PROPAGATING CROPS FROM SEED & GREENHOUSE MANAGEMENT
Sat. Nov. 14 (part one)
Sat. Nov. 21 (part two)
1:00 to 5:00
$120
Start seed with the tools and techniques for the best success
Create propagation media
Sow seeds into flats and cell trays
Manage a greenhouse/cold frame - whether your greenhouse is on a windowsill or a 1/2 acre: Maintaining optimal environmental conditions for germination and early stages of seedling growth
Transplant seedlings
Manage seedlings in preparation for field transplanting
Identify appropriate life stage for transplanting to field/garden
Determine when and how to deliver supplemental fertilization
Manage pests and pathogens: Monitoring, identification resources, and active management
For more information, visit
for class curriculums
2010 Class Dates Coming Soon for:
Garden & Field Tillage and Cultivation
Irrigation: Principles & Practices
Making & Using Compost
Managing Arthropod Pests
Managing Plant Pathogens
Managing Weeds
Reading & Interpreting Soil Test Results
Basic Seed Starting
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Greetings!
We will be back at the Matthews Community Farmer's Market this Saturday with our lettuce mix. The cool weather has made this wonderful organic mixture of lettuces bright and beautiful. We grow this melody of green and red lettuces in a mineral-rich soil that is fertilized with sea kelp so that your family and ours gets a nutrient dense food for your table. We use a certified organic seed mixture that contains Tango, Red and Green Salad Bowl, Parris Island, Dark Lollo Rossa, Deer Tongue, Rouge D'Huver, and Firecracker lettuces. A hint of dill leaf is added. For those of you that want to kick it up a notch, we will have arugula available separately.
We will also have some tender, baby Red Russian Kale, and baby Cilantro and Dill available.
We hope you will brave the weather tomorrow and support the farmers at the Matthews Market tomorrow.
SEE YOU THERE!
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Sunlight and Winter Gardening
As we turn our clocks back one hour on Saturday, some of us will feel off balance for a day or two as the daylight pattern shifts against our work and home schedules. Combine changing our clocks with the shorter daylight hours of fall and winter, and we can feel like we are experiencing major vitamin D withdrawals! Our winter gardens also shift into low-gear as the days shorten, but not as much as you might imagine. We are fortunate in our Zone 7b climate to have enough day length to grow a bountiful winter garden.
Last week I had the opportunity to hear Eliot Coleman, author of "The New Organic Grower - A Master's Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener ", speak at a Winghaven Gardens event. Mr. Coleman has been an inspiration and example to organic growers for over 25 years. His new book, "The Winter Harvest Handbook" gives us tools and strategies to extend the harvest season into the cold winter months. By understanding how plant growth responds to our shorter days, we can garden in the winter with good planning and without supplemental heat and light.
 Planning for winter gardening includes selecting the right vegetable varieties, providing cold temperature protection, and understanding that as the day length drops below 10 hours per day, plant growth slows significantly.
Luckily for us in the Charlotte metro area, our soil sits on the 35 degree latitude, and our days only shorten below 10 hours for approximately six weeks between December 1st and January 16th. By planting fall crops in time for the plants to reach a certain minimum size before the day length drops, you can enjoy harvests through the short daylight weeks. In early February, those "overwintered" crops will resume vigorous growth in response to the day length becoming longer.
Because of the effect of daylight on growth, remember that the "days to maturity" listed on your seed packs does not apply during the shorter days of winter. The actual days will probably double or even triple. | |
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Sincerely,
Mary Roberts
Windcrest Farm
When one teaches, two learn.
- Robert Half
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