Big experiment. The last 200 tomato seedlings were started only three weeks ago, way late compared to starting dates in the past. They were also quite crowded in 200-cell trays. Now, I’m transplanting them to 38-cell plug sheets, maybe a little over half the volume of the usual 3″ pots. The experimental part is whether they’ll produce as fast as the rest, which were started earlier and are now in bigger pots. I suspect so (or I wouldn’t be trying it!), but you never know. You can get only so much info and advice before you just have to see for yourself (I’ve read that only special extra deep pots makes a difference, a few weeks of extra growth before transplanting doesn’t). I think I’ve been spending too much time producing seedlings that look great if they were for sale, but are unnecessarily big for setting out in the field. If this works out, I’ll save a ton of time next year.
Month: May 2007
Lettuce gone wild…
The early lettuce has company. Several other varieties of lettuce, self-seeded from last year’s crop that was left to flower, just took off. Somehow, there’s tasty arugula mixed in as well. To munch on and to fill in where the voles had their fun, I let it all grow. This year’s lettuce is in there, doing fine, and should be ready not for the first day of the farmers’ market, which is this Saturday, but probably for next week. It’s all…good!
Greenhouse filling up
The seedling side of the greenhouse is already almost full. All of the tomatoes, eggplant and peppers in 3″pots (around 700) are out there, which is only almost a quarter of everything that’s going. I’m gonna have to make some space! There are many things to do. Last frost date is approaching and the long-range weather forecast, not worth a lot but still worth looking at, predicts temperatures steadily rising—planting out to the field will likely happen “on schedule” around the 20th. The farmers’ market is also starting, and I need to do some carpentry to finish up the new stand. Two-thirds of the potatoes still have to go in. There’s a whole list of seedlings that need to be started indoors. There are the flowers and herbs to tend to, separate areas on their own. The grass is jumping and the paths need a first mowing now! And so on. If you’re into a little higher pressure gardening, around here, this is the time of year for you!
Potatoes go in
Gold Rush potatoes, ready to be buried. Potatoes are yet another work in progress, as I experiment with simpler, better ways to grow ’em at my particular hand-tended scale. This year’s seeding method: use hoe to make shallow trenches, drop potatoes every 18″ or so (more spaced this time than the usual 12″), walk down each trench stepping them in with ball of foot, fill in trench. Quite relaxing! The selection this year is basic, the usual: Gold Rush, Norland, Yukon Gold, 300 pounds (136 kg) in all.
Rabbit food
Around here, there is a definite segment of the population for whom salad greens, while accepted as possibly “good” for you, are not really considered proper human food. I might even think it’s an old school, meat-and-potatoes farmer thing, though I haven’t chatted with enough farmers to…generalize. In any case, I’m an all-new first generation farmer and to me, salads are great! This is the first dinner salad harvested this year, picked from the early lettuce aisles. It’s a mix of arugula and four lettuces: Simpson Elite, Granada, Red Salad Bowl, and Sierra, each with its own color, texture and flavor. Lots of fresh veggie variety is an excellent concept. :) Tastes good, too!
Bring on the cucurbits
Time to start the last of the main season transplants: the cucurbits! Most people don’t seem to know the word, I use it because it’s the easiest way to refer to the whole family, which includes cucumbers, summer and winter squash, pumpkins and the various melons (it’s the same for cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, kohlrabi, summer turnips, radishes, arugula, mustard, bok choi, Chinese cabbage, many Asian salad greens…meet the brassicas). Anyhow, this is about a quarter of what I’ll need to get the cucurbit patch going. In keeping with this season’s tinkering-with-the-timing theme, I’m a week or two later than usual, to avoid pot-bound plants if the weather takes a while to get ready for them: better smaller and raring to go than bigger and needing an extra week or two to readjust to deeper ground… That’s the idea. As usual, WE’LL SEE!
Let’s take a look
The latest View. The weather’s been warm and sunny for the past few days, but the nights mainly cold, often drifting down to zero C and a bit below. No rain, and the ground’s getting dry. Finally got round to cutting the grass (no more soaked feet in the morning). The white pails all about are for the spring cleaning of rocks pushed up over winter. Nothing green in the way of crops to see from up here, but just about everything seeded so far has emerged. Overall, nice!