Branching Out's Seeds and Sprouts

[Branching Out]

Last fall I scattered seeds of several cool season hardy annual flower seeds, with the intention of having very early spring flowers for cutting. The only thing is that I put them in the coolest, shadiest border so they only came in to bloom during the last week of June, and by mid-August they were a bit of a mess. Yesterday I cleaned up that bed out of concern that the Ammi, Nigella, and White Xeranthemum ('White Immortelle') would self-sow and become a make-work project for me next spring. While the Xeranthemum has fine side branches there are an awful lot of them, so each plant became like a small shrub; the Ammi had such a tall, strong stalk that I had difficulty cutting through it. Yarrow did well, but had started to flop over so that got a haircut too. Next year I will have to simplify this flower border, perhaps with just anemones in the front row, with yarrow and dahlias in behind. That would give me a succession of blooms from spring through autumn.

 

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As I clean up lettuce seed I am setting aside the dry stalks, to have as treats for the bunny come winter. Given the difficult growing conditions this year I am concerned that there may be a shortage of hay this winter; last year we had to drive quite a ways to buy hay for our rabbit when the feed store ran out.

 

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Winter carrots are such a treat, yet it can be a challenge to get them to germinate during the hot days of July. Surprisingly, this year it went very well. Purslane had also sprouted amongst the carrot seedlings so the other day it was time to weed them out. Then the row cover went back on to exclude the carrot rust fly. If all goes well we will be eating carrots by November.

 

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I have been reading Pam Dawling's articles on 'Year Round Lettuce', and despite feeling rather worn out on the seed sowing front she inspired me to poke some lettuce seeds in the soil the other day. Pam says they sow head lettuce every two days in September (https://www.sustainablemarketfarming.com/2016/09/19/lettuce-in-september-bean-borers/), so I figured if she could do that I could manage at least a couple of sowings. I had some potting mix in my wheelbarrow which made it easy to fill some six-cells and then I picked out six varieties of lettuce seed. The whole thing got covered with mesh nursery trays and row cover to retain moisture, and it is sitting in a bright but shady spot waiting to germinate. I wish I had several wheelbarrows, because they make it easy to move seed trays around.

 

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While we may still be experiencing summer temperatures of 27C(80F), this display at an orchard fruit stand reminds me that once the squash starts to ripen autumn is not far off!

 

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I had been dreading bumping up the winter vegetables that I had started on July 21st, but I finally got it done and it was not a big deal. For now they are in a caterpillar tunnel to keep them safe from cabbage moths for a couple more weeks. The bunny kept me company while I worked.

 

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Figured I had better get a wee bit more lettuce and greens going, so it can put down roots over the next couple of weeks. The Merveille des Quatre Saisons, Bath Cos, and Kale seeds are all ready to be poked in the soil. Lettuce New Red Fire is being a bit pokey so no radical emerging there quite yet; similarly Peppermint Chard will need a few more days of sitting in a plastic container on my desk until it germinates.

 

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Some of those lettuce seeds that I started in my wheelbarrow on September 5th are now big enough to prick out, so I transplanted a few yesterday. Then in the same bed I sowed nine different kinds of spinach seed, so I can compare their germination and form. I marked the lines for sowing with a piece of base moulding, which made it easy to keep the seeds from rolling away. The whole thing got covered with Agribon 19 row cover at the end; it was a bit windy, so at times I felt like a bride with a really long veil that was flapping in the wind. We have several days of wet windy weather in the forecast, so the seeds and seedlings will have a good opportunity to hydrate.

 

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With a few stormy days ahead it seemed prudent to harvest any tomatoes that were colouring up. Many of them are under ripe, so I can wait a few days to roast them for sauce.

I still have to save seeds from quite a number of different ones as well. One that continuously catches my interest is the large persimmon-like Tangello tomatoes, which are very orange in colour despite appearing yellow in the photo. They have such a firm, solid form and they do not crack, split, or rot-- even if left on the vine for weeks, and not even where they are contacting the soil. I have never seen anything like this before. The flavour is not stellar, but they have so many unique features. If I ever try my hand at tomato breeding Tangello will be at the top of my list to include as a parent.

 

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There is a large patch of volunteer red romaine lettuce that went to seed in my tomato patch, and I am regretting not culling the bolting stalks because now those lettuce plants are covered in little white aphids-- and so is my Piennolo Giallo tomato plant. These aphids seem to show up on lettuce in large numbers in September; I am going to have to remember this for next year, so I can avoid a repeat infestation. I don't think it will hurt the tomato, but it looks awfully messy.