It rained, and still most of the winter seeds didn't come up. I assumed this was because with all my careful potting soil pile-making, I smothered the little guys. But touching the soil today (as I did it all again, but messier this time as is my wont) it felt so smashed and hard, I have to guess that the rain that pounded us out at the camp pounded Portland, too, and made a shell over the seeds...
This is a promising idea because to my great shock the carrot seeds in bed #2 did come up, as did all the stuff that was seeded under some sort of protection (ie giant brassica leaves)...
More mysteries:
The chard got that damn leaf fungus that it always gets. I cut as much as could be saved and cooked it up. Lots of fancy french stems. Tried to ask the internet what it is, but - strangely - the scientists seem unsure. The gardeners think it is leaf miners. Wha?
Beans grow faster than corn. Who knew. When planting three sisters, try planting corn first. That is my advice.
These beautiful but stupid poppies, which decided to grow all up in the bushes and bloom and then fall immediately to pieces in the rain. And they are red and super double, when I wish they were white or yellow or even purple, and single. But I am with Jan Cox, who does not kill volunteers unless they are taking over. God bless volunteers.
Could the boxes on the North side still need more organic matter? They absorb water so poorly, and then dry out immediately. But they are raised beds! What you get, I guess, when you use planting space which is not yours and was planned by the kind of people who make raised beds out of treated lumber. Who knows what they put in there.
All of these are pictures from this time last year. When I was doing the same thing I am doing now. Beautifully in touch with the cycles of life? Or dismally repetitive? You decide. Those onions look good though, right? I gotta make that marinated tempeh this week, cuz here comes the cucumbers...
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