I planted a tray of fall seedlings a couple weeks ago (July 7). I have kept them indoors under lights. Today I brought them outside to start getting used to full sunlight.
Beets, Chiogga Guardsmark
Beets, Round Red Merlin
Beets, White Detroit
Cabbage, Pac Choi, Mei Qing Choi
Cabbage, Pac Choi, Win-Win Choi
Cabbage, Red, Super Red 80
Cilantro, Calypso
Endive, Dubuisson
Escarole, Natacha
Lettuce, Butterhead Green, Ermosa
Lettuce, Butterhead Red, Skyphos
Lettuce, Looseleaf Green, Black Seeded Simpson
Lettuce, Summer Crisp Green, Nevada
Lettuce, Summer Crisp Red, Teide
The beets and cabbages are right on time for a last planting of the season. I don't know how the lettuce will do with the hot weather. I am trying some Summer Crisp types, which are supposed to be more heat tolerant.
I will sow another tray the first week of August (in a week and a half) with my winter crops that will go in the coldframe: spinach, more lettuce and other greens.
This week, I want to remember to sow some carrots and fall peas in the garden. Not sure where these will go yet.
I am using my Fall Planting Calendar to figure out when to plant. Here's a link to it. I am using Nov 1 as my average first fall frost date.
8 comments:
Thanks for the reminder to start thinking about our fall garden, especially now when production is at its peak and it's easy to get distracted... As always, you're an inspiration!
Thanks for the inspiration! I just seeded flats with broccoli (including one that's supposed to overwinter with a days-to-harvest of 220 days!), claytonia (never grown it), napa cabbage and lots of lettuce. Still want to get carrots, radishes, and beets in the ground (rabbits got all my spring beets). I think we're in roughly the same growing zone...so I should just use your postings as instruction manuals from now on. ;-)
Hi Kathy, I'm a big fan of your site.
I'm a first-year gardener, so I'm full of questions. Namely, it looks like you sow your seeds fairly thickly in the trays. Do you thin out the seedlings before planting each cell in the ground, or do you pull out each sprout separately and plant them in proper spacing?
Thanks! I look forward to hearing from you!
Yes, I do sow too thickly. Its a bad habit. I should plant about half as many seeds per cell or thin them out a bit before planting, but I don't.
To transplant, I pop the dirt block out of the plastic cell and carefully pull apart the little plants so that I can plant them individually at the correct spacing.
Beets can be planted up to 4 seedlings together in a clump and the roots will push apart as they form beets.
I have watched a professional small scale farmer sow seeds and she used smaller cells and sowed/thinned so there was only one plant per cell. Planting was faster for her because she did not need to pull apart the plants. The plants would also have less root disturbance than mine.
The method I use produces more seedlings per tray and allows me to fit them all on one plant shelf. I have not been able to find the small cells the farmer used except online and they are very expensive when purchased in small amounts compared with the price of the standard cells at a local store. The time it takes me to plant is not an issue as I am only planting a few feet, not an acre of farmland.
There are lots of ways that will work. Try a few, and pick the method that works best for you.
I appreciate reading your response to the first-year gardener's question. I'll try your method. Thanks for sharing.
I love reading your blog!! You always give so much great information!!
Hi Kathy! Ive been skipping the whole starting fall seeds indoors step, I pulled out the lettuce, peas, carrots and onions out in the garden and direct sowed the rutabaga, beets and lettuce right out in the beds.
Wow! That is a wonderful selection for your fall garden. That reminds me... I better get going on mine, fall will be here before you know it.
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