Two Feet in the Dirt

We’re just back from a trip to California that really put us in the spring spirit. After seeing gardens filled with full-sized lettuce and chard, all I wanted to do was start planting! I had thought our trip was perfectly planned. We’d be able to get early spring crops like onions, spring mix, and kale into the ground before leaving and come back to an already growing garden. But winter storm “Stella” really threw a wrench in the plan and instead of leaving an already-planted garden, we left a snow-covered one and had to wait for our return to get the season going. 

Still, we’ve been making the most of the lovely weather since we arrived home this past weekend and have already gotten a slew of crops in the ground ahead of the forecast rain. So far, I’ve seeded carrots, kale, and spring mix and planted kale, lettuce, bok choi, cabbage, and onion seedlings. And of course we’re still enjoying a wonderful harvest of the spinach that has been in the ground all winter. I finally took the row cover off of the spinach as it is a cool weather crop, so as temperatures rise in the spring it no longer requires the added heat provided by the row cover. Instead, the cover could have the opposite effect and cause the spinach to go to seed due to excess heat. 

Of course, with the first planting always comes those first worries of the season as the weeds and pests begin to appear. Last year, I lost the entire spring broccoli planting to what I assume was cutworms- little nocturnal insects that annihilated the plants. I planted this year’s kale seedlings only yesterday, but am already seeing some damage to the leaves despite the fact that the plants are under row cover. This leads me to believe that cutworms, which live in the soil during the day and hence are already under the row cover, are the culprits again. After the coming rain, I plan to apply some Bacillus thuringiensis to the plants. This little microbe is a natural way to combat soft-bodied insects as it damages their gut, but has absolutely no impact on humans or other animals with acidic digestive systems. If that doesn’t work, I may end up doing some night scouting in the garden. I was willing to lose the broccoli crop, but kale is a different story!