Grow – Cook – Make

I planted some chard and some kale back in September in time for a plentiful supply of greens over the fall and winter months. The plants — several colors of chard, I forget specific varieties, and some Italian black kale — grew fast and furious at first. As the days got shorter the pace of growth slowed down. By now it is pretty obvious that yes, I planted at the right time, but not in the right quantities. I didn’t take into account that in the short days of winter plants grow slower, and, in my household at least, humans eat more greens. Not a good combo.

I need to get more plants in a hurry. Forget about seeds and cute little cotyledons peeking out of the ground. A quick run to the nursery later, I am back with some good size collards and broccoli seedlings, ready for my usual planting routine: clean up the bed,  add some compost, make a hole.

Now I wonder, will these little plants need extra nutrients or not? Well, I certainly expect them to feed me at least until May, possibly through next summer. I better add a handful of fertilizer. I use “Island Custom Organic Landscape Mix”, developed by Island Seed and Feed, a small local company that is just paradise for the seed obsessed. Time to make the plant comfortable in its new home, cover the roots and give it a bit of water. Voila! A little baby broccoli in its new bed, keeping good company to the collards at the top of the post.

How much of a hurry do I mean when I say “hurry”? Well, it is gardener’s hurry, which is a different way to say “patience”. I saved myself four to six weeks of waiting, hurry enough for me. It will still take at least a month before I can harvest any collards, two or three months for the broccoli. In the meantime if I run out of greens I’ll go down to the farmer’s market.

This entry was posted on December 10, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.