May in Review

May came with challenges! I had some slip ups, but I'm trying to not take it to heart since this is my 'in-training' year, and after all, everyone makes mistakes.

I didn't get specific dates for all the activities that occurred during May, so I'll break them down by plant instead.

Strawberries I couldn't get the strawberries to come up by seed, but I'll admit I was a bit lax in watering them too. I got frustrated and gave up on the seeds. Instead I was in Home Depot and spied some beautiful plants there including some already with strawberries! I let my eyes lead my steps instead of my brain and bought three plants. I know they were definitely grown with pesticides and artificial plant foods. On my way home I stopped at a garden center that I'd never been to before and picked up two more strawberry plants, but these ones were separated from an established strawberry bed on someone's land. The difference? No artificial anything. They even made the loamy, sandy soil on site. I chose a spot behind one of the logs we use to mark the driveway's edge and dug them in. They get plenty of sun there and I haven't lost a single plant.

Tomatoes The tomatoes grew vivaciously and I ended up transferring most of them into larger containers, but it was still too cold to set them outside.

Blackberries & Blueberries The sticks produced lots of nice leaves and were doing well, then suddenly took a downhill turn and died. I'm not sure what happened, but I'll try again next year.

Raspberries I transplanted the two bushes I bought and they are doing well. I bought golden raspberries, but they are dead and need to come out.

Peas The peas are growing well and are enjoying all the rain that May is bringing us. I've been weeding them regularly, but as they get bigger, they trump most of the weeds.

Carrots Carrots weren't weeded for a long time because until their feathery leaves came in, I couldn't tell what was carrot and what was grass and weeds. I've decided that next year I will do rows. The scattering method resulted in one very dense spot of carrots and very few in the rest of the designated plots.

Cucumbers I started cucumber seeds, but accidentally left them exposed to the air when they'd just burst their roots out, so their roots dried up and I wasn't able to revive them. I started new seeds.

Squash I started yellow squash and they are growing well. I swear you can see them grow. They gain almost a 1/2 inch per day!