April Lockdown in the Garden

My garden may be the only thing to really benefit from the shelter-at-home order this last month, but they say every cloud has a silver lining. I've had the opportunity to see what just six weeks in the garden can do, and I thought I'd post it here to remind me of the beauty of spring when winter comes. 

My garden also endured six weeks of lockdown- between the birds and the gophers, I wasn't taking any chances! But the birds leave in April and so the netting came off today.  Below you see the first two beds I replanted. The one on the right has some seedlings I had started, a few transplants from the hardware store, and cabbage that had miraculously survived the moles. Or gophers, whatever. 

On the left I have beets that were in a pot in the greenhouse- transplanting them nearly killed them- and more seedlings. I thought I was pretty generous with the spacing, but it's all pretty tight after all. I included poppies and calendula because I like the idea of growing flowers right in with the vegetables. 

March 17

March 12

April 20

April 26

This is Red Beauty Radish from Baker Creek Seeds. I haven't grown this variety of radish and I'm hoping they'll taste good in salads. I realize I took the picture on the right from close up, but I think you can still tell that the radish filled out quite a bit in only 6 days! Same with the broccoli below. 

April 20

April 26

Below you can see what my garden looks like today, a little over a month later. We've had lots of radishes, lettuce, swiss chard, beet greens, and perpetual spinach this month. Lots of mustard greens too. The carrots are coming in well, and today I pulled all the beets to put in mini white cucumbers. 

We put in a potato patch with onions and an experimental spot for zucchini and squash. It's safe from chickens, but not moles, so we'll see. The box with potatoes and onions is filled 100% with compost from the chicken area, and the squash are planted in goat compost. We'll see how they all do. There's a tree that shades some of it, but we hacked it back and the area seems to get pretty good light after all. This is my first time growing onions from starts. In the empty box I plan to put sweet corn. The far box in the picture is where my daughter wants to grow blue popcorn. I want her to garden, but I also want to get my plants in the ground. If she wasn't a natural born negotiator she would have lost her garden space five times already. 

We put in a tomato bed as well. The side closest to the camera is where I grow cucumbers every year. I stick with a Japanese variety I love. I put in some marigold for looks, some lettuce to grow under the tomato, and three peppers because I needed a place to squeeze them in. I planted a jalapeño and two Pizza-My-Heart peppers from Renee's Garden. Within the week I should be able to plant to rest of my peppers. 

My obsession with nasturtiums remains an obsession. I planted a new mix this year. Bloody Mary Mix- it's adding some new colors. 

I also continue to grow calendula. Nothing seems to beat homegrown calendula for use in an infused oil. I planted a darker orange variety this year along with the usual volunteers. 

A violet colored cabbage. So beautiful!