Second harvest

Yesterday, we gleaned the second harvest from our lettuce frame. This provided enough lettuce, arugula and radicchio for four people for dinner. With the warmer temperatures this week, I predict that our harvest next weekend will provide enough lettuce for at least two salads for four people.

Also included in this post is a closeup of the beech seedlings. They have an unusual "lily-pad" initial formation which then sprouts a more traditional leaf stem.

We had three hard frosts in a row this weekend. I didn't think that asparagus was susceptible to frost, but several of the stalks have wilted.

Winter's last blast?

We are experiencing what I hope is the last blast of winter, although it did not turn out to be as serious as forecast. It looks like the covers will remain on the garden until Saturday morning.

More than 50 beech seedlings are now up. I started to imagine what a chore it will be to trim 200' of twelve foot high hedge and, in my head, am already designing a trimmer on rails to make it manageable.

We harvested our first batch of baby lettuce today along with some lettuce and radicchio that overwintered. It filled one 3.5 quart container.

Spring is springing

After the last post, the covers were taken off on Saturday morning and remained off until Tuesday evening when we had another frost warning. The lettuce continues to slowly mature. I think that we are only days away from our first baby lettuce harvest. There are now 37 out of about 120 beech tree seedlings that have sprouted. By my figuring, that will provide more than 100' of hedge, but I need at least another 100' to completely enclose the back yard. I was standing there last night imagining the tall hedges and a complete sense of privacy, not to mention protection of the fruit trees from wandering deer.

The forsythia and quince are still holding on to their beautiful yellow and red flowers. The wild apple in the backyard is in full fragrant bloom and the dwarfs in the front are getting there. The backyard is filled with purple violets and light blue forget-me-nots, and some late daffodils are blooming in the front. Strawberries are flowering and several of the kale that were started inside have graduated from their protective milk carton covers.

Under cover

Everything went under covers again last night. We are looking forward to Friday morning when the weather will warm up for a stretch. There are now 14 out of about 120 European beech seedlings that have made their way into the light. The apple trees are beginning to show pink as the flower buds expand. The grape hyacinth, daffodil, forsythia, and quince have been in flower for several weeks now. I think that the generally cool temperatures have preserved them. All of the pea seeds (~64) have sprouted in the garden.