Farm Blog

Spring in the Garden

  Green is the color of spring.  At ALM we keep our box program going year-round, our customers get a good sense of the movement of the seasons by the food that shows up in their box each week.  Right now the salad and braising greens are growing strong (still mostly over-wintered greens), the brassicacea’s (kale, cabbage, br.sprouts, purple sprouting brocolli, etc) are making florets, which are highly nutritious and can be cooked like broccoli.  The root vegetables are on their way out, they will be starting to raise up flower stalks to make seed, which compromises their flavour.  If you still have over-wintered carrots, parsnips, leeks, etc in the garden it is time to eat them up.  We have been harvesting rhubarb for the last 3 weeks, the first dessert crop of spring. 

It is a busy time at the farm right now.  We have countless tomatoes that we have been babying along since Feb, they are starting to get big and are becoming more demanding in terms of water and nutrition.  We have planted our first tomatoes into whatever ground we had ready in our greenhouses.  This will continue into May as space becomes available.  We also have lots of lettuce, kale, and other seedlings that want transplanting into the ground.  This wet weather has made it difficult to get onto the soil to till and so we are ready and waiting for our window to till and get beds prepped to seed and transplant. 

Now is the time to start thinking about the heat loving crops.  We are choosing and prepping beds for corn, beans, cukes and squash right now.  We will plant them out by early May to get a jump on the season.  Often we get beds prepped and then cover them with old greenhouse plastic to help warm the soil before we plant the crop.  Both beans and corn will not germinate in the soil if it is too cold, but instead rot. 

Seed into trays/pots to transplant: lettuces, chard, kales, brocolli, cauliflower, cabbage, basil, green onions.

Direct seed outside: potatoes, peas, spinach, radish, carrots, beets, runner beans, parsnips.

Once seeds have germinated, their needs start to change.  Once you have 80-100% germination, take the lids and/or row cover off to allow in more light.  Giving the seedlings good access to light is the biggest challenge in the early spring.  If your seedlings start to look “leggy” (tall and spindly) that is an indication that they need more light, as they are literally stretching up to get closer to the light source.  If you are using natural light from a window and you notice they start to grow sideways towards the window, they would prefer more light.  Supplementing the light in the early spring or giving them access to full & even daylight is preferable to produce strong, healthy transplants.  Leggy plants have a weak stem and they are more susceptible to dampening off.

Keep lights very close to seedlngs

You don’t have to buy expensive bulbs to supplement the light, we use fluorescent lights (½ warm bulbs and ½cool bulbs) to help us get a good jump on the season.  Getting the seedlings as close to the lights as possible is crucial, it’s amazing how much difference a couple centimetres seem to make.  As the days grow longer supplementing the light becomes unnecessary, a plants tend to prefer real sunlight (and rain for that matter).

Once the seeds have all germinated, we start bottom watering as opposed to top watering.  This helps us avoid dampening off and other problems associated with top watering.  It also does a more thorough job of watering so you will have to water less often.  Find containers big enough to hold the trays or pots that you are starting your seedlings in.  Fill with enough water so that when you set the tray/pot inside, displacement will bring the water line up about ½ to ¾ up the side of the tray/pot.  Make sure the water doesn’t come above the soil line or you are defeating the whole purpose.  It takes about 10-30 minutes for the capillary action to suck the water up to the top (depending on the soil, size of pot, etc).  Throughout the day at the farm we are continually taking trays in and out of the bottom watering containers.  There is almost always something being bottom watered during the day, and every time I walk by the seedling area I put something new in to bottom water.  Try not to leave plants in longer than an hour and don’t leave them bottom watering over night.  The key is to stay ahead with your bottom-watering schedule.  If it gets desperate and you have too many dry things in line to be bottom watered, you may need to top water to keep your plants alive.

Bottom water your seedlings to prevent dampening off. Water less often but water thoroughly.

Germination is an art.  It is the most crucial step in the garden.  A seed farm has the advantage of having many “volunteers” (self seeders) naturally show us when they choose to germinate, they mark the season and give clues to earliest planting possibilities for many different crops, in the cold frames and out in the field.

At ALM farm, teaching our apprentices about germination is a crucial part of their education.  It is a simple, basic skill that requires dedication, observation and daily nurturing.  It is repetitive.

The first key to success is to give the seed constant moisture while it is germinating.  Mist daily as necessary, creating a daily observation routine that works well for you and the seeds.  I like to check in the morning before the heat of the day, and then again in the afternoon when it’s hot and dry conditions (germination in the summer is challenging).  Use clear lids or row cover to help keep in moisture during germination.  You don’t want it sopping swampy wet either; remember to keep the balance.  Use a light mix to start your transplants; too rich of a mix will make the seed more susceptible to rot and fungal problems.

The second key is to know the temperature the seed requires to germinate.  Most are happy at about 17 C.  A heat mat is helpful to create the right conditions for optimum germination, especially early in the season.  Seeds will not germinate if they are too cold or too hot.  The earliest spring crops are vegetables that germinate in cooler soils; crops such as broad beans, peas, spinach and potatoes are the first crops to be planted outside.  Early spring is a busy time for the heat table, things coming and going, some crops like lettuce spending 3-7 days there, just for germination then they are off the heat tables and being gradually hardened of until they are transplanted outside 3-6 weeks later and others like peppers who are babied all the way along, spending up to 4 months lounging about soaking up the heat off the heat tables to the last moment.  Wait to plant beans and corn until the soil has warmed up (May-June) or they will not germinate and instead rot in the cool soil.  In the summer, use a shady area to get summer lettuces to germinate, as they don’t germinate well out in the full heat of the day and it is difficult to keep them moist.

keep seedlings moist while they geminate. Then start bottom watering.

There are other specific requirements that seeds can have.  Some require darkness to germinate (fennel, cilantro, nasturtium, calendula).  Bury the seed well (but not too deep) to ensure darkness.  We often cover these crops with black plastic until germination occurs, then remove as soon as the first seedlings emerge.  Some need light to germinate (lettuce, dill) sow these on the surface and tamp in with a rake or mister, taking extra care in keeping the seed moist as it is more susceptible to drying out.  The rest don’t seem to mind either way, constant moisture is all they require to germinate well and develop into healthy seedlings (our next topic).

The main goal of this column is to help get our community in touch with the movement of the seasons by observing nature (wild and in the garden), sharing seeding dates, information and experience as well as exploring the diverse 12 month harvest potential of our temperate climate.  I hope to help you maximize your garden space and inspire you to play in the dirt, nurture plants, share and taste real food.

It is time to plan your garden by calendaring your planting dates (dedicate a wall calendar to be your planting calendar) and mapping out your beds.  Also, take inventory of your seeds and create a seed wish list.  Sooke’s 1^st Annual Seedy Saturday takes place at SEAPARC from 10-2 on Feb 27^th.  This will be a great place to get ready for the gardening season; there will be a seed swap, local seed vendors, gardening information and a lot of excited gardener folk buzzing around!  Mary Alice Johnson will be teaching a basic Seed Propagation workshop at the event at 11:30-12:30 (register with SEAPARC) to help people get started.

Right now is also the time to divide perennials, prune and plant fruit trees, and side dress your garlic and raspberries.  We are constantly watching the weather forecast and checking the fields at this time of year waiting for the beds to dry out enough to get on the tractor and spade without damaging the soil structure, so that we can prepare the soil for the earliest direct seeded and transplanted crops.

We can direct seed broad beans, peas and early potatoes as soon as we can work the soil.

Inside a cold frame we can direct seed spinach, kale, mustards, bok choi, radish, Japanese turnips, early carrots, chervil and cilantro (herbs), and many salad greens, such as: arugula, cresses, mizuna, claytonia, mache, and orach.

In trays on bottom heat (15 C) we can start lettuces to transplant.

Important seeding windows not to miss:  Tomatoes and peppers should be started Feb-March on bottom heat.  Celery and celeriac should be started Feb-March on bottom heat.

Leeks and onions should be started in trays Feb-March.

Here you see endive, mizuna, winter lettuces, claytonia, and ornamental kale