karl.tsakos.us/blog

Short post today.

I just did some more weeding. The bronze fennel is acting like an invasive. It grew back nice and healthy in its bed as well as spreading to the bed my spinach is growing in. It’s also in the path in around the garden beds. Oh, it’s also growing in the lawn. I mean, fennel is nice, but come on!

The spinach is finally starting to grow in ernest. It has been sitting there with small leaves for a long time. We had a couple of days of rain and now it finally is starting to expand its horizons as it were.

Today I seeded the two beds I worked on amending a few days ago. I am now growing Leeks, swiss chard (2 varieties), lettuce (iceberg and mixed lettuces), beets (2 varieties) , and carrots (three varieties). We shall see how it goes, but I am looking forward to a whole bunch of fresh veggies in the next few months.

It’s time to get to work in ernest. Or, at least put a little effort into it. After creating the garden beds a couple of years ago I haven’t added any soil. The garden beds are getting a little compact despite having a healthy dose of manner and compost every year. The levels have dropped and the soil is a little rocky. I decided I would fix those beds that I could. The plan was to amend them with not just manure this year but also peat moss.

I started by digging down about a foot and a half into the bed with a garden fork to loosen up the soil. This took some effort in some places but it mostly broke up easily. I almost broke the edging for one of the beds. Not supposing since they are just untreated pine and have been sitting in the ground for a couple of yeas now. I think repairing the edging will be on next year’s agenda.

Amending the soil was the next step in the process. I added a bag of manure and half a bag of peat moss. This was followed with much turning over of the soil with the garden fork. Yes, much turning over in deed. I dug the peat and manure in to the beds and then had to spread it out evenly. One bed came out perfectly level. The other wound up over flowing so, I spread the excess in some of the other beds.

In the herb garden things are coming along quite well. The oregano, thyme, sage, bronze fennel, and chives are all very healthy. I have seeds started for dill, basil, cilantro, and something else I can’t remember right now. The bronze fennel is actually doing too well. It spread seeds that are growing in half the garden as well as the walk ways between the beds. It looks so fragile and yet it’s a big jerk.

Yesterday was a beautiful day by any standard, forget that we are talking mid March. It was about 70 degrees and sunny. I went for a bike ride in the morning (first of the year). In the late afternoon I started work on the garden.

I planted some spinach seeds which should be ready end of April. I also planted my potatoes. They were crying out to be planted. They would reach out and grab me very time I would walk by them.

They had to go in the ground. In addition to the potatoes I have been planting from the original ones that sprouted in a bag 3 years ago, I have some purple potatoes which have joined the party.

Am I afraid of a frost killing them? No, not really. I’ve looked at the forecast for the next week and it is staying warm. We had a mild winter and it’s led into a mild March. I can’t see anything drastic changing.

I know, famous last words. Well, we’ll see… We’ll see.

I don’t fence my garden in. That’s because I am lazy and cheap. Also, most of my flora is left alone by the local fauna. Some of the little critters in the area bother my tomatoes or nibble on the occasional plant. But for the most part they leave them alone. They could climb over any fence I put in place anyhow.

No, the most destructive animals I have seem to be the odd dog which has escaped its leash and gone for a romp. A ROMP THROUGH MY SEEDLINGS! You know, the only bed I planted so far is now in the cotyledon stage, fresh green coming out of the earth. Which bed do you think the local dog decided to traipse through? The answer is the one out of four beds where it would make a difference. It kindly avoided the other three beds. Dogs, those S.O.B.s.

The other wondrous thing happening in the garden is the amazing health of my garlic. If you’ll recall, I planted the garlic two years ago from some cloves of store bought garlic which had begun to sprout. Last year I was tempted to dig one up and see what was happening under ground. They were growing, but didn’t seem super healthy. This year, there is strong evidence that they have formed new bulbs. This year will be the year for fresh, home grown garlic.

Indoors, I took a lead from both my mother and one of my favorite podcasts, Gardenfork.tv. Now is a good time to start my own seedlings inside and get them ready for the garden. You might have guessed from last year that I don’t like starting seedlings inside. Mostly because I have no place to setup the grow lights they will want. However, from past experience, I have discovered that even poorly started plants will take root rather well. So, I figured I would give mine a head start.

My mother started a bunch of plants indoors this year. A fact which is kind of funny as she doesn’t have a garden of her own. However, both my sister and I are sharing our gardens with her. I guess she will still have her hands full. Anyhow, She gave me a bunch of bronze fennel she started. I transplanted them from her beautiful celadon bowl into some cheap plastic cups I had laying around. Now they are sitting on a windowsill that gets sun most of the day.

Are you following the trends here? Cheap and lazy. One of the reasons I have a garden is because the price of produce is so high. Of course, it is incredibly satisfying s well. But really, when it came to transplanting the fennel what do you think I used? A store bought tool or dowel? A sharpened stick from outside? No, a Bic pen I found on the table next to me. It worked like a charm. Will it work as a pen again? I don’t know or care. I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

It’s my fault, I realize that now. I thought it was safe to plant some seeds, that we were past another hard frost. It was over 70 degrees last week. I tempted fate and fate struck back with a vengeance.

Yesterday and last night we got snow. And not just a little snow, it’s sticking to the ground. The temperature is around freezing and will be dropping to the 20′s tonight. However, I didn’t just throw up my hands and surrender, I took action. Wether that action pays off in the long run is another thing all together.

One of the advantages of raised garden beds is that they have a lip above the ground to support my makeshift covers for the garden. The bed in the upper right of this photo is the bed I planted in last week. Yesterday morning I covered the bed with a couple of old storm windows stored in my basement. If they are enough to protect the seeds which were most likely just germinating when the cold hit is anybodies guess. Here’s hoping they work.