Last weekend we planted seeds and transplanted seedlings in the two new raised vegetable beds in the back. The plan that I'd drawn up in February is more or less what we went with, although there were some substitutions (new plan seen here; orientation is changed from before, so now it is standard with north at the top). Within a week we already have germination for many seeds, and almost no seedlings have died off (one of the peppers didn't make it).
Yesterday still more seeds and seedlings were planted - in the containers in the front, and in a bed at the side in the backyard. I've gone through our collection of seeds, and I think everything has gone in, except for the alpine strawberries (which will be taking the place of the radishes as soon as they vacate their container). The iffiest of the tomato seedlings have gone into the edges of the front beds. If they improve they can either stay put to battle it out with the squash, or get transplanted if they're being crowded out.
We definitely have a groundhog problem - he keeps digging out from under the side of the large bed (which is where he used to have a great set-up, living under the shed), disturbing dirt and up-ending the seeds we've planted. Luckily it's along the shadiest side, where I've got the 'experimental' row of wacky new plants. The precious tomatoes, squash and melons are furthest from the groundhog hole, so hopefully there won't be any losses there.
I've done a round of hedge trimming in front and forsythia pruning. The forsythia is incredibly fantastic when it's the first big, bright yellow thing in the garden early in spring, but the rest of the season it's a green monster (kind of a hydra, where every branch trimmed means four more sprouting up where it's been cut). I'm starting to worry that I'm creating some sort of abnormal situation by trimming it every year, but it seems to be the only way of keeping its size under control.
All of my transplants in the front seem to have taken, and things are filling out nicely. Chives are in bloom (I've been sprinkling their edible flowers on our meals regularly), and the sage looks like it will bloom soon (at which point I'll prune it back, since it's already overshadowing its neighbours). For the first year the irises which came from my mother's garden are also in bloom.
Today I gave Mark his birthday gift (a bit early) - a Plant Cam! It's designed for time lapse photography outside in the garden. I can't wait to watch our plants unfold in 'real' time!
We also wrapped our beds today in copper tape (to keep out the slugs) and put up pea netting and a trellis for the squash and melons. We bought some marigolds yesterday to put up around the perimeter of the large bed. Now we just sit back, water, and wait for the harvest...
