Another round of seed starting

We planted one new speedling tray of seeds this afternoon - that is 72 potential new plants. It includes three rows (18 plants) of Crimson Forest scallions, three rows (18 plants) of Purple Peacock broccoli, two rows (12 plants) of White Russian kale, two rows (12 plants) of Georgia collards, and two rows (12 plants) of Mild Kingdom Mustard Greens Mix. All seeds are packets from Bountiful Gardens in Willits, CA ( http://www.bountifulgardens.org/).

We filled the trays with our homemade planting mix; we got the recipe several years ago from the Zen Monastery Peace Center next door and I believe they got it from Eric and Christine Taylor, our wonderful organic growers here in the Murphys area. Here is the recipe for one batch: 2 gallons of vermiculite, 2 gallons of peat moss (we will be looking for alternatives to this since peat is an endangered resource on our planet), 1 quart of compost, 2 cups of alfalfa meal or cottonseed meal, 1/4 cup rock phosphate, 2 tablespoons of lime powder, 2 tablespoons of kelp powder, and 1/4 cup of greensand. All of this is mixed and thoroughly made wet, so that it holds together if you pick it up and squeeze it in your hand (not so much that water drips out when you squeeze).

It is always so amazing that a tiny, black seed will yield an enormous plant of leaves, or leaves and fruit, in an incredibly short time. We are currently growing even more lettuce than we can eat, and we have been eating our own kale and chard for months. We actually seem to be having some success for the first time with a kind of broccoli called DiCiccio and a Bountiful Gardens cabbage mix. The broccoli is flowering and the cabbage leaves look like they could be beginning to form heads. And this is in February! We live in such a wonderful place for winter growing. However, our hot, dry summers make gardening in that season quite a challenge.

Today we will actually clear the remains of one bed of lettuce that for some reason attraced aphids. They also got into the older kale patch; I have never seen such a crust of little green bugs on a leaf! When we dig up these infested plants, we walk them some ways down our little road and toss them off the side well away from the garden. So far, the other beds show no sign of these bugs. I'm concerned that when the plants that are currently hosting them are gone, they may move into another bed. Where did they come from??

As we remove beds that are finished with their current crop we are covering the bed with large sheets of cardboard and putting compost on top of the cardboard. We are told, by Eric Taylor, that putting down the cardboard will do two thihgs: discourage weeds while the beds lie vacant and that as they decompose they will draw worms. We'll see!