Last week I decided to redo one of my mint pots. I had Citrus mint in it and I never ever used it. So I wanted to get rid of it. I up ended the pot and tried to separate the roots from the soil. Then for the next week I let all the soil dry out so I could get more roots out of it. I didn't want this mint coming back. The mint I did want in this pot was my regular peppermint. I had that mint in a pot by the front door. I didn't like that mint there because it isn't a very pretty plant. It can get pretty scraggly. So now I have pansies planted in the pot by my front door which is much prettier. Yesterday I planted up the peppermint. It sits with the other two mints in the garden proper. It can get as scraggly as it wants there.
Then it was off to prepare my brassica bed. One half of this bed (an 8'x4' section) gets mostly cabbages (Michihili, Napa, and Early Jersey) with a few Brussels sprouts at the end. The other gets my broccoli and chard. You can see that I didn't have very many weeds over the winter. This is the first time that has happened here. The only green that grew this winter was my cover crops on a few of the beds and some weeds in the corner of the garden. I will have to get out to weed those, but it has been so nice not to weed this spring.
I have a pile of seeds that need to be directly planted in the garden. I decided the carrots really need to be planted today. They take a while to germinate. I was debating whether or not to add parsnips to this bed, but decided they ought to go farther down where I put my herbs. They will be in the ground for all summer and fall and this bed will get switched out to the smaller Asian greens for the fall.
I plant my carrots in rows 4" apart. Effectively I'm block planting them. But I like the rows because there is less thinning and I use less seed. Though seeding is a little more tedious that way. I covered them with an old doubled up row cover directly on the soil. In the past I've used burlap, but I don't have a piece big enough and a single piece of row cover is easier. Hopefully it will work as well. I'm just trying to keep the upper surface of the soil damp. Mother nature is helping me out with that this week. We are supposed to get rain every day for the next four days.
That is a great idea covering the carrots with the row cover. I will have to try that myself. I usually use a board to cover them, but then you have to be careful and remove it as soon as the seeds sprout. I am thinking the row cover will have 'give' to it and let the leaves emerge. That might make the timing of the removal less critical.
ReplyDeletePlease, advise! I was inspired by your chamomile harvests. I have the seeds. Now what? Grow transplants or direct sow?
ReplyDeleteI started my first ones by transplants. But direct sowing works too. But I only do that the first year. Then I let them self seed every year and they come up in profusion.
Deletethe garden is looking great. So nice to see some plants in the ground!
ReplyDeleteI sense that there will shortly be a seed-sowing frenzy in many gardens! We are about 6 weeks behind our normal schedule, and really need to catch up.
ReplyDeleteEverything looks really great! I'm trying to get a lot of mint this year too! I hope the citrus mint doesn't come back!
ReplyDeleteYou are getting a great start there. Looks great. Carrots planted which I haven't done yet and your garden is larger than mine. I need to get to it! Nancy
ReplyDeleteYour beds look so perfectly prepared and I like your planting plan - I'm feeling very behind! Planning to plant carrots in a block too this year, sprinkled with nigella seed to grow together. As well as looking pretty, I'm hoping pests may be fooled. Would be interested to hear if anybody else has tried something similar.
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