Garden Report – May 15th

by Amy Swanson

Volunteers:  First Parish & Hancock

Weather:  Light rain with sunny dispositions

Garden 2012_05_15 005 small copyGarden 2012_05_15 003 small copy

 

Garden 2012_05_15 002 small copy

 

 

Yesterday was great!  It’s been a month since the last time I was there and now I see the fresh promise of what is to come.  A month ago it was all about prepping….clearing out the remnants of last year, spreading mulch, creating new garden space.  Now when you arrive, there is a clear sense of what is to come–rich dark dirt, quadrants of neat beds, that unique pretty green of young plants, and tidy paths.  Having worked at the garden the first 2 years, I know that this early phase gives ground before too long to riotous growth and crowded beds demanding attention.  But right now, in the quieter phase, while much has been planted (and some greens already harvested), there is more to plant in the upcoming volunteer days.  Yesterday our crew added squash, peppers, cucumbers and more.

Here is what I learned yesterday:

Asparagus—Carla’s beds are 32 years old!  Talk to any gardener and they will be surprised that these asparagus beds are still so productive.  Most would say that 20 years is a long time for plants to stay productive.  Some of the plants have gone right to seed.  They are readying themselves for next year.  But there are plenty that are delivering the tasty spears we recognize.

Garlic—Garlic gets planted in the fall…ideally after the first hard frost so they don’t start growing too soon.  You want them to lay dormant over the winter and start really germinating in early spring.  Do you know when garlic is ready for harvest?   The “tell” is in the greens.  You know when it is ready to harvest by watching the green fronds.  First the fronds have to get to the stage where they start to spiral and curl up.  Then you wait for  them to uncurl.  After that, they are ready to harvest.  Carla would normally expect that to be around July.  However, with our warm winter and lack of snow cover, we might see the garlic ready sooner.

Garlic

Garlic

Planting cucumbers—Faith and I worked on the cucumber bed yesterday so I can share what we learned.  First we dug a deep trench in the bed and sprinkled some “green sand” (an organic source of potash) and phosphate to feed the bed.  Then we created a large oval mound where we planted 2 varieties of cucumber. Using our fingers, we poked 2 fingers at once 8 times into the mound.  The objective was to plant pairs of seeds in 8 evenly spaced out areas of the mounds.  By sticking 2 fingers into the dirt at a time, you end up with holes about 1 inch apart and the pairs were maybe 15” apart.  (I didn’t think to ask Carla why doubles, but perhaps to increase the probability of success?  If 2 plants grow together, the healthier of the pair can get thinned?  I do know that earlier in the day, Carla shared the wisdom she learned from her father:  When you plant a garden, plan on 1/3 being lost to weather, 1/3 being lost to the animals/pests and 1/3 for you to eat.  I think planting 2 seeds at once might relate to that piece of shared wisdom.)  Finally we put a seed into each hole, covered them with dirt and tamped them down a bit.

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