Goooood evening, News Viewers and Happy April!
So, today, I didn’t let the war in Ukraine ‘inconvenience’ one of my hobbies: gardening. More specifically, vegetable planting time!
This year, I changed up a few things. Instead of putting my tomatoes and peppers in our raised bed garden boxes, I did them in food-grade containers because our summers have gotten hotter and drier coupled with smoke and ash from wildfires. Now, I can move them, well, until they get like 6 ft. tall…the brandywines…to get them out of the hot afternoon, relentless, beating down sun. We had too many sunburned tomatoes last year and I’m not going through that again; it was a huge disappointment. The daughter in law I like and my son did their tomatoes in containers last year and had great success. I hope we will as well.
Currently, everything faces south because the sun isn’t directly overhead yet and it’s beautiful outside. But, in a few months, probably around Memorial Day, we will move them to a safer spot where they will get morning to early afternoon sun….period. I will probably have them facing east. Tomatoes love heat but they don’t like excruciating sun.
I also planted a few Rosa Bianca eggplants, zucchini, some Italian green beans, and Italian cucumbers, Melon Tondo Barattiere. I much prefer Persian cucumbers but the varietal my local nursery had was way too expensive; it was grafted…ooooo, special. Persian cucumbers are sold all over where I live so, it’s not like I can’t find them.
My local nursery used to sell a ton of Italian vegetables but, when the old man died, what a sweetie he was and so knowledgeable (my husband could not understand him, very thick accent so, I had to translate), the grandkids sold it to a non-Italian woman who kept the name but ditched the Italian varietals. Now, she caters to all the yuppies in my neighborhood who are looking for something trendy, something they read about and they must have it! Talk about disappointing plus, she’s kind of an asshole. I avoid her and her ‘tude. She has some very nice employees that I much prefer to deal with.
But…my planting is done. Who knows, since I’m addicted to plants and planting, I may find something at another nursery that catches my eye and add it to the raise bed. I do still have some room but, I have a zillion plants. I mean, our backyard is a nursery by itself. I really don’t need any more.
So, anyone else got the gardening bug? It’s probably too early and cold to plant for many of you but, when it warms up in your neck of the woods, will you plant anything to enjoy, feast on, maybe can or dehydrate? Tell me about it or talk about anything you want.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend and stay safe.
