The 2012 garden is planted!

This has certainly been a different spring.  We sit here on May 28th knowing that my spinach, romaine lettuce, Butter Crunch head lettuce, and my leaf lettuce is now done for the first planting.  The subsequent plantings of leaf lettuce, red romaine, and baby romaine are in the ground and should be ready for picking in a week or so.

2012 Broccoli - planted 3/16, ready for harvest

 Above you see the first broccoli (Packman) of the year.  There are already side shoots, indicative of the warm and cold weather we have had.  Today I interplanted Calabrese and DeCiccio broccoli to take over when the early broccoli is done.  The bed is mulched to conserve as well as keep a consistent moisture for the plants.  Foliar feeding has been every 2 weeks.

2012 Romaine - planted 3/16, last head of 16

 This is my last romaine.  I must confess that I did not have plants ready by 3/16, but Home Depot did.  Keep it well watered and it has not disappointed.  The lettuce is very flavor packed and works great in lunch salads.

2012 Onions from seed - growing quickly

 The onions were started from seed.  Red and white.  I have started the mulching and will continue to add to it.  Watering has been almost an every other day task given the gaps in moisture.  Onions need consistent moisture to keep them going.

Asparagus - 16 pounds already

We have 4 4x8 beds of asparagus.  Diligence in picking has resulted in a great crop.  We are starting to see the asparagus beetle/fly but picking daily and then soaking in cold water drives the bugs off.  Grilling has been the choice for prep.  My wife is going to try an asparagus soup this week given the cooler weather we have coming in (60's).


As work travel is in the cards this week, I will try and get an update next weekend.  Until then, be safe and know where your food comes from.

Bill

The end of April....

.... finds the asparagus in full tilt.  We have been blessed with a number of great meals.  Dodging the frost is certainly a task and the small loss to the ice is still ok.  It will be a long season this year.  Need to fertilize the beds good when we get done.

.... has the broccoli and kohlrabi almost 6" tall.  We've covered them 3 times to miss the killing frosts.  The roots are set well and with the warm weather predicted for this week should see quite a growth spurt.

.... has delivered the first radish.  Crisp, a little bite but something that our ground has grown and a trip to the supermarket is not required.

.... signals the beginning of cutting of the lettuce and spinach from the early planted beds.  The mixed seeding is growing quickly and should be ready to cut by the end of the week.  The romaine and butter head are shooting right up.

..... saw onions in the ground already a week.  The planting went well and we should see a great response from the rain that is predicted tonight.

.....  delivers sugar snap peas that are already almost 9" tall.  I should have put up the trellis fence today, but I will get in installed either Monday or Tuesday night after work.

Let the season begin!!!!!

Be safe.
Bill

Spring Continues... planting has started

Once again we are at the start of new growing season.  The only real difference is the month that we are starting.  Today, April 1, was actually the second planting in the garden.  We added another row of spinach, 9 romaine lettuce, and 8 bibb lettuce under the temporary hoop house.  I also planted 12 Packman broccoli, and 8 kohlrabi that will have to learn to work with the outside temperature.

The inside plants continue to  progress well with the Oasis Rootcube medium.  I did pick up another one for add-on plantings throughout the year.

Pictures next week.

Bill

Onions are planted and up!

Onions are planted 2 weeks now.  We put in 1gm of Ringmaster and 1gm of Red Amposta.  The biggest change I made this year was to plant everything in Oasis Horticubes.  Horticubes are a a soil-less block that fits in the 10x20 trays.  We utilized the 162 cube sheet.  Nicely formed and ready to go.

This week I will start planting early lettuce, a few early broccoli, brussels sprouts, and probably some early kale.

Oh the fun of spring.