Grow Your Own – A Winter Update
by John Weckerle
Preparation for this year’s micro-agricultural pursuits are proceeding. We have now sprouted lettuce, tomatoes (beefsteak and cherry), yellow squash, string beans, kale, Swiss chard, arugula, basil, green onions, cilantro, brussels sprouts, and snow peas. So far, only the green bell peppers have not sprouted. The snow peas are furthest along, with the largest now nearly two feet high and the other two not far behind. The string beans (bush, not vine) only sprouted a few days ago, but had to be removed from the starting trays because they were pushing the top off – a familiar occurrence.
Perhaps a word about how we’re going about the sprouting might be appropriate. A couple of years ago, I tried out two starting kits that came with a covered tray and a number of small “peat pellets.” These are pretty good, but I found that it introduced an “extra step” that probably isn’t that necessary for what I’m doing, so I stored the pellets and improvised. When I buy plants, especially outdoor ones, I save any pots that I think are reusable, and this has left me with a good number of 3-inch square pots that are a great size for planting. They’re just the right size to fit 10 at a time in the starter containers. Just about the time most plants are crowding the top, they are ready to come out into the real world. Once they outgrow the starter pots, they will be transferred into larger pots and reclaimed plastic coffee containers, which should hold them until it’s time to put them in the ground or, in a couple of cases, transfer them to larger pots and grow them indoors.
Still to be sprouted are chilis, more lettuce, more tomatoes (including plum tomatoes) zucchini, oregano, thyme, sage, maybe rhubarb (if I run across the seeds) and flowers. There are two more beds to be built for vegetables, which will involve removing a couple of small trees that are probably in the wrong place fire protection-wise to begin with, and some leveling. New boxes, providing perhaps as much as 16 feet by 2 feet of growing space, will probably be constructed outside the plant room windows once the re-stuccoing is complete. Those beds will be limited to deer-resistant plants, as they will be outside the fenced area.