Seedlings

.Friday April 8^th

Planted cold weather crops (a little late but it is still cool here – well, typical drastic variations in weather – hot one day then cold the next):

Spinach (4 varieties)

Redbor kale

Mesclun

Claytonia - AKA miner’s lettuce – a succulent, delicious wild edible that I was introduced to and devoured in salads when I was at the California School of Herbal Studies

Mâché

Danvers Half-long and kaleidoscope color mix carrots

More peas where peas didn't germinate interplanted with Gilfeather turnips - a delicacy which originated in Wardsboro VT where our daughter was born (at home in a big red farmhouse). Here is a description of them from Slow Food USA:

http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/programs/ark_product_detail/gilfeather_turnip/

And a story about the Gilfeather Festival:

http://www.theheartofnewengland.com/travel/vt/turnip-festival.html

Monday 4/11 The Gaia herbs echinacea that I striated in the freezer in a plastic bag with peat moss germinated!

Planted 40 in small peat pots covered with a thin layer of soil. Growing echinacea feels like the fulfillment of many years of planning and dreaming. By growing our medicine I will be creating a level of self-sufficiency for my family’s health that is very liberating and empowering. The plants take several years to mature so it is also another long-term commitment to the land and the homestead, like the fruit trees. I am not generally a patient person but this I can do!

Tuesday April 12 transplanted peppers (Yolo Wonder), tomatoes (Rutgers, Red Cherry, Copia Bicolor and Break o’Day). Used a variation on Calvin Bey’s tomato starting mix – limestone, compost, diatomaceous earth, Nitron’s Nature meal for plants and A-23 enzyme preparation to help nutrients in compost and soil break down and be released.

Mold on outside of peat pots from lack of air flow. Removed and discarded peat pots. Apparently this is normal/common, but I found dissenting opinions on whether or not it is detrimental to the plants so I erred on the side of caution.

Transplanted cabbage (Red Acre and Late Flat Dutch) and the Lemon-lime basil that Rose picked out. Thinned the basil and had a tiny delicious treat!

I transplanted the Red Acre cabbage into larger pots, but there were extras left over so I decided as an experiment to plant them in a bed that has excess phosphorous and potassium and see how they do (and if the chickens eat them!) I’ll keep you posted on the results.

More photos and updates soon...