Since this spring has been particularly cold and overcast, germination and growth of seed-planted crops like peas, carrots, beets and radish has been slow. We have some strategies to leave the time for your spring plants to grow longer, and also get the summer seedlings in right away. We will be in touch three days before to let Garden Replant clients know when we are coming. Sadly, we’ve had a crop failure on our Rosemary. We will be replacing any Rosemary in your garden plans with extra basil.
- Remove one lettuce, spinach or bok choy per square to make space for the Pepper or Eggplant as per your garden plan.
- If you don’t care too much about radish, remove them and sauté leaves-and-all for a stir fry. If you love radishes, clear out a few to make space for the cucumbers and leave the rest to grow.
- If you don’t care too much about the peas, harvest the young shoots for your salads to make room for the tomatoes. If you love peas, let them grow up the trellis. We will be leaving them in all season this year, so they will be sharing trellis space with the tomatoes.
Fortunately all the rain has been great for the leafy greens. Please start harvesting the outer leaves. Simply step outside with your salad bowl and pick a couple of leaves from each plant for a continual harvest. Make sure to weed early and often to keep your garden clean and clear.
It’s time to order your Trichogramma (parasitic wasps) to control Cabbage Moths and Nematodes to control Japanese Beetle and White Grub. Please respond to this email to order. We’ve started to see some of the white cabbage moths flying around some gardens.
When we plant our tomato plants, we take advantage of a super tomato trick. Tomatoes can grow roots all along the stem. We remove the bottom couple of leaves (so they don’t rot underground) and plant the tomato super deep so that only 5 or 6 inches are sticking out the top. This will give the tomato plant a much bigger root structure and make for a more vigorous and productive plant.
Make sure to thin your carrots and beets. This means enough space around each plant for it to grow well. Carrots need 2 inches (5cm), beets need 3 inches (7cm). Choose the best seedling and remove the rest. It is possible to transplant if they are still small. Just make sure to do it quickly and carefully.