Late May Garden Report

Yes, I did start a garden after all. First I said, "No garden this year!" Then I said, "Okay, I'll plant a SMALL garden and buy all of the plants at a nursery." Then I had a brief burst of energy in mid-April, got my son to help set up my pop-up greenhouse on the deck, and started some seeds.

The little greenhouse also serves as a convenient warm place to raise bread.

By May 8 the seeds had all sprouted and were growing nicely.

Two days later, my granddaughter was here for a visit and helped me transplant some of the seedlings into larger pots.

May 15: all the little starts are looking good! In the back are the two items I purchased from a nursery: marigolds and broccoli.

And the lilacs were starting to bloom! I love lilacs, and am glad I finally have some nice bushes in the garden. I planted the tallest one in 2017, and the others in 2018 and 2023. I would still like to have a pink one, but none were available when I became inspired to purchase.

May 15-17 we saw morning lows in the 30s, which is why I have been in no hurry to get my plants out into the garden. On May 21 I moved some of them into larger pots, because I wasn't sure just when I would get around to putting anything into the garden. I had plans to babysit my granddaughter for the next two days, and knew I'd be short on ambition for a day or two after that.
The following isn't a great picture, but you can see the marigolds and the broccoli in much larger pots along the deck railing. They were rapidly outgrowing the nursery jumbo 6-packs they came in.

I also moved nearly all of the other seedlings out onto the table on the deck where they would get morning sunshine and more exposure to the world.

Today I had enough energy to plant the broccoli. I decided to put it into my stock tank raised bed, in hopes that it's too slippery for the ground squirrels to climb up and eat the plants.

I also planted the sunflower seedlings I started. It seems as if planting things always includes adding soil amendments, pulling weeds, and finding more hoses or sprinkler heads. So I get my exercise walking between the shed, the garage, and the garden. I wrapped some chicken wire around the tire to protect the sunflowers from varmints.

I plan to gradually plant the remaining little plants into the garden over the next few days. I have some extras to give away, and will be glad when we can take down the greenhouse and also have the patio table available for normal use. I always enjoy planting the seeds and watching them grow in the greenhouse, but I'm also glad when I can put it away.

All photos taken on my Android phone.