Dreary Sunday

Another cold, wet Sunday with an inch of rain over the last 24 hours, and up to five inches expected through Wednesday. The flowers are loving it, but the warm-weather veggies–not so much.

I gifted tomato plants this spring, and one recipient complained that hers weren’t growing. They will, I told her, when it warms up. But so far, warming up hasn’t happened.

My tomatoes planted in raised beds look water-logged and scraggly. I have a micro-climate near the house where I planted tomatoes in pots. They’re doing well–less water, more heat.

Even so, summer is on its way and soon I’ll have more tomatoes than I can possibly use. It’ll be time to pull out the canning supplies.

Eggplant Worries

I’ve been waiting–and waiting and waiting–for the weather to warm up enough to put my Ophelia Eggplants in the ground. It’s been cold and wet, too chilly for Ophelia’s.

Deciding to wait till Mother’s Day to plant turned out to be easier than I thought. But today is the day after Mother’s Day, and it was in the 40’s when I got out of bed this morning. Still too cold.

Nothing for it, though. The plant roots are growing out the bottom of the pots. They’ve already been transplanted once. They are huge.

So this morning, I brought them out to the shaded, wind-protected area near my acer Bloodgood. Hopefully, they’ll harden-off without problem and I can plant them Thursday or Friday.

Any eggplant aficionados out there? Send advice.

Starting to be Spring Sunday

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Sunny today but cold–in the mid-20’s (-7C). The cold doesn’t seem to bother the emerging perennials.

A couple of blue jays are picking in the garden, looking for worms maybe or insect larvae. They fly away when I come out with the camera, so no picture.

Clean-up is underway. Lots of raking and pulling out the nasty ground cover weeds that seem to thrive in winter.

And I discovered a hack for picking oak leaves out of rose bushes–a kitchen tongs. Keeps my hands out of the thorns.

Warm-up is predicted this week. The lettuce will go in and zinnia seeds spread. Happy spring.