May 20th Garden Update

It's finally the May two-four weekend, the big gardening weekend in Ontario where everyone goes out to buy things for their garden and get started on it this.
Why is this the big gardening weekend? Well, last weekend we got a sudden drop in temperature and it even flurried a little in the city. So anything that really doesn't like the cold and wasn't properly protected would have KOed.

I was very lucky to be able to build the mini hoop tunnel to start my season a month earlier so I can start enjoying the lettuce while other people are just getting started. Probably an important thing too since the hours of sunlight is affecting the rate of which my plants are growing.

One thing I noticed is that due to the 3-4 hours of sunlight the garden gets, the days to maturity seem to be off based on what's on the package. The first set of lettuce to be fully mature by now, but it just started getting bushier.

Same with the Sugar Snap Peas that are supposed to nature around 40 to 50 days. It looks way behind schedule. I'm hoping the peas will grow faster as it grows taller as it may get an hour more sunlight then the ground level plants.

An other thing I noticed is that the pea I transplanted seems weaker then the one I directly sowed.
The leaves are smaller and the vine is thinner as well. I have a hard time figuring out if this is due to the transplant or the fact that there was little light. Or the sunlight is affected by glass as I was trying to use sunlight to start the seedling. I'm surprised because the side garden only has 3-4 hours of sunlight which is about the same as my window sill so I'm not sure why the direct sow one is better.
I just hope both will continue to grow and get better.
I want peas and for it to help feed the soil.

This is also the weekend I'll wash and put away the frost blanket and the plastic cover for the mini tunnel as it shouldn't be necessary anymore.
I'll also be sowing and transplanting additional items.
I need to build that trellis for the Chyote because I don't want it taking over the fence. Initially I was going to let it grow on the fence but after reading about how it takes over and climbs everywhere, I decided it needs to be contained on it's own.

At least I won't be battling it out at the nurseries since I have almost everything I need for the year :)
Happy gardening weekend.

Categories: Gardening