The Thaw
The Spring planting began this month with eggplant and onions started by seed. Columbine and Milkweed seeds are stratifying in the fridge for the next few weeks before being planted out.
In February I completed the the coursework for the Certified Colorado Gardener Program which was informative. I was pleased to take the courses online during both the pandemic and the winter. I look forward to applying what I have learned this season.
Christine Ro’s article, How to Bring Life to Dying Soils on the BBC website this month was also inspiring. Although it can take a very long time, I am heartened that soils can be healed.
February 6th
This week I planted 6 Celosia Wool Flowers, a new variety I have been excited to try (round bright white seeds!), and 6 Red Crocosmia from A’s garden last year. I soaked 6 additional Hyacinth seeds and planted those in the peat-perlite mix that is the most sterile mix I have ever used.
The original batch of Hyacinth I planted on January 2nd have not sprouted at all.
A full palette of gorilla hair mulch was delivered and I covered the front flower beds to three inches to protect the soil. We overestimated how much we needed and have quite a lot extra. I was able to cover a few beds in the back along with the blackberry.
Earlier this week I drove to Boulder and dropped off the soil samples to the University lab. I look forward to seeing the results.
February 21st
Last week two Chinese Wool Flower sprouts appeared. No sign of the 6 seeds Hyacinth I soaked (I emptied the seeds and potting mix into the garden from the batch I started on January 2nd after no sign of life appeared. Also no sign of the 6 Red Crocosmia. Today I placed all the remainder of the Garden Columbine seeds in a wet paper towel and placed it in the frigid for 3-4 weeks.
I also planted 6x yellow and white onions and 2x Eggplant. I did not plant the purple onions and want to wait to plant them when they can be sowed directly into the raised beds.
February 28th
One of the Eggplants has sprouted from a 2017 batch of seeds. None of the Onions have come up yet.
This morning I will stratify the Milkweed seeds.
After some research and courses on soil I want to keep the raised bed soil covered as much as possible. We have leftover gorilla hair but wood chips should not be utilized in food beds as they take a long time decomposing. Instead, I plan to use shredded newspaper, a resource we have plenty of, which is printed with soy ink and non-toxic (the non-shiny print).