I had to grab a few hours to do the job well) and I planted some peas
and onions for us. I was already feeling behind on my spring planting
since we've had such unseasonably warm March weather so far. Then a
cold spell hit over the weekend reminding me that it really is just
March. I now feel perfectly caught up. Yay!
This year, I'm experimenting with some new methods for part of my
spring planting. Last autumn, I covered a small portion of one of our
big front gardens in black plastic to kill off weeds and ended up
leaving it there over the winter. It was contractor grade black
plastic - big, thick heavy stuff. Last weekend, I went out and cut
slits in the black plastic and planted my peas directly into the
slits. I used some twisty ties to keep the slits open so the seeds
could find sunlight after they germinate. Then, I can take off the
ties and hopefully the black plastic will continue to keep down the
weeds for me around my peas.
I also built some various cold frames in the front. Three of them are
simply old wood windows laid over cedar logs as supports. I direct
seeded broccoli and spinach into the soil inside the cedar log
"frame." Then I've been putting my seedlings under two more cold
frames. For those, I took the frame to an old papasan chair and draped
some heavy row cover fabric on top. The fabric lets in light and water
and helps hold in heat. I covered our strawberry patch in this same
fabric.
Another method I'm experimenting with is to simply turn clear plastic
containers upside down to create a little hot box for my seedlings and
plants. This is especially useful as it seems to hold in moisture
really well, although I imagine that the temperature could get pretty
high in there if I'm not careful and leave them out on a sunny 60
degree day. It could probably get high enough to kill my plants.
I love seeing the little sprouts coming up! We are craving
fresh vegetables around here like nobody's business. Seeing our little
baby plants is making me excited and impatient!
