Beets, harvested last fall, stored for six months in a covered bin in a cool room, have been busy growing in the dark. This is a familiar early season sight, there are always leftover beets from last year. They’re still firm and tasty, though a lot less sweet. The new growth has a nice crisp texture and a slightly sweet, beet-y taste, what you might expect! They’re headed to the compost heap, part of the spring clean-up. You could call it wasted food, but I think of it as recycling.
2024 from the start
All the posts from 2024, in Jan to Dec order…
All clear!
Absolutely snow-free for a while now, and the grass seems to have gotten a little greener. It’s not been all that warm, still, hard to imagine going back to anything really wintry at this point. And that’s today’s weather check-in….
First tomatoes
The generally reliable Big Beef variety, five days old. Always the little miracle to see dry specks of seed germinate with a little warmth and moisture, and to imagine them in four or five months, sprawled around the field (or maybe, supported), producing a steady supply of tasty, hybrid-perfect beefsteak tomatoes!
This winter in a couple hours
This is the difference that a few days, or even a couple of hours, can make with our everchanging weather. Not the greatest illustration, and in reverse order (the snow shows up better on the right side of the photo): on the right, 9:30 am, after overnight snow blanketed the bare ground; on the left, the 2 pm view and it’s practically gone. It looked pretty much the same around noon, it took only two or three hours to melt away. Weird and also the new normal. For better or for worse, I think we’ve kinda gotten used to it! I suppose hopping from one state to another is better than getting the real extremes—months long heatwaves, river-in-the-sky deluges of rain, forest fires so intense they create their own local weather, and the like—that are happening other places than here. Whenever the weather’s not wiping you out…be grateful! :)
Toddler tomato
In the spirit of dog years and fast-growing plants, this tomato seedling at about 10 days from germination is a toddler, or maybe more an infant. Root, stem, then leaves push out of the seed and up to the light, and eventually toss the dried-out seed coat aside. We don’t need to be amateur biologists to eat a tomato, but remembering the growing journey seems to add to the enjoyment and satisfaction, just like a pinch of salt!
Tomato two weeks in
Around two weeks from germination, and the tomatoes are spreading their leaves and aiming for the sun. These Big Beef are growing together in a tray and will be separated into their own cells of soil, and maybe even small pots, all depending ono the weather and how long they stay indoors.
Hauling water
The seedling room is in a fully modern building with all the modern conveniences like electricity, heating, ample insulation and screened windows well-positioned for a bug-free cross-breeze and lots of natural light. The only thing missing is a handy supply of running water. Drilling for a new well located nearby ended in failure after a couple days of exploration produced only an expensive dry hole. So, until the gutter-fed rain barrels are turned over in warmer weather—overnight freezing of collected rainwater could crack them—I bring over water for the seedlings in 18 liter jugs filled from another well in a building not too far away. Simple systems and the rituals of spring!