Spring is here because I say it is! 3-26-24

March 25 and I’ve waited long enough! So begins another fantastic gardening season. Given the rising cost of just about everything, I’ve learned to bake bread over the winter. I look forward to picking herbs from my garden to use in these delightful loaves!

A few weeks back I started seeds for Waltham broccoli, Long Island Brussels sprouts, bunching onions, and Jung Seeds’ Cabbage Babies mix. This is a mix of three different kinds of small headed cabbage, a red savoyed, and two kinds of green. I’m interested in doing more with cabbage as it keeps well and it’s inexpensive. I started three cells of each and I planted three more cells yesterday for succession planting. I may do three more of each in a couple weeks, but I don’t want to push too far into the warmer climates.

Yesterday I got out and broke up the dirt in the northeast and northwest raised beds. I laid down cardboard over the winter and much of it has decomposed to a lovely additive to the soil. I found some potatoes that did not, as I’d hoped, break down over the winter when I took up some of the cardboard. Gross, gross, gross as I threw those mushy things over into the yard for the various wildlife to eat up. The cardboard that didn’t break all the way down is going right to the herb beds to smother out a rapacious overtaking of one of my beds by a vigorous stand of anise hyssop. I should have been more vigilant, but I wasn’t, and now I need to dig and remake the bed entirely. I may move the oregano in there and add another perennial herb, like thyme. We shall see. Any suggestions?

I got busy doing some direct seeding as well! I started 9 each of Chioggia, Avalance, and Detroit Golden beets, inspired after a Kalamazoo Valley Community Culinary class on beets that I took over the winter. I also planted 9 each of Oxheart and New Kuroda carrots, inspired by a KVCC Culinary Class on knife skills also taken this winter. I planted the usual Mardi Gras mix of sugar pod peas: 10 each of Mammoth Melting Sugar, Royal Purple, and Golden Sweet. These all went into the two raised beds I cleared. I’ve calendared for two weeks out to double those plantings and left space for just that purpose.

Note: if you’d like to register for the fantastic KVCC Community cooking classes, you can follow KVCC Culinary on Facebook or click here to see the latest course offerings.

While messing about in the raised beds, I took a look at the strawberry/asparagus bed (the southeast raised bed) and pulled some of the more obvious weeds without disturbing too much of the mulch. I won’t take that off for a few more weeks, given the weirdness of a Michigan spring. I found what I think are a couple of rabbit warrens for babies, so I made short work of the weeds and got out of there so as not to disturb things too much.

For the standing planter next to the house, I direct sowed three kinds of radishes: 6 each of Japanese Wasabi, Gourmet Blend, and Royal Purple radish. Between each set of radishes I planted two swaths of Bloomsdale Long Standing spinach.

Last time I was at Mardi Gras, I attended the Krewe of Lil’ T-Rock gathering. The theme was loosely based on gardening and involved the spreading of one’s seed, as it were. Many of the attendees brought seed packets to share and I reaped a bonanza of vegetable and flower seed goodness! Some of the radishes I planted were part of that largesse, and I’ll be planting a lot of flowers and summer crops from the generosity of my friends at that event!

Speaking of the herb garden, it does look like my lavender overwintered! The garlic chives are about to burst forth, the oregano is looking happy, and the aforementioned anise hyssop is already greening up. But the absolute GLORY of my herb bed? Yeah, it’s this right here. Every single clove of garlic I planted last fall came up. I’m about to be in garlic scape stir fry heaven, and this fall I’m going to dig up this bounty and cure it for the winter. I’m thinking about a garlic honey, actually, since we’re getting bees this spring.