Spinach and pea seedlings

lettuce, mesclun mix, spinach, and pea seedlings

A blast of cold air is expected tonight in the Southeast, both in the mountains and piedmont.  My spinach, lettuce, mustard, and chard seedlings should be fine in their beds full of dark heat-trapping soil. 

mustard seedlings with overwintered mustards

 The tomato, pepper, and eggplants seedlings (transported up to the mountains for spring break) were subjected to toughening temperatures of about 50°F during the day with plenty of wind.  Not optimal, but that's what was available.  They're tucked into the 'mechanical room' tonight, which is toasty because of the Rennai instant hot water system that serves both our hot water and radiant heating system.

Sowing more seeds

I saw these recycled paper pots at a local hardware store, and thought they'd be worth an experiment.  I loved my Cowpot trials from last summer, but the pots themselves don't hold up very well for seed starting, barely long enough to transplant a crumbling pot with a seedling.



Traditional peat pots (aside from their peat content) don't work very well, in my experience, being slow to break down, and wicking moisture from edges poking above the soil surface.

So I'm interested to see how these recycled paper pots do.  I sowed seeds of three different varieties of chard and genovose basil.  We'll see!

Swiss chard and green tomatoes

I harvested most of the tomatoes in the mountains today, both big and small.  The weather for tomorrow is a low in the high 30's, and a high in the 60's (°F), so  tomato ripening is not in the forecast.  I cleaned up the spent plants, sowed some collard, mesclun, and kale seeds, thinking optimistically, and about bed protections (row covers), and started work preserving the harvest.  I roasted about half of the green tomatoes (large and small),  froze them, but also put bags of fresh green cherry tomatoes directly in freezer bags, too.

I'm still left with a (quite) large container full of green tomatoes along with a biggish one full of green cherry tomatoes, in addition a number of half-ripe large tomatoes, and a bowlful of red cherry tomatoes.

Swiss chard and green cherry tomatoes

We had chard tonight, fresh from the garden, along with wahoo from the NC coast.  A lovely dinner.  There wasn't a reason to buy greens at the farmer's market this morning; it basically was an enjoyable stroll, picking up some winter squash and fresh eggs. Both are delicious.

Swiss chard

The Swiss chard is doing great -- I harvested another large bunch this evening along with a good-sized handful of arugula.

The front raised beds are looking good, too; I've packed them with vegetables and herbs, so will need to be attentive to extra nutrient additions, in spite of their excellent soil (aka compost).

The various beans are growing well, and I'm going to plant some Asian winged beans (soaking now) on another trellis (hmm, I need to find room for it) tomorrow.

Amazingly, a flat of spinach seedlings is looking quite nice. I'll have to find a shady place to put it, since some hot weather is on the way.

Growing swiss chard

I haven't had much success with Swiss Chard in the past, in spite of it being an 'easy' vegetable. My fertilizer challenges (uh, I studied native plants, not nutrient-hungry vegetables) are evident in this regard, but I'm trying to mend my ways.

Compost, aged manure, mushroom compost, etc. as soil amendments aren't enough to maintain fertility, in continually cropped beds (eg. my main and satellite vegetable garden areas at home in the Piedmont- in the Southeastern US). So I've been mindful of the benefits of adding organic timed-release fertilizer (Espoma is one brand that provides a nice range of major and micro nutrients).

My new raised beds, in the mountains, though, have been (so far) quite supportive of leafy greens, being filled with compost and composted manure.

I've been delighted with the lush lettuce, radishes, arugula, and swiss chard that have been part of the early plantings, and have been in harvest mode recently.

This swiss chard is the nicest-looking that I've grown; it's not hugely lush, but hey, I'm quite pleased with it. And I'm sure it will taste good, too.

(But, stir-fried lettuce with sesame oil, onions, mushrooms, and garlic was on the dinner menu tonight!) And, I've warned my gardening companion that there's more lettuce to come....