| May 2022 |
Broccoli and kohlrabi were the first plants to move out of the greenhouse this week. The broccoli was planted in the raised bed with the plastic mulch to control the weeds and keep the soil moist. The broccoli was planted on Friday and the rain came Friday night. On Saturday the rain soaked soil was perfect for the kohlrabi plants to be transplanted into. It was a fun muddy job but what else would you do on a rainy Saturday morning!
The first true leaves of spinach have developed this past week. These seeds have been waiting patiently since the middle of march to make their way out of the soil. Spinach likes cool weather and will be one of our first picked items in June. After this bed of spinach is picked there will be carrots coming up to take its place. The carrot seed was planted before the rain and I am looking forward to see how this works. The fun part of gardens is there is always something new to try!
The raised beds are good for warming up the soil and making a nice environment for the vegetables to grow. There is a couple of feet between the beds that tends to get neglected and grows weeds throughout the summer. This year we planted some oats as a cover crop between the beds to improve the soil health and control weeds during the summer.
Potatoes are known for being planted on Good Friday. We delayed planting them for a week to let the ground warm up a little more. Potatoes like the ground to be at least 40 degrees before planting and we are not too much above that even now at the beginning of May. They have been planted for a couple weeks now and we have another three weeks before we see them pop out of the ground.
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We are starting to stir up the soil and get the garden ready for planting. April is about gathering up any heat you can to get the growing season in motion. We want to be picking fresh vegetables from late spring to late fall. Our update today will show what we have started.
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| This clear plastic mulch is a new technique we are using this year to speed up sweet corn planting. The clear plastic warms up the soil and keeps the raised bed from loosing moisture. It’s been a dry and windy spring so far, but we will be able to plant the corn earlier into warm moist soil using this practice. The clear plastic speeds up corn growth, but it also speeds up weed growth. We can deal with a few weeds if it gets us some sweet corn earlier! |
In April the area in the greenhouse starts to get a little tight. We have broccoli, kohlrabi, and cabbage growing on this table. These are cold tolerant plants so we don’t heat the greenhouse. They are protected from the harsh winds and stormy April weather. Their is area in the garden is getting ready this weekend and they should be ready to plant in a week from now.
Onions and spinach are both growing outside and are actually enjoying this cold weather. They were made for South Dakota and I appreciate their willingness to be outside. We we can get some of the garden planted so it doesn’t all have to be done when the weather is nice. Onions are a great crop that store nicely in a cool area and can be used in your meals all year long!