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Sprout

Spring is here!!! Our experiment is finally underway.

The indoor starters are still inside, and looking wimpy, and the direct-sow seeds are just now coming up! The winners of the germination race are: Mulato Isleno Pepper, Bullnose Bell Pepper, Indigo Rose Tomato, Golden Bantam Sweet Corn, and Yin Yang Bean. In a close second were Cuore Di Bue Tomato, Black Beauty Zucchini, and Romano Purpiat Bush Bean.

We are very excited these are all coming up so early, the seed packets say not to put them out until soil temperatures reach 70-80° Fahrenheit. It’s still getting as low as 40° at night, but we are trusting the seeds to decide for themselves when to come up. I suspect the suntrap shape of our berm and heavy mulch have contributed to the early sproutings.

The Raised Bed is already rocking out also; we should be able to harvest some greens shortly! I just hope the summer doesn't come too quickly and make them bolt. We are growing Green Cabbage, Red Cabbage, 2 types of Beets, Kale, Spinach, Collard Greens, Mixed Mustard Greens, Kohlrabi, Daikon Radish, and 2 types of Romaine Lettuce. It will be fairly crowded, but we found last year that this cut down on weeds and maximized soil moisture retention.