It’s that time of year again, folks – get ready for the Big Plant!

Yes, we’re risking planting earlier this year than usual, but we had a very mild winter, and it already feels like summer here in the mountains. There are still a few things left to be planted (and that I’m not keen on losing to a freak frost, dangit), but things are popping up all over the place. Let’s go!

Front Beds

We’ve managed to get both garlic and potatoes to grow this year, which is quite exciting. I also scattered a smattering of radish seeds at the bottom of the bed, since that seems to be the only way I actually get radishes. Finally, I planted collard and kale seedlings, and our mustard we planted two years ago seeded the area once again, and is growing quite nicely in the heat.

Preschool homesteader’s garden is also a go! I planted out beet seedlings (which mostly fried up in the heat and frost, boo), broccoli seedlings (which are doing marginally better, but I also replanted a few after some did not fare well), pumpkin seeds, cucumbers (muncher), watermelons (sugar baby), and zinnias. I’ll be transplanting her cherry sweetie tomatoes a little later this month. For now, they remain on the porch in pots, along with my other tomato seedlings and peppers.

Pollinator Beds

We sheet mulched a new pollinator bed on the side of the property, replacing the grass that I let grow and go to seed in years past. (Slowly, slowly, our grass is being transformed into flowers and food.) I finally planted out a peony crown I received for my birthday last year, and am attempting to grow native wildflowers, nasturtium, sunflowers, and the like in the area and throughout the property.

Other perennials are popping up – milkweed, daylilies, and the like are back.

Moon Garden

Our rhubarb is finally producing enough to make more than one tasty item this year, hooray!

Lavender, phlox, and bee balm are coming back, as well as copious weeds and the native daisy I planted years ago that I can’t seem to scale back enough. (The danged thing grew so much last year that it knocked over our gazing ball, causing it to shatter. Ugh.) I’ll be planting out my moonflowers soon, as well as some borage seeds.

Big Veggie Bed

We’ve rotated our beds for the following crops this year:

Bed 1: okra (Mayan and Clemson Spineless), daikon, dill

Bed 2: Bush beans (provider), cucumbers

Bed 3: Runner beans (Kentucky Wonder), winter squash (butternut, kuri)

Bed 4: Three Sisters (blue popcorn, candy roaster squash, cantaloupe, runner beans)

Bed 5: Tomatoes (Mr. Stripey, Cherokee Purple, San Marzano, and an acidic type that I don’t know the name, but have been told is tasty), Genovese basil

Bed 6: Zucchini, yellow squash, sunflowers, miscellaneous herbs

Bed 7: Bell peppers, hot peppers, Thai basil

The Wetlands: lobelia, sochan

Many seeds have been planted out. I’m waiting (as stated before) to plant out most of the tomatoes and peppers until a week or so from now in case of frost, and on some seeds because of simple timing (especially for Three Sisters).

Perennial Plants

Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy, do we have perennials happening this year!

I already mentioned our prolific rhubarb. Our strawberries are just now fruiting (didn’t I tell you it was hot this year?), and our asparagus has been giving us a good handful of stalks every week, perfect for salads and other devious cooking purposes.

And the blackberries? Well, it’s just the beginning of May, and this hot weather has them blooming like crazy.

Our peach tree is also exploding with tiny fruits (which I’ve attempted to prune at every opportunity I can), and our other fruit trees and shrubs around the property are blooming, growing, and coming out of dormancy. 

I’m keeping an eye out for maypops, but I haven’t spied one yet.

Other than that, we’re keeping our paths mowed, letting the weeds get out of control, and letting spring/summer do its thing while we wait for seeds to pop up. We’ll also be getting new chickens soon (finally!) so stay tuned for an update.

Until then, happy homesteading!