Planting and Growing Update

This spring in southern Idaho has been quite different from last spring.  Last spring we had a cold snap in April but then it got hot quickly and stayed very dry for the whole summer. This spring has been much more gradual, with slow warming (punctuated by hot and cool spells) and much more consistent moisture.  As we have noted our fruit trees are doing great and we might even have some walnuts to report on soon, but it's too early to know for sure. Even the weeds are different this spring, with more grasses and flowers.

Planting has been easier so far too.  We'll of course see how things grow, but the warm and wet weather has been nice to seedlings.  Already little lettuces, Swiss chard and spinach have come up.  The garlic, strawberries and green onions sprang up all on their own.

So far we've gotten the aforementioned leafy veggies in the ground plus carrots, kale and lots of green onions.  It even been warm enough to plant watermelons and potatoes.  The watermelons are a bit of experiment since we put them in the beds and will prune them to fit the area as the grow.

Now we just got to keep watering.

Look at all the cherries!

Our in-bed watermelon technique.  We'll see if it works.

Growing Swiss chard, before thinning

The beds, with a new fence and the weeds largely kept at bay.

Fruit is A-Coming

As we have noted a few times before, last year our fruit trees suffered profoundly from a late hard freeze and high winds that killed the buds before they could be pollinated. Very happily that did not happen this year and the trees are already producing small nascent fruit.  It's very exciting and we're hoping for a big crop this year.

Loaded with green cherries

Apples to be

And Pears!



And our strawberry plants are coming through too:

We have started our planting with spinach, chard, lettuce and broccoli too so more updates to come.