While it’s still not time to plant my favorite part of the garden (the beans!), Papa has planted a few new items.  It has also rained (after a long time without rain) since I last reported on the garden so some things have sprouted up and filled out a bit.  Papa chuckled when I said I needed to go see and take pictures of the garden because it is still in its very early stages, but I see tremendous growth already.  Well, growth anyway.

Papa planted some pepper plants.  Banana Peppers.  Sweet Bell Peppers (per my request).  And….HOT PEPPERS!   He always plants cayenne, but he might have a few other hot ones as well.

I love hot peppers minced up on my green beans and fried corn.  Try this and you won’t have any congestion problems.   I promise.

These are Roma beans.  Papa didn’t seem pleased with the turnout after the rain.  These were supposed to be two solid rows.  Lookin’ a little sparse if you ask me.

Radishes.  They kind of look like weeds.  I think I’ll pass.

This is the romaine lettuce that has filled out after looking a little thirsty last time.  There is one underachiever in the middle of the pack.  I told Papa I think it’s a late bloomer.  There was more chuckling.

My brussel sprouts are progressing nicely.  Granny is convinced they will soon be stricken with some terrible disease or bug infestation.

These are some heads of cabbage.  Meh.

These are the beets.  They are small compared to the other vegetables in the garden, but they actually have grown and thickened quite a bit since my last report.

The barn has made no progress since my last report.

These here are TOE-mater plants.  It was a little risky for Papa to have planted these before May 1 given that temperatures are still pretty low at night in Kentucky.  He covers the plants with canvas if there is a chance of frost, but he is still lucky that these survived as others in the county lost their early plantings.

Onions! These have perked up.

A little squash plant.

And some cucumbers.

More onions! We have a lot of onions to eat….and a lot of breath mints to buy.

Here’s Papa takin’ it all in.  Plotting his next move.  (hahaha)

Papa decided that there is room for 3 rows here.  At least 2 of them will be dedicated to several varieties of beans:

Speckled Limas (butter beans)

Half-runners

Missouri Wonders

Partridge Heads

My Papa doesn’t normally grow Partridge head beans, but I requested we plant some after having them at my Grandmother’s house.  She doesn’t grow them, but she seems to have a source.  The thing about these beans is that they are very hard to find and there is not much seed left in the county or for purchase.

I like these the best of the green beans (as opposed to shell beans) because they have a very large, flavorful bean compared to most green beans.  I will post pictures once I have some to show you.  Based on these pictures, I think it will be a little while so you might want to start knitting a sweater.

When I mentioned to Papa a while back that I wanted to grow Partridge heads this year, he said he had some seed in the deep freeze.  I was shocked because as I said these beans are rare and also because my Papa hasn’t ever grown them that I can remember.

And then as we were standing in front of the garden the other day, we had this exchange:

Papa:  “Looks like we can get 3 rows in this empty space here.  At least 2 of them for the beans.”

Me: “Yes that sounds great.  We’ll have Missouri wonders, Half-runners, Butter beans and Partridge heads.”

Papa:  “Sounds good.  You said you have some of the Partridge head seed, right?”

Me: “No, I thought you said you had some in the deep freeze.”

Papa: “Oh I don’t know.  I thought you had some.”

Me: “I sure hope you have some in the deep freeze or we’re going to have to buy some on the black market.”

Good news: Papa found some Partridge heads in the deep freeze.

They must have been all the way at the bottom because he said the package indicated that the seeds had been stored 15 years ago.  But the great thing about freezing seeds is that they should be perfectly fine!

At least, I think/hope/pray they’re fine.

We shall see.

I am almost certain that my entire apartment could fit on this garden plot.

Y’all come back now, ya hear?

Sugarlump