Poorly framed photo. Sorry.

Today was the day the little fellows saw their first real light of day!

I sorted through the tangle and grouped them by kind: 50+ tomatoes, at least 36 peppers (including pimentos), 18+ eggplants, ~12 celery & ~12 celeriac, little bit of this & that.

If all goes well, come October the veggie freezer will be well stocked.

I moved one of the walk-up greenhouses out to the patio and positioned it such that they will get bright morning sun, be exposed to the wind, and begin to experience outdoor temperature fluctuations. If we do get a chilly– or exceeding windy– night, I can still close the front door to the greenhouse.

That’s ginger in the pots behind the flats. That’s right. Thanks to A. Leland, we will have fresh ginger from now until we run out of thyme. 

Things are looking good. Some of the tomatoes have gotten really lanky– but that’s okay. I’ll strip their bottom leaves and plant them so that just 4-5″ of their stems are above ground. Many have already sprouted advantageous roots. This is key. I once had a conversation with an old fellow who was sitting outside the Super-Lu. He recommended to me that I plant my tomatoes as deeply as I could. I doubt that he had any knowledge of the mechanisms of tissue differentiation, but I bet he grew some damned fine tomatoes.

Tobacco.

These are four heirloom tobacco varieties that just need to be air cured. One variety is for the wrapper. The others are fillers. Someone should alert the physicist!

How it all began.

I’m thinking about planting the tobacco in the front yard. Tobacco is such a stunning plant.

In other garden news…

Stupid slugs ate the tops of some of my asparagus. This is demoralizing. Ain’t gonna be any fresh asparagus this year.


And when I say “stupid” I mean stupid.  Garden variety slugs are not even as smart as sea slugs.

I spent most of the day working in the herb garden. This is a space I have wanted to make happen since the first time we set foot on the Farm. It was a five-year struggle. It’s happening! There’s parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme. And a bunch of other stuff.

I planted camomile. And Hyssop. ALM has tilled. Mr. big Food is starting to cut.

We cook out more frequently.

Ah. Almost Summer.