It will never look this good again

It has been a couple weeks since I have posted last.   Busy with work, and gardening, and politics.  On the 12th of May we had a big day--transplanting all the bedding plants, and seeding the large seeded veg like corn, beans, and various cucurbits and even melons. The asparagus is done for the season, the potatoes are getting bushy, the lettuces are nearly ready for first harvest, the strawberries have flowers, and we even have one apple!  The major addition for this season is the pole bean support, which was converted from my grow light stand (after getting a coat of Thompson Water Seal).  These are the golden days for any garden, when everything is small, neat, and weed free.   However, I don't garden just for looks, so I do welcome the fruitful days to come when squash will be taking over the yard, tomatoes will be groaning under the weight of their red globes, and giant zukes and cukes forming every time you turn your back.

  We are going to try to grow  tomatoes with out cages this year (cage-free!), training them to a pole and keeping the branches from getting out of hand.  Most of the good fruit comes lower down and close in any way.

  Lynn has been real busy weeding out the perennial gardens--strawberries, raspberries, and the flowers on the "berm". My job is now to haul in some mulch to preserve as much of the progress as possible.
  Below is our one apple--which I now think is on the Honeycrisp, not the Zestar, which didn't put out any flowers this year--not sure why.   Could be the warm March followed by the cold April.  Anyway,

one is better than none!   I can be patient.  It doesn't pay to get too anxious to eat fruit from a tree, no matter how good it looks for food.   There is ample historical evidence to attest to this principle.
   There is also historical precedent for not waiting forever either.  If a tree doesn't bear fruit, it gets cut down--not that we are considering that for our apples.   We will continue in Patient Mode, not in Judgment Mode, as this is only our fourth summer with these trees.  They are still babes.

First fruits

Our first crop from our 2012 planting has come in.  These radishes were planted March 17 and harvested  (by Mrs. Gardener) May 6.   That is 7 weeks and about 250 growing degree days (base 50).  I plan to plant some more as soon as the soil dries out, but with warming temps I should get a crop in fewer weeks.   These are very tasty radishes too--very mild.   We received 5.6 inches of rain this week, which should give the subsoil a good reserve in advance of transplanting activities in the next few weeks, once we are past the last average frost date.

Wascally Wabbit!

A bunny got to our lettuce last week, necessitating the construction of a security fence.  While I do believe in free-range lettuce, I didn't plant enough to share with the free-loading neighborhood rabbits.  However, they are welcome to all the grass they care to eat, so invite all  your friends, I say.   In fact, if they could eat the dandelions in the grass, that would be even better.