Porch and Yard Update, 3/1/2012

    Mar  1st:    Day length:   11 hrs, 20 min   -   That's 38 minutes longer than 2/15
                      Sunrise:         6:34 AM
                      Sunset:          5:54 PM
                      High Temp:    59 degrees F      Low Temp:    34 degrees F

      March first!!  That is a date when we can certainly hope to be looking for the weather to improve.  Maybe some snow left, but it won't last long.  Onions and peas can soon be planted directly in the garden.  A new gardening season about to begin again.  So let's see what happened since the last update:

Wooden frame, 3/1/2012

       This frame has recovered nicely.  The suspected cos lettuce that I rescued last year is in various spots of the lower half of this photo.  The mizuna mustard is in the top left corner, and certainly is ripe for the picking.

Trex frame, 3/1/2012

      The Trex frame has some nice thick stemmed mustard ready to pick, as well as tatsoi.  The flat in the upper corner which contains some Walla Walla onions is doing well.

Starts doing well in fish tank cold frame, 3/1/2012

Red onions

      These red onions were rescued from the park compost pile last fall.  As they have turned soft or started to sprout, I have put them out in the garden.  In a couple of weeks, I will pull up the onions with multiple shoots, divide them, and replant them.  Onions have an incredible power to live and regenerate.

Flats on porch, 3/1/2012

      The plant rescue for the kale has come along nicely, as the plants have developed good root systems.  They need to be planted out in garden beds to free up more porch space.

More flats, 3/1/2012

Extra, extra, just picked for dinner.  Thick stemmed chinese mustard and Winter Marvel Bibb Lettuce

                      Bibb Lettuce so pretty it deserves a solo picture

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.

Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes

Do you Remember?  Yummy.

       Chocolate cherry tomatoes from Territorial Seed Company have quickly become one of my favorite tomatoes.  They are quick to ripen in only 70 days, grow profuse crops of tomatoes in the summer, and hang on late into the fall.  Picked green late into October, I have had some ripen to more than decent tasting tomatoes in December.  You can save tomato seed by a convoluted soaking and cleaning method, or I have just simply allowed a couple of tomatoes to wither and dry by themselves.  Then crumble away the husk, and save the seed.  This is the first year I tried the drying method so I was quite interested in the germination outcome.
      So bring on the paper towel.  Actually 1/2 of a paper towel as I cut it in two.  On February 10, I put on 15 seeds as I have recently been overwhelmed by too many seeds germinating.  Less than four full days later, I am set to go:

      The seeds were placed in the middle of the half sheet of towel.  Spread them out so that they don't touch each other.  The two ends of the towel were folded over the middle section, so now it is about 1/3 of the starting size.  I use an eye dropper to drop water onto the towel, just to moisten it.  Then this little packet fits nicely inside one of those cute little zip lock snack bags.  I even recycle the bags, cabage having been in this one the week before.  After only four days:

Chocolate cherry seeds started 2/10, now on 2/14/12

       This method worked great, as 13 out of the 15 seeds germinated.  I planted all 15 seeds, as the two slow ones may have popped by tomorrow had I waited.  I am thinking that planting the seeds as soon as any root shows will result in the least amount of transplant shock.  The neat thing is that you can plant just one or two seeds per cell this way and not have to cull or separate seedlings.
      Seed Swap Idea!!  I have a limited number of chocolate cherry seeds that I can swap in 15 seed bunches.  I am looking for malabar spinach seed, black pepper seed, or the little golden cherry tomatoes.  Anybody interested?

Paper Towel Germination Problem

      When I was reading about paper towel germination on the internet, nobody mentioned the problem that it might be too successful.  That when you wet about 100 of those little lettuce seeds, because there were so many in the packet, you just might get 99 little lettuce plants.  And every seed of cayenne pepper started from one of my dried peppers provided maybe 30 little starts.  That's a lotta hot.  In some cases, as I have been transplanting, I have also been snacking on the sprouts to cut down the work load.
      Then you have the problem of trying to grow these little seedlings.  That takes time and space.  I was hoping to cut back on my porch nursery this year.  Ha, who was I kidding!  Here is where I am at the moment with the porch.  And there is still so, so much stuff that I want to plant, that I have to plant.  What is an out of control gardening geek to do?

On the table, 2/10/2012

And on the shelf, 2/10/2012

I even resorted to planting things two per cell

Bright lights swiss chard in lower left corner

      One way to solve this problem is to build more cold frames :-)     Hmm, might work.

Getting the Porch Ready

      With so many seeds sprouting due to the moist paper towel germination success, I need to find more room for plant flats to get adequate light.  Yesterday I was forced to clean up and rearrange the porch to find more spots to put trays.

1/24/2012 before new plan

1/24/2012 before new plan

Shelf rotated to face due south

Table added to take some flats

Full view of western exposure, 1/24/2012

      With this new arrangement, I can fit in about 5 flats.  So in just a little while, I will be full and looking for more space.  Just what gardening is all about.

      The porch has single pane glass, and would maintain a temperature of about 10 degrees warmer than outside temps.  We have an electric heater set to come on at 42 degrees to protect the non hardy plants on the porch. I drop the shades on cold nights for a little more protection. I believe the cooler temperatures on the porch are beneficial to many of the seedlings, as it prevents them from getting "leggy" by growing too quickly.

Be Careful What You Wish For

      Wow.  The paper towel germination method!  There have been times that no basil came up from a planting in cell packs.  Well these basil seeds are certainly coming up.

Boy did they sprout,  1/20/2012

A little closer, 1/20/2012

      Whoops, we have a little problem.  The shoots are doing so well, that they have rooted right through the paper towels.  Little white roots on the other side of the towel.  A picture would not really show the roots against the white towel, so you will have to believe me when I say, "I should have done this earlier".  So now it is too late to remove the sprouts from the towel, so we will plant them towel and all.

      With this method, I teased the towel into little pieces, then covered up those pieces with some dirt.  The towel will rot away, and I may try to divide the plants later.

Plan B,  1/20/2012

      Having quickly realized that Plan A was quite tedious, I moved on to Plan B.  I cut the towel into bigger pieces, then placed those pieces over dirt.  Then I sprinkled dirt over the sprouts, trying not to bury them.  If Plan B works, I will have very successfully delayed my greatest time requirement to another day.  Pretty clever, kidding myself.  So easy too.

Mustard anyone?

Mustard greens, 4/22/11

      We often times try so hard to grow things in our gardens.  Buy things and they will die.  Plant seeds and they don't germinate.  Or the bunnies or the birds eat the new starts.  Other times we do nothing and are over run by volunteers.  These light green plants are Florida Broadleaf Mustard that are coming up where I had mustard in a cold frame TWO years ago.  Go figure.  The darker green leafed plants are Purple coneflowers, and these too would not be so successful had I tried to grow them.  So if you could use either, give me a holler and come on over for a dig.
      Planting notes:  On 4/20, I planted two short rows of Chioggia beets in the seed bed just to the west of the box cold frame in the Bellevue garden.  Just to the left of those rows were two rows of Fedco White Satin carrots.  Those carrots did well last year and were delicious.  In the middle of the seed bed was a row of salsify, Tragopogon porrifolius, a first time try for me.  Say that name fast.  Heck, try to say it slowly.
      I finally planted a border row of Purple Top White Turnips along the south edge of bed number three.  Hopefully they will grow quickly and be able to be pulled.  I broadcast multiple tablespoons of home grown and harvested carrot seed along the north side of bed number two.  The carrots seeded the same way in the onion bed are coming along nicely.  When I pulled a clump of weed grass out last week, three small carrots pulled out as well.  The largest was about the size of my little finger.  I made three holes in another area of the bed and stuck them back in.  The tops are recovering now after a couple of days of wilting.
      After having very poor germination with some nasturtium and zinnia seeds, I tried a different tack last night.  I had received a seed sprouting kit as a present, which does a great job for sprouting veggie seeds to eat.  So both of the above mentioned flowers now have a tray apiece.  If the seeds sprout, I plan on transferring them to dirt before they leaf out.  At least I can keep an eye on their development.  Will update with a progress report.

Work to Do

      During the winter, we hope for spring, for warmer days in the garden.  Then our wish comes true and it is time to garden.  But back in the winter, maybe our enthusiasm for planting got out of hand.  Maybe we planted a wee little bit more than we ever could hope to chew.  A good problem to have.  So on Monday and Tuesday with better weather forecast, you most likely will find me out in one garden or the other trying to plant my over abundance of veggie starts.
 

On deck supply, 4-6-11

 

 

      Here are eight flats of starts that I moved out of the porch to the deck for things to get a little more sun and for the slight aphid population to move out.  The aphids seem to have a much tougher go at the plants outside than in the nice comfy porch.  The pot in the middle of the round table is the artichoke/cardoon? that overwintered on the porch.  The black pots around it are an ornamental called duranta.

Bellevue cold frame, 4-9-11

      These veggie starts have been in a cold frame in the park for maybe three weeks.  Some have a little leaf burn from too much heat when yours truly should have provided better ventilation on some of the mid fifties days.  But most things look pretty good, and are ready to go in the ground.  Only a six pack of cardoon and one of artichokes will be held back to a later date.
      So that is the cold weather stuff.  On the porch is a flat of peppers consisting of a six pack each of eight different varieties.  There are two flats of various tomato plants.  The beans, squash, cukes, egg plant and what ever else I have failed to mention are yet to be planted.  Just in case I had nothing to keep me busy.
      Garden on - George

Making more

      When I start seeds, I usually try to put in four to five seeds per cell with small seeds like lettuce, and maybe only two seeds for peppers or tomatoes.  That way at least something comes up.  Often times I will plant the multiple seedlings as is, and let mother nature decide who will win.  After all, weeds certainly do not grow without fierce competition.

Rhodos Endive Frisee, 4/1/11

 

       The Frisee shown above, planted on 2/11/11, have grown on nicely on the porch.  They could probably go outside now and be OK, but I thought I would multiply my blessings by separating them.  Most cells have multiple plants growing.  Also the Frisee makes such pretty heads, that individual plants are much more attractive in the garden.  So the plants were gently teased apart and then replanted. 

Frisee repotted, 4/1/11

      A fast and easy way to go from 12 Frisee cells to 36!  So Barb and Em, are you watching?  And wishing and hoping?

Fedco Ice Bred Arugula, 4/1/11

     The arugula also had multiple seedlings.  These separated out to a final 33 cells from 12, again a nice increase.  The repotted seedlings therefore have about three times as much soil to spread out in as they did before their expansion.  In a week, they can probably go outside.

Snap peas and onions

     A step backward for the weather.  We may get snow mid week, and see lows of 27 degrees.  So much for trying to push the garden forward this week.  My feet are still chilled from the visit to the park garden this morning.  I am running out of flats and room to keep new veggie starts, so something had to be done.  Looking at my current starts and the weather forecast, I figured peas and onions could most easily transition to the garden.

Onions from seed, 3-22-11

      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, with plants on about 4 inch centers.  The volunteer tatsoi in the picture went right into the new onion bed.

Walla Walla onion starts, 3-22-11

Bush snap peas, 3-22-11

     The plants above are Sugar Ann Snap Peas, my first attempt at bush snap peas.  The seeds, planted on February 23rd, were part of that free treasure trove of Heirloom Seeds mentioned in an earlier post.  They are planted where they can easily be trellised if they need help.  An internet article says the plants are quite spindly and can be planted closely together.  I love the pole variety of snap peas, and will be planting lots of those.

Sugar snaps, 3-22-11

Beans and peas

Fava beans, 3-17-11

 

 

     I like to start all of my beans and peas in flats before planting out.  It allows me to see if the seeds germinated, and eliminates the stage of the birds or mice eating the seeds.  These plants are fava beans, a bean that gets to be much the size of a lima bean.  The plants actually like cool weather, and thus have already been put in the ground on March 17th.  If anyone has a clue as to how to eat them, please let me know.  I would continue to plant them now if only for their ability to fix nitrogen.  They have been planted with cabbage as seen below.  The cabbage and beans will have to fight over the space, a common occurrence in my gardens.  The cabbage plants were started by Willie, but given to me by Bob King.  If they attain only half the size that Bob's grow to be, they will be great.

Cabbage and Fava beans, 3-17-11

Little Marvel peas, 3-17-11

      The Little Marvel peas went in where they can be easily trellised.  I had sworn off growing English podded peas, as being too much trouble for too little yield.  I don't know what made me plant them last year.  But I did, and they were DELICIOUS.  Shelled to a bowl, eaten raw like peanuts.  Not a one ever made it to a pot of boiling water.  So English peas are back on the menu with their equally wonderful cousins the snap peas and snow peas.

Little Marvel peas, 3-17-11

Still Going

     My wife and I just got back on Sunday morning from a week's vacation to Panama.  Day temperatures around 90, some quite unusual rain for the dry season, and beautiful beach walks.  What a change to come home to a dreary two inches of rain on Sunday.  But home looked good, as I had missed my new veg starts and gardening activities.

Porch 3-8-11

     Many thanks to my next door neighbor, Darla Smith, who watered all of my little charges while I was gone.  Nary a single loss!  They look as though I could have stayed another week without dire results.

Porch 3-8-11

      The flat above has Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce on the left, with Red Sails Lettuce next.  Then Mizuna Mustard and Arugula on the right.  The Red Sails and Arugula are from my own seed gathered last year, quite exciting for me.  These seedlings were started on 1/30 or 1/31, and are nearly ready to go into some cold frame in the ground.

Bellevue Community Gardens 3-8-11

 

     The gardens out at Bellevue are still pretty desolate.  And muddy.  Really muddy.  But the cold frames protected my stuff over the winter, even yielding the second salad of the season on Sunday, 3/6.

My Cold Frames 3-8-11

 

Flats in Cold Frame 3-8-11

     I took some flats from the porch over to the park to put them in a cold frame.  They will get much more sun over at the park.

Park Cold Frame 3-8-11

     The onions in this frame should be Egyptian Walking Onions.  They were lucky to be in this spot when I put the frame over them.  They are much more lush and enticing than onions that had to fight for their lives in the open garden.  The onion like plant in the lower left corner appears to be one of two Leek plants that have volunteered from last year.  And I never have grown Leeks at this garden!  Should I eat these, or let them go to seed for next year?  I think I will eat them, as there are new Leek seedlings started on the porch.

Artichokes or cardoon?

     These two plants are either Artichokes or Cardoon that have overwintered on the porch.  They will probably go outside in another month.  I have seedlings of both started.  That will make the ID easy as the season progresses.
     It was fun to be away, but it is fun to be home.  And there is really, really a lot to do!   George