Sowing Fava Beans

Just when we thought that winter was behind us, we got a couple inches of snow today. It will melt away in no time at all but at this point, the shear sight of the falling white stuff just irks me like nothing else. I'm sure it will be awhile before I feel any differently (check back with me in August).


I did end up finding a reasonably dry patch of earth to sow some Fava beans this past weekend. They say that you should plant the seeds as soon as the ground can be worked or when the crocus have emerged, which they have. What they don't tell you is that much of the land (at least in our immediate area) is crap this early in the season. You dig three inches down and see nothing but muddy water.

Anyway, fava beans were one of our favorite things from the spring garden last year. They are fantastic just simply grilled in their pods. Unfortunately, last year's crop didn't amount to as much as we had hoped. The extraordinarily warm weather we received in late spring caused many of the blooms to fall without pollinating. We ended up with only a handful of edible pods at a time. This year, I've sown at least four times the amount of beans that we planted last year including three varieties - Windsor, an early Italian variety given to me by Mac (I don't think she specified a name) and a crimson-flowered variety from Michelle. (Thanks again ladies!) Hopefully, we'll be swimming tasty fava beans this year.

Making Soil Blocks

Ahhh...the first soil blocks of the season (and of my gardening career). All in all, I think they turned out well and were relatively easy to make. There's always room for improvement I'm sure. The consistency of these blocks were a bit unlike what I was expecting, but then again, it's hard to tell if I got it right since I've never made them before. I had to improvise a bit with the ingredients since a couple of them were impossible to source this time of year. I guess I won't know for sure until I'm able to follow Eliot Coleman's recipe exactly.


Making soil blocks isn't as messy as it might look. I'm realizing that the trick to making nice looking soil blocks (apart from the recipe) is in the amount of pressure you exert when pushing down on the soil block maker. As you squeeze, water oozes from the blocks. I guess the sponginess of this soil block mix is partly what differentiates it from ordinary potting mix.

Sowing artichoke seeds.

Last night, I sowed some Imperial Star artichokes, Tuscan kale, celery, yellow wild strawberry, red wild strawberry and some Red of Florence scallions. The strawberry seeds were kept in the freezer for the past couple of weeks in order to mimic winter conditions and hopefully increase overall germination rates. Wild strawberry seeds are notoriously difficult to get started.

The Imperial star artichokes I'm growing this year were specifically bred to be grown as annuals. The seeds are really interesting looking - somewhat resembling a hulled misshapen sunflower seed. They will be left to grow indoors for the next 6 to 7 weeks, and then moved to one of my mini-hoop houses for an additional 6-8 weeks before being transplanted out. Exposing young artichoke plants to low temperatures of between 50 to 32 degrees for a period of at least 6 weeks is supposed to increase the chances of them producing edible buds the first year.


Since I only had one heating mat, the scallions and strawberries were left to germinate at normal basement temperatures (anywhere between 60 and 70 degrees). I figured that since these plants are accustomed to being winter sown, additional heat is not crucial. Hopefully, I'm right!

2010 Garden - Seeds for the Coming Year

Yes, the last of my seeds have arrived from Johnny's and Baker Creek. (I have a big smile on my face at the moment.) I love looking at the seed packs and daydreaming about all of the homegrown veggies to come. I will most likely add a few winter veggies as the fall growing season approaches, but for spring and summer, this is basically it. I would love for this list to be longer, but frankly, I think I'm at my limit:

Artichoke (Imperial Star) – S
*Arugula (Sylvetta) – F
Basil (Dolce Vita Blend) – S
Basil (Thai) – S
Bean – climbing (Asparagus bean) – S
Bean – climbing (Dragon’s Tongue) – S
*Bean – bush (Burpee’s Stringless) – S
Bean – bush (Contender) – S
Beet (Gourmet Blend) – S
Broccoli (Piracicaba) – S
Cabbage (Napa) – S
Carrot (Cosmic Purple) – S
Carrot (Scarlet Nantes) – S
Cauliflower – (Chef’s Choice Blend) – S
Celery (Tall Utah 52/70 Improved) – S
Chamomile (German) – S
Cilantro – S, F
Corn (Argent) – S
Cucumber (Tien Chin Long) - S
Cucumber (Spacemaster) - S
Fava Bean (Windsor) - S
Gourd (Edible Calabash) – S
Ground Cherry ( Strawberry Husk ) - S
*Kale (Chinese Flowering) - F
Kale (Tuscan) - S
Leek (American Flag) - S
Lettuce – Head (Marvel of the Four Seasons) - S
*Lettuce – All Lettuce Mix – S, F
*Lettuce – Gourmet Blend - S
*Lettuce (Tango) - F
*Mache (Vit) - F
Melon (Charentais) - S
Melon (Sweet Delight - Honey Dew) - S
*Minutina (Erba Stella) – F
Mustard (Mizuna) – S, F
Mystery seeds (from Kelly) – S
Nasturtium (Jewel Blend) – S
Onion (Red Amposta) – S
Pak Choi (Bonsai) – S, F
*Pak Choi (white stem) – F
Pea (Green Arrow Shelling) – S
Pea (snow pea) – S, F
Pepper (Early Jalapeno) – S
Pepper (Ancho/Poblano) – S
Pepper (Italian Pepperoncini) – S
Pepper (Thai Chili) – S
*Radish (Red Altaglobe) – S, F
*Radish (Easter Egg) – S, F
Rape (Yu Tsai Sum) – F
Scallion (conventional) – S, F
Scallion (Italian Red of Florence) – S
Soybean – green (Envy) – S
*Spinach (Space F1) – S, F
Summer Squash (Black Beauty Zucchini) – S
*Tatsoi - S, F
Tomatillo (Purple) – S
Tomato (Amish Paste) – S
Tomato (Cherokee Purple) – S
Tomato (Cour di Bue – oxheart) – S
Tomato (Green Zebra) – S
Tomato (red and yellow Brandywine) – S
Tomato (Red Siberian) – S
Tomato (Sun Gold F1) - S
*Turnip (Hakurei) – S, F
Wild Strawberry (Yellow Wonder) – S
Wild Strawberry (Red Wonder) – S

* - seeds left over from 2009
S - spring and summer planting
F - fall and winter planting

I also plan on purchasing some asparagus and rhubarb crowns, seed potatoes, plenty of herb transplants, and a few fruit trees (kumquat, mandarinquat, persimmon and a couple of fig varieties). If anyone has tips or comments on growing any of these varieties, please share!

This Year's Winter Veggies - An Overview

I thought I'd do a quick overview of my winter veggies this year in order to plan for next year's garden. Here is what I've observed so far:


Spinach - This is probably one of the hardiest crops I have in my garden right now. I have two partial beds of the Space (F1) variety- one under a double layer of protection and the other under a single layer quick hoop. Both are doing very well. The issue I have with spinach is that it is more prone to excess heat than it is to freezing temperatures. Next fall, I will reserve an entire bed for it and apply permanent coverage only at the very end of the fall growing season, maybe sometime in late November. Also, I think I got the winter sowing date just about right this year. 2010 winter sowing date: Sept 1.



Red Russian Kale and Bright Lights Chard - Both are doing very well under a double layer of protection. I sowed the seeds in early September only because I didn't have a bed ready until then. In 2010, I will try to extend the growing season of my spring-sown kale for as long as possible and attempt to overwinter a later summer sowing. 2010 winter planting out date: Aug 1 (start indoors).

Carrots - I grew two varieties this winter - Napoli (under double layer) and Nantes (under single layer). I sowed the seeds a bit late this year (mid-August) and the Napoli took longer to size up. I will stick to these two varieties next year since they seem to withstand freezing temperatures very well. I can still pull my Napoli carrots but the soil around my Nantes carrots is frozen solid. Next year, I will place both under a double layer and spread a few inches of straw in late fall to help keep the soil from freezing solid. 2010 winter sowing date: Aug 1.

Death of Rouge D'Hiver Lettuce

Lettuce - My Rouge D'Hiver lettuce was killed off when temperatures inside the hoop house dipped down into the low 20's. Also, my lettuce mix fared better but is a bit too damaged to be worth eating. My Tango lettuce on the other hand seems to be holding up well under current conditions. Next year, I will be sure to harvest all of my lettuce mix by the end of November or early December at the latest. 2010 fall/winter sowing date: Lettuce mix - Sept 1, Tango lettuce - Sept 1 and Sept 15.



Wild Salad Greens (wild arugula, minutina, mache) - Ironically enough, I sowed my wild arugula a bit too early and my other wild greens a bit too late this year. The mache and minutina seem to tolerate the winter temperatures better than the wild arugula but all seem to be pretty hardy. However, the wild arugula was very quick to grow. 2010 winter sowing dates: wild arugula and mache - Sept 1 and Sept 15, minutina - Sept 1 (at the latest).


Asian greens - I grew several varieties of Asian greens this fall but neglected to do a proper winter sowing. Also, they were greatly affected by pests this year, specifically caterpillars, cutworms and slugs. I will have to have a plan in place to deal with these buggers. Also, placing my white stem pak choi under cover prematurely caused the plants to go to seed. Like Spinach, I should wait until November before applying permanent coverage. I currently have some pak choi seedlings that seem practically unfazed by the frigid temps. Next year, I plan on doing several fall plantings of tatsoi and pak choi. 2010 winter planting out dates: Sept 1, Sept 15, Oct 1 (start indoors).

Winter radishes and Hakurei turnips - these crops did well for me this year. Aside from applying cover to the radishes in late November, the only other thing I'd tweak next year are the direct sowing dates. Winter radishes - Sept 1, Sept 15, Sept 30. Hakurei turnips - Aug 15, Sept 1, Sept 15.

I will continue to play around with these sowing dates in order to get them just right. My goal is to have a steady harvest throughout most of winter (something that can be very hard to master). In addition to these crops, here are few that I'd like to learn more about and grow next winter: scallions, leeks, mizuna, Bianca Riccia endive, Bull's Blood beet (greens) and claytonia (miner's lettuce).

Thinking About Next Year - Indoor Seed Starting

The other day, I did some "twilight" gardening. Since I don't usually get home from work until about 6 PM, such a thing is becoming unavoidable these days. Thank goodness we have a spotlight in the backyard. I sowed some cloves of softneck garlic purchased from the grocery store (out of curiosity) and several seed mats of Tango lettuce, mache and minutina in one of my mini hoop houses. At this rate, the greens won't be ready until early spring, if at all. Oh well. I like to say that "trial and error" is the best way to learn. The shorter days are also making it impossible for me to take pictures during the week. I guess that will have to be reserved for the weekends along with any major gardening work.

Anyway, now that the fall garden is beginning to wind down (I can't believe it's almost November), I have extra time to think about next spring. One of my projects this winter will be to build shelves and install grow lamps to start seeds indoors. I will admit that I don't know as much as I should about this subject, but I thought I'd share a couple of online resources I came across the other day.

Mother Earth News' Spring Indoor Seed-Starting Guide

University of Minnesota's Article on Starting Seeds Indoors

If anyone knows of other online resources they would like to share, please do!

Planting Garlic

As part of my fall cleanup last week, I was also able to get my garlic in. I planted two hardneck varieties purchased from Seed Savers Exchange - German Extra Hardy and Pskem River. Both are tinged with purple and have lovely plump cloves. I was really tempted to save a clove or two to taste but alas, every last one was destined for the garden.


I amended the my beds with greensand, rock phosphate and a good amount of compost, planted each clove 2 inches down (pointy side up) and 8 inches apart, and then covered with 6 inches of straw mulch. That's about it. This is my first time growing garlic so I'm anxious to see how they turn out. I planted about 45 cloves total in two separate beds. I also purchased a couple of softnecks from the supermarket this past weekend and will plant these as well just for fun.


It felt nice to do something for next year's garden...another reminder that winter is just a recess from growing things.

Seed Mats - Radishes

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to create my own seed mats after seeing a tutorial given by Gran at Annie's Kitchen Garden. I have to admit, the concept was completely new to me and I was very excited to give it a try. If you've ever seen photos of Eliot Coleman's Four Season Farm, you'd be amazed at the level of accuracy and neatness that can be accomplished by a 6-row seeder (which can by purchased at Johnny's at a hefty price). I wanted to be able to duplicate this on a much smaller scale in my home garden.

I had listed the many potential benefits of using seed mats that I could come up with in an earlier post. For instance, I could see how they would be useful for small seeds and crops that do not require a large amount of space in which to grow. From my own experience, I've found certain seeds to be particularly tedious to handle and sow into neat rows (wild arugula seed, for example, is the size of a grain of sugar). And having to thin carrot seedlings is a chore that my back would gladly live without. Finally, as I'm just about to harvest some of my Hakurei turnips, I've noticed that growth has been pretty irregular due to the fact that the spacing between each plant is not consistent, a problem I'm hoping to solve with these mats.


I decided to grow a quick crop of radishes (30 days to maturity) using this method. To construct the seed mat, I used fast food chain style napkins that measured 12" x 12" when unfolded. On each napkin, I was able to fit 24 radish seeds spaced 2 inches apart. Since my raised beds measured 6 feet in length, I was able to align comfortably about 5 and a half mats down one strip.

I amended the soil in my bed and leveled it using a garden rake before positioning the mats seed side up. I then covered the mats with about a half inch of compost and watered well. It was as easy as that.


One week later, about 90% of my radishes germinated and sprouted within a 24 hour period. They look impeccably spaced and their growth appears very consistent. I'm extremely happy with the results. This past weekend, I sowed some mache, minutina and Tango lettuce using the same method. Hopefully they will do just as well.

Homemade Seed Mat

Homemade seed mat of radishes spaced 2 inches apart.

Have you ever come across an idea that sounded a bit silly or even crazy at first, but then the more you thought about it, the more you realized how absolutely brilliant it is? In this case, it took me about 5 seconds to see the light of day. And I have to thank none other than Granny from Annie's Kitchen Garden for enlightening me.

This my friends is a homemade seed mat - my first and therefore a bit of an experiment. For me at least, the benefits of these mats seem endless. Here are just a few I can think of as I'm writing this:

• The obvious - thinning, or lack there of. Since you've perfectly spaced the seeds on the mat, you no longer have to spend time thinning your seedlings. Carrot growers rejoice!
• Eliminating waste - Since you no longer have to thin, you also get to keep more of what you sow. Seeds are becoming increasingly expensive these days and more gardeners are choosing to save seed. These mats allow you to maximize your seed usage.
• Aesthetics - The perfect spacing achieved by these mats gives your garden an ultra-neat look.
• Maximizing space - Seed mats allow you to maximize your available square footage by evenly spacing your plants according to their specific requirements. This is particularly important if you only have a limited amount of growing space in your garden, hoop house or cold frames.
• Regulating growth - Because your plants are evenly spaced, their overall growth becomes more regulated.
• Time and flexibility - You're sowing entire mats, which is a fraction of the time it takes to sow individual seeds. (Your back will thank you.) Also, it took me about 15 minutes to construct 3 mats while comfortably sitting at a table. This is the type of gardening I don't mind doing at 11 pm.
• Finally, cost - It costs next to nothing to make these mats and chances are, you already have the materials in your home. A six-row seeder costs $549.00.

Are you convinced yet? Or curious at least? Then click on this link to Granny's post on on how to construct these mats. I plan on testing these on various crops in my garden this fall and winter and will report my results. If you have any positive or negative experiences using seeds mats, or have any tips, please do share!

Some New Friends

The spinach that I sowed last week have started to emerge. This particular variety of smooth leaf spinach called Space F1 is supposed to be very winter hardy. We shall soon put that to a test.


The wild arugula (Sylvetta) has also started to sprout. This is another hardy winter crop, the seeds of which are ridiculously tiny and difficult to manage. I'm glad that my direct sowings have germinated pretty quickly and consistently so far, MUCH better results than from the commercial (and dare I say it) non-organic potting mix I used earlier this summer for my fall transplants. It just goes to show that a little compost, greensand and rock phosphate applied to ordinary garden soil can outperform even the most sophisticated and engineered of commercial growing mixes.

This Year's Beds

What a lovely Labor Day weekend we had here in New England. Sunny and cool - it was the perfect weather for getting some gardening work done. I was finally able to get the 3 remaining beds of this year dug and prepped, leaving room for a path between them and the other 9. In two of them, I've sown some white-stalked pak choi, Chinese kale, tatsoi, more spinach, Easter egg radishes, and some green oakleaf lettuce (Tango). I also sowed some Red Russian kale, red romaine (Rouge D'Hiver) and swiss chard (Bright Lights), which I received from fellow Massachusetts gardener/blogger Kelly at How My Garden Grows. (Seed swapping - yet another benefit to connecting with other bloggers!) I'm reserving my last bed for some winter salad greens I plan on sowing later on this month.

I am anxious to see what my fall garden will look like 30 days from now. As you might have noticed, I'm hedging my bets against this year's weather by growing crops that can be harvested at different stages of growth. The fall growing season has officially begun!

Garden Gate

This past weekend, I finally got around to installing my garden gate. I'm not a handyman by any stretch of the imagination, but all in all, I think it turned out well. Installing the gate was pretty quick, taking me about an hour. I constructed the gate using pine 2 x 3's and some mesh wire. Three inch screws hold the pieces together and metal ties reinforce the corners of the frame. Simple hinges connect the gate to an outer wooden frame, which is kept in place by metal posts driven into the ground. Though it's not perfect, the end result seems to do the job (open and close, that is). Only time will tell whether or not the gate and fence will keep out the neighborhood critters.

On a side note, the hakurei turnips and mesclun mix that I direct-sowed a few days ago have begun to emerge. (Surprisingly quick!) A small victory for the gardener. This will have to mitigate the damage that's being done to my Asian greens and broccoli by an unknown insect. I will have to do some investigating.

Fall Garden Update

clockwise from top: beans, beets and tatsoi

Now that a good chunk of the garden construction is done, I thought I'd do a quick post on what's growing and what I'd like to accomplish this month. Ok, so here's what's happening:

- In the past week, I've transplanted all of the seedlings that I started back in July, including a bunch of beets and asian greens (tatsoi, pac choy and flowering brassica), 8 bean plants (which have already begun to flower), 4 good looking zucchini plants, and 2 broccoli plants ( 2 were accidentially decapitated during the process). I also transplanted my peas and lettuce, neither of which are looking very happy in this hot weather.

- In the past week, I also direct-sowed all of my carrots (nantes and napoli), my remaining beets, peas and beans, and a couple rows of radishes. I'd purchased my napoli carrot seeds pelleted, which makes them look like little tapioca pearls and very easy to handle. Already, the beets and radishes have started to emerge. I feel like we'll be buried in beets this fall, which ironically is the one vegetable that only I like.

- This week, I want to put in my remaining raised beds (I've constructed 12 thus far) and sow more asian greens, lettuce and some hakerei turnips. Also, I'd like to install my garden door, which is still a work in process in my basement.

- Finally, by the end of this month, I plan on preparing the remainder of my garden plot and have it sown with my fall green manure mix. I'd also like to order some winter-hardy (or should I say 'hardier') greens from Johnny's Selected Seeds.

radishes

Outgrowing One's Home

Since the forecast for the remainder of this week appears to be mostly rainy and overcast, I'm guessing this would be the ideal time to transplant the beets, broccoli, beans, zucchini, lettuce, asian greens and peas I started a few weeks ago. The plan was to get these transplanted within a couple of weeks of us moving in, but again, things are running a bit behind schedule. If my plants could talk, they would cry for roomier real estate.

I have several more raised beds to construct in my basement and I think I'll put up a temporary fence around the beds I'm using to transplant these seedlings until I have time to construct a more formal one. Hopefully, it will be enough to keep the bunnies and woodchuck living underneath our shed at bay. Two weeks ago:



Today:

Rain, Rain, Rain

Today, I woke up at 5 am to the sound of torrential winds and rain. My first thought was of my meyer lemon tree, which I had left outside despite warnings of stormy weather. I ran out onto the balcony (still in my undies no less) to find it on its side, the poor thing wedged underneath a fallen deck chair. Luckily, aside from a few broken young branches and spilled soil, it was still in good shape. Is it a sickness to be so emotionally invested in your plants?


The seedlings spent yet another day inside. Growth has been very slow. I was planning on building some shelves fit with grow lamps this winter. Until then, I'll just have to pray for sunnier days.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Let's start with the bad - Germination thus far has been pretty sporadic. About a week and a half ago, I seeded a couple of trays with beans, beets, broccoli and zucchini. Last weekend I started the Asian greens and peas. Making a semi-decent show of it are the beets (left) and Asian greens (right). I re-seeded some cells last weekend with more beets and they are just starting to push through the surface to join the others. The Asian greens have been by far the most vigorous (I sowed these seeds on Sunday). The lesson I've learned here is not to be so stingy when it comes to the number of seeds you sow per cell. I started out sowing 1 beet seed per cell and have since sowed 2 more in the cells that showed no signs of life after 7 days - a bit of a waste of time if you ask me.

Next, the ugly - The beans, broccoli and zucchini have been a bit of a catastrophe if you ask me. Two out of 8 beans and 1 out of 8 broccoli plants have emerged. The first (and I suspect only) zucchini plant is just starting to break the surface. I can only partially blame the weather. When I sowed the beans, I had coated each seed with a bit of inoculant. NOT A GOOD IDEA WHEN YOU ARE SOWING IN TRAYS!!!! Maybe it was a combination of weather, too much moisture and inoculant that did it, but when I dug up some cells to see what was going on, I noticed that the beans showed no signs of germination and would disintegrate upon the slightest pressure (the insides oozing out and releasing an awful smell). When I investigated the peas, I discovered the same thing. Coincidentally enough, the two bean seeds that did sprout were ones that I had chosen not to coat with inoculant. As a result, I spent this evening disposing of and reseeding my beans and peas. If anyone out there has had success with inoculating legumes started in seed trays, please let me know. Me, I don't think I'll ever do that again. Lastly, I have no idea what's going on with the broccoli and zucchini.

Now let's end with the good- Currently, my meyer lemon and kaffir lime trees are both experiencing a major flush of leafy growth. Given the fact that this summer has been so mild and rainy thus far, I suspect that this is the flush that should have occurred last month. Better late than never I guess. I can't wait to see the end result of this growth spurt!

Signs of Life

When I checked the cell trays this morning, I was pleased to find that a few seedlings had emerged. I had sown my fall crop of broccoli, zucchini, beans, and beets last Saturday night. Five days later, the beet seedlings have started to emerge! I'm a bit surprised considering that the seed packet indicated that germination took between 14 to 21 days. I was certain that the beans would be the first to germinate (7 to 14 days). Just when you think you know what to expect, mother nature throws you a curve ball. Still no sign of the broccoli, zucchini or beans.

Sowing Seed

A couple of weeks ago, I purchased a seed starting kit from Johnny's Selected Seed. It came with 4 cell trays of varying sizes, 1 20 row seed flat, a clear acrylic dome and 5 leak-proof trays. The cell trays and dome are a bit flimsy but the leak-proof trays are sturdy enough. Overall, not bad for the price. Also, I was really impressed by the delivery time. I placed my order Sunday night and received my package the following Tuesday. I will definitely be ordering from Johnny's again. I have my eye on the 6 row seeder (not really practical for the home garden, but the look of ultra-neatly planted rows of salad greens and carrots is so appealing!) and broadfork. I think my next purchase will be some hardy winter greens like mache, claytonia and spinach.

The other day, I started seeding some beans, zucchini, broccoli and beets in order to get a head start on the new garden. However, after reading other local gardening blogs, I feel as though I should have done this earlier. Oh well, we'll keep our fingers crossed and hope that we get to harvest some of these veggies this year. At worst, it will be a learning experience. (Note to self: I better reread some of Eliot Coleman's season extending ideas.)

I think I may start the peas and asian greens tomorrow as well. I've read that peas don't transplant well but I'm willing to take the risk in order to better insure a harvest. I'll direct sow the carrots, more beets, more asian greens, and the rest of the peas when we get the garden dug. Heck, with the way the weather's been, I may consider getting a head start on the salad greens.