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Our new corn frame, seen from eye level.

Losing our local source of bamboo instigated a transition from bamboo garden structures to structures made of metal conduit several years ago. We began with the tall pea trellis and tomato frame, followed by the two shorter squash trellises.

Our latest structure is for the corn and beans section of our Three Sisters bed. It’s an elegantly-simple “table” frame strung across the top with twine, stabilizing the corn and supporting the ever-exuberant beans that grow on the corn.

Each of the five conduit structures is designed to be simple, sturdy, long-lasting, and easy to move as the crops rotate around the garden. And each is restrung with twine every year. When the garden is in peak season, they do their job while almost seeming to disappear. Many thanks to Alan for his brilliant design and construction!

Success with starting kale indoors (see last year’s post) inspired us to follow suit with collards, with similarly spectacular results. They were on the same schedule as the kale: seeded on April 5 and planted out on May 3.

The photo above was taken on May 23, 2026; the photo below was taken on May 24, 2025. Not only do we have our most uniformly-robust collard plants, we are harvesting from them a full two months earlier than last year. The results are well worth the extra seedling work in the spring!

Say hello to some colorful beet seedlings ready to go in the ground!

The early-season seedlings we started indoors in early March have all found their way into the garden as of this weekend. That includes: broccoli, sprouting broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, fava beans, leeks, lettuce, onions, shallots, and spinach. In the case of the broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower, the early start gives us time for two crops each season.

Many of our mid-season seedlings were also started indoors. Our beets, celery, collards, edible flowers, kales (curly and dinosaur), and kohlrabi were started indoors in early April for transplanting into the garden in early May. We once started these crops outdoors, but the indoor start gives us stronger and more uniformly-stellar plants.

And the late-season seedlings are well on their way. We’ve begun hardening off the peppers, the tomatoes and eggplants are following close behind, and the basil, ground cherries, okra, papalo, sweet potatoes, and tomatillos will be ready to make their garden debut in coming weeks. The garden is definitely taking shape.

We gathered around the seedling table last Sunday to plant our first seeds of the season. Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbages, cauliflowers, fava beans, leeks, lettuces, onions, shallots, and spinach are now on their way to sprouting and growing.
First to break ground were the leeks (circled in red below), lettuce, and sprouting broccoli.