1) rosemary, garlic and lavender, 2) tomatoes and butterstick zucchini, 3)peas, 4) container potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, zucc, 5) strawberries, 6) peas

Just a week after I planted the pole beans next to the corn, the sprouts came up! Of all my plants started from seeds, the beans are my favorite. They remind me of origami as the seat coat splits and the large firm leaves unfold. Last year, I started beans indoors but quickly learned that they do much better when seeded into the ground. As young plants, indoors they grew leggy and the leaves grew large and fragile to compensate…

I’ve been watching the peach trees ever since they were covered in blossoms to look for signs of summer fruit. This afternoon I went out to check, and to my delight, the older tree was covered in these half-inch peaches. The tree we just planted even had several fuzzy ones! I am crossing my fingers that we beat the birds and bugs to the ripe ones this summer. It also looks like my blueberry and strawberry bushes are in business…

After Thursday, Raleigh’s evening temperatures are predicted to stay above 50 on the ten day forecast, which is perfect for tomatoes. April 1 is also our area’s last killing frost date. I still don’t have enough spots ready for all seven breeds I’ve started indoors. To avoid cross-pollination there should be about 20 feet between breeds, or netting should be used to block access for bees that travel back and forth between closely planted tomatoes. I may isolate a couple…

We never did put hinges on the hot box (or is it a cold frame?), but I put it out yesterday and left the tomatoes in them for the afternoon and overnight. Not knowing how well the box retains heat, I was worried that the temperature had dropped too much for them overnight, but today they were still perky and even looked better than they did the day before. I brought them in this afternoon and will continue to take…