Sinfonian’s Square Foot Garden

Boy how time flies when you’re busy spinning your wheels on things that are more important than gardening.  I still haven’t started any seeds, though I know I should have by now and will do so ASAP when I’m not sending out resumes and following up on leads. 

This post is mostly about seed starting.  For those of you that don’t start your own seeds, I strongly encourage you to do it.  If you get Patti the Garden Girl’s newsletter, there is a great article in it telling you step-by-step how to do it.  I was asked to write an article on the subject, but thankfully they chose the one they did.  It was far better. The author went above and beyond.  That said, I spent the time on it, so if they aren’t going to publish it, than I will.  Hope you get something out of it.

“Seed Starting Under Lights

Winter is in full force in the northern hemisphere and most of us are pining for spring when we can garden again.  It doesn’t help that we have been receiving spring catalogs in the mail left and right, teeming with lush flowers and vegetables.  Unfortunately most of us live in areas where the time for direct sowing of seeds is long off.  Sure you could buy seedlings, but in today’s economy, it is more rewarding than ever to grow your own from seeds.  Last year I decided to do just that.

First you need to find a good shelf area approximately 18-20 inches high and purchase fluorescent shop lights to fit inside.  In my case, I had no good shelf system, so an internet search found a cheap PVC system that could be quickly assembled and dismantled as needed.  I made a 4 foot structure that would perfectly fit 4 foot lights.  Rather than purchase expensive grow bulbs for the fixture, buy two cheaper bulbs at opposite ends of the light spectrum to give the plants the same light at a fraction of the cost.  You also may need to purchase longer chains for the lights so they can be raised or lowered as needed.

Once you have your light setup ready, follow the seed starting instructions for your local area or on the seed package.  Each vegetable has its own schedule for indoor seed starting.  Seeds need to be germinated in warm, moist conditions.  They can be planted in dirt before or after germination.  I did it both ways depending on the plant variety.

Once the seeds have sprouted, make sure they are under lights approximately 12 hours a day.  I accomplished this with a timer attached to my surge protector for the lights.  The plants also need approximately 8-12 hours of darkness from the very beginning to simulate night.  A fan on low can be used to simulate wind and grow hardy stems.  As the individual seedling grow, move them around and adjust the chains to keep the tops of the plants 1-2 inches from the bulbs.  I moved them around every few days when I watered.

A few weeks before transplanting into the garden, it is important to harden off your plants.  They need to become acclimated to the outdoors in order to survive and grow to maturity. I like to start with a few hours on a day without rain or strong winds, adding an hour or so a day over two weeks until they are out all day long.  Time the end of the two week hardening off period to coincide with the appropriate planting out date for each variety in your area based on your last frost date.  An internet search can help with that, or you can call your local extension office.  You can also get more details online for anything touched on here.

/Sigh it has been forever since I’ve been here.  Mostly I’ve been away spending time with the family and looking unsuccessfully for work.  The rest of the reason is that I haven’t had much to say gardening wise.  I’ve been content reading my friend’s blogs. 

Until tomorrow (hopefully), the only gardening thing I’ve done besides helping my eldest pick a carrot from the garden for dinner or a snack is to write an article for Patti’s e-zine.   It was on indoor gardening under lights and should be coming out in February.  Tomorrow I hope to take some time to start some lettuce seeds to germinate and grow under lights.  It is time to do that finally.  I am not sure if I will use my self-watering window boxes or one of my soil blocks for these.  I wanted to use the window boxes for mint and other herbs this year to keep them from spreading, but I like the idea of being able to move the lettuce indoors if we get another cold front move in.  We’ve already had a week of 18 degree nights (never happens here).  It killed everything in the garden.  I would love to be able to bring in the lettuce on those nights if it happens again.

The real reason for my post tonight is that I’m excited to bake bread again.  Some may remember last year when I made a sourdough starter and tried my hand at no-kneed sourdough bread.  It worked ok, but I never really mastered it before my starter died.  I just wasn’t consistent keeping it up. 

Well, my brother found a recipie for easy no-kneed bread in Mother Earth News.  It takes all of 5 minutes to make enough dough to last a week and make 5 rounds, pizza crust or other breads.  Do that once a week and know that the kids are eating healthy fresh bread.

Lastly, my brother and I are going in on our Territorial Seed order this year to save on shipping.  We did it last year and it worked great.  I don’t really need much as I intend to just grow what we can consume, with any extra possibly put up.  I got more carrots, broccoli, lettuce, cauliflower, peas and some herbs.

I hope you are getting geared up for spring if it fits your climate, or at least planning for spring.  I expect to start posting again as often as makes sense.

Enjoy your garden!

Well, a lot has happened in the last month.  First off, I lost my job, so I’m even more excited about becoming more self sufficient.  The economy is such that it may be a while before I can find something comparable to what I was doing before.

Thankfully we are still eating the potatoes I harvested last month.  They work very well to mix in with store-bought.  We also have foot-long carrots that we’re pulling out of the garden.  They’re nice and sweet.  One carrot is enough for a dinner vegetable for the whole family.  The kids still love them raw, so that’s how we are eating them. 

As for an update on my stevia plant.  It didn’t over winter inside well at all.  It died from the bottom up despite giving it light and water.  Not sure I’ll grow them next year.  The seeds didn’t germinate well at all, and if they don’t overwinter here, it is a fairly expensive process.  We tried a bruised leaf steeped in our tea, but it wasn’t very sweet.  Anyone use stevia leaves effectively? 

Well, last week had nightly temps down to 18 degrees, blowing the theory that we don’t get temperatures below 20 in the Puget Sound Area.  I wonder if they’ll revise our rating?  Thank goodness we did all that work on the insulation, furnace and windows over the last two years.  Sure is coming in handy.  Of course the ground is rock solid.  Haven’t tried to harvest a carrot, but it could be challenging right now.

Stay warm everyone, and start ramping up for spring.

Brrr it was cold today.  Not freezing, but puddles were iced over none-the-less.  It wasn’t raining so the boys and I spent part of the day outside raking leaves.  Remind me not to wait until mid-November to do it next year.  Wet leaves are more of a pain to deal with and wet junk droppings weigh a ton, making it impossible to get them all into my yard waste container (I don’t want them in my compost, not sure why). 

So now my compost bin is full up with wet leaves.  Maybe I’ll run to Starbucks tomorrow and grab some Grounds for Your Garden to throw in on top.  Maybe get some heat action going so I can see the steam wafting off it.  I haven’t been as active at composting this fall since work’s been hellish.  In fact, I haven’t even been using my kitchen compost because the bucket is full.  I SO need to empty it tomorrow so we can get back to using it.  I am such a bad gardener right now, it’s unreal.

Anyway, thanks all for your thoughts on my stevia plant.  It wasn’t getting any sunlight on the top of my fridge.  I have since moved it to the unheated garage where it’s in the southern facing window.  Hopefully the limited direct sunlight it gets in the fall/winter is better at keeping it alive than warmth since it’s really cold in there right now.  hehe  Oh, and as for the grow lights idea, unfortunately my setup doesn’t reach more than 18 inches and the plant is taller than that in the pot, so that won’t work. 

Stay warm and dry and dream of spring!

Happy Friday the 13th!  Just had to post tonight to say that my youngest grabbed a broccoli stalk from a snack tray and started nibbling on it.  Now he loves it all of a sudden.  This is huge because he’s my junk food kid.  My eldest tried it and gagged.  I always expected him to like it first since he’s my veggie kid. 

Anyway I’m thrilled.  The only bad part is he doesn’t believe that daddy’s broccoli tastes even better, and I am fresh out this year to prove him wrong.  Too bad my broccoli didn’t have enough time to mature before fall.  Next year I’ll follow KitsapFG to the T.

Short post, but on a separate note, I brought my 18 inch tall stevia plant inside this fall hoping to keep it alive through the winter so it would be perennial.  Well, so far, it’s been parked on top of my fridge and the lower leaves are all turning brown and dying.  It’s not for lack of water.  Any ideas?

Lastly, it hailed at my house today, then froze into a crunch sheet of ice.  Insane for November here.  How’s your weather?