Green, Green Everywhere

Well, Mother's Day weekend was not all I had hoped it would be.
Yes, little man spent the weekend with us.
No...no pictures were taken.
Our animals visits were from the shelter of the gator as it rained almost the entire 
time Tyler was here.


And if we had taken pictures it would have showed a 
little man with green goo in his nose, green boogers in his eyes that were
somewhat glassed over, a fever, cough, and general malaise....
not such a good picture for sharing!

We spent a quiet weekend inside the house playing puppets, trains, puzzles, etc.

As luck would have it, the sun returned after Tyler left us.
We are getting a taste of just how fickle Mother Nature can be.

Last night and tonight, temperatures are predicted to dip into the 30's...
with the scary possibility of frost.

Leaving nothing to chance, we decided to be proactive and cover
any tender veggie plants that might suffer from the chill.


Of course, all work is done under the watchful eyes of two turkeys,


and several horses.


(We humans are such a curiosity to them...
their curiosity centered around their next meals, I am sure!)

As you can see, the garden is progressing nicely.


We are feasting on asparagus daily.


The radishes are soon ready to be plucked from their earthly home.


And everything green is growing....

(cauliflower, kale and brussels sprouts)

growing...

(sugar peas and onions)

growing...

(lots and lots of broccoli love!)

I am counting on the broccoli, kale, cabbage, and cauliflower tolerating the cold,
but everything else has its own little plastic greenhouse for the next two days.

This is one of the hardest parts of gardening, and farming as a whole...
the inability to control or even bargain with Mother Nature.
Nope... she's the boss, and will be the first one to demonstrate that!

Lastly, I am wondering where I have been the last several years....
because I could swear that the rhubarb has never flowered before.
This year....


an enormous stalk of a blossom that started out red and turned white.
I'm sure I would have noticed this before!
How about you...
does your rhubarb flower like this every year???

PS....don't plant a little horseradish root and assume you will get a little horseradish!
No, within a few years you will have horseradish plants coming out your ears!


Just a month ago we harvested two foot-long horseradish roots...
and still more keeps growing (and flowering).


Comments

jaz@octoberfarm said…
we had a very rainy saturday but that was it. i covered all of my plants last night and i am waiting for the sun to rise so i can check them this morning. i have seen rhubarb do that but i can't remember why. i thought it did that when it got old? i will be interested in knowing why, if you find the answer. i just transplanted my 'out of control' horseradish. poor tyler...i hope he feels better soon!
jaz@octoberfarm said…
it rained here on saturday but that was all we got. i had to cover everything here too. i am waiting for the sun to rise so i can go down and check it out. i have seen that happen to rhubarb but i am not sure why it happens. is the plant old? i will be interested if you find an answer. poor tyler....i hope he is better soon!
Lynne said…
Rain, wind and cold here this weekend in Michigan. It looks like tent city around our place with plants covered to protect from the predicted frost. I awakened at five early this morning to check the temperature which was 28 and now at 7:00 am it is 26 . . . I see sunshine in the East so hopefully it will warm things up. Snow flurries here yesterday too.

Sorry Tyler was not feeling well and the weather didn't cooperate.

First look at the last photo of your post . . . I thought turkey legs! Silly me, I should know horseradish when I see it!
tpals said…
My rhubarb tries to flower every year but I cut them off right away. My mother taught me to do that because it takes energy away from the growing stalks.
Bee Haven Bev said…
Ooooooohhhh....thanks for the info! I will be clipping that ole flower today!!
Yep, you need to snap off the flowering stalks. Your gardens are wonderful!!!
Anonymous said…
We covered our garden last night as well and will do so tonite too. Quite chilly!

Hope your grandson is feeling better this week!
Anke said…
Sorry your weekend didn't quite turn out as you had hoped. Hopefully the little guy is feeling better now. :-) My rhubarb has flowered in the past, but I learned that the flowering stalk needs to be cut off. It takes the energy away from the rhubarb plant.
Anonymous said…
Well, I was going to say the same thing about the rhubarb, just get rid of the flowering top for the energy to go into the stalks.

Your garden looks so good. I hope it didn't suffer from the frost. I actually started cleaning mine off this weekend.
Cindy said…
Your gardens look wonderful! We were out yesterday evening covering everything too. Can you believe frost this late?
So sorry your grandson was not feeling well. Hope he's on the mend.
Have a great week!
Cindy
Junebug said…
My mother always said, "don't plant your garden until after May 15th". I guess it must never frost after the 15th. Of course back then she covered the rows with gunny sack(burlap feed sacks) if we had a late frost. Hum, now why did we always call them gunny sacks??

Sorry the weather and the snotty nose kept fun activities indoors. I'm sure you two made the most out of the day!! hugs!
This N That said…
As soon as I saw your Title I expected a reference to Tyler..I'm so sorry that your visit and weekend were dampened by rain and illness..Hope there is improvement on the horizon..I don't think we had frost last night but it may be colder tonight..Have a great day..
Suzan said…
Your garden is doing great!! If you heap the dirt around the asparagus - you will have "white asparagus"! We lived in Germany for 3 years and loved eating their "spargle" = white asparagus.
Happy Mother's Day past to you!!
Joy said…
I agree with the other commentors....REMOVE the flowering stalk from the rhubarb as soon as it is visible....a stressed plant (cold winter, newly planted, etc) will send up a flower to potentially "ensure its survival" and will put most of its energy into the flower rather than the edible stalks. Make sure to "cut" rather than pull (like with the edible stalks) the flower stem, which is hollow, as close to the ground as possible to minimize unbeneficial insect habitat.
Good luck with the plant!!
Country Gal said…
Awe hope little guys gets and feels better soon ! Everything looks like it is growing and doing well there ! Yes we had a frost warning to last night and for tonight , thankfully I don't plant anything till our long Victoria weekend every year as then it is pretty safe there will be no frost , hopefully lol ! The sun is shining but the winds here are chilly ! Sounds like you had fun indoors regardless of the weather there and little man not feeling so good ! Thanks for sharing . Have a good day !
Tiffany said…
Yes Mother Nature can be quite fickle.
Robyn said…
Sorry the Saturday was a washout and the lil one wasn't feeling so well.. Your garden is amazing! I wish I had the strength and energy to have a garden like that.. it's a blessing..
Unknown said…
Your garden looks amazing, you have been very very busy! Glad to see you are already harvesting!
daisy g said…
What a glorious garden area you have. Enjoy the warmer temps this week!