The Modern Victory Garden

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