This week has been both a great week in the gardens and also a wet cold one.. As can often happen, the rain moved around the farm in waves, we did get rain but now where near what other folks up the valley have.. the rivers continue to overflow their banks, bridge’s closed, lives pulled up and homes lost.
Here on the farm we had a couple soggy days and certainly you can not walk in some area’s without really messing with the soil in regards to compacting.. you can’t plant out either due to floodish moving seed around and or because the soil is to wet to be worked and prepared..
As I said to my local garden group.. its going to be a two season garden season in 2019, other then some raised bed/green house extending.. I am so grateful that I have changed my mindset on this..
Last year I would be all.. WE ARE BEHIND.. o my gosh.. so behind.. this year.. since I went into the year knowing, planning for a two season garden, I am so chill.. I have four more weeks to put it all in.. I extending the amount of land in use and relaxed on a lot of my succession planting plans. I think it will be reflected nicely in the return yields.
We got our first rows of pea’s planted in.. we will see if they stay put or flood/rot out and I got first row of early spring beets in the ground as well.
Otherwise, I just worked on the soil area’s that I could for prep work, this was done in combo with my chicken flock.. put those feathered friends to work in your spring garden and then keep them out.. chickens, seeds and plants do not work together.. They have done a fine job..
Planted out the big horse trough garden.. The outer ring is done in yellow loose leaf lettuce some will be picked as small greens for salad fixings, some will be allowed to grow to bigger size once thinned out.. the middle ring is done with broad beans but not the ones that you grow for the seeds but for the pencil thin pods that you eat like green beans and its a heavy producer.. in the very center row is bunching green onions..
The onions and lettuce will be done and gone by the time the broad beans need the space.. win-win.
Got the Food Forest Row cleaned up, all the annuals leftovers were pulled out, pruning as required for the shaping and the come backs are all doing nicely, the self-seeders are already starting and I will have babies to transplant out (always a good thing) and the annual spots are prepped and ready to have pre-started plants put in over the next two weeks. Its just to cold yet.
We have had some nice mild days but we have had a equal number of cold spring ones.. its keeping everything moving slow.. which given the frost is a good thing.. I have high hopes that this cold slow start means we will have a crazy good hard wood fruit crop this year.
Hope you are having a great week in your gardens! Are you planting yet? Are you in a holding pattern? Are you harvesting already in the warmer zones? Being effected by weather this spring?
Just another Day on the Farm 
We don’t plant until the May long weekend (18,19,20)…..and then it all goes in at once. I have tried to plant earlier – but we’ve too many days still well below zero and I’ve found it’s not worth the risk. Looking forward to the big planting weekend though.
Curious question…you mention you’ve planted onions in the middle of your broad beans. I try to follow a ‘companion planting’ chart – one year I thought ‘oh whatever’ and stuffed the extra onion sets around my bean beds despite advice not to do so. Several weeks later when I would normally be harvesting beans, I’m wondering why all my plants are stunted and not thriving. I ripped up the onions and managed to save the season. I wonder if broad beans are different than bush beans for companion planting?
I have never found that green onions effect the planting area in the same way as regular onions and I have grown them with or around broad beans before with no effects, if that changes this year, I will let you know.
Ah – yes I planted onion sets.