How To’s and Short Stuff

Things got away from me this week so the transplants had to ride around in the car for a while until they got into the ground. I went to the allotment at 7:30pm one day - I always end up working until the edge of dark. It takes me an hour to plant out a tray. There’s an older couple that has a nearby plot. And I’ve noticed that whenever I stay till dark they sit in their car until I leave. They’re so sweet. I need to curb my ways lol.

So how do I flip a bed after it’s grown a crop (i.e. prep it for another planting)? What I’ve been doing with sunflowers this year is: I pull up any leftover plant matter, sprinkle organic fertilizer, and rake it in. Sometimes I water it if no rain is coming – to start the breaking-down process of the fertilizer. Then I pull the plastic bed-cover from another bed and affix it to the new one. This way I’m able to reuse the plastic sheeting. (I lift the plastic from old beds when the plants are big enough to shade the ground but small enough for the heads to still fit through the holes).

I also put up some flower-support netting over a newer bed of zinnias and basil. How do I do this? I place 4 stakes at the corners of the bed then stretch the netting out and hook the edges around the stakes so that the netting is taut. When you open a pack of netting it can be difficult trying to cut it to the size you want. But it’s helpful to remember that the netting is divided into 6 inch squares. Every 2 squares is 1 ft long. So you can just count the squares to figure out where to cut. My beds are 30 inches wide. So I count 5 squares and make my cut. Keep in mind though that you’ll need to stretch it for it to be taut. So when it was stretched only 4 squares covered the width of my bed. But I was happy with that.

This is the first week I’ll be harvesting Procut Plum sunflowers. I’m very excited to see what they look like. Interestingly, they are taking a bit longer to open than the Orange or Gold Lite.

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you’ll know that something I’ve encountered this week is shockingly short stems. The bed I’m harvesting has many stems around 18 inches tall – and they’re blooming! Next week’s harvest is even shorter. Thankfully I can still work with that for bouquets but I wouldn’t be able to sell them to florists. It would be too inconsistent. In the end I’ve decided that it’s because of the amount of sunlight they’re getting. As I’ve mentioned before, my plot is very shaded. So even though Procuts are daylength neutral, their size will be affected. Granted, the first succession of flowers that grew in these beds were at least twice that size. And when I prepped them for a 2nd planting they got fertilizer AND compost. But as the year has progressed perhaps the light intensity has lessened? Or maybe the surrounding trees have blocked out even more light. It’s not ideal but I’d rather learn these lessons on a small scale.

My fall seed-starting is coming along. As I look on Accuweather right now it’s telling me that my first 34 degree night is on October 26th. This is just an estimate but it gives me an idea of how much time I have. The seeds I started last week will grow inside for 5 more weeks then they’ll go into the ground and get established before the first 32 degree night arrives. The thing with gardening in a 4 season climate is that you have to do a lot of checking and estimating, but you get used to it after a while.

I was dismayed to find that the temp in my closet (my growing chamber) stays between 75-80 degrees most of the time. But thankfully some of my seeds have germinated. I’ll have to figure out what to do with the ones that need it cooler. The Rudbeckia is up, the Feverfew, Honeywort, Salvia and Sweet William. I’ll keep you posted about the rest of them.

Have you started any seeds? See my last 2 posts for some tips if you haven’t! Get on the cool-weather flower train!

Till next time!

Toodles!

Kerri.

PS – if you’re not already, follow me on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with the farm! (@lovelyrainflowerfarmmd) And tag me to share what’s going on in your garden.