Planting Begins

 

Isaac waters the peas we planted a couple of days ago. There are two 50' rows of Kelvedon Wonder here. I am trying this variety because my peas (with the exception of field peas) have been succumbing early to powdery mildew. This variety is supposed to be resistant. I sure hope so.  The same day we planted Early Scarlet Globe radishes - a salad variety and Pusa Gulabi radish, a "winter" variety that is new to me. It is supposed to store well if planted late summer and is harvested and used like parsnips they say. I'm trying them out and will replant later this summer if we like them. The orange fencing is protecting fifty new strawberry plants (Seascape) from the sheep, who are temporarily sharing the garden area.

The rhubarb is growing like crazy. almost doubling every two days. It won't be long and we'll be enjoying rhubarb slushies, tea, sauce, crisp, and cake. It's the first fruit of every spring, and very welcome!

Isaac has completed his regular classes for this school year and will concentrate this summer on getting through more math lessons and finishing his memorization of the multiplication tables - we've been a bit behind. He's also tearing through our collection of "Hank the Cowdog" books now that he has more free time.

Ellie is finishing up her last two weeks of classes, and preparing for her "Blue Book" exams which will document what she has learned this year. Some of that will include a large freehand (from memory) drawing and labeling 700 major features of the world map, including countries. She will also be drawing, (also freehand from memory) 9 different human body systems with labels, including the eye, the circulatory system, etc. 116 points of information in all. The rest of the exam will cover latin, writing, and rhetoric, including logic. She's looking forward to a summer of only reading and math, like her brother.

We're all looking forward to eating from the garden though, as the real highlight of the summer!