One Seed Chicago

I voted on One Seed Chicago a while back.  From their website:

Each year One Seed Chicago selects one plant to be the focus of a season-long celebration. Imagine thousands of the same vegetable or flower linking community gardens, yards and window sills across the City! As One Book, One Chicago is to reading, One Seed Chicago is to urban greening.

I didn’t vote for the Blue Lake Pole bean (I think I went corn, but it’s been a while).  Anyway, I will grow it in the spirit of One Seed Chicago.  It felt like magic seeds when they showed up in the mail yesterday.

They will go in the ground this week and I’ll try to highlight the beans seperately to showcase One Seed Chicago.

Related articles:

1. Planted: Greasy Grits Beans
2. Planted: Stowell’s Evergreen Corn
3. Planted: European Mesclun Salad

Tomato Seedlings going in the ground, April 24, 2009

The tomato plants started just over a month ago from seed indoors under a grow light.  Pictured above, the seedlings are a little tormented from the trip under the warm grow lights to the outdoors.  I’ve let them out during the day to start to acclimate to the cold weather over the past week, but today is going to be a rough day.

From above, the seedlings are about 4 to 6 inches tall.  When you transplant them, you want only the top set of leaves above the ground.  The rest of the stalk so far goes in the soil to help create a strong stem for the tomatoes to grow on.

Tomato Plant just planted in the ground, April 24, 2009

Above, the plant is almost completely in the ground except for those top leaves.  Also at the same time, I put the tomato plant supports in the ground.  That way I won’t damage the roots if I were to put it in the ground in a few weeks when the plant really needs it.

The little guy is a bit sad after moving from the warm heat lamps to the relatively cold outdoors.  The next 5 days, the plants should get plenty of rain and warmer spring nights to give them a good start on their way to blooming.

I’m planting 9 different varieties of tomatoes this year.  I’ll post about each variety in the coming days.

Related articles:

1. Upside Down Tomato
2. Transplanted: Mule Team Tomato
3. Spring Preparations

I think people forget why April showers bring May flowers.  This weekend was a great example — Saturday was a great day to work in the garden.  Since then, we’ve had 2 great days of rain — .9 inches on Sunday and .16 on Monday.  That’s a full inch of rain.  With freshly planted seeds in the ground, the rain will keep the seeds moist and encourage the seeds to sprout.

Among many vegetables in the ground on this Saturday was Swiss Chard.  I’ve become a big fan of swiss chard after growing it.  It’s another real easy vegetable to grow.  Also called silverbeet, the leaves have a hint of beet flavor to them (they are in the same family as the beet).  Sauteed, chard tastes much like spinach.

The picture below shows the plants much further apart then I’ve planted them.  Since I’m using the square foot gardening principles, it will be grown tightly.  I plan to cut some leaves early for baby chard and let others grow out.  I’ve found chard doesn’t get bitter or change taste too much as it grows, so there is no need cut it too early.

Here is the description of the variety I’m growing:

Red Chard growing in the garden of Slow Food Nation, Photo by mercedesfromtheeighties

Five Color Silverbeet (Rainbow Chard)
60 days. A beautiful chard, its colors are brilliant (pink, yellow, orange, red and white). This chard originated in Australia. Very mild, ornamental, and tasty. Great for market growers and specialty markets. Pretty enough to plant in the flower garden, so delicious, one of our favorite greens! (Sold in stores as “Bright Lights”)

Related articles:

1. Live from the Farm: Swiss Chard
2. Live from the Farm: Water Logged Chard
3. On the Farm, June 19, 2009

In the ground on Friday went Carrots.  This is the first vegetable I’ve planted that actually goes in the ground (radishes do, but only an inch or two).  The hope is that the carrots will grow about a 4 to 6 inch root at the very least (yes, you actually eat the root of the plant).  So you have to be very careful that you can grow down deep.  See how easy it is to dig about 12 inches into the ground.  If it gets really hard really quickly, the carrot is going to hit the same wall and stop growing.  You really want to work your soil to allow the carrot to grow nice and easy.

If your dirt is ok, then you’re not likely to encounter any other troubles.  Space them appropriately and watch them grow.  What I’m planting this year, St Valery, matures in about 2 months.  I like to plant a few carrots every 2 weeks to make sure I have carrots all season.  They’ll make it all the way until the fall frost (you can overwinter carrots, but I’m not thinking winter yet).

As I’ve mentioned before, I look for heirlooms and in particular with this carrot, really old ones.  Check out two different descriptions for this carrot.  Both from 1885 and but from two different continents.

Baker Creek: The Vilmorins of France mentioned this variety in 1885 and said it had been grown a “long time” then. A large handsome variety with bright red-orange roots; smooth, 10″-12″ long & 2″-3″ in diameter. Sweet & tender. Rare. Our favorite!

Cherry Gal: ST VALERY CARROT was marketed as early as 1885 by the James Vick & Son Company of Rochester New York. Very desirable for private gardens  and very productive. Roots are 8-10″ long, fine-grained, sweet and excellent for storage. 50-80 days. 50 seeds.

If you’ve never heard of Vilmorins, check out their website or click on the image above to see some of their classic catalogs.

Related articles:

1. In the Ground: Swiss Chard
2. A Growing Farm, May 27, 2009
3. Happy Friday on the Farm

I am on hiatus from my real job today (i.e. vacation day) to enjoy the good weather and proper timing to plant carrots, swiss chard, and some early growing herbs.

Look for many pictures and more background on what is going in the ground this weekend.  I’m off to dig!

Related articles:

1. Happy Friday!
2. Square Foot Gardening
3. In the Ground: Swiss Chard

This is my fourth year urban farming and while I might make it look good today, I’ve definitely had a fair bit of trail and error along the way.  Living in Chicago, the growing season isn’t long enough to satisfy my urge.  It’s usually November and December before I’m ready to get seeds back in the ground.

Seed catalogs — more on those tomorrow — come in December and January and I usually make my first purchases shortly thereafter.  With the seeds in my hands by February 1st, it’s easy to start growing right away.

A few years ago, I planted tomato seeds in the seedstarters around February 1st.  By March 1st, they are outgrowing the 2″ square pot and ready to stretch out.  First, please don’t plant in the ground until the ground and the weather is good and ready.  I hate losing 6 weeks of work to putting the tomatoes in the ground too early.

My recommendation is to give them the room they need but keep them inside.  While I’m not a fan of plastic cups (for environment reasons), they do make a good mini pot for tomato starts.  It will also give them another 2 to 3 weeks to grow inside.

If you’re using a “growing medium” (I use this mix), you’ll need to add some real dirt and some tomato fertilizer to keep the tomatoes happy.  For tomatoes throughout the growing season, I use Gardeners.com Organic Tomato Fertilizer.  Transplant them to the cups and they’ll do fine until you can get them outdoors.  Crisis averted!

Tomato starts growing under a grow lamp, April 2009

Related articles:

1. Spring Preparations
2. It’s a tough day for a Tomato
3. Transplanted: Grandma Mary’s Paste

Square Garden Plot, April 2009

This picture was taken this morning and shows one of the square foot gardening plots moist after a good days rain (and the Cubs still got their game in — two wins!).

As I described yesterday, I’m trying square foot gardening this year.  Many of the plots do not have the squares marked with rope, but this one does.  The bottom right square is currently planted with 16 radishes about a week ago.  We should see them sprouting soon with the radishes ready to eat in early May.

Friday will be another day of planting – swiss chard among other early spring plants.

The tomato plants started inside are looking great.

Tomato Plants Inside, April 2009

The tomato plants were started a while back and can go in the ground after the last frost — which is around April 25 for Cook County.  I will probably start letting them outside to acclimate starting this Friday (I’m a nice guy — it’s going to be almost 70).

The plants are about 6 inches tall.  I hope they’ll reach 8 inches before they go in the ground.

I still have many more posts on tomatoes – varieties, growing tips, etc.  I probably spend more time with the tomatoes than any other plant in the garden.

Finally, and not to be forgotten, also growing with the tomatoes are peppers.  The peppers are looking good.  They need much more light under the grow lamp from day one to get strong.  They are about 3 inches tall right now and I will probably baby them a bit longer than the tomato plants.  Below are six sweet pepper plants in the APS seed starters.

Pepper Plants Inside, April 2009

Related articles:

1. Spring Preparations
2. It’s a tough day for a Tomato
3. Seedstarting Mistakes

Row of Swiss Chard 2008

If you haven’t look to the far right column, you’ll notice that I farm 200 square feet including walking space around the plots.  There are 8 plots in on the farm and normally I grow in short rows.  The picture to the right is a row of Rainbow Swiss Chard from last year.  Since I grow only 200 square feet, I grow pretty tightly together.

Growing tightly together and in small spaces is the mantra of Square Foot Gardening.  You understand how serious this book is when you read the background on the author:

When he created the “square foot gardening” method, Mel Bartholomew, a retired engineer and efficiency expert, found the solution to the frustrations of most gardeners.

It takes an efficiency expert to take his work home with him.

I’m a fan of growing in rows (regardless of how inefficient it is) because it looks more professional.  I may be an amateur farmer, but I want to do my best to look like the real thing.

Over the winter, I read up on Mel’s Square Foot Gardening methods and realized that in my situation, it should make life a little easier.  This year, based upon Mel’s book, I plan to utilize a good part of the garden in square foot blocks.  The spinach, radishes, peas, and lettuces are planted to the Square Foot Gardens recommended spacing.

A few notes on my use of Square Foot Gardening:

• The peas are in 4 1-sq-ft blocks along a trellis.  If you read the book, you’ll realize that square foot gardening is about spacing plants closely and managing your plants in blocks.  Not every plant can fit into a single square.  My peas will be 4 feet wide.
• My radishes will be planted in 3 1-sq-ft blocks.  One block planted every two to three weeks rotating so I’ll always have 16 radishes every 14 days.
• The lettuces and spinach were planted in 8 1-sq-ft blocks.  I plan to trim each differently.  Some will be for baby spinach/lettuces, and some will be allowed to let grow more fully.
• I grow huge tomato plants.  Regardless of the suggested trimming methods, these will likely take up more room.

Cucumbers, watermelon, herbs, and many others are soon to be in the ground.  While I know weeding will be easier, I hope it all works this year.  Many pictures and stories to come.

If you are interested in the book:

Related articles:

1. Planted: Radishes
2. On the Farm, June 6, 2009
3. Spring Status

Rocky Top is probably the least descriptive seed I’ve bought.  From Baker Creek:

Our improved blend is now better than ever!  With more brightly colored and unique lettuces, it makes a flavorful and brilliant salad.  People love the rich, old-fashioned taste.

Unfortunately, no listing of exactly what makes up Rocky Top.  Sadly, I picked it this year after my usual salad mix – Summer of Salads Mix – was discontinued.  Summer of Salads provided many, many pickings of 20 different varieties of salads throughout last summer.  This mix specifically I planted about every 2 to 3 weeks during the summer months.  While salads grow great all year long, it is important that they don’t get too much sun.  The lettuce plot is strategically located near the garage so that it gets only a bit of morning sun.

Yesterday I mentioned how I was lazy when it comes to lettuce, opting to plant directly in the ground versus transplanting.  Lettuce seeds shouldn’t be planted too deeply.  In fact, if you were growing them indoors, you would want to lay them on top of the dirt instead of in the dirt.  Outside, giving the windy Chicago springs, the seeds would blow away and I’d be staring at the ground for days wondering why my lettuce isn’t growing.  A little bit of dirt and lots of water generally keeps the seeds right where I left them.

Related articles:

1. Planted: European Mesclun Salad
2. Planted: Lincoln Peas
3. On the Farm, June 6, 2009

Lettuce Cultivars by David Shankbone, New York City

As a home farmer, growing single types of lettuce can get boring.  The fun of growing at home is growing a number of varieties that you wouldn’t necessarily buy for yourself.  This year, I’m planting two mixes of lettuces — European Mesclun Salad and Rocky Top Lettuce Salad.  I’ll talk about Rocky Top tomorrow.

European Mesclun Salad mix contains radicchio, arugula (formerly known as rocket), endive, orach, mizuna, kale, mustard, and corn salad.  I grow kale separately, but it adds variety to this salad mix.

Many people grow lettuces indoors and then transplant outside.  Primarily you’d like the warm soil to allow the lettuce to sprout — something we don’t get outside in Chicago in April.  Call me a little lazy, but I don’t mind waiting a few more days for the seeds to sprout directly in the ground.

In past years I’ve thrown seeds around in the plot to let them grow where ever they fell.  With salads, you tend to cut them at different times — early for baby leaves and later for full salad heads.  With the website and a new camera, I want to take more pictures of the vegetables throughout the season, so I’ve planted them this year in a more traditional row method.  At least I’ll be able to compare whether rows or free fall makes a difference.

Related articles:

1. Planted: Rocky Top Lettuce
2. Planted: Radishes
3. On the Farm, June 6, 2009