A day off to work in the garden

I took a day off from work today to get caught up in the garden. The sun was shining and it was warm enough for short sleeves.

I planted some garlic cloves last spring, and am just now pulling them to see what is going on underground. It looks like they have all split into numerous very small cloves. I distributed about 50 of these to other locations and left a few as they were. This is my first experience with garlic, so I will report again in August on what happens with these. I also planted chard where the earlier planting did not come up.

I cleaned up the sixth and final garden frame and planted it completely with spinach (~100) and garlic. I have had so little luck germinating spinach in the past two years, that I won't be surprised if only half of it comes up, but at the beginning of June, it will be harvested and replaced with basil and cherry tomatoes.

The asparagus and raspberry beds were cleaned up and the raspberries pruned. There are several asparagus spears beginning to show above the soil. This is only the second season since they were planted so we will only enjoy a few spears and allow the rest to grow to strengthen the roots.

The front gardens were also weeded and part of the bed prepared for oriental poppies. The peonies are about 4 inches tall. I see a flower forming on the lilac for the first time since they were planted several years ago. Woody was out again today after a ten day nap.