Pollen Storm and Other Stuff

It is the annual spring pine pollen storm here in Atlanta. Madam tends to go berserk during this annual ritual and seals the house completely. Open windows are forbidden. I must admit it is pretty bad. It is blowing in clouds of yellow dust and every thing is coated. You can even taste it when you are out in the air. It only lasts a week or so and then back to the best time of year in Atlanta. Everything is blooming especially the azaleas. Really gorgeous.

Nice weather yesterday and today so far. Madam helped me get the potatoes into the prepared beds and covered with wheat straw and leaves. I am trying the method of growing the potatoes under ever increasing layers of mulch. I planted a few in the traditional trench method just to compare. This method is supposed to produce cleaner potatoes with little effort. As the plants grow just continue to mulch. We shall see.

Artichoke plants moved to the garden as well yesterday. This is my first experience with them so it is all experiment. There is a possibility that I can make them perennial this far south but it will be iffy.

There is a chance of a light frost on Tuesday night so nothing else tender gets set out yet. Easter is always a good rule of thumb around here. Sometimes you can rush it by a couple of weeks but like this year we are going to get a little frost just a few days before the Easter weekend. Home Depot has been selling peppers and tomato plants for about a month and I am sure a lot of new gardeners have planted them already. They will learn. Neither plant will really grow if the night time temperatures fall below about 55F. Until we get consistently warm nights they will just sit in the garden. You gain nothing by rushing to get them in.

I looked up while fixing breakfast this morning and was surprised to see a lone wild turkey standing in the back yard. I am sure he saw me move to the window since he made tracks. That is a first here. Deer, raccoons, opossum, quail etc. but never a wild turkey. I also heard, second hand, that a local hunter killed a 72 pound coyote just down the street. That surely must be a record. I didn't think they got over about 40 pounds. Must like the city life or cats and small dogs must be very nutritious.

Out to take advantage of another beautiful spring day...thunderstorm predicted for later so the rest of the garden will remain untilled for a while. It is only after Easter that I begin to panic if I can't get beans, squash, cukes and all in. All the beds for the tomatoes and peppers are prepared and ready so it is just waiting for good warm weather for those. The rest of the garden is still clover and vetch.