July 15, 2017
I slid the hoops out of my shade tunnel and now have a 4'x10' shade cloth. It's exactly what I need for my cabbage patch. I seem to be planting more patches lately because when you get curved pathways established, and your flowers keep reseeding themselves, you start developing small spheres, triangles, and elipse shapes that make great planting spots. I start my seeds in straight rows because they need to be covered with a board until they germinate, then transplant them into various shaped places. The cabbage should have headed by now so they shouldn't need shade, but this six pack that was started in spring never started growing until I planted them in the ground..
They germinated and stayed at the two tiny leaf stage for months. When I transferred them to the soil I noticed their roots were spiderweb thin and the seed starting mix was super fine. I think I used the bottom of the bag of seed starting mix and it was pulverized to the point of not letting oxygen in..
July 16, 2017
I read my packet of Brussels sprouts seeds today and discovered there are approximately 350 seeds in it. If I continue to plant four six packs in spring and four in the fall, I'll have enough seeds for seven years. Now I know why I have so many partial packs of Brussels sprouts in my seed box. I don't think the seeds will still be viable in seven years so I drug my finger down a prepared seedbed, sprinkled seeds in like I would do radishes, and I still have half a pack of seeds left. ( Oh no, not this again ). I also checked under the boards covering my cauliflower and beets that I planted Thursday and found they had sprouted..
It's been only three days but hot weather speeds up germination. The cauliflower was listed at 7-12 days germination and beets 14-21 days. When you don't check under your boards the sprouts can grow an inch in a day sideways. It's best to give them some shade for a day when this happens by putting the board up on top of two buckets that are placed at each end of the row. They can die quickly in the harsh sunlight unless they get acclimated..
July 17, 2017
The Early Girl tomatoes are bigger, more prolific, and are ripening earlier than last year. The 4' moldy hay flakes that I mulched them with last year was not a good idea. I overhead water and all the water that fell on the flakes never made it to the soil. I tried tearing them apart to use them like straw but the dusty cloud of mould that surrounded me was an unhealthy situation. I should have soaked them in the water trough until they were thoroughly saturated, then shredded them..
I'm beginning to think that the lettuce, cauliflower and cabbage leaves as mulch along the green bean row might not be a good idea either, because the beans are not producing as heavily as past years. I'm getting only a handful of beans every other day from a six foot row. Water might be getting channeled away from the base of the plants, so I'm going to start using my weeping water wand..
