Long overdue carrot update

Time for a final update on the carrots, and I think the picture of my plot will speak for itself.

The carrot on the left (can you see it?) was not started with any of my original methods, but a hybrid where I soaked the seeds overnight and then put them under plywood until they started emerging. At the time those seeds were added, I had already put iron phosphate slug poison and the beer trap in place, so they were well protected from predation, yet still only one remains.

All the empty area? That is where I put all the plywood protected and presoaked seeds. A few did come up, but were weak, and didn't last long.

Finally, there is the 1/3rd of the plot filled with happy, growing carrots. Those are the ones I started in soil cubes inside and didn't put out until they had a couple days of growth. Not every seed germinated, and there have been a couple losses, but out of 120 seeds, I have nearly 100 plants.

So yeah, we have a winner.

Now, it has been pointed out to me that there are variables not accounted for here, such as soil temperature, and it is most certainly true that people who are not me are able to grow carrots by seeding them outdoors.
But, here is what I know: My little cube carrots are succeeding where all my other attempts failed spectacularly. They were certainly more work to make the little cubes, seed them individually, transfer them into a furrow and pack dirt back around them. However, since I only have plans to grow a few hundred carrots at a time, the effort is well within reason. All in all, it just goes to show what an awesome difference giving plants a bit of a head start inside can make.

Carrot Update 2: Where have all my seeds gone?

Time for a second update in the carrot germination experiment.
Checking carefully under the plywood cover out in the garden, I finally found a single confirmed sprouted seed. It was rather difficult however, seeing as very few seeds are still visible on the ground...

That is right, the majority of my seeds have vanished. Poof, gone! A few of the remaining seeds have visible damage, so I have my suspicions. One thing is for sure, the warm, moist, protected environment under the plywood has certainly created a miniature ecosystem teeming with life. Pill bugs, ants, centipedes, springtails and baby slugs cover the soil.

And here I thought I could deal with germination first, and pests after, but it seems they might be the same issue. Time to set out some slug traps!

The culprits?

Carrot Update 1

The publishing of my last post got delayed a bit, so you get an extra bonus: immediate updates!

Update 1, we have a tie in the germination speed category. Both the jar and soil blocks sprouted on the fourth day, though the ones in the jar have a higher percentage. No activity in the plywood covered bed yet, but the soil has maintained a very nice moisture level under the cover.

Seeds. In a jar. Now with roots.

Of carrots and germination

Confession time: I'm awful at growing carrots.
Not that the carrots I grow are bad, mind you. They tend to be well shaped and super tasty. The problem is that by the time they are ready for harvest, less than 5% of the seeds planted have made it to maturity.
For a plant that requires only 4-9 square inches for itself, harvesting only a handful from a 25 square foot bed is really sad.

The two major problems seem to be poor germination, and very slow growing plants that are highly susceptible to pests. A single hungry slug can wipe out dozens of carrot seedlings, and my carrots seem to stay in seedling stage for ages, just asking to be eaten.

I aim to solve these issues this year, I want my plot full of carrots! That means it is time for experiments...

Germination Tests:
It seems I can't do much about slow growth until I have something growing to experiment on. So first, we shall turn our attention to germination. Using three different sprouting methods, I planted approximately 120 seeds each, and we will see if any of them are effective in getting a good stand of healthy plants started.

Sowing in the Dirt:
The seemingly most obvious method for starting seed is to sow them in furrows and cover with a bit of soil. After all, that is how seeds are planted right? Well, that method has failed so many times for me, I'm not going to bother.

I am trying however, a method I've read about. The seeds were placed directly onto moist soil in rows and covered with plywood. According to the infinite wisdom of the internet, this will retain heat and moisture and make an optimal environment for sprouting.

I'm really hoping this method works well, as it was quite easy.

As if sowing seeds needed a picture

Nothing says "classy" like a hunk of plywood sitting in your garden

Soaked in a Jar:
Just like back in elementary school with beans, I soaked some seed overnight, drained and am letting them sit in the humid environment of the jar. Once the seeds sprout, they will get dropped onto moistened soil.

If the sprouted seeds don't stick together and can be used in my little seed planter device, this method should be pretty simple as well. If the sprouts stick together however, this could be quite a pain.

Seeds. In jar. With water.

Soil Blocks:
The third method is sprouting in micro soil blocks, and planting outside once the plants get going a bit.
This is certainly the most labor intensive, the blocks must be made, trenches dug, plants transplanted and backfilled. But if it works, it may well be worth it.

Cubirific!

Here we go, experiment time! Check back for updates.

The Flavor of Science

[This is a follow up to my previous post: Soil Remineralization. If you haven't read it, or need a refresher, go ahead and do that now, I can wait.]

Now that you are back, let's move on.

We (you readers and I) previously established that modifying the soils mineral makeup had definitely improved the tilth of the soil, and very likely improved plant health and vigor. That is all well and good, but I am growing food to eat, not ornamentals to look at, and while a soft spongy ground certainly makes hoeing easier, it is not an end unto itself.

So the question remains, how do the plants taste? Has the modified mineral profile actually effected flavor or texture of the plants?

To put this question to the test, I conscripted Mrs. Backyard Farmer and her superior taste buds for a blind taste test. Together we stood around munching raw leaves of spinach from three identical bowls, discussing each groups saveur. It was a lot of fun.

Mmmm, science!

So, to finally answer the question: yes. As in, yes the spinach from the remineralized plot was distinctly superior. The other spinach was good, the remineralized spinach was great. The flavors were stronger, more complex, and included a sweetness missing from the others. The texture was improved as well, the leaves both thicker and juicier. It easily may have been the best spinach I've ever had.

So there you have it, the bottom line is pretty simple. Take care of your soil, grow better plants.

Soil Remineralization

If you were following my Facebook feed last year, you know I am really interested in the idea of soil remineralization, as written about in Steve Solomon's The Intelligent Gardener. It might sound a bit intimidating, but really it is just a fancy term for testing your soil (which you are already in the habit of, right?) and customizing your fertilization based on the results, with the promised results of healthier, more disease and insect resistant plants. Plus, you get to fill out worksheets, and everybody likes worksheets, right?

Confession: I really do enjoy filling out worksheets.

So, last fall I started a little experiment with spinach to test the theory. Let's take a look at what happened.

Here is our first plot, in non-remineralized soil. Not too shabby for plants that have suffered through the winter. This plot actually has the largest plants, but it also got a significant head start on the other two.

Plot two, also ixnay on the emineralizationrey. Plants are much smaller, but were also planted later than plot one. (Oh how I wish I had jotted down the actual start dates, and could supply more than the vaguest of timelines)

And we finally come to plot three, the one that actually did receive the additional fertilizers. These plants have almost caught up in size to plot one, and are the healthiest of the bunch. Score! In addition, the soil in this plot has a much improved tilth, soft and spongy compared to the rest of the garden's solid clay. Thank you gypsum!

In summation: this test actually wasn't nearly scientific enough to gather any real results. In theory, all the plants had access to the same levels of macronutrients, and the only real difference was levels of micros and calcium in the soil. Of course without actually testing the soil plot by plot, plus taking into effect light levels, wind patterns, soil temps, yadda yadda yadda....

What I do know is that the results are close enough to what I want them to be to go all in with this process. The upsides are big, the downsides are small, and plus, I already bought all the ingredients.

Soon comes the fun part, the taste test. It will happen as soon as I can shake my current head cold long enough to actually taste anything.

Overwintered lettuce?

Last year was a bounty of lettuce. Thanks to my phones magical ability to remind me, I started new seeds every three weeks, without fail. Once the weather got too cold for the lettuce to grow, I just left the final seedlings in place, hoping they would survive the winter under cover.

Once it became clear I wasn't going to get around to covering the gardens in a timely manner, I expected they would die off first freeze.

Once they survived the first freeze and were still kicking, I figured they would surely die during the extended freezes, or the garden flooding, or being buried in snow for days. Granted,  none of which would have been an issue if the garden had been covered.

Well, here we are in March, and the majority of the lettuce has not only survived, but grown into small plants ready to fill out into full size heads in short order.

Hard to Kill, these lettuce Die Hard. 

So, what was the magic trick? I really can't say, it could have been any number of factors. Soil samples show that I have adequate levels of all the macro nutrients, the lettuce was certainly placed out at the right age, and despite harsh conditions through the winter, the sun also came out more than usual.

The variable I am most interested in though, is the kelp meal foliar spray I gave the plants this year. Kelp is supposed to provide the plants a ton of micronutrients, and also plant hormones that supposedly help them weather tough conditions and freezing.

Now normally, talk about plant hormones triggers my BS meter as yet another nonsensical claim that the gardening world is rife with, but it seems this one may have some merit. Hopefully I'll have the chance to do some further testing someday, set up a control group, etc.

For now, all I know is that I will be eating lettuce before I normally put out seeds.

The garden, finally covered just in time for late spring.