Lettuce Seeds, Growing Beds and Walking Paths, Oh, My!

Spring garden update: Steve and I separately hauled in as much mulch as the garden could possibly need for the next week or so. Yesterday, for her shift, Danna and her excellent crew of kids began establishing the walking paths, laying down weed control fabric and mulch on top of that. Austin is coming this evening for his shift, and will continue the process, and within a few shifts we'll have our permanent beds and walking paths in place and can pull up the marker stakes and twine.

Meanwhile, I pre-germinated (chitted) the lettuce and spinach seeds on Tuesday, and they began showing their tiny roots yesterday morning. So I made my cornstarch stew, let it cool, and very gently mixed the seeds and stew together in a plastic freezer bag. Out in the garden, I mounded up an eroded bed of compost. Then I added composted, high-quality horse manure and fertilizer (a mixture of soft rock phosphate, kelp, seed meal, ag lime, worm castings, and a thing or two else that I'm probably forgetting). I cut a very small hole in a bottom corner of the bag and started squeezing out seeds. It was, ultimately, a much more enjoyable way to sow very small seeds, and was much gentler on those proto-roots. The seedlings should be showing up in a couple of days, and the lettuce varieties will probably be randomly distributed.

Over the next week we'll continue to lay down weed control fabric and mulch the walking paths, and to sow more lettuce and spinach seeds. Tomorrow before it rains will be the best time to dig a bed or two, as the soil will probably have had a chance to dry enough, and if so, I'll do that, incorporating compost and the fertilizer mix. This way we can prepare to (or even actually) sow our first bed or two, probably of beet and broccoli (they make good companions).

It's an exciting time!

Liev