Lettuce, Carrots, and Scallions

This evening we put in a patch of salad lettuce (Mesclun). Rowan helped as we turned over a small patch of soil, raked it smooth, and sowed the seed into 3 drills about 8" apart. In the past we've always just spread it on top of the bed to create a lettuce "patch." This year I'd like plant a new row every couple weeks to always have fresh salad greens. I'll also construct a shade-cloth tent structure to keep the plants cool in July. In a few weeks I'll plant the head lettuce we started from seed last weekend.

We also put in some carrots (Nantes). Carrots seem to take forever before harvesting, so I was never willing to waste the garden space on them. But this year Burpee's had these seeded strips that you bury. I was curious so we bought a packet that had two 8' strips, and it won't take up too much space in the garden.

I've been wanting to try spring onions (scallions) for a long time. I remember it being a staple in my folk's garden. So we planted a small section which hopefully we can harvest sometime in June. In preparing the soil bed, I noticed a lot of ants. Last year a colony of ants made off with nearly every lettuce seed I sowed in a single day. I read that spreading cornmeal with the seed will help -- not sure if it kills the ants or just distracts them. I was generous with the cornmeal.

More Seed-starting

Tonight I started another set of seeds:

24 Zinnias (California Giant)
24 Statice
12 Cosmos
12 Head Lettuce (Buttercrunch)

We grow a lot of leaf lettuce, but I've been sowing it directly. I think I can transplant the started seedlings next month and have a head start on our salads.

Liz loves the zinnias -- she likes cutting the flowers for dinner decor. We'll direct sow them in a month or so, but I wanted to get an early start on some. Same with Cosmos.

The statice will go in our front bed. I read it's also a great flower for drying, which will be great for sprucing up our fall and winter dinner tables.

Taters, Peas, and Rhubarb

This afternoon we put in a half row of potatoes (red and white). I think we had about 20 seed potatoes. We bought whole disease-free potatoes and cut them into pieces, each with at least 1 sprouting eye, no smaller than a golf ball. We buried them about 5" deep and 12" apart, then covered with 6" of hay.

We also put in about 10' of peas (Wando). We spaced them about 3" apart on alternating sides. After 2 weeks we'll sow the rest of the row, so our harvesting is more manageable. And once we have some plants started we'll put a trellis up for the peas to climb.

We also planted 4 rhubarb roots in our raspberry patch. We couldn't decide where to put something as "permanent" as rhubarb. They were pretty dried out, so we'll see how they manage.

Other projects

A couple of other places in the "yard" (I use the term loosely -- there's grass and we mow it, but I don't really consider it a yard in the typical suburban sense) will get some attention this year. Two beds near our firepit end up full of pokeweed; a bed beside the garage gets beautiful Jack in the Pulpits and other perennials, but also ends up full of weeds; and the front of the house needs a good bit of help. If nothing else I want to shake some wildflower seeds into the firepit beds, and spruce up the others with some mulch.

More Fertilizer...

I gave another round of half-strength fish emulsion fertilizer this morning. Approx 4ml for each of the marigolds, which are about 1-2" and starting to get their true leaves. I gave around 1ml for the others, which are still fairly small. I use a small syringe to avoid getting the fertilizer on the tender leaves.

Fertilizer for seedlings

This morning I mixed 1 tsp of fish emulsion fertilizer with a quart of warm water. The seedlings soil was getting dry, and I thought it was okay to give them a shot of weakened fertilizer (5-1-1). I fed all of the marigolds, and a couple of the Black Eyed Susans. The marigolds are about 1.5"; the BES are less than .25" and a few of the snapdragons have emerged. As of today, 30 marigolds are up, with nothing in 6 of the cells yet.

Vegetable Garden Prep II

A big day as we pulled the majority of the leaves off the remaining rows. We filled up the wagon with the leaves, putting a quarter of them on the shrub bed, and half on the raspberry patch.

Raspberry patch work

Today being an exceptionally warm afternoon, I hewed the raspberry canes to about 12". Several had some buds, so I hope it's not too late. I left a dozen canes for early berries.

I also mixed 2 wheelbarrow loads of leaf mold and aged chicken manure, and spread it around several of the cane clumps. We'll see what happens. On top of everything then I forked some chopped and wintered leaves, to a depth of maybe 4".

Last spring, Liz and I cleaned and weeded the entire bed, and the weeds took over completely. The boys picked maybe 2 or 3 dozen berries. This year I'm determined to keep it weeded, with the help of a thick layer of leaf mulch.

Flower Bed Prep

This afternoon I shoveled 2 wheelbarrow loads of aged chicken manure and leaf mold into the front of the flower bed near the road. I'd like to have the marigolds, as well as black eyed susans and snapdragons here. We also prepped the back part of the bed where Liz had zinnias planted last year. We pulled up dozens of day lilies there last year.

Marigolds germinated already!

Remarkably the marigolds are starting to break through, after only 3 days.