Planting Early Spring Crops

Last Saturday I had hoped to plant more early spring crops, but the Texas weather would not cooperate.  It was cold and super windy.   Cold enough to keep me inside the house!  Sunday, however, was a beautiful day with sunshine and warmer temperatures.   I usually spend most Sunday afternoons resting, but I sacrificed my nap to work in my SFG. 

 

 

I planted several squares of salad greens including several types of lettuce, spinach, and mesclun.  I purchased three varieties of lettuce starter plants at a local garden center -- Red Leaf lettuce, Bibb lettuce, and arugula.   I planted Burpee Mesclun Classic Mix from seeds.  Mesclun is a variety of salad greens often sold in supermarkets as spring mix.   The seed package indicates that there are eight different varieties of salad greens Prize Leaf Lettuce, Oak Leaf and Red Salad Bowl Lettuces, Green Ice Lettuce, Arugula Rocket, Endive, Curled and Radicchio Red Verona, Corn Salad Mache, and Curled Chervil.

 

 

Arugula planted four per square. 

 

 

Red Leaf Lettuce planted four per square.

 

 

Bibb Lettuce planted four per square.

 



The back row (Sorry, Mel,I know you hate that word.) is sugar snap peas
 planted eight per square.

 

 

One of the SFG crops I am most excited about is sugar snap peas.   I found some starter plants at the local garden center.  Since Mel, my go to guy for square foot gardening, recommends planting seeds rather than growing starter plants indoors, I decided to do a little experiment.  I have planted one square with the starter plants and three squares from seeds.   The seed package promises only 64 days to maturity.   I hope the weather doesn’t get too hot too soon and I get a great harvest.        

 I also planted two more squares of onions.  This is in addition to the two squares I planted two weeks ago.  Replanting every two weeks will extend the length of my harvest season.   Being the southern girl that I am, I can hardly wait for the harvest.   Freshly picked sweet green onions go great with a country girl’s favorite comfort foods.  What’s for supper Grandpa?   Red beans, fried potatoes, hot water cornbread, and green onions.   Yum! Yum!  

Sweet Onions planted 16 per square.

 

Other crops added to my SFG included two types of parsley, flat and curled as well as some onion chives.   Has anyone ever tried to preserve chives by drying them? I would sure like to know if this can be done and if I need a dehydrator. 

My initial three 4X4 squares are just about full.  I have left a few squares for potatoes and some early tomatoes, but I will have to be patient and wait for warmer days. 

As I put this post to bed, I am hearing more cold weather is forecasted.   Looks like there is no way around getting the PVC pipe and building the  mini greenhouses for each square.  

Protecting my SFG from the Cold

 

In my eagerness to get my SFG growing, I may have planted a little early.  But here in Texas when spring arrives, the temperature warms up quickly.  I wanted to make sure there was time for my early, early, spring crops to mature before it gets too warm. 

Since my last post, the weather in Texas has turned COLD and RAINY.   Last weekend the temperature was scheduled to drop below freezing, so I rushed to protect my baby plants!   With a square foot garden this was a simple task.   In his book Mel explains how to make some simple frames from PVC pipe.  I was short on time and did not have time to make the frames. Because my plants are still young I was able to cover all three squares with a piece of 3 mil plastic.  We weighted the platic down with some scrap 2X6 blocks so it wouldn’t blow away.   It worked perfectly.

We had to put the plastic back on tonight.  Freezing temperatures forecast for early tomorrow morning. 

Come on spring!  I am ready for some dry and warmer weather so I can plant more squares.   I hope to plant some sugar snap peas, spinach, lettuce, and radishes as soon as we have a good day.

 

Beginning the Journey

I would like to invite you to come along with me on my square foot garden journey.   My journey actually began years ago.  I created my first square foot garden in Trout Creek, TX about 30 years ago.  It was a success, but we moved away and I got side tracked for many years with row gardening.. SHHHHHHHHHH! Don't tell Mel!   Worse still, I have been on vacation from serious gardening for many years.  So, how did I get back on the right path.  Simple,  I was waiting on my husband one day in a bookstore and I found Mel's new updated Square Foot Garden Book.  I became so interested in the improvements and changes that I missed four phone calls from my husband.   I sat reading Mel's book while my husband searched the whole shopping center for me.   Yes, my phone was on vibrate. 

 Needless to say I was hooked once again on square foot gardening and my husband has actually come along for the ride!

  The next stop on my journey was to purchase a digital copy of All New Square Foot Gardening, by Mel Bartholomew on my iPhone.  I have read and reread it already, making plans for my new square foot garden.  One of my favorite parts of the book was the introduction where Mel tells how he designed the square foot gardening method.   I actually saw Mel's gardening show back in the 80's on public television. 

I have already gone quite a distance on this journey and need to share some of the sights we have already visited.  

Saturday - February 2

Building the boxes

My husband built the 4x4 square foot boxes a couple of weekends ago.   He used some old wood we had and needed to use on a good project.   The boards were old and a little warped, but it saved us some money and helped the environment.    So my square foot garden may not be a perfect square, but it looks pretty close.  

Saturday - February 9

Setting up the first three boxes

This past weekend, in spite of cold weather and threatening rain, I began to set up my square foot garden.  We just moved into a new house and the yard is still in need of landscaping.  The yard hosts lots of Bahia grass. So even though Mel says it isn't necessary, I tilled the area of the yard where I decided to put my SFG.  About this time my husband arrived to help.  The rain was getting closer so we were in a race to beat the weather.   We set three boxes in a row three feet from our back fence.   I got busy and stapled the weed block inside the boxes and up the sides.   I am worried about that Bahia grass.   I will be pleasantly surprised if the week block works.   I did not purchase the commercial grade, but I bought Scotts Pro Weed Block from  Home Depot.   I decided to double the weed block in my SFG.   We shall see if we get weeds!  

Making Dirt

While I stapled weed block, my husband made dirt.   We followed Mel's recipe.  We are starting with three boxes so we needed 24 cubic feet of dirt.   We used 8 cubic feet of coarse vermiculite, 8 cubic feet of peat moss, and 8 cubic feet of compost.   This is some amazing dirt.   Use a big tarp.   Ours was too small and it made mixing it more difficult. 


Monday, February 11

After a full day of benchmark testing middle school students, coming home to my SFG was cheap therapy!

Building the Grids

Today we built the grids for three of the boxes.   We connected the grids where they intersect with tiny wood screws.   A couple of the wood laths split, but overall  it worked quite well.

Planting the Early Crops

It is probably too early, but I planted some of the early spring crops just before dark.   My SFG has 6 broccoli, 6 cabbage, 6 brussel sprouts, and 32 onion plants in the ground waiting for the coming rain.   I have never grown broccoli or brussel sprouts so I am anxious to see the outcome.   I was sad that it was too dark by the time we finished today to get a picture.   Maybe tomorrow. 

Thanks for coming along on my SFG Journey! Come on back for futher adventures.