Because I am having trouble waiting for March so I can start some serious seed sowing and garden work. For the past three months I've been forced to just experiment with this media, that small group of seeds, this type of potting soil. I've made my shopping list, checked and changed it about a dozen times and am itching to get started.
I figure I will have about 6800 linear feet of rows. A lot of that will be taken up with tomatoes, peppers and Sweet and regular potatoes. For plant numbers: ~1800 tomatoes, 200 peppers, 500 sweet potatoes, and 120 for regular spuds. I'll also have about 500 onions and Swiss Chard plants. The rest of the area, about 800 linear feet, will be used for succession growing or backyard gardening. Spinach and Broccoli will have 250 feet each, Sugar Snap Peas will have 300 feet (1200 plants) and will be trellised. The peas will be replaced with pole beans and cucumbers (mostly gherkins) in summer and then revert to peas in the fall. Summer zucchini will take the spinach spot and then give way to it again when finished. Broccoli will rotate with carrots. (I guess that means an additional 1600 feet!) I'll also interplant lettuce, loose leaf and romaine, in three rows of early toms. By the time the toms get large enough to shade the lettuce, it will be too warm to grow anyway.
Most of the large plot of ground (holding all the above but regular potatoes) will be grown from seedlings or plants. The exceptions will be lettuce, spinach, carrots, sweet potatoes, onions and part of the Chard. Because a large percentage of the produce will be sold at Farmers Markets, getting fruits or leaves early is important. I can easily knock three weeks off the time to harvest mature peas and probably a month off broccoli. Plus, having mature seedlings gives me a leg up in succession planting - I won't have to wait for the seeds to sprout and start growing.
The horticubes work great for toms and chard. The peas are doing very good in 200-cell nursery trays and I have to presume the beans will too. The cukes and zucchini germinate and grow so quickly, no need to grow seedlings. The peppers will go into 128 or 72 cell flats. Everything will grow up in a green house under cooler conditions and brighter light, so they should be stronger than starting seeds indoors under artificial light and much warmer temps.
As this garden/venture is a demonstration project (showing how inner-city, unused/underused land can be productive, I need to keep extensive records. Growing Degree Days to get mature fruit or produce, pounds per plant, dollars per pound sold - the whole gamut.
It ought to be a fun year - once it starts!
Mike
I figure I will have about 6800 linear feet of rows. A lot of that will be taken up with tomatoes, peppers and Sweet and regular potatoes. For plant numbers: ~1800 tomatoes, 200 peppers, 500 sweet potatoes, and 120 for regular spuds. I'll also have about 500 onions and Swiss Chard plants. The rest of the area, about 800 linear feet, will be used for succession growing or backyard gardening. Spinach and Broccoli will have 250 feet each, Sugar Snap Peas will have 300 feet (1200 plants) and will be trellised. The peas will be replaced with pole beans and cucumbers (mostly gherkins) in summer and then revert to peas in the fall. Summer zucchini will take the spinach spot and then give way to it again when finished. Broccoli will rotate with carrots. (I guess that means an additional 1600 feet!) I'll also interplant lettuce, loose leaf and romaine, in three rows of early toms. By the time the toms get large enough to shade the lettuce, it will be too warm to grow anyway.
Most of the large plot of ground (holding all the above but regular potatoes) will be grown from seedlings or plants. The exceptions will be lettuce, spinach, carrots, sweet potatoes, onions and part of the Chard. Because a large percentage of the produce will be sold at Farmers Markets, getting fruits or leaves early is important. I can easily knock three weeks off the time to harvest mature peas and probably a month off broccoli. Plus, having mature seedlings gives me a leg up in succession planting - I won't have to wait for the seeds to sprout and start growing.
The horticubes work great for toms and chard. The peas are doing very good in 200-cell nursery trays and I have to presume the beans will too. The cukes and zucchini germinate and grow so quickly, no need to grow seedlings. The peppers will go into 128 or 72 cell flats. Everything will grow up in a green house under cooler conditions and brighter light, so they should be stronger than starting seeds indoors under artificial light and much warmer temps.
As this garden/venture is a demonstration project (showing how inner-city, unused/underused land can be productive, I need to keep extensive records. Growing Degree Days to get mature fruit or produce, pounds per plant, dollars per pound sold - the whole gamut.
It ought to be a fun year - once it starts!
Mike
