THE HOOPHOUSES ARE DOWN!

Yesterday we took down both hoophouses and put up bamboo tomato supports.  The tomato plants are large, flowering and even have some tomatoes already.  These are the tomato plants that I started indoors on February 1 and then transplanted into the hoophouses on April 4 and 11^th.  The peppers have survived, but they are not as impressive as the tomato plants.  They are small, and have a lot of growing to do.  The marigolds that I started indoors on March 1 and transplanted into the hoophouses are bushy plants with lots of flowers.  They stand guard around the tomatoes hoping to ward off pests.  The Swiss Chard, basil, and nasturtium that were directly seeded into the hoophouses on March 7 are coming here and there and promise to do well with the tomato plants.  Overall, the winter/spring hoophouse growth has been a success, except for the broccoli.  Starting the tomatoes in the beginning of February gave them a great start, although those plants almost outgrew the window sill.  So now that the hoophouses are down for the summer, the garden will progress as any other Eastern Pennsylvania garden, except that I will be harvesting much earlier.  The hoophouse will go back up in early October.

I finally finished mulching the front perennial garden and it looks beautiful.  The mulch definitely defines the plants and showcases each one.  But what a job it is!  It took me 7 hours to mulch the whole garden and I am glad that it is finally done.   And although the constant rain has been depressing, it made weeding so much easier and mulching not such a hot, buggy chore. 

While walking through the garden this morning I noticed an odd green shape on my sedums.  Upon closer inspection, I found two Luna Moths having an interlude.  This year is the first time I’ve ever seen these beautiful large green insects other than in a museum.  Maybe I just never noticed as they are very well camouflaged.   

TREE SWEATERS

Are you ever surprised and amused by what odd things people do?  I am all the time and I love to see humor used in the weirdest ways.   On Sunday we drove into Philly to just walk around the city and enjoy ‘town’.  We discovered that the Italian Market Festival was being held that day and strolled through the large crowd and smelled the smells of Little Italy.  Every vendor that lined the street offered Italian dishes, cheeses, spices, oils and fresh produce.  Beautiful cut flowers and potted tomato plants  were being sold on the warm and mucky day.  The weather forecast threatened scattered showers, but luckily, the rain held off and our umbrellas went unused.  After walking down Fabric Row and Society Hills, we had a great dinner and then headed back to the car.  That’s when I saw one of the oddest things ever.  Somebody had hand crocheted sweaters for their two trees out in front of their townhouse.  I never thought that trees would need to stay warm around here and if that were the case, I’d have a lifetime of knitting for our three acres of poplar trees.  At 80+ feet, a tree sweater would look like leg warmers! 

Nearby there was a great community garden filled with blooming irises and vegetables of every description.  It was well tended and looked to be a popular neighborhood meeting place.  I think that if I lived in the city, I would have to find a community garden to join.  I couldn’t live without getting my hands dirty somewhere.  A Topsy-turvy balcony garden just wouldn’t cut it. 

So, between helping my son rehab his house on Saturday and enjoying Philadelphia on Sunday, I didn't have time to get out into my own garden.  In the spring, there is always so much to do and I now have a huge pile of wood chip mulch waiting for me.  It appears from looking at the 10 day forecast that I will have to wait until next week to do anything serious out there.  Last night I left the hoophouses open in hopes that the rain would water the tomatoes and peppers.  I think that it is warm enough, although I worried over them like a mother hen.  But this morning, the plants seemed none the worse for wear and I think that by next week, I'll be able to take down the hoophouses for the summer.  We'll see, as this has been a cool, late spring.  The Swiss Chard is ready to bolt and I'll cut it all down today, between the raindrops.  I hate to do that because that will be the end of it until the newly planted chard gets large enough to eat.  This spring I also planted head lettuces and I am surprisingly pleased by it. I like its neat, compact way of growing and makes my garden more organized than it really is. The Oakleaf Lettuce is especially beautiful.  The other bed of loose greens is totally overgrown and we are getting tired of our constant diet of salad, if that is possible.  I'll be cutting all that down too, feeding the neighborhood, and getting the bed ready for the pole beans.  The slugs are grazing on the lettuce so I'll treat them to a pan of Bud.  They can drown their slimey little worries in beer.  What a way to go!