Its monday again and time for an update from the greenhouse and garden.
We had an interesting week last week with the greenhouse. The temperature fluctuations that we had in the weather made keeping a steady temperature very difficult. With the way we have it constructed when the sun comes out it heats up very quickly and when it goes behind a cloud it cools off pretty quickly too. Our seedlings have suffered some because of this I know. One day last week we had temps in the seventies. This came at a time when I was helping dad load some calves at the old farm and when I got back temperatures had reached 105 in the greenhouse. We cooled things off immediately, but we lost some cabbages and some brussels sprouts. Some others are not dead but got singed pretty good and they are recovering.
We have had pretty good luck with germination overall. Our Copenhagen Market cabbages are all up, with about a 97% germination rate. Our brussels sprouts came up very quickly, but I am afraid some did not get enough sun early on. Some grew too tall before they began to leaf out, and I think the ones that did this the worst got hit pretty hard by the heat on the day when it got too high. The eggplants, and peppers are doing well, and they like the heat, so they were not affected by the hot day. The only thing that we have had some trouble with is the Late Flat Dutch variety of cabbages. We have had a very low germination rate with those at only about 5-7% although some are still poking out occasionally. I don’t know if this has to do with the particular batch of seed we got, or if we did something wrong. The name implies that it is late, but after being in the soil for just shy of a month, they should be up by now, and I fear that any that are still underground are rotten. Tomorrow we will be starting 1000 or more seeds, including all of our tomato varieties and our broccoli. We are late getting these started also, but I think they will be ready to go in the ground in time.
We probably are later getting started than many greenhouses, as some start their seeds before Christmas. One factor that has made us a little later than we should be is the weather. We only have a small space heater in our (600cu/ft?) greenhouse, and that is not quite enough to keep up when it gets into the twenties at night. So with our first 800 or so seedlings, we have been bringing them in to sit on the kitchen table at night so they don’t freeze. Most of these nights in the twenties the temp in the greenhouse gets down to around 31. It may not kill the seedlings, but we don’t want to take any chances with the tiny precious plants. When we sow the next batch, our table won’t be big enough inside, so we decided to wait until the next good planting days to sow them. What do I mean by ‘planting days?’
This year we have been closely following the almanack for the best days to plant and weed, and all that. I know that some will have a negative reaction to the idea of paying attention to moon signs and astronomical things, but we believe that God has built into this wold of ours certain patterns and seasons for our benefit and for his glory, and if he did, we would be foolish to ignore them, thinking we know better.
Anyway, outside, some of our potatoes have begun to poke their heads out from the ground. We are keeping a close eye on these because once they come up we are going to begin piling more dirt and straw and things on top to inhibit grass and weeds, and pile up the rows to get more tubers to set. Our taters are planted in very good soil, and if anyone has any advice for us about how to ‘stress’ them to get them to grow more underground than above, we would welcome it.
This morning, before writing this, we put together our first “official” compost pile. While the components are relatively easy, composting is a thing of mystery to those who have not done it before. On one hand, if you get too much nitrogen, you could burn your plants, and on the other hand, if you don’t get your carbon right you won’t get it to cook right. But we decided to stop wondering and worrying about how to start a compost pile and actually try to get a pile started. So we did. Chicken manure from the coop and dried leaves from Grandpa in town did the trick. I am eagerly anticipating seeing some steam from the pile on these cold mornings. 
While we are moving to the mulch/compost method of weeding this year, we recently decided that for our new beds we are probably going to start by tearing out the sod first. This may be an added step, but in order to properly prepare our beds to be grass free this year, we probably should have piled organic material high on them last fall. Since we didn’t do that, it is my thought that we might as well start with a clean slate. Our dirt is very black here, so I don’t think we will lose too much fertility by stripping those top couple of inches, especially when we are going to be putting more material down after planting.
Our beets, carrots, and onions will be going in sometime this week. Also we are going to put our peas in if the weather cooperates, and it will be very exciting to watch them climb the cattle panel trellises.
Another important move for the garden this week is going to be to clip the chicken’s wings. We have always liked to let our chickens free range. It makes the birds happier and makes the eggs better, (not to mention cutting our feed bill significantly) but this year we are going to confine them to their chicken run during our gardening season so we don’t have the problem of them digging around in the beds. We may also incorporate some chicken tractors this year to follow the cows in the pasture.
While spring seems to be slow in coming, we know it will come eventually. It is fun to experience the seasons and to learn the lessons that they offer. We watch the grass slowly become green, and the buds emerge on the trees and they give us confidence that the warmer weather is near. In the same way, we notice small blessings each day to reassure us of God’s promises, and we are encouraged that every day, little by little he is revealing himself in a new way to those who will seek for him in their daily work.
Leave a Reply