Seed planting: Tomatoes & Pepper

On 14Mar11, the following seeds were planted:

Tomato, Celebrity Hybrid #193 (18 pots)
Tomato, Roma #197 (18 pots)
Tomato, Sungold #194 (18 pots)
Tomato, Jubilee #195 (9 pots)
Tomato, Better Boy #196 (9 pots)
Pepper, Poblano #191 (24 plts)

Seed Planting: collards, basil, cucumber, squash

On 13Mar11,the following seeds were planted:

Basil, Red Rubin #26 (24 plts)
Basil, Salad leaf (Renee's) (24 plts)
Basil, Italian Genovese #25 (24 plts)
Cucumber, African Horned #60 (9 pots)
Cucumber, Dasher II #59 (9 pots)
Cucumber, Yamato Extra Long #143 (18 pots)
Squash, Raven Zucchini (18 pots)
Collards, Georgia Southern #91 (24 plts)

Bed E2 preparation, Chard & Kale Planting

On 12Mar11, Bruce, Jennifer and Mark removed rock from bed E2 by sifting, and the bed was double-dug at the same time.  Several hundred pounds of rock were removed.  Chard starts were planted on the S 3/4 of the bed, consisting of Fordhook Giant #142 and Bright Lights #92 varieties.  Approximately 120 plants were planted, with alternating transverse rows of 5 and 6, longitudinal spacing about 9 inches.  On the N end of the bed were planted Fizz Kale #167 starts; there were 24 plants placed in a 3-row gridiron.  Bruce topdressed a few plants with steer manure.

Produce harvested and delivered to Open Heart Kitchen 3/8/11

The Following produce was harvested and delivered to the Open Heart Kitchen:
8.4 # of radishes: Garden of Grace Auxillary 1
2.2 lbs of green onions: Garden of Grace Auxillary 1
2.1 lbs of Japanese Giant Red Mustard : Garden of Grace Auxillary 2.
3.7 lbs of  Southern Giant Mustard (B3 & B4)
1.6 lbs of Florida Giant Curled mustard (B3).
3.1 lbs Collards (B4)
0.9 lb Collards (A2)
4.5 lbs assorted lettuces (11 heads)
27.5 lbs

Seed Planting: Melon, Squash

On 8Mar11 the following seeds were planted:

Melon, Hale's Best #144 (18 pots)
Melon, Delicious 51 #145 (23 pots)
Squash, Trombetta di Albenga #36 (15 pots)
Squash, Kabocha #154 (10 pots)
Squash, Raven Zucchini #35 (6 pots)

Seed planting: New Zealand Spinach, Butternut Squash

On 7Mar11 the following seeds were planted:

New Zealand Spinach (30 plts)
Butternut Squash, Waltham (36 pots)

Weed list

Major weeds in the GOG are (with their current status):


Eudicots:

Amaranthaceae, Amaranth Family

• (Red-root pigweed, Amaranthus retroflexus, extremely abundant in beds last warm season, but not yet present in March)

Asteraceae, Sunflower Family

• Bristly Ox-tongue, Picris echinoides, occasional seedlings in beds
• Common groundsel, Senecio vulgaris, occasional in beds, extremely common in periphery, currently as seedlings and also adults flowering
• Prickly Lettuce, Lactuca serriola, widespread in beds, closely resembling a lettuce seedling (actually left in place by weeding personnel in the lettuce beds), as of 13Mar11 seedlings with about 3 true leaves
• (Yellow Starthistle, Centaurea solstitialis, a few plants were seen last year in the vicinity of bed E1, not yet seen as of March)

Brassicaceae, Mustard Family

• Charlock, Sinapis arvensis, a large mass of full-flowering individuals to the east of the fire pit
• Shepard's Purse, Capsella bursa-pastoris, only one plant seen on N end of beds, in flower and fruit

Caryophyllaceae, Pink Family

• Chickweed, Stellaria media, seedlings scarce but adults plentiful and flowering and seeding, mostly peripherally

Convolvulaceae, Morning-Glory Family

• Field bindweed, Convolvulus arvensis, both perennial shoots and seedlings widespread

Fabaceae, Pea Family

• California burclover, Medicago polymorpha, (ID provisional) starting to germinate in several beds (as of 13Mar11)

Geraniaceae, Geranium Family

• Storksbill, Erodium cicutarium, extremely abundant to the north of the bed area, currently not in flower

Lamiaceae, Mint Family

• Henbit, Lamium amplexicaule, very few adults but seedlings dominate the seedling weeds, adults flowering

Malvaceae, Mallow Family

• Cheeseweed, Malva parviflora, seedlings scarce but adults dominating the weed biomass

Oxaliadaceae, Wood Sorrel Family

• Creeping woodsorrel, Oxalis corniculata, mostly newly germinated seedlings, esp in the GOG auxiliary

Polygonaceae, Buckwheat Family

• Prostrate knotweed, Polygonum aviculare, mostly seedlings (UCIPM lists as P. arenastrum, which is now a synonym of P. aviculare subsp. depressum in Jepson Manual 2nd ed.)

Urticaceae, Nettle Family

• Dwarf Nettle, Urtica urens, infrequent in beds

Monocots:

Poaceae, Grass Family

• Annual bluegrass, Poa annua, seedlings and adults widespread, adults reproductive
• (Crabgrass, Digitaria sanguinalis, common on periphery in the bed AB9 area, seen last year)
• Wild oat, Avena fatua (ID provisional), adults growing among the charlock

Seed planting: Molokhiya, Cucumber, NZ Spinach, Malabar Spinach

On 4Mar11, the following seed were planted:

Molokhiya # 148 (24 plts)
Cucumber, Tasty Jade (Johnny's Seed Co., item 2323) (24 plts)
New Zealand Spinach #116 (12 plts)
Malabar Spinach #156 (12 plts)

As of 11Mar11, Cucumber and Molokhiya have germinated.

Garden maintenance 4Mar11

Finished thinning lettuce in C1, D1, and E1, and did some weeding and rock picking on them as well.  Beds C2 and D2 definitely need attention, especially C2 (weeds).  Removed the straw from the potatoes.  Many of the potatoes are now poking leaves out of the soil.  Tested the new collinear hoe (narrow model from Johnny's), and found that having this tool makes cultivating between the plants fast and easy provided the plants are large and well spaced.  Small plants are easily damaged and easily covered by worked soil.  I worked A6, AB7-9 pretty well.  As for B6 (beets), the spacing was too narrow and the plants too small to do an effective job.  I managed to kill a couple of plants and so I stopped.  Also weeded B2 with the hoe.

Noticed a slug and more cabbage butterflies, but no signs of caterpillar damage on the coles.

Collards in A2 bolting

Flash Collards in bed A2 are now starting to bolt.  These were seeded in pots on 25July10 (day 206) and transplanted on 5Sept10 (day 248).  That was 222 days from seed to bolting.