Notes From The Potting Shed #7 - Spring Is Here?

We've had a wonky weather week, but the mister put together that lovely raised bed in the greenhouse for me. It came in something like 12 pieces and about a million bolts. It was relatively easy to put together, though a bit time consuming, and it sure is pretty!

In The Greenhouse

We filled it with compost from Kamen Landscaping in Red Deer (yep, straight compost - we used it in our raised garden beds last summer and they were awesome, so going to try it again). One yard filled it to the top. It will settle a bit as I plant and water. I am super happy that this bed fits just perfectly, like it was made for this spot : )

This is the one I have, but you can get other configurations, like this one that is 6' long and 3' wide. Or maybe this one in dark green, it is a bit less money for the same size.

*As an Amazon affiliate, if you purchase an item from one of these links, I make a teeny bit of money to support my blog. It does not cost you a penny more than it would if you went to the item on your own, without my link. Huge thanks : )

The raised bed is 11' long while the greenhouse itself is 12 feet, but the foundation takes up a few inches on all sides.

The bed is a bit taller than most, at 1.5', so it raises the bed up substantially for more light and earlier warm in spring. We have placed it on the north side so that it gets all day sun from the south side wall. We may buy another bed next year for the other side, but will see how it goes.

I decided to go with this 2' wide bed so that I still have 1 foot in front of it to grow flowers to attract the beneficials and pollinators, plus lettuces, spring onions, and greens. All sorts of things. Maybe sowing radishes there this weekend?

I will be planting up this bed with cool season crops today. They do not need additional heat in the greenhouse so are great early season ideas for the greenhouse.

Then I'll start some watermelons (in the potting shed) to plant out into this bed after all risk of frost is over. I think the melons are really going to love the deep root warmth of this bed. I'll let you know in August if this worked out the way I want it to ; )

Before I started hauling plants in....

In The Potting Shed

The Potting Shed is nicely holding it's minimum temp at 10 degrees, so I know it is a reliable heater. Will move the min/max thermometer out to the greenhouse instead so I can keep an eye on what the temps in there are... or maybe I just buy another one, eh? I think I will try this one so I can keep track of the temp on my phone, and hey, it's on sale, too.

We had another week of wonky weather. Go figure. It's April. Sometimes cool, sometimes double digits warm, sometimes snow... that just melts right away. Today is sunny and warm, if it were not for that very brisk wind!

Starting dates and last frost - In Nanaimo, I stuck to the April 28th last frost date even though some claimed that is was April 10th due to climate change. The timing worked for me as the only thing I remember losing was one flat of alyssum that got frosted as it was not put in the hoophouse for the night.

I am keeping track of the daily temps here in my new prairie home, will see how late the last frosts are when I have about 5 years under my belt, hahaha. Till then, keeping the May long weekend in my mind as a goodish planting time for tender plants, but planting the cool spring things early, pushing the limits with those ... but not with my tomatoes, hah!

You all know the saying about planting out the heat lovers, eh? Plant out your tomatoes (cucumbers, squash) when it the soil is warm enough for you to sit on with a bare bottom. Now, I am not advocating that folks go around baring their bums in the garden, hah, but rather that the soil should be nice and warm when you plant for your tender plants to thrive.

My dwarf tomatoes are doing great, flowering and enjoying the bright south facing window.

What To Start Now...

• Your brassicas, if you have not already done so - cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, collards, broccolini, rapini... all the gassy veggies love cool weather ; )

• Lettuces, mesclun, bok choy, chard

• All the melons - watermelon, honeydew, cantelope

• Flowers - calendula, alyssum, marigolds, tagetes, zinnias, cosmos, nicotiana, stocks, any other annuals and biennials that you want to prestart indoors ahead of time.

• Gladiolas already, set them in a shallow pan (pie pan, etc..) with water so that they get a head start. I ordered mine from Vesey's but they will not ship them till it is warmer here, so not sure how much of a head start they will get but I will soak them as soon as I get them!

• Dahlias, lilies, cannas, callas, all the bulbs can be started in pots now for a head start on summer blooms.

What To Direct Sow This Week ...

• Lettuces, chard, kale, and other greens. It may be late for spinach but no harm in trying if you did not get it in earlier.

• Brassicas - take a chance and direct sow.. especially in an unheated greenhouse. Seedlings will also do just fine in the greenhouse.

• Radishes

• Carrots and beets, if you want. I wait till May, when the soil is warm. Beets sown into cool soil do not tend to make big roots, are grown mostly for their tops as greens.

• Peas - snow peas, snap peas, garden peas

• Calendula

I found a John Cabot climbing rose the other day, will pop it out in the potting shed to flush out nicely before I plant it outside. I'm also looking for a couple of John Davis climbers, and maybe a white Iceberg, too. While not as flashy as the warm zone roses are (or as scented) they are lovely in their own right.

I found a bit of burlap at the dollar store that I will be using to try as a snail roll to grow seedlings in. You never know until you try : )

Add slow release 14-14-14 to your baskets to keep them happy all summer, especially if you tend to forget to fertilise.

Baby Girl works at a local nursery now (yay!) so I got a head's up that they have their basket stuffers in! Start the car! Heading to town to buy my plants.

The same basket as above, just a couple of weeks later.

I want to plant up my baskets and pop them in the greenhouse to fill out asap so they are nice and full looking by the time I put them out.

What else can I tell you? We have not done much in the yard as we have had very cool, blustery weather, as Pooh bear would say. We are hopeful that the wind will die down this weekend so we can start raking and prepare to make new beds and fix up the lawn.

This spot above is where my pollinator strip garden is going to go. A pollinator strip is a three-season, long, narrow garden that is for the bees and other pollinators. You plant it up with bulbs and early bloomers for spring, annual and perennial flowers for spring and fall, so there is always something in bloom to feed the birds and bees.

We're going to take up the grass between the steppers and the deck to make that into a nice, wide strip garden. Well, not super wide, it will be under 3 feet wide, hah! The garden will wrap around the deck and go to the corner of the house, where it then will turn into a vegetable strip instead. Lots of plans... just need some warmer weather.

These steppers were just tossed on top of the soil in year one, when the yard was a mucky mess. This year we will lift them, add some gravel to make the ground level and stable, lay them out again. We might go double wide this time, or maybe a hopscotch pattern for the grandies. The rubber steppers are so easy to move about, super versatile.

Bare roots strawberries after they were soaked in seaweed water.

This Week's Q&A's

Question - What are your thought about cucumbers? They are starting to outgrow their pots but it is too cool outside to plant. I know that they do not like their roots disturbed so do I replant into bigger pots or leave them till the weather warms up?

Tanja - If possible, I would pot them up into bigger pots without touching the roots. Just pop it out of the pot and straight into a bigger pot as rootbound plants will not thrive. With any luck you can transplant it into the ground in a few week's time into a nice, big hole.

Ideally, one direct sows cucumbers and squash into the beds when the weather is warm (see above for the bare bottom comment). Or, start them just 3 weeks before the last frost date so they are nice and small, transplant well, but you still get that head start.

Tip - I succession sow cucumbers as they tend to peter out with powdery mildew before first frost. So, I sow some in May, and then sow a few more at the end of June/early July for fresh cucumbers till the very end of the season.

Question - We are still getting frost and it is cold, should I hold off on seeding my zinnias and cosmos?

Tanja - If you are direct sowing, you can sow the seeds about a week before your average last frost. This means mid to late April on the west coast and 2 weeks later here on the prairies.

Question - Does this mean that if we started them inside we can now plant them out, after hardening them off.

Tanja - Sadly, no. The seeds are underground so are safe from any late frosts, while seedlings would be exposed to the elements. Zinnias/cosmos/dahlias do not like frost. Harden them off after your last frost date and then plant them out.

Question - When do you pot up your dahlias? Or do you just plant it right out into the garden?

Tanja - I wake up my dahlias just 3 or 4 weeks before last frost by potting them up into a 1 or 2 gallon pot (depending on the size of the tuber). This means earlier blooms in summer, rather than waiting till August.

Question - Do you soak your asparagus roots before you plant them?

Tanja - Yes! Rehydrating the dried out roots and root hairs is key to getting them off to a good start. Often, if you just plant them as is, they fail to take off and die in the garden. I soak them in seaweed water while I make the planting trench, so soaking anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour or two.

Use warm water and add a 'glug' of liquid seaweed or kelp. Even warm water will work but the seaweed helps them do even better.

Tip - I also do this with bare root strawberries. See the picture above. I have ordered a whole bunch of strawberries from the 4H'ers so both my brother and I will have a good sized berry patch this year.

My herbs are sitting in the window, inside the potting shed, waiting for warmer weather.

Happy Gardening ~ Tanja