Garden Update - Beginning the Season & Falling Behind Already

Hello, gardeners and lovers of everything natural! Today was supposed to be a great day! According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, today is the last frost date for my city/area. That means no more danger of freezing temperatures and time to plant annuals. However, to my great disappointment, snow is supposed to fall on Tuesday. That means me and my plants must wait.
The only things growing outside right now are the hardy perennials (with one exception).

It's always exciting to see the first garlic shoots come out at the end of winter. This variety I got from my horticulture job last year. A single clove is a big as an entire head of "traditional" garlic you'd find at the store!

Strawberries can endure the cold, too. There are some in the bed but this one is separate (and is about to bloom). I separated this one because it is actually a wild strawberry plant that I brought home from the forest. It grows very invasively and produces more plantlets than domesticated varieties, however it is said to taste better. Last year, the woodland strawberries almost took over the entire garden so now they must be eradicated! I got rid of the vast majority of them already but I always find new stragglers.

On this side of the garden grow the herbs. By the tree is oregano, to the right there's sage, and in the background is thyme next to some (good) strawberry plants. All the herbs are in the mint family, which means they like to spread and take over. Oregano does this the most because it can spread vegetatively and by seed. The other two I can say I have tamed pretty well.
Last year, I grew tomatoes in between the herbs. This year I will be growing beans, hoping that they will grow all over the makeshift trellis and maybe even the dead peach tree.It is important to rotate your crops so that the soil does not become depleted and also to keep pests in check.

Across the path, there are lots of raspberries. Unfortunately, these grow invasively, too. Their roots spread lengthwise and then new shoots pop up from there. That's why they're confined to their own bed. Since raspberries like being near alliums, I have all sorts planted in and among them.

They include a both varieties of ramps/wild leeks: a few with a white base below the leaves and one that is red there. There's also some wild garlic and a few normal onions.

A little more east, my 2 goji berry bushes are starting to leaf out. Goji berries are in the nightshade (tomato/pepper) family and are native to China. I got mine from some raisins in s pack of trail mix. I've had them for a few years now and still haven't seen any flowers or berries. Then again, they are kind of in the shade and occasionally getting stepped on by people.

As an experiment I'm going to plant 3 more on the sunny side of the garden and see if they fruit faster. These are growing indoors in containers at the moment.

The last plant outside that I mentioned is NOT perennial are these. They are purple potatoes. I read that a good time to plant them is around St. Patrick's Day so hopefully the frost doesn't damage them. I might have to cover them with plastic or domes.

This is cilantro. It's great on tacos and in salsa. I don't like it but I grow it for my family. It is cold hardy so it will probably survive the snowfall.

This bean will not be going outside for 3 reasons.

1. Beans don't take well to transplanting
2. It is already quite near to the end of its life cycle
3. This bean is special.

It's special because it is part of my ongoing mutation induction experiment! Right now I'm in the stage of the experiment where I should be able to notice any mutations! I might have to plant more seeds from this generation (2 generations after exposure to light radiation).
This is also the stage where I might see infertility. I'm a little worried because the first flower did not produce a pod but there are still many buds forming so it's not too late.

This is a chile cascabel or rattle pepper, named so for the loose seeds that rattle in the dry pepper. These seeds I acquired from my grandpa's house after he passed away; they were sitting in the refrigerator. Surprisingly, this one sprouted and I had already given up on it.
Pepper seeds take long to sprout for me. I think it's because I don't have a heating mat.

I have 3 seedlings like this one. They are turban pumpkins, very curious looking fruits. I was given one and I dried it out, removed the seeds, and made it into a work of art. Check it out in my previous posts! It is quite peculiar!

These plants want to go outside badly! They're already outgrowing their pots, which are cardboard and peat.

That's it for my garden update. Later I will start germinating the various beans and other fast-sprouting plants.

As a bonus, here is a picture of my newest miniature orchid, gifted to me by my sister.

Tip: whenever you acquire an orchid, be sure to re-pot it.

You will usually find them planted in a brick of moss or coconut coir. These are good mediums but in this state they do more harm than good.

Notice how the roots are a bit green? That's because they have the ability to photosynthesize just like leaves. So the roots need impeccable air circulation or they will turn black and die. I like to plant them in hardwood tree bark. NEVER plant them in soil. Orchids are epiphytes (plants that grow upon other plants) so soil will actually burn the roots.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of my garden. I promise it will look much more beautiful and green later.

Next time will be all about beans and tomatoes!

@trangbaby come take a look!