taking shape

Flying in the face of the weather reports' call for MORE rain, some seeds and seedlings were planted, invasive ivies removed, and backs bent to soreness. The day required sunglasses more than rain jackets. Our new garden space has been partially planted to herbs and cool weather greens, and seeds sown of pea, beets, turnips, radish and rutabaga.Salvaged bricks, concrete steps, stones found while roto-tilling, and a single round leftover from cutting firewood form the steps to navigate the bed without actually stepping on the ground. Additionally they imbue the plot with some much desired design elements and make use of otherwise idle resources. Plenty of room for food; room enough to impart visual (and functional) interest. We'll roll the dice on the weather tomorrow and hope to plant more greens.

seedling steps

The first set of seedlings are moving up in the world. Time to transplant into a more coherent and spacious intermediary arrangement, the last before they brave the cool spring weather. Seeded flats are scooped out by hand and separated carefully (as little root disturbance as possible behooves the hungry gardener). Spacing is approximate; about 2 inches for each plant will provide ample room until they're planted in the garden. In a 10"x 20" flat that is 50 seedlings. More than your typical urban garden can accommodate, but there's always the opportunity to spread the love to neighbors or else rouge plants not showing vigor. The planting media for the transplants is mostly compost, with some peat and perlite and some added granulated organic fertilizer to induce rapid growth. These coles and greens are hardening off in the greenhouse as they prepare for their next step on the journey. As soon as it stops raining long enough to do a little digging...

seed flats sown

Spring looms through cold rains but daylight savings is the home gardener's best friend. To busy myself and make it through these winnowing winter days, planting seeds proves a welcome respite. Instead of using 2.5" pots with a few seeds in each (last year's method), I'm testing a new and hopefully more efficient way of cranking out some early spring starts.

The flats (11" by 20") are filled to just below the top edge with a self-assembled mix consisting of 1 part peat moss, 1 part perlite, and 2 parts compost. A pinch of seeds is broadcast over the surface of the media and additional mixture is sprinkled over the flat to ensure the seeds are covered. The flat is kept moist (propagation domes work best) and warm. Germination should follow in a few short days.

In choosing what to plant first, cold-hardiness wins the selection game, and the seedlings sprouted so far include cabbages, chards, kales, mustards, mache and other various greens. In spite of the seasons' reticence to relent on this mucky cold wetness, it's also time to start thinking of tender varieties to begin indoors; i.e. tomatoes and the rest of the solanums. Yum.

A caged fruit yet grows

Finally got around to buying tomato cages today. Couldn't find any that weren't made in China, oh well. A lesson well learned: place cages over tomatoes when they are freshly transplanted, before they have a chance to really take off. I made the mistake of procrastinating and letting the plants get bushy, thus making the process of getting them within the confines of the cage needlessly difficult. It required much patience and careful, deliberate movement of the plants' many branches, but in the end all turned out well. Both the tomatoes inside and outside the cloche are now caged and will have the support they require to hold up fruit.

I also took the opportunity to plant three squash seedlings my Dad gave me, two of which I believe are zucchini, and one I think is a yellow squash. He didn't label them so I won't know for sure until they fruit. Keeps it a little more interesting I suppose. Here's one of the plants after a good soaking:

Similar to potatoes, squash appreciate growing from a mounded hill of soil.

The peas have dominated the trellises, and are nearly four feet tall already:

Today I noticed their first blossoms , which means a bounty of snap and snow peas is just around the corner!

Me and the bean(stalk)

In the week since my last post, me and the plants have been soaking up some serious sun. I completed the final trellis, which will be providing support for the two different varieties of beans, the rattlesnake pole beans and the scarlet runners. Construction is the same as the trellis for the peas, the exception being that it is much less crowded with twine. Beans appreciate more space to fill out. Here's a pic of a scarlet runner crawling up the crosspiece of the trellis only a few hours after I completed it. They climb fast!


The quinoa and some of the carrots have sprouted, though I may have to resow some carrots as they are sporadic and the germination rate left something to be desired. A quinoa seedling:


Everything in the cloche is faring rather well, though I have yet to establish a satisfactory method for securing the plastic along the base of the pvc that is in contact with the ground. Perhaps it's time to bring out the zip ties.

A couple of my broccoli plants are suffering from some ailment I am unable to diagnose at this point. Here's what they look like:

The leaves are wilting and beginning to turn yellow. I first thought they might not be too keen on the warm weather we've had as of late (75 + degrees for the past week). They've been adequately watered, though not over-watered. They seem to perk up at night once it cools off, but set to wilting once the sun's up the next day. The remaining plants seem fine, and it may be that I just have to cut my losses and remove the plants if they don't recover soon. I can always plant something else in its place. Here's a more uplifting shot of one of the plants that is doing much better and even starting to bud!


I did a little work out in the front garden today, planting several herbs (parsley and basil), nasturtiums, marigolds, snapdragons and various tomatoes. To update on the front garden, the initial tomatoes I planted weeks ago are growing vigorously and seem to be enjoying their location near the concrete. I plan on planting some additional herbs and flowers at a later date. A quick shot of what the garden looks like now:

Tomorrow I'm waking up early to set up shop in the front of the house to see if I can't find a good home for the remaining seedlings I have no more room to plant.

Tomato Plants Spilleth Over

We've so many extra tomato plants it will be a struggle to find good homes for them all, but better to have too many seedlings than too few. All of the transplanted seedlings seem to be fairing well, though the weather has been on the cool side lately (good for spinach and peas, but not so much for tomatoes). Today warmed up nicely in the afternoon, with the sun making a well appreciated appearance. The cloche is still in the planning stages, though I think I've figured a way to keep the pvc flexed and secured so that the entire structure will be mobile. That will allow me to move it as needed should certain plants require the extra vertical growing space. Hoping for good weather this Wednesday, as I've scheduled to consult with a friend's mother about installing a vegetable garden at their house and will perhaps be planting it the very same day!

An updated shot of sugar snap peas, about 6" tall now.

Brewed Storms

Last night I was wakened to the sound of my single-paned window rattling in its frame. The screaming wind bore down on the house almost as violently as the pelting rain that hasn't stopped since early yesterday afternoon. My chance to get some more seeds sowed was rained out, as looks like will be the case today. Luckily I was able to get some work done on Sunday. I planted a row of onion starts Nathan had sowed inside in 4" pots back in March. Also some basil and cilantro seedlings sprouted at about the same time. Next to the onions I planted some hills of potatoes, four that I bought as seed potatoes (a purple variety), and three that sprouted in the newly tilled/composted garden as volunteers. A look at what's new in the garden since Sunday:

Basil(left) and Cilantro(right)

Onions

Potatoes

I (reluctantly) planted three tomato plants in our front garden (against the concrete stairs that lead to the front door). I chose to plant them because I felt they had become too leggy, too tall for the pots I had transplanted them into. I imagine moving them into bigger pots at this point wouldn't serve much purpose, since I would be planting them outside in another two weeks anyway. Hopefully this bout of wind and rain will not take too much of a toll, though I'm sure they're not too pleased at the moment. Once the weather improves I imagine their placement will be beneficial to their heat-loving tendencies, as the concrete wall they are planted against absorbs heat during the day and should radiate heat long into the evening, something tomatoes ought to appreciate. Between them I also planted some basil and cilantro. Today should find me drawing up plans to build a tunnel cloche (essentially a mini greenhouse constructed cheaply of pvc pipe and polyurethane plastic) where I hope to grow tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. At least that will keep me busy until the rain stops.

As of now the tomatoes are loosely held upright to the wooden rail with gardening twine. I will probably have to devise a more inventive support system as they begin growing more rapidly (as they are an indeterminate variety and require some type of staking), but for now, it will make do.

Spring Rains...Sprouts!

This past week has seen the sprouting of the various seeds I sowed recently. Have a look:


Top: Beans Bottom: Spinach

Top: Broccoli Bottom:Peas


All seem to be doing well, with the exception of a few beans who had their tops munched off by some of the local fauna. Today I hope to plant a few tomatoes outside, as well as sow some rows of carrots, onions, basil and cilantro. Though it may be a bit early for the tomatoes, a few of the plants have grown leggy, and so I will have to take a bit of a chance setting them out early. I don't think upping the pot size at this point will benefit it much. Here's hoping they adjust adequately. Before the peas and beans get too large I will be constructing trellises for them to climb.

Seedling Sale/First Sprouts

Yesterday I dropped off two trays of extra seedlings at a garage sale my parents were having as part of the Great Mukilteo Garage Sale. About two dozen plants, mostly tomatoes of different varieties, a few eggplants, basil and cilantro. At a dollar a piece they sold out quickly. I made twenty-four dollars! Not bad, at least enough to recoup some of the cost of seed.


While the family was busy selling the plants I went garage sale-ing with my friend Landon. I was able to find all of the things I was looking for: a whole slew of plastic pots of various sizes, a couple of new flourescent fixtures, and a box full of mason jars for canning at the end of the growing season. All told those items cost less than $10 combined!



When I visited the garden this morning I noticed that the first seeds I sowed last week have begun sprouting. Mostly the spinach, but also several beans and peas. It will be important to keep the rows moist during this critical stage of the seedlings emergence until they have established a few true leaves. A thorough watering (about 2 liters for each 13' row, from the rain barrel of course) every morning should be sufficient to keep them moist without drowning them. The broccoli transplants seem healthy, although a few cold nights this past week have kept them from putting on too much new growth. At any rate they seem to be adjusting well to their new home.

Sowing Seed

Some mild, partly cloudy weather today, perfect to begin sowing seeds in the garden. Though I likely should have done it earlier (as peas love cooler spring temps), I sowed two rows of peas (pole variety) at the western end of the garden. Next to them I planted a half row(6 feet) of pole beans and a half row of runner beans. At the other end of the garden I sowed a row of spinach seed as well as the broccoli seedlings that have been chilling in the cold frame.

Broccoli in its new home.

For each of the seeds, I followed the sowing directions explicitly, something I neglected to do last year which to crowding and most likely smaller yields. Between the rows of peas and beans, I left at least 2 feet. As these are pole varieties (they are indeterminate and will require some sort of trellising), I tried to plant them to the far end of the garden to hopefully prevent them from shading smaller vegetables nearby. The fact that the rows are oriented north-south should prevent shadows for the most part anyway...

Plant far more seeds than you intend to ultimately grow, as you will be able to thin once the seedlings have grown a couple of inches and a couple of pairs of true leaves. The broccoli plants are spaced 18" apart. The soil can be filled all the way up to the cotyledon leaves. With transplants and seed sowing, be sure to pat the earth down around the plant or the top of the row with your palm. This restores capillarity to the soil, which will help the area around the seedling stay moist and encourage germination. After planting all the seeds and broccoli, the rows are watered are labeled so the different varieties won't get mixed up (and so my roommates don't step on them). Also this was my first opportunity to use water collected from the rain barrel, which was pretty neat.

A (short) planting list of the garden so far:

-Peas (Snow peas and Super Sugar Snap peas, both pole varieties)
-Beans (Scarlet Runner and Rattlesnake pole)
-Spinach (Bordeaux Hybrid)
-Broccoli (Early Green)

Cold framin'

Summer's still months away but it felt like it had already arrived today. Temps in the 70's and gorgeous, gorgeous sunshine. I took the opportunity to build a cold frame with some salvaged windows my dad gave me and 2x material I scrounged from the scrap pile of a construction site. There are numerous plans for building cold frames out there, but the basic construction consists of a box shape frame built with 2x boards with the windows lain on top. Here's what I was working with:

The windows are about 30"x30" and are single-pane. Double-pane would work fine as well. For this cold frame, the windows will sit side by side, so the materials required are 1 piece of 2"x12" at 60", 2 pieces of 2"x12" at 30", and a piece of 2"x8" at 60". Since I'm poor and unemployed, I screwed together 2 pieces of 2"x6" at 60" to substitute for a 2"x12" at the same length. The 2 pieces at 30" are cut so that the board tapers from a width of 11 1/4" (actual width of 2"x12") down to 9 1/8" (the actual width of the 2"x8"). This will allow rain to flow off the panes. The boards are screwed together with some three-inch screws. Four small blocks are screwed onto the inside of the frame 1 3/8" inches (the width of the panes) down from the top. The windows will sit on the blocks and be flush with the top of the frame. Here's the finished product:

A block of wood screwed to the outside of one of the windows will allow you to easily lift it off to access the inside. In my research on seedlings, I read that before planting them in the garden it is beneficial to allow them to sit outside for a few nights to adjust to cooler nighttime temps. The cold frame (if properly insulated) will keep the plants up to 5 degrees warmer than outside the frame. Later on in the season I may directly plant lettuce or other over-wintering varieties within the frame. For now it will serve to acclimatize seedlings before I plant them in their permanent dirt home.

Rainy days

Since Sunday's pleasant sunshine, we've had rain, snow and more rain. Spring rains are normal for our climate, but they begin to inundate the spirit when they carry on ceaselessly. The past few days I've spent reading and working with the seedlings. All are doing quite well, especially the various tomatoes.

After the fact (as it usually goes) I've learned that the best time to prepare an outside garden space is directly after the growing season (early fall) or else in late spring AFTER the rains subside. As a result we're probably going to have to deal with some compacted soil from the constant precipitation. Oxygen within the soil is immensely important to good plant/root growth, so it will be important for us to turn the ground again before we continue. Today I picked up a few pieces of hardware for turning our food grade barrels into rain barrels and will make the first attempt at building one. In the meantime, here are some pictures of the seedlings.

Tomatoes under the flourescents.


Cilantro (at left) and Cherry tomatoes (right)

Prepping: Continued

Aaron and I braved the cold/rain yesterday to work on sifting grass roots from the newly turned garden space. This is definitely the most labor-intensive aspect of setting up an urban garden (don't get discouraged now!). Luckily we have relatively good soil to work with (i.e. very few rocks and no major roots from the nearby hedges). We still need to sift about half of the new area, which will have to wait until more amicable weather presents itself. Here are some pictures of vegetable seedlings we have under way:


Seeds-eye view of brocolli (left) and tomatoes
(at right) planted 3/5/09



The seedling station in our basement. Seedlings are fragile so it's important to keep them warm (70 degrees or so) and under plenty of light. Seeds germinate best at the same temperature. Our lights are kept on 18 hours a day. At left is my GlowPanel 45, an LED grow light that uses only 45 watts and seems to be giving the plants just the right spectrum they need. The fixtures to the right are compact fluorescent bulbs rated 5000K (2 at 13 watts and 1 at 30 watts). Underneath the table is a two bulb (40 watts each) T-12 shop light fixture with regular cool white bulbs. As long as your lights don't produce too much heat, you'll want to keep them as close to the plants as possible (usually within 6 inches or so) to prevent them from becoming spindly. If you're planning on starting an outdoor garden this year, it's not too late to start planting seeds indoors. Carpe Diem.