It was a day filled with small wonders– a walk on main street, planting seeds for the new garden, a quick trip to Blackberry Cottage for wood ash for the new potting soil. While Mike scooped the ash from the fire-place, I cut bundles of mint from beside the creek. Later we carefully planted vegetable seeds in one of our new trays. –MJH.
Fordbook Giant
Expected germination: 4-10 days
Expected harvest: 55 days
9 cells of 2 seeds each.
Started 05/04 in potting soil.
Increased moisture 05/13.
Germinated 05/16-05/20, 10 of 18 (56%).
None survived the earwig attack.
Harvest: None
Purple Top, White Globe
Expected germination: 7-10 days
Expected harvest: 55 days
9 cells of 2 seeds each.
Started 05/04 in potting soil.
Increased moisture 05/13.
None germinated due in part to insufficient moisture and possibly also due to pH.
Harvest: None
Bibb / Limestone
Expected germination: 7-10 days
Expected harvest: 57 days
9 cells of 2 seeds each.
Started 05/04 in potting soil.
Increased moisture 05/13.
None germinated due in part to insufficient moisture and possibly also due to pH.
Harvest: None
Early Snowball A
Expected germination: 8-10 days
Expected harvest: 55 days
9 cells of 1 seed each.
Started 05/04 in potting soil.
Increased moisture 05/13.
None germinated due in part to insufficient moisture and possibly also due to pH.
Harvest: None
Gourmet Green Mixture
Arugula, endive, red kale, red and green romaine, Salad Bowl and Lolla Rossa lettuce.
Expected germination: 7-10 days
Expected harvest: 40-60 days
9 cells of 2 seeds each.
Started 05/04 in potting soil.
Increased moisture 05/13.
None germinated due in part to insufficient moisture and possibly also due to pH.
Harvest: None
French Breakfast
Expected germination: 5-7 days
Expected harvest: 23 days
9 cells of 2 seeds each.
Started 05/04 in potting soil.
Increased moisture 05/13.
None germinated due in part to insufficient moisture and possibly also due to pH.
Harvest: None
Added 1/2 cup of fine white hardwood ash and 1/4 cup Miracle-Gro 15-30-15 to approx 20 qts potting soil.
pH now up from 5.5 to 6. May add more ash later but we’ll wait a while to see if there’s any delayed effect.
Mariposa lawn chemical soil test results:
| Test | Value | Meaning | Element for 300 sq ft | Fertilizer for 300 sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| pH | 6.5 | good | – | – |
| N | 0 | depleted | 4.6ozs | 21ozs 22-3-4 |
| P | 2 | adequate | – | – |
| K | 3 | sufficient | – | – |
Soil tests pH7.5 indicated by soil meter. We’re using this reading to calibrate our soil meter and to decide that the soil meter reads one pH too high.
For the small middle patch of lawn we’ll use 7ozs 22-3-4 for 100 sq ft.
For the lower triangle of lawn we’ll use 15ozs 22-3-4 for 220 sq ft.
We were unable to use the regular color pH tests on the potting soil as the liquid is very dark even when filtered. We therefore bought a pH (and moisture and light) meter from True Value for $13.29.
The pH meter seems to read 1 pH unit too high (alkaline), after comparing results with the color pH test on a different soil sample. Unless otherwise stated, all pH measurements in this blog will be of actual pH values, not indicated values.
Our potting soil indicated pH6.5, which means the pH is 5.5. We’ll need to add some lime or equivalent. We’ll also add some all-round fertilizer as we can’t measure N/P/K due to the dark color of the liquid.
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