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I transplanted radishes, arugula, and kale to the cold frame one week ago. They are still very small compared to the spring green seedlings inside. Both sets of plants were started at the same time. Growth is slow in the cold frame because of the lower temperatures. It dipped back down to freezing for a few nights, but we are slowly approaching spring. 
Today I built a cold frame using an old window, bricks, wood, and straw. The ground was frozen, but manageable. I can plant my seedlings in the frame in 2-3 weeks (let’s hope the soil warms!).
I also sowed Red Milkweed in peat pots, watered, covered, and placed them in the fridge. I will remove them in 10 days and place them under the grow lights.
The purple basil sprouted a few days ago.
I now have radish, arugula, collards, kale, chamomile (tiny tiny seedlings!), and mustard greens sprouted inside. The light setup works like a charm.
These are all spring greens that I will transfer to a cold frame in a few weeks. The chamomile and the one sad looking lavender sprout I have will have to be treated very gently. The coleus and viola have shown no life yet. I checked the temperature of the soil in the containers, and they are at a steady 65 degrees Fahrenheit- a suitable temperature for most things to germinate. We’ll see.
I like the way clay pots look. They unfortunately dry out very easily. I watered the seedlings this morning and the top of the soil is already looking crusty. I’ve converted several plastic containers to seed pots. Milk jugs, yogurt containers, berry containers, and all sorts of things. You can make anything a container for plants by drilling holes (vital step!) in the bottom for drainage. I also scavenge the abandonded tupperware at work and take it home to convert to plant containers.
I built the basic structure for raised beds by adjusting the existing raised beds. It’s a much better design because I’m using the space more efficiently. The two tires you see at the west end are the site of the future hop yard. Two hop rhizomes are on mail order. The hops can be planted early spring.
The Middle bed will hold spring greens in a cold frame for a few weeks and then, come Memorial Day, I’ll make the switch over to summer flowers- cosmos, poppy, marigold- perennial herbs- rosemary, thyme, lavender- and some lettuces here and there.
The middle bed gets a mix of sun and shade. I’m going to make a “berm” of sorts and plant prairie plants there-red milkweed, purple prairie clover, and flax. It’s a work in progress right now, but I feel accomplished just having the basic layout done. Over the next few weeks I will be adding compost from the yard heap, worm castings from my worm poop farm, and mulch that I can scavenge from the alley.
Wow, I just found out about Lasagna bed gardening or sheet composting. I can’t believe that I can build up my raised beds without double digging or having to wait until the soil can be worked. Amazing! This means that I can start building the bed as soon as the snow melts. See instructions here: Lasagna gardening 101
Ideas?
The heap is about 4 feet tall with about a 6 foot diameter. It’s basically falling in on itself and the original structure is not holding up so well. It will be quite the task to rebuild.
I started lavender, dill, and chamomile inside today. Chamomile needs light to germinate and the seeds are smaller than dust particles. It might be tricky with the long germination time.
We got a few inches of snow last night. My winter sowing seed containers now have a fresh layer of snow.
I’m figuring out what I’m going to plant and the timing of starting seeds indoors or in a cold frame.
Here’s the breakdown of the schedule. >>For any gardeners who are out there reading, I am in zone 5 (USDA zones) and the average last spring frost is April 21st. However, most Chicago gardeners use Memorial Day as their big planting weekend. Last year I had cabbage, spinach, and lettuce in the ground in the beginning of April with no protection (except on hard frost nights).<<<
Timeline for seed starting:
Middle February wintersow outdoors: flax, poppy, milkweed
Middle Feb. Start indoors: Coleus, Viola
March 15th start indoors or outside in a cold frame: spinach, kale, mustard greens, lettuce, arugula, radish
April 1st start indoors: impatients, marigolds, lavender, basil, cosmos, chamomile, dill
April 15th start indoors: purple clover, cucumber, eggplant, sunflower
May 1st direct sow outside: swiss chard, amaranth, pole beans, soy beans, black eyed susan
I haven’t posted here in a while. I wonder if anyone still has me on their RSS feed. If you do, a big hello to you.
Yesterday I raked up leaves in the garden and removed old dead things (I never pulled up those marigolds). A wonderful present was waiting for me: sage, spearmint, thyme, and oregano. They all survived the winter. I read that herbs can overwinter if you prune and cover them before it gets too cold. I didn’t manage to do that, so I wasn’t expecting the herbs to last. I pulled back some dead leaves yesterday to find bright green leaves shooting up in the herb section. I also found that the hollyhock is already coming out of the ground- bright green with fringed leaves. Now that I know what hollyhock is, I won’t go around pulling them all up thinking that they are weeds. I will post more pictures of the garden and my garden plans this time around. I have a big mega list of seeds that I am going to winter sow (see www.wintersown.org). I’ve already wintersown flax.
For spring vegetables, I will seed in the ground (or start inside under lights) mustard greens, spinach, radishes, lettuce, kale, and collards. I want to make a row cover or cold frame for the spring vegetables. Living in zone 5 makes it difficult to get a jump start on the growing season. Summertime will have more herbs, prairie flowers, cucumbers, beans, and eggplant. I’ve started exchanging seeds with people on gardenweb.com. Seed saving is important and I feel excited to be a part of this movement.
I finished my dorky-looking collage for the Chicago Bike Winter art show. See details about the show here: www.chicagocriticalmass.org
