Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Row

Lettuce and kale, living in the rowhouse.  Looks like there's some slug or worm damage on the kale, but lettuce is going strong.  Speaking of lettuce, we had our second harvest of the year from stuff planted last fall.  Admittedly when I say "harvest" I'm talking about a few heads of Romaine, enough for two bowls of salad.  And when I say "second" I also mean last, since that meant harvesting all of the remaining lettuce.  So until these plants in the row house get bigger....

Speaking of row houses, supposedly ones like this are to keep the plants warm.  I'm not sure how well the thin layer of fleece does that, and I also wonder how much sun it filters out (the kale look spindly).  People tell me that in Oregon, the bigger benefit is that the covers keep rain off the soil, since soil saturation leads to moldy rotten seeds and plants, so things are nice and cozy and dry inside.  I'm also hoping that covering the row reduces the number of slugs and other trouble makers.  

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Friday, February 17, 2012

2/17

I thought that it seemed overpriced to have to buy a miniature row house like the one on the left, especially when I already have a roll of fleece cloth.  But having spent an hour today bending bamboo arcs and trying to affix the fleece such that it doesn't blow away I'm ready to declare the manufactured one a deal.  After all, the pre-made one has metal support arcs that anchor well and are enclosed in pockets.  It's so easy to set up, and isn't lopsided like the one I built.  

Under the left house is a mix of chard, kale, lettuce, etc.  It's sustained some minor slug damage but otherwise seems well.  The one on the right was filled today and includes 2 types of pea starts, some chard starts, and my first direct sown crop of the season: radishes.  The package says they'll be ready in 20-25 days.  Sure.  

The prepared soil on the left will be potatoes.  There is room on the right for lettuce; some of the rye grass cover crop remains here.  Far right is the asparagus bed, cozied in with a layer of straw and now some steer manure on top of that.  I added two crowns of UC157 towards the front, since the lawn has been cut back by about 2 feet there I figured I'd fill it with more asparagus.  

Monday, February 13, 2012

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Sun? Growing stuff? Is it Spring?

Garlic

The garlics are doing their thing, getting an early start to the spring.  I've tried to protect them and their soft soil with a layer of hay.  (add $9.95 for the bale to the cost total...)