Everything is beautiful this time of year and everything is starting to really grow.

Outside…

Outside many of the flowers are starting to bloom.  The flower beds are looking gorgeous.

 

Here is a shot of the progress on the seedlings.  More flowers that have sprouted.  The sunflowers have been moved closer and out of the pop-up greenhouse to make room for the tomatoes in the greenhouse.

I have started the process of hardening off the tomatoes outside.  Hardening off is a process where you take plants outside for an increasing period of time over several days.  You build up the amount of time they spend outside until they are outside all day long.  I usually keep the tomatoes under the pop up greenhouse even during hardening off because they love the heat.

The test radishes are getting bigger and bigger.  It is fun to watch them grow up close.  The kids can really examine the growth and see how they change.

All of the herbs in the herb box are doing well.  Here is a shot of the chives that I hope to put on baked potatoes tonight.

And the peas are up and doing well.  They made it through the mulch and are looking pretty good.  I am trying to use fallen leaves and old pine needles as a mulch this year.  I have heard the arguments about pine needles being acidic, and have determined that this really isn’t an issue.  That being said, our soil is very alkaline, so if the pine needles should happen to acidify the soil a little, that would be great for me.

We also planted about six raspberry starts that we were gifted from a friend.  In the past, I have found that unless you order bare root raspberries from a nursery, it can be difficult to transplant growing raspberries.  We will see if they take and grow.  It would be great if they did.  There is nothing better than raspberry or raspberry/huckleberry jam during the winter to remind you of that summery feeling.

Under the Grow Lights…

The herbs are doing well under the grow lights and I started some cucumber seeds and some melons this week to put under the grow light.  As expected, the corn is NOT doing well.  I don’t think it will make it to transplant time.  🙁

This week…

This week we are going to try and finish setting up the drip irrigation system for the garden.  I would like to plant some of the tomatoes in the garden.  We are early, and I think I will use walls of water this year, but I would like to get some in now to get a start.  You can use them with tomato cages to help prevent tip over in windy areas if you need to.  This post talks about that.

 

Harvest…

No harvesting this week.

Total:  2 T. onion tops carried over from 4/23/18

 

Costs:

 

There were no costs out of our personal budget this month, though we are still working on finishing the drip system I got for my birthday.

*I have an extensive collection of seeds from prior years, seeds I saved from my own garden, and seeds that I am able to obtain for free every year at events hosted in our community and our community seed library, so my seed costs are pretty low.

 

Total:  $44.94 carryover from 4/23/18

 

Get into the beautiful world.  Go outside and enjoy the spring sunshine, rain, and dirt.  Maybe rescue a worm and add him to the garden bed.  Go forth and grow!

**This post contains affiliate links.  If you purchase something after clicking through on one of these links, I will receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.  Thank you for supporting Kate’s Kitchen Garden!