Finally, three weeks behind schedule, I put out the first spring seeds today. We added some more soil to the far bed and covered up and tilled in the crimson clover and favas that had been overwintering there. Those will break down over the next few weeks and that bed will be ready for planting by the first of April. I cleaned up the center bed and put in radish, spinach, kale and onion seeds.
Overwintering there in the center is some onion and arugula. I learned this morning from reading a book that arugula doesn't do well in spring; the days getting longer make it bolt very early. Recommendation is for arugula to be a fall/winter crop. Sure enough, I went out there today and little flower stalks are forming in the arugulas. Time to eat it up!
This was the first real harvest, with the basket and everything, in quite a long time.
Down in the far end of the center bed are a few heads of lettuce that are holding on with a tenacity I never expected from a lettuce. I put those seeds in last fall and they didn't get big enough before the cold hit. They froze out into a slimy mess. But somehow life clung to them and they made it through the winter! I'm hoping they aren't woody or bitter (very likely) because it will be a great treat to have some very early season lettuce.
I planted way too many scallions last year too and there were several that never got eaten and stayed through the winter. I didn't intend to do this; but I did what is the hardest thing to do with onions, I grew for seed. Onions have to stay in the ground until their second year to produce seed. It takes a commitment of time and space to save your own onion seeds. A few weeks ago we saw the flower stalks starting to emerge from the overwintered scallions.
No more buying green onion seeds for me! I'll have to be sure and keep a few out in the garden from this year's planting so I can keep the seed saving going through the years.
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