The sun is shining today on me … Today is the day ! Let’s start
It’s time to start planing what vegetables will be grown this summer.
The greenhouse :
06 MEI – My first day to start seeding. This year I keep my greenhouse simple;
- 1 x cucumber
only one root of cucumber needs space to grow…believe me you eat everyday 1 or 2 cucumbers from only one root !
- 2 x kinds of tomatoes
not much water, but lots of licht and warmth
and some spinach; I normally keep the spinach in my box but this year there
is place in my greenhouse therefore spinach takes a place in greenhouse.
I have a strawberry in a flowerpot every year, she takes her usual place on the shelf of my greenhouse , for more fruits strawberry needs space to grow down.
PS. If you use the same place and soil for tomatoes 2 times , you should change the soil for next time which I have already done in April 2016.
Grow vertical for beans/peas;
I have 5 kinds of beans, peas sow this year. For beans it’s beter to soak them a night before and then seed them. Do not start to seed indoor, they may not survive transplanting. Read the instructions of seeds properly, give them a water regularly if it’s a dry period. In a week to 10 days you should see the beans already growing.
A high box for local undemanding vegetables /herbs;
I have many fresh herbs such as green onions, green garlics, sage, rosemary,thyme. They are winter and summer in my box…they survive the winter. Each spring I repeat seeding parsley, dill, cilantro and basil for the whole new season.
I have mint in a separate big pot and each winter I prune it down and put in my garden house till next spring…you must NOT seed mint direct in a soil, you can never get rid of it ! It proliferates your whole garden.
I sow each year beets & radishes. There is only one important point; you should sow radishes & beets directly in the garden where you want them to grow up.They WON”T survive transplanting.
I seed each year different kinds of lettuce. Notting is better then using your own lettuce in daily salads.
Lettuce is so easy to grow it can be started indoors for early transplants or sown directly in the garden/box. In fact, doing both is recommended to get maximum production.
Use your garden efficiently;
Behind of my vegetable/herbs box I have a space to perfect to grow squash. I experiment each year different kind, color squashs.
Don’t plant squash seeds too early in the season. It’s best to wait until the soil warms up to about 21 °C / 70°F . After sowing squash in soil, you should give regularly a lot of water. Your only worry should be to keep your squash away from snails & slugs. I use special product which is slugs/animal friendly from Eco style .
Get rid of leftovers;
I experiment each year with new plants. I had some potatoes in my basement which are now wrinkled and sprouted. I have yet to place these next to my squashes.
All you need are potatoes that have a few sprouting eyes on them. Cut each sprouting potato into chunks with at least 2 or 3 eyes on them. Set them in a windowsill to dry out for a couple of days before planting. When you’re planting your sprouted potato chunks, just push them into the dirt 2-3 cm with the sprout facing up.
After they are all planted, cover the potato bed with a few centimeters of hay and water them well.
Let’s wait and see how it grows !