A Year in Review: April & May 2017

All of April was spent watching and caring for the plants in our small indoor green house. We also pulled the sod from three marked, 3×10 foot beds and prepped them with:

  • 9 cubic feet of compost
  • 6 cubic feet of peat moss
The above numbers were calculated by using the book by John Jeavons, How to Grow More Vegetables: And Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine. We also used the double-digging method outlined in the book.

I placed all of the vegetables and flowers in the ground between April 20th and May 22nd, probably a little late, since Mother’s Day, heralded as the optimal planting date  here, was on May 14th. I learned very quickly that I did not harden off the plants enough, and so they withered in their shocked state for quite a while. My mom visited in late May and we took a clipping to our local nursery, where they diagnosed the plants immediately as not having been acclimatized appropriately. I fear many had simply been in the green house too long, and had grown leggy and root bound.After being inspired by the enormous cold frames at Growing Gardens during their Community Plant Sale in May, I asked my husband to build one to assist with next year’s hardening off process. At the sale I purchased 6 strawberries, a few Dahlia tubers, and a chili pepper, all of which thrived.

We also purchased a small garden irrigation system from DripWorks and installed it ourselves.