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Monday, March 11, 2013

Chow / Life / The Weather Germination Weather

Posted by Goldy on Mon, Mar 11, 2013 at 12:41 PM

Tidy rows of arugula and lettuce sprouts just days away from their first delicious thinning.

Goldy | The Stranger
Tidy rows of arugula and lettuce sprouts just days away from their first delicious thinning.

Two weeks ago, I direct sowed peas, lettuce, and arugula, and it turned out to be perfect timing. Since then the weather has been relatively warm and wet, providing the ideal conditions for germination. I peeked under my floating row covers this weekend to find neat rows of arugula and lettuce sprouts, along with a bed full of snap and snow peas just starting to poke above the surface.

Goldy | The Stranger
Peas! Yay! Can't wait 'til May!

There's still plenty of time for things to wrong: a hard freeze, relentless pounding rains, malevolent pests and other wildlife. I found a largish slug in the pea bed with a trail of slime and destruction behind him. Our mild winter has virtually assured a nasty slug and snail problem this year. But there's a good chance that backyard gardeners who cast seeds early this year will likely be rewarded with an earlier than usual first harvest.

As for my overwintered crops, the surviving lettuce and collards look awfully ugly at the moment while the kale and mustard continue to produce. I'm guessing I'll be damn sick of kale in another month or so. But a small patch of broccoli raab is providing an unexpected late winter treat. I'd actually planted it as a fall crop, and got a disappointing harvest, but am getting a tender second crop from the surviving plants.

Tender broccoli raab florets are currently spicing up my salads and stir fries.

Goldy | The Stranger
Tender broccoli raab florets are currently spicing up my salads and stir fries.

So... how's your garden growing?

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Comments (11) RSS

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"I peaked under my floating row covers..."

I know it's called fertilizing the garden, but I think you might be doing it incorrectly. Or correctly. Who am I to judge?

Posted by urn on March 11, 2013 at 1:07 PM

I'm still waiting for my turned in cover crop (biennial clover mostly) to rot. Maybe another week or so if it stays warm(ish). My plan is to go ahead and start my peas in degradable pots and then plant them when the soil is ready. Our community garden is full of pea leaf weevils so pea starts a few inches tall do better I think.

Then: spinach, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, parsley, shiso, radishes to start. What am I forgetting...

Posted by viiless on March 11, 2013 at 1:09 PM

peaked SB peeked unless you weren’t looking under your row covers :)

Posted by olive oyl on March 11, 2013 at 1:10 PM

I had missed your slug control post from last year; it was a joy to read. As a child, I decided that slugs were the only animals not deserving of protection since they had no redeeming qualities (I knew of nothing in our yard that ate them willingly), so they were the sole targets of my sadism.

Posted by MemeGene on March 11, 2013 at 1:42 PM

@2 My understanding is that peas don't like being transplanted, so I've never tried it. But let me know how it works for you.

That said, floating row covers should largely keep pea weevils at bay.

Posted by Goldy on March 11, 2013 at 4:09 PM

Well, I had thought the weevils are all in the dirt already, but maybe you're right.

I've planted a combination of pea starts and seeds the past two years as a sort of instantaneous successive planting to extend my harvest. I haven't really noticed any problems with the starts, though I've also heard they don't like being transplanted.

This year I'm going to do it all myself (rather than buy starts) and wanted to try the degradable pots (cow pots). I know Seattle Tilth uses starts also because of weevils. I'm hoping if there are transplant problems they will be minimized by just planting the whole pot.

Posted by viiless on March 11, 2013 at 4:19 PM

My peas and lettuce look just about like yours. Radishes are about 2 cm tall. I put in real raised beds this year for the first time. Pleased with how the soil has warmed up more quickly. First beet seeds and spuds went in the ground last weekend (St. Patrick be damned).

Posted by ejamadoodle on March 11, 2013 at 5:11 PM

@7 Didn't sow radishes until last week, and didn't bother to look under the row covers to see if they had germinated. But I assume they will.

Posted by Goldy on March 11, 2013 at 5:27 PM

Still harvesting leeks, beets, radicchio and kale. Chard is reviving. Planted lettuce starts last week, along with a tray of seed. Never had a problem transplanting pea starts — just put the whole potful (minus the pot) in as a clump.

Posted by cheakamus on March 11, 2013 at 8:16 PM

Awww. My peas still haven't come up yet. My mother said to soak them and use a razor to make some cuts in the shell, but it's too late to try that this year. Spring lettuce is just starting to come up though. Fortunately the wild nettles are coming up everywhere.

Posted by Foghorn Leghorn on March 11, 2013 at 8:57 PM

Went out a couple of weeks ago to finally pull the bolted chard and compost it -- and found next to the bolted plants several new chard plants with leaves the perfect size for harvesting. Neglect wins again!

Posted by brieg on March 12, 2013 at 3:13 PM