City Roots: The goods

This past winter was unspeakably warm here in the GTA. So warm we didn't have lasting snow in Mississauga and my left-for-dead Raspberry plant from last year managed to over winter (although he is still lacking in growth compared to the new plant from this year - more on that in a future post). It seems this spring is continuing on the same path with mild evenings and warm, sunny days.. Most years I have to wait until mid-may for seeding cold tolerant plants, and well in to the first week of June for putting out warm-season plants and seeds. This year I was able to start seeding and planting about a week and a half in to May and have been enjoying the bounty since May 29th. I always start out with a few lettuce transplants from the store so that I have some salad material while I wait for the stuff I seeded myself to sprout and start to grow. I was worried about my greens this year though, usually high heat makes greens bolt to seed, but so far the night time temperatures have cooled off enough to keep my plants edible.

So far I've harvested a considerable amount of herbs (purple basil, Genovese basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary, tarragon, and parsley), romaine, radishes, baby greens, and a few small potatoes. That said I'm a touch concerned that I cut my tarragon back too far - it doesn't seem to be growing anymore, so it's possible I cut off the terminal stem. Oh well! Live and learn!

Happy gardening!