Happily celebrating getting everything in the ground in time (probably). Potatoes and broccoli went in in plenty of time. Snap peas were pushing the envelope — April 13. Two rows of leaf lettuce transplanted in tidy rows next to the peas, where they’ll get a little shade. The chickens got into the first little bed and scattered the spinach and radish seeds around, but some of them came up and the rest of the bed is turning pale green.

A second bed of beets and spinach, planted on April 5, looks good. I seemed to take forever to get the rest of the garden together, but on the 19th I transplanted a few tiny kale plants, one odd sprouting bit of potato, and one volunteer “potato leaf” tomato, then started a lot of seeds: scarlet nantes carrots, purple bunching onions, lots of golden beets, french breakfast radishes, dill, cilantro, nasturtiums, and chives. In a big square bed in the very back of the garde, where very little sun penetrates after about 1:30, I put in a row of romaine, one of spinach, and one of red leaf lettuce. I’m going to try to keep that last bed cool and damp to see how far I can extend spring greens into the hot summer.

I have fond memories of spinach salad with baby potatoes and steamed snap peas. That should be on my plate by mid-June, I think.

On another topic, I’ve just started collecting pulp from the juicer at Ellwood Thompson’s (natural food store) to feed some of the worm bins. Trying to produce some attractive “retail ready” worm compost with a nice, even texture, and the pulverized veggies are good for this.