This is the time of year when we wait for crops to emerge and see what they will eventually bring us in harvested produce. And after spending the entire month of May planting everything from onions to cantaloupe, I'm getting anxious.

I've told Ilene numerous times that this is the time of year when I lose my patience. When I plant a seed, it's as if I epect it to emerge overnight and when it doesn't, I get nervous. Take peanuts for instance. I purchased a variety of peanuts that were said to only have a 52 percent germination rate. I purchased them anyway because peanut seeds are so hard to find.

Guess what? Those peanuts all emerged and after getting hit with a light frost, they are doing fine. The germination rate was more like 95 percent when I got done and got them all in the field. That was a risk that paid off, but in many of the seeds, it took from 21 to 28 days to germinate.

Onions and leeks are other items I get impatient with. I planted all the onions and leeks the first weekend in May and when I left for South Dakota on May 29, they were still just getting started. I can't wait to see how they've grown in the two weeks I've been at National Guard camp.

Once again, the garlic is the biggest surprise. We did lose some garlic but not enough to wipe out our 2009 crop year. In fact, the losses were limited primarily to two varieties; Siberian and German Extra Hardy and those were the varieties we planted in liberal amounts. 

We tried Belarus, a new variety this year and I have to say I was quite surprised at how much faster it emerged than the other varieties. In fact, that garlic hit the five-leaf stage long before the others, but the only thing is, the leaves appear thinner than many of the other varieties. I just hope the bulbs have all the flavor and vigor of the others when we harvest. We'll just have to wait for the results.