Peace and Environment News* April 1996
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Peace and Environment News * April 1996 |
by Ann Cleary
Anne Cleary
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Winter does not seem in a hurry to depart. If it leaves gradually, that will be fine, but if we get a good thaw to melt the snow followed by a week or ten days freeze, we may have problems, one of which is that it will be necessary to keep your seedlings indoors longer than you want to. To slow down growth, keep them at low temperatures and quite cool at night. As you are trying to duplicate indoors what would be ideal starter conditions outside, your seeds need warmth to start them off, and once they are up, spring conditions with air, moisture and light—cool at night, a little warmer in the daytime, with a couple of midday hours somewhat warmer still, but never over 70 degrees F. Growing plants from your own seed is tricky and time-consuming. It's cheaper and rewarding, but they need lots of tender loving care.
If you grow plants on a windowsill, you will have to turn them every day. You can grow the plants in containers in flats on a tea trolley close to the window, and simply turn the trolley around. Peat pots are sold with holding trays, but they are wider than most windowsills. You can use lidless egg crates for starting seeds; they are good on windowsills. If your planted seeds have come up too thickly, don't pull the surplus out, or the roots of those you leave may become damaged. Just scissor off the unwanted seedlings at soil level. Have plenty of space between those you leave for good air circulation.
I have often kept tomatoes in the house and had them start fruiting before the weather was suitable for transplanting, but it didn't seem to do them any harm. If you nurture your plants and love your garden, you'll get pretty good results whatever you do. It's much the same with animals and people!
You can try planting seeds of radishes, spinach, white turnips, cress and salad bowl lettuce in the garden as soon as it can be worked, which could be in April, especially if you cover a row or block with fabric row cover (FRC) placed loosely on top, weighted down with stones. FRC is so light it is harmless to plants as they grow, and it lets in light and water.
If you didn't use up all your leeks and parsnips last year and you left them in the garden, they will shoot up soon and give you your first garden feed. I hope that you have planted seeds indoors for fall and next year's use. If they are thick in the flats, you can remove surplus ones carefully. Some people trim the roots into a nice shape and cut a bit off the top of each seedling. Trimming the tops is supposed to stimulate growth. The same applies to onions.
I would say that it's possible and perhaps easier to start seeds under a commercial grower light stand, which comes with full instructions. Or you can make your own by utilizing fluorescent light bulbs suspended horizontally over your seedlings in flats on a trolley. The seeds must first be close to the light and then lowered with a pulley as they grow. If you've propped the flats up with books or something suitable, you have to reduce the props as needed. The latter works well with your window sill trays and can produce a lot of seedlings.
It is worth starting lettuce such as buttercrunch for a quick salad fix, as they soon mature when transplanted to the garden. A golden rule: all seedlings that you are going to transplant outdoors must be "hardened off" first. That means putting them outside in their containers for a longer time each day, starting with a couple of hours, out of the wind, and only gradually moving them into direct sunlight. Always ask at nurseries if flats have been "hardened off." Also ask if plants have been organically grown and what sprays have been used. Before long, you will have to find out if they have been grown from genetically engineered seed—and avoid them!
Sugar snap and snow peas can be planted as soon as the ground is warm. If you cover them with a light mulch, they usually survive an early frost or two, and if they don't, you still have time to reseed. If picked regularly, they grow happily until midsummer, when you can plant seeds again for a fall crop.
Rhubarb will be sprouting too. The plants like lots of compost and well rotted manure for good quality results. A cold frame over a rhubarb plant helps force it to life sooner. Well banked up with manure, it will be pink and not so strong tasting, which some people prefer. Rhubarb teamed with pineapple and/or candied ginger (a small amount) or a packet of strawberries makes a good dessert, or with more sugar, a delicious preserve. Rhubarb can also be a basic ingredient in pickle recipes. Most gardeners can spare a small space to grow a couple of rhubarb plants. It's a versatile plant, and some people like it as is, cooked in dishes and cakes, while others even like it raw. A root or two from a nursery will soon be sizeable plants and pay you dividends. Every few years, you have to dig out the roots and split off good-looking shoots to start more plants or give away.
Green manuring
Seeds of oats, buckwheat, and annual rye grass can be planted in the beds you plan to use for late-maturing heavy feeders, such as the brassicas, tomatoes, corn and so on, which you will seed or transplant probably in June. A week or so before transplanting some of the seedlings you have prepared indoors (or bought), dig in this so-called "green manure," which will add fertilizer to your soil, and feed the transplants. Some of you may have already done some "green manure" seed planting in the fall, in which case mow down the growth and put your transplants right into the bed. Hairy vetch is supposed to do wonders for tomatoes, and clovers, especially red clover, add nitrogen. We tried hairy vetch this fall and will let you know what happens. The axiom is never have bare ground. Fill it in with something that you can dig in that is beneficial to the soil until you need the space. When planting green manure seeds, just rough up the soil and broadcast the seed.
Quotation of the Month
"The three most important developments in this century are the growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy."
—from the September/October issue of The Ecologist
Ann Cleary is a member of Canadian Organic Growers, Ottawa. She will be pleased to answer questions from readers. Write to R.R.1, Carleton Place, Ontario K7C 3P1, or call 257-1038 (You do not have to dial 613 if you are calling from Ottawa.)
Converted April 11, 2000 - Lg
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