WE’RE HOME FREE, I THINK

Well, thankfully the weather has gotten warmer and the tomato plants have survived, although a few have yellow leaves and look a little nipped.  This week is supposed to be in the 70s, but I noticed in the 10 day forecast that temperatures are going to cool down next week.  I don’t plan on taking down the hoophouse until mid May, just in case.  Every morning I open it up so that it doesn’t get too moist under the plastic and the plants get the full benefit of the sun.  It smells so good when I unzip the plastic – just like a tomato salad!  The peppers and marigolds are also thriving.  Today, I’m going to fill a couple pots with seed starter mix and plant my squash.  I’ll bury the pots in the soil of the hoophouse wherever I can find a little room since it is chock full of tomatoes.  The front perennial garden is blooming and every year I am amazed at how the plants rise from a barren winter soil.  They burst out and fill the front of the house with beautiful yellows, pink s and blues.  The bleeding hearts are at their peak now and are just so magnificent with their arching branches of pink flowers.  Their beauty makes up for the fact that in July the plants will totally die back and will leave big empty spots in the garden.  Same with the Virginia Bluebells.  The hostas are unfurling and the deer are dining.  Last year I sprayed everything with a garlic concoction and the garden smelled like hoagies.  Not a bad smell and the deer did stay away for the most part.  This week I really need to get out there and weed since we now have this very invasive weed that seems to be growing in all the nearby fields.  Don’t know what it is, but I don’t need a name to know that it is a ‘take over’ weed.  Usually if I give the garden a good weeding in the spring, there isn’t too much maintenance during the dry summer months.  Nothing grows, not even weeds.  I haven’t had any problem with animals in the vegetable garden.  I think that the fox family has taken care of the rabbits and the squirrels haven’t climbed over the fence for some reason.  The deer have never jumped the 4’ fence, even though it would be an easy hop for them.  If they ever did, boy would they enjoy the greens that are filling two beds.