We’ve been very busy starting seeds indoors lately. Kale, pak choi, red cabbage, green cabbage, leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, bibb lettuce, snapdragons, rudbeckia, parsley, and more leeks and green onions were recently started and are all up and doing great in their soil blocks. Soon, the ground will be workable and they will be moved outside!…
Category: The garden
Early Season Work
The snow has finally melted and we can see our yard for the first time in months. We went outside and changed the engine oil in the Grillo Tractor: Then we changed the gearbox oil in the transmission: Then we took a trip inside the garden and were surprised to see that some of our…
Phenology and the Farm
Phenology is the study of plant and animal cycles as they are influenced by environmental factors such as day length or soil temperature. For instance, when Forsythias or Daffodils are in bloom, it is generally accepted that the soil temperature is at a good temperature for planting peas. Another widely used environmental sign is the first dandelion bloom,…
Onion update
While the onions are inside looking like this: We went outside with the kids for some of this:
Time to seed some onions!
Today, for us, the 2014 growing season has officially begun! We seeded 1400 Redwing onions today, in multi plant soil blocks. First, we mix up the potting mix and get our soil blocker out: We use the soil blocker to fill up 1020 trays with soil blocks (yes, that is most certainly snow on the…
When we start our seeds
It’s getting very close to seed starting time here in USDA zone 5. We use May 25 for the start of the frost-free date for this part of North Central Ohio. With that date in mind, here is our seed starting schedule for crops that are common transplants: Crop When to Start Seed Age At Transplant…
2014 seed order
After carefully reviewing the following seed catalogs, the 2014 seed order has been placed: Here’s what will we be growing this season, in no particular order: Green beans, sweet corn, snap peas, cucumber, kale, turnips, zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, lettuce, beets, radishes, leeks, onions (green, yellow, red), spinach, arugula, swiss chard, parsley, mizuna, pac choi,…
November
It is now November 9, 2013, the woods behind our garden are doing a wonderful job of adding organic matter to our soil: Fall leaves truly are a wonderful soil amendment. Trees have a very large, deep, and expansive root system. They bring up nutrients from a layer of the subsoil that vegetable roots have…
Stop, Thief!
The strawberry thief was caught red handed, unable to resist the combination of fresh sliced strawberries and peanut butter. He was rather calm and accepting of his temporary imprisonment until our dog came to investigate, then he became quite aggressive and vocal. He was released shortly after this at an undisclosed location far away from our…
Garden update
On July 28th, I posted a few pictures of the new crops that were seeded or transplanted. The weather has been fantastic as of late, almost as if Mother Nature is trying to make amends for the slop she sent our way in May, June, and July! Here are some pictures of how much these plants have…
Saltzgiver Family Farm 