Sunday update – Week #2

Hi everyone,

Thanks to all of your efforts, the greenhouse is looking amazing. I stopped by yesterday and was really impressed by the productivity. There are so many thriving plants!

Some things to keep in mind this week:

• We are going to need lots (hundreds) of four-inch pots. A little smaller or bigger is okay too. It looks like we might be a week away from transplanting time. Bring any extras you have at home, and ask your friends for donations. Also, if anyone is going to Swanson's, Skye or any other nurseries, please ask if they have any four-inch pots we can have.  
• It is getting pretty warm in the greenhouse, so keep an eye out for aphids. They will first look like little white dots and the leaves might feel sticky and look a little shiny. That is the "honeydew" they excrete. Smash them if you see them. If it is really bad, you can try gently washing them off. They may not appear until the plants get some true leaves, but keep your eyes open!  Hopefully, they won't appear at all.
• Great job on starting the peas and cilantro in potting soil in 4" pots. Three to four seeds per pot should do it and it is great if the peas get a pre-soak before planting. They will be able to go live outside on the shelves once they germinate (or even before, if we run out of room). We will be doing the same thing with the cucumbers, when the time comes - but only planting 2 seeds per pot.
• When watering be sure to go up on the ladder and see if the top shelf plants are thirsty.
• We're close to the point when the shelving on either side of the glass table will have to be cleared for plants.

Please be in touch with any questions.

-Abby (and Cyrus & Sue)

Watering and thinning tips

Watering: The mister should be used only when the SMALL seeds have been just planted and until the seedlings are about 3/4" tall. The mister has a very low water flow rate and when you need more water use the small green water can with the "rose" (the end cap at the end of the spout). Eventually, as the plants get bigger, the rose can be taken off so you can water more efficiently.

Thinning: For thinning you can cut the dense seedlings with the scissors so that the seedlings have a bit of space around them. Once these seedlings are ready for transplanting into potting soil (after the true leaves, the second set of leaves, have fully sprouted), loosen the soil around them with a popsicle stick or butter knife and lift up by pulling gently on the cotyledon leaves (the lowest leaves on the stem). Then place into 4" pots and gently tamp down the potting soil, water and fertilize (note date of fertilizing on the tag).

Most of what we will be sending out will be 4” pots with seedlings but Marra Farm also will be taking some soil trays with plants that have been thinned and are well established .

Some more greenhouse logistics

Notes from Cyrus:

• The faucet on the driveway side of the house is the one where the hose is connected. I will always leave it on so to get water one only needs to turn on the sprayer/outlet. The deal is that the faucet is one of those frost immune ones that extend under the house and to repair/replace it is a big deal and if it's turned on and off regularly it'll start to leak. The one north of the deck is already leaking.
• Point out the electric fence and the importance of making sure the gate is closed (raccoons).
• Let folks know that once plants are uncovered (any day now!) the fan should always be on at low speed.
• That if I'm home the bathroom can be accessed.
• The plastic can closest to the greenhouse door is for yard waste

The Edible Hedge workshop

THE EDIBLE HEDGE

When: Sunday, March 21, 10 – 3

Where: OmCulture Studio in Wallingford

With: Jenny Pell & Marisha Auerbach

There are many delicious berries that love to grow

here in the Pacific NW that you can grow in your own

backyards and neighborhoods! Some examples include

currants, gooseberries, thornless loganberries, goji berries,

aronia, goumi, blueberries, raspberries, and hardy kiwis. 

Edible hedges serve many of functions besides providing

prolific fabulous fruits – they can be used as privacy screens,

windbreaks, bee forage, and they are beautiful.  They are

great additions to any landscape including schools, churches,

alleyways, pocket parks, and "parking strips".

Planted permaculture-style in well-mulched beds with

perennial flowering shrubs, self-seeding flowers, and mycorrhizal

fungi, these hedges require minimal maintenance, provide bigger

yields season after season, and are easy to propagate.

Come and learn hedge design, propagation techniques,

sheet-mulching, ecosystem enhancement, and plant an entire

easy-to-replicate edible hedge! 

Cost:  $50

Pre-registration required

jennypell@gmail.com

(206) 949-0496

Spring Into Bed Event

Check out Spring Into Bed, an upcoming event to encourage people to grow more food! Here’s the website: www.springintobed.org.

COMMUNITY

Many people have realized that this is a celebration of what's already happening, and an opportunity to stimulate more.  At least 4 different communities are taking actions spurred by this event, some committing to do their garden on May 8th on purpose and report what they're already doing, others finding motivation in Spring Into Bed's timeline to cultivate community spirit, interview neighbors for what they desire in a neighborhood, and cultivate an early manifestation of what is a long-term, growing sense of belonging, justice, and community.

FOOD JUSTICE

Besides gardens that would crop up everywhere anyways, many have sensed that the potential to build food justice into Seattle on May 8th is great. Spring Into Bed is fundraising to build 10 food justice gardens on the day of the event and beyond!

JUMP IN

- Start talking with your neighbors and community now!

- Send friends and neighbors interested in organizing or fundraising this e-mail, and if it's after March 10th, they can find a lot of resources atwww.springintobed.org and call for more help if needed!

- Food Justice fundraising is a great calling - we already have 3 captains signed up who are each raising $1000+  ...Will you?

- If you believe you might qualify for a food Justice Garden yourself due to your household's budget, call Stephanie (206) 708-9913!

- Interested in fund raising, community outreach, event planning, publicizing?  Let's meet once a week for 9 weeks and share this rewarding, culminating labor of love!

First week

How quickly they grow!

Beth and Shana planted tomatoes Saturday.

We’re ready!

Sue, Sadie and Cyrus had a very productive day at the greenhouse Thursday organizing stuff!

Here’s a note from Cyrus:

All the trays and multiple pot containers were washed (the 4" pots were emptied, but still need to be washed), the 5 gallon containers are all labeled and the journal started (Under Misc. we set up a production page with date, type of plant and # of plants to be entered when we send plants off to Lettuce Link). We're ready for next week!

I do want to clarify that if I'm home anybody working in the greenhouse can use the bathroom.

2010: The Year of Urban Agriculture

Did you know 2010 is the Year of Urban Agriculture in Seattle? Learn more here: http://www.seattle.gov/urbanagriculture/.

This quote from City Council President Richard Conlin is very apropos to our greenhouse project: “One in eight people nationally are using food banks. There is tremendous interest and opportunity in Seattle for growing food which can improve access to healthy food. We want to encourage our residents to get their hands in the soil and connect to others who are interested in urban agriculture.”

City Fruit blog

Have you heard of City Fruit? It’s a neat Seattle organization with a great mission: “City Fruit works neighborhood by neighborhood to help residential tree owners grow healthy fruit, to harvest and use what they can, and to share what they don’t need.” Check out its blog: www.cityfruit.org/blog.

How to grow veggie starts: Key points from Sue’s demo

SEED STARTING

• Rinse trays, cells, pots that are really dirty with water.

• Add water to seed-starting mix in bucket labeled clean. If you don’t use all the mix you put in the bucket, leave it in the clean bucket for the next person to use.

• Add water and stir until mixture is about as moist as wrung-out sponge.

• Start seeds in cells or trays. Cells are nice for certain plants, like tomatoes, because they give you more of a natural division. Trays make sense for plants like lettuce.

• Seeds do not have to go in deep, about the depth of three times their width. The seed packet will also tell you how deep to plant the seed or if the seed should not be covered with soil at all.

• Plant only one type of vegetable in a single tray or cell-pack.

• Three seeds per cell is a good rule of thumb. If you are planting peas or cucumbers, you can plant 2 seeds per pot and plant them directly into potting mix rather than seed starting mix. They will not need to be transplanted. Do the same for cilantro, but plant 3 seeds per pot.

• Try to sow tiny seeds like lettuce thinly. They will be easier to work with later.

• Wet down with mister after planting to get top layer moistened. Problem with using the watering can is that you can dislodge seeds.

• Make a tag and label what you’ve just planted and the date. The date helps us determine whether plants are germinating.

• Then place the clear cover on top and place tray on shelf with heating pad.

• When you see the plants starting to come up (they don’t all have to be up), take off the lid and move off heating pad to another shelf.

PLANT CARE

• Once the plants are germinated and the lids are off, the plants can dry out quickly.

• If you notice plants are sick/really droopy, use scissors to cut them off. If all plants in a tray are drooped over, dump the tray into the used mix bucket (can be used for transplanting later).

• When plants come up through soil, continue to water gently either with mister or watering can with a fine spray rose.

• Try to keep water off leaves, aiming for soil, if possible. Don’t worry if they get wet; that’s where the fan comes in.

• Don’t forget to pet the plants! It brushes off the water and stimulates them to grow.

• If they are really crowded, thin the plants as they grow to give the robust ones more space. Pick ones with thicker base that don’t look “leggy”. Use scissors to remove the weaker plants. Do not yank them out.

TRANSPLANTING

• Wait to transplant until plants develop their first or second set of “true” leaves. The “seed” or cotyledon leaves will eventually turn yellow and fall off.

• (When transplanting to bigger pots (“pot up”), do so in small increments to avoid opportunities for soil to rot – Maybe we don’t need to include this since we are only using 4” pots?) Don’t want to confuse anyone!)

• Use potting soil for transplanting. Transplant seedling into a 4” pot. Dump the used seed starting mix into the “used” bucket. It can be mixed with potting soil for transplanting. Mix it sparingly with the potting soil, so the dominant ingredient is potting soil.

• Don’t fill pot up to top (leave at least a quarter of an inch).

• Fill pot a quarter to halfway, then take a hold of one true leaf (not the stem or the root ball) and gently “pop it out” with butter knife. You may need to stick your finger in the soil and dig out a little trench in order to plant the seedling deeper.

• Plant the seedling deep, leave as little stem as possible exposed. Add a little more soil and gently pack the soil around the root ball. It is OK if you plant it right down to the cotyledon leaves.

• Water-in the seedling using water mixed with a ½ strength dose of fish fertilizer. Note the date you fertilized.

• Label each 4” pot with the type of vegetable and name of the variety: Tomato ‘Oregon Spring’ or Pea ‘Cascadia’. For tomatoes, also write an I for indeterminate or a D for determinate on the label. Check the seed packet for what type it is. (This is helpful information for the p-patch growers.)

POST-TRANSPLANTATION PLANT CARE

• Once they have been transplanted into 4” pots, they may not need as much water. Let them dry out a little between watering. Don’t water if soil feels very wet. They may not need to be watered for a few days if it is cool and cloudy out.

• Fertilize with ½ strength fish fertilizer at least every 2 weeks. Don’t fertilize the peas.

• Look for pests: aphids love peppers. Squash them with your fingers.

• Start hardening off the “cool crops” (everything except tomatoes, peppers, basil and cucumbers) by transferring them to the shelving outside of the greenhouse once they start getting a little big and we run out of space.