Slow Start

The rainy cool weather continues and although the weather forecasters keep commenting that this is normal for this time of year, it still feels like everything is so much later than last year! I know for a fact that we made violet jelly for the CanJam which meant there were lots of violets to be picked in the middle of April; this year I've yet to see any.

Even so, the gardens are finally coming to life- the rhubarb is up, the trilliums and foxglove have reappeared and I could be picking fiddleheads in my backyard any day now.


The wild strawberries are taking over and have crept under the fence to grow in the parking lot next door- better than asphalt!



Inside the house things are also starting to pick up although it's been a terrible year for germination- it's like the seeds know I haven't really gotten into my gardening headspace yet. I've had to reseed some of the tomatoes and most of the peppers and I still haven't managed to sprout a single jalapeno!

So far I have some healthy looking Brandywines, Sasha's Altai, and Jaune Flammes. In the second seeding I added Russian Rose, Una's Heartstock and reseeded the Big Orange Stripe since none germinated the first time. I still need to add a few more varieties, most likely Black Brandywine and Cherokee Purple, and I may chose a green tomato variety other than the Zebra's which seem prone BER in containers. I won't be attempting to grow the 20 or so varieties like last year - it was a bit too much to keep up with the watering on the roof!

I made use of the rainy day off today to tend to some neglected house plants as well and discovered that my newest additions apparently came with spider mites which have now advanced to the avocado as well as the accidental tomatillos.That's what I get for buying plants from Home Depot I guess. Anyone got any good recommendations to get rid of them before they make their way to my seedlings?