A Letter from Dianne

(Note:  Dianne is our intrepid raised-bed gardening experimenter.  You can see what's gone before by searching "Dianne's Journey" in the search box on the right.)

I'm doing fine Suzanne, thanks.

I will tell you what's going on in the garden.  I have pulled up the kale, collards and spinach. The spinach was a failure, and I think it was due to the variety. In the fall I will try a different kind. The kale and collards did well and were delicious. I had them sowed really too thick, and was constantly thinning. This was the result of sowing twice after nothing emerged in 3 weeks. 

Chard top left, lettuce top right

The rest of the spring crops--lettuce, chard, onions and snow peas are still doing well. We are eating and sharing everything.

Only a few onions left

Early Girl tomatoes

The Early Girl tomato I planted on St. Patrick's Day is huge and has 19 tomatoes, some tennis ball size. 

I have also planted 4 more tomatoes--'World's Largest Tomato,' 'Celebrity,' 'Black Cherry' and 'Beefsteak.' All have lots of blossoms and some have tomatoes. I have also planted 2 varieties of okra, zucchini, basil (as a companion to the tomatoes), 4 varieties of peppers and an eggplant. A friend has bamboo in her yard and she let me cut some to make a tepee for pole beans.

Someone gave me a big bag of 'Dixie Speckled Butter Peas,' enough for a field of them!! In searching for information on these, I discovered a recipe that looked really good (link below). I knew I didn't have room enough to plant many of these, and since they had such good reviews for being tasty, decided to plant a few….if just for this salad.

http://www.tarheelfoodie.com/2011/08/18/dixie-speckled-butter-beans-fresh-corn-salad/

I don't know how long the lettuce will last--buttercrunch and several different kinds of leaf lettuce. I will just keep cutting it until it gets bitter. I am starting some seedling cukes to take the place of the snow peas when the hot weather gets them.

In about 2 weeks the pole beans should hopefully be climbing and the okra, squash and butter peas should be more visible for a photo.

I hope to see you at Through Our Garden Gates at PAR on June 2. It's going to be good.

Dianne