Dear Friends and Gardeners: Week 10

Carol from May Dreams Gardens (Zone 5), Mary Ann from Idaho Gardener (Zone 6) and I decided to create our own 1,000 mile garden project.  This gardening season, we’ll be exchanging letters with each other about our vegetable gardens, and we’re now in week ten.  We hope you’ll enjoy our travels around three different hardiness zones.  I garden in Zone 7a.

Dear Carol and Mary Ann,

Sorry I’m so late to the party, but it’s been a busy week.  As you know, I had a rain chain giveaway, and it was also Mother’s Day on Sunday.  It’s a big, busy holiday for our family.

Last week, I wrote about edible flowers, but this week’s report concerns beans and salad days.  All of my green, purple and yellow beans are barely up and growing on their tripod.  Even the ‘Lazy Housewife’ decided to make an appearance.  We’ve had several wonderful salads from the garden, and I made Grandma Nita’s wilted lettuce salad which is a family favorite.  (For those who want a copy of the recipe, there isn’t one, but this is close.  We use apple cider vinegar instead of the red wine vinegar and lemon juice though.) Now, we’re waiting for the lettuces to grow some more.  With all the rain we’ve had this week, we shouldn’t wait long.

The sugar snap peas are starting to blossom, but that’s about it for the vegetables sown in February and March.  The beets are sulking.  The radishes are about ‘et, and the turnips are making tops, but have no bottoms.  The red chard and blue kale are coming on like gangbusters.  Too bad I’m the only one in the family who likes either one.

No, Mary Ann, I’m not already eating tomatoes.  In fact, only some of my plants are starting to bloom, and those are the ones from the greenhouses.

Speaking of greenhouses, I did make a trip with my friend, Michelle, to Bustani Plant Farm located outside of Stillwater (home of the OSU Cowboys).  Although he was really busy, Steve Owens took the time to show us some of his favorite plants for this year.  Instead of last year’s tents, they now have a big, beautiful greenhouse to showcase all of their plants.  I actually bought one pepper while I was there.  It was called, I kid you not, ‘Yummy.’  How could I walk by a pepper named that?  I placed ‘Yummy’ in his new home today right next to a yellow tomato.

While at Bustani, I bought a bunch of beautiful, native plants, along with a few tropicals.  I got them all planted today in their spots.  I also hit TLC Nursery today and bought more plants (a couple of lime green hostas called ‘Hotsy Totsy’ and a Polemonium ‘Brise d’Anjou.’ Sounds fancy doesn’t it?

I planted all of my squash this week too:  a tricolor zucchini mix, ‘Ronde de Nice’ and the heirloom, yellow crookneck.  I also planted a hill of ‘Nutmeg’ melon and ‘Old Time Tennessee’ melon.  I’m waiting a week or so to plant the watermelons.  Can you believe that in a mere two weeks and two days, we’ll all be in Chicago for the Garden Bloggers’ Spring Fling?  I can barely contain my excitement at getting to see you all again and meeting so many other wonderful bloggers.

By the way, Carol, congratulations on your article in Horticulture magazine.  I’m so thrilled for you.  I wonder if ‘Cue Ball’ is related to ‘Ronde de Nice?’

Well, that’s all I have for this week.  I loved both your letters.  Keep ’em comin’.