Six on Saturday: March 31

Real Spring, gardening-type Spring continues to hover in the distance, lingering down South perhaps.  There are hints here and there: swelling buds, the return of the robins, emerging bulb foliage.  Rain has been almost continuous, but at least it’s not snow, although according to the experts more of THAT is on the way.  Sigh!

To find six interesting things to show has been a challenge, but here goes.  #1  This is the very LAST of the carrots grown last season.  That’s not too bad, after all tomorrow it will be April   but it tells me that carrot production needs to increase this year.  #2  Normally, there would be a few salad greens needing to be thinned, so the first salads would be appearing from the potager’s beds.  In order to accomplish that this year, it took a bit of “cheating.”  I’d noticed a few stray weeds in the potager a few weeks ago.  Normally, they would have been eliminated immediately (No weeds are allowed in the potager!) but dandelions are delicious, and they were about the only bits of green, so they stayed.  Today, during a break before it rains again, they were harvested  because in the super-saturated soil they pulled easily for total root removal.  They’ll make a great salad, slightly wilted with a bit of bacon, onion and cider vinegar.  It’s too wet to do much of anything else, but weed pulling is easy right now.  #3  I’m dying to sow peas, although with the forecast of low temps in the mid-20’s for the next ten days, there’s no rush.  The daffodils say “No rush” as well and are very slow to open this year.    I’m just delighted to see a bit of their color appearing.  A fully opened daffodil indicates that it IS time to plant peas, so it’s getting closer.  #4 While I’m waiting, I potted the dahlias that arrived from Brent & Becky’s Bulbs, all shades of orange of course:  “Karma Corona,” “Sylvia,” and “Tour de Monde.”  If you don’t know Brent & Becky, they are adorable people, devoted to their family business.  Visit their website and if you’re in Virginia, visit their bulb shop and lovely gardens.    #5 Since last week’s “Six” the rhubarb has emerged  but before you are too impressed, this is only one out of 6 and so far the others are no-shows, and realize that the largest leaf shown is not even as long as my pointer finger!  Last year at this time they were football-sized leaves!  And lastly, #6 since there isn’t much happening outside, and all the potted amaryllis have finished blooming I am happy to see that a new young hibiscus has a bud.  This was a gift from a supplier at the last Garden Writers’ Conference.    I think it is called “Tango,” but I’ll need to look it up.  It’s a tropical, so will stay in a pot on the patio all summer and come back indoors to brighten my days next winter.  That’s my “Six on Saturday” to end March.  Last year there were rows of crops and tiny harvests beginning in the potager, but not this year.  Hopefully, shallots, onions, peas and salad crops can get planted soon, but with two days of snow in the 10-day forecast, I won’t hold my breath!  Happy Easter to ALL!

Thanks to The Propagator for hosting this meme.  Check out all the “Six on Saturday” contributors from various climates by clicking on the link.

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