Onions Take 1 (and 2)

I stopped at the Intervale in the cold, cold rain yesterday and planted a double row of Red Wing F1 onions next to the garlic. They're on the right side of this photo and there are roughly 80 or 90 of them. My phone really doesn't like taking general pictures that involve the straw residue but I'll try to get a clearer shot at some point when it's less wet!

3 rows of Cortland F1 onions on the left
2 rows of Red Wing F1 and 1 row of German Red garlic on the right!

I went back tonight and planted a triple row of Cortland F1 onions next in the next bed. Those are on the left side in the above photo. That's all of my onions for the year so fingers crossed that the river stays where it's supposed to and the deer stay away! These are the Cortlands There's somewhere around 120 of them.

Cortland F1 Onions

Bunching onions are next!

Radishes, Take 1

It was raining so I didn't take any pictures but I did plant 3.5' of french breakfast radishes today. I plan to stagger plant the east side of the pea row. If I do one 3.5' section per week I should pretty much always have radishes! I give it a month before I forget.

There are several new loads of compost around the Intervale tonight. A sure sign that more people will be there soon!

Soil Testing

I went to the Intervale tonight to collect soil samples for analysis by UVM's soil lab. I took samples from each of the two half plots that I now use, even though they're next to each other. The soil tests are fairly inexpensive and I'd like to see how different the two sides are.

To collect a soil sample I wandered around each plot taking little pinches of soil and putting them in a bag. There was a mix of surface soil and some from a few inches down and it was all put into a ziploc bag and mixed up. This should give a pretty good average for each plot.

While I was there I used a fork to loosen the southeast quadrant of the garden. This will be the greens section and should get planted fairly soon. Maybe even this weekend!

Southeast quadrant with the soil loose and ready to go!

I also put down a thin strip of mulch between the lawn and the peas. It probably won't slow the quack grass down much but it'll make it easier to pull later on.

Peas!

The bamboo poles are where I planted peas. There's nothing up yet but it's still early. Tomorrow's rain should help!

Pea Planting

I stopped at the Intervale with my friend Walter tonight and planted Schweizer Weisen and Shirk Family peas, both from Solstice Seeds. I also lugged down a 5 gallon jug of water (I don't think the garden water is on yet) for the fava beans.

I didn't take a picture of any of that, so instead here are some of my Amaranth starts. This one is Aurelia's Verde from Baker Creek but the important part is - doesn't look like I'm growing a whole tray of pigweed? :-) You can click on the image to see a bigger version.

Favas Are (finally) In

The ground has been white almost every morning since my last post and most of the days have either been rainy or snowy as well. It was kind of a gross week weather-wise but today is really making up for it - 55F and clear as can be.

I planted 4 types of favas into the beds that I prepped last week.

Ianto's Fava Bean (Baker Creek)

Masterpiece Fava (Baker Creek)

Sweet Lorane (Victory Seeds)

Windsor Fava Beans (High Mowing)

I also put the bamboo in for peas, though I need to track down where I left my twine last fall. There's also some bamboo where the runner beans and Sicitalian Black Swamp beans will go, just for a placeholder.

Lastly, I prepped two more beds and filled two more pathways with woodchips using the same process as in the last post. I finished the day by spreading what was left of last year's broken down leaves and straw around to protect the soil from rain erosion. The old straw makes it look like I didn't do much down there today but.. I suppose aesthetics aren't the point. :-)

Prepping for Peas and Favas

There's a winter storm warning for the next two days and a flood warning for the two days after that! What better time to get ready for peas and fava beans?

I stopped at my Intervale garden after work, scooped some soil out of the pathways and into the beds and then filled the pathways with two wheel barrows of wood chips.

My hope is that this improves drainage as well as providing easy access to the quack grass rhizomes that like to try to sneak in from outside my plot.

I have three types of favas to plant this year - Masterpiece, Ianto's and Broad Windsor, all from Baker Creek. I'll also be replanting Schweizer Riesen and Shirk Family peas from Solstice Seeds.

I'll probably co-plant the peas with French Breakfast radishes and hope to follow the whole thing with either a fall crop or a cover crop, but we'll see.

Spring has Sprung!

I started poking around in the intervale plot today! I rescued my wandering bucket, checked on the garlic (it seems to have lived!) and lightly forked up the area that will house peas and favas this year. As expected, the bare, loose soil was perfect for the quack grass to spread over the winter and I removed probably a bushel of rhizomes while I was loosening the soil.

I think I'm going to dig some soil out of my pathways and fill them with wood chips this year. I hope it will provide a little drainage though I'm not exactly planning on digging full trenches. It should also provide something of a barrier to the quack grass, at least in so much as it makes it easy to find and yank. Most importantly, they'll be a good source of surface soil carbon for the soil bugs/fungi in the beds as well as helping to prevent compaction where I walk.