Here I was thinking the growing season was shaping up so nicely. Cover crop cut down in early March, biomass and fish fertilizer turned into the soil with plenty of time to break down. No foot-dragging this year about the overwintered kale, which I chopped and composted early. Seeds went in apace, and nothing to expect but forward progress from there. Indeed, the spinach and chard are now up and growing. But a glance around the patch and the depressing fact is that everybody else’s plots are already flush with lettuces, beets, and peas.
Meantime you can barely see the green stuff in ours.
Who doesn’t want to keep up with the Joneses? And yet we only seem to fall further behind. Yesterday on a fly-by with the Biscuit, I transplanted three parsley seedlings and that was pushing it. My home tomato starts are barely on their second set of leaves, and the pumpkin sprouts that I left out overnight last week turned white and stunted.
So no more relying on just the goodness of Nature. I’ve wrapped simple plastic tents around the pumpkins and lettuces and basil, little personal greenhouses that trap the sun’s warmth for chilly nights, and the plants seem to be perking up. We’re going to abandon home grown for bigger, healthier tomato starts from the farmer’s market. And I’ll dig some of my worm bin compost into the soil around heavy feeders like zucchini a couple of weeks hence, a habit that reaped dividends in prior years.
What’s your favorite trick for speeding up the season?
4 comments
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May 12, 2010 at 9:15 am
Glenn
Don’t sweat it, Audrey. The growing season is just beginning. The folks you’re seeing with bigger plants either bought them as starts or started them inside. I’ve got radishes and some small greens. Some of the overwintered brassicas and alliums are quite large due to the early warm up, but everything else is still tiny…and I started early and used low hoops on the raised beds. Keep sowing those seeds, there’s still plenty of time!
May 12, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Lara Alexander
I am not a patient gardener, so I invested in a roll of Gro-Therm.
http://www.food-soil-thread.com/2010/04/zucchini-in-bottle.html
I am happy to report that my Taxi tomato plant has flowers on it as of today! A couple of tomatoes under the gro therm look stunted, but some have really been happy under there, since mid April.
The verdict is still out if I will actually get to eat tomatoes early, but I would say its looking good for it!
I just planted my pepper transplants under the gro-them this weekend.
Fingers crossed!
May 13, 2010 at 10:32 am
faith
I have planted out leek and lettuce starts, peas, carrots and radishes. All are up and doing well. And I am in Willow, Alaska. Today the kale, rest of the lettuce, chard, and a few kohlrabi are going out too. Good luck. Your season is longer.
May 17, 2010 at 3:37 pm
audrey
Glenn, thanks. Good to know the plants are still smallish even though you used hoops. I’m thinking that’s the next step for me.
Lara, I’m so impressed that your tomato has flowers! Mine barely has two sets of leaves. I’ll have to check this stuff out.
Faith, good point on the longer season down here — but I envy the sunshine you get up there! Hope your garden grows well this summer.