The Modern Victory Garden

My digital camera died last weekend.  I have a new one purchased but it will not be here until early next week.   My husband graciously came to my rescue by letting me borrow his camera for a few days.   It is a lot more complicated but I am managing to get reasonable pictures out of it.             

Last Sunday I planted out quite a few more transplants of cold hardy items – kale, cabbages, swiss chard, strawberries, and celery.   I also planted out my one and only Tree Kale/Collards plant.                       

Behind the tree kale start is a whole bed of celery plants.          

On Monday, the two “Lil Big” apple trees I ordered this winter arrived.   There is one each of Nova Spy and Honeycrisp.     I did not waste any time getting them into the ground because bare root nursery stock can really dry out in transit and it is best to give their roots a soak and then get them into the ground as fast as is possible.   These are going into the area where I used to have the asparagus bed.   The asparagus patch failed to thrive in that spot so I pulled them out last year with the intention of putting some more fruit plantings in eventually.   These small trees mature into production fairly quickly and do not take up a significant footprint of land.  They do need some supports as they get top heavy when more mature.   I intend to install the supports for them this coming weekend, but the push on Monday was to just get them planted up into their new home.                

Bare root tree stock always look like “sticks and twigs” when first planted up - leafless with not too much promise of life in them.   However, these were good sturdy young trees and I expect they will be coming out of dormancy quickly.   This year I will be growing some greens in the rest of the unused area of the bed, but next year I will probably plant some strawberries underneath the young mini apple trees.              

The napa cabbages I planted out several weeks ago are growing along nicely. We have had some rather cold nights (and rainy days) of late but they are doing fine despite that.                

I have taken the day off from work on Friday so that I can take advantage of the better weather expected that day (and on into Saturday) to get the potato patch planted up.   It is forecasted to go back to rainy and cold by Sunday morning, so I want to seize the opportunity to get this done while I can.                        

If you recall, I potted up my pepper plants about a week and a half ago. They did not skip a beat and have continued to really grow and fill out.   

This variety is Lady Bell.   The plants are incredibly stocky and sturdy and very leafy!   I have not grown this variety before but so far I am quite impressed.                

Looking forward to some sunshine and being out in the garden to enjoy it on Friday.                  

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener