Quad 1 Update

Our plans for Quad 1 changed slightly, but not as much as I thought they would. The original layout included 4 rows of peas, which stayed, and a row each of lettuces and spinach. We cut the lettuce row short and planted onions at the end:

It turns out that I might have more onion sets than I could ever hope to plant. I've planted out another 2 rows in Quad 2 and will probably add some to Quad 3, though I don't know if that will be pushing it in terms of proper planting times for these.

It's nice to know that we will eventually be eating snow peas:

This row is chock full of sprouting Oregon Snow Pod 2 plants. I just hope that they truely do have a bush habit, instead of vining, so we don't have to put up a trellis for this row since we'll be building 3 other trellises. I think they are doing so well because a) the temperatures have been perfect for pea-growing and b) we used Joe food to fertilize them:

I really don't know how this cheerio got all the way out there by the peas, but there it was. Cheerios appear in the most RANDOM places here at the WatRanch.

Other Quad 1 news is that we will soon be attempting to transplant the lettuces that we sowed in milk jugs. I'm not seeing a lot of germination in the planted rows, so it's reassuring that the wintersown seeds are doing so well:

These are the "Flame" seedlings that will grow into pretty red leaves. I can't wait for the first salad!

In Like a Lamb...

The last two days have been LOVELY outside. Low 60s, brilliant sunshine, brisk breeze. I'm trying to hover over the peas/spinach/lettuce that have already been planted, so I have been making myself busy in other areas of the garden. The weather has coordinated nicely with Joe taking an extra nap in the afternoons due to teething, so I'm taking it as a Universe signal that I need to play outside. Here's what I've been up to:

 

Today I planted onions (above), carrots, radishes, lettuce, and spinach in Quad 1. The carrots and radishes went in along the edges of rows of peas. We'll see how that goes. I still have LOTS of onion bulbs and carrots to plant, so we'll see where those get fit in. 

I checked in on the wintersown broccoli and lettuces in the milk jugs:

Cute, right? The broccoli is throwing out true leaves nicely, so hopefully they will be ready for transplanting in another week or two. Just like everything else, I think they were slowed down by the ice storm, and I'm hoping the weather stays mild enough for us to get a harvest from them. If not, we'll just leave them in until fall.

I am optimistic about the cauliflower seedlings that I started inside. I'm starting to harden off the biggest ones outside.

 

They looked so cheerful hanging out on the back porch, soaking in the rays. I hope the other 5 will be ready to join them by next week. Tomorrow is supposed to be another lovely day, so I tilled up Quad 2 this evening to get ready to plant potatoes.

 

 

Here is all 16lbs cut into pieces and drying on the kitchen table. I wonder how long it will take for me to get my kitchen table back...