Saturday, April 30, 2011

Peas Are Up!

Today is a very exciting day for at least three reasons.  First and foremost the peas and snow peas are up and growing.  I think the Mesclun is up too, but I'm not sure what's lettuce and what's weeds!  Second, it's not raining.  It's rained every day for two weeks now.  Third, because it's not raining we mowed for the first time! 

    

                       


PEAS





SNOW PEAS



Saturday, April 23, 2011

More Cold Weather Planting

Lots and lots of seeds went in today.  All Burpee brand.  2 square feet each of Baby's Leaf Spinach, Bloomsdale Long Standing Spinach, Di Ciccio Broccoli, Swiss Chard, and 1 square foot of Mesclun Lettuce Mix which I just liberally sprinkled about as I plan to pick the leaves when they are tiny for really tender salads.  So there's no need to leave space for mature plants.  I did plant five red leaf lettuces - Lollo Rossa - well spaced out to see what it will be like to harvest a head.   I have quite a bit more lettuce seeds, which I'll be planting over time in order to attempt to extend the harvest.  Next weekend I'll plant some more Mesclun in the bed which is awaiting tomatoes.  See the bean tower in the picture?  The Lolla Rossa are around the back side.  Those white dividers define the space for the two kinds of broccoli, Swiss Chard, Mesclun, and to-be-planted Short 'N' Sweet Carrots.
It's been about a week since I planted the peas and snow peas, but not one is up yet.  Sigh.  The seed packages say 7-14 days to germinate.  The broccoli, basil, and nasturtiums I planted inside aren't up yet either.  Now that I've planted broccoli outdoors, I suppose the Italian variety is racing the indoor planted Green Goliath!  I check twice a day, which is good because I remain very conscious of who needs water.  11 of the 20 marigolds are up though, so I get a break from my frowning over the seed trays.  And I bought a pot of Chives, which are thriving in the garden. 

I am following, more or less, the gardening method described by Mel Bartholomew in his book Square Foot Gardening.  Two things I really like about the method are the economy of space which saves water, and the concept of planting rapid-growing crops like lettuce, spinach, and radishes in the spaces, or "squares," which are dedicated to larger crops.  For example, tomatoes go into a large space when they are still rather tiny, so why not make the ground around them productive until they grow large and need the space for themselves?  I'm doing the same with the almost 5 square feet I've dedicated for zucchini and the almost five square feet dedicated for bush cucumbers.  I hope to have lots of spring salads grown and eaten before those plants fill their spaces!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Planting Peas

It's very odd to be planting while wearing a winter coat! 
Today I set up a bean and pea tower and planted 1/4 of the way around the base with snow peas.  It's just two galvanized hoops at either end of a six or seven foot pole with twine looped from base ring to top ring all around.  Also planted 4 square feet of regular peas.  Package says they grow to 24 inches tall and need no support. Used a packet of soil inoculant that's supposed to support legume growth.  It's a mix of bacteria that supports something called "nitrogen fixing" in the soil.  Do I need to understand this, or simply use it?  Use it, I say - just like this computer I'm sitting at now.  I don't understand it, but I use it!
 
In a seed tray inside I planted four broccoli, four basil, four nasturtium, and 20 dwarf marigolds.  The nasturtiums will join the snow peas on the tower just about the time I plant the pole beans and one or two white cucumber vines - end of May.  Just for fun, I stuck four tomato supports into the soil!  I'm getting impatient.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Plant and Seed Lists

Thanks, Brittney,  for your advice.  Monarda and Echinacea (a purply rose one) are on the list along with Cardinal Flower Lobelia, blue Delphiniums, Rudbeckia, Shasta Daisy, and Scabiosa. 

I fell head over heels in love with one flower I haven't seen before - Astrantia.  It's for part-sun locations, but I'm buying it.  Perhaps it can go in a half-barrel that's in a somewhat shady spot on one side of my deck stairs.  But that's almost two months from now to just after the last frost date, which is end of May, I think.

This week's task is to add top soil and cow manure to the raised beds.  Two of them (that's 32 square feet) are sprouting rhubarb - not a favorite of mine.  I'm going to leave one bed for the neighbor.  For years she's used it and I think she still will.  The second bed is on reserve for zucchini and cucumbers, so I'm going to chop and dig those rhubarb roots out.

As far as veggies - I think this coming weekend I'll put the peas in.  It's about six weeks before last frost date and my reading suggests this is OK.  Makes my heart pound!