Planting time is here!

The renovated mudroom

With the arrival of Spring, the rhythm of my days changes dramatically. Actually, the change begins several weeks before the chronological arrival of Spring. Let me explain. When I began to be more involved in the planning of the abbey’s vegetable garden back in the mid-eighties, I began experimenting with starting some plants from seed. Before then, we usually purchased our plants from a garden center. These would be the plants that cannot be direct seeded here in New Jersey, such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and delicate herbs like basil. That was perfectly adequate, but one was always at the mercy of what one could find. In order to get more control over the varieties I wanted, I realized that starting the plants from seed was the way to go. With the guidance of Nancy Bubel’s excellent “Seed Starters Handbook”, I rigged up an improvised growing system in the abbey’s mudroom in the basement. I don’t remember all that much about what it was like, other than it involved an old fluorescent shop light. What I do remember very well however, was using our old, abandoned VW van as a makeshift greenhouse! As the years went on, I perfected my seed-starting technique and I now grow about 50% of the garden plants from seed. This year, I am blessed to be starting my seeds in our newly renovated mudroom with a professional grow cart and a new counter top sink and work space. It’s a gardener’s heaven.

Seedlings on the Grow-Cart

Seedlings, if you don’t know, are like pets. They require a certain amount of attention each day. Once the seeds have sprouted they are very delicate; one has to be extremely careful that they don’t dry out. This involves both adding water to the container when necessary and misting them. I typically check on the seedlings twice a day: once after morning prayers and then after Compline in the evening. If I am in the area, I will peek in on them during the day as well.  Another factor is light. Even on a professional grow cart, the lights burn more brightly in the center of the tube and the young plans strain to get as much light as possible. They naturally grow towards where the light is brightest, so they need to be rotated regularly, especially when they are very young. Then, once they have two full sets of leaves, they need to be transplanted into individual pots. This is where the work begins to intensify. Despite my best efforts to stagger my planting, I always seem to have more plants that should be moving into their own “homes” than I have time. That point is fast approaching. I’m hoping that this year will be better!

Onions planted in the garden

In my last post, I wrote about how Spring seemed to be delayed because of the early March snow and cold spell. Well, if March came in like a lion, it definitely went out like a lamb. The last 10 days of March were uncharacteristically dry. It was not particularly warm, but it was sunny and windy. As a result, I have been able to get into the actual garden much earlier than usual. With the help of my trusty roto-tiller, I have opened up about ten rows in the ground already. I am particularly happy that I have been able to till a few rows at the bottom of the garden, the part that is the wettest. It is the ideal spot for many spring crops like onions, beets, turnips and radishes. Most years, however, it remains too wet to work in until May. I’m keeping my fingers crossed, but if the weather continues to cooperate, we should have a nice harvest of vegetables earlier than usual. As an experienced gardener, however, I know that that is a big ‘if’. So far, I have planted in the ground: snow peas; fava beans, radishes, beets, lettuce, kohlrabi, Swiss chard, turnips and red torpedo onions. I have about 6 dozen parsley plants that I started from seed along with an equal number of chicory (dandelion) plants. They are just about ready to go outside. They just need a few more days of toughening up. I hope to have them in the ground by the weekend.