More early lettuce. This is Simpson Elite, an improved variety of Black Seeded Simpson, which is a really fast, reliable heirloom from the 1800’s. I grow both. They have thin, delicate, pale green leaves, but they’ve proven tough in heat, drought and cold. And they’re 40-45 days! These seedlings are now about 3-1/2 weeks old. I still haven’t thinned them from two per cell—all the lettuce looks so…pretty, densely bunch in their trays, and they’re stretching a bit, but just this side of really crowding each other. Anyhow, it’s the super-early lettuce…mostly for fun! (This is also my first tryout of the latest new farm tool, a Canon G9…a sturdy, field-ready bit of gear… :)
seedlings
Lightbox suspended
Another seedling room set-up task checked off today: hanging the lightbox. Not exactly a big job—the chains were already there from last year—but having it in place is a big visual reminder in the Milkhouse that we’re heading into spring. The box, given to me two-three years back, has four 48″ fluorescent tubes on 5″ (12.5cm) spacing. Raised up a bit more, it gives pretty good light to the whole tray, which is about 3.5’x4′ (1×1.2m). It’s been a welcome bit of much-needed space for larger seedlings, though this year, with the barely-heated greenhouse plan, maybe it won’t be so critical. I still have to line the tray with plastic, and possibly get round to giving the box a coat of white paint…
Welcome to KeroWorld
What an odd thought, what image comes to mind: the world of kerosene… And now I’m in it! Purchased new today, at a healthy 35% discount, this small, rather inexpensive, KeroWorld-brand indoor kerosene heater is the core technology in the extended-spring greenhouse plan. The idea is to turn the unheated hoophouse into a barely heated one, by warming it at night so that it stays above 38°F (4°C). That way, I can put out seedlings weeks early, instead of crowding them under scarce indoor lighting until it warms up in April. It should also give the earlier-than-ever lettuce, going into the ground in the greenhouse, a smoother start. This heater is low-powered—10,000 BTU, recommended for 420 sq ft, it’s 640 sq ft out there—but only a wee bit of heat is required. I think. Last year’s propane space heater was quite efficient, but burned too much gas for every-night use, it often went out by itself, and it required lots of ventilation. Plus, I don’t really like relying on pressurized tanks. This heater will hopefully burn low and steady, and it’s pour-to-fill! Aided by a fan to keep the air moving, and row cover on the coldest nights, it should get the job done. This all reminds me of Patrick of Bifurcated Carrots’ comment a while ago about the line between good and bad technology. It seems a personal decision as much as anything. Why don’t I dream about full-blown winter greenhouses, with high-intensity lighting and industrial-strength heating and ventilation, I wonder? Dunno. I just don’t. But an extra growing month in the strengthening sun, and a little less reliance on indoor lights, traded off against some kerosene, well, THAT would be cool!
Parsley!
The first flat-leaf parsley has been popping up over the last day. This is Hilmar, a new variety I’m trying for the first time this year, in addition to the regular Plain Italian that’s around every season. Elsewhere in parsley, planted a few days earlier, there are two varieties of curly, Krausa Market and Green River. Altogether, 144 plugs, and I’ll keep two plants per. The quantities are not as worked out as for most of the other crops, because so far, it’s been more of a bonus herb, in CSA shares and occasionally at the farmers’ market. I’ll probably start one more tray of 72, because I have a couple more curly types—Green Pearl and Forest Green—that I’d like to try. Probably won’t need ’em all. I could pot the extra. Anyway, you can never have enough parsley!
Exploring down below…
These technical drawings of a lettuce root system are from Root Development of Vegetable Crops*, first published in 1927 and now in the public domain. This is an incredible book that I just discovered. The text is like a complete gardening course delivered from underground. Over 30 North American common garden veggies are covered, a chapter each. The drawings record direct observation, the result of years of root excavation.
I can hardly describe how satisfying and…enlightening it is to simply look at page after page of painstakingly drawn root systems! Here, the top two pictures are lettuce at two months and then at three months and flowering. Each square in the grid is one foot. The little side-by-side illustratation shows 3-week-old seedlings, grown on the left in loose soil (nearly 2′ down!!), on the right in compacted soil (and to think, I have 3-week seedlings in tiny plug sheet cells, 2-1/2″ deep!). One look at this and your mind expands!
*I downloaded it from the fantastic Soil & Health Holistic Agriculture Library, an online repository for numerous excellent books, mostly from 1910-1960, and all entirely free—there are many organic farming classics, tons of great, practical stuff!
Lettuce-watching
Tiny farming is in a mid-winter slow motion state right now, kinda like the calm before the storm. I don’t have daily livestock chores—I don’t have animals, yet!—and as far as garden activity, I’m waiting. About the only thing visual going on, besides lots of reading and staring at one screen or another, are the early seedlings. Here, the Granada is rapidly putting on color on its way to deep red… Lettuce-watching. Not that there’s little to do. There’s a new grow rack to build, lots of organizing in the Milkhouse and drive shed, materials to source and order, tons of stuff, actually. I could even get an early start on tax-time bookkeeping… Instead, I’m pushing it a bit, savoring leisurely reading for a few days, when there’s a little time!
Little lettuce
The year’s first lettuce is beginning to put on its true leaves. Here, Granada that will turn an intense burgundy, is just barely showing a tinge of red around the edges. The seedlings are still looking sharp: stocky and upright. Under the relatively weak fluorescents, they’ll inevitably stretch, but that’s OK, it’s…expected. Mid-February and it’s quiet and calm around here, the spring rush remains just around the corner, there’s still plenty of time to stop and gaze at the seedlings…