Bolting

With early warm temps, my spinach has already bolted. I am going to let it naturally re-seed itself right where it's at.

A Productive Yard Day!

I had to relocate the chives last weekend...and it looks like they are having a good time in the new spot!

The Lettuce starts have been planted in the garden a little early.

I will be reusing the paper cups they were started in, as cold caps for protection from the frost.

Cold hardy Kale and Spinach have also been moved from the cold frames and transplanted into the garden.

Summer Love Sweet Pea Mix has been seeded around the garden entrance, in hopes of a spectacular Summer display.

We were busy knocking out our garden chore list today. 

• Troy was very diligent working on the greenhouse 
• the boys were in charge of raking the entire yard, cleaning up piles and burning.
•  I pruned all shrubs, vines and rose bushes, cleaned out and amended the flower beds, planted more seeds, transplanted starts and made dinner. 

All in all, it was a very productive yard day!

What's growing in My North Idaho Garden

Still slow growing here in zone 5b.... 

 The Spinach, Lettuce and Kale starts that over wintered in the cold frames are now starting to take off.

Let the gardening begin

I couldn't stand it any more... I just had to dig out the cold frames and to see what was actually going on inside the boxes.

At first glance, nothing really exciting! 

I was surprised to actually see anything growing in them at all. Lack of planning on my part...

This box contained carrots that we never got around to picking... and with no extra care on my part, they were left to defend for themselves against the brutal, frigid temps that we experienced later this season.!

After clearing the old tops away...I noticed that many of the carrots had turned to mush.... there are a few diehards in the bunch, that are determined to survive no matter what! 

The Kale, Broccoli, Lettuce and Spinach happened to be left over seedling starts from last season that had been left to die, unloved, and long forgotten about!

The dirt in the frames was pretty frozen. If I plan to overwinter anything this year, I will need to take measures to amend the soil and mulch heavily with straw.

I am just excited to get the boxes opened up and to get gardening!

Breaking the ice!

Last weekend was all about breaking the ice from my cold North Idaho Garden...well, the frozen crusty snow that was covering my cold frames, anyways!

after 15 minutes of shoveling, I was finally able to open the lids and reveal the sweet earth that patiently lay in waiting for the first sign of Springs arrival.

As you can see they were still filled with last seasons left over garden remains and needed to be cleaned out.

 

 Today, the first cold frame was amended with compost and seeded with the first planting of Scarlet Nantes Carrots

The others will be planted with Lettuce and Spinach in the very near future.