Jump Start Summer

We started gearing up early this year in order to be more prepared. The weather this year, however, has been incredible. All of our plants from seed have been ready for weeks and are way ahead of the traditional planting date for Duluth of June 1st. Night time temps are no lower than upper 40's with daytime highs in the upper 60's to 70's and even approaching the 80's! This along with a beautiful 10 day forecast has encouraged me to roll the dice and get our transplants in the ground.

This year we started four varieties of tomatoes, squash, miniature pumpkins, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, two varieties of peppers, basil, cilantro, sage, and dill. I may be forgetting something but that's the bulk of it. Hopefully these all go in today. We'll keep you posted.

On the left you'll see several photos of some things we're trying this year. The wooden trellis is one of four installed in our raised beds. In the past we grew pole beans on a makeshift trellis and tomatoes staked with wooden stakes to support them. They were difficult to maintain and the weight of the plants as well as wind often toppled the plans and we suffered some damage. these trellises are constructed of 2x3 lumber and are lag bolted to the beds so they can be moved around the garden every year. Our vine crops (squash, pumpkin, and cucumbers) will be grown on these to save garden space (think vertical garden) and increase air flow. we hope this prevents some of the problems we've had with these types of crops in the past. Also on the left is a photo of two large black cylinders made out of a plastic compost bin. We will be planting potatoes in these to save space in our garden. The idea is to grow them vertically and add dirt, compost, etc. as the grow. at the end of the season we simply open them up and pick up the potatoes. no digging, no hilling, and we use a piece of our garden near the house that we haven't been sure what to do with.

The sprouts in the third photo are the radishes we planted from seed about a week ago. we also have spinach, lettuce, carrots, and peas popping through the soil!


On the right is a photo of the inside of our bee hive. I have trouble taking pictures and doing my hive inspection so I'll have to have Erin suit up and join me. We'll get you some better pictures in the future. Anyways, the bees are doing very well. they are bringing in lots of pollen and are drawing out the comb nicely. I saw alot of eggs and larvae and had a couple of frames with sealed brood. Eggs are about 3-4 days old. Larvae molts daily as it grows. after four days it releases a pheromone that calls the bees to cap it with a wax cap. brood is capped after six days. About eleven days later (21 days total) the new bees will emerge and the population will begin to grow! Everyone appears happy and healthy and seem to be a few days ahead of where I believe they should be. I flipped the entrance reducer to the next larger opening to encourage the colony to get out and take advantage of the early spring. I'm hoping to add another hive body after the next inspection.