Here we are finishing up the first week of June in which we have had snow flurries for two days followed by lots of rain. I doubt there will be much success in the gardens. The only benefit to this weather is that the Cannon’s Double azalea I planted last year will get some extra time to acclimate to the spot I plan on moving it from (grrr!). I don’t think it’s in a shady enough spot and will struggle to establish itself. I know where I plan to move it, but it will be in a location that’s too close to part of the fence that we’ll be working on next so it’s best to stay put.

I peeked into my tomato bed and saw one–ONE– seedling coming up. This is after the first round decided not to show and the transplants from the seeds started indoors took a nosedive. The seedling is one of the pomodoro tomatoes that is supposedly a trooper, so they may be the only tomatoes I get this year. I’ll most likely break down and buy some nursery plants, but I’ll do so grumpily.

The Brussels sprouts and artichokes are looking healthy, which is great. Onions look like they survived the transplant, but I’m sweating over the scallions, gherkins, an eggplant and two watermelons. During a break in the rain, I planted black beauty zucchini, eight ball zucchini, lemon cucumbers and loofah seeds. I still have more eggplant, watermelon, spaghetti squash, etc. to plant, so I may do that tomorrow.

My exciting news is that I was gifted with Egyptian onions!!! I’ve wanted these since I saw a photo in one of my garden books. The person who gave them to me presented them and asked if I knew what they were. From just the one photo of a much more mature plant, I nailed the answer. He was so floored that I knew what they were, my gift went from two plants/bunches, to four. I hope they do well.

I’ve spent my garden time during the week trying to come up with a plan for a walk-in hoop house and durable cold frames. The last few years of gardening have been dismal and I’m sick of it. I’m kicking myself for not getting that greenhouse last year. It occurred to me too late that I could have installed grow lights in there…and I still scrunch my face when I remember Ralph’s belated realization that we could have had a special pipe installed for a potential greenhouse when we put in the geothermal heating.

I suppose it’s all for the best. I’d prefer to have a structure that is over the actual planting beds so that I don’t have to deal with unsuccessful transplants. I guess a walk-in hoop house will be the way to go. I just hate how it looks. What to do, what to do…