Garden Update

The temperature can get very cold at night. I went to bed last night and had to pull my blanket up to my chin. All night I was thinking how cold it will be for my babies in the garden. I hope they are doing fine.
I think the collard greens are happy with the cold weather. They are young transplants I bought from the local farmers. I have 16 plants of collard greens. I forgot to ask the type of collards I've bought.

The peas geminated nicely. They received a nightly soaking prior to planting.

The radishes also had a nice overnight soaking and they are all sprouting.

I did the same method for the swiss card and beets. They are all sprouting faster than those without soaking.

I have about half of the garden plot remain empty. I did not get the time to start my tiller yet. I plan to till the plot before I put in more vegetables. In the meantime, I have been to at least 2 series of the master gardener seminar. There are so many techniques to learn about gardening.

This season, I am using some compost to germinate the seeds. I have the turnips, squashes, onion, cucumber, beans, and flowers like the sun flowers, the marigold, the nasturtiums, coleus and viola seeds in the ground.

I will try to grow anything in the garden but I do not grow potato or cabbage due to insect damage. New addition to my plant list for this year is the broad beans and the asparagus peas.

Another new technique I am using in my garden this year is to cover the new seedlings with a plastic jug. The plastic container will create a moisture environment to the plant. It will protect them from cold night as well as protecting them from strong wind and direct sun. I will remove the cover once the soil temperature rise and the young plants are stronger. I ran out of the empty milk jug, so I use old newspaper to shade the plants.

Another technique I am using for the garden is for the pest control. I am using a mixture of a cup of mouth wash and 1 teaspoon of mild soap to 2 gallons of water. This remedy will kill all the bad bugs which try to kill my radishes, spinach, lettuces and collard greens. So far, the plants are taking them.

Two weeks ago...

I soaked the seeds in some water. My trial was for radishes, beets, swiss chard and peas. I soaked them overnight. They plumped up nicely the next morning.

The next day I planted the seeds in this bed. I covered the seeds with compost.

Above are the 3 rows of sugar snap peas (Cascadia), super sugar snap and wando peas.

Above are the young plants of collard greens. I am using newspaper to mulch the bed.

Two weeks later, all of the seeds geminated, including the spinach and lettuces although I did not soak them prior to planting.

The peas came up too...

I've added rows for cucumbers, chives and asparagus peas.

Happy gardening!