Sunday, March 8, 2009

Phase I is Complete

I came back from my European trip on March 5th to find that some of the squash had died. The temperature got down to 26 degrees twice while I was gone, and while my wife covered them up, the cold got the weaker ones.

Still, there were 5 or 6 that survived, and while they don't look good, I am hoping they come back now that temperatures are in the 70's and 80's. The 10-day forecast has no freezing weather, which probably means we are out of the woods.

Carrots have broken ground, and the peas are coming on strongly. It's been a month today since I planted them, and the carrots look like they are only a week old. I guess they only sprouted when it warmed up a bit more. I would guess that 80% of the peas sprouted, but their stems are very weak right at the ground. It looks possible that something has been chewing on them. The cilantro has really exploded; we have far more than we can use and I had only put out two plants last fall. We also had a lot of broccoli heads ready for harvest.

Of the seeds I had planted, I recognize a couple of jalapenos, a couple of crookneck squash, and a couple of okra coming up. There are some other plants coming up, but I can't tell if they are weeds or something I planted.

Today I also went ahead and put all inside plants in the garden. This included 3 tomato plants I grew from seeds (they are really small; I am not sure they will survive), 4 jalapenos, 2 okra plants, and a zucchini. In addition I put out a basil plant I had been growing since last summer (it looks like a small tree) and some oregano.

Phase I of the garden is in. Once I pull up all of the carrots, and the peas and broccoli are done, I will plant more warm weather plants.

4 comments:

  1. kudos to u robert! i didn't realize we had u'r bright mind[& hopefully strong body] in the garden. gardners need to hedge like stock brokers. i have found the process very humbling & am awed at by it. however i have good feelings moments throughout the hands in dirt day.

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  2. I am also using the wide bed bio-intensive method this year for my first garden (200 sq ft), too. I just started the tomatoes in a wood flat but don't plant until May 15th in my area. Any day now, I should see my first green of the year.

    Good luck.

    --Andy

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  3. Hi R-sq.

    If your peas are being chewed it could be cut worms. They typically chew through, or girdle completely, bean and pea seedlings usually sometime between the dicot stage and the first few true leaves...can you post a picture of the damage?

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  4. Bryant, I think I figured out the problem. I didn't plant some of the seeds deeply enough, and those are the ones that are falling over. About halfway through putting the seeds out, I realized they were supposed to be in 2 inches instead of about a half inch. Those that I put in deeper are all standing straight.

    Cheers, RR

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