The apples on my apple tree are starting to form, so it is time for them to wear socks. Not because it is cold, but because the socks keep the apple maggot flies off the apple so you get nice clean apples later in the year.

I use “foot socks”, those small stretchy socks that you use to cover your bare feet when trying on sandals in a shoe store. We sell them at Bainbridge Gardens in boxes of 100. They fit now and stretch as the apple grows.

Another thing to do to try to control apple maggots is to use tanglefoot on a fake apple. The maggot fly will try to land on the fake apple and get stuck.

To get the maggot flies to come find the tree, you can hang a container of pheromones from the tree.

I don’t cover every apple, just the ones I can reach, and when there is a cluster, I try to only cover the strongest one as the weaker ones will usually fall off early before ripening. Nature does some thinning for me.

My pole beans are up about 8 inches and wrapping themselves around the poles. My bush beans have been kept toasty warm with the row cover. I started them a week later than the pole beans but they’re catching up fast. Row cover really helps in this cold weather.

Because it has still been cool, I’m going to wait another week before planting my basil starts.

My Sugar Snap peas are ready to eat! The flat chinese peas are also ready, especially for stir-fry. Fresh peas taste so good.

I’m waiting another week for the basil I started from seed to sprout a second set of leaves then I’ll plant them in the garden. There should be enough time to get good basil leaves from them before the growing season ends.

My tomatoes are setting flowers already. Same with the eggplants. I’m going to fertilize them again this weekend.

It sure was a cold week for June. I would like to wait for warmer weather, but then I might run out of time in the fall so I’m going to plant squash, pumpkins and things like that.

The basil I started indoors from seed already sprouted after only a week. I’ll probably wait another week for them.

Some of my strawberries are ready for picking, but the slugs are eating them. I have to put out some Sluggo slug bait to defend against them. It is made of iron phosphate so it is safe to use around vegetables and fruits and won’t harm dogs and cats.

My peas are flowering like mad. I expect to see small flat peas on them any day now.

Thanks to using the floating row cover, my beets and bush beans I started from seed are coming up. Is this one of the coolest springs we’ve ever had? It sure feels like it.

We should normally get everything planted by Memorial Day. But this year, I’m going to wait on zucchini, squash and pumpkins for another week.

This weekend I am going to plant cucumbers under the row cover. They are so touchy. If it isn’t warm enough for them they shrink and die instead of grow. I’ll keep the row cover on until they flower then remove the cover so the bees can pollinate them.

My peas are flowering. They’re about 3′ tall. Pretty good given the weather and the fact that a raccoon broke some of the strings holding them up.

Some of my strawberries are turning red too.
Can’t wait for those!

With all of the recent rain, this weekend I’m going to loosen the soil around the plants and add some fertilizer.

I’m also going to start Basil from seeds in my house.

This weekend I am planting beans. I’ll put in a row of bush beans. I’ll put the bean seeds right into the soil. I put two beans together in a hole with some 5-5-5 fertilizer, then put two more beans in another hole about 8 inches from the others and so on.

The soil is warming up with this nice weather so I’ll also plant some cucumbers from starts. I’ll cover them with row cover as well for about two weeks to keep them snug and warm.

I may also put in some butternut squash as well. I think I’ll wait on pumpkins for a bit though.

I have some tomato plants that have been hardening up under the sheltered part of my deck. You are taking a risk if you take one of the tomatoes from the greenhouse direct to the garden in case we get another cold snap.

And just to be sure my tomatoes are safe from the cold I will cover them with row cover as well. I really think row cover was designed for our cool northwest spring weather.

I may also get time to put bean seeds in the ground. And then there’s weeds. Always more weeds to pull.

May is here at last, with its promise of warmer weather. This weekend I’ll be planting some tender vegetables like lettuce, eggplants and peppers. Squash, zucchini, pumpkins and tomatoes have to wait a bit longer. I’ll cover them with row cover to trap heat during the day and keep them warm at night. I use U-hooks to keep the row cover from blowing away in the wind.

I also have to add another string to the pea poles. My sugar snap peas are two feet tall.

Eventually I’ll make pea soup, but first I have to feed soup to the peas. Soil Soup that is. It is a liquid “fertilizer” made from compost that has active bio-matter in it that will stimulate the root system. My peas aren’t growing as fast as I’d like so this should give them a kick.