I was so focused this year on sharing about the greenhouse that I haven’t shared about the garden. We did work on that while we were working on the greenhouse. We had to wait until all the equipment was out of the way though. Fortunately it has been a warm spring, so even though I felt like we were going to get it in late, overall, it was actually earlier than usual.

This year I didn’t get a lot of plants started, particularly the ones that go in the greenhouse. I did plant onion seeds, but not a single one germinated. I went to a gardening class and they said that onion seed was very time sensitive, for lack of a better word. If they weren’t this years seeds, the germination rate went way down. I went home and sure enough, they were seeds from 2022.

I did however get my cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli started myself. They grew really well inside, and I hardened them off really quickly, accidently. I brought them in and out of the house for about 3 nights, and then forgot. That night it was 33 degrees and they thrived, so I just left them outside until I got them planted. That was the first thing in my garden.

While my family was here we got the other small seeds planted, the carrots, beets, onion sets (I had to purchase), and the leafy greens (I just plant 4 varieties like spinach, mustard greens, etc.).

After everyone left my husband and kids helped me get the rest of the garden planted. This is actually the biggest part of the garden, and it is planted in potatoes. We expanded our garden a little bit this year, and we could probably have planted 2-3 more rows of potatoes, but I didn’t have that much seed. I’ll get more for next year.

Last year, and now this year, I have also been focusing on planting things that come back every year, mostly fruit/berry items. Last year I planted 3 blueberry bushes and a plum tree. I didn’t think the plum tree was going to survive, but it did! This year I planted an additional blueberry bush, along with a gooseberry bush and I purchased a currant bush that still needs planting. I also have a couple of cherry trees I planted several years ago, but they aren’t producing yet.

Last year I also planted strawberries, some made it through the winter, some didn’t, so I replaced a few plants. Last fall I also planted garlic which is growing well this spring, and a friend gave me some asparagus starts a few weeks ago that I planted and they seem to be growing well, although we can’t eat those this year.

I love seeing things grow. I am grateful that we have a growing season even if it is very short. I am also very excited for the perennial plants that we have planted and now for the greenhouse to extend the annuals growing season!