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We have signs of life in the raised beds! Radishes and some beets planted earlier this week have popped up.
We also have some action from the marigolds and the first true leaves coming out in the spinach.
At this point we should really start seeing things take off all throughout the garden.
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Another slow news day. Nothing else has germinated yet, but the seedlings I have so far are looking healthy. I took to misting them in the morning and late afternoon to ensure the soil blocks don’t dry out.
It may not look like they’re doing much now, but what we can’t see is the massive root growth inside the soil.
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Last night the whole family got out to make some more soil blocks. We started a few parsley and cilantro as well as two whole trays of shelling peas. Peas are typically direct sown since their roots grow out so quickly. Soil blocking helps mitigate that issue by reducing root binding and disturbance during transplanting. Plus, you can put one seed per block, reducing the amount of seeds required. Something is very satisfying about a fresh tray of blocks.
I don’t think the soil blocks are getting enough water. Even if the tops are staying wet, the bottom half seems to dry out. Adjustments will have to be made. You can just barely make out the dry soil in the picture below.
Later tonight Becca and I started on a project that’s been on my mind for a while: Organizing all of the seeds. In total we have 42 varieties. After a season or two of abuse, the original seed packets start looking a little worse for wear. I purchased a box of 4”x6” metal clasp envelopes and we placed the seeds in those.
Now to build a box to store all of these envelopes.
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I finally received the last of my seeds in the mail yesterday. This package was from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. It had Detroit Dark Red beets, Danvers carrots, some bunching onion, cilantro and parsley. Well, I thought it would be the last of the seeds I needed. Turns out I forgot to add snow peas to my cart before checking out. I’ll have to hunt down those seeds locally.
Fun fact about ordering from Southern Exposure: They wrap your shipment in pages of their old seed catalogs!
Now that I had all but one of my seeds, I set out to plant what could be direct-sown in the beds.
It’s the time of year that the sun is setting earlier, so I had to break out the head lamp. Becca snapped this pic of me and JP planting in the dark.
Now that I had the head lamp working again, I figured I didn’t need to wait for the sun to come up to do the morning chores. The seeds in the soil blocks are still looking great!
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A cool front came through early this morning. It’s a stark difference from yesterday. I’m sure the seedlings will love it.
Speaking of seedlings, the back row of soil blocks was completely dried out on top. I don’t know if I didn’t give it enough water yesterday or the sun is somehow peeking through the back of the rack. I’ll have to keep an eye on it.
Here’s something I haven’t shown: In the spring I planted some seed potatoes in 10 gallon grow bags. The result, while less than I had hoped, was very delicious! As an experiment, almost two months ago I cut up a store-bought Russet potato and threw it in another grow bag. It seems to be going well so far.
It’s getting more and more difficult to come up with things to write about, but things should pick up once I can get stuff into the raised beds.
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Another late start today and the sun has decided to punish me. It’s quite a bit hotter today. The seedlings are still looking good. The shade cloth on the front of the seed starting station is performing well and keeping the soil blocks from drying out too much during the day.
The hose splitter I had on the bib was being twisted by the irrigation system. This made using the other side of the splitter a bit difficult. I installed a new 4-way splitter with better valves. Because this new splitter is so heavy, it required installing a brace that screws into the brick. It only took one additional trip to the hardware store to get this project done. Nothing is ever as easy as it seems.
We had a little visitor on the citrus trees as I was placing them in decorative pots. A Giant Swallowtail for anyone who’s curious.
