May Garden

It’s May and the gardens are almost totally planted. I’ve been using the “Sunbow System” this year, based on Harry McCormick’s arrangement of starting almost everything from seed in trays. He starts in flats in his greenhouse, transplants to six-packs, and then plants out. I start in the six-packs, bring them into school for three weeks to a month, and then plant in the raised beds. So far, it has been working well. I’ve been able to plant by the moon, which I’ve been considering for years, but always ran into a hailstorm on the one day the moon and I were aligned. It doesn’t matter when you’re planting inside. I’ve also been able to space the plants better. I have a horrible tendency to plant seed heavy so that something survives the mini-slugs and then not thin well, so my plants don’t grow as lush and large as they could. After laying out the spring bed, I realized that I could plant the lettuce in color patterns—but that might be a little too Sunset-y for an urban homestead. So, potatoes and dried beans are all in at the Annex, spring greens are filling one bed (and our stomachs), summer greens, carrots, and leeks are up and out from under the cold frame, winter leeks and a bit of extra brocolli are growing in another bed, all of the tomatoes and vines are in, and the last bed, for the summer green and yellow beans, is waiting to be turned over. The pitchfork marks the spot. Now, if it would only stop hailing in the late afternoon