How Does My Garden Grow?

“It’s too early to plant potatoes.”  I ask everyone who may have plugged a bulb into the ground, and that’s the response. “It can still freeze in April!” they claim. The statistic-tending naysayers back that up by pointing to Cornell’s Last Spring Frost table, which says we’re not really safe until April 10!

Last year, if I remember correctly, we had April flurries. But, last fall I threw extra carrot seeds into the ground, just to see what would happen. Yesterday, as I was weeding, I noticed a parsley-looking leaf growing out of my dirt. I tasted a leaf, nothing. I pulled it out of the ground and attached to the stalk was a 1-inch albino carrot. Weather possibilities be damned. I’m planting.

My oldest son is determined to have a raspberry patch. If raspberries can survive–thrive, even–in Alaska at Zone 5, they’ll be fine, even if it does freeze for a few hours here in Zone 7. My son is pruning underbrush around the perimeter of our plot. We bought two raspberry bushes from J&L Landscaping. We have a black raspberry, Rubus occidentalis which some say is native to eastern North America, and a red raspberry, Rubus idaeus. I’m also on the hunt for golden and purple raspberry bushes.

You don’t need a backyard to work your green thumb. Marie Viljoen has only 66 square feet, yet has, among other things, potted a fig tree. If you have a plot or a pot calling for a fig tree, contact Nelson of the Flatbush Fig Farm at flatbushfigfarm@gmail.com. He and his sons occasionally sell cuttings from a fig tree growing on Argyle.

This summer my garden is 100% trial and error. I have a lot of shade, three kids, and urban wildlife digging in my dirt. One thing I do know for sure is I’m getting rid of my rhododendron. If you want it, I have a shovel. You bring the wheelbarrow.

Where do you buy gardening supplies (other than Home Depot and Lowes)? Here are three places I frequent. I’d love to know the local shops you support.

• Almac Hardware, 2 Newkirk Plaza
• David Shannon Nursery & Florist, 3380 Fort Hamilton Pkwy
• J&L Landscaping and Garden Center, 702 Caton Avenue