February 26, 2009 Snow again ??

February 26, 2009

Well- it snowed again last night. But some spring flowers and my little soil thermometer shows me that spring is approaching.
Last week I had a talk with  Frankie, the Food Box Coordinator for Multnomah Neighborhood house, about what fresh produce he would like to see donated this growing season. He stated any kind of crop was fine as long as they were in good edible condition. Now, here is the amazing thing- he even said zucchini would be welcome- Wow !
Let’s get those gardens growing and feed some people.

The soil temperature is hovering around 45 degrees about 4 inches deep in my front yard but is about 43 degrees at church by the playground. The recent rains and snow have gotten the soil too wet to work so some of us now need to wait a bit longer for more drying before working up our garden soil.

But for those of you that have well drained soil, you could think about sowing directly outdoors the following:
Peas, fava beans, arugula, radish, garlic, shallots, onion sets, parsley (takes a long time to germinate), cilantro, broccoli, greens, beets, spinach, chard, New Zealand spinach
*Be sure to check the seed catalogs for characteristic of  the variety of seed you choose. Some have been developed for growing in the variable weather of our springtime here in the Northwest.

If you have  a cold frame, unheated greenhouse or row covers, the following could be grown:
Parsley, carrots, greens, kale, kohlrabi, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, beets, spinach, chard, lettuce, endive

Plants to consider starting indoors in flats with protection:
Parsley, cilantro, celery, celeriac, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, greens, leeks, onion seedlings, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, mint family herbs.
* Contact me if you need flats or pots I have a limited supply of used ones. You will need to sterilize them ( wash with bleach solution).

Depending on if, you have starts, your microclimate and/or how you might plan to protect early transplants, you could transplant the following outside after March 15th :
Parsley, cilantro, broccoli, kale, greens, lettuce.

Sources:
Unpublished document by Weston Miller, OSU extension service Community and Urban Horticulturist
Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades by Steve Solomon
The Maritime Northwest Garden Guide produced by Seattle Tilth
Territorial Seed Catalog- Spring 2009

I have found the following books a good resource for  growing crops and transplants:
* Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades by Steve Solomon
* The Maritime Northwest Garden Guide produced by Seattle Tilth

If you have vegetable gardening questions about starting plants, when to transplant, how to prepare your gardens feel free to contact me.  If enough people are interested, I would be willing to host a short seminar at church on how to start veggies based on my experience and hopefully other people who may be willing to share their experience with starting transplants could come too.

Feel free to contact me also about insights or directions to point you towards for the latest research-based information from Oregon State University extension service for questions about other aspects of your home landscape.
 I encourage you to take a look at  the Oregon State University Extension website. It is full of good gardening information.
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening ( this link will take you off the church's website)