Yesterday I discovered a mole terrorized two of the raised beds. He rummaged around in the lettuce and carrots area, and also in the bed that has onions-that will have tomatoes in the next couple months. Good thing I purchased castor beans from Baker Creek, as they will definitely get planted in the raised beds this year.
It looks as though everything I planted has germinated. All the shallots and elephant garlic poked through the dirt. The rhubarb has come back. Woot woot! The sage, which I was convinced had died, is coming back. The peppermint, spearmint and lemon balm (from Grandma Ettling) have come back.
In the root vegetable bed, the peas, kohlrabi, radishes, lettuce, and spinach have germinated and have their cotyledon leaves. The parsnips and carrots have not germinated. I should clarify on the peas: the little marvel and the sugar snap have come up, but not the snow peas. The seed was old, and I wasn't expecting it to come up. I'll probably plant a few more peas to get rid of the seed.
Last year I planted asparagus, and of the 10 crowns, only 5 have come back so far. The gentleman at Schaffitzel's told me to "Be patient" because they may not be ready yet. I went ahead and planted 10 more crowns, and marked them with bamboo stakes so I know I can't eat them until next year at the earliest.
Inside, I replanted the artichokes, most of the tomatoes, eggplant and peppers into larger containers. I started the seeds in clay pots that I made in ceramics class, with at least four seeds per container. Then I transplanted them into 8 ounce clear plastic cups after they had at least two sets of true leaves. Then I'm transplanting into 16 oz red plastic cups, which will be the last transplant until they go into the ground. I was only watering them once a week, but as they are getting larger, they need water at least twice a week.
The tomatillos are working on their first true leaves, as are the cilantro, dill and basil. The parsley is slower, which is expected since parsley, parsnips and carrots are all the same family and parsnips are known to germinate VERY SLOWLY.
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