Learning Something New Every Day
As I get older, I find myself learning new things every day. Some of that is because I forgot old things (and they seem like new discoveries for me again) and some I learn from YouTube videos on gardening, which is a terrific way to see what other gardeners do and offer as helpful hints. Other times, I am finding out new things just by trial and error. In all cases, I am finding that I get more and more excited about growing my garden veggies in the best way possible.
So, for my own useful purpose of trying to remember what I learn, here is a list of things that I have found very useful to me.
1. Plant broccoli under a plastic hoop in late January or early February and don't worry about these tough seeds until they surprise you when they come up in March. The best part about starting them and growing them this way is that they seem to be much hardier and resistant to bugs so far. I learned this from a gardener out of Virginia who does a terrific job posting videos on YouTube, almost on a weekly basis.
2. My use of the greenhouse is a learning process. Planting broccoli in there and leaving the seedlings through the hot days is a disaster. Plus I lost a few plants to some bug eating the roots. So, it might be ok to start the broccoli in the greenhouse, but not good to keep it in there.
3. On the other hand, growing radishes, spinach and lettuce in the greenhouse (unheated) is great. We had a nice crop of radishes with very little bug damage and the spinach was great until it bolted in early May. The lettuce is doing great in there.
4. I have mixed reviews on the peas growing in the greenhouse. They are quite tall, but no flowers yet and I am not sure how that will go.
5. I am now growing cucumbers in the greenhouse and comparing them to those I planted outside. I am going to do the same with some Peppers. Time will tell.
6. Soil preparation is key. Using my free horse poop has been very good, although I am finding that the stuff I get is quite heavy in shavings and hay. I am looking for some "cleaner" poop in the future.
7. Staying ahead of the weeds is key, as well. I bought a Hooke and Crooke hoe that has a stainless steel blade on the end of the hoe. The blade is single support, giving one lots of maneuverability in getting to weeds. It does a great job so far in getting under the weed and cutting the weed. It is easy to also use the tool to collect the dead weeds.
8. I bought a four pack of carrots that contained about 50-60 small seedlings. I separated them and planted each seedling in a raised bed setting, hoping they will grow. I saw this in a video from a gardener down in New Zealand, so I will see how that works out.
So, for my own useful purpose of trying to remember what I learn, here is a list of things that I have found very useful to me.
1. Plant broccoli under a plastic hoop in late January or early February and don't worry about these tough seeds until they surprise you when they come up in March. The best part about starting them and growing them this way is that they seem to be much hardier and resistant to bugs so far. I learned this from a gardener out of Virginia who does a terrific job posting videos on YouTube, almost on a weekly basis.
2. My use of the greenhouse is a learning process. Planting broccoli in there and leaving the seedlings through the hot days is a disaster. Plus I lost a few plants to some bug eating the roots. So, it might be ok to start the broccoli in the greenhouse, but not good to keep it in there.
3. On the other hand, growing radishes, spinach and lettuce in the greenhouse (unheated) is great. We had a nice crop of radishes with very little bug damage and the spinach was great until it bolted in early May. The lettuce is doing great in there.
4. I have mixed reviews on the peas growing in the greenhouse. They are quite tall, but no flowers yet and I am not sure how that will go.
5. I am now growing cucumbers in the greenhouse and comparing them to those I planted outside. I am going to do the same with some Peppers. Time will tell.
6. Soil preparation is key. Using my free horse poop has been very good, although I am finding that the stuff I get is quite heavy in shavings and hay. I am looking for some "cleaner" poop in the future.
7. Staying ahead of the weeds is key, as well. I bought a Hooke and Crooke hoe that has a stainless steel blade on the end of the hoe. The blade is single support, giving one lots of maneuverability in getting to weeds. It does a great job so far in getting under the weed and cutting the weed. It is easy to also use the tool to collect the dead weeds.
8. I bought a four pack of carrots that contained about 50-60 small seedlings. I separated them and planted each seedling in a raised bed setting, hoping they will grow. I saw this in a video from a gardener down in New Zealand, so I will see how that works out.
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