rhubarb crisp

I picked a big handful of rhubarb today - first of the season. It made a delicious rhubarb crisp for desert.

(I used this recipe and modified by using 1.5 lbs rhubarb with the full amount of topping in the recipe. I also broiled it on low for 3 minutes after it was finished baking. I didn't hear any complaints....)

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compost screen

My husband made me a compost screen today. It is a big frame that fits nice on top of a wheelbarrow. The mesh is made from doubled chicken wire. I've seen many ways to make a compost screen. The main thing is that the wire mesh is well supported by a frame and the mesh size is not too small.

Over the years, my compost bins have been accumulating things that don't compost so well (branches, avocado seeds, Christmas trees, oyster shells, plastic plant labels...) Instead of returning them to the bin this year, they went into the trash.

We screened about 10 wheelbarrows full of fresh compost and piled it onto my garden beds. I spread it and turned it under. The beds are ready for planting now.

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working on my community garden plot

I would have taken "before" photos of my plot, but I was overwhelmed looking at it this morning. I knew how late I was getting it in shape and how much should be done. After accomplishing a day's work, I'm now enjoying the "after" photos.

It was a drizzly day. I weeded, transplanted rogue strawberry plants, moved salt marsh hay from beds to paths, set up a tomato pole, screened compost and turned it in under a couple beds, top-dressed my asparagus bed, transplanted onion seedlings and dahlias tubers. I didn't get to everything: lettuce and cabbage seedlings need to go in and more compost is needed, but its a good start.

During my work, I saw two male rose-breasted gross beaks flitting around, and a couple male Baltimore orioles. Bight flashes of color over the garden plots. I suppose they were vying for prime territories before the females arrive.

Skippy rested on the salt hay in the garden paths while I worked. At dusk, he got a nice walk to the swimming hole. Now its time for a good nights' rest.

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today's garden work

On our first hot and muggy summer-like day:
- Eggplants transplanted: Kamo, Tiger and Classic
- Tomato supports set up, bar and string set up this year (is there a better name for this method?)
- First rhubarb harvest of the season
- Weeding
- Harvested a big bunch of dill weed that had volunteered in the squash bed prior to preparing the bed
- Prepared squash bed by bringing in a wheelbarrow full of compost and digging it in
- Transplanted winter squash and summer squash
- Transplanted sunflowers and pumpkins
- Bought chicken wire to cover my strawberries
- Distributed Agribon row cover and Sluggo to community gardeners

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my on-line planting calendar is fixed now

Stan and Jan reminded me that my On-line Planting Calendar link was broken. So I have just now fixed it. It is exciting that it is time to start thinking about planting!!!

If you haven't tried this calendar before, its a piece of code I wrote that lets you calculate when to plants all sorts of vegetable seeds based on your last frost date.

Here's the link: Calendar link.

The link is also near the top of my sidebar.

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