Bri's 2017 veggie garden

[bri80]

So I've finally started making preparations for my 2017 veggie garden. Prepared two beds for spinach and peas, and started tomatoes indoors today. Unfortunately we are in the middle of (yet another) unusual cold snap here in the PNW, so I'm delaying the planting of the peas and spinach until later next week when it is supposed to warm up a bit.

Coming up next will be starting broccoli and peppers indoors.

cover crop with some compost and organic, slow-release fertilizer on top to be dug in

bed after being dug in

tomatoes started indoors. will fill out this tray with broccoli and pepper starts soon

[rainbowgardener]

As long as your ground can be worked, you don't need to wait for a warm up for spinach and peas. They are exceedingly cold hardy.

You don't have to rush as much though, because I don't think you have really hot summer. Where I am (No. GA) I have to get all of that stuff in as soon as possible or it won't have a lot of time before it gets too hot for them.

Broccoli is another cold weather plant that gets planted with spinach and peas, not with tomatoes and peppers.

[digitS']

NWS Portland ‏@NWSPortland 9 hours ago "PDX officially set a new record wettest February. We have received 10.05" so far which exceeds the 1996 total of 10.03"."

Cold and wet, Bri80. Wetter than here! But, everyone has to go through another week of this month. Someone once called February the 3 AM of the year. That someone may well have lived north of 45°N.

Lettuce is another low temperature germinating seed.

Steve

Steve

[imafan26]

Portland is a little wetter than Seattle. Seattle very rarely sees a sunny day.

I've planted some seeds and I have an eggplant that needs to get into a bigger pot, but you are way ahead of me. I still have to clean up the garden. I have to plant broccoli in July to get a crop since it takes about 100 days to get a harvest and it needs to bud up in cold weather. Once the temperature hits the 80's they open up too fast. I have some broccoli I planted in January, but it may already be too late to get anything this year.

[bri80]

As long as your ground can be worked, you don't need to wait for a warm up for spinach and peas. They are exceedingly cold hardy.

You don't have to rush as much though, because I don't think you have really hot summer. Where I am (No. GA) I have to get all of that stuff in as soon as possible or it won't have a lot of time before it gets too hot for them.

Broccoli is another cold weather plant that gets planted with spinach and peas, not with tomatoes and peppers.

I appreciate the feedback, but I live considerably further north than you and light (further from the equator = less light) is more of a concern than temp. My planting schedule is born out of 7 years personal experience and the experience of local garden authors, who have convinced me that their advice is sound.

The whole "when the ground can be worked" advice that applies to a vast majority of the country doesn't apply in our microclimate, as the ground rarely, if ever, freezes.

The local microclimate lends itself to the real kick off being April 1, and I can grow "cool weather" plants all summer long (broccoli, lettuce, kale, cabbage, etc). Anything I plant before April 1 is either grown indoors (tomatoes, peppers) until at least mid-April, or is planted with the knowledge that growth is going to go at a snail's pace until April (spinach, peas, and soon lettuce and broccoli).

It sure would be nice to have the sun you guys have down there, though, at this time of year! I haven't seen the sun in what feels like weeks.

[bri80]

NWS Portland ‏@NWSPortland 9 hours ago "PDX officially set a new record wettest February. We have received 10.05" so far which exceeds the 1996 total of 10.03"."

Cold and wet, Bri80. Wetter than here! But, everyone has to go through another week of this month. Someone once called February the 3 AM of the year. That someone may well have lived north of 45°N.

Lettuce is another low temperature germinating seed.

Steve

Steve

Yep, unusually cold this year for sure! I won't be planting lettuce outside till end of March probably. Even if I plant it sooner, it doesn't typically mature much faster than April 1st sowings, due to the lack of light. But usually I try an early sowing anyway just cause I'm impatient.

[imafan26]

Cool weather plants all summer, I have maybe 6 month from Nov-May where something cool might grow. Your sun may be weaker up north, but you make up for it with those long summer days. It is how Alaska can grow those giant veggies.

Do you have to hot house your tomatoes or do you just plant the early varieties?

[bri80]

Do you have to hot house your tomatoes or do you just plant the early varieties?

Nights are reliably above 40 degrees around mid May here, once that's the case they're usually fine. But we do have the occasional "cabbage year" where they just don't do all that great, but all the cool weather stuff is killing it. Even those years I still get enough tomatoes to get by.

[bri80]

Planted spinach, mustard greens, and peas outside today, as well as started 4 early broccoli plants indoors for planting out in a couple weeks. Having erratic germination on the tomatoes so far... I think my seedling heating pad isn't heating uniformly. Tried shifting the tray on the pad to get heat to other places where maybe it wasn't.

[bri80]

Tomatoes are up and growing - 3 cells failed to germinate, but I'm getting some stragglers here and there so maybe I'll get some in them after all. Broccoli starts came up strong inside. No germination on outside-planted spinach, peas and mustard greens yet, but that's not unexpected. Cold, wet weather right now lends to slow germination.

[bri80]

We have germination outside on the spinach, mustard greens, and peas!

Almost time to move the larger tomatoes to larger pots, and plant the broccoli starts outside.

Also on the agenda for this week: starting peppers indoors, digging cover crops in on several beds to prepare them for April plantings.

[bri80]

Transplanted broccoli seedlings outside, they seem pretty happy in their new environment. We actually had a sunny day today for, literally, the first time in weeks.

And happy healthy tomato seedlings moved to their larger pots. Peppers planted in the background. Also got onions started inside.

[rainbowgardener]

Looking good!

[bri80]

Tomato starts after the final repotting. Putting them under the grow lights again for another 2 weeks-ish, then will start hardening them off for planting outside.

Purple sprouting broccoli making shoots after over-wintering! For those unfamiliar with PSB, it over-winters and does not make a central head like regular broccoli. But it produces an abundance of side shoots before anything planted this year is even close to harvestable.

Over-wintered kale which is almost done. Crimson clover planted last fall starting to take over the bed. Soon I'll cut the kale out, then dig in the clover and have a ready seed bed for new crops.

Not much progress on this year's broccoli, spinach, mustard greens, and peas. But that is to be expected in March here. They'll take off soon.

Welcome to Portland in spring! 4" of rain this week.

[wisconsindead]

Looking good!