Late spring inspires dive into microgreens
It’s the same pretty much every year — the sun stays out longer, temperatures warm just a tad, and we get a chance to put our hands in the soil in those warm beds on the south side of our house.
But it’s just a tease. True gardening, and truly fresh, homegrown greens, are still a long way off for most of us, even those with a greenhouse.
So this year, I gave microgreens a try, and they made me a believer. Microgreens, like their name implies, are greens that are grown just beyond the very first stage of budding. You can grow all sorts of things as microgreens, and the flavors are fascinating. Peas, for example, beets, and itty-bitty basil and mustard greens are all wonderful. I find it amazing that the greens that eventually go on to produce something like a pod of peas actually taste like peas as a tiny sprout. As someone who was subjected to traditional sprouts as a child, microgreens are a whole new dimension, and a welcome option for those who are thirsty for greens long before Alaska’s soil is willing to produce them.
Hoop houses inexpensive, simple to put up
Three years ago, I heard through the grapevine that a friend had built an inexpensive quonset-hut like structure to grow things in out of PVC struggling to grow things on a windy spot on Diamond Ridge, I was all ears. A tour followed, and I was sold on the hoophouse idea. Within a few months, I had dug down four feet into the snow to construct my first venture into plasticulture.
Up on the ridge, we still have a lot of snow, but down in the lower elevations, the ground is appearing, and with it, the opportunity to improve your growing potential exponentially with relatively little investment. While metal-framed, gigantic high tunnels are springing up all over town, you don’t have to dive into that world to see huge benefits to your gardening world. A little pipe and plastic is all it takes.
Seed therapy — dirt under fingernails cures what ails you
Last week, I drug a bag of potting soil out, containers, my entire collection of seeds, a large garbage pail and a pitcher of water into my friend’s kitchen and set my young gardeners to work. Snow was spitting at the window, the driveway was a glacier and spring seemed the farthest thing from anyone’s [...]
Step 1: Stay up all night planning your garden
OK, I’ll admit I have a tendency to dive into things with a bit too much enthusiasm, but even I was tired at 2 a.m. when I finally pushed the order button on my main seed order. Each year, I vastly underestimate how long it will take to plan out and order seeds for my [...]
