I assure you this post is about gardening and not drugs and hallucinating, despite the name. The edibles I refer to are the plants that will provide us with delicious food. The visions are our beautiful flowers that will be a vision to behold once planted.

Lets start with what we have outside in the garden already.

The weather has been on par with April 2023. The two years are almost exactly the same. The biggest difference, is my impatience won out this year and I started a lot of things early and got things outside a little earlier than usual.

The garlic was planted around the same time both years. In 2022, I planted on Oct 8. In 2023, I planted on Oct 1. We didn’t see garlic come up in spring 2023 until April 2. This year, we saw it coming up on March 10, about 3 weeks earlier. The overall temperatures weren’t much different in the month of March as compared with last year, however we did see a lot more sunny days this year.

We also planted it in another area, and covered it with a much thicker layer of straw this last fall. Instead of removing that in the early spring this year, we have left it on as a way to mitigate weeds. So far it has been helping and our garlic pushed through no problem. I believe it has also helped keep that soil warm, resulting in much more growth this year over last.

We’ve noticed that we have some volunteer onions in the spring the last few years. Mostly due to not realizing there was still a small bulb in the ground. Because of this consistent spring find, we decided to try planting some onions like we would our garlic. So we planted about 20 bulbs in October 2023 to see what would happen this year. It worked! Not all of them came up right away, but there are a few that are definitely much further along than the ones we planted in the spring.

We added a bunch more on April 13 this year. Last year we didn’t put our bulbs in until May 7, mostly because we were trying to grow them from seed in the house. We decided to scratch that this year and went straight to the dried bulbs. So far they are doing great, with lots coming up already.

The potatoes are next to the onions, though with much more separation than last year, and much less chance of suffocating our onions.

Last year I planted them on May 17. This year, after reading the package more closely, I realized I could put them out a couple weeks after the last frost. So that is what I did. I planted them on April 14 this year. Today, May 3, we noticed they were starting to poke through slightly.

We also planted them slightly different this year. Last year we did 6 rounds in the landscaping fabric and clustered some seed potatoes. This year, I have a large space, so I spread them out fairly evenly, so we will see how that affects how they grow.

The rhubarb as usual is doing very good. Last year, I first noticed it sprouting on April 12. This year, I took pictures of it sprouting on March 10, so much earlier than last year.

The strawberries are doing well. Some of the plants did not over-winter well and we thought they may be dead. A few of those have started showing signs of life, while others are still not starting leaves. We may have to replace 4-5 of the plants. Most however, are happily growing. This fall we will likely add straw to help insulate them for the winter a bit.

Like many things, I planted my carrots much earlier than previous years. This year we planted them on April 14. Today, May 3, is the first signs of them we have seen. Once we started looking, we noticed a lot of them have finally started coming up.

Last year, we planted on May 9, and started seeing them pop up around May 21. Overall, we are still ahead of our 2023 dates.

Our beets were a little faster than our carrots. Also planted on April 14, we saw sprouts on April 27. Last year we didn’t plant until May 9 and saw them on May 15.

The driveway strawberries are also coming along nicely. This year we started seeing flowers on April 13. Last year we didn’t see flowers until April 30. We also seem to have a lot of flowers which is promising for a good harvest.

In our new large 8′ planter, we have pak choi, kale, romaine, iceberg and cilantro all planted. The pak choi and kale both started in the house, so they are both a bit ahead of the game. The pak choi is especially doing well. The kale is coming along, but was already a little rough from inside the house. Today, I noticed that the romaine is just starting to come up. No iceberg or cilantro yet.

Our smaller herb planter is also looking great. The oregano came back in full force. My thyme came back and has another strain added for a variety. The rosemary went back outside and is slightly unhappy, but is coming around. The sage came back, which was a pleasant surprise. My tarragon also came back, got eaten by the birds, and is now growing once again.

I will likely be adding a few more of the plants outside soon, potentially this weekend. Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and leeks may be ready to go out. They are gangly and out of control in the house, so I feel like they need to go out pretty soon.

Both broccoli and cauliflower have 2 planting so that will hopefully help with harvest timing. Though, the second planting won’t be ready to go out for another few weeks as they don’t yet have 4 true leaves.

The ground cherries and celery may also go out fairly soon. Based on nighttime temperatures, I think by next weekend I will be able to get them out. The ground cherries are already growing fruit, and are about 3-times the size compared to last year when I put them outside.

The celery is strong and healthy. I am looking forward to getting them outside and see how they do when they aren’t covered by the cucumbers this year. Hopefully we get bigger stalks this year.

The tomatoes are out of control, massive, beautiful plants that are taking up a good portion of my living room. I definitely, maybe, planted them a bit early. Though, I can’t say I won’t do it again based on how well they are doing. They have another couple weeks before I can put them out so we will see what I am saying by the time I get to mid-may.

The big beef tomatoes are over 3′ tall and the romas are over 2′ tall. Due to having a fan on them everyday, only a few have stakes. The majority of them are strong enough to hold themselves up, which is fantastic! I will be fanning them consistently every year moving forward.

The peppers are coming along. Some of them are getting bigger by the day, while others are having a slow start. I will be patient with these and will not put them in the garden until after the May long weekend. I would like to have a good harvest of peppers, so I will give them time to grow big before going outside. I want to make sure that we have nice, warm temperatures for them.

Last, but certainly not least, our beautiful flowers. I am so excited that I managed to get the canna lilies going this year. They are growing steadily. Only 1 pot did not come up, which is a-okay with me. That is a minor loss.

The lupine are really beginning to grow and stand up. I look forward to seeing what those look like when they start getting flowers.

The delphinium is coming along nicely as well. They have the odd scraggly leaf, but mostly are standing tall and reaching for the sun.

Overall, my overzealous planting seems to be paying off this year. I may have to push it in future years as well. I can’t wait for these to all go into the garden and start taking off.