Memorial Weekend Gardening

It has become a tradition to finish planting the garden at Roshara on Memorial Day weekend. This year was no exception. In central Wisconsin, morning frosts continue to visit us well into late April and early May in most years—so we wait until the end of May to finish garden planting.

This year we planted potatoes, onions, carrots, peas, radishes, lettuce, kale, swiss chard, plus setting out brussel sprouts, red and white cabbage plants on April 22. A couple of nights later the temperature dipped into the mid-twenties, which would have killed tomatoes dead. The killing frost set back the brussel sprouts and cabbage, but they survived and are doing well.

This past Saturday, May 27, we planted five long rows of sweet corn, set out fifty tomato plants, planted a row and half of green beans, a half row of zucchini, a half row of cucumbers, a short row of rutabagas, a row of squash, and a half row of Halloween pumpkins.

With the planting completed, Natasha (see photo above) mulched the tomatoes, cabbage, brussel sprouts, and broccoli with straw left over from covering our septic system over winter. Mulching conserves the moisture around these plants, and prevents weed growth. Lots of work, but it has paid off well for us on our sandy soil that is in constant need of water.

Now we wait to see what kind of a garden year it will be.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: What great fun it is to watch the garden grow—with the anticipation of great eating to come.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

June 10, 11-12 a.m. Cooksville School, Corner of Highway 59 and Church Street, Cooksvile. One Room Country Schools.

Purchase Jerry’s DVDS and his Books from the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose, Wisconsin (a fundraiser for them):

The library now has available signed copies of Jerry’s DVDs:

Emmy Winner, A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps (based on The Quiet Season book.)
Jerry Apps a Farm Story (based on Rural Wit and Wisdom and Old Farm books.)
The Land with Jerry Apps, (based on the book Whispers and Shadows.)

Also available are several of Jerry’s signed books including: Jerry’s newest nonfiction book, Never Curse the Rain, and his newest novel, The Great Sand Fracas of Ames County. Also available are Wisconsin Agriculture: A History,
Roshara Journal (with photos by Steve Apps) and Telling Your Story—a guide book for those who want to write their own stories.

Contact the library for prices and special package deals.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.org
www.wildroselibrary.org
920-622-3835