Tasks:
Garden bed planning
Sprayed BT and sulfur
Seed blocked peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, carrots, cabbage, acorn, spaghetti, pumpkin, and zucchini
Hung rafters for greenhouse
Scraped, sanded, and primed greenhouse
Tilled and planted rhubarb bed
Watered and cultivated daily zones
Thinned and harvested radishes
Harvested and blanched Swiss chard and broccoli
Ripped up peas (only a minor harvest)
Trained cucumbers
Pulled bad broccoli plants
Planted blocked broccoli (Arcadia) and Brussel sprouts
Notes:
Vine borer beetle- On our hollow stemmed curcurbits (pumpkin, acorn, zucchini) we noticed an orange frass around the base of the stem. After research we learned this is the feces of the Vine Borer grub. The grub will eventually eat the plant to death, pupate, and lay eggs as a moth the following year. This can be prevented by not planting curcurbits in the same soil twice and by covering the transplants with row cover when they are very young. Once you have the grub though, it is hard to get rid of. While we read you can inject the stems with BTK, a bacterium akin to BT, we used the labor intensive Rodale way: Slice open the effected portion of the stem until you find the grub. Kill it! Also remove the damaged leaves and stems around and directly above the area.
Final note about pruning tomatoes- After much struggle we concluded that we should not have pruned the determinate tomatoes. Instead we should just make larger cages so they have increased room and support. The indeterminate on the other had, should be punned down to one, two, or three central stems to keep them in control.
Tomato placement idea- It would be nice to place the tomatoes in one or two long, curving lines. We can place them close enough so that the cages will actually touch. This way we can tie the cages together for added support but still access the plants from two sides. Last year we could only access them from one side, which was a problem, but this year they are almost two spread out.
Curved row lines versus block planting- Instead of having large blocks of one family of plants, we should break them up. This we be more visually appealing (as long as the rows have some shape) and will also increase the disease resistance. This year we have big blocks of brassicas. Once one plant got black rot, it spread through the entire plant.
Swiss chard in blocks- Start chard in blocks so you can place them where you please. This makes cultivating, weeding, mulching, and harvesting much easier.
Trimming herbs back- When trimming the perennial herbs back cut at least four inches from the ground, and do not cut a week plant. We cut the anise one or two inches from the ground and it now appears to be dead.
Planting schedule- Include Brussel sprouts, cabbage, and all curcurbits in the first spring blocking. Peppers can be seed blocked earlier than everything else, since they take longer to grow. Block onion seeds in mid February.
DO NOT EAT Fox Glove Digitalis- You will die.