Cool and damp weather encourages procrastination ...

I'm slowly but surely switching out the crops planted in the fall.

We've begun to cut the asparagus, but at this rate it's going to take a week or two to accumulate enough for a meal!

The fava beans are setting fruit. Plump bright green beans are forming on the Italian and Spanish heirlooms. The "windsor" variety is slower to develop, but should have higher yields.

The over-wintered lettuces are mature and still delicious. The baby arugula and spring lettuces are ready to cut.

We've experienced poor germination of sugar snaps and edamame. I planted additional seeds between the emerging seedlings hoping to fill in the rows.

Tatsoi, pak choi, toscano kale, salad turnip seedlings have been planted and several rows of radish seeds are in the ground.

I'm hoping to beat the squash bug infestations by getting plants in the ground early. I have one bed of straight yellow squash and zucchini, plus a few "8-ball" zucchini plants at the end of another bed. The 8-ball fruits are shaped like ... guess what? ... small balls!

I have planted two rows of pole beans ... one each of "rattlesnake" and "garden of eden" varieties ... plus a half-bed of "jade" bush beans.

The remaining space in the bush bean bed is filled with eggplant, "dance" variety. It would be nice to get a little size on those plants before the flea beetles take their toll.

I stuck a couple of cherry tomato plants at the end of one bed, trellis in place for support, and one in a pot. I set out a tomatilla plant at the end of another bed. It will use the cedar snag that's placed there for support.

I put in several curly parsley plants in the herb bed. The horseradish root that Betsy gave me last fall has sprouted and is growing well. The stevia plant has survived the winter, and we have volunteer dill plants. The thyme has never looked better! Mint, oregano, rosemary, chives, sage ...

Here's a funny story. When I planted the melon plants I found a chicken egg buried in the corner of the raised bed. Weird! The next week I found that corner totally dug out. Melon plants tossed about. Oh boy! Then Rouse found an egg buried in the leaf litter near the wood pile. I've recently caught Zulie, the neighbor dog, sneaking into the hen house hoping to snitch an egg or two late in the afternoon while the chickens are free-ranging. And I've seen her running across the yard with an egg in her mouth! I do believe she buried the egg in the raised bed, then tried to reclaim it later.

Still to do: pepper plants, tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, okra, more beans ...