MaryE's blog: 2021 #36 Weeding the garlic

That's a down on my knees job because I plant wide rows with 6 plants across and those mini rows at about 6 inch intervals. A grid. My favorite tool is a small scuffle hoe (aka hula hoe) with a 3 or 4 inch wide blade and a handle about a foot long. Some weeds still need to be pulled by hand but the little tool takes care of most of them and I use it to rough up the surface of the soil so that water will penetrate better. I set a sprinkler in the pathway between rows and had it set for a square pattern. As I made progress I moved it. The overspray carried by the wind also watered the onions. I expect to see a nice spurt of growth now with the plants having a good supply of moisture and the weather being near 80 some days. My soil thermometer says the soil (when it was dry) is about 50 degrees at garlic root depth. Two months ago it was just above 30.

So far I have 14 potatoes that have leaves above ground. Three of those popped up today when the temperature was around 80. Tomorrow is going to be cooler because we have a weather front coming in from the Pacific. We had wind all day which turned into strong gusts bringing us a few raindrops late this afternoon. Often it rains all around us and we get little if any. Spring weather has our temperatures going up and down like a yoyo.

My greenhouse trays of vegies are spending most of every day outside. Even the tomatoes I started from cuttings have rooted enough to be outside in the bright sun all day without wilting. I can set out the cabbage family plants any time now. We're likely to have more frost but they'd be ok with it.

More cuttings were made from the elderberries and are in water. I hope they sprout roots. One of the videos I watched about starting elderberry cuttings said they were the easiest things to start. Time will tell, and if they don't grow this time I might try starting some from seed. I may have been too early with the first cuttings and too late with the most recent ones.

I've hung up the hummingbird feeder. The lilacs have colorful buds, tulips are blooming and it's time for the little guys to arrive. Maybe tomorrow?

Our pear trees are in full bloom now. Very pretty! I've seen bumblebees of several different sizes and colors, plus other pollinators but no honeybees so far. We used to have some wild ones that had made a nest in one of our old trees. They were smaller and darker than regular honey bees and a very docile type. We had them for a year and then they left but a couple of years later more of the same type returned to the same place. After they left we didn't have them again. If they made honey we never knew it. I wasn't about to investigate.

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