Homesteading In The Pacific Northwest

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Square Foot Gardening with a Planting Jig

It's March 31 and I am spending most of the day out in the garden.  I've just finished direct sowing the carrots and beets.   What's amazing is that I am doing it in the sun on a very warm day.  In March.  In Washington!  The gardening gods are smiling today :)

This is my "root vegetable" bed.  It is deeper than the other beds and has a permanently installed soil warmer cable.   I plugged it in three days ago and now the soil is up to 70 degrees and ready for planting.  I'll keep the cable plugged in for another 10 days or so, until most of the carrots have sprouted.  You'll notice off to the left the drip system that I drained and set aside at the end of the "dry" season.  What I've found works well for hooking it all up again is to get the seeds and/or transplants into the  bed and then string the drip system for the best coverage.



I'm using the planting jigs FitzGyver made for me last year.  They really make it easy to plant a Square Foot Garden.  I place one seed in each hole ....


... cover the holes with a thin layer of vermiculite ...


...remove the jig ...



...and then gently firm the seed and vermiculite in to the soil.



I used a 16 plants per square foot jig for the carrots and a 9 plants per square for the beets in the back of the bed.



Enjoy!


The Colors of Logwood

I am finding myself drawn more and more to the natural colors of the fibers paired
 with the muted tones of natural dyes.


Logwood








Mixed Blue Faced Leicester and Tussah silk (undyed)






Enjoy!