I'm planting in 3 different gardens this year. Even though they're not that far apart distance wise, even small distances can make a difference. This is my garlic, it's looking really good and healthy. I fed it today with a fish fertilizer. Garlic is a heavy feeder, and likes a fertilizer high in nitrogen. Not all fish fertilizers are the same though, so if you buy some for your garlic, look at the numbers on the bottle and make sure the first one is higher than the next 2. As i've mentioned before, all fertilizers will have 3 numbers on the bag or bottle. They stand for N (nitrogen), P (phosphorus) and K (potassium) always in that order. A high first number would be a fertilizer high in nitrogen, which is what you want for garlic.

This is a bed with sweet snap peas (in the back) collards, and kale. I planted 2 kinds of kale, red russian and white russian. I really like the flat leafed kale. I grew red russian last year and it's a great kale, but it doesn't stand up to frost well. The white russian is hardier, so when the red russian kale dies in the frost next fall, i'll still have the white russian going strong. As i mentioned above, even in places not that far apart, the climate can be different. In one of my other gardens, my kale is almost twice the size this is, even though i planted them a day apart. Always take into consideration where you are planting things. If you plant kale next to a brick wall, they might grow quickly, but they're not a heat lover and might do poorly over the summer because of radiated heat from the brick wall. Your tomatoes would love it there though! So consider your plants, what they like and don't like, and the places you plant them in.

Got my first few spears of asparagus last week. They were so good! Asparagus is a great garden plant. They are perennials so you only have to plant them once. They will usually last 15-25 years! This is a good time to plant asparagus, it's actually a bit on the late side, but you might get some good deals at garden centers and nurseries on their leftover crowns. You plant your crowns and don't harvest at all the first year. The plants are getting energy from the spears and you want them to spread and produce a lot. The second year harvest sparingly, let those plants grow. The third year you can start harvesting in earnest, and they should produce well for you, for years. You'll see most places sell "all male" or "mostly male" plants. The reason is that the male plant produces the spears. But if you get a female plant in there, leave it in, they produce the seed. If you're lucky they will produce more asparagus plants. They also look cool in the garden in summer, ferny and airy looking, they look nice in flower arrangements too.

Vegetable gardens need flowers and herbs as well. Both attract pollinators and beneficial insects into your garden. I'll talk more about those in a few days. I have lots of flowers in my gardens, one of my favorites is oriental lilies. They are beautiful and smell wonderful. I'm a big fan of fragrant flowers. Unfortunately, we have the red lily leaf beetle here now. It's an invasive species originally from Europe and Asia. It's favorite food are true lilies, these include all orientals, trumpet lilies and ornipets, which are crosses between orientals and trumpets. They will also attack asiatic lilies but not with the same vigor. They will not attack day lilies as they are not true lilies. The adult beetles over winter in the soil, emerge in spring and start breeding. While the adults feed on the lilies, it's the larve that do the most damage. They are voracious and can destroy the whole lily plant. In the above photo you can see the adult beetle on the left, and 2 photos of their eggs, always found on the under sides of the leaves. Sometimes the eggs appear red or orange but they can look darker, more towards a brown color. Always check the undersides of leaves for signs of eggs, not just on lilies. Most insects will lay their eggs on the under sides of leaves. If you see any, just use your finger to squish them, trust me, you want them dead! If you see the adults on your plants, pick them off and kill them. They have hard shells so don't just drop them on the ground and step on them, that might not do it. I squash them on the side of my raised beds. Neem oil might help kill them, but you have to be careful with Neem. If there are any bees around, don't use it! Neem oil is harmful to bees. The best insect control is usually picking them off your plants and killing them. With the exception of aphids, too many usually and those can be controlled with insecticidal soap.

I transplanted the last flat of seedlings I started today. Even though the weather here is less than spring like, everything i planted in the garden is coming up and looking good. While i'm waiting, there is something green that's ready to be harvested now; dandelion greens! Dandelion greens are very nutritious. They are a good source of fiber, vitamins A, C, E, and K. They also contain a good source of thiamin, vitamin B6, calcium, iron, potassium and magnesium, and... they're free! Dandelions are somewhat sharp tasting, I saute them with garlic and olive oil, and they're delicious. If you like arugula you might like dandelion greens raw in salads. You want to harvest dandelion greens before the plant flowers. You can also use the roots of dandelion as a diuretic. You can use the root either as an infusion, or make a tincture. However you should be very careful. While the dandelion greens are rich in potassium, the roots are not, and diuretics deplete the body of potassium. Only use the dandelion root after you consult a doctor. When you harvest dandelion greens, try to make sure you're not harvesting from a lawn or area where pesticides have been used. If you are unsure about it, don't harvest from that area.

I've mentioned before that it's a late spring here. But finally! The asparagus is coming up. These were volunteers from an asparagus bed in another area of the garden. Most places will sell you crowns of almost all male plants. Male plants are the ones that put up spears. The female plants however produce the seed and i got some that took in my bed. This is the time to plant asparagus. You buy crowns, and plant them now. Asparagus is a perennial plant, that can last up to 25 years. The first year you plant them, they probably won't produce spears, and if they do, you shouldn't harvest them. The next year, don't take many, the spears will help the plants get stronger and produce more. By the third year you can harvest most of the spears. It's worth the wait, and a great thing about asparagus plants is once their established you never have to plant them again. No seed starting, no seed planting.. you can fertilize your asparagus bed with a balanced fertilizer in early spring before the spears appear. Then again in June after they're done. Also keep the bed weeded so that the asparagus isn't competing with the weeds for nutrition from the soil. That should keep them happy and productive.

 It's a late spring. But every year, it's an early spring, or late spring, or late spring frost.. etc. What matters when you're planting your cold loving crops is soil temperature, not air temperature. These are my peas, I planted them back on March 22nd! It's april 18th and they're growing nicely, though i do wish they were taller. A soil thermometer comes in really handy when you're planting your spring crops. You take your soil temp and know you can plant peas, spinach, lettuce, etc.. and you've got a head start.

This is my March planted spinach, still tiny, but i got it in so early I'll be able to harvest that much sooner, and that is always a good thing!

These are the last seedlings I started for this years garden. I started these on April 1st. With the exception of the paper cups that are holding lettuce leaf basil that i started earlier with the grafting tomatoes. These are tomatoes, same varieties that i grafted. I wanted non-grafted tomato plants to compare with the grafted ones. These are sun sugar cherry tomatoes, san marzano paste tomatoes, prudens purple, brandywine and caspian pink. I also started two 6 packs of brussels sprouts. The grafted tomatoes stop growing when you graft them, until they heal. So i started those earlier. Tomatoes are fast growers, and you don't usually plant them here until late may. So, i find starting them at the beginning of april gives me nice strong seedlings that aren't too leggy. I could have started the brussels sprouts in the ground, as seed, as i did with the kale, collards, broccoli, but they do take a long time to mature, so i thought i'd give them a head start.