Planting Cycle

This appeared in the April 16, 2020 edition of The Fish Wrap.

We spent time in the Winter planning the garden and now we are Springing into action!! The garden plan starts with the 46 available beds, which are 30 inches wide and 50 feet long. We want a wide variety of vegetables, ready for harvest at different times all throughout the season. We calculate the optimal spacing of the vegetables and whether they would benefit most from transplanting or direct seeding. Take into consideration weather and rain variables and it ends up being quite a complex plan. It’s all about timing and a big blessing from mother nature!

Transplanting has the advantage of getting plants started early while it’s still cold, as well as allowing their little stems to grow sturdy before they face the wind and pounding rain. While growing transplants, there is a delicate balance between having so few roots that the soil in the cell falls apart when removing them, or the plants becoming overgrown, rootbound or leggy.  There are a multitude of variables to consider including temperature and light intensity and duration.

For some plants, like carrots, we planned to direct seed. Planting tiny carrot seeds in the ground can be a tedious, imprecise process. So we use the amazing Jang Seeder. This sleek, yellow device looks like a scooter and performs like a Mercedes! It has clever interchangeable rollers and sprockets so that you can control for the size of the seeds and the desired distance between them.

After planting, we gently water to tamp things down and then put on row covers to protect the shoots from cold, rain and wind. The row covers are porous cloth to allow sun and rain to pass through. I peek under the covers like a cook lifting a pan lid to see the little green shoots standing tall!