Gardening

Over the weekend I built a new bed so that I could put up a hoop house. In Indiana, I would put two beds inside a hoop house, but here I've been experimenting with putting three. I'm planning on putting the cover on it this week and planting tomatoes and peppers inside it. Last year I grew tomatoes without protection and got about 1/2 bushel out of 12–15 plants. Not a good return!

The year before that, I put them in a hoop house in September and got enough for 50+ pint of tomato sauce (with thanks to Joel for making it for me!). So, I figured this year I'll just protect them from the beginning. I'll need to vent it well during the day, but shut it up at night. We'll see how it works.

About 6 weeks ago I planted peas, radishes, and spinach in cold frames. The peas are too tall now to put the cover on the frame, so I hope it doesn't freeze anymore. We've been eating radishes for about a week now, and the spinach is, well it's lagging. Not sure why, but spinach doesn't seem to like my soil. It did well last fall when I planted it in a bed that was mainly compost, so it has to be the soil...

The real bright spot is the Romaine, though. I planted it in the basement in February and then transplanted it into cold frames in mid-April. It is wonderful. Tender, not bitter, succulent. Ahhh. That's what lettuce should be. Here's a picture for you to drool over. I've got 2 frames of it: 34 heads, 3 rows of 6 in each frame (2 heads died).