Halfway There

The garden is now 50% planted.

Last weekend we started by pulling out the last of the clover, and I want to share the best way I found to remove it.  I tried Tracey’s Garden Claw that she bought a few years ago.  (I now publicly apologize for teasing her about buying a “Billy Mays type” infomercial product.) You just twist it in the clover and it loosens it up just enough to pull right out, roots and all.  The crimson clover really was a great cover crop for the winter.  The soil is immediately workable, and the dirt comes right out of the roots with only a few shakes.  We fed handfuls of it to the chickens, they get really excited when they see me pulling stuff in the garden, they love eatin’ some greens.  Then the rest went on the compost pile.

Speaking of compost, I must say I am pretty pleased with how my heap came out this winter.  I chopped up the stuff we pulled out of the garden at the end of season, added leaves we raked in the fall, the grass clippings from the mowing, and chicken manure.  I turned it regularly for the first 5-6 weeks, and kept a piece of plastic over it to keep most of the rain off.  When I started digging through it early this spring we had about 7 wheel barrow loads, with a great texture and smell, and lots of worms crawling throughout.  We added some to each row as we prepped the garden this year.

It feels cool to have completed a healthy cycle of renewal from one season to the next with our little backyard  farm.

In terms of a plant update, things are going well.

The broccoli that began as seeds in mid-February is starting to take off with the longer daysl and we are excited about having some to eat in a few more weeks.  The 4 rows of spinach are happy and big enough for me to eat the leaves as I thin them out.  The two different lettuce mixes are all up and requiring thinning every other day or so.  The Mesclun Blend is really yummy, lots of spicy varieties in there.  The peas are all up and getting more bushy.  I have read that they like being crowded so no thinning for them.  I planted an entire packet of seeds in two side by side rows, about a foot apart.

The tomoatoes in the cold frame are ready to go in the ground, they are pushing up on the glass and starting to get bushy.  They ones that are still in the furnace room are really getting big, and need to move outside as well.  I think I will put all of them under a tunnel cloche this weekend, and then we get a warmer string of days, I will get them in the ground.

New seeds that went in this weekend were two kinds of radishes, a row of chard, two more rows of broccoli, and two rows of carrots.

Funny thing about the chard really quickly.  We had two of the plants from last year survive the Snowmageddon we had hear around the holidays.  Temps in the teens and 1-2 feet of snow and absolutely no protection.  Pretty amazing as far as I am concerned.  Now these two plants are leafed out to the point that we can start picking some to eat.

Back to the carrots.  I want to share the planting method that I got from Steve Solomon.  It works great for small seeds and keeps you from wasting a bunch on excessive thinning once they come up.  You take about a cup of sifted compost (I just rub it between my hands to break it up and pick out the bigger chunks), and then mix in a 1/4 tsp of seed.  You then pour this down the row and you’re done.  You end up with good spacing and it speeds things up tremendously.

I will add some pics to this post in the next day or so when I get them out of the camera.

Been busy out back

Wow I’ve been a slacker on keeping up with the posts lately…apologies….I have a list of excuses, but at least we have been keeping up with the gardening.  Here’s what’s been going on.

Some veggies are in the ground.  We’ve been working over a few rows at a time with cutting the clover, working in the roots, adding an inch or so of compost, some organic fertilizer, and raking and hoeing it into mounds for planting.

The weekend of April 4th, we transplanted the broccoli starts.  They needed to get in the ground, the pots I had them in were getting too small.  The next day they looked much happier with some more room for their roots to spread out.  Hope they survive the tough spring.

The same weekend, we planted 2 areas with spinach, 4 rows total of two different varieties.  They came up within a few days, despite the cool soil (~48F).  We put two differnt lettuce mixes in as well and they popped right up also, so the greens are moving along.

Last thing we did was transpant the onions I had started.  These were really easy, you just shake them apart and plant them individually.  I had done about 10 per littel plastic tray cell (per Steve Solomon) so we eneded up with about 100 or so plants.

Getting tomatoes started has taken some trial and error.  I started a batch of early oregon varieties and also some big slicers, in the same room where I had grown the broccoli and onions.  It was apparently too cool for them in there (~62F).  They grew, but laid over and never got husky stems, seemed pretty week.  So I moved them back into the furnace room (72F) and they perked up.  However I still have my doubts about their long-term viability so I started a whole other round of them in the furnace room.  They are MUCH happier in there.  Nice strong stems, fast growing, lots of leaves, etc.  I water them every 1-2 days with warm water with a little bit of Miracle Gro mixed in, about 1/8 tps per gallon.  I know the chemical fertilizer isn’t ideal, but I want to increase my chances of having strong starts, and when they go into the ground, they can be 100% organic from there on out.  The first batch I mentioned is now out in the cold frame and seems to be doing well despite a few nights in the upper 30s.

The peeps are getting bigger everyday.  They seem to like the coop I built for them and have been sleeping out there since they were about 5 weeks old.  They had feathered out pretty well, so I was only a little worried about them getting too cold, but they’ve been fine.  Another reminder about how easy chickens are to raise.

The fruit trees are still dormant, haven’t seen any buds yet, so keeping an eye on those.

This weekend is forecast to be warm and sunny in the low 70s so its going to be time to get some more stuff planted.  Will let you know how it goes.

Afternoon sunshine

We got afternoon sun breaks both days this weekend, so we got outside and did some work in the garden.

Bayard, Amelia and I went to Mr Plywood over by Mt Tabor and got some 2x2s to make an additional run for the chickens.  Our idea is to put this one next to the current coop and let Flossie and Mambo start to get a look at Mabel and Daisy.  Then once they get to be a similar size we will join this new run up to the coop and they will all have a larger area in which to roam.

Using 2x2s and “non-pilot hole” wood screws made building this run much faster.   I used 1x2s before and it was a pain to keep the joints square and the wood from splitting.  This time I got a 28″ x 31″ x 54″ box built in under an hour.

Bayard got the hoe and I used the shovel to turn in some of the crimson clover that we had covering the garden this winter.  We only got about half of it done, as the roots are pretty substantial. But the soil is in great shape and we should be able to start planting in a few weeks once we get some compost and complete organic fertilizer worked in.

We were also distracted by Amelia learning how to catch chickens.  She followed them around the garden saying “Its OK Daisy, its OK Mabel”.  (This was their first time roaming so we we kept them inside the fence).

"Come here Mabel..I won't hurt you"

Very funny becuase although Amelia was fairly gentle with them, she was not afraid to pounce and get a good grip.  You can see from the photos that she learned the trick of flipping them over on their backs to get them to relax.

Daisy perching

Round 2 for Seeds and Peeps

The broccoli and onions that have been under the lights in the basement, went out to the cold frame this past weekend.  They ended up spending 4 weeks inside and were beginning to look a little spindly.  I think the basement was too warm for them, so I am hoping the time outside will start to harden them off.

With the seed space now vacated, it was time to get tomatoes going.  I got 4 varieties: 2 heriloom indeterminates and 2 Oregon developed determinates.  The heirlooms will grow up stakes like last year and hopefully keep producing into September.  The determinates bloom and set fruit in one big shot in late June, and then will be done.

I used yogurt cups for these, to give them more room before they get root bound and need to go into the ground.  I did 14 cups total, with 2-3 seeds each, so depending on how many actually come up, I expect to have enough to plant in rows in the back and also in the landscaped area in the front yard.

I also started some lettuce in newspaper pots, just because I had them.  They all popped up the second day, and the idea is to put these in the ground about 2 weeks from now to get lettuce in early May.  We’ll direct sow around the same time and keep a few rows going all year, so this isn’t that much of a jump, but hey why not?  Spring is here!

Quick update on the “peeps” as we call them.  Daisy and Mabel moved out to the garage from the basement.

Mabel and Daisy

They had started making more racket and it was just freaking Woobie out.  He could always hear them and would just stare at the basement door and quiver.  Too cruel putting young chickens under the nose of your bird dog.

The peeps seem to be fine out there, but they don’t get as much attention now…and are starting to get pretty skittish.  I fear they are on the path to being crazy chickens like Mambo, but honestly I can live with that.  I have a great dog for a pet, the peeps are here for the eggs.

yummy huevos

Espalier Fruit Trees

Bayard, Amelia, and I went up to Cornell Farms this weekend to see my mom and get some fruit trees.  They had a great selection of the types we were looking for, and Rachel who works there was very helpful.  She hooked us up with 3 bare root trees.  Two asian pear varieties (Chojuro and Hosui) and a Gala apple.

I got them all in the ground on Saturday afternoon, with some nice fresh compost and complete organic fertilizer.  A little mulch on top and some generous watering, then it was time to figure out the pruning plan.

3 new fruit trees

I have been reading about the espalier style of pruning to limit the size of the tree, keep the fruit closer to the ground, and create a more “fence-like” look to the tree.  I got a book from Powell’s called The Pruning Book by Lee Reich, and it gave me enough info to feel confident in making the first cuts to shape the trees the way we want.  I will admit its taking some getting used to, in terms of cutting your tree back to help it grow!

I’ll post some more detailed pictures of each tree as they start to have more shoots and buds after the pruning.

The blueberries that we planted last fall seem happy, with nice red branches and new buds.  I have high hopes for them this year, both as decoration and to give us some fruit.  But I may have to limit the fruiting this year to set them up for bigger production in the future, we’ll see how it goes.

Blueberry buds

Chicks and sprouts

The Johnson backyard flock just got bigger.  Tracey and Amelia went to our new favorite chicken and garden supply store Urban Farm Store over on SE Morrison the day they got in the first chicks of the season.  We wanted a Barred Plymouth Rock (to replace Pearl that Woobie killed last year) and also an Ameracuana because they lay blue-green eggs.  Sadly they were already sold out of the Ameracuanas, so we got a Gold Laced Wyandotte instead.  The darker one in the photo is the Plymouth and we named her Mabel, the browner one is the Wyandotte, now named Daisy.

Daisy and Mabel

They are living in a plastic tub with a heat lamp in the basement for the next 6-7 weeks until they are big enough to move outside with Flossie and Mambo.

In the other part of the basement…the seeds I planted on the 15th have all sprouted.  The broccoli popped up the second day, and the onions first started to show on the fourth.  Having everything nice and moist and 72F apparently works well for these seeds.  I planted 3-4 seeds of the broccoli per pot and I think every single one sprouted.  I did the first round of thinning last night with scissors.

I am going to move them over to the cooler part of the basement soon, to start getting them better prepared to go outside.  I am planning to put them in my recently constructed cold frame around March 15th.

Cold frame from an old storm window and fence boards

Letting them stay in there for another 3-4 weeks then go in the ground.

I am hoping this phased approach will lead to hearty transplants that take off quickly so we can have lots of yummy broccoli by June.

Starting seeds inside

Last year was fun for us.  We got a lot of fresh veggies from our newly planted garden, eating from it at most meals throughout the summer.

So here in 2009 we want to find a way to get more, and that means starting sooner.

We got off to a slow start last year for two reasons.

First was that the garden was still needing some major work before we could plant in the spring.  Back in the fall of 2007, we had disassembled the two big raised beds  and then removed the grass from the 22 x 22 ft area.  We rented a sod cutter which made it much easier.  We had a huge pile of sod that we composted even after taking a truckload to the yard debris recycler.  The spring was pretty wet and cold, so weren’t able to dig, till, and amend to make it “plantable” until late April.

The second issue was that we did nearly all direct seed.  We got things sowed in May once the soil was warm enough.  We put in lettuce, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, radishes,  chard, pole beans, and onions.  And then planted some indeterminate tomatoes and squash starts in June.  So we got some stuff for salads in late June, but it wasn’t until mid-July that we really started getting a good supply of veggies for all our meals.

So this year I decided to try to start some seeds.  Tracey has done it before for flowers, but its all new for me.  I swung into Beaumont Hardware while waiting for a pickup order of Thai food last Friday night.  I got a 48″ shop light and some full spectrum bulbs.  Whole set up was $40. 

I hung it in the mechanical room where our furnace and beer fridge are, using the timer from my Xmas lights to ensure 15 hours of light per day.  Its pretty warm in there, ~72 F, so I hope that works for my seeds.  I’m using a mix of yogurt cups, newspaper pots, and some plastic trays from Mom at Cornell Farms.

I’ve been re-reading Steve Solomon’s book the last few nights (see previous posts) to try and figure out how to be successful with starting seeds indoors.  Temps, light levels, watering, fertilizer, soil…

The order from Territorial came the other day, so I’m getting the broccoli and onions going right away.