Diggin' In: Progress Journaling (2/22 - 2/24)

Diggin' In: Progress Journaling (2/22 - 2/24)02/24/2012

 

2/22/12. Planting Cold Season Veggies (For garden vision, see here)

Planted the seeds for “coal season” today in Edible Landscaping. Put 13 different sets of seeds (see below) into a propagation mix for seedling germination:

• 1 part peat (acidic = seeds like acidity to germinate)
• 1 part perlite (for drainage)
• 1 part vermiculite (holds nutrients & moisture)

Also used “Dr. Earth’s Organic Fertilizer” in mix because we are going to leave teh seedlings in the mix for longer than usual. (This fertilizer is organically produced, but not “certified organic” - so can use in organic home garden, but wouldn’t help a “certified organic” farm.) 

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Seeds to germinate:                   # Seeds in cell
1) Arugula - Rocket Salad               10
2) Celery root brilliant                     6
3) Kale, Red Russian                      10
4) Cauliflower Denali                      0  (gave mine to M)
5) Broccoli: Blue Wind                    10
6) Lettuce - Encore Lettuce             12
7) Onion, Bunching, Deep Purple    6 x 2 = 12 (M give hers to me)
8) Beets Touchtone Gold               12
9) Chinese Cabbage, Napa            12
10) Cilantro                                  12
11) Spinach Smooth Leaf Emv        12
12) Peas Snow/Sugar Oregon Giant   0 (was out of, but will buy at store)
13) Leek Lancelot                            12

Since M and I traded one to save space and avoide double seedign and that class was out of 2 - this leaves 2 cells open for other seeds. To be determined still.

Our Instructions were to:

• Fill cells with mix and gently tamp down leaving ½ inch of container showing on top. (M insists that her mix was tamped down more precise and flat than mine, we’ll see if that provides different results)
• Lay the seeds out in the mix, in a traingular arrangement in the cell to have mazimum root room: Diagram of cell layout
• Cover the seed only a little with mix
• Add vermiculite only to cover about ½ the diameter of the seed. (So when it sprouts, it can reach sunlight)
• Water gently but thoroughly *H20 is the more crucial element in seed starting process*

At Home we are to:

• Keep indoors near a. South or West, b East, c. North window, successively. *It’s more important to have heat than sun at this point* (We decided to put our seeds in the warmest room of the house - ours. Upstairs, poor ventilation and insulation in the house makes our room hottest!)
• Check daily to keep moist (We are going to use a H20 bottle with holes in the top to water)
• After it germinates, move outside in the day (partly shady area) and inside at night (to avoid snails and slugs feasting)
• Cut back on H20 to 1 x every other day, then 1x every 3 days when seeds come up. Unless hot then water every day - don’t let soil dry up.
• Transplant into the ground when they have 2 sets of “true” leaves

So today starts our official DreemGarden: “Diggin’ In” project!

2/23/12. Planted Peas and Scallions

Today I took pictures to track the sunshine on the hours, backyard, front yard, side driveway, roof, and roof patio. I was able to get pics at 8am - 12pm then 4 & 5pm. Very interseting! Tomorrow I hope to get from 1 - 3pm also. Then I will put it together and be able to see where the sunny & shady parts are for both planting and green building modifications.

Also, we planted peas and scallions in the open cells today. Brought them from the hardware store.

I watered earlier today, using our home bidet...which is a waterbottle with holes in the cap. I watered ½ bottle in the morning, then another ½ bottle after planting the new seeds around 4:30pm. (M insisted 1 full bottle earlier)

It’s definitely warmest in our room! We also have placed the tray of seeds on a bench above the heat vent, this keeps the soil nice and warm. But we have to be careful not to dry them out.

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2/24/12. Sun Tracking Photos Taken

Pictures taken of sunshine: Location (File name tag): angles taken from

• Back Yard (Date.BY.angle): front right, front left, back right, back left, Ivy plot, porch view, from roof chimney, from roof top
• Side Drive (Date.Side.angle): open gate, closed gate - back to front, closed gate front to back, roof shot
• Room Patio (Date..RmPat.angle): from left, from right, from roof
• Front Yard (Date.FY.angle): left of yard, right of yard, full house
• Misc (Date.Misc.type): side conservatory, sun in room, sun tracking through day
• Roof (Date.Roof.angle): from room patio, from chimney full, chimney (SE, NW), from top to chimney, top (SE, S, N, W)

We’ll see which ones are used in the final suntracking video creation...

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