Some of y'all might be wondering what I'm up to.
Some of y'all know what my plans are in general, and some are still in the dark because plans are still close to the vest.
So here are some general things that are going on. Some of you will know how these fit into my larger plan, and some of you will just have to be patient until I can reveal all.
I've got my spring garlic count! 90 made it through our harsh winter. I lost some, in places where I didn't get enough mulch on top of them. But 90 is still respectable. If I get 3 big cloves from all 90, planted this fall, that will be around 270 garlic plants up in 2015. My crazy old lady co-gardener was surprised to see garlic in the plot this year. Most people around here are when I tell them what the plants are. :-) It just means I'll have a monopoly on the market when the scapes are ready in June. The scapes may be about all we eat or sell of this crop. Well, those and the smaller cloves I don't want to plant. This crop is meant to be the seed garlic for a larger cash crop next year.
My daddy asked me if there is a large market for Iowa garlic. I believe there is. My farmer friends at Coyote Run Farm, south of Des Moines plant something like a half acre of hardneck garlic every year. They have a picture of baby Rowen and I out for one of their garlic planting parties in 2009, so I know how much they plant. I know I will not be anywhere near that level. I also know they sell out every year. The trick is nice big bulbs, and tasty varieties. Those two things are impossible to find in grocery store garlic. Get people hooked on the deliciousness that is locally grown hardneck garlic, and they'll never go back to the sad little grocery store garlic.
My cold frame performed well again this year, in all of its DIY glory. The last frost date is this week, (and true to form for this spring, we have a frost chance for Friday) and my spinach has been producing like crazy since the beginning of May. Another week and we'll be buried in lettuce, some of which was also in the cold frame and is beginning to crowd out the last of the spinach.
My farmers market in town continues it's downward spiral. This year the Chamber of "Commerce" has decided that it won't start until JULY 2nd!! For fucks sake! The other local markets are already starting, we went down to the opening weekend for Sioux City's market this past Saturday. And sure, it's no July market, but people were THERE! Vendors had greens, onions, eggs, meat, transplants and crafted goods. Customers were THERE! Why our Chamber thinks May and June don't deserve market times in our town, I don't know. I strongly suspect it's because they are fucking morons.
Moving on. I've decided I will still register as a vendor and go in July-Oct. I've also decided I'll start when I have the produce to start, and damn their official start date. I'm making my own sandwich boards to offset the lack of city support for earlier selling dates. (Their limited support of the market includes signage along the main highway through town pointing motorists one block North to the market location.) A big shout out to my dad, who brainstormed a bit with me on the sandwich boards. I got a start on them this past weekend, and my rusty woodworking skills came back to me. I even remembered to buy sandpaper and sand the boards before applying the primer. *high five* I'm making them really solid so they should last quite awhile. I'll be adding other things to my market stall this year. A scale is top of the list. I scored a big food-grade tray last year in a trade with a fellow market vendor, so that will find uses this summer. If I have enough of the chalkboard paint left when I'm done with my sandwich boards, I might make up some small boards for labeling prices/varieties of veggies.
In the fun news category, I'm signed up to run in another 5k this summer. The Color Run in Omaha in mid July. I've been out jogging a few times this spring, in between the rains and storms. So far I'm running better than I did at the beginning of last year, much better. So, I didn't lose it all over the winter. Looks like this week might actually let me start the 3 times a week training that I did last year. If things go to plan I'll get to run with my younger brother, the ex-Marine. It sure would be nice to have a good time with him, it's been too long. And knowing that I'll be running with him will certainly keep the pressure on during my training. Us two, competitive? ....yea. :-D
So there's what's going on right now. We're keeping busy and holding on. How are things with all y'all?
-Jennie
Showing posts with label cold frame. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cold frame. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Planting at a Run
Well, Memorial Day approaches, and we've finally given winter the boot. My garlic plot is the only block of plantings that doesn't look behind. Although, some of the early radishes are coming along, and one of my pea plantings is looking vigorous, even if its neighbor planting is a little behind where I'd like.
Snowstorms well into May meant that my usually busy spring of planting cold hardy crops was delayed for the most part. Thank goodness for my cold frames! The lettuce that was under those has had a great spring, the ice and snow slowed them down, but the frames did their job, and hubby and the boys helped with some of the on-and-off as our weather did its crazy dance. (On and off refers to the taking frame tops off when we hit 70+, and putting them back on when we dip below 35 or so.)
So this past weekend saw me planting at a run, trying to get greens, peas, onions, potatoes, corn and kale into the ground, before the rain that was expected Sunday. Oh, and getting the lawn mowed, because by the time the snow melted, the grass was 5-6 inches tall. And installing the new rain barrel, and fixing the old barrel. :-D And of course, all of that was on top of the normal weekend work of the dishes and laundry that we do every weekend.
I don't mean this to sound like I do EVERYTHING and hubby does nothing. :-D Quite the contrary, I am able to do all I do, because he does so much. He was watching which-ever kid wasn't with me in the garden, and cooking us some meals and doing his share of the dishes and laundry. He did at least half the lawn, and got the new rain barrel installed (AND LEVELED!)
I did manage to get a LOT planted before the rain started Sunday. Enough that I feel almost back on track. Memorial Weekend usually sees me planting out some of the heat loving plants. I'll probably check soil temps before doing that this year. It may just be too cold still for me to put out my little tomatoes. I started them a little late indoors, so it's all strangely working out.
I'm already running out of space in my gardens. :-D
I've left some room for the beans and peppers and tomatoes, but probably not enough. I may have to get creative.
I'll be back with a full rundown after this weekend. I imagine I'll have every last inch planted by Monday. :-D
-Jennie
Snowstorms well into May meant that my usually busy spring of planting cold hardy crops was delayed for the most part. Thank goodness for my cold frames! The lettuce that was under those has had a great spring, the ice and snow slowed them down, but the frames did their job, and hubby and the boys helped with some of the on-and-off as our weather did its crazy dance. (On and off refers to the taking frame tops off when we hit 70+, and putting them back on when we dip below 35 or so.)
So this past weekend saw me planting at a run, trying to get greens, peas, onions, potatoes, corn and kale into the ground, before the rain that was expected Sunday. Oh, and getting the lawn mowed, because by the time the snow melted, the grass was 5-6 inches tall. And installing the new rain barrel, and fixing the old barrel. :-D And of course, all of that was on top of the normal weekend work of the dishes and laundry that we do every weekend.
I don't mean this to sound like I do EVERYTHING and hubby does nothing. :-D Quite the contrary, I am able to do all I do, because he does so much. He was watching which-ever kid wasn't with me in the garden, and cooking us some meals and doing his share of the dishes and laundry. He did at least half the lawn, and got the new rain barrel installed (AND LEVELED!)
I did manage to get a LOT planted before the rain started Sunday. Enough that I feel almost back on track. Memorial Weekend usually sees me planting out some of the heat loving plants. I'll probably check soil temps before doing that this year. It may just be too cold still for me to put out my little tomatoes. I started them a little late indoors, so it's all strangely working out.
I'm already running out of space in my gardens. :-D
I've left some room for the beans and peppers and tomatoes, but probably not enough. I may have to get creative.
I'll be back with a full rundown after this weekend. I imagine I'll have every last inch planted by Monday. :-D
-Jennie
Monday, April 1, 2013
Ice is Gone, Lettuce is Up!
I know I've raved about them before, but y'all are going to get another dose today.
I LOVE COLD FRAMES!
My cold frames are in a new location this spring. I shifted them at the beginning of winter last year. In one of them, I shook a stalk of lettuce seed over it before I closed it up for winter. I was rewarded this weekend when I took the top off and found a nice crop of 2 inch high lettuce growing vigorously.
The rest of my garden is basically still ice-locked. But those cold frames are just enough protection that early starts to lettuce and spinach thrive. We opened all of them up for an overnight dousing with 40 degree spring rain on Saturday, then closed them up again.
Rowen and I did manage to get some peas and radish seeds sown. The SE corner of the main bed had a nice covering of mulch on it, so we were able to get down a couple of inches with the hoe, and that was enough to get those seeds in. They won't mind icy toes, and they won't mind the 1/2 inch of ice/snow we got last night. Both the soil and the last flurry of winter will be melted by this weekend, and that's the soonest those seeds could be sprouted and looking to send down roots. The melting ice will give them some moisture, which we're still a little behind on.
It's hard to believe last year on this day we set a record high when we hit 92 degrees.
That's the other great thing about cold frames. They take a lot of the guess work out of early spring planting. Namely, the first stuff up is planted in winter, and the seeds figure out a sprouting time all on their own. This obviously only works with seed that will survive the winter's cold. The cold frame is solar based, and come mid-winter there just isn't much solar power to be had. But, I have a variety of lettuce that is hardy enough it has seeded itself in our lawn, so it works well for this application.
It's quite likely that this early crop of lettuce will be ready before the Farmers Market is open for the season. I'll probably have a couple of crops of spring stuff before the Farmer Market opens in Mid-June. (Note to self, the Sioux City market opens on May 8th, why does ours open so late? Can I petition for an earlier start?) Some of it we'll eat. We're always hungry for fresh greens by the time the first lettuce crop is ready. Some of it though... I'll have to find creative ways to sell it if I can't petition for an earlier start to the Farmers Market.
I could maybe bring a box into work and sell to co-workers. I'd have to check with a few people before doing that, but it's possible they'd ok it, we've been on a healthy kick at work lately. I could be a rebel and just have a one-woman farmers market, and open the market early whether the city likes it or not. (Our market is in a lightly used public parking lot.) I could go even further down the rebel path and put up a table in my front lawn next to the sidewalk and advertise the veggies there. ("Free Veggies, plus suggested tip" might get me around zoning laws.) Further pondering: If girls scouts can sell cookies door to door, could I sell lettuce door to door? 10 year olds probably don't need the profit margin that I do, but it's a thought.
Well, that's all for now. Spring continues its relentless march. My first year as a market grower is off to a good start. (Of course the start is the easiest part....)
-Jennie
I LOVE COLD FRAMES!
My cold frames are in a new location this spring. I shifted them at the beginning of winter last year. In one of them, I shook a stalk of lettuce seed over it before I closed it up for winter. I was rewarded this weekend when I took the top off and found a nice crop of 2 inch high lettuce growing vigorously.
The rest of my garden is basically still ice-locked. But those cold frames are just enough protection that early starts to lettuce and spinach thrive. We opened all of them up for an overnight dousing with 40 degree spring rain on Saturday, then closed them up again.
Rowen and I did manage to get some peas and radish seeds sown. The SE corner of the main bed had a nice covering of mulch on it, so we were able to get down a couple of inches with the hoe, and that was enough to get those seeds in. They won't mind icy toes, and they won't mind the 1/2 inch of ice/snow we got last night. Both the soil and the last flurry of winter will be melted by this weekend, and that's the soonest those seeds could be sprouted and looking to send down roots. The melting ice will give them some moisture, which we're still a little behind on.
It's hard to believe last year on this day we set a record high when we hit 92 degrees.
That's the other great thing about cold frames. They take a lot of the guess work out of early spring planting. Namely, the first stuff up is planted in winter, and the seeds figure out a sprouting time all on their own. This obviously only works with seed that will survive the winter's cold. The cold frame is solar based, and come mid-winter there just isn't much solar power to be had. But, I have a variety of lettuce that is hardy enough it has seeded itself in our lawn, so it works well for this application.
It's quite likely that this early crop of lettuce will be ready before the Farmers Market is open for the season. I'll probably have a couple of crops of spring stuff before the Farmer Market opens in Mid-June. (Note to self, the Sioux City market opens on May 8th, why does ours open so late? Can I petition for an earlier start?) Some of it we'll eat. We're always hungry for fresh greens by the time the first lettuce crop is ready. Some of it though... I'll have to find creative ways to sell it if I can't petition for an earlier start to the Farmers Market.
I could maybe bring a box into work and sell to co-workers. I'd have to check with a few people before doing that, but it's possible they'd ok it, we've been on a healthy kick at work lately. I could be a rebel and just have a one-woman farmers market, and open the market early whether the city likes it or not. (Our market is in a lightly used public parking lot.) I could go even further down the rebel path and put up a table in my front lawn next to the sidewalk and advertise the veggies there. ("Free Veggies, plus suggested tip" might get me around zoning laws.) Further pondering: If girls scouts can sell cookies door to door, could I sell lettuce door to door? 10 year olds probably don't need the profit margin that I do, but it's a thought.
Well, that's all for now. Spring continues its relentless march. My first year as a market grower is off to a good start. (Of course the start is the easiest part....)
-Jennie
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
