May has come – and with it, the main season which starts May 26th. It is always exciting to get ready to roll into summer; lots of crops planted, to be planted, getting ready to harvest…
A friend bought himself a drone, and came by to show it off – naturally, an over-head of the garden was taken. It is really fun to get this perspective. All the main areas show up – the 19 long rows, some planted, some under black plastic, some with the paper mulch. The large square area in the upper right will be where summer and winter squash take up residence. They are just showing their second leaf; they will be set out the week of May 10. The lower right small area with the crops has what is left of the Kale and Curly Mustard for green season, and will have the cabbage for early main season as well as cut flowers. To the far upper left is located the sweet potato and asparagus and raised beds with Walla Walla onions that were planted in the early Fall. Boysenberries, raspberries and strawberries are in between the lower left beds and the long beds; the orchard is at the very bottom. The total garden space is about an acre.
April is very challenging – nights are too cold to set out some plants, it frosts up till the middle of the month, and the greenhouse is full up. May is when things really take off. The trick is to have beds prepared, and to set out as soon as possible. The first two long beds (white on the left) are almost entirely lettuces; beets and carrots won’t be ready till late June. The main season should start with Broccoli and Cauliflower, both of which are up around 6-8″ tall and should start heading out to start the main season.
Strawberries are blossoming and getting ready to start fruit; Asparagus is going strong here now for Green Season together with the greenhouse raised Cabbage and carrots. Swiss Chard is pretty far along as well; it should be of good size by the middle of May. The cool thing is that the greenhouse tomatoes are blossoming like crazy. Rumor is that 6-8 weeks from blossom there will be fruit; that would be outstanding. There are lots of fruit sets coming – peaches, pears, apples, crab apples, figs, plums… all in their season.
The big question remaining is the number of boxes to be loaded in main season. A number of great members have literally moved away; there have been some new joins as well. Commitments right now are at 18; the maximum for the season would be 30. If you are planning on joining and have not yet sent an email to confirm, well, it would help to know!
