One week old seedlings

2015 Garden Kickoff

This weekend, the snow melted enough that I could pull the plastic back to see if anything survived the wicked cold of our winter. I was surprised to see that some kale and mache are still viable under the protection of only one layer of plastic. Undoubtedly, the four foot high snow drifts provided some protection as well.

Unfortunately, the mache that I planted in December never came up, though Coleman's Winter Harvest Handbook gave me some hope that it would. I am sure the issue was in my approach and not due to any shortcoming of the plant.

I soaked about a hundred snap peas for three days and then planted them directly in two containers, one covered and one without protection. The spacing is tight with about a 2" grid, we will see what happens...

This morning I started seventy soil blocks with my new 1 1/2" mini-blocker from Johnny's Seeds, about 20 kale, 10 arugula and 40 lettuce. The seeds were sprouted for 5 days on paper towels sandwiched between two plates. I used Johnny's 512 soil mix for the soil blocks which is made with just that in mind. What a difference it makes! I think I had too much peat and not enough fine particles and organic matter in previous mixes. It was well worth the investment in a soil blocking mix just to see a proper mix. I am expecting great things...