The Modern Victory Garden

HARVEST MONDAY

Each Monday, Daphne’s Dandelions hosts “Harvest Monday” where everyone submits links to their blog posts summarizing their harvest for the week.   It’s fun to see what people are producing from gardens from so many different regions, and how they are using it.   Check it out and join in too!                                      

My daughter flew back to Pennsylvania late Friday night, which brought to an end our week of celebrating the holidays and enjoying her being home for a visit.   We ate out quite frequently in the past week but did prepare some home cooked meals too.   Most of those home cooked dinners however, used items in storage or frozen rather than fresh harvest items from the garden.   I did harvest some lettuce leaves to top our New Year’s eve blue cheese hamburgers with, and on Friday I harvested some green onions to use in combination with frozen red peppers (diced) and garlic from storage to make spaghetti and meatballs.   The lettuce leaves and green onions were not enough to make my minimum harvest tally weight however, and I never got a picture of them.                                  

Sunday afternoon I dug up some parsnips.   These will be cooked by simply peeling and slicing them and then sautéing them.   If I don’t use them for the Sunday night dinner preparation, I will use them for Monday’s evening meal.                                    

Harvest totals for the week of December 26th through January 1st (rounded to the nearest ¼ pound).

• Lettuce & Greens 0.00 lbs (not enough to make harvest tally weight)
• Onions (green) 0.00 lbs (not enough to make harvest tally weight)
• Parsnips 1.00 lbs

Total For Week 1.00 lbs

Total Year to Date 1.00 lbs                                           

Eggs collected this week – 10                                                 

KICKING OFF THE NEW YEAR

I spent the first day of 2012 kicking off the new garden season.   First thing I did was to go through my seed box and discard the used up packets (with just a few seeds remaining) and items that were getting very old and shop worn.   I had donated much of my extra seeds to the Kingston Farm and Garden Co-op Giving Garden throughout 2011, so there was only a small amount of usable items to carry forward into 2012.    I then did an inventory of my other supplies noting what needed to be purchased to restock.   There actually was quite a good supply on hand of most regularly used items so the list was pretty small this year.   Last week, I had prepared my 2012 garden plan/layout so my seed requirements were established.     Armed with all of this information I then placed my annual seed and supply orders.     

On Sunday afternoon I spent an hour or so out in the garden and weeded the bed of cranberry plants and removed spent vegetation from two containers of strawberry plants.   While I was out puttering in the garden, I checked on the lettuce and dwarf pac choi seedlings I transplanted out on Friday afternoon.    These seedlings had spent about a week being hardened off before transplanting by leaving them for longer and longer periods of time in the unheated greenhouse.    All of the lettuces and a few of the dwarf pac choi plants went into the containers in the greenhouse.   The majority of the dwarf pac choi were planted into an open section under the long covered grow tunnel.   I took the precaution of sprinkling some Sluggo around the newly transplanted items because the slugs have been particularly fierce this winter.    The young plants seem to be doing okay despite the colder weather the past few days.   

It’s hard to see in the last picture, but if you look carefully you can see baby carrots which are also growing in several of the containers in the greenhouse.   I just tucked a few of the lettuces and dwarf pac choi in with them where there were some open spots.                                

I also checked on the onion plants I direct seeded late in August that are over wintering in the garden (unprotected).    They are doing remarkably well.   I hope they hang in there through January, which is usually our coldest month of the year.                                                    

The last thing done to wrap up the old year and ring in the new, was to finalize the 2011 harvest tally recap and set up the harvest spreadsheet for not only the new month but for the new year as well.   While a bit of a hassle to keep these kinds of records, I do find it useful to have comparative information to refer back to periodically.     2011 was a particularly low production year for the garden due to the abnormally cool summer we had.   I certainly hope 2012 gets us back to a more typical level of production.                                                               

There will be more onions and some early spring greens to start in the weeks ahead.   Keeping a pipeline of hardy greens going to plant out in the covered grow tunnel and the unheated greenhouse as other items are harvested and removed is important to keep fresh harvests coming as we slowly crawl our way out of the darkest days of winter towards the longer and warmer days of spring.   It should be noted that we put the shortest day of the winter behind us last week, so it is all uphill from here!    

Happy New Year Everyone! Let’s make it a great one.                   

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener

Around the last part of June, we set up a worm box in an area that is too shaded (back side of the house) to grow anything in.           

Since then, we have been putting all of our kitchen compost pail contents into it along with some chicken manure we pick up from walk way areas occassionally and a small part of the garden trimmings.   The rest of the garden debris is partially split to the hens for treats and the majority of it goes to the regular compost piles still.    With this strategy I am keeping the worm box fueled, the hens happy, and the regular compost has continued accumulating nicely.   When the layer of food and garden wastes in the worm box gets to about 4 inches deep evenly across the bin, a covering of thoroughly wetted peat moss is added and the layering process is started over again on top of it.   Once the left side of the bin was substantially full, we began layering on the right side of the bin.   The worms have been busy doing their work and two months later from the set up (end of August), the left side now contains a finished castings and peat mixture, while the right side is getting fairly full with newer accumulated layers of wastes.         

It is now time to begin harvesting the finished worm casting compost from the left bin.   To do that, I raked the surface to expose any worms in the top layer to light and thus encourage them to burrow down deeper into the pile.   I waited ten minutes and then came back and scraped off the topmost portion of the finished pile into a bucket.            

Any larger chunks of items that were not quite finished that I encountered, were just added back into the bin on the right side to continue being worked by the worms.   I stopped with this one full bucket for the time being, because I had a project I needed this for and wanted to get on with it.        

I will finish harvesting the rest of the finished castings over the course of the next two weeks.   About the time that the finished pile is completely removed, the right hand bin should be pretty full up and it will be time to shift the food waste layering back to the then empty left side bin.   The process of accumulating items will then occur on that side while the worms finish working the right side pile.   

 The finished worm casting compost was collected to provide amendments for a new garden bed I constructed on Monday.   It was a holiday and I wanted to tackle this project while the weather was fine and I had time to get it done.   Specifically, the project was to build an 8-foot by 2-foot bed in a corner area of the back garden abutting the fence, which is to become the permanent artichoke bed.   It is possible to grow artichokes as a perennial in my region if they are given some minimal winter protection.   The three artichokes I grew this year were in large black pots, which was not an ideal way to over winter them as the roots close to the sides of a container are subject to freezing without the insulating effect of soil all around them.   If I was going to try and over winter these plants, they really needed to be transplanted into a permanent “in the ground” location.   The spot chosen for them was the place the containers were already situated in.                

I wrestled the container plantings out of the way, and then constructed a framed bed using extra lumber I had on hand in the shop.   I then used a shovel to dig down into the very compacted soil.   Working my way down the bed initially to just loosen and aerate the soil.         

I then dug very large holes and used the worm casting compost along with some organic fertilizer to amend the bottom of the holes thoroughly.   It was really difficult to wrestle those large plants out of their containers and into the prepared planting spots.    I broke off several branches in the process but managed to get them in place and intact (for the most part!).          

I intend to lay a soaker hose down on this bed eventually since it is a permanent planting bed, but I need a shorter length hose than any I happen to have on hand, so it will have to wait until I purchase one.              

Not sure if those plants will survive the transplanting or not, but they were done with production for the year anyways and if I should lose them, I will just start some new ones next year and use this bed to plant them up in right from the start.   Hopefully though, they will survive my manhandling and get firmly rooted and settled in before winter arrives. 

Laura

Kitsapfreedomgardener

Harvest Monday                            

Each Monday, Daphne’s Dandelions hosts “Harvest Monday” where everyone submits links to their blog posts summarizing their harvest for the week.   It’s fun to see what everyone else is harvesting from gardens in so many different regions.   Check it out and join in!                             

The harvests are picking up as the weather has finally moderated and the day length continues to increase.   The harvest is mostly various types of greens but I did have two parsnips that I pulled on Saturday.   They were in the prior year bed and apparently had been missed when I removed all of the overwintered parsnips.   The lettuces, kale, pac choi, swiss chard, and chinese cabbages are all producing nicely, but the spring planted spinach is unfortunately absolutely dawdling.   I am getting concerned that by the time they finally get some decent growth on, the longer days and increasing warmth will just rush them straight to bolting.   I hope I am wrong, but the probability is increasing with each passing day.   At least I have a good stand of swiss chard to stand in for the spinach.   Here’s the harvest pictures for the week.                                           

Harvest totals for the week of April 25th through May 1st (rounded to the nearest ¼ pound).

• Chinese Cabbage 0.50 lbs
• Kale 0.25 lbs
• Lettuce & Greens 0.25 lbs
• Pac Choi 0.50 lbs
• Parsnips 0.25 lbs

Total For Week 1.75 lbs 

Total Year To Date 14.50 lbs                                     

Eggs harvested this week – 32                                    

Finishing Up The Spring Planting          

I have a commitment next weekend that will keep me out of the garden, so I took advantage of the lovely weather we had this past weekend to just finish up the spring planting process.   On Saturday after taking care of some errands, I planted up the Precocious and Bodacious corn starts.   I have better luck starting corn and planting them out as transplants because it gives the plants a jump on the season.   I could not direct seed them that early due to cold soil but indoors they germinate and grow quickly.   Corn grows so fast under the ideal conditions of the indoor grow lights, that it is not very long before they simply must be put into the ground due to lack of room for the roots in the cell packs.                         

On Sunday morning, I planted up the rest of that bed (next to the corn) with bush beans (Royal Burgundy) using my 6-inch planting jig.    I then planted up the cucumbers and the melon plants in the vertical grow bed located in this back section of the garden.   I may be pushing it with the cucurbit family planting them on Sunday but they desperately needed more root room and I think they were adequately hardened off to make the move.   The weather forecast for the coming week is for mild with some rain and then a warming trend on Wednesday and Thursday.   Hopefully these plants will settle in and not be unduly stressed by nighttime low temps.   Similarly, I planted up the zucchini (Partenon), pumpkins (Small Sugar), and winter squash (Early Butternut) in the retaining wall bed.   I also had some dill starts that I planted up in that bed as well.   I also planted up the long vertical grow bed in the side garden with pole beans (Blue Lake) and dried beans (Pinto) and then seeded the front sections of that bed with parsnips (Cobham Improved) and carrots (Mokum).                              

The last thing I took care of on Sunday was to plant out the basil (Mammoth) and peppers (Lady Bell) in the containers in the greenhouse.   These plants were definitely ready for more root room.                    

The greenhouse is unheated but stays quite warm from passive solar.   I shut it up in the evening to retain and hold heat and then open it up in the morning to allow cross ventilation.   The automatic vent windows always open up when it gets warm, but when it really warms up the side windows and doors are opened to provide greater cooling.   Hopefully the peppers and basil will settle right in and not be set back for too long from the move.                    

At this point, the entire garden has been planted with the first spring/summer crops of the year.   The workload lightens up considerably from here on out - at least until the mid summer harvest peak kicks in!   Routine things like weeding, watering, pest management, and daily harvesting are now on deck, but the heavy lifting work of the spring bed prep and planting is now behind me for yet another year.                

I hope you had a great weekend in your garden too.                  

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener

April is coming to a close and I am well into the spring planting up process in the garden.   Most beds are now planted up with the spring and summer crops, with the exception that I have yet to do the cucurbit family plants, beans (pole and bush), corn, peppers, basil, parsnips, and the last big summer patch of carrots.   The peppers, cucurbit plants, and the basil are already started and well grown, so they are just waiting for the right time to go into the ground.   The squash, cucumbers, melons, and pumpkins just recently moved out to the unheated greenhouse to begin the hardening off process.                                      

The peppers are still in the house under the grow lights.   I have to say these are some of the nicest pepper starts I have ever grown. They are just wicked big and believe it or not they are loaded with flowers ….          

…and peppers are forming already!                         

These will end up in the greenhouse planted in containers ultimately - where they will enjoy a warmer more protected environment than the outdoor beds can provide.                          

The tomatoes were planted up last Saturday and a grow tunnel cover was placed over them to provide warmth and protection during this early spring period.   They settled right in, but I was a little worried the past two nights as temps dipped down to 38 and 39 degrees. This evening I did a check on them and they are doing just fine (amazingly enough!).   They were well prepared and hardened off before I planted them out, which is a critical part of why they were fine, plus the tunnel’s passive solar and insulated air space provides just enough protection that the plants can weather through less than ideal conditions.   The plants will be happier when the temps warm back up to normal levels again in the next day or so (forecasted to occur anyway) but they look good.                          

The turnips are up and so are the radishes and the pea patch is getting positively green.                                  

The greens got a shot of energy from the one-day of glorious sunshine we got last Saturday.   Its amazing what just a little warmth and sunshine will do for fast growing greens.   The lettuces are now ready for some harvesting and I am looking forward to more frequent lettuce based salads.   Not to be outshone, the chinese cabbages and pac choi are getting good sized too.                              

Almost immediately after taking that last picture, I harvested some of those pac choi plants for the evening meal prep.                    

My good friend and garden helper (Sidney) is standing guard over the harvest in case some rogue birds or other evil greens stealing demons should storm us for the harvest bounty.   He’s always helping out in his own cat fashion - good fellow that he is!                    

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener

Fortune was smiling upon me today.   I really needed to get the tomatoes into the ground and under their protective cover, but it is a job that must be done on a warm and dry day – which is weather we have not seen in these parts for a long time.   Mother nature cut me a break today though and provided a beautiful sunshine filled day.   The temps got into the mid 60’s and it was dry.   The weather forecast starting tomorrow and for the next two week period is back to cloudy and rainy, so I seized this opportunity to get the tomatoes in and under their protective cover.                              

Before I tackled the tomato-planting project, I took a few minutes this morning to finish installing the supports for the ultra-dwarfed apple trees I recently planted.   This involved driving two 6-foot T-Posts into the ground at the right distance from the trees and then installing the support bracket that came with the trees.   It was actually quite simple to install and the arrangement provides a really strong support system for the trees.                

The tomatoes are going into one and a half beds in the back garden area.   Growing in one of the beds was the overwintered spinach and a few overwintered green onions.   I harvested all of the baby spinach and green onions before I began the process of aerating and amending the bed.         

The bed was prepped by spreading some compost and then aerating it by using a broad fork.   I used a hoe to cultivate the top few inches of the soil and then I raked it smooth.                   

Next, the soaker hoses were laid out over the bed.                 

Over this, the red plastic mulch was then put down and secured with earth staples.          

I used scissors to then cut out the planting areas for the 12 tomatoes that will go in this 4’X24’ bed.                        

The tomatoes were then planted.   I trimmed away the lowest leaf branches just prior to planting them up to keep leaves from touching the ground as much as possible.   At the bottom of the planting hole, I mixed in 2 TBS of ground up oyster shell, 1/3 cup of general-purpose organic fertilizer, and 4 plain aspirin tablets.   The plants were then placed in the hole and firmed in.   The plants in this larger bed are either indeterminate or semi indeterminate and so I used the combination of the tomato ladder inside of a tomato cage.   The final step was to hand water it with a dilution of 1 tsp of Epsom salts to 1 gallon of water.                 

The determinate varieties were planted in the adjacent half bed.   I chose not to try and lay down soaker hoses or plastic mulch, as this bed has other items in it that would be disturbed if I had tried to do that.   The determinate varieties only get a tomato cage for support.         

Once the tomatoes were planted up, I raced to get the plastic tunnel covers on them while the sun was still shining on the area.   The reason I was hurrying is that the passive solar affect of the grow tunnel covers provides a significant warming of the soil and air inside and I want these plants to go into the night with as much warmth built up as is possible.       

Here's what I planted today:

• 5 Market Miracle
• 3 Defiant
• 4 Sun Gold
• 4 Siletz
• 2 Legend

There was supposed to be some Stupice plants as well but they did not germinate well this year and those that did come up were weak and failed to thrive - not garden worthy plants and I ended up sacrificing them to the compost heap.             

These tomatoes have been hardening off for more than a week now.   They have been in the unheated greenhouse during the night, and have been outside during the daylight hours.   The protection of the grow tunnel mimics the unheated greenhouse and these plants should not be much impacted by the transplanting process as a result.   The covers will stay on until the persistent rain showers subside and the temperatures warm up.   The ends open up to create ventilation and airflow on warmer days and then can be closed up in the evening to keep the plants protected during the cold evening hours.   The real benefit of the cover is that it keeps the plants from getting soaked by the chill spring rains.                

So the tomatoes are in and hopefully they will quickly get settled in and keep growing.   With this project completed, I only have three more beds to plant up and two of those need to wait until the weather really warms up.   The plants all enjoyed the sunshine today and I expect to see a surge in growth in the lettuces and greens as a result.      As for me, I am all worn out and expect I will sleep soundly tonight.            

Happy Easter everyone!                         

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener

My digital camera died last weekend.  I have a new one purchased but it will not be here until early next week.   My husband graciously came to my rescue by letting me borrow his camera for a few days.   It is a lot more complicated but I am managing to get reasonable pictures out of it.             

Last Sunday I planted out quite a few more transplants of cold hardy items – kale, cabbages, swiss chard, strawberries, and celery.   I also planted out my one and only Tree Kale/Collards plant.                       

Behind the tree kale start is a whole bed of celery plants.          

On Monday, the two “Lil Big” apple trees I ordered this winter arrived.   There is one each of Nova Spy and Honeycrisp.     I did not waste any time getting them into the ground because bare root nursery stock can really dry out in transit and it is best to give their roots a soak and then get them into the ground as fast as is possible.   These are going into the area where I used to have the asparagus bed.   The asparagus patch failed to thrive in that spot so I pulled them out last year with the intention of putting some more fruit plantings in eventually.   These small trees mature into production fairly quickly and do not take up a significant footprint of land.  They do need some supports as they get top heavy when more mature.   I intend to install the supports for them this coming weekend, but the push on Monday was to just get them planted up into their new home.                

Bare root tree stock always look like “sticks and twigs” when first planted up - leafless with not too much promise of life in them.   However, these were good sturdy young trees and I expect they will be coming out of dormancy quickly.   This year I will be growing some greens in the rest of the unused area of the bed, but next year I will probably plant some strawberries underneath the young mini apple trees.              

The napa cabbages I planted out several weeks ago are growing along nicely. We have had some rather cold nights (and rainy days) of late but they are doing fine despite that.                

I have taken the day off from work on Friday so that I can take advantage of the better weather expected that day (and on into Saturday) to get the potato patch planted up.   It is forecasted to go back to rainy and cold by Sunday morning, so I want to seize the opportunity to get this done while I can.                        

If you recall, I potted up my pepper plants about a week and a half ago. They did not skip a beat and have continued to really grow and fill out.   

This variety is Lady Bell.   The plants are incredibly stocky and sturdy and very leafy!   I have not grown this variety before but so far I am quite impressed.                

Looking forward to some sunshine and being out in the garden to enjoy it on Friday.                  

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener

Each Monday, Daphne’s Dandelions hosts “Harvest Monday” where everyone submits links to their blog posts summarizing their harvest for the week.   It’s fun to see what everyone else is harvesting from gardens in so many different regions.   Check it out and join in!           

The harvest is largely a repeat of last week’s.   More greens (swiss chard and kale) were harvested and some chives as well.   The greens were enough to weigh in at a ¼ pound but the chives did not weigh enough to round to a ¼ pound and so they are not in the tally for this week.              

Harvest totals for the week of March 28th through April 3rd (rounded to the nearest ¼ pound).        

• Lettuce & Greens 0.25 lbs

Total For Week 0.25 lbs

Total Year To Date 11.75 lbs                         

Eggs harvested this week – 30                         

On Sunday I planted out starts of celery, swiss chard, cabbages, and several varieties of kale. I also transplanted my strawberry starts that have been growing in large pots. You may recall that I rooted out runners from the mother plants last summer and ever since then I have kept them in containers through the winter. Today I put them into their permanent home in the garden. All the planting out of starts was done after first prepping the beds by adding compost (if it had not already been done previously), aerating them with the broadfork, dusting on some organic fertilizer, and then hoeing and raking the top few inches of the bed to make it smooth. By doing several beds each weekend, I methodically work my way through the entire garden while getting plants into the ground at their proper time. It spreads the workload out and makes the big initial spring planting up – less of a daunting task.                       

The newly planted seedlings look great. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures to share with you, as my camera died this weekend. Since my cell phone camera is not very good quality I am not going to even bother messing around with that as an alternative. I will be purchasing a replacement digital camera soon but in the meantime, I will have to rely on words for my blog updates.                                 

Weather continues to be unseasonably cool and wet in my area. I am hoping that we get a break in the weather by next weekend so I can get the potato patch planted. The seed potatoes have been chitting in the house and need to go into the ground soon. I really need the weather to warm up to our usual average high temp for this time of year (mid to upper 50’s) because my greens are not taking off like they should be. We are getting down to the last of the frozen produce and working on using up the canned items so having the new fresh harvests start producing more steadily and in greater amounts is much needed.                           

How are your supplies of preserved produce holding up? Are you supplementing them with fresh harvests now, or will it be a while before that is possible?   

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener

I popped out to the garden this evening after getting home somewhat late from work.   The light was fading fast but I managed to take a few progress pictures of the plants I put in the ground almost two weeks ago.   The weather has been cool and we have had heavy rains but they are growing well despite that.   The broccoli and cabbages actually like the wet and gloomy conditions.                  

 And the chinese cabbages and other greens are obviously not too unhappy to be out in the cool and damp elements either.            

The rhubarb is really starting to take off as well.   It will not be long before I can begin harvesting from these plants.      

I have several 6-packs of celery and swiss chard starts that I have been hardening off this week and they are ready to go into the ground.    It will have to wait until Saturday though as the bed requires prepping ahead of time and I need more daylight hours than is available in the evenings after work to do that and the transplanting process too.   I am starting the hardening off process with my tree kale plant as well.   It needs to get into the ground soon and is in need of some stake support, as the stems are getting quite tall on my cutting start.         

Inside the house and shop I have lots of trays of seedlings going. The ultra  early started tomatoes were planted on January 22nd and were previously potted up to larger containers on February 26th.   They are now so tall and lush that they can only be placed under my main light set up in the shop.                  

These plants will go into the garden sometime around mid to late April with a protective covering over them to keep them warm during the early season coolness and to keep them from getting soaked by spring rains.   In the meantime, they require one more potting up which I hope to get done either Friday night or on Saturday. Once they have settled into their new pots I will begin the gradual hardening off process for these plants.             

 The Sungold cherry tomatoes are already starting to flower!              

I also have another large group of tomatoes that were started almost three weeks after this first ultra early group.   They are looking very sturdy and large too.                          

Weather forecast for the coming weekend is a mixed bag.   I really need to plant my potato patch but I think I may wait just one more week in the hopes that I get a stretch of a little drier weather to do it in.   I cannot go any longer than that though as the seed potatoes have been sitting inside the house to chit in the warmer conditions and have developed some nice sprouts.   If I wait too long those sprouts will get unwieldy and will break off easily when the seed potato is handled.                       

I hope all is going well with your seedlings and early garden planting.        

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener

The great weather on Saturday did not spill over into Sunday, but it was at least a dry day making some more garden tasks possible.   There were four things I wanted to get done Sunday – 1) Clean the Chicken Coop and Run; 2) Plant the Pea Patch; 3) Find a Home for the Remaining Onion Seedlings; and 4) Transplant the Hardened Off Broccoli, Kale, and Cabbages.   I worked the chicken coop and yard cleaning in between some of the garden activities and I squeezed some planting room out for more onions and got them in the ground as well.            

The pea planting was the first of the bigger tasks to be tackled.   The second generation pea trellis has been in place since I constructed it at the end of January.     Usually I would not erect the support system until AFTER I had planted the peas.    I had a choice…take the trellis down, plant the bed, and then put the trellis structure back up… or…. remove the horizontal panels but leave the structure in place and just plant up the bed with the supports in place and then reinstall the horizontal mesh panels.   I chose the latter as it was the least work, but it posed some challenges because working the bed was harder with the vertical and cross supports in the way.   Recognizing this was going to be a little more restrictive, I decided to block plant the pea patch this year rather than use my planting jigs.   This is a really easy and efficient way to plant a large bed of peas or bush beans and was my preferred method of planting those crops up until I created my planting jigs.                       

Here’s the process and what I did on Sunday to plant the pea patch.            

Prep the garden bed.    Aerate it with a garden fork or broad fork; broadcast some good organic fertilizer; use a hoe to work up and mix the top few inches of the soil; rake the bed smooth creating a fine seed bed to plant into.                 

 Scatter the seed across the prepared bed.   This takes a little practice but generally you are trying to get the seed evenly dispersed across the planting area with about 1 to 2 inches between the seeds.   You will have some spaced wider and some too close but don’t get caught up in precision.   After you have scattered the seed you can go back and move a few seeds around manually that are really bunched up if needed.           

 Use a board to firm the seeds into the soil.   This is an important step as it locks the seeds into the soil so that they do not move when you cover and smooth the soil over the seeds.   It also ensures the seeds have firm contact with the soil to ensure proper uptake of moisture from the soil.   I have a 2-foot by 2-foot piece of plywood that I use for this purpose.   Lay the board on the seeded bed and then press down using your hands and leaning into it – or by stepping on the board.   Do not worry about over compacting your soil as the board disperses the weight over a broader area minimizing the compression effect.   Work your way around the entire bed until all the seeds are firmed in.              

The next step is to place some soil or screened finished compost over the surface and gently smooth it into place creating the soil covering for the seed.   Gently smooth the soil over the surface area of the bed.   The seeds will stay put if you do not get heavy handed because you locked them into the soil with the preceding step.   I like to use old container potting soil for this purpose that needs to be replaced in the current year anyways.   It is a great way to recycle the spent potting soil into the garden beds.   I have several large planters in the greenhouse that will need soil replacement this year, so I used one of them to provide the soil for this planting process.   A small bucket was used to carry it from the greenhouse to the bed and one bucket was just right for a 2-foot by 2-foot section.            

Firm the soil down over the seeds.    Once the bed is covered and the soil smoothed out over the surface of the bed, it is a good idea to take the planting board and firm the soil down one more time.   This ensures the seeds are firmly in contact with the soil both on the top and the bottom.     

The final steps are to water the bed thoroughly and then to set up your grow support structures.    In my case I only had to reinstall the horizontal trellis mesh since the structure was previously assembled.   I also put some bird netting over the entire structure to keep our wild birds from eating the sprouting peas as fast as they emerge.   That’s all there is to it!          

I also planted out the hardened off broccoli, kale, and cabbages on Sunday.   These are really nice, sturdy seedlings and were ready to go into the ground.   Next to these plants I made room for the remaining onion seedlings as well and got them into the ground too.       

The spring planting up season is well underway now. Lots more to go but I got a good start on it this past weekend.                            

 Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener

After weeks of heavy rains, high winds, and cooler than normal temperatures – Mother Nature finally took mercy on our area and gave us a beautiful sunshine filled day.   I had to run a few errands this morning but I got to them early in order to keep most of the day available for some garden time.   One of those errands was to pick up a bag each of layer crumbles and scratch grains for the hens from the local feed store.   The first of the baby chicks are in and I had to hang out for a few minutes just admiring the cuteness of the little fuzz butts!   While I was wandering around looking at the new chick arrivals, I noticed they also had a new shipment of some really nice looking organically grown Walla Walla onion plants.   I have plenty of onion plant starts going at home but could not pass up such nice looking plants and bought two bundles at $2 each.   Now the dilemma is where to put all the onions since I just doubled up on them with that purchase.           

 I got back home around 11 am and immediately put the plants that are in the process of being hardened off outside to enjoy some much needed sunshine.                          

Yes, those are onions (and leeks) in that last picture and there are quite a few of them.   I am pleased with the Walla Walla onions I purchased, but I really am in an oversupply of onion plants as a result.   In the bed that is designated for the allium crops this year, I planted up the Walla Walla onions and the leeks.   They completely filled the bed, so I am going to have to find another place for the other home grown onion starts.             

The rest of the afternoon was used to first replace the netting on the back section vertical grow structures.   I then placed some finished compost on the vertical grow bed and dusted on some organic fertilizer.   The broadfork was then used to quickly aerate the entire length of the bed, after which I then hoed and raked it smooth.           

Once the bed was prepped and ready for planting, I direct seeded half of it (front portion only as the back area is reserved for vertical crops) in spinach, and then planted up some of the pac choi, chinese cabbages, and lettuce starts. 

These plants were definitely ready to go into the ground, however, they were not as well hardened off as I would have liked so I placed a wire fence hoop over the bed and covered them with clear plastic to give them some additional protection at night.   During the day, I will pull the plastic back and let them continue to harden off.   After a few days I can pull the plastic off altogether and just let them grow on.               

Tomorrow I am going to plant up the broccoli and the oldest of the kale starts.   I want to plant the pea patch tomorrow as well.   If I have enough time, I will try and find a suitable home for the remaining onions too.          

Did you spend time in the garden today too?                     

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener