Spudzinnabarrell - (n), faux German, see definition below

Spring 2010 - the good, the bad and the ugly thus far in the living laboratory:

Check out how crazy happy my oregano plant is. This has been its best year ever & I've been regularly snipping bits off to dry the leaves. That's a bok choy plant in the foreground which also seems to be flourishing. Too bad only one survived the early spring transplanting.

Corn and beans are progressing, as are the zucchini and muskmelons I planted in between the clumps. I ate a couple of ripe raspberries when I stopped by on my way to work yesterday.

But the tomato & eggplant plants I've grown from seed and the replacements I've bought at the farmer's market are looking pretty dim. They're not growing well at all, and a couple more died. I'm blaming the weather since it got unseasonably cold a few times this spring. But perhaps there was something preventative I could have done (more mulch when I saw the temperature was going to drop or some other kind of covering?). The silver lining is that the "gold current" cherry tomato plants which have spread as prolifically as the dill and fennel plants are having another good year. Anyone want one? They produce loads of small yellow tomatoes - perfect size for salads. I've got plenty of plants to spare.

But a brand new thing this year is my experiment growing potatoes in a barrell. In late March I bought a couple of old-looking yukon golds, kept them around until the sprouts were fairly prominent, and planted them in a plastic trash can I had drilled holes in for drainage.

Here's how the experiment was looking yesterday morning:



Looking good, eh? Well, then I did this:

Are you crazy Steve?? Why would you cover up those perfectly good potato plants?

Well, because I learned that potato tubers grow in the space between the soil surface and where the plants have started. All I needed to do (supposedly) is leave some foliage above the soil line. The plants will continue to grow and probably spill over the side of the barrell in a month or two.

Harvest depends upon if you like new potatoes or want to wait for the full-size ones. New potatoes are around once the plants have finished flowering. But full tuber maturity will be in late fall after the plants have died back completely. Decisions, decisions.

what awaits the "last spring frost" (April 15)

Despite the fact it may get up to 90 (!) this week, the average last frost tends to coincide with the tax deadline. Here's my garden layout as of yesterday, when I stopped by to start my "potatoes in a barrel" scheme, as well as to transplant dill, cilantro, parsley and thai basil and harvest some asparagus. If I was less of a risk taker and had more room under the grow lights, the dill and thai basil would still be indoors until the 18th, when I'll transplant pretty much everything I've started indoors.

You can't see 'em, but there actually are very small spinach and lettuce plants sprouting up. The peas, however, did not make it. Each year I've tried, they've eluded me in separate ways. Meep meep.

My garlic is doing quite well. It's all cloves I bought from the co-op or farmers market over the past three years that planted after they started to sprout, and which subsequently produced seeds. Onions are not too shabby either. The big ones are from seeds I planted last year. And Ed the raspberry is almost getting so big that a pruning will be in order this coming winter/spring.

trellis: done

There ya go. One grape trellis (for two plants), and yes, the ground looked just as overgrown as what is behind it before I started. This is at the site of my grandparent's place. I've gotten pretty adept at clearing, but you probably don't want to see all the briar scratches on my arms. I fortunately managed to get this project done before it started raining up there. The posts are 3 ft into the ground, and I dug out the areas in the middle where the grapes will grow, put down pea gravel for draining, some mulch for food, and piled the dirt back in.

I also prepared spots for apples. I had to gas up the chainsaw and cut down a few locust trees so there will be enough sun for them as the trees up there start filling out with leaves. Looks like Grimes Golden didn't work out. They're getting me Granny Smith instead. Tartness. April 9 is delivery day. Memo to self: get a sh#tload of cayenne pepper to sprinkle around to keep deer away (till it washes away). I'll have chicken wire as well, but the more the deterrance, the better.

Barley plants are starting to materialize. No word on when the hop rhizomes will be in.

This weekend I'll be starting potatoes in a barrel back home. I've got a couple of russets that are sprouting.