Peas, lettuces, and potatoes in and first herbs up!

Planted half row of peas, lettuces, arugula, and spinach on 3/18 and then the rest of the row on 3/28.  Soaked peas 1-2 days first to give them a head start.

Bill has been pruning the fruit trees, and cutting back the dead strawberry leaves and added composted manure around the berries.  Then he put in stakes and I added the white cord to keep feet out of the beds.  And he has 9 of the 12 veggie beds dug and fertilized with manure already!

We planted bed 11 with potatoes.  Red on the east end.  White on the west end.  

Soil was 44 degrees F at noon.  48 degrees F at 4 pm!   Temperature int he 50's today, mostly sunny and not much wind.  A great March day in the garden!

Garlic already 8-10 inches high......, planted last October.

Dug out the stalks from last year's annuals in the herb garden, Trimmed the dried thyme and lavender stalks from last year.

Several perennial herbs are already coming up:  chives, licorice mint, chamomile, lovage, tarragon, and sorrel!  It felt good to get out the little ceramic signs and hang them above these early herbs.

 Bill built a new 3' x 3' carrot box!

                                                        Rhubarbs coming up.... looks great!

Asparagus re-do

Last fall a wonderful group of collage students dug out the old asparagus bed as a service project.  This spring Bill, Jessie, and I finished the digging, ready for a truckload of soil before planting. The old bed was so infested with weeds, especially with a tough perennial grass.  We decided the only way to remedy the situation was to start again.  We have some of the old asparagus crowns in the fridge, and will buy some new.  

Seedlings!

 First SAGE seedlings up under grow lights in people barn at farm.   Bill and Amy planted these 3/13.

SAGE seedlings are happy in their new greenhouse. 

Complete with a small heater.  Temperature 57! 

 

And a few more trays of seedlings for the farm garden

getting started in my backyard (very humble "greenhouses.).

Seed viability

To test the viability of last year's seeds, I put 10 of each seed in a tray with wet paper towels.  The number that sprout is the percentage of viability.  Less than 40% I throw out.  50, 60, 70% I plant twice as many seeds.  90 and 100% I consider good as new.  The number on the paper towel following the name of the seed company is the year they were first bought.   The 2011 basil did fine!

2018 Garden Plan

2018 Garden Plan