Black beauty zucchini….

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zucchini 70414in one square foot. Just put in a green tee-post, place your seeds next to it, water, and it starts to grow. I juse tie it up every 6-8″ and let it go straight up the post. Works every time-the leaves are large and it shades the squares next to it but I’ll use those squares for things like lettuce. This variety of zucchini only gets to be about 5′ tall. I plant one in May and another zucchini plant the first week of July to get me through the fall. If you ever hear/read that it’s impossible to grow this kind of zucchini in 1 square foot you’ll know someone doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Happy 4th of July everyone…

Thinking ahead

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sprouting brussel sproutes 62814It’s hard to believe but fall isn’t too far away. Right now is the time to start a few things indoors that you’ll transplant to your garden in 6 weeks. For me, that’s brussel sprouts and leeks. Be sure to look at the maturation dates for leeks-I’ve got 3 varieties that all have harvest dates of 90, 110, and 120 days. I like to start brussel sprouts inside on the last week of June. In 6 weeks they’ll be ready for transplanting and will be a good size. That puts me in the 2nd week of August which is when all the pests begin to go away-in this case aphids. This crop loves the cooler weather and in fact tastes better after a hard freeze. There’s several crops this happens with. When you sprout the seeds first I think you save a lot of time(and seeds)by knowing which seeds will grow. Then you put them in your potmaker cups and you’re off and running. These will sprout in about 3 days. If all seven seeds sprout, I’ll give a few of them away. We only need 1 plant to feed 2 of us but I’ll end up growing 3 or 4 to make sure I’ve got enough for customers. For leeks I’ll do the same thing. My favorite varieties are Bandit and Megaton. At a later date I’ll show you my technique for getting a large part of your leek to be white without all the extra work of hilling.[ois skin=”below post”]

New lettuce variety

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queensland 62114I mentioned a little about this several posts back. This is a new lettuce that I’m growing that can’t be found in America. I have a friend who has traveled and gardened overseas and has found this great variety that can be grown in both cold and hot weather. It’s also a different spacing than what us SFGers would normally do. Lettuce is planted 4 per square. This variety is large enough so that it’s only planted 1 per square. It’s non-hearting meaning it doesn’t form that tender inner “heart” that typically is associated with leaf lettuce varieties. Think romaine-Caesar salad greens. You harvest the leaves from the bottom. It continues to grow and keeps going for 5-6 weeks. At that point it sends up a shoot, becomes bitter, and goes to seed. Then you save the fluffy gray seed heads for next year. I’ll be selling this at the end of summer if you’re interested. It’s another great tasting crop to have on hand. The greatest thing is its ability to grow in hot weather-something that is hard to do with all other kinds of lettuce.[ois skin=”below post”]

Lettuce in hot weather

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shaded lettuce 61114Take a look around at your local CSA’s today. As a result of finishing up the spring season, there’s still lettuce in those baskets. But if you live in a warm climate chances are there won’t be any lettuce offered in the hot months. We’re not too far away from that right now. There is the possibility that they buy their lettuce from other sources to keep their supply constant. But what about July/August? It’s been 90+ here already this spring. At temperatures of 80-85+ it becomes very difficult if not impossible to have your lettuce seeds sprout outside. There are a few tricks to learn if you want to enjoy lettuce all summer long. The two main techniques are to water at least twice as much as you normally would and to provide some sort of shade cover during the hottest part of the day. In this way I’ve been able to sprout lettuce in 100 degree weather-and it comes up in 2 days! I’m in the process of finishing my 2nd ebook about this very topic. It’s got 3 additional techniques to use for a successful summer lettuce season. Of all the things we grow in our garden, lettuce is by far our family favorite and it’s the one thing we eat the most of. And when you’ve just harvested fresh lettuce from your gardens for your dinner salad you’ll hate buying it at the store.[ois skin=”below post”]

Do I really need a grid?

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swiss chard 60314You sure do! If you’ve ever seen a raised bed without a grid it’s really nothing more than just that-a raised bed. Nothing sets it apart from the neighbor who also has a raised bed. But if you put a grid, all of a sudden you have to think differently. Instead of planting in rows like you’re used to doing, now you’re forced to plant something different in each 1 foot square. That’s the first reason you need a grid. The second reason-if you’re trying to imagine or come close to planting in squares by just eye-balling it, you’ll never get it right. You’ll be disappointed by the results. Third-it really does set your garden apart from just a raised bed. If you’ve ever seen a successful SFG, one of the first things you notice is the grid-“Oh, here’s a square foot gardener!” The last reason is something that many don’t even consider. It’s this: the grid is the gauge on how much compost you need to add when amending your soil whenever you change a crop. As an example, after pulling your spring crop of chard, you throw the wasted leaves in the compost pile. You then add not just 2 or 3 trowels full of compost, but rather enough until it reaches to top of the grid. This might be 5 or 6 trowels full of compost. Adding just 2 or 3 may not be enough. You can never get enough compost.

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