At the beginning of May, it's time to check in with the outside garden.
According to the schedule, the Spring garden should be in full swing. Seedlings we planted in late March and April should now be reaching maturity and in the process of being harvested.
For the Red Romain and Buttercrunch lettuce, that is definitely the case. I did a series of plantings about a week apart, and the earliest plantings are fully mature and ready for harvest. In fact, I have harvested outside leaves as well as one whole heads of buttercrunch. The red and white radishes have been plentiful as well. Growing beside them, the onions have leafed out and are holding their own. Their height is allowing them to thrive, even though the lettuce is crowding them at the base.
The other bed was planted later, with Bok Choi, Swiss chard and Garlic. Despite later start, the Bok Choi have grown tremendously from their seedling stage and have put on plenty of major leaves in a short amount of time. Both of these beds have been mulched with grass clippings to retain moisture and help with weeds.
At the far end of the bok choi bed, I've already planted three peppers and two basil. While they are not suffering at all, they aren't actually growing and putting on any new leaves, either. The truth is that the weather is still too cool for summer crops, or has been until recently. While we've had pleasant days in the 70s, we've had just as many days in the 50s and nights in the 40s. All the peppers can do is sulk and hopefully develop their root structure.
The general guideline is that summer crops like peppers and tomatoes really won't do much in the garden until after Memorial Day. That's the marker for putting in tomatoes.
Inside, the summer seeds have all germinated, but they are proceeding at different rates:
The roma and cherry tomatoes have exploded with growth and are ready to be transplanted into pots. The peppers are taking their time, as are the big boy slicing tomatoes, who wish the roma would go away and give them some light. On the right, the basil are holding their own, but in between are some seedling big boys.
At the other end, the peppers have sprouted along with the ground cherries, both of which are growing with modest enthusiasm.
