{"id":54,"date":"2013-04-30T17:25:00","date_gmt":"2013-04-30T17:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cocktailfarmers.com\/?p=54"},"modified":"2013-04-30T17:25:00","modified_gmt":"2013-04-30T17:25:00","slug":"end-of-april-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cocktailfarmers.com\/?p=54","title":{"rendered":"End of April report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last weekend we began putting in the root vegetable seeds – carrots, parsnips, and for the first time, beets.\u00a0 We decided to grow an heirloom mixture of seeds based on my experimentation with fresh beets in cooking this winter – our local grocer sells beets already peeled, but not canned.\u00a0 Before starting the seeds in the ground (about 4 weeks before the last date of frost) they need\u00a0 to be soaked for 8-24 hours:<\/p>\n

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They were sown, along with the carrot and parsnip seeds, in last year’s tomato bed.\u00a0 Because we built a new bed this year, we rotated all the potatoes and garlic, previously grown in bed #3, into that bed.\u00a0 Nothing’s changed from last year’s planting system – dig hole, drop potato, cover, water sparsely.\u00a0 See:<\/p>\n

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What is new this year is my selection of Adirondack blue potatoes.\u00a0 Unlike the royal purple beans we grew last year, which turned green when cooked, Adirondack blues are supposed to retain their color when cooked.\u00a0 If this is true, I might turn the entire batch into potato chips.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the seedlings are doing nicely:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Geraniums in back, coleus in front<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Eggplants – Bride and Dusky Purple<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Peppers – Green, Jalepeno & Banana<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Tomatoes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Onions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Of course, the entire operation takes up a bit of room downstairs:<\/p>\n

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This year, J started putting foam core underneath the seed trays & heating mats, and covering the entire rack with plastic to create a mini greenhouse.\u00a0 It seems to be working because we’re getting really great returns on the number of seeds that are being planted.\u00a0 <\/div>\n
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This week we are starting squash\u00a0– winter, summer, zucchini, watermelons & pumpkins.\u00a0 Those grow really fast so they don’t get started until just a few weeks before planting – and that day will be here before I know it.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last weekend we began putting in the root vegetable seeds – carrots, parsnips, and for the first time, beets.\u00a0 We decided to grow an heirloom mixture of seeds based on my experimentation with fresh beets in cooking this winter – our local grocer sells beets already peeled, but not canned.\u00a0 Before starting the seeds in … Continue reading End of April report<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sharing_disabled":false,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3f8I6-S","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cocktailfarmers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cocktailfarmers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cocktailfarmers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cocktailfarmers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cocktailfarmers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cocktailfarmers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cocktailfarmers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cocktailfarmers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cocktailfarmers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}