The first lettuce pushed up overnight! Here, lovely red Granada, an Oakleaf-type leaf lettuce that intensifies into a deep burgundy as it matures. Also in trays, Sierra, Simpson Elite, Two Stars and Red Salad Bowl. Now, how early will they be ready for market (the farmers’ market kicks off the first Saturday in May…)?
A little experiment in vegetative propagation—replicating rosemary from tiny, stressed cuttings. Most of the potted rosemary taken up from the herb garden last season got toasted after too many -20°C nights in the unheated greenhouse (a bit of a random how-cold-can-they-go experiment). These tiny cuttings came from one that was taken indoors earlier. They’re kinda frail and stretched from relatively low light (“etiolated” is the typically uncommon technical term). They’ve already been three days in the tray, let’s see how they do. (results)
My late winter farming friends: perlite, vermiculite and peat moss, the raw ingredients for a standard seed starting mix. For most veggies and herbs, I mix all three in equal parts, although a combination of any two would likely do as well. It’s soilless (no bacteria, sterile), holds water well and allows oxygen to get around…all a seed really needs in the way of ground to get started.
Most of the seedlings are in the greenhouse now. The next couple of nights forecast for rather unseasonable 32°F (0°C) lows means going for the emergency heating measures!
Tomato, eggplant and pepper seedlings heading out from the Milkhouse (seedling room) to the unheated hoophouse for some real sunlight and a taste of the harsher field conditions, before transplant time in a couple of weeks. The small riding mower does double duty, mowing the paths and ferrying around seedlings, tools, harvests.
Curly and flat-leaf parsley and some sage in the greenhouse.
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