Raccoon Tracks

After tilling a new section to plant all my corn seeds, the next morning I noticed these lovely tracks in the new bed. Pretty sure they are raccoon tracks and now I have a new pest to obsess about how to get rid of!

The neighbors had asked if I had had any problems with raccoons the past couple of years. But I had not. They did though. The little bugger came in through their doggy door in the middle of the night, and as she wandered to the kitchen in the middle of the night was met with a nasty visitor! I’m not sure which is worse, the bat in our bathroom vent, or a raccoon in the kitchen!

The new corn! Very excited that it did not drown or get washed away! This is my first time planting corn! And, from what I hear, if you plant it they will come…raccoons that is!  Soon I will be planting the beans and squash amongst the corn, following the “Three Sisters” method.

Out of my impatience, I went in search of tomato plants that were much further along than mine are. A couple of years ago, I read about a greenhouse not too far from here that was suppose to be very worth the visit. Starview Greenhouse. I noticed last year that they had very large tomato plants with tomatoes already growing in the spring. So I thought I would head up there this weekend and see if they had some again. They had been pretty picked over, nothing as large as what I noticed last year, but there were  several varieties of good size  with tomatoes.  I picked out two smaller ones, Arkansas Traveler, and Black Krim.

And I picked out two larger ones. Celebrity and Big Boy. The Celebrity is the larger of the two pictured in the center of the bed, Celebrity on the right and Big Boy on the left. One of the tomatoes fell off, and is now sitting in my window sill.

I now have for tomatoes, Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, Black Cherry, Black, Black Krim, Stupice, Big Boy, Better Boy, Arkansas Traveler, Celebrity, Matt’s Wild Cherry, and possibly a Goldie Cherry Husk if it grows, I’ve had a hard time getting it to germinate.

Red Russian Kale. I am thinking it looks like it may be ready to pick, but since this is my first time growing it, I wonder if anyone else has any opinions. I think it is looking beautiful! The lettuce there is looking closer too!

The lilies are beginning to bloom! One of my favorites in my garden. I just wish they bloomed longer!