The carrot germination experiment worked like a…charm! They were coming up pretty good three days ago, conditions looked great under there (moist, airy, seedlings nice and green), so I left the burlap on a while longer to push the germination rate a bit more, and that worked as well. This bed just had a 10-minute clean-up of some grass and dandelion, and I test cultivated a few feet at this end for smaller weeds getting started. With the moist soil, it’s all easy. Now it’s off with the rest of the covers and time for a little irrigated rain (since Ma Nature is presently not obliging). Excellent!
irrigation
Get it in, get it done!
Conall, the all-new organic grower, starting from scratch as our first full-season, full-timer, waters in transplants. Today we set out three more beds of brassicas—so far, there’s cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, bok choi—prepared beds for a dozen more crops, set up the irrigation pump for the season, cleaned out the winter storage area of the barn, turned the composting windrow….and more. Still, it’s the rush-to-get-it-in-get-it-done time of the year, and the days never seem long enough (although, they’re getting longer!!).
Heading for the sun
A first tray of early lettuce, set out in the unheated greenhouse yesterday afternoon, survived the around-zero night no problem. Lettuce is quite forgiving, and I’m forgoing the usual hardening off, going straight from the grow racks to the greenhouse ground. Although the sun feels great (it just came out now), hopefully it will only appear in breaks over the next couple of days, or the lettuce will be toast. The soaker hoses running up and down were on yesterday for a few hours to get ready for transplanting (without watering, inside the greenhouse, the ground obviously gets very dry).
Pond and barrel
This spring-fed pond was dug out last year from what was only a slightly soggy low end of the field. It holds around 30-40,000 gallons of water for not so rainy days. The barrel acts as a float, holding in position, suspended above the muck on the bottom, a plastic intake pipe that leads to the pump.
Water!
No April showers to speak of this year means it’s irrigation time already. Sprinklers aren’t anywhere near efficient, but they cover a lot of area quickly. This makes them a labor-saving choice for germination and tiny seedlings, where frequent but light watering is required in dry weather.