Cool Season Crops

Spring is such a busy time here at our urban farm. There is such a flurry of activity between tilling, planting, chicks, blooms, and trips around beautiful Portland.

Yesterday we planted 3 "Hood" Strawberry plants. They are a medium growing spreading perennial. They will get about 8-10" tall with bright red berries. They like acidic soils, to they will do quite nicely near our blueberry bushes under the fir tree.

Having a freshly turned garden, I got to plant most of our cool season- direct sow crops this weekend and today. In addition to all that I planted (and wrote about in the last posts), I put more in tonight as soon as I got home form work. Here's what went in tonight:

Heirloom and/or Open Pollinated Varieties:

Alaska Nasturtium (6" bush)

Jewel Blend Nasturtium (12" bush)

Tall Single Blend Nasturium (6' vine)

Giant Winter Spinach

Winter Stem Bok Choy

Bright Lights Swiss Chard

Shiraz Tall Top Beet

Flat of Egypt Beet

Amaranth Een Chot Hiyu (edible red leaf)

Wando Shelling Pea (bush type, 68 days)

Mesclun Lettuce Mix

-Rocket Arugula

-4 Season Lettuce

-Romaine Cas Lettuce

-Red Salad Bowl Lettuce

-Tango Lettuce

-Blackseeded Simpson Lettuce

-Lolla Rossa Lettuce

-Oakleaf Lettuce

-Romane Cimmaron Lettuce

-Ruby Lettuce

-Bloomsdale Spinach

-Tatsoi

-Golden Swiss Chard

-Magenta Swiss Chard

-Broadleaf Batavia Endive

-Mizuna Mustard

-Red Giant Mustard

Red Crisphead Lettuce

Hybrid Varieties:

Carnival Blend Carrot

We've decided to sow the chicken run with a mix of fava bean, dutch clover, crimson clover, and "broomcorn" sorghum, and buckwheat. We'll be seeding it down soon and covering it with a remay-type ground cover to prevent squirrels and the chickens from eating all the seed before it can germinate.

Flora and I are very excited about the entire garden this year and have just recently reached the realization that aside from fruits, dairy, grains, and baking supplies we won't be buying any groceries this summer! Further, we're excited about being able to can as much as possible. We are working closer and closer to our goal of growing as much, if not all, of our own produce!

Expect pictures of it all as soon as things start sprouting!!

-Fauna

Ready... Set... Starts!

Today was a day for planting starts and starting starts. What started off as an innocent trip to the farmers' market turned into picking up 10 herb starts. (Oregano, Thyme, Marjoram, Savory, two kinds of Bee Balm, Betony, Woodruff, and Myrtle).

Once home, we had a visit from a little friend, Willow. Willow is 8. She will be 9 this December. She dislikes figs but loves cherries. She enjoys watching the chickens but would rather pick at the aphids and ladybugs. She learned how to plant starts by watching Flora. With only 2 starts left to plant, Willow asked if she could put one in. She ended up planting the last two and then asking if she could plant more or if we had any weeds to pull. None of this was in the plan for the day.

Thankfully, we had the materials handy to put together some starts. I pulled out the start trays and dirt. With Willow's help, I planted one flat of seeds. I was so excited about planting again that as soon as Willow left (taking a garlic chive plant with her for her garden), Flora and I ran to Portland Nursery to pick up the last few seeds we needed for the season but didn't have. Flora and I planted 2 more flats of seeds.

Here's what we planted:

Heirloom Varieties

Black Beauty Eggplant (80 days)

Italian Dark Green Parsley

Serrano Chile Pepper (78 days)

Yolo Wonder Sweet Pepper (75 days)

Straight Eight Cucumbers (63 days)

Di Cicco Broccoli (48 days)

High Carotene Tomato (76 days)

Brandywine Tomato (85 days)

Basil Blend (lemon, anise, cinnamon, red rubin, dark opal, thai, genovese)

Chervil

Cleome Spider Flower

Non-Heirloom Varieties

Purple Sprouting Broccoli (220 days- will be overwintered)

Rubine Brussels Sprouts (85 days)

Superschmeltz Kohlrabi (60 days)

Sugar Baby Watermelon (80 days)

Improved Dwarf Siberian Kale

-Fauna