After clearing out most of the peppers and tomatoes, the interns and I started several cool season edibles from seed this past Sunday. They include:
- Lettuce 'Sandy'
- Lettuce 'Q's Special Mix'
- Radish 'Roxanne'
- Radish 'French Breakfast'
- Radish 'White Icicle'
- Spinach 'Gangbusters'
- Turnip 'Purple Top White Globe'
- Turnip 'Royal Crown Hybrid'
- Turnip 'Seven Top'
A scant 5 days later and almost all of the seedlings are up! I am most surprised by the turnips. I thought for sure they would not show for another week or two.
The nights are starting to get cooler and the days are noticeably short now. It is more pleasant to be out in the garden weeding and sowing at this time of year. Yet, many of my fellow community gardeners have abandoned their plots. It is sad to see their harvest rotting on the ground and weeds taking over. Have to keep repeating to myself, "Not my circus, not my monkeys."
What are you starting from seed for the fall season?
About Fenton Friday:
Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 6th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.)
I've had some trouble getting my fall lettuces to sprout, which seems kinda weird as lettuce is like the easiest thing in the world to grow. Could it be old seeds? Not enough water? Too much water? Something else? (Maybe it's time to do a soil test?) Lettuce seedlings should show up almost right away after planting the seeds, right? Any tips?
ReplyDeleteHi Sonia - It the Lettuce seeds are more than a year old, than it is likely the issue. Lettuce seed is notorious for needing to be "fresh" or the germination rates will be very poor. They usually emerge in a week for me, so if you don't see any by week 2, start a fresh batch.
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