Cool, wet spring has slowed me down

Weather has put me behind the eight ball a little bit. It’s picking up now, but my cucumber, cherry tomatoes, beans, and basil are off to a late start. Of course, now we’re going from one extreme to another, with forecasted temperature in the mid-90’s for the remainder of the week.

One of the things I learned about planting beans from the master-Mel Bartholomew, is to soak them in water for 2-3 hours before putting them directly into the ground. They will begin to swell a bit and it speeds up the harvest time. I’ve usually grown pole beans but this year have gone to bush beans. I ran out of vertical space with 28 cherry tomato plants going.

Starting Leeks

Here’s the way I do it. I just add potting soil to an empty container and sprinkle 30-40 seeds on top, moisten to water, and then put the top on for a few days. They will probably all come up, but I only need 3 squares of them. That means 27 leeks.

Theres been times when I’ve kept leeks, chives, or green onions in their container for 9-10 months. At some point they stop growing. Then all I do is locate the container in the garden(I keep them outside all the time), and separate the leeks to drop into their respective holes. It’s a good way to always have things ready. Its worked for me anyway.

Tomato cloche

Got a little wet and cold the past couple of days. I’ve had my early cherry tomato plants out and didn’t want to take a chance of losing them. Just an old orange juice container with the bottom cut out and placed gently over the plant has always done the trick for me. If it gets colder at night I will put the cap on but am sure to remove the cap by morning.

Growing in bags

If you don’t get the right soil, nothing else really matters. Here’s an example of great soil used in a grow bag made from homemade compost. Pictured in the bag is Queensland lettuce, green ice, claytonia, and red sails lettuce. Harvest it correctly and this small bag will feed you for weeks with a great fresh diner salad.

The early spring square foot gardens

A quick look at a portion of my garden tonight. I have another area that has much more in it than this. Like we say about SFG: there’s no heavy digging, no hard work, no weeding, no thinning, no kidding!

I’ve got a class coming up in 2 weeks for folks who want to learn how to have a garden just like this. It’s the easiest and best way to garden. If you want to make gardening fun again, this is the class for you.

It’s a great time to begin sprouting a few things inside. These are the crops that will go into the gardens at the beginning of summer. Thinks like cucumbers, cantaloupe, peppers, and basil are things I’m working on now.