Mar 30 2006
Spring Fever
I attended a fantastic organic gardening class which met twice weekly throughout the month of March. I learned a great deal about creating healthy soil, composting and setting up a worm bin, starting plants from seeds, mulching, attracting beneficial insects…on and on the list goes. Naturally, this fueled my enthusiasm for turning my own yard into a paradise of lovely growing things.
Robert built four 4′x4′ raised beds in our backyard and I planted them with peas, radishes, a micro greens mix, and heirloom lettuce, and spinach. This weekend, I’ll be adding strawberry starts and chives. The peas are taking their own sweet time in germinating, although a few have decided to grace us with their presence. The leafy greens and radishes are going crazy out there.
I tried starting some seeds indoors. The germination rate was terrific, but I think I allowed the leafy green seedlings to become too warm and they weren’t getting enough light, so they grew quite leggy. Despite my bumbling around, broccoli and tomato seedlings have done quite well.
I also started a few varieties of basil indoors, but read something in a publication by Seattle Tilth which indicates I’ll have better luck starting basil in late April. If this batch flops, I’ll try again at that time.
One of my goals for this year was to pack more plants into the perrenial bed running alongside our driveway. I bought starts from the local nursery and planted them last weekend. The penstemmons and yarrow seem to be doing quite well. Unfortunately something is chomping on my purple coneflowers and black-eyed susans. Could it be slugs? I’m going to bait a trap with beer tonight and Robert’s going to make some copper collars to put around each plant to rule out that possibility. (A couple of sources on the internet suggest I shouldn’t have used shredded bark as a mulch since it provides habitat for slugs. Live and learn…)
Update: Set out a beer trap last night. No slugs chose to partake. I wonder if they object to microbrews?
