Planting Onion Sets
Last summer I harvested all my onions and set aside the super small ones to use as onion sets this year. I prefer growing onions from seed, but figured I’d rather plant these than spend the time trying to cut them up. I planted them shoulder to shoulder and plan on harvesting many of them as green onions. I will leave some to see if they bulb up or if they try to set seed. Some of these onions were from seed that I sowed very closely just to produce small onion sets.
I love green onions and really like how set planted onions produce green onions really quickly. I have some in a planter in a sunny window that are almost big enough to start harvesting. Next year I hope to grow them all winter long so I can enjoy freely chopped onions with my breakfast regularly!
Do you like green onions?
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Plant for Multiple Harvests
This week my 5×5 Challenge Garden finally thawed out enough to plants a few things. It doesn’t take long for the soil to become workable after the snow melts. As soon as you can run a rake through the top of the soil you can plant a few things that like cool soil.
There are a wide variety of things that can be planted in that space between the first thawing of the soil in spring and the warm summer months. You can’t plant tomatoes, corn, peppers or heat loving crops right now. Even broccoli and other cool loving crops risk early bolt if they experience too much cold this time of year. You don’t want to let your soil simply go fallow though, some quick crops are what you need so you can enjoy delicious food from your garden while you wait for summer to arrive. A few great options for quick crops: cilantro, lettuce, spinach, mustard, arugula and other greens. My garden was divided into four squares and I planted four different greens. These should germinate fairly quickly in this cool weather and be ready for harvest before the end of May when it’s time to plant tomatoes.
Before I planted my lettuces I added a generous helping of compost on top of the soil. I don’t bother working it in as some people do, I find that the earthworms do a fine job of doing that for me. I don’t like to work the soil if I don’t have to. As you can see, the soil level had settled a bit and my raised bed was only about half full. After adding 2-3 inches of compost it’s getting better. Before I plant my warm season crops I’ll add another layer of compost and hopefully it will be nearly full by then.
You can be I’ll be keeping an eagle eye on this garden watching for any signs of life. I can’t wait to see how it grows this coming season.
What’s your favorite cool season vegetable?
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Spring in His Step
Someone is very happy that spring has finally arrived. Dexter has been scampering around the garden having a good time. He goes out in the winter, but doesn’t stay out nearly as long as he does in the spring. You can tell he’s happy, he runs around the garden following me wherever I go.
I know exactly how he feels – do you?
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Use What You Have
It’s sugaring season, that means my days and nights are filled with sap gathering and boiling. Since I have hot sap at hand, I use it to make my tea.
There’s no use in using more energy to boil water when I have something that makes a mighty fine cup of tea. Last night I enjoyed a delicious cup of Honeyroo tea – one of my favorites!
What’s your favorite kind of tea?
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Quote of the Day: Robert Burns
“The snowdrop and primrose our woodlands adorn, and violets bathe in the wet o’ the morn.”
Robert Burns
I almost missed these lovelies last week because I was so busy sugaring. So thankful to see a little bloom in the garden. I also have Johnny Jumpups blooming in the back potager – I think spring has finally arrived!
What’s blooming in your garden?
