Ahhh Spring...that magical time of year when gardeners roll up their sleeves and joyfully skip out to their dirt patches and sink elbows deep in the rich loam we so love. And that's what I've been doing. The peas are in and up as are the kohlrabi and cabbage. I've never even tried to grow cabbage before because I've never really been a fan but I've found a few recipes lately that have really tuned my tastebuds toward cabbage.
Eggroll in a bowl
and
Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls (I used sausage in this one instead of ground beef and it was delish)
These are just a couple- Corned beef and cabbage is another.
So anyway, I planted 12 cabbage plants to see how it goes. Hopefully they'll flourish and we won't have to fight off too many cabbage moths. I worry about the kohlrabi for that too. Those pretty little white butterflies are sure a nuisance when it comes to any plant in the cabbage family. But I have my spray bottle of dawn dishwashing soap mixed with water to spray on the plants and hopefully keep the little caterpillars from chewing them to bits.
The peas are doing well so far. I'm hoping I got them planted early enough that they'll be established before the aphids come out. It's still pretty cool in the evenings so they shouldn't be a bother for a little while yet. I usually don't plant anything until around the first week or so of April but it's been so nice and warm so early this year I wanted to get a jump for the cooler weather plants.
Our compost turner that sat all winter was loaded with a beautiful batch of wonderful compost that I mixed into the soil before I planted the cabbage. What a treat that was! Compost is like treasure and making my own is wonderful because I know where all that stuff came from, what's in it and how it's been treated. I know I'm not dumping anything toxic on my plants...just good nutritious soil bursting with life.
Are you planting yet? Are you growing anything for the first time this year? Talk to me and I'll send one lucky commenter a packet of seeds from my stash!
