And Homer greenhouses have come a long way. There is no longer any real need to go up the road for interesting trees and shrubs. They can be had right here. Each and every plant I saw looked healthy, well cared for and ready to go into your garden. This, my friends, is a giant step. Be grateful, and spend your money locally.
That said, we need to get to work. In my plot, I have the raised beds all prepared for their occupants. The greenhouse umbrellas are in place (this year the only place I found them was Pinetree Garden Seeds, 1-207-926-3400 or www.superseeds.com) and the cold frame is clean and installed. I am feeling very ready to go. But, there is a catch: It is very cold. The wind is blowing from the west with its usual vengeance. I do envy those of you without this wind. It is a major factor on what gets planted where, if at all.
I have been cleaning up the edges of the perennial beds. Now, this is tedious. I use a sharp spade and cut a v-shaped trench all along the edge. This will deter grass from invading the beds. Note that I say deter, I truly believe that grass is our most invasive species. If you have things to do with your life other than maintain your edges, please feel free to use edging material. This is not inexpensive but it will do the trick.
The weeding out of forget-me-nots is, apparently, ongoing. I am learning to hate forget-me-nots. At stake here are the poppies that I am hoping have reseeded. But there I am ripping out great mats of forget-me-nots disturbing, I am sure, every single Lauren’s grape poppy that is valiantly attempting to germinate. Rats.
Nettles are springing up among the raspberries, as usual. I pull them up and stuff them into a five gallon bucket, fill it with water and let it all steep for about a week, then I water my seedlings with the nettle “tea.” They seem to love it.
The vegetable and annual seedlings have been savoring the protection of the greenhouse. The time has come to introduce them to the rigors of life in the Far North. This is best done gradually. Can you imagine leaving the lovely environment of a greenhouse for the great outdoors at latitude 59 degrees? Thus, the fine art of hardening off. This involves moving the seedlings outdoors for a few hours and back inside for the rest of the day. Each day you can lengthen their stay outside until they have been on their own for about a week. I placed them in the relative safety of the raspberries. Here, I hope, they will be offered some protection from the relentless wind.
Now that the full moon has passed I think we will be frost-free. But I will cover the seedlings at night with floating row cover. This will give them a bit of protection and, hopefully, make their transition smoother.
Speaking of floating row cover, I really think this is just an excellent invention. It provides the plants with about four degrees more warmth and it thwarts the fly that lays the egg of the dreaded root maggot. Just drape this very light weight material over the seedlings, no need for hoops, and secure the edges with earth staples. There is nothing to this and the benefits are fabulous.
The garlic is up. There are four different varieties out there and the first one showing is Chesnok Red, about a week later Inchelium made a showing and just yesterday and today the Carpathian and Kilarney graced me with their presence. If you have yet to plant garlic, get on the bandwagon. This is a cash crop. Fall planting is by far the most successful. When you plant your crocus, tulips and daffodils in the fall, be sure to stuff some garlic into a bed. Excellent. There is absolutely nothing like fresh garlic. I really don’t think I had ever experienced it until I grew my own.
Even though it is cold, I planted peas, lettuce, carrots, chard, spinach and radish. Why not? These are all plants that can be seeded in just as soon as the soil can be worked and now that you all have raised beds, your soil can be worked sooner rather then later. I used to cover all of this with floating row cover, but really, all of these do just fine no matter what the weather is doing. Just go ahead and plant all of this from seed now, no need to wait for a warm day.
When the time comes to set out your seedlings, try to wait for an overcast day. Bright sunshine is the bane of tender seedlings. Tuck them in with floating row cover and you will be rewarded with fresh, crisp vegetables.
I have made a horrid mistake. I intended on planting two kinds of clematis in one hole. One, the C. alpina is early blooming and the second, C. Jackmanii, is later. The idea was for continuous bloom. No. These two have completely different needs. The alpina doesn’t get pruned whereas the Jackmanii should be pruned almost to the base. So there I am — two clematis, decidedly intertwined, one needs pruning, one does not. So I start pulling the vines of the likely candidate. Not only that but I need to move the Jackmanii so this will not ever happen to me again. No. Their root balls are very merged. I will be thinking about this.
Staking. I actually have the stakes in place for the delphiniums. These lovelies are notorious for falling over when they are in full bloom. There is no uglier sight than delphiniums lying on the ground, all of their glory for naught.
The PeeGee hydrangea is also staked. These deciduous shrubs with the late and lovely blooms are a treasure. But our cool climate does not allow the branches to develop fully so they are not strong enough to bear the weight of the gorgeous blooms. Thus, the shrub flattens from the middle and ultimately sprawls on the ground. Most ignoble. So I purchased two semi-circles made by a local metal-working artist. Each arc is holding up half the shrub. Excellent. If you are planting a PeeGee for the first time this year, may I suggest that you offer it support immediately so none of this happens to you or it. Plan ahead.
Note: The Homer Garden Club will meet at 2 p.m. May 28 at Cowles Council Chambers. The Lower Peninsula Fruit Growers Association will give a presentation.
The Homer Farmers’ Market season begins June 17, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Kachemak Bay Campus at KPCC will offer an Invasive Weeds Workshop, beginning at 10:30 a.m. today. Keynote speaker Sara Simonson speaks at 6 p.m.
Rosemary Fitzpatrick has been gardening with gusto in Homer for 27 years.
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