Why does it rain every weekend?

It seems like it has rained every weekend for the past two months. We will be dodging thunderstorms this weekend as we dash out to the garden. Luckily, Ken planted the Brussels sprouts, cabbage and red onion sets last night. He left the pansies for me to plant, so I better go do that now. I hope the weather cooperates with your plans this weekend!

Freeze Warning Tuesday and Wednesday Nights

Freeze Warning Tuesday and Wednesday Nights
Our trip to Wojo's on Sunday was fun. We bought pansies for the shady, cool rock garden in the back yard. Since the temperature lows are in the 30's, we're waiting to plant them and the cabbage, Brussels sprouts and celery.

Rainy day seed sorting

We enjoyed a fine meal with freshly-picked asparagus, (yes I'm bragging). 
I sorted my leftover seeds from last year this rainy morning. It's okay to plant Swiss chard, kale, spinach, green onion, peas, turnips, lettuce, parsley and other greens' seeds in our area as soon as the ground is workable in March. Swiss chard is a wonderful vegetable because it grows fast and produces all season long, as long as the deer don't find it, because they love it as much as I do. A simple way to prepare Swiss chard is to steam it with diced green or red onion and a splash of Balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and ground pepper.
Today, we're going to Wojo's in Ortonville to buy cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and maybe Cauliflower plants which we could have already planted in mid-April. Some people start these plants indoors or in cold frames in their yard. The next best thing is to buy plant sets from a respected greenhouse.
It's too early for pepper and tomato plants, unless you don't mind covering the plants every night. The temperatures are supposed to get down in the 30's at night for the next few nights.
It's too early to plant beans, corn and squash seeds, but time to think about where to get the seeds. For people who are concered about seed quality, there is the Seed Saver Exchange.

No Trespassing!

Last season, our garden was protected by maximum security. In spite of the "No Trespassing" signs, deer have enjoyed many meals at our family's expense.

Start growing!

We're off to a great growing season! My husband Ken has rototilled the maximum security garden, working in some of Farmer Dave's old horse manure. We planted peas two weeks ago. We didn't plant spinach this year, mainly because it's usually only good for one picking. If anyone has a variety of spinach that lasts longer, please tell about it. We should have already planted Swiss chard, kale, lettuce, green onion and parsley seeds. It's late enough to plant broccoli, cabbage, celery, Brussels spouts and cauliflower plants outside. We wait until mid-May to plant beans and squash seeds and we wait until the end of May to plant egg plant, pepper and tomato plants.
This year is an amazing Spring with all the beautiful flowering trees, untouched by the typical late frost. (keep fingers crossed). It should be a good year for fruit here in Oakland County.Spring is always a re-Genesis. We made it through Winter and can get back to the garden, where we can breathe fresh air and dig in the dirt. Ahhhh.