Second harvest

Yesterday, we gleaned the second harvest from our lettuce frame. This provided enough lettuce, arugula and radicchio for four people for dinner. With the warmer temperatures this week, I predict that our harvest next weekend will provide enough lettuce for at least two salads for four people.

Also included in this post is a closeup of the beech seedlings. They have an unusual "lily-pad" initial formation which then sprouts a more traditional leaf stem.

We had three hard frosts in a row this weekend. I didn't think that asparagus was susceptible to frost, but several of the stalks have wilted.

Winter's last blast?

We are experiencing what I hope is the last blast of winter, although it did not turn out to be as serious as forecast. It looks like the covers will remain on the garden until Saturday morning.

More than 50 beech seedlings are now up. I started to imagine what a chore it will be to trim 200' of twelve foot high hedge and, in my head, am already designing a trimmer on rails to make it manageable.

We harvested our first batch of baby lettuce today along with some lettuce and radicchio that overwintered. It filled one 3.5 quart container.

Spring is springing

After the last post, the covers were taken off on Saturday morning and remained off until Tuesday evening when we had another frost warning. The lettuce continues to slowly mature. I think that we are only days away from our first baby lettuce harvest. There are now 37 out of about 120 beech tree seedlings that have sprouted. By my figuring, that will provide more than 100' of hedge, but I need at least another 100' to completely enclose the back yard. I was standing there last night imagining the tall hedges and a complete sense of privacy, not to mention protection of the fruit trees from wandering deer.

The forsythia and quince are still holding on to their beautiful yellow and red flowers. The wild apple in the backyard is in full fragrant bloom and the dwarfs in the front are getting there. The backyard is filled with purple violets and light blue forget-me-nots, and some late daffodils are blooming in the front. Strawberries are flowering and several of the kale that were started inside have graduated from their protective milk carton covers.

Under cover

Everything went under covers again last night. We are looking forward to Friday morning when the weather will warm up for a stretch. There are now 14 out of about 120 European beech seedlings that have made their way into the light. The apple trees are beginning to show pink as the flower buds expand. The grape hyacinth, daffodil, forsythia, and quince have been in flower for several weeks now. I think that the generally cool temperatures have preserved them. All of the pea seeds (~64) have sprouted in the garden.

Sunny days, cool nights

We have had a long stretch of temperatures in the 40's or 50's during the day and near or below freezing at night. I left the plastic covers over the garden for most of the week, but will leave them off this week as there are currently no freeze warnings. I covered the asparagus with chicken wire to discourage squirrels from digging around them. The lettuce looks like it may be ready to begin harvesting in a couple of weeks.

Beech seed and cherry cutting report

Last weekend I checked on the beech seeds remaining in the refrigerator and found that another 60 were beginning to sprout. Out of curiosity, I checked the temperature with an infrared spotter in that part of the refrigerator (upper right) and discovered that it was 55 degrees F. No wonder the seeds are sprouting! Further investigation caused me to realize that the refrigerator is coolest on the left side where it shares a partition with the freezer and lower down. So, the surface temperature in the upper right is 55 F while the lower left is 35 degrees F.

While I had the temperature spotter out, I checked the soil temperature outside and found it to be 30 degrees F while the air temperature was 34 degrees F. I hope these beech seeds won't mind too much being woken up only to be placed in near freezing soil.

So 62 more beech seeds were planted (~120 total with 3 lost to squirrels), other than those lost, only four have emerged from the soil. I have been placing foam insulation over them when temperature dips below 30. There are 90 seeds left in fridge.

The cherry cuttings seem to be doing well, though I thought the same thing in January just before the leaves shriveled up. I have been misting the leaves every 20 minutes or so when I am home to keep them hydrated until the roots take. The differences from January are more constant moisture and the placement of the cuttings under grow lights once the leaves appear.

We had several frosty mornings this week. Most of the garden is protected with two layers of plastic. I am looking forward to Saturday morning when the temperatures will rise into the 60's and the frost warnings are past.