Mid-April Gardening Update

Well, it’s been a beautiful couple of days here in Western North Carolina. The sun has been warm, and the breeze cool – the perfect spring weather that paints the hillsides around me greener every day.

My blog is currently bereft of images, as I’ve come to rely on Sarah for her wonderful photography skills, and I have no digital camera.  She’s been covering some studio portrait sessions in Virginia, the adorable results can be seen on her blog; “Stopping the Moment.”

So you’ll just have to trust me when I tell you that most of our seedlings are up and happy. The babies are thinned out, are the strongest seedling are merrily growing:

• 7 “Mortgage Lifter” Tomatoes – These guys are the big, solid, meaty heirloom tomatoes that will be sliced onto fresh sammiches! MMM….

• 17 rambunctious Basil babies – Some of these are going to be given away, but why get rid of then when you can make pesto and freeze it for later use?? I love pesto, especially with fresh goat cheese…drool…

• 17 “Baxter’s Bush” Cherry Tomatoes – Oh, these are going to be gooood on salads and for making sweet salsa. My tummy is starting to rumble…

• 2 “Evergreen” heirloom tomatoes – Ok, so we’ll have a LOT of ‘maters, but since I love to make homemade spaghetti sauce, I think we’ll not be wasting any!

• 5 “Black Beauty” eggplants – Hmm…this will be an experiment for me, as I’ve not been over fond of the aubergine experience in the past. But tastes change, and I’d rather grow and try than give up now. Plus, the roommates are excited about them, so it’ll all work out!

•  Broccoli – I just sowed these today, so they aren’t up yet! But I’ve got my fingers crossed.

• Salad Garden – Mesclun Mix, Spinach, and Crisphead Iceberg Lettuce were direct-sown into our first raised bed today! It’s only one corner of the raised bed, which will soon be full of the aforementioned basil babies! I hope they’ll come up soon so I can EAT THEM. I’m rather like a bunny in spring, fresh greens are in trouble around me!

• Catnip and Chamomile plants are now settled – the catnip in a rocky, clay corner of the yard that gets good water – in my experience, catnip loves challenges…so we’ll give it a good one! The Roman Chamomile  (Anthemis Nobilis) is thriving in a container on the front porch. That one is kept in a container so that I know it is chemical-free for future use in my Vanilla Bean Chamomile Honey, as well as in my own tea blends.

I’ve spent a lot of time tromping around the yard and identifying things as they pop up. In doing so, I found a new plant that I couldn’t immediately name.

When I first noticed this plant, I found a clump of leaves that had no flowers. I got all excited, because at first glance, I thought I had finally found violet in my yard! Unfortunately, the next patch over was much more grown, and it looked like this other picture to the right, with tiny yellow flowers and smaller, long leaves at the top of the stem. Hmm, definitely not violet, but she sure is familiar somehow!

This plant is a common weed, the “Smallflower Buttercup.”  This cousin of the more familiar “Meadow Buttercup” isn’t good for much as far as I can tell – but if you know better, please leave me a note!

Smallflower Buttercup

I was able to identify this plant with the help of the internet, and the exhaustive NC State “Turf Files” which are great resources for identifying common plants. They also tell you how best to eradicate them with chemicals, but if it causes no harm I prefer to let it be.

Step by step, this land is showing me what it has to offer, and bit by bit, I’m giving it what it needs to be a stronger and healthier place. I’ll keep y’all updated as I learn and grow…