Thursday, May 27, 2010

Fickle Weather and Frustrated Gardners


Being tucked into the mountains of North Idaho gives those of us that love to garden a challenge of growing our gardens in just a short 90 days. Planning is essential and starting seeds indoors is a must. The snow has melted from Gisborn, and even with the mild winter we experienced, this small micro-climate we live in had Spring giving us a taste at how frustrating getting started can be. After being lulled into thinking we could plant in April, May came in with an attitude that had many gardeners trooping back to the nursery to replenish veggies that had their noses nipped beyond salvage. My potatoes have been planted and some are through the ground, the lettuce is up, as are the radishes.
Our apple trees are happily blooming along. I hope the last blast of cold weather is behind us. The poor tomato plants have been in the house ~ out of the house ~ in the house ~ out of the house! The new and enlarged addition to the garden should be ready to plant in a few days. Now if it just stops raining!