Starting Seeds…..The Time is Here.

Over the past few weeks here at Matchbox, I have started the first seeds of the year. After a number of years as a grower, I can now comfortably “feel” when I need to make my first sowings of the year. In early February I make sure I get all my onions, leeks, chives, rosemary, lavender, thyme, oregano, parsley and sage planted. I suppose I could wait to make this first round of seeding, but I rather prefer having large herb plants to go out in April as opposed to smaller ones. This year I also planted rhubarb and asparagus during the first round. The rhubarb has all germinated and I expect it will be strong and healthy by the time I plant it out. The asparagus on the other hand, is just germinating over the last two days. 

This time of year is always full of anxiety and excitement for me. I am thrilled to be working in the dirt again and nervous that all my little seeds will germinate and thrive. To that end, I have decided to include a short list of what to plant this time of year and how deep to plant the seed. I hope this is helpful to all you gardeners out there. I will try to do this as I move along in the season and planting different varieties. Here’s what I’ve planted so far this year and what I will be planting in the next two weeks. 

HERBS & FLOWERS

Greek Oregano in the greenhouse.

Basil – Sow 1/4″ deep, 4 – 7 weeks before your Last Frost Date(LFD). 

Chives – Sow – 1/4 – 1/2″ deep, 10 – 12 weeks before your LFD. 

Lavender – Sow – 1/4″ deep, 10 – 12 weeks before LFD.

Oregano – Sow – press gently into soil and keep moist(these are TINY seeds!), if covered too much they will not germinate for you. 10 – 12 weeks before LFD.                                                                                                  

Parsley – Sow – 1/4″ deep,very slow to germinate. BE PATIENT! 9 – 11 weeks before LFD.

Rosemary – Sow – 1/4″ deep, very slow to germinate. BE PATIENT! 9 – 12 weeks before LFD.

Sage – Sow – 1/4″ deep, 9 – 10 weeks before your LFD.

Thyme – Sow 0 – 1/4″ deep, if covered too much they will not germinate for you. I plant Thyme 9 – 11 weeks before LFD.

Spanish Brocade Marigold

Bachelor’s Buttons – Sow 1/4″ deep, 5 – 7 weeks before LFD.*

Calendula – Sow 1/4″ deep, 6 – 8 weeks before LFD.*

Marigold – Sow 1/4″ deep, 6 – 8 weeks before LFD.

Nasturtium – Sow 1/4″ deep, 2 -4 weeks before LFD.*

VEGETABLES

Asparagus – Sow 1/4″ – 1/2″ deep. This is specifically for seed, but you can also get crowns to plant into your garden.

Brussels Sprouts – Sow 1/4″ deep, 7 – 9 weeks before your Last Frost Date(LFD).

Cabbage – Sow – 1/4″ – 1/2″ deep, 6 – 11 weeks before your LFD.*

Eggplant -Sow – 1/4″ deep, 4 – 8 weeks before you LFD.

Onions and Leeks – Sow – 1/2″ deep, 6 – 12 weeks before your LFD.*

Rhubarb – 1/4″ deep, I start my rhubarb 11 weeks before my LFD.

* All varieties with a little star can also be directly planted into the garden. In particular, Calendula, Nasturtium and Bachelor’s Buttons. In fact, these flowers generally do much better if direct seeded. I recommend starting the onions, leeks and cabbage indoors for earlier harvests and generally larger plants. I like to direct seed some of the onions later in the season for set production. 

Once I have planted the seed, I make sure it has enough light(we have a greenhouse, but grow lights work well too) and even water. Not too wet, not too dry. Light and water rates are VERY important!! it can mean the difference between a strong, broad leafed plant(think large solar panels), and a spindly, tall thin leafed plant. It may not seem like a big deal, but a strong, healthy start determines a plants production later in it’s life: stressed tomato seedlings = blossom end rot(and other problems). 

Growing medium, you say? I like to use a starter mix combined with composted sheep manure for starting seeds. Once they are ready to be potted up, I put together a mix with the starter mix, sheep manure, and(usually) vermicompost. However, this year I am experimenting with and ocean mix. Everything I use is certified organic, but that choice is up to you. Once my plants are well on their way, I keep an eye out for nutrient deficiencies such as phosphate, nitrogen and potassium. I like to have a foliar spray on hand for nutrient management. I like to use a diluted compost tea. 

Two final things ;)…1 –  I generally pot up my plants twice before they go into the garden or out to market. I feel this gives them a good start.  2 – Make sure to harden your plants off before planting them out to the garden. This process can take anywhere from 7 – 14 days depending on variety and time of year your planting out. To harden off, I recommend putting your plants outside on a nice day, in a protected area. Do this for 7 – 14 days, be sure to bring them inside every night. Keep a close on watering as the outdoor exposure will dry them out quicker then the greenhouse.

Sweet Basil and English Lavender in the greenhouse.

Ok! I hope this post has been helpful and not over loading! Stay tuned for more growing tips, pictures, and farm adventures…..we’re getting our first brood of chickens in the next few months! Spring is almost here….happy growing.

 

 

 

 

 

Seedy Saturdays, Growing Seedlings and CSA’s

It’s raining out. It’s “warm” out. There has been an influx of birds in the past few days. The new buds on the trees are looking particularly bright lately. I know we are still in February, but these are all small signs that soon the snow will be gone, the days will be longer and the ground will be soft. This also means that I am getting ready for a stream of Seedy Saturday events around Toronto and Hamilton. A few weeks ago, I attended the Niagara Seedy Saturday and it was a great start to the 2014 market season. Every year that I continue to be a part of the organic food community, I become more and more inspired by peoples response, initiative in their own lives, and the sense of community that is such an integral part of this “movement”. In the upcoming weeks, starting tomorrow in fact, Matchbox Garden will be attending a number of events in Hamilton, Burlington, Evergreen Brickworks, Scadding Court Community Center and Scarborough. I’m looking forward to seeing people I haven’t seen in over a year and browsing new seeds that may make it into some imagined spot in my gardens. If you are interested in coming out to one of these events, you can visit my website for details at www.matchboxgarden.ca/#!events.

This is our table this year. Loving the new photo album. So great in helping people see what our varieties actually look like!

While I am restocking between events, I have also started our seedlings for the year. Some of these will be available at Trinity Bellwoods Farmers Market in May and some of them are for the farm. This week, I watched as my Lavender, Onion, Chive, Thyme and Rhubarb seeds germinated and poked their heads out of the soil. It is always a nervous time of year for me, as a farmer, when I plant my first seeds and wait with baited breath, for them to grow. They always do!! But I just can’t help myself, until I see those babies growing, I’m walking on egg shells.

I also have a fantastic perennial gardener giving me a HUGE hand this year. My mom will be adding her “master gardener” touch to a bank of  native and cut flowers. I am soo grateful for this, as I am going to be up to my eyeballs in vegetable gardens and toddlers. I will also have the opportunity to learn about the flower gardens from her, something that I know very little about. If all goes well, I will be able to add some native flower seeds to next years catalogue.

As my focus is vegetables and herbs, I have also put together a CSA Program for 15 families this year. They will consist of vegetables, herbs and some fruit from our farm. My husband, Chef Jason Inniss, will also be contributing weekly recipes for CSA members and making preserves for our optional End of Season Box made up of preserves from the bounty of the summer. Our shares will be available at Trinity Bellwoods Farmer Market on Tuesdays and at the farm on Thursdays. If you are interested in our CSA, you can visit our website at www.matchboxgarden.ca/#!csa. I can’t wait to see how my garden grows this year and I can’t wait to share it with all the folks at market! 

I hope we all get to enjoy the rest of this winter and take advantage of this time of rest. Before we know it, the trees will have unfurled their leaves and those of us who garden and farm, will be basking again in the spring sun.

Looking Forward, Making Plans

A few items included in our CSA. From left to right: Mixed baby beets – Golden, Chioggia, Detroit Dark Red, Sumter Cucumber, Cocozelle Zucchini.

As some of you may already know, this is our first your on our very own farm. It can be safely assumed that I am over the moon at finally having a farm to call home, to nurture and grow. Since we moved in, I’ve been busy designing and prepping an array of gardens from perennial flowers, herbs, edible forest and annual vegetables. As I plan the short and long term gardens, I have to balance business growth with whole farm health and sustainability. Some may find this challenging (and it is!), but I also find it tremendously enjoyable. Taking a moment to look around and observe the insect and bird life, the slope of the hills and run of the water, the structure of the soil, direction of the wind. These are just a few of the natural points that should be considered when placing and planning any garden, no matter how big or small. To that end, I am working to create a “fence” of edible forest around the perimeter of our property that includes fruit trees, berry bushes, herbs, flowers, and small crop trial plots. My hope is that this “fence” will encourage more bird and insect life, provide some protection against winds and help prevent future erosion. Eventually the crops grown in this area will be available at market as well as in our CSA. If I’m very lucky (and keen!), I may even make cuttings and splits available for gardeners in upcoming springs, and this brings us back to finding balance….always the challenge.

In previous years Matchbox has focused  more on food production as opposed to seed production. This year we’re changing that focus. In an effort to improve to food quality, we will only be participating in one market, Trinity Bellwoods Farmers Market. In past years we have had a large CSA(Community Supported Agriculture/Weekly Veggie Box), but this year will see a small CSA program servicing only 15 members. When we are not harvesting and bring food to our fantastic customers, seed production will be the focus. My hope is to add 20 new herb, vegetable and flower varieties to next years seed catalogue, keep your fingers crossed! 

For our market and CSA, I have added a number of new items for this year. Jerusalem artichokes, sweet potatoes, new tomatoes and peppers, cauliflower, romanesco broccoli, pears and fresh cut flowers. There will be some other new items that will show up from time to time depending on their success in the garden. With smaller acreage and fewer markets to attend, CSA members will receive the best vegetables and herbs from the garden. 

Sweet Gale Small Mixed Bouquet

This year we are also promoting a CSA program for Sweet Gale Gardens, a local flower farm operating at Downsview Park as a member farmer with Fresh City Farms. Jessica Gale is a passionate flower gardener and she hopes to bring her lovely mixed bouquets to new customers through her CSA as well as her presence in my booth at Trinity Bellwoods Farmers Market. I hope that if you love fresh cut flowers and live in the area, that you will support this new farmer and her business as she produces flowers using organic methods.

As we inch closer to spring, my gardening itch is getting louder and I can’t wait to see what this season will bring. Stay posted for lots of pictures, variety updates for what you will find at market and in our CSA, fall greenhouse plans, and new perennial garden builds. A little sneak peak for all you avid gardeners out there…….A series of wavy gardens along the roadside, a sloping edible forest garden with Cherry trees, asparagus stands and perennial herb beds, strawberry garden, perennial flowers beds running the 200 ft length of our lane way boasting rhubarb, echinacea, california poppies and soooo much more. I hope you stay tuned to the journey of our first season and beyond as Matchbox settles into our home. Happy growing!!

From Seed to Garden

It has been a cold winter, and snowy, very snowy. Many of us are complaining about all this bitter cold and the thick blanket of snow that seems to, inexhaustibly, go on forever. For all you serious gardeners out there however, this winter will give us many gifts come spring and summer. Word has it that scientists believe this winter weather will kill off much of the Ash Borer population that has been ravaging our Ash trees across the country. It will also do wonders in killing off some of our other garden pests, and I wonder if it won’t do the same for a very few soil bourne diseases? Aside from these possibilities, this weather is going a long way to increase our ground water, and given the summer weather in recent years, we could really use a top up.
Now – seed to garden. I have been racking my head trying to find a solution for my greenhouse heat, I think I’m getting close, I hope I’m getting close! I start seeding on Monday and if I don’t solve the problem then there will be 6 trays of baby seedlings hanging out in my bathroom for a couple of weeks. My husband will not love me for that! I must plant those seeds though! They are a reminder that spring isn’t far around the corner and that before long I (and many other gardeners and farmers alike) will be in the field at dawn, breathing in the crisp air and feeling the soft earth beneath my feet.
This time of year is always a great opportunity to look ahead for Matchbox. We have our annual round of Seedy Saturdays to attend, farmers market applications to submit, greenhouse to prepare and garden plans to finalize. I hope that many of you are able to revel in these activities as well, they are a nice change of focus from the doldrums of winter and a sweet taste of what is to come.