Garden update: April 10th

By the end of the first week in April, we are well into the Spring garden.  All danger of frost is past for this area, and that is certainly the case this year.  However, it is still too chilly for high summer plants like tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini.  Put in now, those plants will basically sulk until the middle of May.  On the other hand, spring vegetables like lettuce and bok choi are in their prime.

Today, the high will be 55 F. and breezy.






In the Garden.  Outside, I have harvested the last of the green cabbage and replaced them with the salad meal kit plantings: red and green lettuce, radishes, and onions.  The image below shows two meal kit plantings:

 

 Now, I have the happy task of harvesting the red cabbage, 1 per week.  This should allow small secondary heads to grow, permitting a final round of harvests before they are done.  The radishes need to be thinned while I harvest a few leaves for a salad.

Inside, the seeds I planted in the Aerogarden 10 days ago are coming up strongly. The bok choi and swiss chard are clearly ready to be transpanted out of the propagator.  If I wait any longer, their roots will be too long and entangled, and I will actually lose progress by pruning them back as I remove them.  At the same time, they are already competing strongly for space in the light and are beginning to overcrowd their neighbors.

The key to success with the Aerogarden as a propagator is to know when to move on; to know when to begin the transition.  Things are growing so well in there now, that it seems a shame to break up the party.

These bok choi and swiss chard seedlings could go longer, but those in the middle would grow spindly and weakened from crowding.  The choi are starting to shoulder the chard aside.

I will start moving the bok choi into paper pots for a week, and begin the hardening process.  Next week they will be ready to be planted out.

Released from the competition of the choi, the chard will also be ready for the paper pots soon after.



The other end of the propagator is more of a puzzle.  Here I have the combination of broccoli and beets.  Both have developed nice and strong true leaves.

I don't want to wait too much longer to put the beets directly into the ground.  I won't be paper potting them.  So after I'm finished with the chard, as mentioned above, I will move the beets outside. 

However, the broccoli could benefit from another week's worth of development before being potted on.  All in all, that gives me two pleasant weeks of indoor gardening to look forward to .

Seeding for the Summer Gardening
With the plan in place to move the spring garden plants out of the propagator, that means it will be time to start the seeds for the warm summer garden:  It's time to start the tomatoes, peppers and all the rest.  I have to keep in  mind that I don't need 12 tomato plants or 10 zucchini. I will be more careful in seeding, while still starting a few extra so I can select the best ones to transplant.


 
Front Beds
Outside, the front beds haven't moved much.  I think the Egyptian onions are starting to take hold. It hasn't been easy for them






  The sunchokes have sprouted and I'm seeing the first shoots breaking the surface of the ground.  I was waiting to see how they would grow before planting my garlic. However, the garlic is sprouting now and it may be time to get started.