The Wall-O-Water Keeps our Tomato Warm March 25, 2015

Here are a few shiitake mushrooms from our inoculated mushroom logs. (Read earlier posts to learn more.) There are all kinds of surprises happening this time of the year.  3-25-15

The tomato in the Wall-O-Water is doing well. It was planted mid-March. 3-25-15

The control tomato that was planted beside the Wall-O-Water tomato is just about dead. It is to the right of the rebar stake.   Though the daytime temperatures are warm, getting into the mid-70s the soil and the night air are simply too extreme for this warm weather loving plant.  3-25-15

Again, here is another shot of our garlic. It was planted in the fall and is growing well. We will harvest it in a few more months. 3-25-15

The broccoli and cauliflower are doing well.  3-25-15

The onions are starting to send up some greens. 3-25-15

Our sugar snap peas have finally sprouted. 3-25-15

Here is an up-close shot of a sugar snap pea. 3-25-15

Our radish seeds have germinated quite well. Now we must thin them before they crowd each other out.  3-25-15

Here is the same row of radish after thinning. We will have to thin them more aggressively in the next few weeks. 3-25-15

Can you guess what these are? Great! Our asparagus is coming up well. We transplanted 3-year-old crowns not long ago and will let them grow out this season without harvesting any. Our goal is make sure they thrive, so asparagus grows in this bed for decades to come! 3-25-15

The transplanted lettuces are doing well. 3-25-15

Hard at Work 3-11-15

Putting in the pea trellis took a few extra hands. (3-11-15)

Planting seeds by hand always requires a significant amount of bending, but our gardeners get their spacing right. (3-18-15)

One of our EMGV interns is planting our broccoli and cauliflower transplants. (3-18-15)

Publication on growing cauliflower:  http://content.ces.ncsu.edu/cauliflower/:

We received a donation of four asparagus divisions from a fellow EMGV. They arrived with healthy roots and thick asparagus shoots already emerging. Now, the three season garden has a perennial. (3-18-15)

(3-18-15)

Publication on planting asparagus: 

http://content.ces.ncsu.edu/home-garden-asparagus-production.pdf

Here are our four asparagus plants. Notice the water circles. Even though the plants are three years old, we will most likely not harvest from them this year to avoid causing stress. (3-18-15)

Our lettuce transplants are evenly spaced and watered.  What more could we ask for?(3-18-15)

In the spirit of our garden's label, a Demonstration Garden, we are testing the Wall-O-Water. Inside the plastic is a tomato that is doing surprisingly well for being planted a month before our last expected frost date. The brown water comes from a nearby creek because our water spigots have not been turned on yet. Brown water is not a prerequisite for using the Wall-O-Water. (3-18-15)

Filling up the Wall-O-Water without a hose was a bit of a pain, but we managed. 

Sites to read about the Wall-O-Water: 

http://extension.umd.edu/hgic/tips-early-tomatoes

 http://www.growgardentomatoes.com/wall-o-water.html

The broccoli and cauliflower transplants should begin to thrive shortly.(3-18-15)

Here is our vegetable garden after a 3 hour workday. Soon the greens will emerge. (3-21-15)

The 2015 EMGV Interns Begin With A Near Empty Garden 3-11-15

The garden beds are ready for Guildford County's Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Interns (EMGVIs) to teach county residents how to implement a three-season vegetable garden.

Here is a rough sketch of our three season vegetable garden.

The garden was recently weeded and cleaned. (3-11-15)

The crimson clover cover crop continues to grow nicely. This seed was inoculated. (3-11-15)

See more information on cover crops in NC: 

http://growingsmallfarms.ces.ncsu.edu/growingsmallfarms-wintercrops/

In our other bed, the cover crop did not come in as well. These seeds were not inoculated. (3-11-15)

 Only thyme and garlic were left over from last season along with the cover crops. (3-11-15)

 The garden always looks bare this time of the year, but the possibilities are endless. (3-11-15)

How will this space look in a few months? How will it look in one month? (3-11-15)