Sowing Seeds

An update with what we have seeded in the greenhouse, and in the garden!

Many folks are asking about more gardening and food preservation questions - let us know what you're looking for and we'll try and walk you through what we do as the season goes on!

It's good to see all this spring green - inside and outside of the greenhouse.

Onions, lettuce, peppers, basil, pea shoots.

What's Growing in the Greenhouse

onions
celery
lettuce
peppers
tomatoes
tomatillos
ground cherries
kale
chard
herbs: sage, ashwaganda, parsley, basil, rosemary
(Items I don't grow anymore that I would have started by now - leeks, other herbs.)

Some seeds I sow into small pots, then transplant the out into
larger plugs or pots. Sage, rosemary, basil, beet greens, chard pictured.

I still have a couple rounds of pea shoots, the last seeding of microgreens and a last cutting of winter lettuce (personal) growing in the greenhouse as well.

Microgreens, celery, ground cherries, pea shoots.

More pea shoots, tomatillos, early basil, kale, parsley, many tomatoes!

Early Spring Crops

When the soil is ready to be worked, mid-late April, There are many items you can get into the ground to get the garden greening up. If you've planted garlic, or rhubarb, it's already poking up and greening your garden!

Last Sunday, April 5th I planted spinach! This is the earliest I have ever been in the field. Don't despair if you are not ready, you have plenty of time to plant. I never depend on getting in the field before April 20th, and I don't get warm season goodies (tomatoes, squash) in until the end of May. Sunday the soil was at 54° - great for spinach - I'm waiting for 60° for my peas, potatoes, onions. I usually plant onions and potatoes around May 1, but it may be earlier this year! My lettuce is ready to head outside as soon as the real cool temps (20s) pass.

As soon as you can work the soil there are many crops you can plant - cool season crops, root crops, greens. Spinach, lettuce and radishes are nice items to start with, as they have shorter seasons and you can plant another crop after them. It's good to get peas in on the early side, so you get a crop before the heat of the season comes in. Any root crops can go in early too - parsnips, carrots, beets, turnips, etc. Carrots and beets can be planted in multiple successions through July; do a late crop for storage roots.

Here's one reference for you - Minnesota Vegetable Planting Dates Chart

What I plan to seed/transplant in April - spinach (direct seed), lettuce (transplants, but can be direct seeded well), peas (direct seed), kale (transplants), chard (transplants).

I'll have some transplants at the store a little later on - stay tuned for updates. I recommend Shellee's Greenhouse, in Madelia, as a great source for garden transplants! A great small business that supports the community, we also grow organic transplants for Shellee - including heirloom tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos, ground cherries, basil, cucumbers and celery.

Lettuce transplants!

Celery plants headed to Shellee's Greenhouse, Madelia.

Hundreds of tomato babies! Some for the farm,
most for Shellee's Greenhouse, Madeila.

Greening Up Part I :: In the Greenhouse

The greenhouse is filling up! It is the beginnings of playing tetris with all the flats of gorgeous green seedlings that promise a season of plenty. It starts slow, with onions, shallots, leeks and celery, but we are now in full swing.

Small, round brassica seeds that love to roll in all directions.

We primarily use "soil blocks" (3/4" blocks below) to start our transplants. These are great for superior transplants, root systems and reducing our plastic footprint.

Broccoli seeds, before being tapped down into the soil.

Many seeds were started this week, including our second plantings of kohlrabi, lettuce and broccoli. Also, swiss chard and ground cherries were started. Early this week tomatoes and peppers germinated and moved under the lights.

Beautiful, beautiful celery. 

 Celery might be my favorite seedling, as far as beauty goes. (I don't like the stinky tomatoes, but they are beautiful as they grow.)

Tomato sprouts!!!

 The onions, leeks, shallots and early kohlrabi will be moved out to the transplant greenhouse tomorrow!! Woot! Woot!

A beautiful flat of bunching onions.

 This could be one of any number of brassica babies. The brassica family include broccoli, cabbage and kale - all of which are populating the greenhouse right now!

Brassica seedlings, in 3/4" soil blocks.

 We have some herbs started as well - rosemary, thyme and parsley.

Rosemary in 2" soil blocks.

 I love lettuce babies! Amazing that these little plants will be amazing salads in only a handful of weeks!

Winter Density heirloom lettuce.

 Lettuce celebrate Spring!!

Pirat butterhead lettuce

 Kohlrabi! Our first time growing them by transplant, instead of direct seeding in the garden. This is great!

Kohlrabi (many brassicas look like this).

 Seeding continues in earnest each week, as we edge closer into the season. Pretty soon we'll be seeding in the field!!

Peppers germinating!

 A peak inside the celery forest. ;)

Next: Greening Up: In the Field (part 2)

Orchard/Farm Photo Update 4.27.16

Planting began the earliest it ever has this year! On April 17th we began our planting. We have heard the same from our conventional farming neighbors as well. Many annual vegetables, as well as perennials fruits have gone in the ground. That good inch of rain was perfect...now a day of sun would be great!

New orchard trees.

For the first time we bought in some larger trees for the orchard. These trees will come into productions in a couple years, while we are still waiting for our younger grafted trees to mature. Rejoice apple lovers - we added 12 Honeycrisp, as well as 6 Smokehouse, 7 Pristine, 7 Ashmead's Kernel and 5 Blue Pearmain. A special thank you goes out to our Sponsor-A-Tree members whose investment in our orchard supported this purchase!

Brooke with a bare-root Honeycrisp tree.

Over the last week buds have been swelling at the orchard going from "full pink" and now many are in "full bloom." Two hundred newly grafted apple trees were also planted in a nursery bed for this season. This brings the total number of trees on our home farm close to 400.

Flower buds on an apple tree.

Our new greenhouse has been an amazing asset! Plants have been moving out of the basement into real sunlight and benefiting from that. It is unheated, so the temps varies with the conditions of the day this year there will be a lot of focus on simply learning how the greenhouse behaves and how we utilize that best. Here's a little glimpse into the greenhouse.

Plants growing happy in the greenhouse!

Lettuce was the first item to be transplanted into the field. These are the best looking lettuce plants we have grown. Growing them in soil blocks, instead of open flats, and real sun in the greenhouse have been positive. In the field we have also seeded more lettuce, spinach, carrots, beets, kohlrabi, peas and potatoes. When we can get into the (damp) field next the parsnips, radishes and beans will be seeded and onions, leeks, shallots, kale and cabbage will be transplanted

Lettuce transplants headed to the field.

Of course growing in the field already are shallots and garlic, planted in October, as well as our perennials - asparagus, rhubarb and strawberries.

Shallots and garlic.

I have seen kohlrabi and beets germinate and I expect to see the peas pop up any day, as I dug down and found those little green orbs germinating. Soil temps warmed up quicker this year, which should benefit us with faster germination and a greater percentage of the seeds germinating.

Pea seed germinating.

This is the earliest we have ever planted potatoes! Generally our tubers go in the ground May 1st, but what you want is 60° soil temps and we had it. Another key indicator is when the dandelions start blooming well. It was perfect timing to get an inch of rain following planting.

Farmer John planting potatoes.

This week a big round of soil blocking will happen in the indoor greenhouse. I'm heading down toe seed cucumbers, basil and more. We finished blocking up (moving 3/4" soil blocks onto 2" blocks) all of the tomatoes, but the peppers, broccoli, and swiss chard need the TLC now. Perfect for rain days!

Photo Update 4.14

From the Field

Green things are growing! Rhubarb is up and unfurling. Strawberries have been uncovered and mulch removed, so the plants can reach skyward and green up. Garlic and shallots are growing vigorously and up a bit earlier than last year. The beds are marked out and we are getting ready to start planting in the field in the next week!

We added a new "field" this spring. This new area is dedicated to herb production. The block was tilled, the raised frames filled and now they are under plastic for two weeks to help with weed and grass competition. Brooke is thrilled about this new project. We want to have more herbs available for CSA, Herb Boosters and market; also, we used dried herbs extensively for the natural health and wellness for our livestock.

From the Barnyard

Lots of excitement in the barnyard these days! The ladies are getting nice round, full baby bellies - they will be farrowing in a little over a month. When we place our hands on their bellies we can now feel the piglets!

The chickens are establishing a new pecking order, as we culled the rooster, then let the pullets meet the hens. Edgar was a dear, but he was a little rough with the ladies. We decided we needed to make the tough decision. 

The great chicken integration of 2015 is going swimmingly! The hens and pullets are mixing well and the the pullets made it through their first night in the coop - there was quite a bit of confusion, but that should go better each night. We provide many different feeding stations to make sure the old ladies aren't being hogs, and everyone gets proper access.

Random Shenanigans

Last Friday I went out with John on the annual Owl Monitoring Survey. John goes out every year to do this. We made ten stops, where we listened - in the dark and silence - for five minutes. We heard one great horned owl and one barred owl this time. In 2014 there were 74 volunteers, in Minnesota, that did the owl survey.

From the Greenhouse

What?! The greenhouse?! Technically, in our organic certification paperwork the basement is our "greenhouse" (it does grow green things, and it is in a house!). We are also adding an outdoor greenhouse!!!!!! So excited. The boys finished the footing last weekend, so we are on our way! Thank you Larry and Andy for your help!!

The indoor greenhouse is full of abundance! Herbs, celery, kale, chard, two plantings of cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, peppers and ground cherries. More seeds are waiting in the wings for their time to shine. The onions, leeks and lettuce have been moved outside, to make room downstairs and to acclimate to the sun and wind.

Hold the potatoes!

Tater Time?

Around here folks seem to get really excited about planting potatoes around Easter weekend, but hold your potatoes! It's a bit too early.

Monday brought the delivery of our seed potatoes - I was excited to get them, so we could wake them up and prepare them for planting May 1st.

While the soil is much more workable at this time than the last couple of springs, planting potatoes is more about a suitable environment beneath the soil than just being able to get your tools in the ground.

Soil temp April 7th, Madelia, MN.

Potatoes like to be planted when the soil is 55-60°. The Tuesday soil temp was a chilly 41°, a different field location Monday read 46°.

Two ways to know when to plant your 'taters:

• Use a handy-dandy thermometer, like the one above, and watch for temps to reach 55-60°.

• Use phenology - plant when the first dandelions bloom.

Cool soil, especially cool moist soil, increases the risk of your tubers rotting in the ground. They need a little time to break dormancy, before they begin sprouting, during this time they are more susceptible to rot.

Can't Wait?

If you can't keep your hands off your 'taters and you, like most gardeners, are itching to do garden workm then get your seed potatoes and work on "chitting" (or "greensprouting") them. Chitting potatoes can take 10-14 days off growing time in the field and perhaps increase yield.

We received our potatoes and then promptly stored them in a slightly warmer location to let them "wake up" or break dormancy, and eventually grow little green sprouts.

We are planting six varieties this year, with two new (Mountain Rose and Kennebec) and one new-old variety (Green Mountain), in addition to our current standards - German Butterball, Nicola and Sangre. One-hundred-twenty pounds of seed potatoes.

 Resources

Jumpstarting Spring: How to Greensprout Potatoes (High Mowing Seeds)

Simply search for 'chitting potatoes' directions differ slightly from source to source

Growing Potatoes Successfully (The Maine Potato Lady, our seed source)
7 Ways to Grow Potatoes (Rodale's Organic Life)

Seeds Sown & Signs of Spring

Wednesday the first seeds were started for the season, the ball is just going to be rolling faster and faster from here! On top of that welcome mark of spring, yesterday I went to town without my jacket and even needed to crack the sunroof for a little bit! We are enjoying the melting and bits of green popping up here and there (I'm waiting for my trusty chives).

Soooo, let's take a look at our seed starting setup...

Seed starting station (at it's cleanest).

The modest seed starting station. This is where I mix my soil, plant seeds and up-pot transplants in springtime. I've got great light, John installed for me, all my supplies and my handy-dandy clipboard for record-keeping, as well as some tunes.

Seed starting station.

A big project this winter was finishing cleaning up the basement, from items that were there when we moved in, and reorganizing it in a way that worked better for us. The seed starting station really dominates this whole corner now. Those nifty file cabinets, that came with the house, provide great storage! That's a pile of potting soil!

Sifting potting soil and compost.

I use Soil Essentials Potting Soil, and peat moss, for my seed starting medium (add in a dash of lime to balance pH). I recommend this brand, as it's approved for organic use--you can pick it up at The Mustard Seed in Chaska, they also have compost and other products. Skip the organic Miracle Grow, who still supports chemical use, and support this sustainable company from Cold Spring, MN.

Anywho, so the soil and peat moss must be sifted, so no large chunks interfere with the seed germination; also, to ensure that the soil will "block" nicely in my blocking tools.

Here's a photo of our 2" blocker, showing the two different dibble that it can use. The white ones we'll use for starting large seeds in the 2" blocks (cucumbers, squash). The block ones are a 3/4" block, we'll use those to "pot-on" the smaller blocks.

For the soil blocking our seedlings the soil is premoistened, which makes for a welcome environment for seeds and forms good blocks. We start most of our seeds this way, as it creates a healthy root system, and can pack more soil in a smaller space, with the benefit of not using excess plastic pots that go in the garbage over time.

Here I'm ready to block with my damp soil, seed tray and dome, blockers, rinse water and organic buffalo compost. Celery doesn't like to be buried deep, so I'll sprinkle a light layer of compost over the 3/4" blocks.

Celery makes the seed starting debut!

3/4" soil blocks

It seems a little anti-climactic, but TADA! Celery! That's 40 tiny 3/4" blocks, which will be transplanted on to 2" blocks as the seedlings grown. This tray is covered with a dome, sitting on some very light heat, until germination, when the lights will be turned on for them.

Around the farm the chickens and pigs are welcoming the warming of spring. The pigs were basking in the sun yesterday and the chickens have been able to roam all day, each day now.

The snow melt uncovered the garlic bed. The solar heat and mulch did the trick.

Garlic bed.

I was happy to see our red clover cover crop peeking out from under the snow. We hope you are enjoying all the signs of spring! I'm sure you have heard all the geese flying around and I have even heard tell of a robin sighting!

Red clover.

Seed Starting Station

These are photos from last, I'll get some updated ones up, but I wanted to throw up a post with our lovely plants growing! We are planting in soil blocks, instead of using pots.  You can see the little blocks below. Going this route we have less waste, and less use of plastic made with fossil fuels.  The blocks have positive growing benefits for the plants as well, such as decreased transplant shock and not getting pot bound.  Since these pics have been taken these tiny blocks have been placed into larger ones  and are taking off!

On the left garlic chives & thyme are seeded. In the next row two
types of brussels sprouts. Then some cabbage and celery in the top
right, with some flowers below that.

We have lights set up in the basement, hung to be adjustable
over the seedlings, which sit on a heating blanket
(covered with a shower curtain liner). That's my fancy
mister on the right.

Around the station plastic is hung to help maintain
 the more humid environment and control the temperature.

Potting/Blocking Station

Some pics of our seed starting station...it look like a mess, but it's really quite organized!  Water, potting soil, peat moss, trays, tags, seeds, soil blockers, lime...

 This potting table is very handy, in it I have trays for mixing the soils, cleaning my tools and room for water and trays.  Underneath I am storing my trays and a bin for mixed & sifted peat and potting soil.  (In the background there are boxes, and boxes and boxes of canning jars.)

 I have my seed starting schedule, my seeds and homemade plant tags cut from yogurt containers, and a very handy sharpened paintbrush for planting individual seeds.

All of the peat moss and potting soil (containing some peat, compost and perlite) is sifted through this nice sieve John built for me.  It sits on top of a 5 gallon bucket.  I remove the larger piece so they don't inhibit germination or root growth, and save them for another use.