What we planted this March week end

Baby spinach in an Earthbox in front, perennial sorrel in back

Sunday, March 20, 2016

It is officially the spring!  We are having a little bit of a cold snap this week end, but it is forecasted to warm back up during the week.  Now is a good time to plant cold weather loving crops and seeds and harvest perennial greens for salads. 

In our salad today, I added fresh from the garden the nutritious spring greens of kale, salad burnet (has a Granny Smith apple taste), chickweed, corn salad (tastes similar to arugula), and the tops of Egyptian walking onions used as chives.  Could have also used the perennial cultivated dandelion greens, mustard greens, French sorrel, blood veined sorrel, garden chives, herbs, parsley, and overwintered carrots fresh from the garden.

This is what we planted in the last couple of weeks:

Red Onion starts-plant so tops are even with the ground

Asian snow peas-1/2” deep in pots

Lettuce seeds in pots (a variety of seeds saved from last year’s garden)

Buttercunch bibb lettuce plants

Red Leaf lettuce plants (looks similar to Red Sails)

Paris Island Cos romaine lettuce plants

Red Romaine lettuce plants

Coastal Star romaine lettuce plants

Iceberg lettuce plants

Cilantro plants

Bonnie spinach plants

Depending on the temperatures, you can to start harvesting from the lettuce plants a week or two.  I harvest the leaves on the outside of the plant.  The inside will continue to produce more leaves.  You can harvest from the same plant for months this way!

All leafy greens can be companion planted with cabbage, beets, carrots, chives, garlic, and onions.  Do not plant near broccoli.  Since they are shallow rooted, they grow well with root crops.  Everything you need to know about growing lettuce

Leafy greens like nitrogen.  Root crops like potassium.  You can get nitrogen from compost, alfalfa, soybean meal or fish emulsion.  Potassium can be gotten from green sand via its potash content.  Fish emulsion actually gives not only nitrogen, but also potassium and phosphorous, making it a great all around fertilizer.

I add a plant starter with mycorrhizae on the roots of each plant and a handful of worm castings.  After planting, I water in the pots with fish emulsion.  Germination of seeds should take anywhere from 4-15 days.  I am sure I will be out there looking for little green shoots daily.