Getting an extra minute of daylight each day
We are continuing to receive an extra minute of daylight each day and will repeat it everyday until June 21, which will be the first day of summer. The extra minutes will aid in getting the garden ready to sow and plant the warm weather vegetable crops in the spring garden plot. Wait until the second week of the month of May to set out the bulk of your tomato plants. We still have almost two weeks remaining for cool nights and temperatures.
Straight-neck or crookneck? The choice is yours
In the choices of summer yellow squash varieties, you have two choices of summer straight-neck or yellow crookneck and both are heavy producers. We prefer the summer straight-neck simply because they are meaty and more uniform in size and have less seeds. Last year, Burpee introduced a new straight-neck variety named “Fort Knox.” We tried it and we were pleased with their size and production. Other good choices of straight-necks are Enterprise, Saffron, and Early Prolific straight-neck. If you like a squash with plenty of larger seeds and more moisture, the yellow crookneck is the variety for you. When squash ripen, check the harvest daily and don’t let them get to big. Pick clean so that more blooms will develop.
Planting a container of colorful Portulaca or Rose Moss
The beautiful Portulaca is known by the names of Rose Moss, Desert Rose, and Cactus Rose. They are defiantly cactus in their nature and unusual in their blooming habits. each day they have a new set of blooms and different patterns of floral designs. They feature a rainbow of light mint green foliage that is highlighted with flowers in colors of red, white, bronze, yellow, rose, pink, orange, wine, tan, and other colors. You can purchase Portulaca’s in six- and nine-packs. The plants come in full bloom so you can determine the assortment of colors you will be planting. Set out the plants in a large container of fine potting medium. Unlike other annuals, Portulaca can be planted close together for a display of color. You can plant them several inches apart and they will cascade over all sides of the pot or large container. Feed them once a month with Flower-Tone organic flower food. Keep them watered twice a week when there is no rain.
Feeding the Irish potato row or bed
The deep green of the Irish potatoes are now peeking their way from the warming soil of mid spring. They need to be fed with an application of Plant-Tone organic vegetable food every fifteen days and keep soil hilled up on both sides of the row. Steady feeding every fifteen days and keeping soiled hilled up to the potato vines will produce healthy spuds as we get closer to the dog days of the month of July.
The arrival of the three chilly saints
First, there was Dogwood Spring, then came Blackberry Winter which we are still in part of it, and next week on May 11-May 13 they will pose as the three chilly saints. They will make one last ditch effort to prevent warm nights from arriving. After these three chilly saints go marching off the spring scene, the nights and the soil will warm up and we can set out pepper, tomato, and egg plants and see our hopes for an abundant summer harvest.
Spring has tip-toed to the half-way point
Spring of 2021 has now reached the midway point and we can look for warmer temperatures and comfortable nights. After the three chilly saints mentioned earlier, we can confidently plant warm weather vegetables of squash, cucumbers, green beans, lima beans, peppers, tomatoes, and flowerbeds or annuals without any risk of frost. Spring now becomes serious business in the garden plot. We can jump start all warm weather vegetables and look for some rapid response and growth as soil warms up.
Investing in a durable water wand
Apply water only when and where it is needed, and do not water the middle rows that only promotes weeds. A durable water wand will zero in and apply just the right amount of water where it will be beneficial. A durable water wand has many different settings and adjustments from shower to mist, to stream, to pour as well as other settings that are designed to precisely apply water exactly where you need it without wasting water. A good water wand costs between twelve and fifteen dollars and will last for many years.
The first rose of the 2021 season
The first rose of the 2021 season are now reaching their bloom stage. As Mother’s Day is almost here, we are happy to welcome their color, fragrance, and beauty. May is a great month to plant rose bushes and they will provide many years of color and blooms if you treat them with tender, loving care. Remember that the “knockout” rose variety in the light green trademark containers are absolutely the best, most carefree, easier to maintain than any other rose on the market. We like them simply because they do not have long canes and are easy to shape and trim, and look much better even in winter.
Making a pizza cheeseburger pie
This is a pizza with an actual pie crust, it is plenty meaty and the crust makes it unusual. You will need one jar of pizza sauce, one and half pounds of ground chuck, one package of pepperoni slices (chopped), two cups finely shredded mozzarella cheese (two eight ounce packs), and two nine-inch pie shells. Brown the ground chuck and drain liquids. Add the pizza sauce to the ground chuck and allow to simmer for five minutes. Pour ground chuck mixture into the two pie shells. Top with mozzarella cheese and chopped pepperoni. Bake at 375 degrees until cheese melts.
Kicking off the green bean crop
Green beans can now be sown in the early May garden. There are so many varieties of green beans to chose from including Top Crop, Derby, Tenderette, Strike, Contender, Blue Lake Bush, and Kentucky Wonder Bush. Sow seed thinly in a furrow about three or four inches deep, cover seed with a layer of Black Kow composted cow manure and then apply an application of Plant-Tone organic vegetable food. Cover the furrow by hilling up soil on both sides of the furrow and tamping down soil with the hoe blade. When beans sprout, side dress again with an application of Plant-Tone organic vegetable food.
Bulk of your tomato plants
We still have another week or so of cool nights. We may not have any frost, but certainly at least another week of cool temperatures. When the soil warms up at night, tomato plants at that time will quickly respond to the warmer soil temperatures that the second week of May will bring. Seed planted in warm soil will sprout in ten days. Patience is a virtue all gardens need.
Hoe- Hoe-Hoedown
”Kicking off the strawberry season”- A farmer was passing a mental institution with a load of cow manure. An inmate called to him through a window, “What are you hauling?” “Cow manure,” said the farmer. “What are you going to do with it?” asked the inmate. “Put it on my strawberries,” said the farmer. The inmate said “We always put whipping cream on ours, and they say we are crazy!”
The almanac for May
May day was celebrated yesterday, May 1. The moon will reach its last quarter Monday, May 3. Cinco de Mayo will be celebrated Wednesday, May 5. Mothers Day will be Sunday, May 9. The moon will be new on Tuesday, May 11. The moon will reach its first quarter on Wednesday, May 19. Pentecost Sunday will be May 23. There will be a full moon on Wednesday, May 26. The name of this moon will be Full Flower Moon. Memorial Day will be remembered Monday, May 31.
