Monday, March 18, 2013

AT Least It’s Spring Inside

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Nothing is being harvested from the garden these days. At least the snow has melted off all but one of the raised beds. The beds covered with straw have the garlic and shallots, which are starting to poke up. The bed with the blocks next to it is the designated bed for the peas and fava beans. I poked an instant reading thermometer through the crust and it was 40F/5C degrees. A couple of inches down it was still frozen. I need it to be 50F for the peas, so I may have to adjust the planting schedule and push off planting the peas for at least another week. I did not stay here long, it was 29F/-2C with a stiff breeze blowing.

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Back home there is some green under the grow lamp. The onions are doing nicely in their pots and have had their tops trimmed. I guess I could consider that a harvest. Today was seed starting day for the lettuce, brassicas and the Ping Tung eggplant. I have a set of soil block makers now so I got to play with them for the first time.

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I used Johnny’s 512 mix. The trick was to get it properly moist. Too little and the blocks fall apart. Too much and they slide apart or stick in the block maker. I used the 1.5” maker and once I got the hang of it, I made 11 rows of 5, which pretty much filled up the tray.

 

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After seeding the blocks, I used fine vermiculite to cover the seeds and misted the tops. I have a map of the blocks and also marked a legend along the tray with masking tape and a permanent marker. The blocks are now covered with a dome and sitting on the heat mat. Nothing like the smell of warm rubber from the mat to say Spring is on its way.

 

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To see what’s going in with other gardens, head over to Daphne's Dandelions, our hostess for Harvest Monday.

11 comments:

  1. Looks like you will be ready when it does get warm enough outside.
    Have a wonderful week!
    Lea
    Lea's Menagerie

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    1. I'm trying to ignore the weather and just admire my seedlings. That includes ignoring the foot of snow we are supposed to get tomorrow!

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  2. You are off to a good start, onions looking healthy and happy. I think old man winter is getting senile, the official start of spring is Wednesday, day after tomorrow, according to the caldendar, but snow is in the forecast for us, go figure.

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    1. Same here, Norma, plus cold temps. Going to be a while before beds completely thaw and warm enough to plant peas.

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  3. I hope the soil warms up soon for you, but in the meantime your seed starting is off to a great start. Keeping varieties identified with the soil blocks can be a bit of a challenge. Like you, I use masking tape to try and keep it all straight.

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    1. I made a map and marked the tray. Hope the "permanent" Sharpie I used is really permanent because the dome is condensing a lot now that the blocks have warmed up.

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  4. The smell of warm rubber = spring, LOL. For me it's an indescribable change in the overall scents outside that tell me it's spring. I'm not sure what it is, just a really fresh scent of warming earth and green growth. I got a big dose of it this weekend. Spring is really here!

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    Replies
    1. I know what you mean about Spring scents, but none of that in the air around here, unless you like warm rubber. I kind of do.

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  5. I'm thrilled to find somebody else who square foot gardens. I look forward to following your garden's progress. I'm beginning my second year gardening so am still a newbie.

    I used coir for my seedlings. I may need to track down your system. Looks interesting.

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    1. I don't use coir anymore because of my bad experience last year (see http://davessfggarden.blogspot.com/2012/06/seed-starting-woes.html). The soil blocker technique is pretty neat and there is a lot of info around on how to do it. Have you been to the Square Foot Gardening forum (http://squarefoot.creatingforum.com/)? You can find a lot of useful information there on SFG and meet some fellow Texans doing SFG.

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  6. If the weather could warm up for you but not cool down too much for me that would be lovely.

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