Week 8 - The Future?

Many people have already started some seeds such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, etc. Is it too early or too late? It is hard to know when to start the seeds. I think in general people tend to start their seeds too early. If you start your seeds too early the plants get too tall,spindly, and have a great opportunity to develop disease. If you wait to long the seedlings are too small and immature and don't do well adjusting to transplanting.

Most experts suggest starting seed no earlier than six weeks or later than 3 weeks before transplanting into the garden. So that begs the question what is the proper date for transplanting to the garden? Generally after the last frost date for your locality. Some people plant earlier because they are willing to cover plants on nights when frost is possible. Research has shown that warm weather plants exposed to temperatures of 50F or lower tend to be stunted and produce far less then expected during the growing season.

So when is the last last date? You can use the map above to determine that date for your area. For me it means being able to put my transplants safely in the garden after May 15th. So this would mean for me that I should start my tomato, pepper, eggplant, etc. seed during the first week of April. So I plan to start my seeds this and will report on this during next weeks posting.

So what is in store for this coming going season? Below are some maps from the US Weather Service that give us some idea of what weather to expect during the next three months.

Now an update on the "garden".

Above are the tomatoes. The large plant has flower buds that are ready to open.

As you can see that the spinach is growing great!

 

Above is the lettuce you can see some large mature ready to harvest plants, plants that have recently been added to the Earthbox and an empty spot where a plant was recently harvested.

In last weeks's edition I mentioned making a Chicken Lentil With Spinach Soup. So for my readers from Great Britian and Germany the recipe appears below.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup chopped onions

1 cup coarsely chopped carrots

2 -4 garlic cloves, minced

6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 tablespoon snipped fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed

1 -2 bay leaves

4 cups coarsely chopped spinach

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1 1/2 cups cooked chicken breasts, cubed

1 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1/2 cup dry lentils

Directions

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium-low heat. Add onion, carrot, and garlic. Cook, covered,for 5-7 minutes or until vegetables are nearly tender, stirring occasionally.

Add broth, bay leaves and, if using, dried basil to vegetable mixture. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.

3. Stir in spinach, lentils, salt and black pepper. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered 10 minutes.

Stir in chicken,tomato, and , if using, fresh basil. Simmer, covered, for 15-20 min more or until spinach and lentils are tender.

Remove bay leaves before servng.

 

During this coming week I plan to start my tomato, pepper, and eggplant seeds, so I will be showing you how I do that.

 

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Week 7 - Precipitation

One of the reasons I like using Earthboxes is I can control the moisture the plants receive. In the past years gardening where we are located the problem has been too much moisture. Then last year, 2012, it was too little moisture.

Of course with Earthboxes you can not control the temperature, you can somewhat control the amount of sun your boxes receive by where you place them. But you are still dependent on the temperature (warmer vs colder year) and sky condition (cloudy vs sunny year). Earthboxes are still susceptible to insects, blight, and critters although they are somewhat minimized by having the boxes close by the house for regular inspection by the humans and the schnauzers. Last year the stripped ground squirrels would steal some of the cherry tomatoes or eat holes in the larger tomatoes much to consternation of the schnauzers. They seemed to stop feasting on our tomatoes after a tangle with the schnauzers in which one of the squirrels became a trophy and also a present for Mom.

Getting back to moisture some of you may remember the comparison in rainfall for the past several years I did in a post last year. There are several ways to illustrate variation in precipitation from one year to another. One way that is quite dramatic is a picture of one our flower gardens from 2011 compared to a picture of the same area taken in 2012.

The above picture taken during the first week of August 2011 with one taken during the same week in 2012. I am somewhat skeptical of this flower garden recovering without a lot work to rebuild it.

Another way to illustrate the difference in rainfall over the past several years is to look at the measurement of how much precipitation has actually fallen. There are a group of volunteers around the US and Canada that record and report the amount of precipitation that has fallen at their location. These people of which I am one belong to a group called CoCoRaHS. CoCoRaHS is an acronym for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network. CoCoRaHS is a unique, non-profit, community-based network of volunteers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure and map precipitation (rain, hail and snow). By using low-cost measurement tools, stressing training and education, and utilizing an interactive Web-site, our aim is to provide the highest quality data for natural resource, education and research applications.

The network originated with the Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State University in 1998 thanks in part to the Fort Collins flood a year prior. In the years since, CoCoRaHS now includes thousands of volunteers nationwide. CoCoRaHS is a community project. Everyone can help, young, old, and in-between. The only requirements are an enthusiasm for watching and reporting weather conditions and a desire to learn more about how weather can effect and impact our lives.

Each time a rain, hail or snow storm crosses your area, volunteers take measurements of precipitation from as many locations as possible. You do not have to measure all three, I just measure rain and snow. These precipitation reports are then recorded on www.cocorahs.org. The data are then displayed and organized for many of our end users to analyze and apply to daily situations ranging from water resource analysis and severe storm warnings to neighbors comparing how much rain fell in their backyards.

CoCoRaHS is used by a wide variety of organizations and individuals. The National Weather Service, other meteorologists, hydrologists, emergency managers, city utilities (water supply, water conservation, storm water), insurance adjusters, USDA, engineers, mosquito control, ranchers and farmers, outdoor & recreation interests, teachers, students, and neighbors in the community are just some examples of those who use the data.

Click here to visit the CoCoRaHS website or here to view a brochure about CoCoRaHS. Volunteers are always welcome especially from Buena Vista county (Iowa) as you can see on the following map.

Just click here to sign up as a CoCoRaHS Volunteer Observer.

Below is a graph of precipitation from the current year and the several past years. If you you study the chart carefully you will see that 2012 and 2011 were about equally dry. This clearer in the annual summary table also below. Surprising as you can see the total rainfall for 2011 and 2012 are about equal. The reason the effects of low rainfall for 2011 was not so serious was the great rainfall the previous year and timing of the rainfall. January and February for this year are actually worse than both 2011 and 2012, however March appears to have turned the tide, remember the March value is only for the first 18 days.

Now a progress report on how the garden is growing. If you remember last week the pictures of the tomato seedlings with only two leaves, here is a current picture. What a difference a week makes! In this first picture the cilantro is crowing in from the left and in the second photo the basil is encroaching from the right.

These plants are ready for the Earthbox. Below are some pictures of moving the tomato seedlings to the Earthbox.

The spinach is doing quite well. We have harvested enough for two four omelets. I really think the spinach is winning. Also harvested 6-8 cups for chicken-lentil-spinach soup (picture below).

The lettuce also continues to grow. We have harvested two heads and that equals four salads. As you can see I have replaced the two harvested plants with two new ones. Will probably need to start a couple more to transplant into the Earthbox during the next two weeks.

Next week if time permits I will start some seeds for the coming growing season. With the weather being so cool will need to look at the long range forecast and maybe wait a week or so.

 

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Week 6 - More Progress

This past Saturday afternoon, Mar 9, I was listening to someone proclaim that spring is here! He noted that after the rain how could it not be spring and that it was only a matter of a few days and the grass would start to green up. So Monday morning, Mar 10, I looked out our back windows to see how green the grass was becoming. Not very!

Even with nearly a foot of snow that we received this past weekend we still need to be planning and preparing for our 2013 garden. Hopefully you have a garden plan in mind and have selected and ordered any needed seeds. If not, there is time to order or stop at the local garden centers to see what is available. But don't wait too long as the best varieties go fast.

Many people believe they need to start the seeds in February or early March. I believe the biggest mistake people make when starting seeds like tomatoes and peppers is to start the seeds way too early. They end up with stunted plants or worse plants that have been infected by root rot and various "blights".

I have found that starting seeds in the first week of April produces plants that are at optimum for transplanting about May 16. Most years the weather after May 16 is safe to have plants out in the garden. By safe I mean free from frost and temperatures below 50F that last longer than 48 hours. These conditions can stunt a plant and cut summer production in half. Some years the weather doesn't cooperate and we have cold snap, so emergency covering for a night or so is needed.

So during the first week of April I will be start seeds for tomato, peppers, and eggplant. Rest of my garden is direct sowed. Because of our soil and trees I find it basically impossible to grow peppers of any kind, but always the optimist I am going to try again with a variety they is good for container gardening.

The size of the vegetable seedlings at transplant time affects the total yield of the plant. Best results are from relatively small, stocky plants that have only 5 to 7 leaves. As a rule, transplants of fruiting vegetables, such as tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant, that have not yet begun to flower, produce a greater yield and better quality fruit than would be obtained from larger, older transplants. The above chart can be used to find the best date to plant your seeds. More information on how to start garden transplants the tranditional way can be found in the Iowa State Extension publication Starting Garden Transplant at Home. In the future I will go into the method I use to start my seeds for transplants. Probably do this the week of April 1st when I start transplants.

Now for the progress on how the garden is growing. First I decided to grow some container tomatoes to see how early in the season I can have ripe tomatoes. I don't have much hope for success as the temperatures are too cool in the early spring and this is not good for tomato pollination. Anytime temperatures fall below 59F any tomato flowers will not set fruit. I selected two varieties of cherry tomatoes that are short season,excellent for containers, and are suppose to set fruit in cooler temperatures. The first variety is Patio Princess Hybrid. Here is a description and picture from the Burpee's catalog.

Perfectly sized, petite tomato plants for patio containers. Invite these petite plants onto your patio and get ready to enjoy a bountiful supply of the tastiest little tomatoes ever. The 2’ plants fruit mightily—producing as many 2½" fruits as plants twice their size. Patio Princess is just the right size for small pots and a large tub can fit 2-3 plants.

 

The second variety is Sweetheart Of The Patio. Below is a picture and description also from the Burpee's catalog .

Tolerant to Late Blight, an outstanding variety for containers and pots. This compact super producer has shown tolerance to Late Blight in numerous field trials. A sister line of the All-America Selections winning Lizzano, Burpee selected Sweetheart of the Patio for its superior yield and early fruit set. Bursting with snack-ready, supersweet baby cherries about 1" round, you'll have delicious, disease-free fruits the summer through. Plant it in a pot, hanging basket, or directly in your garden.

 

 

I planted 4 seeds of each variety in the AeroGarden that I use to start small numbers of transplants. I planted two seeds in each seed pod with the idea of thining to the strongest seedling. The reason for my planting strategy is that I want two plants of each variety as an Earthbox can accommodate four tomato plants of the cherry variety.

In the above picture you can see that tomato seedlings have emerged in three of the pods. The seeds in the front row far right did not germinate so I replanted and waiting to see what happens. The three pods in the center contain Salnova lettuce seed for plants to replace the lettuce we will soon be harvesting. Below is a close up of a seed pod that has been thinned to the best plant and a protective cover that controls moisture loss, algae and mold growth which could deadly to the seedling.

Below are some pictures of the spinach and lettuce crops so you can what has been happing with them.

 

 

Here is head of lettuce that has been harvested.

Here the lettuce being prepared for a salad. This lettuce is a little less crunchy then romaine but not as wimpy as leaf lettuce. I have to say the lettuce has a good flavor.

That's all for this week more next week.

 

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Week 5 - Progress

This week going to review the progress of the "crops". We have a three seasons room located on the west side of our house. The room is about 85% windows and doors so it has plenty of light. The room is not heated or air conditioned. When the house needs to be heated or air conditioned we can close this room off from the rest of the house. In the winter time the temperature hovers around 50F. If the outside temperature falls much below 0F for more than a day or two the temperature in the room can approach freezing. When that happens we run an infrared heater call SunTwin. Since we bought our heater SunTwin was acquired by EdenPure. When it runs the fan is loud but it does a good keeping the temperatures of the room in the 50-55F area and doesn't seem to cost an arm and a leg to do so. To learn more about the heater click here. Also a company by the name of SunHeat makes a heater that looks almost identical to ours.
With this room's temperature in the 55F area that is really an ideal temperature to grow cool season crops like lettuce and spinach. Below is this week's update on the progress of the spinach and lettuce crops.
At beginning of this week I moved the Earthbox with lettuce out to the west room. Because the box has casters it was just a matter of rolling the box out to the room. I placed the lettuce under some grow lights. The grow lights are held by a stand made from two eight foot 2x4's.

The lettuce is growing quite nicely as you can see below. Notice how red several of the plants are. They are so red and dark they are hard to see in the photos below.

About three days after planting the spinach the plants started emerging, see photo below.

And a few days later the spinach has completely emerged. Probably should thin to an average of one plant per inch, but will wait a few more days before thinning.

That's all for this week. Next week I will write about my plans for starting plants for the summer growing season and update progress of the lettuce and spinach.

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