The Week in Retrospect

Well, we got our rain. I'd even consider it a good dousing; there was so much that we had puddles in the garden 2 days after the rain and haven't had to water since last week.  However, conditions weren't exactly ideal for doing much work in the garden, not even walking. So, we had to leave it be for a few days. 

But, yesterday we were back in action.  The 2nd succession of spinach, beets, and carrots were planted.  In this way, we'll make sure to harvest those veggies for a longer period instead of being inundated with one crop at a time.  If Bubba wanted to be a farmer instead of a shrimp boat captain, his line might have read something like this: "Dey's uh.... raw carrots, cooked carrots, carrot cake, carrot muffins, carrots in salads, carrots in soup, boiled carrots, baked carrots..."  

There is nothing like a fresh carrot from your garden, but I think our skin would have turned orange from all the carotene.  Thus, plant in successions!  I left 10 days between the spinach plantings, nearly 2 weeks between beet sowings, and almost 3 weeks for the carrots.  I'm hoping to fit even more carrots under some tomato plants further along in the season.  The shade of the tomatoes will keep it nice and cool for those carrots to live long and prosper.

Off to the plot for turnip and parsnip planting!

Rain, rain, come our way!

So, we're nearing the end of April and we're missing 3 inches in rainfall!  What's a farmer to do?  Well, to be honest, we haven't done much.  So far, watering at night or early in the morning has been just fine... at least in the sense that there are still signs of life.  Other than keeping things moist with our tiny watering can, we wait patiently for the real thing. This weekend, we are supposed to get at least an inch of rain.  That would be terrific and would also give our weary bodies a little rest.  Hopefully, you get a nice little rest this weekend, too.

I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking.

Row of potato hills.

Zoomed in

Mini greenhouses made from halved plastic bottles...these are working like a charm on my broccoli transplants!
















Baby lettuce that I had a kick hand weeding...no joke.

Our picturesque view from the plot.

A bunny buddy. 

Proud

Photos for you to enjoy

Here is the layout that I've been keeping from you. 

Broccoli transplant

My hill for the birdhouse gourds...one of the plants I am most excited about!  Don't worry, I've been taking my seeds out of the packets.

Oh, just watering.

And here we are.

Transplant Time!

Woke up early to get to the plot before it got too warm and sunny to transplant.  However, I spent two hours preparing and marking out the beds before I could even start on transplants.  Nevertheless, the collards and broccoli are transplanted, and the spinach, baby choi, and green onions are all seeded.  Just under half of the plants are in, and it's not even May. Hooray for early veggies!

I used some of this fish emulsion fertilizer mixed with water to assist my tiny transplants in surviving the shock of their new situation.  I also made sure to water my plants while in the middle of covering them with soil.  In this way, less H2O is lost to evaporation and more is left to take care of the plants.

Will update more with pics soon!

This past week in the garden!

Our weather here in Cincy has been outrageous....it reached 84 degrees yesterday!  We've been enjoying it every way possible, biking, reading on the porch, dog-walking, bonfires, eating every meal outdoors, and of course, gardening!

I've been over to the plot every day this week.  Waiting, and hoping, and wishing, and praying that something...just one little something would sprout.  And guess what?!?  Today, I was blessed with that something.  Actually 13 somethings!  I counted 11 new sugar snap pea babies, 1 potato bud poking through, and 1 carrot sprouting forth.  It made my day.  Here are pics of the sugar snap peas:

Here is the potato!








Other than watching the garden in it's first stages of growth, we have been busy tending to the weeds, marking out new beds, adding compost, keeping things moist, and most importantly in April, planting.  Chris and I managed to beat the rain and get in the beet seeds and my pathetic looking onion transplants today.  You see, in my efforts to harden off the onions, I managed to kill about half of them.  Thus, only 6 little onions were tucked in to the soil.  However, I have quite a few (about 40) growing on the side of the house.  I had planted those in the fall in a cold frame and there they grew (slowly) all winter long.  I think we're set with onions no matter what happens with the 6 in the plot.

Next to the onions, I direct seeded some Tall Top Early Wonder Beets.  Chris says the seeds look like chocolate clusters dipped in carmel...which beets don't taste anything like, but to me, are just as delicious!  Beets and onions are good companion plants so I'm hoping the beets can help the onions along.

By next week, we hope to have all of the giant monster weeds out of the garden and get the brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, califlowers, turnips, radishes, etc.) planted.  Although I'm dissappointed with my onions, and it might help the potatoes if we had some cooler and wetter weather...we are right where we need to be!

Tilling and Planting Potatoes

So I've been busy.... the plot is tilled and the potatoes are in the ground along with the sugar snap peas!

Right before Easter weekend, we were blessed to receive free rental of a rottotiller by the land owner (which, for you curious folk, would be $34 for a couple hours).  We made do with the semi-moist soil and quickly went over the plot twice.  There were some corners we had to skip over due to them being a bit too sticky and my concern for damaging the soil.  It is especially important when working with clay soil to be careful not to work with it when it's too wet.  Hopefully, we made the right decision ....I don't know when it would have been drier.  Here are some photos of our first rottotiller extravaganza:                        

                       The plot, pre-tilled                                          



                                               .









 

    The tiller and one of our mascots

  

All done! For now.

After enjoying the holiday weekend, we got back to work to plant the nicely sprouted potatoes.  Chris measured out the bed, and using electrical fence flags to mark out the shape, we got to breaking up and readying the soil for planting.  This included digging a 6-8" trench down the middle of a 30" bed.  I have my beds spaced a bit closer than what is normal but not detrimentally close.  We stuck in the taters sprout-side up and covered them with about 4 inches of soil, firming it lightly.  We'll keep an eye (haha) on the potatoes as they grow, making sure to add more and more layers until a small hill is formed.  This technique will prevent the tops of the new taters from turning green from the sun.  Safety tip:  If you end up with green potatoes, those parts should be cut off. That is because a harmful toxin, solanine, is present there and can only only be 'cooked away' through some methods and not others.  Thus, to be safe, chop off the green and enjoy your potatoes in peace.

Here is a photo of the 'E' shaped bed we created.  It is about 10' x 12', doesn't look like much but holds 42 seed potatoes spaced about a foot apart:















             Here I am shaping the trench

                                                                                                 Now the potatoes are tucked away.
















Next...more weeding then onion, beet, lettuce, and spinach planting. 
Frost-free date coming soon: April 15th!