Early spring 2023
Category: planting
Fall chores
My to-do list is really long and I’m not making very fast progress. There is so much to do in the fall. It’s better to slow down some and enjoy these small steps in a positive direction.
The shrubbery
The shrubbery is planted. I’m addition to the witch hazel from Fedco Trees, we planted three more seedlings today. After being undecided for a long time about the elderberry, I finally opted to put it in the lawn with the others.
Rudbeckia Triloba
I planted this rudbeckia in the back flower bed. It’s a problematic area that I’m trying to fill with beautiful care-free perennials that don’t try to take over the garden.
We got this from Wild Seed’s plant sale.
Tomato transplant day
A big day in the garden! Sam set up the cattle panels and planted the tomatoes. 40 in that row and 19 in the row against the fenceline. Plus four cherry tomatoes in the sandbox near the house, for a total of 63 seedlings planted. The rows in the garden have drip irrigation this year, a new innovation. And they are planted 16 inches apart rather than a foot. Trying out wider spacing this year.
Brussels sprouts and red cabbage
It feels a little early to plant these but they are outgrowing their pots and I need them in the ground. So here are my little vigorous Speedia brussels sprouts seedlings and a few Mammoth red cabbage. I never leave enough space between my seedlings. I think I like the idea of them growing companionably in a cluster. And I’m usually short on space in the garden. I know they would most likely do better with an adequate amount of space. It’s something I’m working on as a gardener.
On the left, half a bed of brussels sprouts and cabbage under row cover. In the center, peas and fava beans. On the right, a row of broccoli seedlings under row cover. Eventually, the garden will look greener.
Two generations of kale
I planted the new baby kale seedlings in the same patch as the hoary old grandpa kale stalks. This is not following principles of crop rotation, but I did it anyway. I liked the idea of sheltering the babies amongst the elders that are starting to grow new shoots from their stems.
The dazzling blue lacinato is looking especially dazzling. No flea beetle damage yet. I may need to put these under row cover. Flea beetles can kill them when they are young and tender. Last few years, some of my kale survived the spring onslaught and grew well into the summer and fall, and even survived until the following spring (as the two stalks above).
Rehabilitating a bed
The row with the trommel at its head used to contain the legumes – peas and fava beans – which have been moved toward the house one row. For some reason, a lot of grass invaded the bed around the edges and it had to be removed. Sam hooked up the solar-powered trommel to regain the soil from the clods of grass. He’s sweeping dust off the solar panel to get it to function well.
It’s not exactly no-till gardening, but it is satisfying to look at the nicely prepared bed.
Broccoli planting
I needed to get the broccoli seedlings out of the tray and into the ground. For one thing, white thready roots were coming out of the bottom of the blocks. For another, I needed the fine mesh tray for my little tomato blocks. Apparently I have only one fine-mesh tray.
So today was devoted to getting these guys planted.
First, Sam dug the bed, removing the biggest rocks and roots. We added some compost, greensand, and azomite and raked it smooth.
I planted about 40 seedlings down each side of the row. They are a little close together but not bad. I watered them in with a splash of Sam’s special alfalfa tea.
Then I had to set up the wires and the row cover. I used wooden stakes laid along the edges on one side, and heavy metal fence posts down the other. Plus some rocks. This is reused row cover, with one big hole which needed a supplemental piece.
I’m expecting this broccoli to do as well as it did last year, but we’ll see. Feeling optimistic!
Spring day
An exciting day at Cross Road Gardens. It really felt like spring, for the first time, I think. A burst of gardening energy, although I only really worked for a few hours.
