Sat, Mar 22, 2008 · Filed under Indoors, Seed starting, Spring, Veggies
Another little new-season milestone: the first of the original veggie gang has appeared. These are Gypsy (hybrid) sweet peppers, seeded six days ago, along with other varieties of pepper and eggplant. They started to poke up in the last day or so, and by this morning, the first leaves had unfolded. Along with tomatoes (soon to be seeded), I think of these three—toms, eggplant, peppers—as my original crops. These are the veggies I started first (and way early) in Year 1: winter was storming along outside, while these brilliant little splashes of green were popping up in the warm, bright bubble of the first seedling room (a side room in the farmhouse). I was fascinated and kind of amazed. I used to come downstairs in the middle of the night to check ‘em out, make sure they were still alive and growing… Actually, it’s not so different even now! :)
Permalink
Tue, Mar 18, 2008 · Filed under Cooking & Eating, Harvest, Local food, Seed starting, Veggies, Winter
The first harvested dish of the year here usually comes from early lettuce, but not usually from lettuce still in plug sheets. With my ambitious early salad greens timing, and the way colder than hoped for weather, transplanting to the greenhouse was delayed by a couple of weeks, and the lettuce seedlings stayed in trays and went crazy. Today, I started thinning them heavily for the move, and ended up with a healthy portion of baby leaf salad! This is a mix of Simpson Elite, Granada, and Two Stars. The colors are still indoors pale, the taste and texture delicate. With a simple olive oil and lemon juice, salt and pepper dressing…delicious! And still a couple more bowls to go…
Permalink
Fri, Mar 14, 2008 · Filed under Greenhouse, Seed starting, Veggies, Winter
Transplanted the arugula from the end of January into as small a corner of the greenhouse as seemed to make sense, two plants to a plug, about 6″ (15cm) apart. There’s no space to waste, and these guys, already a long time in trays, will likely be ready too early for market (first Saturday in May). So, another experiment in early planting, but leave room for others! The arugula has been out there in the plug sheet for a couple of nights, surviving 10°F (-12°C) nights under a few layers of row cover (an extreme rapid hardening off!; as you can see in the tray, a few much smaller seedlings, started in mid-Feb, didn’t do so well, most of ‘em got toasted the first night). And now, the survivors are in the ground, free at last, in full sun during the day, and recovered at night. It felt great to put hands in the soil, first time this year. Mmmm…
Permalink
Thu, Mar 13, 2008 · Filed under Indoors, Seed starting, Tools, Winter
It’s funny how almost random objects can become practically indispensable tools. Like this rigid gray tray, given to me a while back, just the one, amongst a mixed bunch of plastic flower pots from bedding plants, passed along by a local gardener. For four seasons, I’ve used it to water the seedlings (all parsley in the pic): in goes a plug sheet in its webbed tray, sit for 10-15 minutes, then out to drain for a bit over the sink, and it’s back to the grow racks, good for another few days. I’ll keep this up until the seedlings are well-established, three weeks or more, depending on the crop. Perfect, except, at one point I’ll have maybe 50 plug sheets going at once, which means a lot of moving trays and tracking soak time. Not too efficient. I’ve been meaning to build a bigger watering tray, that can handle four or six plug sheets at a time. But I haven’t yet. As odd as it sounds, I’ve grown…attached to the one-at-a-time approach, and this particular, perfectly sized, always reliable gray tray! Every planting gets its own bit of focus each time it’s watered, developing its own little story on the way to the field. It’s part of the fun. Doing batches will be much quicker overall; the attention to what’s in each tray will be slightly less. Not a bad thing, there’s always lots to do with any extra time—continually improving by increments is also a main part tiny farming. With more seedlng starts this year than ever, I suppose I will build that bigger tray… Progress… ;)
Permalink
Sat, Mar 08, 2008 · Filed under Indoors, Seed starting, Veggies, Winter
Celery has been surging up over the last day or so, 10 days after seeding. This is Utah 52-70, a pretty common variety. Celery is a member of the carrot family (Apiaceae), along with parsley, parsnip, fennel, Gotu Kola, caraway, cumin, CARROTS, cilantro/coriander, chervil, dill, anise, hemlock. Cool family! It also has a reputation for being hard to grow: maturity in up to 4-5 months, cold-sensitive seedlings, needs lots of moisture. Any two of those three can make it a challenge in this garden, especially with the crazy weather. As great as it would be to grow, celery hasn’t been high on my list! Well, it’s started now, and we’ll see what happens…
Permalink
Fri, Mar 07, 2008 · Filed under Indoors, Planning, Seed starting, Veggies, Winter
Seedling production is on about the same schedule as last year, except there are a few new things on the go: celery, onions, leek, celeriac. The three grow racks aren’t yet full (and there’s a fourth to build), but all that will change in a couple of days, when peppers and eggplant start. This is also when gambling on the weather begins, which at this point affects when I choose to start certain crops. Already, based on the 15-day forecast, it looks like a much colder March ahead than in the last couple of years, and with all the snow cover, a quick thaw towards the end of the month will still mean a few extra days of drying out time. And then there’s April to “consider”—it’s all basically pure guessing, colored by a little wishful thinking. IF there’s gonna be cold and snow for a good part of April, early transplanting will be delayed. So, starting some things in a couple of days, or in a week, or in two weeks, could make a fair bit of difference. If I have to hold things for an extra 2-3 weeks, there won’t be room under the lights as I start more, and out in the greenhouse, given real sun, growth will be quicker and the seedlings will get crowded. And so on, tons of little calculations and gambles… Nothing is THAT critical, but a little more work here, a little crop slowdown there, it all adds up. I enjoy this, juggling increments in the face of the weather, but it could drive some people into quite a state! :)
Permalink
