The Great Cucurbita Experiment

Finally, I've got my shit together and can post some photos. This is my son Jake, helping as only he can. Everything I do takes ten times as long as it should when he's around. Rock borders? Fuhgeddaboutit! He thinks you're laying down rocks just to make it easier for him to find them and chuck them about. Sharp objects? He's all over 'em like crap in a diaper. I love him, though. He keeps me company, and for the most part, he stays out of trouble.

His favorite thing to do outside--besides running around with sharp sticks--is moving dirt from one pot and putting it in another pot. A very Zen-like activity.

So I had to wait until he went to sleep last night before attempting anything as delicate as repotting my tomato seedlings. I buried them in deep, and divided up the ones that were more than two to a cup. Now I've got more black cherry tomatoes than I know what to do with. I'll either give them away, or wind up planting them.

Notes for next spring: tomatoes I'll probably start in peat pellets, because they'll wind up needing re-potting before going in the ground anyway. The squashes I'll start in bigger cups. The peppers can probably go in pellets also.

Yesterday I bought a longer extension cord and weed-whacked the rest of the back yard. It looks so flat and smooth and angular out there now.

I've often wondered how entire civilizations can disappear under layers of earth, only to be found a mere thousand or so years later, completely by accident. I'm starting to understand now. After only two years, the vegetable bed that Rob and I built in the back yard has been almost totally obliterated. There's a ghostly outline of rocks around a handful of indestructible green onions and a very persistent thyme plant. But other than that, its buried under dirt and weeds like it was never there.

So yeah, I did chuck about five tumbleweeds over the fence into my vacant neighbor's lot. And while I was looking through the fence, I saw a bunch of old lumber arranged into what looked like what might have been raised beds at one time. Certainly not from the last tenants, but sometime within the last ten years or so. THEN, last night (I'm getting bolder now that the neighbors have actually moved out...), I peeked over the fence and saw three or four roughly made potting benches stacked up against the wall. I am sooooo over there tonight when it gets dark to bring those puppies home. Dressed up with a little white paint, they'll look DARLING in my little garden paradise.

It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who's ever tried to make a go of it here in the Gardnerville Ranchos.

I actually got a lot done today. I finally weedeated the back yard. Well, most of it. I need to buy a longer extension cord. I built two 4x4 "no-dig" beds. My version of no-dig beds, anyway. I'll post pix later.

These first two beds, I amended the soil with a manure-compost mix, but I think I added too much. I don't know, is a whole big bag of it too much for a 4x4 area? For the remaining beds, I'll just go with a half a bag.

The hardest thing is outlining them with rocks. I've no doubt I'll have enough rocks for 12 of these squares, it's just a lotta extra physical work; bending ... scooping ... placing ... repeat.

So tomorrow, more of the same. Plus, I want to find some time to re-pot my tomato seedlings.

Gah, it snowed so hard a couple of days ago. It didn't stick on the ground long, but there was a tiny mound of it in the back yard when I first got up this morning. It seems like it will never warm up enough to put plants in the ground.

Anyway, yesterday, while the backyard was still a little wet with snowmelt, I Garden Clawed a small area, just to remind myself of what kind of dirt I was dealing with. I remembered thin, rocky, compacted CRAPOLA, but what I was churning up was surprisingly dark, moist and healthy-looking. I mean, I'm no soil expert, but I was just gettin' good vibes from my dirt, knowhuddimean?

And, oh yeah, starting RIGHT NOW, this very minute, I'm an organic gardener. Earlier today, not so organic... There's a huge ant colony in the middle of the yard, and they keep getting on my son and biting him. My husband buried it today under a large coating of Ortho Ant-B-Gone.

Potting deeply
Tomato seedlings have the remarkable property that they grow roots from their stems wherever they contact soil. You can bury the stems right up to the leaves, and they will happily just grow more roots. To help keep my tomato seedlings compact, I repot them once or twice while they’re indoors. At the two-leaf stage, I dig them out and carefully replant them at the very bottom of a small container. By filling the container, burying the stem so that only the leaves stick up above the soil, the seedling is shortened and it becomes stouter and stronger. If you have room for larger containers, you can keep re-burying seedlings to shorten them until planting time arrives. When you plant in the garden, you have one more chance to shorten the seedlings. Even if your tomatoes are very long and stringy, plant them so that only the top four or five leaves are above the soil. This helps prevent the stems from blowing and breaking in the wind, and it adds to the root mass. The seedlings will grow very quickly once they take hold, and the lost height will be made up before you know it.

Pruning without mercy
The easiest way to shorten tomato seedlings is also the most difficult for beginners. You have to do this a few times before you can really have faith that the little plants will grow back. Believe me, you can prune your beloved seedlings quite hard, and they will thankfully grow back healthier and stronger. My favourite method of pruning tomato seedlings is to pinch the tops when they have three good, strong leaves and a fourth emerging—about 3–4 weeks old. Tomato seedlings have alternate leaves—one leaf grows out one side of the stem, then another grows out the other side a little further up, and so on. The original seed leaves fall off soon after the true leaves start to grow: don’t count these. When you see the fourth leaf beginning to unfurl on a little stem, snip or pinch it off above the third leaf. What happens? Nothing seems to happen for about a week, which is good because the plant is growing a stronger stem and roots instead of more leaves. Then you should see more strong growth at the top and sides, which you can pinch or train as you wish. This happens anyway later in the plant’s life (many people call the side growth suckers) and there are many theories and religions based on suckering (whether or not to, and how and when to do it). I won’t get into that right now. By the time you plant your seedlings, they will be stockier, fuller and healthier than the long, stringy tomatoes that they might have been.

This week I thinned out the squash seedlings. I felt like a murderer. Now there's only one in each party cup.

The tomato seedlings are starting to look much better. Stockier, not so fragile. They're finally getting the beginnings of the first true leaves. The peppers are slooooow.

I've GOT to start focusing. I'm starting to believe that I've bitten off more than I can chew this year. Once everything is in the ground, I'll be fine, but right now, I've got so many grand plans, and I'm not sure I can implement all of them. My downfall is all this downtime before the last frost date. I keep thinking up all this neat stuff I can do: the Asian soup garden, the herbs in the strawberry pot (or will it be strawberries in the strawberry pot?!), a new compost pile, companion plants... and on and on. I've got to just sit down and make a list of the things I know I can do, then stick to it.

I've found that there's a huge information gap in all the books that I have regarding seedlings/transplants and so forth. Once they sprout, am I supposed to transplant to bigger pots before they actually go in the ground? That's definitely going to be the case with the seeds I started in the peat pellets. I guess I'll have to move them up to party cups. So why didn't I just start them in cups in the first place? I probably won't use peat pellets again; what a pain in the ass.

And the tomatoes (in cups)... am I supposed to move those into something bigger? They're pretty tall, if I move them, I can plant them deeper and get more roots started on them before they go in the ground next month. Totally confused...

As of this morning, a few of my latest round of seeds have sprouted: the Mexican sunflowers, the zukes and the lemongrass. I swear, if I had sat there and watched them this morning, I would've been able to actually see them grow. I checked on the sunflower just peeking through early this morning, sat down at the computer and did a little bit of work, then looked again, and it was totally out and trying to shake off the seed coat. Eeeeee!

I had such an awful time with my sunflowers a couple of years ago. I planted seeds directly outdoors, and they took FOREVER and EVER to sprout, and then ants chewed on them, and they just never looked very good. I hope to have better luck this time.

...but I finally finished a whole tray of last-minute peat pots: a couple more each of the Costata Romanescos and pattypan squashes, some loofa, some lemongrass, and six each of the Mexican sunflowers, wild sunflowers and brown-eyed susans, plus a couple more White Cushaws. It took me so long because my son was very needy yesterday and constantly wanted to be in my lap. It's hard to put seed to peat pot with a squirmy little boy climbing on you.

Yeah, I had to scrap the first round of White Cushaws. They finally started to grow, but they were growing upside down or something. They looked stunted, with roots sticking UP out of the soil. That can't be healthy, can it?

As the time draws closer to actually start messing about with the soil outside, I'm growing more and more confused and anxious about how exactly I want to cultivate my soil. I'm still undecided on what I want to do.

As of today, my plan is to make about a dozen 4ft x 4ft squares. Each square will be weeded, then amended with a compost/manure mixture. On top of each, a layer of newspaper, then a layer of the landscape fabric, then a layer of straw. That should take care of my massive weed problem. Then each square gets either one winter squash, or three summer squash, or three tomatoes, planted into holes cut into the center of each square.

And since my pumpkins did so well initially a couple years ago, I'll try the same thing with this crop: each planting will also get a mound of bagged garden soil, mounded on top of the hole the plant goes into.

Whew, sounds like a lot more work than I had anticipated, but I gotta do it. I'd love to just be able to stick my seedlings in the ground, but I just don't have that kind of soil.

Eh, if it took me all day just to sit and put seeds in tiny pots, wonder how long it will take me to do this to my back yard?!?!?

Well, the White Cushaw finally came up (barely). It definitely is taking its own sweet time. These are the last to be moved from the warm spot by Bernice's cage, out into the garage under the lights.

This weather's screwy. Chain controls going up the mountain to work yesterday, but today, short sleeves and iced tea. 72 degrees tomorrow, and 50-something on Thursday.

Yesterday, on a whim, I jumped online and bought two packets of seeds: lemon grass and loofah. The loofah I read about in You Grow Girl (sounds like a fun project) and lemon grass because I killed my pot of lemon grass this winter by keeping it outside. Hope they get here soon so I can get them started.

My husband Rob gave me his uncle's trunk this week. It's his mother's brother. He committed suicide back in the early '70s after he had been back from Vietnam for a while, and this trunk is the only thing Rob has of his. It's a pretty non-descript trunk, handmade of plywood and covered with peeling yellow (!) paint. Rob's always kept his guitar magazines and his songbooks in it. I've asked him repeatedly over the years if I could have it, or refinish it, and he's always said no. But this week he finally relented. I asked him if I could fill it with dirt and plant something in it this spring. He said yeah, and that his uncle probably would like that. Then I asked him if it was okay if I drilled some holes in the bottom. He gritted his teeth, but said, yeah, that would be okay, too.

I think I'm going to start an Asian soup garden in it: lemon grass, cilantro and Thai basil. I don't know if all those will like being in a space together, but it's a cute idea, no?

Shit, now I have to buy some basil and cilantro. Okay... here: http://www.gardenguides.com/seedcatalog/herbs/herbs.htm

Lemongrass, East Indian

Scientific Name: Cymbopogon flexuosus
Common Name: East Indian Lemongrass
Plant Type: Perennial
Where To Plant: Full Sun to Partly Shady
Soil Types: Average
Zones (See US Zone map): 11+ or Pot plant
Germination: Easy

Basil Thai
Siam Queen
(Ocimum basilicum citriodorum)

Thai basil is known to the Vietnamese as "Hung Que" (and eaten raw with noodle soup in the morning) and in Thailand as "Horapha". Siam Queen basil is a distinct improvement over old Thai basils; the yields are impressive because the leaves are twice the size of other Thai basils - 3" to 4" long by 1.5" to 2" wide. Acompact plant with beautiful pink & purple flowers on red-purple stems makes Siam Queen a very attractive container variety. This packet plants 1 - 8 foot row.

Plant Type: Annual
When to Sow Outside: In spring, 1 to 2 weeks after average last frost, and when soil is warm
When to Sow Inside: 6 to 8 weeks before transplanting outside.
Seed Depth: 1/4"
Seed Spacing: 1"
Row Spacing: 1'
Days to Emerge: 5-10
Thinning: When 2" tall, thin to 6" to 12" apart.


Cilantro
(Coriandrum Sativum)

For a couple of herbs, coriander and cilantro sure do cause a lot of confusion. There's really no need for the fuss because they're just two parts of the same plant: cilantro is the pungent leaf and coriander is the citrusy seed. Cilantro is the staple ingredient in salsa and other Mexican dishes. Coriander is used whole or ground in curries, Oriental dishes, and savory baked goods.
After the flower umbels have formed, allow them to go to seed. Cut and dry the heads, and harvest the seeds.

Life Cycle: Annual
Height: 12 - 24 inches
When to plant: In spring, after the last frost. Plant seeds every 2-3 weeks for a long season of harvest.
How to plant: Plant in the garden, directly where the plant will grow. It's not a good idea to start indoors because cilantro doesn't transplant well. Plant seeds 1/2 inch deep and 1" apart in rows 8" apart. When seedlings ar 2" tall, thin to 6" apart. Seeds can take 10-15 days to germinate.
Ideal location: Cilantro will grow in almost any type of soil as long as there is adequate moisture and lots of sun. Perfect for containers on your deck or patio.

Ah, impulse shopping on the web.

I'll admit this here, but nowhere else, and certainly not out loud. It's nice to have something to obsess about that's not work or baby-related. Since the birth of my darling Jakey, I'm either working or mothering. These past couple of weeks of getting ready for the growing season is a welcome respite. And I've discovered that my son loves being outside with me, doing his own thing and discovering all sorts of new sights and sounds and textures and flavors, while I'm digging and rooting around and hauling stuff from one side of the garden to the other.

Did I mention that I wish it would quit snowing? I love snow, but this is ridiculous.

Today I watered my seedlings for the very first time. They's kinda thirsty. I watered from the bottom and let them sit through one movie ("After the Sunset" with Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek), then drained the remaining water out of the trays (cookie sheets).

Note for next year: label the bottom cup, not the top one. Now that the tops are off, the bottom ones now have to be re-labeled. DUH!

White Cushaw is still holding out on me. Those are the only seeds left to sprout. I still have a handful of seed cups hanging out near the lizard cage.

The book that I mentioned in the previous post: another copy of "You Grow Girl" for my friend Cherie. I want her to get all excited about gardening this year with me! I also passed her one of my Costata Romanesco zukes.

I'll probably start another couple of the zucchini seeds, and pass on the one seedling cup that I have left. They sprouted first and got large really quick. They'd be pretty huge before late May when I plan to get stuff in the ground.

Tomato seedlings seem so ... frail. Tall and skinny and little little little. I wish they'd bulk up a bit and I'd stop being so afraid for them. Jakey got his hands on a couple of the seedling cups and shook them like a Polaroid. I had to gently press everything back into place.

I bought a cheap-o thermometer for the garage and set it out today. I'll have to check first thing in the morning to see just how cold it gets out there. Right now at 10:30 pm, it's 60 degrees. It was pretty warm today overall.

Yard-wise: I've straightened up the side yard, mainly because the lawn guys will start up their routine soon (I live in a rental, and someone comes by and cuts and edges every other week). If the side yard is messy, they get pissy and don't do a very good job. I still don't know what I'm going to plant in my little dirt patch there in the side yard. I'm waiting for the primrose to come back, and also the lavendar, but there's probably room for some herbs too, so I'll probably get some from the home store that are already started, and stick those in sometime late May. Nothing complicated, I'm saving all my efforts for the stuff I'll be growing out in the back.