Caging tomatoes, harvesting greens and thinking ahead

It's been such a cool spring (again) that the sugar snap peas continue to produce, and the cucumber and bean seeds seem to be sulking (and not germinating).  Some seeds sown (many?) seem to have given up, in cool nutrient-rich soil, with others consumed by some sort of herbivore (slugs?)

Well, there's still plenty of time to sow more seeds (there are some sturdy-looking squash seedlings in the lower bed, just waiting for a woodchuck to appear, I suppose).

And, of course, the young bear that's trap-lining the neighborhood is not interested in vegetables, but is foraging around looking for various things as he's snagging the bird seed in our feeders and those of our neighbors.

I spent some time harvesting yet more beet and turnip greens, as well as kale, and cooked them up this evening.  Hmm, we're certainly getting a healthy dose of greens yet again this spring! 

It certainly doesn't take much room to produce greens for two...

Sugar snap peas

I planted peas with no expectation that I'd harvest any.  It was a cold February this year, so it wasn't until early March.

In the South, peas (of whatever sort) are a dance in the spring, between cool temperatures and the onset of summer.  If it's cool, there are peas to harvest.  Too warm.  Not good.

I'm still adjusting to the new rhythms of a slightly cooler mountain garden (compared to my Piedmont one), but I've gardened here now for 7 seasons, first as a part-time gardener, now full-time.

Regardless, I've been really happy to be harvesting these sugar snap peas in late May.  This was the second harvest -- I'm figuring it's not too shabby for just a few trellises planted late -- what fun to have them, along with all of the greens.

And the tomatoes are growing well!

I just planted a second round of beans and squash, as the first round must have succumbed to too cool soil, thanks to an impatient gardener and a marauding critter (which turned out to be an opossum, rather than a woodchuck, we think!)