Row Cover

Oh, the signs of spring!  Like the couch somebody dumped on the side of our road because the line of trucks and trailers waiting to dispose of winter yard debris in the landfill is a mile long!  Or, the planting of much needed grass seed over 200 bulbs because it needed to be done and the weather was perfect!

Seriously, the neighbors accomplished many things this weekend.  We removed two loads downed branches, weeded several beds, and distributed compost.  Chicken manure and leaf rot were used to refill the compost piles.  A new raised bed for strawberries was laid out, and a footer started for an upcoming outdoor fireplace.

Pictured here is our first row cover.  We found that, by sawing off two feet of the 10-foot plastic poles, the row is shorter and stronger, and, hence, more wind resistant.  The fabric fits better too.  Inside is a companion planting of broccoli and bok choi above onions and potatoes.  With overnight temperatures well below freezing still, it is hard to imagine the seedlings will survive.  However, we agreed to make this our experiment.  On Friday we will open the cover to check on them.  If they are lost, we can install more seedlings, or seed the area with radishes, carrots, and lettuce.

A Better Way to Weed

A benefit of gardening with a neighbor is the sharing of ideas.  A neighbor can serve as a sounding board and bring new ideas to the table.  Today I tried weeding the garden with fire for the very first time, thanks to my neighbor.  Pictured here is a propane torch designed to singe weeds.  It is very effective, at least it appears to be.  Only time will tell if the extreme heat will discourage weed cover in the spring and summer.  It is not noticeably faster than pulling weeds by hand, but it is far easier on the arms and knees.  A large propane tank will probably last for several days. We used it on two rows today.  Word of caution, it is helpful to have a neighbor around when using the torch to keep an outlook for unwanted brush fire.

Heat- Versus Cool-Loving Crops

In my simplistic view of vegetable gardening, there are two kinds of crops: heat-loving and cool-loving.  When I say cool-loving, I don't mean winter.  Although I have had Swiss chard and mustard greens that overwintered in the ground, I do not plan on anything making through snow.  The point I am trying to make is that some crops do better in summer's hot temperatures, such as tomatoes, peppers, beans and corn.  Others prefer the cool temperatures of spring and fall, like lettuce, celery, peas, cabbage, spinach, broccoli and cauliflower.  (Broccoli and cauliflower are classified as "Cole crops" which is often mispronounced "Cold crops" because these plants happen to prefer cool weather.)

With this in mind, I view the planting season in two phases, a cool weather phase followed by the warmer summer season.  The planting of seedlings  is staggered, with the cool-loving ones planted indoors as early as February.  Warmer plants are seeded six weeks before May.  The first group should go in the ground 4-8 weeks before the second.  If you have the time and energy, you can repeat the spring crops in the fall.

In our mid-Atlantic region each group of plants has its challenges.  Either can perish in a late snow or frost and may need to be covered at night.  Cold-loving plants that are kept in a greenhouse, hoop house, or cold frame are susceptible to too much heat, even when the outside temperatures are chilly.  Today our hoop house reached 90 degrees by ten o'clock while the outside air was in the low 40s.

How does one deal with excessive greenhouse temperatures?  Open the windows, doors, and vents.  Water the plants early in the morning.  Cover the greenhouse with shade cloth, if available.  The same techniques can be used in the garden to keep your crops going as seasonal temperatures rise.  This is probably a gross oversimplification of things, but thinking in terms of these two groups--cool and warm--has helped me execute my vegetable gardening throughout the year.

Bok Choi in front of artichoke.

First Day of Spring

On this, the first day of spring, there is little evidence of the half foot of snow we got just three days ago.  With the snow melted, the neighbors got together this week to transplant seedlings from trays into pots, and move them into the hoop house.  We started with an overgrown tray, also our very first tray--spinach, bok choy, and lettuce--planted about six weeks ago.  We also moved into the hoop house some artichoke pots and a tray of onions from February.  The hoop house is beat up from the winter, but it is still functional.  It saw 80 degrees inside at nine o'clock this morning with outside an outside temperature in the low 40's.  Thinning the seedlings today yielded the first salad bowl of baby greens.  Before dinner we planted a tray of okra, beets, and bell peppers; and another of spinach, lettuce, and mustard greens.

Left to right: first seedlings in hoop house;

first bowl of lettuce; and young squash plants

thriving under grow lights.

St. Patrick's Day

I am not as principled a gardener as I should be, but one rule of thumb I like is to plant your first batch of potatoes in March, on St. Patrick's Day.  Well, that didn't happen this year.  Instead, we awoke to a fresh new six inches of snow.  The kids have had so many snow days this winter, they may not start summer break until July.

The seedlings are overgrowing their trays under artificial light indoors as the ground outside is still frozen.  But, it gets better.  This morning I got a call out of the blue from the farm store announcing that our new chickens have arrived and are ready for pick up.  These are the same birds we ordered last fall but never arrived.

Not much to report today about the garden.  No potatoes, but at least we have a glut of chicken.  I hope these pullets mark the arrival of spring.  Cheers!

Pullets are 20-week hens that are about to start laying.

Patience is Virtue

Normally I find myself rushed in the spring, trying to get the garden set up, trying to find plants, trying to plant seedlings.  Not this year.  This year I am working with a neighbor to put together his garden and mine.  Working with a neighbor makes it easier.  We keep on each other, making sure we are planting seeds each week.  This weekend we planted five more trays.  Even though we have had two major setbacks with the hoop house due to weather, we are staying course and waiting for spring.  So far the growing racks are filling up nicely.

Week Six Baby Greens

There is a saying among survivalists, "You are never more than six weeks away from a salad."  That is, if you keep them on hand, seeds take about that long to become baby greens.  Pictured here is our first tray of--left to right--spinach, lettuce and cabbage planted indoors in the first week of February.  Normally we would have transplanted these by now.  With the continuing harsh winter, we are going to keep them under grow lights for another week or so before transplanting and moving them out to the hoop house and cold frames.