Current affairs

Well, sort of current. I took these pictures almost a week ago, and just haven't gotten around to posting. So, this is what was happening here last weekend.

Potatoes

I'm doing things a little differently with my potatoes this year. Ever since I built my potato box a couple years ago, I have undoubtedly been planting too many potatoes in it. The smallest amount of seed potatoes I can ever find is 10, and I have a little problem with throwing any of them away, so I usually put them all in the 3 x 3 foot bed.

2015

This year, however, I vowed to change my ways, and I only put four in the box. Probably still technically too many, but I'm okay with it.

2017

In the spirit of further experimentation, I bought a grow bag and planted two more potatoes in it.

It's entirely possible that I put a couple more in the flower bed on the wall, but I can't remember for sure. Guess we'll find out if they sprout.

Herb garden

Last year I planted several sage and thyme plants in the herb garden and they grew like crazy. Both of these plants have the potential to be perennials in my zone, and the herb garden is one of the warmest places in the yard, so I was optimistic enough not to plant any sage or thyme seeds inside this year. Looks like my bet is paying off.

thyme

sage

So far, I see four sage plants and at least three thyme plants coming back. That's more than enough since I hardly use either one of them in cooking. They're so beautiful and they make the herb garden smell so good that they're worth growing even if I don't ever eat them.

Also in the herb garden are about 100 dill seedlings. The great thing about dill is that you only have to plant it once.

I will eventually have to pull some of them out, but for now I'd rather see dill seedlings than weeds.

Finally in the herb garden, the New Jersey tea bushes I planted last year survived the winter. I was a little concerned because they didn't leaf out as early as everything else, but they're one their way now.

They are tiny little things, not even as big as a dandelion, as you can see, so I'm interested to see how big they get this year. At full size, they should be two to three feet tall.

In other news, it looks like the strange weather we had did a number on my purple tulips. They're stunted and the flowers are growing sideways.

The pink and yellow tulips seem completely unaffected. Several of the orange ones didn't even come back this year. That could be something other than weather, however (yes, squirrels, I'm looking at you).

Last but not least, the rhubarb I planted last spring (I think) is doing great. I think I'll be harvesting some rhubarb next spring.

That's the update for now, but I'll have more soon. Lots of seeds have been planted in the raised beds and things are sprouting.