April showers are bringing May flowers. While we grow the petunia flowers for their beauty, we also have several edible flowers. Our harvest of violas continues, and this week, we added flowering chervil and horse radish flowers to them. We’re particularly excited about the gem marigolds, which are still in the growing phase before they bloom. The kale and overwintered broccoli, covered with blooms, are left for the bees to enjoy.
Lettuce
Our lettuce production remains strong, thanks to the greenhouse. Despite the persistent rain outside, our outdoor planting is resilient and adapting to the weather conditions.
Tomatoes
We moved the tomatoes outside to start the hardening-off process. We needed to slow their growth since the ground is once again saturated and unsuitable for planting. That will all happen in good time.
Peppers
Peppers are still basking in the greenhouse’s warmth. It doesn’t take much sun to keep them toasty. They will be ready to plant in 2-3 weeks.
Basil Micro-greens
The first basil micro-greens are coming along nicely. We are adding some warm-season crops each week when we seed. However, the bulk of the micro-planting is still the reliable cool-season crops such as mustards, mizuna, cress, and radishes.
Rhubarb
Rhubarb is ready for harvesting whenever you need some. This is its time to shine, so take advantage of it.
Strawberries
The traditional partner with rhubarb is strawberries. We see lots of blooms on the strawberries but no ripe berries yet. The weather is forecast to include more sunshine next week. That will give the strawberries the impetus to grow and ripen.
Pollinator Meadow
The pollinator meadow might look like it only contains grass; however, that is not true. If you look closely, we have bachelor buttons that have bloomed. There are a few red poppies with California poppies right behind, soon to burst into color.
Come out to the garden to see what else we are growing.
-Anna
