Thinning and transfer

This weekend we were gone to debate provincials in Regina and drove home late Saturday night. This morning we are all a little groggy after our 1am bedtime, and the girls and I sat by our sunny patio door when we woke up. We chatted lazily about Leora going to Nationals, games we like to play, things to read and, oh happiness, what would happen with the yard this year.  Less than an hour later the sun was gone and the 30 km an our wind was very cold. March continues to feel too much like February, but my little dreams of green sustain me.

Today I spent a half an hour working with my baby plants.  I cut lettuces for supper, potted my squash and peppers and did the last of my thinning. As my trays fill out and my flowers start to vine, I can picture exactly what each one will do and how much I will enjoy it. One tray of seedlings looks like salsa, pizza and bruchetta. Another is a wall of climbing flowers and edible blossoms.

I have started some of the square foot items I will eat early when the rest of the seeds germinate in the garden.  My early spinach, chard, beets and kohlrabi are all up and doing well.  Some of my pumpkins seem quite late and I may need to replant using this year's seeds instead of a package from 2 years ago. It doesn't really matter as I still have the promise of a good gardening year and lots of time before my plants can be out and growing.

Seeds are up

The tomato seeds I planted last Sunday are up.  At this point they have the two little false leaves plants get when they are starting, but I have a germinated seed in each plug, and often more than one.  I am excited about them. The squashes, of course, came up huge. They are already 7 cm tall, and will need to be put into pots part way through the week. Only the green onions are slow, but that is to be expected. I planted kohlrabi, beets and oregano today. They can all be started from seed here, but I start some early so that I spread out when I get to eat them.

The basil I transplanted has survived well and is growing sluggishly as basil does Saskatoon. Most of the plants have 4 leaves, even thought they were planted in February. That's the reason I plant a lot, as Mike could eat 2 cups of leaves a week without much effort.

Last summer when we were visiting Greta, Gus and Max in Ontario, we got to meet a family what also tries to do a little farming in the city. Their blog says they are already eating things growing in their greenhouse. We aren't there yet, but I was out in my greenhouse today and started unearthing pots for transplanting. The greenhouse was warm enough when the sun was on it that I was comfortable in a long sleeve shirt, but it is still freezing hard and night and there is 2 feet of snow on the ground around it.  Our cat, Pip, was out in the greenhouse with me sniffing for mice and loving up the hidden spots behind pots. Even though I could see winter out every window, I could feel spring inside. It's hard to believe I am only a month away from when my first plants were up last year, but I know it is coming.

Some more seeding

I spent the morning chatting with my sister Greta and planting the remainder of my early plants.  I did an entire flat of tomatoes (sub arctic maxi, yellow pear and cherry), and some green onions yesterday.  Today I did the bulk of my other planting.

I start by looking as my planting plan and estimating the number of plants I will need. In each cell, I put one or two seeds depending on the type of plant (see full method).  I plant a few more seeds in each category than I want to have plants.  That means if some don't come up, I still have enough plants to complete my garden plan.

Today I planted squashes and pumpkins first.  I planted 6 pumpkins (two large jack o' lantern size, 4 small sugar) which will eventually become 4 plants. I planted a number of types of squash, which I hope to eat for more of the winter next year:

• 3 yellow zucchini (bush)
• 3 green zucchini (bush)
• 3 butternut squash
• 3 buttercup squash
• 6 spaghetti squash

I have a number of odds and ends veggies I start.  I planted 12 pickling cucumbers and 12 slicers. I also planted some Cayenne peppers. They are the fastest of my peppers, so they are fine if started at this time. I even planted some things I hope to eat early - in this case spinach and chard. Both can get started to hear and move into the greenhouse in mid-April, as they will tolerate some frost.

Lastly, I planted some flowers.  I started poppy (my only perennial), nasturtium (great for eating the flowers of) and morning glory.

Later today I will need to thin the peppers I started in February and transplant my basil seedlings. I am also planting a new batch of pea shoots as my old batch is done. We cut them 4 times for large batches in meals. I love it when I get to eat and plan.

Last of the Fresh Food

I just used the last of the fresh food from last year's garden - potatoes in Anwyn's favorite soup. I figured this was good time to do an inventory of what was left. Last year I did this inventory in February and used it to plan my garden. This time I will take it for posterity but not use it for planning, as the rain last year impacted the harvest so much that I can't make assumptions about how much I need to plant.

Frozen

• spices like oregano, sage, parsley, and mint
• 2 bags chili peppers
• 9 cups apples
• 16 cups saskatoons
• 2 cups zucchini
• 1 cup raspberries
• 10 cups pumpkin
• 32 cups rhubarb

Freezing spices is a really great habit, and allows us to have the flavour of fresh spices all year without paying $3.00 for a sprig in the winter. This year I ran out of rosemary and basil, so I will get more of both next year. It looks like I was also short of raspberries despite picking my neighbor's berries. I am still in good shape for everything else.

Canned

•  7 liters pickles
•  3 liter jars of salsa
•  12 small jars taco sauce
•  5 250 ml jars plum jam
•  5 250 ml jars apple honey
•  4 250 ml jars pear jelly
•  8 500 ml jars chutney
•  3 250 ml jars raspberry jam
•  4 250 ml jars of apple sauce 

Our most painful shortage this year will be salsa, and we knew it would be.  We made one double batch instead of the two we usually do because of the tomato blight. I also had no canned tomatoes, sauce or pizza sauce at all. Everything else is holding out well and should make it to the next harvest.

Dried 

• 2pkg chili peppers

So far I don't dry much except spices and chili peppers.  I'd need to learn more to do more.


My first outdoor harvest is still 3 months away in June (asparagus, chives etc.) so I'll need to keep enjoying my indoor harvest for now.  This week I had sprouts and rocket (arugula).