Tag Archives: tatsoi

Transplanting a few things

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tatsoi nateI’m now getting ready to plant these 2 squares-one with tatsoi and another with lettuce-Simpson elite. Tatsoi is a very good tasting Asian green that’s easy to grow in low temperatures. Mixing it with other salad greens adds  great variety. Because of the ease in growing these, I’ve now grown 3 or 4 different varieties of Asian greens. (Does that need to be capitalized? It’s not a city) There’s no use in trying to grow summer things in winter, even if you have a heated greenhouse. You could if you wanted to, but it’s a lot of extra work(and money) for something that might not work anyway. I’m not one to fight the seasons-with the exception of lettuces. I will grow those through the dog-days of the summer heat. It’s more work, but it’s getting harder and harder for me to enjoy the produce and vegetables that I’m buying from even the best produce stores. Simpson elite is a new variety for me-I’ve always grown Simpson, but I think I read that elite does better in warmer weather so I’m giving it a shot. Using my trusted trowel-1 of only 3 tools you’ll ever need in a square foot garden-I’ll just drop each of these potmaker cups into the soil, give it a light water, cover with row cover, and away we go. Four-five weeks away from our first harvest of the season. And I can’t wait.

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Over and under

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over 020213under 020213It was about 38-40 today. With my plastic over the boxes today it was probably mid-60’s to 70 degrees under the cover. This picture is a different SFG box then the previous post shows. In this one, you can see a few things up and growing: win-win bok choy, winter density lettuce, beets, 2 star lettuce, kohlrabi, etc. There’s a few open squares but that will probably change in the next week. It’s about time for me to place an ad in the local newspaper to see if anyone is interested in buying what this box will be producing. Last time I counted I’ve got about 14 different items that will come out of this particular SFG box. This list includes lettuce(4 varieties), greenhouse tomatoes, spinach, kale, bok choy, mizuna, tatsoi, arugula, mache, kohlrabi, radishes, carrots, beets(and greens), and cilantro. While at Sprouts the other day, I noticed the price for a head of loose-leaf organic red lettuce-$1.99. It was really small. I also saw the price of an organic kohlrabi-$2.99 each! Holy smoke. When folks buy from me they get at least 4 heads of lettuce that are bigger and better tasting than what you buy at any store-easily worth $2.50 each. They get a small container of tomatoes, and a combination of at least 5 other things from the list mentioned above. I deliver and it only costs them $20 a week. I think that’s a great deal-what do you think? Some of these Asian greens-man, are they good. Especially for stir-fries.[ois skin=”below post”]

Under the tunnel

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heat in high tunnelThe recorded windchill temperatures at night have been in single digits all week. I haven’t been able to see anything that’s come up yet but I’ve been able to take a quick peek under the plastic to observe what the picture shows if you look hard enough-heat coming up from the ground. The sun has come out occasionally but I haven’t put a thermometer under the plastic to know how warm it’s gotten. Past experience has shown it to be 30+ degrees warmer then the outside air. I planted another square today of lettuce and radishes which means there should be eight squares growing soon-hopefully. I’ve got all cold crops planted under the tunnel so we’ll see if this little experiment works. The towel under the tunnel(previous post picture)has been used to cover the squares that have been planted so far. It’s just meant to provide another layer of protection-especially in this kind of weather.[ois skin=”below post”]