Saturday Report, April 11th

This is an update to the plans I made in the last update.

1.  Repotting the Bok Choi and Swiss Chard.  

     I was able to transfer the seedlings out of the propagator and into 3" pots which are now growing under the grow lights.  For this group, I moved 9 bok choi and 6 swiss chard.

This is the same group taking a little afternoon sun, as I began the hardening off process.

I have three more chard that can be transplanted some time this week.  I though they could benefit from a few more days in the aerogarden released from the competitive pressure of their overgrown neighbors.  What this means, however, is that I am still 6 plants short of the 24 I need to fill the lower bed.  I'll go to the garden center and pick up a 6-cell pack of something appropriate to substitute.  I seeded 12 of each, but a few of the cells just didn't germinate or if they did, the plants were weak.  In the future, I should probably seed 15 cells (three rows) of each plant type, to make sure I grow enough.

2. Prepare the lower raised bed.

Out in the garden, the lower bed has been completely prepared for planting.  I weeded it, topped it with compost and then drew out my squares.  Into each of these squares, I will plant a single meal kit.  As you look at the markers, you will see the garlic on the left, the bok choi and onions in a diagonal pattern and the radish tape in a line between them

I repeat this pattern down the length of one side of the raised bed.  This photo was taken after I had done an initial planting.

Here's the story:  The bok choi and chard I repotted earlier are destined to be planted in this bed.  But, they still have a week, at least, of growing out and hardening before they are ready to be put in the garden.

However, I have plenty of onion sets, garlic bulbs, and radish seed tape ready to be planted right now.  So, I decided to plant all of those in the garden except for the big greens.  This will give the onions and garlic a week or more to break dormancy, and for the radishes to germinate before the chard and choi make an appearance.

Since all of these are planted below ground, I left some stakes in the ground to remind me of where to plant the greens when they arrive.

3.  What's Next?

A.  I still have many onion and garlic sets.   The next step is to prepare the other side of the bed the same way, waiting for their companions.

B.  I know that I will need to buy a single 6-cell pack, so I might as well go ahead and buy that and put it in right away.

C.  The upper bed is fully planted, for the moment, so it is ready to be mulched with grass clippings when I mow.

D.  I also have rows in the propagator standing empty.  It is time to reset those cells and start some of the summer crops in them.  Peppers might be a good place to start.

I want to put the broccoli and beets into the upper bed, into the space occupied by the winter cabbage.  Those two are slower growing than the eager greens, which means an extra week in the propagator and an extra week growing out in the pots.  However, that still means that some of them will be ready to put in the garden in three weeks.  It may be time to harvest the winter cabbage.

4.  Food for Thought
The middle bed is ready for strawberries.  I need to plant them next.  There is literally no need to wait, except that I don't want to feel rushed or pressured to do gardening.  If currently I have plenty of things to do to occupy my gardening time, then the strawberries may wait.

The skeleton of the hoop house needs to come down, and something needs to be done with the beautiful apple trees.

• Mowed underneath,
• Mulched
• Fertilized
• Sprayed?
• Pruned
• heading cuts to limit height
• thinning cuts to reduce the tangle.
• Need to be protected with some kind of netting