I lifted the white "harvest guard" blanket a week after I had covered my veggies with it, and was shocked to see the glory my plants had transformed into. These plants had a rough start to life. We planted on St. Patty's day back in March for good luck, then the hammers fell. We had a crazy snow storm, a dry and windy spring break, and a rabbit bandit in April. I ordered a harvest guard and hoops online, then I replanted some spinach, radishes, and lettuces, as it appeared we had hardly any that survived in April. Then in May, a harsh hail storm woke the entire house up at midnight. The next morning I saw that it had ripped holes through the leaves and tore everything up. All the plants were drooping. It was the day after the hail storm that I got the harvest guard and blanketed my sad looking sprouts. They had been through enough, and I wanted to protect them from any more craziness.
Well, another rainy week went by, the sun finally came out, and as I pulled back the blanket, I could see my peas had doubled in size and were getting flowers. In fact, everything had doubled in size with the harvest guard.
Then this week, with the introduction of the sudden heat, I removed the blanket from the veggie patch, and I'm glad I did. As I lifted it, it was really warm under there, which is not the greatest thing for cool weather lettuces (they turn bitter). I've harvested a nice bowlful of spinach and a few lettuce leaves. The spinach is so flavorful! The lettuce was a bit strong, not quite bitter, but not mild either. The Italian flat leaf parsley is the best parsley I've tasted, so fresh and herby, and even better flavor than store bought.
So, there's been a lot of growing under cover. Next year, I'm going to blanket those veggies from the get-go. And as for "lucky" planting on St. Patty's Day in March, it appears these peas are still alive after all the havoc they went through.
Sharing:
Tuesday Garden Party
The Gathering Spot
Tuesdays with a Twist
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