By my calculations, we passed the last frost and the rest of the garden can go in. If cold temperatures return, I have a banker’s box full of old flat sheets to cover and protect young plants.
Three plots had been planted, leaving four and part of the garlic patch with which to do something. I know one will be exclusively tomatoes, two will be a mix of vegetables, a small plot will be fennel, celery and celeriac, and the last will be some kind of winter squash. A lot of work is finished, and a lot remains before initial planting can be called done.
I planted spinach in the covered row simply to get the tray out of the overcrowded greenhouse. I learned how to use covered rows from my friend Susan while working on her farm. The best parts of a covered row are protection from pests and a controlled environment that enhances normal growth. I bought the hoops from the farm where I worked and the cover from a commercial supplier a number of years ago. If cared for, the cover will last.
Friday, I bought thyme, sage, and chive plants from local farmers I know. These will go under the cover with parsley, cilantro and basil. Once the plants get too tall, I will strip the cover back and let them grow in open air. This process can produce a large herb crop for drying. If there is enough, I will make fresh pesto and freeze some.
At the farm, each herb pot was four dollars. To put that in perspective, I have more than 700 blocks with plants started, or according to this retail value, about $2,800 worth of them. I don’t mind paying full price at the farm because I can leverage their work to get a few things I want but don’t have space in the greenhouse to grow.
I spent a couple of hours weeding garlic. I had hoped to have it mulched with grass clippings by now but there weren’t enough, therefore weeding. Collecting grass clippings was high on my weekend to-do list, yet there really isn’t enough grass to mow yet.
There were some empty spots in the cruciferous vegetable plot so I filled them in from the greenhouse. At this point, I want every spot filled with something. The crop looks healthy thus far.
Saturday was a solid shift in which I planted lettuce and tatsoi in the covered row, cleared off the celery and celeriac plot, and cleared last year’s tomato plot. I salvaged most of the plastic ground cover to reuse and made burn pile #3 for the season.
Sunday morning was spent spading the big plot I cleared. It was a lot of work, yet part of the process of conditioning the soil.
I wasn’t planning on running so many errands this week. The main one was Monday’s round trip to Des Moines. I had poll worker training at the county seat on Thursday, and a Friday get-together with a friend who just moved back to Iowa. Running errands takes away from gardening, yet is essential to a modern life. Much as I wish for something different from automobile culture, it is what we have in our decision to life in rural Iowa.
It was a good week of preparations. I am looking forward to getting the whole garden in during the next few weeks as we are on the cusp of summer.
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