over the course of a few months but I don't think I'll have enough space in the garden to accommodate all of them. I'll have to find good homes for some.


The chrysanthemum tea plants that I received a couple of weeks ago are doing well. Once they outgrow the shelves, I will place them outside during the day.


The wild strawberries are also looking pretty good. As you can see, some sort of green algae is growing on the tops of my soil blocks. I think this is stemming from the organic potting mix that I used as an ingredient for my blocks, which contains composted seaweed. Luckily, it doesn't appear to be having an adverse affect on my seedlings.


Finally, I potted up my Imperial artichokes this past weekend. After a rough start, they too are growing rather well. Sometime during the next few days, I will transfer them to one of my hoop houses. Artichoke plants that are exposed to at least 6 weeks of temperatures in the forties (F) are more likely to produce edible flowers during the first year. Since it is extremely difficult (if not impossible) to overwinter them in our zone 6, they are best grown as productive annuals. I have 16 healthy plants, which will hopefully result in a lot of artichokes!