Monday, April 26, 2010
Update - New Sprouts
Ok -- just a quick note: It rained alot this morning, but by the time I got home it had cleared up somewhat. I went out and checked on the veggies - and the beets have very tiny sprouts coming up! I just saw two so far - but that leaves the carrots (which I guess tend to be slow growing). I was afraid things wouldn't grow until it warmed up, but glad they're not waiting. (Will have to see if they grow properly).
Sunday, April 25, 2010
First things
Here are some of my thoughts and experiences on my first big push to plant veggies. Note that probably the biggest thing that I try to keep in mind as to my approach, including what I'm growing, is to keep things easy and simple with the greatest chance of at least some successes. Most if not all the things I'm planting are in part because they're not supposed to be too hard to grow. Some are easier than others, but I want to have successes to build on. If I also have a couple failures to learn by, that is fine, but I really don't want to have too many failures this early in the game as that might demotivate me from continuing.
I bought two raised garden boxes, 42"x42"x8" (which takes 7 cubic feet of dirt), and put them in one of the sunniest locations in our yard, which is the northwest part of the yard on the south side of the house. I really think raised gardens is the way to go, but especially in our area. Raised gardens cut down on the problems from over watering, and with all the rain we get here that was one of my biggest worries with trying a garden. At the base of each box, along the outside, I've laid down a row of roof shingles (we have a pile of them in the shed, left there by the previous owner). I at first started using the shingles to help keep down weeds all around our air conditioner unit, as a year or two ago I cut a wire on the unit when trying to cut down the thick weeds that had grown up around it. Thus inspired, I was going to use them for the garden boxes in order to help keep the weeds down around the outside of the box, but then I also read that they can help deter slugs, which supposedly don't like crawling across the rough surface of the shingles. (Last year I did a very minimal garden of one cucumber plant, one sugar pea plant, one bell pepper, a rosemary plant, and one strawberry plant. None were from seed. The biggest problem, especially for the pea plant, was slugs.)
I'd like to get some more of the garden boxes, but not sure we can afford it, especially since they require us to spend even more to buy dirt to fill them with. But maybe this will be a good use for tax returns.
On April (3 or 10?), 2010, I planted beets, onions, carrots, and two types of radishes. I planted them in five parallel rows - radish, carrot, onion, beet, and then radish again. I marked the rows with string held up by a stake at either end. The stakes are flat wooden things, much like tongue depressors, and I wrote what the plant was on each stake. Although our last frost is predicted as May 18th in our area (Cleveland, Ohio), this has been our mildest Spring in memory, and I figure root vegetables should do fine despite the early planting. The description on some of the packages even recommend planting weeks before the last frost. And this is largely an experimental year anyway, so if one or another doesn't do well it will be a lesson learned.
The radishes are both Burpee. One was a package of seeds from last year that I never got around to planting and I wasn't entirely sure that the seeds would still be good this year. Plus, since they're supposed to grow fast, I figured if I decide to I can always plant something else in their location after their first round or two. The radishes are China Rose Winter, which has long 8" peppery roots, and the other is Red Emperor Hybrid, which seems to be the more typical round type - although hopefully not typically bland tasting. The Red Emperor is supposed to be ready in 30 days, the China Rose in 55 days. I'm especially excited to try the China Rose radishes as Kara and I bought a bunch of radishes at a random place during a road trip a few years ago and they were fairly spicey. It was thus that I found myself loving radishes. I've been longing for that ever since, but the ones in the grocery store are all very bland to my taste.
The carrots are Burpee's Heirlooms, Touchon. They're described on the package as being 6" long and 1" wide, sweet and tender. They're supposed to be ready in 65 days. I intentionally bought carrots that were not super long as I knew I was using the garden boxes which are 8" deep, and I didn't want to have to till the land under the box.
The beets are also Burbee, Chicago Red Hybrid. They're supposed to be ready in 49 days, but the package says they can be enjoyed either small as gourmet beets, or full sized, so I'm guessing the 49 days is for the small ones. Interestingly, it also says the tops can be harvested by themselves when extra young, which makes me wonder if you could do that and still have the bulb continue to grow, perhaps with new tops? Maybe I'll research further and/or experiment with that.
The onions are called Dutch Yellow Onion, Stuttgarter Riesen. They're small bulbs, 75 for $2.99. It is, I believe, alot easier to grow onions from bulbs, and supposedly the bulbs last for a very long time, so it should be cost effective.
Since I did the root vegetable planting, we did have a number of nights down near freezing, and a few mornings of light frost. I did anticipate the frost a couple times and covered the garden boxes with a tarp, but also a couple of cold nights I didn't do that. I've done some watering, but not alot. But then we've had a fair amount of rain since then, and so it hasn't been too needed. We've also had a fair amount of sun, so I'm thinking the weather has been about perfect.
By earlier this week, (around April 19 or so) the radishes had all sprouted. This weekend I even thinned a couple where two plants were growing together. Not wanting to be wasteful, I replanted the ones I had gently pulled up in areas that looked like there was space.
Also this weekend, two of the onions have very small shoots starting to come up.
I also decided to take an early shot at the salad greens, since they're supposed to all be at least a little cold hardy. So this weekend I planted the red lettuce, mesclun, spinach, and swiss chard. I guess I bought most of these at a different location - as only one is Burpee. That's the mesclun, a mix of seven salad greens. The other three are Lake Valley Seed. The swiss chard is Ruby Red - Rhubarb, the spinach is Olympia Hybrid, and the red lettuce is Red Salad Bowl. I planted them in four rows, also with the string and stake markers. I'm a little worried that I might have planted them to close together for when they're full grown - but I'll just keep and eye on the situation and if they start looking crowded I can always remove some (and eat them, of course).
And, the strawberries I had planted last year (from a small plant), which didn't produce anything last year, have been spreading, increasing the size of the plant by about 30%. It was spreading out in all directions, but I put up some brick along the yard side, and I'm hopeing I can direct it to grow up toward the house. I think it would work well along the house mixed in with the roses. It's now covered in flowers. I believe each flower should become a strawberry, which if so will be pretty amazing, especially this early in the year. The plant is supposed to put out berries at a fairly regular rate all year for this type, and so if it continues like this I will be very pleased!
I'm always amazed how full grown plants come out of such small little seeds. I've enjoyed getting my hands dirty, and it feels like I've actually accomplished something. I have hopes of also planting some tomatoes, cucumbers, as well as a number of herbs (sage, basil, oregano, and rosemary). I plan to use plants from the local nursery for the tomatoes and rosemary, but I'm going to try from seed for the rest.
I also plan on planting some fennel. Kara and I tried cooking with fennel a while back, and we both really liked it. I also like how versatile the plant is - in that you can eat the bulb, the greens, and the seed. Supposedly it's easy to grow, and the biggest trick is that it's very aleopathic -- meaning you have to keep it off to itself as it puts out chemicals that kills other plants. I have a perfect place for it up by the fence in the northwest corner of the yard - along the northern fence - about 5 or so feet from the other veggies. That area has been taken over by some kind of invasive plant, and I'm hopeing the fennel will win the battle (and I'll give it a hand by digging up as much of the invasive plant as I can.)
I would like to have the strawberries in the same general location, running down along the western fence, and I imagine a set up where the strawberries fill the area as close to the fennel as they like. I already dug out some of the invasive plant and transplanted to there one of the strawberry sprigs that had sprung up from a runner. I might do a little more of that, or maybe just leave it and see how it does. Along that same western fence we already have black berries and some mint (both from previous owners). The mint, though, has trouble, also due to that invasive plant. I'm hopeing I can cut back on the invasive plant in the mint area as well so as to help it do better. So - the picture I have is fennel at the top, then strawberries, then blackberries, then mint. The strawberries and mint should be able to grow down around the bottom of the blackberries, so if that works this will make good use of that space.
I bought two raised garden boxes, 42"x42"x8" (which takes 7 cubic feet of dirt), and put them in one of the sunniest locations in our yard, which is the northwest part of the yard on the south side of the house. I really think raised gardens is the way to go, but especially in our area. Raised gardens cut down on the problems from over watering, and with all the rain we get here that was one of my biggest worries with trying a garden. At the base of each box, along the outside, I've laid down a row of roof shingles (we have a pile of them in the shed, left there by the previous owner). I at first started using the shingles to help keep down weeds all around our air conditioner unit, as a year or two ago I cut a wire on the unit when trying to cut down the thick weeds that had grown up around it. Thus inspired, I was going to use them for the garden boxes in order to help keep the weeds down around the outside of the box, but then I also read that they can help deter slugs, which supposedly don't like crawling across the rough surface of the shingles. (Last year I did a very minimal garden of one cucumber plant, one sugar pea plant, one bell pepper, a rosemary plant, and one strawberry plant. None were from seed. The biggest problem, especially for the pea plant, was slugs.)
I'd like to get some more of the garden boxes, but not sure we can afford it, especially since they require us to spend even more to buy dirt to fill them with. But maybe this will be a good use for tax returns.
On April (3 or 10?), 2010, I planted beets, onions, carrots, and two types of radishes. I planted them in five parallel rows - radish, carrot, onion, beet, and then radish again. I marked the rows with string held up by a stake at either end. The stakes are flat wooden things, much like tongue depressors, and I wrote what the plant was on each stake. Although our last frost is predicted as May 18th in our area (Cleveland, Ohio), this has been our mildest Spring in memory, and I figure root vegetables should do fine despite the early planting. The description on some of the packages even recommend planting weeks before the last frost. And this is largely an experimental year anyway, so if one or another doesn't do well it will be a lesson learned.
The radishes are both Burpee. One was a package of seeds from last year that I never got around to planting and I wasn't entirely sure that the seeds would still be good this year. Plus, since they're supposed to grow fast, I figured if I decide to I can always plant something else in their location after their first round or two. The radishes are China Rose Winter, which has long 8" peppery roots, and the other is Red Emperor Hybrid, which seems to be the more typical round type - although hopefully not typically bland tasting. The Red Emperor is supposed to be ready in 30 days, the China Rose in 55 days. I'm especially excited to try the China Rose radishes as Kara and I bought a bunch of radishes at a random place during a road trip a few years ago and they were fairly spicey. It was thus that I found myself loving radishes. I've been longing for that ever since, but the ones in the grocery store are all very bland to my taste.
The carrots are Burpee's Heirlooms, Touchon. They're described on the package as being 6" long and 1" wide, sweet and tender. They're supposed to be ready in 65 days. I intentionally bought carrots that were not super long as I knew I was using the garden boxes which are 8" deep, and I didn't want to have to till the land under the box.
The beets are also Burbee, Chicago Red Hybrid. They're supposed to be ready in 49 days, but the package says they can be enjoyed either small as gourmet beets, or full sized, so I'm guessing the 49 days is for the small ones. Interestingly, it also says the tops can be harvested by themselves when extra young, which makes me wonder if you could do that and still have the bulb continue to grow, perhaps with new tops? Maybe I'll research further and/or experiment with that.
The onions are called Dutch Yellow Onion, Stuttgarter Riesen. They're small bulbs, 75 for $2.99. It is, I believe, alot easier to grow onions from bulbs, and supposedly the bulbs last for a very long time, so it should be cost effective.
Since I did the root vegetable planting, we did have a number of nights down near freezing, and a few mornings of light frost. I did anticipate the frost a couple times and covered the garden boxes with a tarp, but also a couple of cold nights I didn't do that. I've done some watering, but not alot. But then we've had a fair amount of rain since then, and so it hasn't been too needed. We've also had a fair amount of sun, so I'm thinking the weather has been about perfect.
By earlier this week, (around April 19 or so) the radishes had all sprouted. This weekend I even thinned a couple where two plants were growing together. Not wanting to be wasteful, I replanted the ones I had gently pulled up in areas that looked like there was space.
Also this weekend, two of the onions have very small shoots starting to come up.
I also decided to take an early shot at the salad greens, since they're supposed to all be at least a little cold hardy. So this weekend I planted the red lettuce, mesclun, spinach, and swiss chard. I guess I bought most of these at a different location - as only one is Burpee. That's the mesclun, a mix of seven salad greens. The other three are Lake Valley Seed. The swiss chard is Ruby Red - Rhubarb, the spinach is Olympia Hybrid, and the red lettuce is Red Salad Bowl. I planted them in four rows, also with the string and stake markers. I'm a little worried that I might have planted them to close together for when they're full grown - but I'll just keep and eye on the situation and if they start looking crowded I can always remove some (and eat them, of course).
And, the strawberries I had planted last year (from a small plant), which didn't produce anything last year, have been spreading, increasing the size of the plant by about 30%. It was spreading out in all directions, but I put up some brick along the yard side, and I'm hopeing I can direct it to grow up toward the house. I think it would work well along the house mixed in with the roses. It's now covered in flowers. I believe each flower should become a strawberry, which if so will be pretty amazing, especially this early in the year. The plant is supposed to put out berries at a fairly regular rate all year for this type, and so if it continues like this I will be very pleased!
I'm always amazed how full grown plants come out of such small little seeds. I've enjoyed getting my hands dirty, and it feels like I've actually accomplished something. I have hopes of also planting some tomatoes, cucumbers, as well as a number of herbs (sage, basil, oregano, and rosemary). I plan to use plants from the local nursery for the tomatoes and rosemary, but I'm going to try from seed for the rest.
I also plan on planting some fennel. Kara and I tried cooking with fennel a while back, and we both really liked it. I also like how versatile the plant is - in that you can eat the bulb, the greens, and the seed. Supposedly it's easy to grow, and the biggest trick is that it's very aleopathic -- meaning you have to keep it off to itself as it puts out chemicals that kills other plants. I have a perfect place for it up by the fence in the northwest corner of the yard - along the northern fence - about 5 or so feet from the other veggies. That area has been taken over by some kind of invasive plant, and I'm hopeing the fennel will win the battle (and I'll give it a hand by digging up as much of the invasive plant as I can.)
I would like to have the strawberries in the same general location, running down along the western fence, and I imagine a set up where the strawberries fill the area as close to the fennel as they like. I already dug out some of the invasive plant and transplanted to there one of the strawberry sprigs that had sprung up from a runner. I might do a little more of that, or maybe just leave it and see how it does. Along that same western fence we already have black berries and some mint (both from previous owners). The mint, though, has trouble, also due to that invasive plant. I'm hopeing I can cut back on the invasive plant in the mint area as well so as to help it do better. So - the picture I have is fennel at the top, then strawberries, then blackberries, then mint. The strawberries and mint should be able to grow down around the bottom of the blackberries, so if that works this will make good use of that space.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
