here comes the sun (spring is sproinging pt.3)

alright internet-machine, it's just me & you.
and morning edition.
and a huge pot of lima beans that i woke up early to cook since it feels like summer already.

The odd absence of winter this year compelled me to ramp up my garden plans.  It's hard to focus on just 3 rectangular vegetable beds when it's 70degrees most of the winter.

I was having some problems keeping my janky bamboo/plastic/duct tape coldframe warm at night when a friend reminded me of hugelkultur.  Remembering hearing that hugelkultur beds slowly released heat somewhere, i figured i'd put a couple beds in around the coldframe...

i heart winter-spring.

      Sometimes i almost wish that google put a chip in my head so i could keep yous guys updated on things as i'm doing them.  As i stands, i mostly just wanna play in the dirt so i find myself with a swarm of projects to update after a few weeks.
    Let's start with our impulse-ordered strawberries and see how far we get from there (the sun's coming up and i can feel the yard calling me...beckoning me.....).  If you recall, we were shipped 50 bare-root strawberry plants the first wk in january, and i was caught entirely unprepared.  A minimal amount of research later, i decided i would heel in the plants in a container and keep them in the shed to try and maintain dormancy.
   Let's talk about stacking functions, real quick, which is fundamental to finding the good life.  Function stacking is a permaculture principle that allows you to maximize output from any given task or object.  To me, it's a way of thinking about projects that helps me avoid unnecessary labor.

Low-Cost Raised Beds...

   Buenos Morning, Internet.
             I've found it's generally more productive to set up new growing beds over the fall and winter for spring plantings.  For one thing, it allows any soil amendments to filter their way into the dirt, and the alternating freeze & thaw seems to help open up the soil - a great way to utilize natural cycles to minimize human labor.  For another thing, it helps to keep me focused on my production goals through the winter, with the added benefit of keeping the winter blues at bay.

signs of life

     My little babies are breaking through the dirt...
I sowed some seed Saturday, eager to test my lil Seed Starting Station & hoping to get a jump on the fast approaching cool/cole crop season.  Resisting a chronic compulsion to plant everything at my fingertips was difficult, but i managed to start with 3 flats:

• Flat #1: American Flag Leek & Red Torpedo Onion:  this is my first year really breaking into alliums (this fall i planted German White and California Early garlic at me madre's, and perennial Egyptian Walking Onions[cool pictures through that link] in the keyhole bed). As such, i've never grown them from seed, but shoots came up today from the leeks and the onions. Really hoping these work out, cuz i think the joe-knee and i consume at least a pound of onions and a clove of garlic a week.
• Flat #2: Waltham Broccoli: i planted the whole flat and within 3 days nearly all the seeds had sprouted.  Which is good, cuz we love broccoli. All of it: stems, shoots & leaves. It's probably good for you, our tastebuds declare.  Barring some kind of cataclysm, i should have some extras for trade or sale by the time you wanna put em in the ground (around the 3rd wk of February)
• Flat #3: Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage & Red Russian Kale:  these guys have yet to emerge, but they've got some time left. We're overwintering a couple of each variety in our neighbor Randy's bed, so if for some reason they don't want to sprout, we'll still have some to CHOMPCHOMPCHOMP.

The next step is to build some kind of ramshackle cold-frame, to harden off the seedlings & free up more room to germinate my little seedlings. I'll need plenty in the next few weeks to start sprouting my celery, lettuce & tons of tomatoes...
the plan is to start lots of transplant tomatoes: Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter (click link for radio story), Amish Paste, Brandywine & Beefsteak.  These should be ready by the end o' March for trade, sale, and baiting potential gardeners... :)

in other news: i made the ... correct decision? ... and impulse bought 50 strawberry plants when i ordered my heating coil.  My logic was that if i spent $6 more dollars @ www.groworganic.com  i'd get two free seed packets (i picked Kentucky Wonder green beans & Southern Giant Curled mustard), saving myself around $5.  what i failed to factor in was the cost of shipping dormant strawberries across the country (nearly twice as much as the plants) and the fact that since they're shipped from the golden valleys of California, the berries would arrive on my door in January. Sheesh. They're in the fridge until I can figure out what to do with them.  All cuz Joani said she wanted some strawberries, not because i am a berry glutton.

So stay tuned to find out:

• if the shua keep his strawberries alive until their preferred pea-synched planting date
• which plants thrive in this suburban microclimate & which wilt like cabbage in the dog days surrounded by all this noise & all these people
• if catastrophic climate collapse affects our growing season in a good way or just a wierd one
• if shua will go crazy and live in a teepee in the backyard, scaring neighborhood children & neglecting to properly launder his loincloth
• or something else...