Diggin' In - Progress Journal (3/24 - 3/29)

Diggin' In - Progress Journal (3/24 - 3/29)03/29/2012   3/25/12. Peas' Net! We hung out in the garden today, creating netting for the rapidly stretching and reaching peas. We took the netting from a cantelope 3-pack bag, cut the seam, and stretched it across the box - connecting it to two strong sticks. Then tied it to tighten the net - very McGuiver style! Then we “trained” the peas, helping them wrap their tendrils around the netting, that was fun. We also moved the newly sprouted, second round of peas outside - they grow really fast! Tonight’s snail hunt: 11 slugs, 9 snails 3/26/12. Scallions outside Scallions have now been permenantly moved outside. It seems like the cold season veggies have all sprouted except for M’s beets and the celery root. They just barely popped up and didn’t really grow. Perhaps they were burried too deep or went out in the cold too quickly? Tonights hunt: 1 slug, 5 snails 3/28/12. Warm Season Veggies and Herbs We got our warm season veggies and herb trimmings in Edible Landscaping class today! Seems like we’re running out of room already...still needing to perminantly plant the cold seasons. We have to finish making the materials list for donation requests (wood, tools, etc) to get the raised beds and compost made. Here’s the warm season veggies we each got tonight: Basil-Italian Large Leaf (12 ea) Fennel - Zefa Fino (6 ea) Cucumber Lemon (3 ea) Onion - Red Bulb (10 ea) Pumpkin - Jack O’Lantern (3 ea) Tomato - Yellow Pear (6 ea) Tomato - Orange Short Vine Orange Blossom (6 ea) Zucchini Squash - Costate Romanesco (4 ea) Swiss Chard (6 ea) And some of the Herb Trimmings we got: Mint Black Berry  Basil Sage Our directions for at home care are: Seeds - check daily to see if mix is moist, water with spray bottle. Keep indoors near a south or west window until at least 75% of seeds germinate, then move outside during the day and in at night. Cut back watering once seeds have come up! Cuttings - will need to stay in the mix for at least 1 month, and should remain outside from the time they arrive home. Can test to see if they’ve rooted by pulling them up very gently - can just put them gently back in. *oops! we transplanted the clippings into soil! Should have read the directions better!* And about the Snail hunt...we are having a hard time killing all those snails and slugs. It’s so brutal! We heard that people have had success crushing up eggshells and encircling the plants. The snails aren’t supposed to cross because she shells are too sharp for their soft, squishy bodies. Well, we tried crushing a bunch and making a ring-oh-shells around our captured snails to see if they would cross the threshold. They didn’t hesitate. See video So we’ve decided to just relocate them from now on. Tonight we found: 1 slug, and 6 snails 3/29/12  I want to log an observation about the cold season veggies - most (all but the onion families and celery root) have been transplanted either into salad mix bins, a pot, or various plastic containers. It seems the ones in salad containers (about 4” deep of soil) and pots (12-24” deep) are doing the best in growth. And I’m intrigued to see if there has been a significant difference in how the compost tea treated plants do in comparison. Maybe some pics are in order soon! Warm season veggie and herb progress to be explored soon!