My Minnesota Garden

Over the weekend I officially wrapped up the installation of the new garden! One trunk-load of cardboard, two afternoons (I worked a little slower than usual with the heat advisory on Friday afternoon), and 3 cubic yards of wood mulch later, the final to-do item (the paths around and between the beds) has been checked off! I am LOVING the look and feel of this garden! The mulched paths pulled it all together perfectly and really define the space—something that is needed in our big, open back yard. Now I REALLY look forward to spending my evenings in the garden! https://www.instagram.com/p/CR2scrUq0jL/?utm_medium=tumblr

One of my current favorite combinations in the garden right now: Snow Fancy Pickling Cucumbers + a trailing type nasturtium that will continue to fill in/up the arch trellis. ♥️ The cukes are coming in daily now; might even have enough for a half-pint of spicy dill quick pickles this weekend! https://www.instagram.com/p/CQj_4WdHBw6/?utm_medium=tumblr

I found a little friend on my waiting-to-be-transplanted milkweed on the deck! I love how monarchs find milkweed, no matter where it is. With a better chance of rain and some cooler temps in the forecast, I am finally going to get some things in the new pollinator garden this weekend. Although we’ll have an instant source of food, cover from predators + safe places to pupate will be sparse in there for the next couple of years until the perennials establish enough density (important considerations when adding host plants to your garden). I think we’ll get the habitat set up on the deck to give this little one a safe place to spend its last days as a caterpillar 🐛 https://www.instagram.com/p/CQTf3aRHtvU/?utm_medium=tumblr

Another radish harvest tonight! French Breakfast radishes will forever be my go-to variety. I love everything about them: good flavor, good crunch, just the right amount of bite, they didn’t bolt last week in the heat, and they have a fun, whimsical quality (which always scores bonus points in my book!). I’m thinking I need to wake up the sourdough starter for the weekend, because radish butter on fresh sourdough sounds pretty good right now. So does radish green pesto. And roasted radishes! Decisions, decisions… What’s your favorite way to prepare radishes? https://www.instagram.com/p/CQKb_4TnfuW/?utm_medium=tumblr

I haven’t posted much these last two weeks. To be honest, the garden isn’t bringing me much joy right now. All of my tomatoes were hit by herbicide drift—again. If you’re keeping track, this is the second time in the last 5 years (2 of those years, we didn’t have a garden here). It took out all of my snap peas, too. It’s textbook 2,4-D damage. For those who are fortunate enough not to know, 2,4-D, is a common broadleaf herbicide in home lawn treatments, is highly volatile (vaporizes and disperses through the air easily), is especially prone to drifting—even when conditions are not overly warm and windy—and tomatoes are especially susceptible to damage. It kills by disrupting the normal growth of plant cells, so when plants receive a non-lethal dose, the result is a twisted mess of curled foliage. [I don’t want to give it a spot on my grid because it makes me angry, but I will try to add some photos to my stories] It I was likely the same neighbor who was responsible the last time. I thought this neighbor was genuinely sorry last time and believed their promise to be more careful. I thought moving the garden further from the property line and getting the surveyor out to mark the property lines would help (last time this neighbor was “weed and feed”-ing well into our property), but no such luck. Last time I was so devastated, I just wanted to cry. This time I’m just angry when I look at my sad, deformed tomatoes that I have carefully grown + cared for the last 3+ months. I’m not sure what to do next. I’ve been trying to catch the neighbor to chat about it, but so far, no luck. I know there is no way to replace these exact favorite heirloom varieties at this point. So I either wait it out, or cut my losses and see what I can find to replace them while I still can. And then maybe I need to wait to get my tomatoes out until much later next year? Keep them covered? Post signs? Build a solid fence instead of a split-rail fence? Ugh. Even having to think about adjusting my growing schedule to accommodate someone who can’t apply herbicide responsibly and respectfully is incredibly unfair. https://www.instagram.com/p/CP4lEEAnFC1/?utm_medium=tumblr

It’s fitting that chive blossom season coincides with spring salad season. Time to get these beauties infusing in some white wine vinegar! https://www.instagram.com/p/CPUbWb6nfWs/?utm_medium=tumblr

Do you see what I see? The monarchs are back! Though I haven’t spotted one flying around the garden yet, I did find about a dozen eggs on the swamp and common milkweed tonight! I’m always amazed at how the migration follows the emergence of milkweed like clockwork. Just this morning I was thinking the milkweed was about the right size I should start keeping an eye out, and sure enough, here they are! We will probably move a few eggs in the habitat to observe up close later this week. We’ve been doing less of that each year as the garden density provides more and more cover from predators, but it’s still fun to watch a few at a time and Little Gardener loves the process—especially the release! https://www.instagram.com/p/CPPNSq0Hfc2/?utm_medium=tumblr

The first fully planted raised bed in the garden is this 4x4 beauty, packed with all kinds of spring/early summer garden favorites: The centerpiece of this bed is the obelisk trellis full of Sugar Magnolia snap peas, a purple podded variety I’ve grown for a few years that is both beautiful and tasty. They sustained some minor cold damage during that last stretch of cold nights, but they’ll quickly outgrow it. Along the outer edges are two varieties of spinach with different maturity dates, so this planting should give me two rapid successions before it gets too hot. Then I’ll replant again for fall. Interplanted in the rows of spinach are sweet alyssum for interest, but more importantly: pollinators 🐝 And finally, I’ve filled in the middle with everbearing strawberries. I haven’t quite figured out where a permanent Junebearing patch will go yet, but strawberries were at the top of Little Gardener’s list, so this will be the perfect little patch for garden snacking all season long. I love the potential I see in this bed for what’s to come. I can’t wait to see it fill in! https://www.instagram.com/p/CO_107wnx2q/?utm_medium=tumblr

In addition to the cool weather crops, I added a little hardware to the garden this weekend! From the very beginning, I’ve always envisioned this space with arches + trellises filled with climbing cucurbits, peas, + nasturtiums, with views that frame the garden and help create a beautiful sense of space! What you see here is not exactly what I always envisioned, though. I’ve spent the better part of the past six months searching for the perfect trellises to span over the four foot-wide paths at the north and south ends of the garden, but finding an option that is wide enough, practical, fits my aesthetic, and doesn’t cost more than the garden soil itself, has proven to be pretty big challenge. Faced with settling for something cheap or paying out for something I don’t love, I opted to buy myself some more time by using a couple of cheap, rickety old trellises we inherited with the house. When I pulled them out, they were in tough shape. Super faded from the sun. Lots of random, rusty wire wound around the sparse, frame. Not very sturdy. Looking pretty rough. Missing pieces. Honestly, I can’t tell you why we didn’t scrap these 5 years ago when we cleared all the junk out from under the deck right after we moved in. (I’ll try to add a “before” to my stories) But fortunately inspiration struck: some wire snips, a couple cans of matte black spray paint, a roll hardware cloth, and about a hundred zip ties later, and they were looking much better. Good enough to get through this year, at least. I’m still going to keep searching for the perfect trellises for the ends of the garden, but now the pressure is off. I can make this work for the short-term. They even look pretty good with the obelisk trellises (which I do love!) in the center beds! https://www.instagram.com/p/COZQdbSnWEu/?igshid=ysditp636mpf

This year, one of my garden pride and joys is my first-ever celery seedlings. There’s something incredibly satisfying about taking on a new garden challenge and seeing it through all of its stages for the first time, so this isn’t my first post musing about growing celery and it probably won’t be my last! The celery seedlings made the big move into the garden yesterday! They are front and center in the four beds that flank the long east and west edges of the garden. They are joined in these beds by some brassicas, onion sets, + some direct-sown scallions/bunching onions, carrots, lettuce, kohrabi, radishes, and in a week or two, I’ll tuck in some herbs + flowers as well. I’m anxious to see these beds fill in and fill up in the coming weeks. It was really warm today (86F!), but I’m holding tight with these more cold-tolerant varieties, as there are still some lows in the forecast next week at or below 40, which is a little risky for some of the more tender seedlings. What a great start to May! https://www.instagram.com/p/COWl6BCn77Y/?igshid=13yr9enp15imd

Another rainy day, so the seedlings aren’t getting much for sun on the deck, but today’s light rain was perfect to give them a good drink + help strengthen those stems! Next week looks a little sunnier, but also cooler, so I have no worries about the sun; we’ll get there! My seedlings will have at least another week on the deck—which is not a bad thing (they’ve only been out for a few days). The hardening off process is about building endurance for all kinds of weather, not just a sprint to get in the ground. The more they experience in increasing intensity now, the stronger they’ll be when they head into the garden! https://www.instagram.com/p/CNbZAx1nbft/?igshid=ieelq26yjk0g

There was another exciting garden development this past weekend: we have rhubarb! When we decided to move 5 years ago, one of the first things I did was divide the rhubarb at our old house. I sent two small divisions home with my mom to grow on the farm until we could transplant them in our new garden. At the time, I thought they might be there through the fall, or at most, through the following spring. I never expected it would take 5 years (almost to the date, even!) to finally have a space ready. But last Saturday, I finally did it! I was able to take three really nice size divisions from just one of those original plants and get them in the ground along the garden shed before the rain started Monday night. I will only harvest sparingly (if at all) this year, but come next spring, ALL the rhubarb things will be happening: crisp, liqueur, sorbet, jam, salsa... I can’t wait! https://www.instagram.com/p/CNYxZR3H32x/?igshid=pgprvh6olzeh

The lettuce and brassicas had their first taste of real sun (and rain, wind, and even a tiny bit of hail 😬) today! Luckily, I had already moved the tray under the patio table for the night (for protection from heavy rain and to keep too much rain water from accumulating in the tray) before the hail hit. I was going to leave them outside under the patio table overnight, but chickened out when a storm cell moved through with some pretty crazy wind. Better safe than sorry at this point! https://www.instagram.com/p/CNWNbZkHj82/?igshid=b5vb0baqtzri

Look at that green! 😍 The lettuce is really taking off after potting up last week and I’m a little obsessed with just how green it is! I’ve always had a place for lettuce in my garden, but this is the first year I’ve started it indoors. I’m not sure why I never tried it before, but it’s been fun—in large part because it provides some instant gratification amid some pretty slow-growing early crops. I started both iceberg and romaine varieties and I’m curious to see how this compares to direct sowing. If I can get some nice heads of lettuce (a perennial challenge for me with spring-sown lettuce; it always bolts too soon) it will be a game changer! https://www.instagram.com/p/CMgHokYBZvE/?igshid=19tyzmazmbkjf

These baby broccoli seedlings make me so happy! Is there anything more satisfying than starting brassicas? Quick to germinate and increase in size, a rainbow of gorgeous greens + pretty purples, and super cute to boot! What is making you happy on this last Saturday in February? https://www.instagram.com/p/CLzPboBA9VH/?igshid=1m6ynenrvw2kl

My current garden pride and joy: my very first teeny-tiny celery seedling 🌱 3 full weeks in the making, I was starting to worry the heat mat was too warm, or it was too wet, or some other inadvertent first-time mistake. Fortunately, it just needed time, an under appreciated quality in an instant gratification world. Looking forward to giving this new-to-my-garden vegetable a place of honor in the garden this year! https://www.instagram.com/p/CLsriZ1AaT9/?igshid=1d87vamiei21l

Did a little more seed starting on Saturday night: gathered my supplies, poured a glass of wine, consulted my garden plans, turned on a podcast (@growitmn - worth a listen!) and enjoyed the process. We’re about 11 weeks from our average last frost date (typically right around Mother’s Day), so I started the first succession of brassicas, some longer-season peppers, and a last-minute decision to try an early succession of lettuce—something I have only direct-sown up until now. That last minute addition yielded surprisingly instant gratification, with the iceberg lettuce germinating in under 24 hours! (Whoa!) Honestly, I needed that after the celery took a full 3 weeks (and a little bit of fretting) to germinate! The broccoli also started to germinate today and the liatris I started a few weeks ago using a cold, wet stratification method is starting to germinate as well. Another handful of small, measured steps towards this year’s garden! https://www.instagram.com/p/CLnolXYgnhV/?igshid=14doyhqnmd0cc