Back to the Grow Rack



The weather has turned a little bit cooler here in Columbus. I had thought about planting some of the lettuce and broccoli if the soil dried out, but I'm kinda glad I didn't. The temperature is dropping below freezing a few night with the low projected to be around 23 degrees in a couple of nights. Penny and I brought back in all the broccoli and lettuce to hang out inside on the grow racks again. I'm hoping we can set them back outside some time next week so we can make room again for more trays of peppers, squash and pumpkin seeds. We'll see how the seed starting progresses over the next few weeks.



Peppers

Some peppers have finally germinated! Earlier in the week, I was starting to question a number of things: 1) Did I start the peppers too late, 2) were the seeds ok, 3) was the potting soil too dry or too wet and 4) Why haven't I started more peppers if they are going to take this long to germinate. Turns out these peppers are germinating and its less than 14 days since I've planted these seeds. It's exciting to see a new type of plant germination. I hope this variety, Chinese Giant, will produce nice size peppers.

Little Tomatoes



I'm excited to see some true leaves on the tomato plants. Now I really feel gardening season is right around the corner. The plan is to be patient and work on strong healthy plants. Keep the lights at the correct level so the plants grow straight solid stems. Transplant the seedlings into the correct size container to ensure strong roots, but don't transplant too much where it stresses out the plants. In the morning and in the evening the trays on the grow racks are checked to see if they need watering. Of course one of the first things I do when I come home is check to see if any additional plants have germinated. I guess until the weather warms up their will have to do for gardening for now.



Habanero Peppers

I'm getting a bit nervous about the peppers germinating. It's been a week since I've planted to bell peppers and still no germination. I figured it was time to get some of the other peppers planted, so tonight I planted some Habaneros. A bit too hot for me, but I'm sure there will be folks who will enjoy them. Over the next few days we hope to plant more peppers - banana peppers, more bell peppers and jalapeno peppers. Last year it seemed like we got so many peppers out of a plant and the plants don't take too much space in the garden. We'll have to test some peppers in gardens where we have deer. Out at the Northwold garden (city lot) the pepper plants were chew almost to the ground.

Wood Chips






















This evening we began our first "real work" in the garden. We decide to bring a load of wood chips from Epworth over to Christian Assembly. Penny loaded the first truck load. Jim helped unload and load up a second load over at Christian Assembly. Toward the end of last year, Antonio left some piles of grass clippings and leaves at the garden. The plan for this year is to pile these items on the back of the parking lot at Christian Assembly so these resources will be available for the garden. We'll use the leaves and grass clipping to make our own compost. Lots of work still to be done, but its finally warm enough to start!

The Cement Zoo

Last year we had the "gator" in the garden. Unfortunately, the gator was taken from my house over the winter, but a few other items have been acquired. The original goose was donated through the church giveaway. Then we found a friend for the goose. Today we got the bear and 2 lions. All of these items are really heavy so I'm hoping they won't be carried off. In a month or two, we'll begin to paint these and put them in the garden. I haven't decided exactly where each piece will go, but I look forward to adding some art and color to the garden.

Gardening with Kids

Penny and I headed out to Lowes this afternoon just to buy a few bags of potting soil. Of course we ended up purchasing a little bit more. One of our goals this year is to teach kids how to garden and make sure they have plenty of opportunities to participate. I've seen some of this stuff the last couple of times I've been to Lowes and we just couldn't resist picking up some stuff. The kids love to water and I think this will be it a little more exciting for them. Its difficult for the younger kids - especially the elementary age to use regular size shovels and when they fill the watering cans up its hard for them to carry as well. Another purchase we still want to make is a small wheelbarrow that is kid friendly. We are also looking for a duffel bag to store all the kids equipment. We'd like to keep the gloves and tools in the bag and just haul the bag back and forth to the different gardens.

Tomatoes

Finally, the tomatoes are starting to germinate. Seems like everyone enjoys a good beefsteak tomato. This year we are trying Burpee's SuperSteak Hybrid. Last year we grew Burpee's Porterhouse Tomatoes and they did ok and were a decent size. The one thing I didn't like about the Porterhouse tomatoes was they seemed to have a funny shape. It didn't seem like there were many seeds in each packet - perhaps 20 or maybe 30 seeds if you were lucky. We started 3 packs and are hopeful for a 90% + germination rate. Other varieties we started include Livingston Seed's Chocolate Tomato (cherry) and Gardener's Choice (cherry).

More Lettuce

I planted additional lettuce seeds (Parris Island - Romaine) to fill up some of the trays. When I checked in on the plants this evening I was all excited that some had germinated. We planted a number of seeds back on Sat. Happy to see some stuff generating, but I'm really waiting (anxiously!) on some tomatoes to germinate! With the weather warming up each day, I'm starting to feel a little behind. Patience is a much needed skill at this point in time. The weather can change drastically and the last thing I want to do is put a tender seedling out into cold weather.

Roses, Roses and More Roses

Still waiting on the roses to develop their first set of true leaves. These are the first roses I've ever grown from seeds so its quite a learn experience. I probably should thin the plants more. I'm not sure why I feel the need to hold on so to every little seedling. If I would thin more then the remaining seedlings would have a better chance of becoming healthier plants. Not really crazy about the pink pail, but its part of the entire experiment. The peat type mix is a little different as well. I'm use to working with potting soil. Its different trying to tell when to water. The package said specifically not to over water. I guess I should use the "digit test" - stick a finger in the mix and see if its dry.

Soil Test

We finally got the soil samples together and Roni dropped them off at Local Matters today. We are having the soil tested at the CLC lab in Westerville. 3 different gardens are having their soil tested for this round. Epworth Veggie Garden and the Christian Assembly gardens are having a basic soil test done for Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potash. We are also having the soil test for lead at the Northwold (city leased lot) in additional to the basic soil test. We know there was a house at one time on the Northwold lot. I can't believe all the paperwork involved, but I'll sleep better having more inforomation on the soils - especially the lead level at the Northwold site.

Broccoli

The broccoli plants are looking great and many of the seedlings are getting their second set of true leaves. I decided its time to transplant the bigger seedlings into their own container. Originally, I thinned the plants to out 6 seedlings in a 3 pack cell. The roots seem to be doing well and  I'm hoping that with the bigger containers the plants will have plenty of room to develop. Perhaps towards next weekend I might add some liquid Miracle-Gro to the seedlings and also begin to harden them off. The goal is to have the broccoli plants in the ground around the 1st of April. I'm anxious to free up some grow rack space for tomatoes and peppers.

Garden Planning

This morning we had a planning meeting over at Christian Assembly. We're all really excited about expanding the garden this year. We put together an estimated budget with some of the costs associated with needs for this garden and also the city property we hope to lease over on Northwold Road. Antonio has volunteered to take the lead on this garden and he has some great ideas. One of his ideas that I am referring to as "Antonio's mini garden" involves planting corn, tomatoes and cucumbers together. This group will have 2 posts on the end and then rope that runs between the posts to support the plants. You start with a group of 3 tomato plants, then a cucumber plant, a corn plant, another cucumber plant and then 3 more tomato plants. We're all excited to see how this mini gardens will work and how many veggies we can produce off this land.

Chives and Garlic - Epworth Veggie Garden

Checked on some of the chives and garlics up at the Epworth Veggie Garden. The picture above shows a clump of chives that are beginning to sprout again. We have moved the chives back and forth in the garden. Last year we dug all the chives out of the garden and moved them on the parking lot into containers. Seems like the chives were spreading like crazy when they weren't contained. Also wanted to check on the garlic cloves that were planted last fall. It's encouraging to see all the new growth. Check out the garlic in the picture below.

March Floods

Drove by the garden this morning and decided to take a few pictures of the standing water. I can come back in a couple of weeks and tell which areas of the garden need to be leveled or amended. Every year it seems we have a spot in the garden that tends to flood. We build up one area and create a problem in another area. We've added leaf compost and peat to the soil, but with the clay we have in this area we still have a ways to go. I can definitely say the soil is better than when we first started. Everyone is hoping for some sunshine and warmer weather soon. For now, we have seeds started inside and just wanting for the right time to get some of the cooler weather crops planted (broccoli, lettuce, peas and potatoes. For now it looks like maybe the first of April.

Greater Columbus Growing Coalition (G.C.G.C)

Tonight, Penny and I attended the Greater Columbus Growing Coalition (G.C.G.C) meeting at Broad Street Presbyterian Church in Columbus. The G.C.G.C is a newly formed organization that focuses on bring folks together to promote Civic Agriculture. Civic Agriculture is bringing together people in the community who are focusing on growing food for the community. G.C.G.C has different types of members including community gardeners, individuals interested in helping people eat healthier and individuals marketing and selling locally grown food.

We had "social/networking" time before the meeting where we mingled and heard about the work others are doing in the community. Dr. Darrah from CLC testing labs talked about preparing soil samples for testing. My word of the week (from Dr. Darrah's presentation) is kriging. Kriging is a statistical technique for used to randomly select samples. This was demonstrated as walking in a zigzag pattern to collect soil samples in area. Dr. Darrah reminded everyone when we take soil samples to get a clean sample that does not contain mulch and other non-soil material. We should take a number of samples from about 3 to 6 inches and mix these samples in a bucket to get a sample to send in for testing.

Dr. Darrah also talked briefly about the way CLC test for nutrients. This was demonstrated with a pyramid chart showing the basic nutrients and also micro-nutrients. We also heard some about heavy metals and soil testing. One concern that many gardeners have with their soil is lead contamination. Dr. Darrah will be back at a future meeting to so over the results of soils test and explain how we should interpret the results. As always we get so much information from these meetings. It is always good to hang out with our gardening friends!

Lettuce - Romaine

The second round of lettuce has now germinated. This tray is Romaine lettuce - Parris Island. Lettuce seems fairly easy to grow and germinates quickly compared to some other plants. We started this tray back on Sunday and this evening you can see lots of seeds have germinated. We'll have a few trays of lettuce seedlings to transplant in early April. Two different types of lettuce have been started so far - Buttercrunch and Parris Island (Romaine). We'll start some lettuce by sowing directly in the ground in early April when the soil temperature has warmed. I'm still trying to decide of I want to grow any "red leaf" lettuce. It seems like some folks aren't too sure about lettuce that is not green.

True Leaves - Broccoli

The broccoli plants are looking good. When starting seeds its a big moment when you see the first signs of a plant pushing through the soil. The next exciting moment is when you see the true leaves of the plant emerge. Soon, I'll need to raise the lights a little above these trays. We want to make sure the lights are close enough when the stems are nice and strong and they plants don't get spindly. I'll wait for another pair of true leaves before I transplant the broccoli to a large container. The thought it to baby these plants inside a bit longer and perhaps early in April the weather will be such that we can plant these outside.