January
Febuary
March
April
April 29, 2010 The potatoes that we buried with sprouts about two to three inches long have not come up. There is no trace of them. They were in a bed where other potatoes with less developed sprouts have come up so we know that this soil has the right conditions for potatoes. I suspect that the delicate tissue of these long sprouts that grew in my dark kitchen cabinet in the warmth of the house rotted in the cool moist spring soil. Eventually the rotting spread to the actual potato.
May
May 5, 2010 Hand watering gives me time to observe my plants. It takes only about twenty minutes each day. I notice little things like a tomato branch that needs tuching into its support or weed seedlings that can be easily pulled while I am watering. I make mental notes that the mulch is a little thin on the peas and come back later with a bucket of half done compost.
June
June 12, 2010 Hand watering gives me time to notice when the lettuce is ready for harvest. None of the plants have started to make seed so the leaves have been mild and succulent.
July
July 27, 2010 In transplanting seedlings of winter crops like greens, and cabbage family plants, I was careful to plant the seedlings early before so they have plenty of room for their roots. I was careful to disturb the roots very little by planting in large tubs and lifting up the plants from underdeath. Large six-packs make it difficult for me to remove the seedling. I was also careful to plant the seedlings in the garden as deep as possible. Each little seedling was buried so that the base of the seed leaves were just barely above the soil. None have been eatten by slugs or snails. It has been foggy in the mornings which helps the seedlings transition from their pots. I didn't put up shade cloth until the third day as it has been so foggy. This probably caused the loss of a few broccoli seedlings on the first afternoon outside. Moving the plants gradually from the greenhouse to the outside might have helped.
My big lesson came from observing what happened to the sunflower seedlings which had stems 3 to 4 inches long. I buried these deeply, but some still had an inch of stem showing. The next day, two stems were nibbled probably by small slugs. This damage is significant on such a small plant. I thought about how a seedling that sprouts in the garden has no stem showing. I thought about the seedlings of sunflowers, squash, chard, and tomatoes. The seed leaves almost rest on the soil with the stem hidden. This is the model that I want to copy. Next time my seedlings will be buried right up to the bottom of their seed leaves.
August
September
October
November
December
