Well here I go again. Just when you think you have things under control, WHAM!!! You don’t even know what hit you. Ya, it was that kind of week for me. But like I’ve said before, you get UP, dust yourself off, and try again. That, that we are now registered as an Incorporated Non Profit Society is opening up doors that otherwise would not be available to us. But knowing that, in everything there is a price to pay. Now I don’t mean money, I mean hours and hours of computer work. When the sun is warming the air, the sky is blue, birds are singing their PRAISES and I have to be indoors doing paper work, well today is (Computer Work). Now REALLY who in their right mind wants to be stuck doing desk work. No matter how we look at it, IT has to get done. So the majority of my week was spent indoors in front of this screen or on the phone.
But, But, But, I got to pick my FIRST Lettuce, Spinach, and Radishes from our Test greenhouse. If you recall, I planted in WIDE box form in the greenhouse to see how the Wide Row Growing would fare out. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, it. Like anything in life, you can’t expect to tell someone else to do something, if you haven’t DONE it yourself. In fact there is a lady that lives about 10 miles from me that plants in WIDE Squares. Or is also known as One Foot by One Foot Growing. She gave me some of her OWN Kale seed to try. Which I’ve started in the Test greenhouse, and found out that Kale has DEEP LONG roots that go down to China. So I have to keep adding soil to my Test growing forms. Honestly, this year is ALOT of testing, using new programs on the computer, opportunities from business I have NO clue about and still trying to get my gardens planted to get a LARGE yield of produce to provide for those that otherwise would NEVER get. No one said IT was going to be EASY. So I PERSERVERED, like an old Mule that will NOT give up. Just TRY, TRY, and TRY again. Like that little baby learning to walk. What would happen if that baby would NOT get up the first time he or she fell? NO, they get UP, walk a little, fall and get up again, and again, and again. You know we can learn ALOT by watching children.
Anyway back to Growing in Wide Rows. I think I left off last time at keeping the seedbeds moist. The next step I’ll explain is,
#12 Planting many plants in Wide Rows. What Dick Raymond found was that Wide Row Growing was NOT just for Vegetables seeded directly in the garden. But he used his seedlings from the greenhouse and did the same with Head Lettuce, Cabbage, Cauliflower, and Broccoli. What he found was Wide Rows yielded MORE usable produce and gave a longer harvest than single rows. Now when it comes to spacing, most would say 18 to 24 inches apart for Cabbage. But what he did was spaced them only 10 inches apart, and he was able to harvest some heads that were smaller perfect for table size. Now for spacing them. Start with two cabbages on opposite edges of your RAKE width row, which is 20 inches wide. Then plant one in the MIDDLE of those two and you got 10 inches apart, how EASY is that? Then the second row of seedlings are only two plants, having them about 5 inches from the edge planted. So you alternate, three plants, two plants and so on till your Wide Row is completed. Just know that CLOSE planting has MANY advantages. You start harvesting as soon as some are big enough to eat. This frees up space, water, and plant food for the SLOWER plants next to them. Crops DON’T all mature at the same time. This is what stretches out the growing season. And you can leave as many of the well-SPACED OUT ones for FULL size cabbages. With the Cauliflower it’s nice to use some of the tender creamy white heads before the warm weather hits and causes the quality to drop a little. For the Head Lettuce, harvest them before they make firm heads. They’re delicious and their dark green leaves are LOADED with vitamins.
Every week is getting more and more exciting to share ALL the NEW findings that come my way. So you ALL come back now, and see what DIRT I get into next week.
Deborah’s Buzz Blog
Singing out as
Blessed to be a Blessing
But, But, But, I got to pick my FIRST Lettuce, Spinach, and Radishes from our Test greenhouse. If you recall, I planted in WIDE box form in the greenhouse to see how the Wide Row Growing would fare out. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, it. Like anything in life, you can’t expect to tell someone else to do something, if you haven’t DONE it yourself. In fact there is a lady that lives about 10 miles from me that plants in WIDE Squares. Or is also known as One Foot by One Foot Growing. She gave me some of her OWN Kale seed to try. Which I’ve started in the Test greenhouse, and found out that Kale has DEEP LONG roots that go down to China. So I have to keep adding soil to my Test growing forms. Honestly, this year is ALOT of testing, using new programs on the computer, opportunities from business I have NO clue about and still trying to get my gardens planted to get a LARGE yield of produce to provide for those that otherwise would NEVER get. No one said IT was going to be EASY. So I PERSERVERED, like an old Mule that will NOT give up. Just TRY, TRY, and TRY again. Like that little baby learning to walk. What would happen if that baby would NOT get up the first time he or she fell? NO, they get UP, walk a little, fall and get up again, and again, and again. You know we can learn ALOT by watching children.
Anyway back to Growing in Wide Rows. I think I left off last time at keeping the seedbeds moist. The next step I’ll explain is,
#12 Planting many plants in Wide Rows. What Dick Raymond found was that Wide Row Growing was NOT just for Vegetables seeded directly in the garden. But he used his seedlings from the greenhouse and did the same with Head Lettuce, Cabbage, Cauliflower, and Broccoli. What he found was Wide Rows yielded MORE usable produce and gave a longer harvest than single rows. Now when it comes to spacing, most would say 18 to 24 inches apart for Cabbage. But what he did was spaced them only 10 inches apart, and he was able to harvest some heads that were smaller perfect for table size. Now for spacing them. Start with two cabbages on opposite edges of your RAKE width row, which is 20 inches wide. Then plant one in the MIDDLE of those two and you got 10 inches apart, how EASY is that? Then the second row of seedlings are only two plants, having them about 5 inches from the edge planted. So you alternate, three plants, two plants and so on till your Wide Row is completed. Just know that CLOSE planting has MANY advantages. You start harvesting as soon as some are big enough to eat. This frees up space, water, and plant food for the SLOWER plants next to them. Crops DON’T all mature at the same time. This is what stretches out the growing season. And you can leave as many of the well-SPACED OUT ones for FULL size cabbages. With the Cauliflower it’s nice to use some of the tender creamy white heads before the warm weather hits and causes the quality to drop a little. For the Head Lettuce, harvest them before they make firm heads. They’re delicious and their dark green leaves are LOADED with vitamins.
Every week is getting more and more exciting to share ALL the NEW findings that come my way. So you ALL come back now, and see what DIRT I get into next week.
Deborah’s Buzz Blog
Singing out as
Blessed to be a Blessing