The April-to-May transition is one of the most stunning in St. Louis. Despite unseasonably cool weather (including two frost warnings), the garden, in the words of farmer and poet Wendell Berry, ‘Like a tide it comes in/wave after wave of foliage and fruit/the nurtured and the wild".
Harvesting
I can step outside and come back in with a basket full of spring crops (spinach, red and daikon radishes, lettuce, asparagus, and, of course kale), herbs (peppermint, chocolate mint, oregano, thyme, chives, and now lemon balm thanks to the gift of a neighbor), or flowers (mostly kale and collard flowers, although our comfrey is putting out beautiful bell-shaped blooms as well).
 |
| Comfrey |
 |
| Kale |
Planting
A couple weeks ago we smushed down our cover crop of rye, threw some compost on top of it, and planted corn. We ended up hoeing around the edges because the rye kept popping back up, but we have the beginnings of a Three Sisters garden (corn, beans, and squash). Peppers and sweet potatoes will go in this bed, too.
Another recent project was planting all the tomatoes. They are currently very stressed because of the cold weather, but I'm hoping they'll be able to thrive soon! Between the ones I grew and some that a neighbor gave me, I put 17 in the ground, along with one tomatillo. I already had trellises from two years ago, and I "mulched" between them with cardboard and packing paper to suppress the sunchokes.
The past couple weeks we've also been planting the various summer crops: a couple kinds of beans (including a native perennial, "thicket beans"), blue hubbard squash, watermelon, cucumbers, dill, cilantro, basil, and all kinds of flowers (including an heirloom strain of marigolds inherited from my grandma). I still have a few things left to plant but I'm waiting for the weather to warm up a bit.
Processing
I've been digging up and drying medicinal plants for tea as well: a ton of dandelion root, stinging nettle, the mints, plantain, and raspberry leaf.
Another fun project was chive blossom vinegar: just put 1 cup chive blossoms in 1.5 cups vinegar (I used distilled, but white wine vinegar is standard) and let it sit for two weeks. Within an hour it had turned this lovely color, and I'm excited to see how it turns out!
Planning for the future
I have very high hopes for the fruit in our yard this year: a lot green strawberries are forming, as well as exactly two cherries and many raspberry flowers. The elderflowers are shaping up, and, most exciting of all, our nectarine tree is chock full of little fruits! Right now I'm dreaming of nectarine crisp and homemade raspberry ice cream.
 |
| Baby nectarines! |
This month I've also been working on the Great Garden Giveaway— some people donated money to help out with supplies, so right now I'm nurturing the seeds I started and figuring out how to fill in the gaps with plants from a local nursery. I'm hoping to give away at least ten little starter gardens, but I have yet to hammer out the details. Stay tuned!
What have you been up to this month? Are you growing anything?
~~~
Want to help me out? Please check out this five-question survey to tell me what you'd like to see me write about!
No comments:
Post a Comment