Hello from Sprouted Garden!
Let's get this garden party started 🍅🥬
Good morning!
Welcome to the first edition of the Sprouted Garden Digest!
If you’re new to Sprouted Garden, here’s a little about me: I’ve grown herbs and vegetables in my backyard — or on my apartment balcony during college — for about 30 years. I’ve grown everything from the usual American backyard staples to exotics (to the Midwest, at least), like saffron, ginger, romanesco, purple yams, black radishes, celariac, and even citrus trees (in a temperate climate).
While my blog, SproutedGarden.com, will continue to feature how-to and other practical articles, I’ll use this format to connect closer to real-time, as we move from season to season, with exclusive newsletter-only content.
I’m in Ohio in hardiness zone 6b, which means I have four distinct — if not a little bit wonky — seasons. The main summer growing season starts in May and extends through October. Sometimes November.
I’m so happy to get started on this newsletter and hope you’ll stick around to see what’s growing on. But of course, if you change your mind and find things like my bad puns tiresome, you can unsubscribe below at any time.
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Com’on, last for-real frost date!
I’m in the Midwest, which means four distinct seasons with winters that like to hold their grip on the weather as long as possible. Tortuously long, for us gardeners.
My internal clock went askew back in February when we had several days in the 80s, and everything bloomed and then died back in March’s in-like-a-lion, out-like-a-lion mood swings. We’ve had snow flurries/hard frosts and tornadoes/thunderstorms in the same week.
Unlike me, my perennial herbs are up and about and seem unbothered by it all. Whew.
Hello, chives, tarragon, and flat leaf parsley. Lookin’ good!
Needless to say, I’m impatient for the last frost — we had a freeze Tuesday night — and to get outside and start seeding.
But the way things are looking, I still have a while to go, as temps will be well below normal for at least another week. (Don’t know your last frost date? I got you: learn more about frost dates and how to find yours.)
Anticipation
One of the things I love most about backyard gardening is that you can always expect the unexpected.
Like this:
This is my garden bench, where I grow a variety of herbs, greens, and vegetables. One year, I included loads of herbs that happen to be much beloved by the Black Swallowtail butterfly, whose beautiful caterpillars are shown above.
I have herbs scattered throughout my yard, of course, so it’s not unusual at all to see caterpillars of all kinds munching on their favorite greens.
But the above situation was a complete surprise, as I’ve never seen so many caterpillars in one place. (They later scattered a bit to cocoon in private, but they enjoyed many meals here.)
How many caterpillars do you count? Answers at the end!
This bench was protected from predator birds and chipmunks by a shade screen that I had draped over most of it — with just enough room for a butterfly to sneak in, apparently — so the caterpillars grew and thrived safely in this garden of eatin’.
In fact, they blew through about a dozen dill and parsley plants in a matter of days, and I had to go to the grocery store to buy lots of fresh organic herbs, stashing them in cups of water around the bench.
I can’t wait to see what surprises gardening has in store this year!
Until next time, friend, stay kind 🫶🏻, gather those seeds and dream of playing in the dirt and sunshine 🌞.
Caterpillars: 19! Did you find them all?
