Cranraspberry’s community garden

[Cranraspberry]

Not a lot to show at this point, but the first half of this week FELT like spring! The community garden is slowly starting to wake up. I had spent the whole mild winter redoing our garden beds, and there wasn’t a soul to be found anywhere in the garden. Now it’s so fun to see signs of people starting to prepare for the new season!

A few of our brassicas (Napa cabbage, regular cabbage and collards) overwintered in grow bags with no protection. They went in much too late last fall and remained tiny through the winter. I’m very curious to see if they will pick up where they dropped off last year, or if they will just immediately bolt once it warms up for a longer stretch - any ideas?

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[Harry Cabluck]

Wishing you good gardening and a successful 2023 season.

[PlainJane]

Nice to see things waking up, isn’t it!

[Cranraspberry]

Thank you @Harry Cabluck!

@PlainJane it absolutely is! Last year was our first, and we didn’t get our plot till April, so we didn’t really have time for any of the giddy “spring is coming” feelings.

The windchill is at 17F this morning, curious to see if the poor little seedlings that just sprouted are able to make it through.

[Cranraspberry]

I’m sure it’s too early, but I planted out my brassicas. The day started out very overcast, but then got pretty sunny by midday and I threw some frost cloth on. Hopefully they don’t get too hot during the day, it was a breezy 60F today.

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[Cranraspberry]

Nice warm overcast weather with light rain today, swapped the frost cloth out for insect netting.

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In this bed I’m experimenting with direct sowing vs transplanting the same greens (tatsoi, komatsuna, arugula, spinach) and everything that pops up in the direct seeded section immediately gets devoured by some critter. For some reason the transplants aren’t as attractive and they are leaving those alone.

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[Cranraspberry]

Some vandals got into the garden last night. We were fortunate that they didn’t damage the vegetables, just mangled our fence and stole my daughter’s bubbles. Still a sad day. I can only imagine that more will come as the season progresses.

[Julianna]

Some vandals got into the garden last night. We were fortunate that they didn’t damage the vegetables, just mangled our fence and stole my daughter’s bubbles. Still a sad day. I can only imagine that more will come as the season progresses.

That sucks! I am sorry they did that. I hope they move on.is there a way you can kind of secure the plot?

[Cranraspberry]

@Julianna I had actually just finished redoing our fence, but it clearly wasn’t enough - there’s apparently only so much you can do against people who are determined to get in. And my husband vetoed the idea of razor wire lol.

I did get our local elected person to speak with the police about it, as well as filing a police report (felt kind of silly given the $3 value of what was stolen) and encouraging others to do the same. Our garden is basically in the back yard of a police station, so increasing patrols in that area should be very easy if they are willing to do it.

[Julianna]

@Julianna I had actually just finished redoing our fence, but it clearly wasn’t enough - there’s apparently only so much you can do against people who are determined to get in. And my husband vetoed the idea of razor wire lol.

I did get our local elected person to speak with the police about it, as well as filing a police report (felt kind of silly given the $3 value of what was stolen) and encouraging others to do the same. Our garden is basically in the back yard of a police station, so increasing patrols in that area should be very easy if they are willing to do it.

I hope they are. Stealing bubbles is just... So infuriating. Also breaking the fence. Just vandalism.

[Cranraspberry]

The brassicas are pretty happy! I am facing an unexpected pest issue - there are a lot of fungus gnats in the soil, and because of the netting they can’t escape and are multiplying like crazy. Everything I’ve read seems to indicate that they aren’t an issue out in the garden, but I might water them with some BTi because the sheer number of them is bothering me.

Other than that, the tatsoi is pretty happy. Komatsuna has some happy plants, and a few that got stunted by the cold. Radishes and turnips are germinating. I also transplanted some mustard greens.

March 20th looks to be the last night in the 30s for a bit, so next week I’ll be planting out lettuces and onions.

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[Cranraspberry]

Got our first little harvest of tatsoi and komatsuna, about a month after planting them out! I think next year I’m going to give them more space, they really seem to grow well even in the colder stretches vs not dying but not growing like some of the other things I planted out.

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I also set out approximately one billion onion seedlings today, set out the remainder of my brassicas as well as some herbs (parsley, dill) and heading lettuces. I was so busy I forgot to take pictures!

[GoDawgs]

You could try a hydrogen peroxide/water mix for the fungus gnats. I keep a small little spritz bottle near my light shelves just in case some fungus gnats show up. It's rare when they show up but if they do, misting the top of the soil in the cell packs or containers works well. You might have to repeat that a few days in a row.... and step up the quantity mixed!

Here's the link to the article I got this from:

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/hydrogen- ... 86713.html

Near the bottom is the pertinent section:

"Hydrogen peroxide can help control fungus gnats and other indoor plant pests, according to the University of Alaska Cooperative Extension. Mix 1 part of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide with 4 parts of water, and water your plant with the solution. This will get rid of fungus gnat eggs or larvae.

The solution will also help to add oxygen to the soil of your indoor plants and eliminate any other bacterial and fungal pests. The University of Alaska suggests repeating the treatment, if necessary, to get rid of new eggs."

[Cranraspberry]

@GoDawgs thank you, that’s a great idea! I’ve used HP successfully at home for fungus gnats. Fortunately they got knocked down a bit by the two 26 degree nights in a row we had last week.

[Cranraspberry]

Some photos from earlier this week. Planted out onions (note to self: don’t start so many!), head lettuces and remaining cabbages. Gave everything a watering with Urban Farms’ veggie fertilizer and between that and some warm rain the greens EXPLODED overnight! So awesome to see.

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[Seven Bends]

Everything looks beautiful! What are the hoops you're using to support your row covers?

[Cranraspberry]

@Seven Bends ladder mesh! I absolutely love those things. $5 for a 10’ length at Home Depot and they have a billion different applications. I’ve connected two and added stakes to make 6.5’ tall trellises, they are absolutely fantastic for holding mesh and fabric (did not budge with those crazy 50+ mph winds we just had) and I’m even using the cut off odds and ends to reinforce our fence and gate. Gardeners.com sells something similar as Super Hoops: https://www.gardeners.com/buy/super-hoo ... 5637154491

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Grip-Rite-8 ... /203590053

[Seven Bends]

@Seven Bends ladder mesh! I absolutely love those things. $5 for a 10’ length at Home Depot and they have a billion different applications. I’ve connected two and added stakes to make 6.5’ tall trellises, they are absolutely fantastic for holding mesh and fabric (did not budge with those crazy 50+ mph winds we just had) and I’m even using the cut off odds and ends to reinforce our fence and gate. Gardeners.com sells something similar as Super Hoops: https://www.gardeners.com/buy/super-hoo ... 5637154491

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Grip-Rite-8 ... /203590053

Perfect, thanks! Just the kind of thing I've been looking for.

[Cranraspberry]

First little kale harvest!

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The rodents have been having a fun time with my peas, all the sprouts are gnawed down to the stem. I think I need to put some netting down around them.

[bower]

I think the biggest gamble for early plant out here is: who's about, looking for a meal and there's nothing else greened up enough to eat.
Your kale looks great though!