Blog Archives
First Look at our Garden Plans for 2012
It’s a little bit funny that we’re talking about our planting plans when we aren’t remotely close to having beds to plant in. However, we’re eternal optimists and are forging ahead with our planting plans, regardless of whether or not we ever actually get to implement them! I think we’ll have some very exciting things in the garden this year, assuming the construction goes well this spring.
Friday PhotoEssay
Well, it’s finally raining. I just wish it would keep raining. Luckily the radar looks like there’s more rain coming.
Our grafted tomatoes aren’t looking stupendous. I think they were just too small and then the potting mix wasn’t quite as nice as I usually use. They all need some fertilizer, but I don’t want to fertilize yet. I think we’ll have enough plants though, when all is said and done.
The transplanted lettuce in the Family of 4 Garden has pretty much doubled in size this week. We’ll probably pick a few leaves next week.
Our ‘Yukon Gem’ potatoes popped up between Wednesday morning and Thursday evening. Of course, they emerged from the soil just when the temperature is supposed to get close to freezing tonight. I think they’ll be fine, but we’ll see.
The peas are also growing by leaps and bounds. This picture was from Tuesday, and I think they’ve grown at least a couple inches since then. They are just barely starting to climb the trellis.
The pattern of strawberry flowers is predicting the pattern of fruit for us. Last week we just have a few big flowers, and this week (really just about 4 days later) there are lots and lots and lots of flowers. Looks like another good strawberry year!
Have a great weekend!
Video Wednesday
Are you still confused by trying to figure out the right time to plant different vegetables? Check out this video, where Evelyn Neier explains the difference between cool season and warm season vegetables and what that means for gardeners in Kansas.
You can catch more videos from K-State Research & Extension here: KSRE YouTube Videos
Grow Good Food Workshop
Saturday, April 2nd
Come learn how to grow good food from seed to table! The morning classroom session is free and will include the basics of growing fruit and vegetables. There will be two possible afternoon sessions, one hands-on demonstration session in our Demonstration Garden and a session on using & preserving the harvest. Both afternoon sessions will have a small materials fee attached and the class size is limited to 25. To register, visit http://growgoodfoodworkshop.eventbrite.com/
Morning Session – Free 4-H Hall
8:30 Registration
9:00 Growing Vegetables
10:00 Tomato Troubles
10:30 Choosing What to Plant
11:00 Growing Berries
Afternoon Session 1 – 4-H Hall, 1-4 p.m.
Getting Dirty – $5
1:00 Starting Seeds Indoors
2:00 Soil Testing & Fertilizing the Garden
2:30 Planting & Pruning Berries
3:00 Planning the Garden & Using Vertical Space
3:30 Direct Seeding in the Garden
Afternoon Session 2 - Sunflower Room, 1-3 p.m.
Using & Preserving the Harvest $12
- Salsa
- Low Acid Foods
- Pickles
First Workday in the Garden
We had our first Demo Garden workday of the season this morning. Everyone worked hard from about 10:30 until noon! There was really a lot more to do than I expected. (Hopefully our Compost committee will follow up with a workday, since we gave them a big pile of debris to compost!)
We started planting the Family of 4 Garden today, putting in some peas, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, and radishes.
We are using the original cattle panel trellis in the Family of 4 Garden this year. We put in the trellis and planted sugar snap peas along the edges. Then we planted some lettuce seeds under the trellis, just for fun. The green plants in front of the trellis are cabbage.
We also planted lettuce and spinach seedlings in the Family of 4 Garden. Normally we would just plant the seeds, but since we want to harvest quickly and then plant tomatoes in this area, we decided to start the seeds inside for a head start.
Meanwhile, in the “Early & Late Tomato Garden,” we planted some kale, bok choy, cabbage, and leeks that were left over from the Garden Show. (Actually, the leeks have been in the garden all winter, we just transplanted them.) These veggies will be in the garden until mid-June, when we plant our second round of tomatoes.
