Asparagus and Raspberry beds

I got out my trusty Gravely two-wheel tractor this weekend to dig holes for the asparagus and raspberry beds. Due to time constraints, I only planted three of the raspberries, will have to finish up during the week...

All hail, the baggy!

I have settled on the baggy method for starting seeds. I find the suspense and disappointment of looking at barren soil-blocks day after day, wondering whether anything is happening under the surface, to be too much. Also, by the time the seedlings appear in vermiculite, the roots are too long to easily incorporate into soil blocks.

While searching for confirmation whether the top of a fluorescent light fixture is an appropriate place to start warmth loving seeds like peppers and basil (it is), I found an excellent reference on the baggy method by Rob at Rob's Plants. The only way that I differ in practice from Rob, is that I have been placing the seeds on top of a paper towel in the baggy so that I can see what they are doing without opening it up. Also, I seal the baggie completely (as completely as one can when using non-sealable sandwich bags), and place a label on each with the planting date and variety.

With the baggy method, one does not need to keep an eye on the moisture level and one can see at a glance whether the seeds (any of them) are sprouting. It is also easier to find a micro-environment inside at the right temperature to make them sprout most quickly.

Transplanting out

The seeds that were started last week were in dire need of transplanting, so I planted many of them directly in the second garden frame (not counting the strawberry frame). I also planted many of the seedlings that were started in March. The protective covers in the picture are meant to protect the plants from severe weather and insects until they get a little larger:
8 lettuce
8 kale
4 chard

I tried germinating some marigold and old lettuce seed (from early-90's) on damp paper towels in plastic bags. The marigolds sprouted well, but not a single lettuce seed. Now I know what to do with those packets.

Under the lights, the tomatoes seedlings are looking great and the first kale, lettuce and chard plantings are large enough to plant out.

I like the soil block idea, but it does take a little more effort to prepare the blocks than to fill containers and it is causing me to procrastinate. No sign of life from the blocks that contain the pepper and basil seeds. I see the advantage now of having the smaller size (3/4") blocks. They will take up less space while waiting for seeds to germinate. Thankfully, I received an offer for one from Gullywash Gardens, can't wait to try it out.

Forsythia is in full bloom and the hyacinth was especially fragrant this morning. Vinca vines are flowering in the back. The apple trees have green leaves just beginning to unfold and the lilacs are a little bit ahead of that.

Easter garden prep

On Easter afternoon, I was able to prep two garden frames and get one completely planted with the following, all from seed:
48 snap peas
32 carrots
32 beets
16 lettuce
4 kale

The other frame was planted mostly with garlic from last year. The twenty individual bulbs that I planted last summer divided into as many as sixteen bulbs each. Some of these I separated and planted sixteen to a square, the rest I left in clusters and planted sixteen in four squares.

Earth Day Strawberries

For Earth Day, I planted 52 strawberries in one four foot square garden frame. I read in my Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening that one can expect up to a quart of strawberries per plant. Woohoo!

Rootstock

We received a shipment of mostly fruit rootstock today from Miller Nursery in Canandaigua, NY. Hopefully, this weekend I will find time to plant 9 raspberry, 2 currant, 6 blueberry, 50 strawberry and 25 asparagus plants.

Two nights ago, we planted more spinach, lettuce, kale, chard and marigolds.

Popeye's Delight

We now have two Cherry Sun and four Paragon tomatoes growing under the lights. The peppers have yet to awaken. I picked up some fresh spinach seeds this weekend which will hopefully have a better germination rate than the current stock. I also purchased a container of baby spinach greens for green smoothies. I have dubbed this recipe "Popeye's Delight":

2-3 cups of water
2 frozen bananas
1 dollop peanut butter
1 dollop honey
2-3 cups fresh spinach greens

Blend thoroughly and enjoy!

Daffodil and hyacinth have been up for a few days and forsythia is beginning to show some color. We saw some snow yesterday and it is currently snowing heavily again.

Fluorescent light cost

What is the cost to run fluorescent lights for seed starting?

By looking at my electric bill, I see that electricity costs about 10 cents per kilowatt hour. Here is the calculation for running two 40 watt bulbs for 90 days (March/April/May).

2 x 40 watt bulb x 14 hours per day X 10 cents /1000 watt-hour = 11.2 cents/day

11.2 cents/day x 90 days = 1008 cents or $10.08 for 90 days

or $3.35 per month per 4' fluorescent light fixture.

Spring planting schedule

In reviewing the past three years of blog entries, I have realized that I am further behind this year than the last two. The first year of garden blogging, I had started seeds the first week of March. By the end of the first week of May, we were beginning to harvest greens by the gallon. Granted, there were a couple of things that were started too early, like the Morning Glory that grew about 3 feet tall before it could be planted outside. But overall, it was a very successful year.

So, in order to prevent falling behind in the future, I am clearly laying out my recommended schedule for early spring planting. For the benefit of anyone who may want to follow my guidelines, our average last frost date is about May 1, though we have had frost warnings up toward the end of May the last two years.

- Start greens inside(*) the first or second week of March (lettuce, chard, kale, spinach), continue every two weeks
- Start transplanting greens from lights into the garden the second week of April, preferably under row covers
- At the end of March, begin planting directly outside, greens, peas, and hardy root crops (need to determine if some things should always be started inside in soil blocks)

I am still in the process of discovering how many greens need to be started every two weeks in order to have a continuous supply of greens throughout the year. I suspect it will be 4-8 plants of each variety for our family of four.

*start in soil blocks, or in plastic bags (paper towel on one side, in and out of refrigerator) then transfer to soil blocks

Transplanting

This weekend we played catchup. The tomatoes, basil, and peppers were finally planted in soil blocks and the first two plantings of greens were transplanted into soil blocks. That is kind of backwards, because soil blocks are not meant for transplanting, but for starting and growing on from seed; but I wanted to get away from plastic pots, so we just split the soil blocks in two, placed the seedlings in-between, and will let the seedlings sew the two halves back together.

Tendersweet cabbage sprouted on Friday (18 days), Moss-curled parsley sprouted last night (20 days). I had taken to putting the seedling trays in the refrigerator overnight and taking them out during the day in order to simulate cold-nights and warm days.

Daffodils bloomed yesterday in our 77 degree weather.

Spinach, spinach, wherefore art thou?

So far, my experiment with refrigerating spinach seeds is a bust, of the forty or so seeds that we have planted, only two have fully sprouted. I see that other people have similar problems. Sounds like it is time to get some fresh seeds, though mine are only 1 year old.

Here is a more scientific discussion of germination rates which indicates that the greatest percentage of spinach seeds will germinate at 50 deg F, but will take 12 days to do so. Maybe if I rotate the seeds in and out of the refrigerator each morning and evening...?

According to my notes from last year, forsythia, hyacinth and daffodils were already in bloom today. All that I have seen this year are the crocus flowers which somehow survived being buried by 6 inches of snow. Thankfully, the last vestiges of snow have disappeared.

I received the soil blocker in the mail late last week. I am hoping to try it out tonight with the tomato, basil and pepper seeds.