Tuesday, November 13, 2012

An Onion for My Valentine

I fully recognize how tardy I am.  I should have completed this step a month ago -- or more.  But, it isn't  a perfect world, and it was only yesterday that I nestled the new seeds into the greenhouse potting soil and covered them with the Agribon row cover fabric for frost protection.  Last year I experimented with a couple of winter green varietals in the greenhouse, but the heater ran almost constantly.  Hoping to avoid those electric bills this winter, I am following the advice of one wintering gardener who argues that the second layer of frost protection provided by the fabric accomplishes the same end.  Not only is it cheaper, it seems to this aspiring conservationist to be far less wasteful.

The experiment, however, isn't electricity-free.   Root warmth is a key variable, and I recall reading a couple of years ago that mini-Christmas lights under a seeding tray will accomplish the same low-level warming as an expensive warming mat.  We have plenty of those to spare, so after a quick trip to the commercial kitchen supply store for oversized baking sheets to use as base containers, and a longer trip to the basement in search of stored strings of lights, I am in business.  The baking sheets rest on the greenhouse shelves; the lights are scattered lazily on the sheets, and the planters rest on the lips of the pans just above but touching the lights.  A wire frame conceived by a friend holds the fabric row covers over the planters.  My job is to water, wait, and hope that Mother Nature accomplishes the rest.

As for the waiting, that's no trivial matter:
Evergreen Hardy White Scallions -- 65 days
Grazia Arugula -- 50 days
Astro Arugula -- 21 days
Sorrel -- 45 days
Romaine Winter Density Lettuce -- 54 days
Winterbor Kale -- 60 days
Champion Collards -- 60 days

So, perhaps a little Arugula for Christmas, perhaps some Sorrel with which to welcome in the New Year, and then who knows?  Perhaps we'll be building salads for Valentine's Day.  Nice.

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