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The Weekly Digs #154

Written byBecky Updated

In the Garden

We did quite a bit of planting this week. 

In ground we planted:

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  • New Kuroda Carrots (15 row feet)
  • Mesclun Mix (20 row feet)
We added compost to these beds too. They look so nice with some organic matter added 🙂

In soil blocks we planted:

  • Little Gem Lettuce
  • Golden Acre Cabbage
  • Mizuna
  • Tango Celery
  • Italian Leaf Parsley
  • Copper Red Strawflowers
  • Marigold Bambino
  • Cilantro
  • Cosmos

We did one tray each of these. 36 blocks each. And now that I’m looking at the picture I think I planted something else too but can’t remember at the moment!

On Thursday we got what I hope will be our last winter storm. Three inches of snow and very chilly temperatures. It was 15 degrees when I woke up this morning. 

It’s a bit difficult to keep working on the garden when the ground is frozen and then muddy from snow melt. Luckily most of the snow was gone by today but it will be a few days before the soil dries enough that we can do anything in the garden again.

Those of you who are further north than me, I don’t know how you do it! I grew up in upstate NY but I wasn’t a gardener then. I’m ready for Spring.

While the snow was on the ground we continued our planting in our nice protected and warm caterpillar tunnel. That is part of the reason why we did so many soil blocks this week.

One last bit of good news. The onions I planted directly in the ground last month had just started to sprout as the snow and frigid temps came. Luckily, the row cover and the snow acted as a great insulator. They were alive and looking good when I checked on them today. 

Not much else to update on this week but I do have a couple new blog posts I’ve been working on so be on the lookout for them over the next few weeks. They are mostly in answer to some frequently asked questions I get. If you have ideas for other blog posts I’d love to hear them.

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10 Comments

  1. Becky, where did you purchase your wicking fabric? Also, we live in Missouri and our ground is mainly CLAY…looks like yours and the weeds are HORRID! How are you battling this? Your garden looks AMAZING! I tried gardening like you but i just gave up and covered it ALL! Weeds WON ….

    Reply

    1. Hi Karen, I get the fabric here https://www.gardeners.com/buy/capillary-matting/40-385.html

      And thank you! The clay is a struggle but I think the key is adding a lot of organic material. This year we finally found a good source for compost in bulk and it is helping. I also try and use a lot of wood chips in the walking paths to keep weeds away. My garden has some weedy areas too. Each year gets a little better though as far as keeping them under control. Its a lot of work to add the compost and wood chip mulch but less work than weeding 🙂

      Reply

  2. Why did you move from New York to Arkansas?

    I’d like to see more blog posts showing the meals you make with all of the food you grow.

    Reply

    1. I moved when I went to college. I went to BYU-Idaho, then met Cam there and he got a job here in Arkansas. We’ve been here ever since. I miss the beauty of NY, as well as family and friends that still live there but not much else. I love where we are now!

      Thanks for the blog idea!

      Reply

  3. I’m up in zone 5a, and I won’t be planting much outside for at least two months! In a way, I think it’s a blessing. I don’t think I could sustain a garden season that has me outside in Feb/March – November. I appreciate the nice long break, and right now all my greenery is in the basement under grow lights. 🙂

    How is the new Jang seeder comparing to your Earthway, or is it too early to tell? I just got the Earthway as a Christmas gift to myself.

    Reply

    1. Way to look on the bright side!

      I like the Jang so far. It’s wonderful for small seeds and separating them out individually. It has more heft than the Earthway and does of good job of pressing down the soil after planting. I will continue to use the Earthway for the large seeds because from what I’ve hear the Jang JP-1 that I have isn’t the best for large seeds.

      Reply

  4. Love your posts! Thanks for sharing! How do you water the soil blocks? Have not invested in soil blocking yet, but interested, I like the concept. You are an inspiration for sure!

    Reply

    1. When I had them under grow lights last year, I used wicking fabric placed under all the soil blocks and cut it a little long so I could push one end into a tray of water. I actually used baking sheets for the tray and could fit two of my seed starting wooden trays over it for the soil blocks.

      This year, I put the wicking fabric there but I haven’t put them over trays yet just use the “mist” setting on the hose nozzle. I’ll switch to bottom watering when I start tomatoes and peppers.

      Reply