January Week 3

Organic Gardening Calendar
By: Kathi

13 weeks to frost free date in zone 6

This week we will be starting seeds of cold weather crops, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage indoors.

Things you will need:
Seeds Organic fertilizer
Seed starter kits with domes
Plugs or seed starting mix
Permanent Marker Markers

If you don’t have any seeds, don’t fret. Most of the big box stores are putting out the seed starting displays. Online, there are several seed companies that I have ordered from and have been pleased with the germination rates of their seeds. Two are Park Seed Co. and Henry Fields. Generally if you want it, one or the other will have what you’re looking for. Go to these sites and see what wonderful seeds you can have that you cannot buy at Walmart.
Once you get your seeds you need to sort them. Look at the planting instructions on each and find the number of weeks to transplanting. If you put up the row covers, you should start your seeds 2-4 weeks earlier. Seeds that are cold weather crops should be started now, to transplant out under a row cover 6 weeks before the last frost. For these advanced plantings you must have your row covers up very soon to get the soil warm enough to sustain the seedlings.
Without row covers or a greenhouse, start your seeds the same number of weeks before the last frost that the package indicates it will take for the seedlings to be ready to transplant.
Why not wait until there is no frost? With annuals you loose 3-6 weeks of bloom time. With cold weather crops like we are planting this week, it means you can get the crop in the covered row and have it growing and ready to begin harvesting possibly before the last frost. Crops like all the leaf lettuces, spinach, mesclun greens, are perfect for starting early. By last frost you will be eating your first crops of the season. In addition you will continue to be able to eat those greens longer because with warmer weather the clear plastic covers can be replaced by window screen or white sheeting to help keep the heat from making them bolt.
Broccoli and cauliflower just take a long time. If you don’t start it soon, it will be too late. But there is no comparison to home grown fresh picked broccoli and what you get at the grocery.
Get the seeds together that you’re planting today, cold weather crops and annuals to get an early start. Buy one of those 78 seed trays at Lowes, Home Depot…that has the seed starting pellets and a clear dome lid. Run water slowly into the seed tray and let the pellets soak it up. Cover with dome lid. Put more water in if the pellets do not completely hydrate.
When the pellets are ready take one seed per pellet and drop it in the pellet’s center hole. I find that the tip of my potato peeler works well for this. Anything so you can grasp tiny seeds.
You will notice you have a lot more seeds than you need. The hardest thing to learn is how little to plant. Consider how much of a given vegetable you eat in a week. How many plants does it take to produce that much? That’s another in depth discussion for later, but suffice it to say I LOVE TOMATOES, but 3 plants produce more than I can eat. For my husband and me, I plant 3 broccoli and 3 cauliflower seeds every week for 4 weeks. Lettuce, 3 of each variety every week for 6-8 weeks.
Put you seeds in the pellets, label what is where with permanent markers. I found it helpful to put the plant name and the date planted. If you do not fill the tray, not to worry, just add to it next week. Once you’ve planted the seeds, place the cover on securely and place on top of your refrigerator. Peek in every other day to see if anything has sprouted. As soon as it does, move the tray to a sunny window. Fertilize with a liquid organic fertilizer – kelp is a good choice. Mix it about half as strong as the label says. Rotate the tray every day to keep the seedlings from leaning. Keep an eye on the water. Any drying out of the pellets could kill or weaken the seedlings.
Once the seedlings are a ½ tall or so, start venting the dome to allow air circulation. You want humidity, the pellets to always be moist, but not wet and not developing fungus. Damping off is where the seedling wastes away at its base and dies. This is from too much humidity. Spray your seedlings with an organic anti fungal spray. Get the spray from an organic gardening company such as Gardens Alive!. Their catalog is a great mini text book on products and their use.
Next Week well plant a few more seeds and clean up the flower beds.

Next Week; Things you will need:

Gloves
Compost Pile