Am I Ready For Spring Planting!

Hey Everyone,

All this wonderful weather is bringing us out to work on our beds and many are wondering when the right time to plant may be.  For the greatest success, it is important to look at several indicators other than just the weather or a date on the calendar before planting out.

Welcome to our garden Reagan!
Love your boots! 

While the sun is shining and the air temperatures have us chomping at the bit, the soil temperatures and workability are what is the most important.  Also, keep in mind how you will care for your seedlings and transplants once the cold weather returns.  Am I prepared for a frost and/or potentially a hard freeze?

Soil Temperatures - Spring 2014:

I took our initial baseline temperatures for spring planting last Sunday afternoon.  The soil temperatures in the garden are running between 39 - 48 degrees for all uncovered beds.  Those who have been diligent with their frost protection have temperatures currently in the mid 50's.  As one would expect the temperatures vary depending on how much sun and windbreak each bed receives.  We do have one exceptionally warm bed showing early signs of germination with a soil temperature of 58.9 degrees.  This bed will be the subject of another post.  Way to go Amy!

So what is the proper soil temperature for planting?  If you are direct sowing seed, each vegetable packet will list the optimum range for germination and the start of sustained growth. This is not the air temperature, but the temperature required of the ground.  You will also see a number for how many days it takes the seeds to germinate.  Take Redventure celery for example, the soil temperature needed to break dormancy of the seed is 55 -70 degrees Fahrenheit.  Germination will likely occur within 10 - 20 days.  This means if you plant the celery seed now, it will do nothing, wait until the soil temps rise to 55 degrees and it will probably take right around 20 days.  Let the soil warm a bit more and germination will occur more rapidly.  When the soil temperatures rise over 70 degrees, the higher end of the celery's spectrum, the rates for success at germinating the celery seed will then start to decline rapidly.  Also, keep in mind that many vegetables like celery will perform better as a transplant vs. direct sowing.

Mike, Sue, & Amy
Enjoying some time in the garden!

Most often, sowing seeds outside their normal temperature range leads to spotty germination, rotting, molding, and/or losing all viability within the ground.  If you are lucky enough for germination to occur, tremendous care will be needed to raise healthy plants as the environment is not yet conducive for sustaining the demand of their early growth.

What if I start with transplants?  If you start your garden with transplants that you have purchased or raised indoors, it is easy to follow the same guidelines.  If you utilize that same variety of celery as a transplant, it still requires the proper growing environment to do well.  This includes adequately warmed soil temperatures within the plants range to sustain that early growth.  There is nothing wrong with buying the plants now as you find them, however, it is beneficial to pot them up, prepare the garden bed with an environment conducive to your plant's needs, inoculate them to resist early pests and disease, and when soil temperatures are optimum, you are ready to go.

Green Meadows Healthy Garden Tip:

Planting in soils that have not properly warmed often sets the stage for the fungal attacks of many undesirable plant diseases.  It also weakens otherwise healthy transplants to the point they become vulnerable to assaults from a variety of pests.  This in turn fosters the use of additional pesticides and fungicides not only just for you but also for the community garden as a whole since disease and insects know no boundaries and will rapidly spread elsewhere.  Taking small steps to keep the garden healthy ensures we all get the most back from the time and effort we put in.

Definition of Soil Workability Explained:

Wonderful, workable soil with
a texture perfect for growing carrots!

So what does sow in early spring when the ground is workable really mean?  While we would like to think if the ground isn't frozen, it is workable.  Unfortunately, this isn't necessarily the case. Workable soil means the frost is completely worked out at all levels and no pockets remain.  The texture of the soil, although cool, is every bit as nice and easily amendable similar to what we would expect months from now.  Microbial life is coming out of hibernation and we see signs of its largest life form (the earthworm) being a little less sluggish.  The moisture content and soil temperatures are carefully balanced to prevent seeds from mold and rot and the environment is ready and conducive for young seedlings and transplants to thrive.  This is also a wonderful time to peek in on your pH and see if any attention is required.

It will be interesting to take another temperature reading this weekend to see how the warmer weather has affected things this week.  Over the next several weeks, we will be watching as things heat up for the planting season and once again be running our Chilly Nilly, Garden Hottie, and Average Joe/Jane contests for prizes.  I hope you will enjoy and follow along with us!

Happy Gardening,

Denise, Beds 25 & 29

Tool Safety and Garden Reminders

Just a few reminders for the garden

Trash those wild onions! Composting works but don't tempt fate with those wild onions.

Prevent tripping Hazards

Clean and put up any tools and equipment you use.

       Thanks!

What a big mess of wild onions someone removed when they weeded.
Only thing is...wild onions need to be trashed, not composted.



Uh oh.....this shovel is all dirty....
 

Now it is nicely washed and ready to hang up on the wall of the shed.
Less to sweep out of the shed next time it is swept.


  

Hmmm...someone forgot to put the tools up and sweep out the wheelbarrow.
 



An accident waiting to happen
 

Safety conscious - no one will trip over these tools.



A fork or a shovel - which is the best to use when turning the soil

Shovel and spading fork

Officially there is no "right" tool to use. But on a more personal level, everyone has a preference. I prefer using a spading fork because the tines are flat and broad. (Also it has a short handle which works great for short people.)

Taller friends of mine use a pitch fork because the handle is longer. The drawback is that the tines are thin and spiky though the tines are closer together than the tines of the spading fork.  My tall friends have used the spading fork but after awhile, it kills their back because the handle is too short for them.

You can  just use a shovel (long or short handled depending on your height) to turn the soil as well.

 Here you can see the progression of digging with the spading fork. The first forkful there is kind of a clump of dirt. The second forkful, it is falling through the tines. If you think your soil might be a little too wet, this is a great tool to use to prevent making clumps of dirt.

I also find that when I'm mixing in my amendments they tend to blend better when I use the spading fork. Kind of like a whisk works to blend flour and sugar in a bowl.  Shovels tend to make it harder for me to mix my amendments. But I do know people who only use a shovel and still have beautiful, to die for, soil.

 As you can see, when using a shovel, the first shovelful of dirt is a big clump. It will take more effort to keep from creating a bed full of clumping wet clods if the soil is too wet.

A compromise if you aren't certain about your soil moisture level is to turn/fluff your soil with the spading fork for as long as your back can handle it and then mix in your soil amendments with a shovel.

But really, it all boils down to what YOU like and what YOUR body can tolerate! As long as you end up with beautiful, healthy, fertile soil, it doesn't matter what you use to turn it.