Scattered Skeletons In Our Closet - Karen Mutton

A few more things blooming today. We had another full day of rain today, but the sun came out at about 7 pm and it's quite warm & humid. I think the plants are loving it. First picture is more chokecherry blooms, then my butterfly magnolia. It's a small tree still, but double the blooms from last year. Last pic is one of my geums. Always one of the first perennials to bloom. Early irises are coming next as well as the lilacs. My peony just shot up 6 inches since yesterday and I can see the buds too. Roses are really starting to grow. Other than a few that look pathetic. Oh and when Diane mentioned the size of her Julia's I had to laugh, since mine is currently 8 inches × 6 inches!

Good morning Prairie Moon and others, now the snow is gone except for small ridges where it was plowed up or fell off the roof. My husband has taken advantage of warm good weather days to do some outside chores but I have not. I would have made a very poor farmer. I never planted my high tunnel last fall since I did a lot of traveling which included my first ever trip to Italy, mostly the Amalfi Coast where lemons were everywhere and it seemed every hillside was planted with grapes. We were there just before the olive harvest. A vineyard we visited had a 300 year old grapevine with a trunk thick like a tree. I'm embarrassed to admit it has been so long since I looked at my seed lists that I don't remember what I'm planting. I do remember a tiny pepper which some people had in one of their meals. I tracked it down to being available pickled in a jar and called Sweetie Drops and low and behold on the pepper bar at Whole Foods in Bedford. A few years ago I planted quite a few pepper varieties because I was trying to grow my own Aleppo pepper and why not buy other interesting sounding peppers while I was at it. The good news from that exploit was sharing plants with a neighbor who is a library volunteer and it seems we are going to have a small town garden club this year. I also like to grow Buran which comes from Pinetree Garden Seeds. It's a very large, meaty bell type. For some reason tomatoes like being under the plastic roof of the high tunnel which then disrupts plans for seeding fall/winter crops. I had an excellent tasting purple and yellow cherry tomato that I think I bought at Edgewater Farm in Plainfield NH. I hope to grow it again IF I figure out what variety it was. The planting label might still be in the ground. I don't think it was a Bumblebee type. Good luck with a couple of raised beds which are probably the best idea is growing fewer vegetables if you can only decide which ones merit the privilege. We have good corn stands and surly raccoons so I don't try growing our own sweet corn. Raccoons outwitted us 35 years ago and I haven't tried since. Surely you will grow a few tomatoes and at least one pepper good for salads and/or frying up for sausage sandwiches (I like Carmen for that but it's not meaty enough for roasting.) And basil. Cilantro self seeds in the high tunnel. Dill self seeds outside. They are easy enough to buy at the store. Last year the new asparagus beds did not get properly weeded so that will be a priority this spring. The beds are infested with Creeping Jenny. I think lettuce is difficult, bolting so easily. Do you have good farmers markets nearby? Sometimes I think I would be a lot smarter to do a CSA. I usually make at least one trip to the Norwich VT farmers market which I think is one of the best and worth the hour + drive especially since I can go to Edgewater at the same time and they grow a wonderful variety of annuals. The inexpensive huge plastic pots I bought a couple of years ago at Ocean State had to be thrown out due to splitting etc. A red morning glory waited to start blooming just before frost so I won't try growing again. But a holly hock was new to our narrow south facing garden under our kitchen table windows which provided a great opportunity to watch hummingbirds. I also like to grow Scarlet Runner bean for that purpose. If we try to grow a couple of cherry tomatoes to have handy, we also get to watch a chipmunk climb tomato cages to feast. Chipmunks don't usually bother the tomatoes in the vegetable garden which is quite a few yards from the house. I think it's because they don't dare be out in the open that long with hawks and crows around. But what about sugarsnap peas? After tomatoes and peppers I think they are our next favorite vegetables. They are also the only green vegetable one fussy granddaughter will eat although she only wants the peas inside not the tasty pods. Green beans are also a favorite and I'm surprised it took me so long to plant pole beans. Fortex is a favorite. I had good luck growing on a metal trellis made from concrete reinforcing wire panel and pepper plants along the base. Well, I'm good at typing about gardening even if I don't get chores done. Alas this week looks like a great time to get outside and I have meetings and seminars. I hope others enjoy some outdoor time this week and tell us about it.

Canada geese returning too lets me know it is not far off. I have been seeing Comma butterflies for weeks now. Yes Grace, Spring peepers! I heard them the other evening. What a lovely chorus.