Showing posts with label Walla Walla. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Walla Walla. Show all posts

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Flats to the Cold Frames

      With all of the sprouts coming along from the recent paper towel seed starting, I have quickly run out of room for flats on the porch.  This morning I was forced to start moving some flats out to cold frames to free up some porch room for newer flats.  In the Trex cold frame out back, the pak choi had not fared so well, whereas the tatsoi did wonderfully.


      I pulled all of the pak choi from the top right corner, and weeded some of the dead leaves of the minutina in the bottom right corner.  A flat of Walla Walla onion starts and chinese cabbage starts was put into the frame.  Should have enough room to get a second flat in there, as well as maybe planting a couple of lettuce.


      A couple of years ago I moved a large fish tank (5 feet long) out of the basement by myself.  All sorts of physics involved.  Used ladders, ramps, and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears.  Pushed and pulled it up the basement stairs.  Got it up onto a wheeled butcher block table, through the garage, and out to the driveway.  When trying to shift from the driveway to the grass, my good luck physics ran out.  I had one end, and the other rested on the wheeled table.  The wheeled table then decided to roll out from under the tank, and in slow motion, I watched the far end of the tank fall to the driveway.  Was thankful not to be hurt, embarrassed to be so dumb, and amazed that only a piece of about 1/3 of the bottom broke out.  The tank has since been waiting for a new duty out in the garden.  That new duty started this morning.   


     

      All of the plants above went in the tank with the exception of the onions that went previously into the cold frame.  These little lettuce and cabbage starts should do fine in the tank.  And now I can pot up some more seedlings to go out to my new found room on the porch.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Walla Walla bing bang

      This morning was the harvest of the Walla Walla onion crop, started from seed way back on January 15.  Remember back then when it was cold and dreary, and we would have delighted in a hot and humid summer day in the nineties?  Snow will come again and we will ache for the good old days of summer.

Walla Walla onions, 8-2-11


Walla Walla onions at top of picture

      I had started a flat of Walla Walla onion seed on 1/15/11, and a flat of Red Burgundy onions on 1/16/11.  The germination rates of both were disappointing, especially the Red Burgundy.  Both seed packets were for use in 2010, and that may have been a problem as I have since read that onion seed does not keep very well.  So maybe it would make sense on the next try to fork over for current seed rather than trying for the 1/2 off sales for prior year seed.  I would also think the seed could be planted in December, as a little more size to the seedlings would be great.  The flat of Walla Walla seedlings was transplanted this morning (that is 3-22-11), with plants on about 4 inch centers.

Walla Walla onions planted 3-22-11