{"id":1827,"date":"2015-01-12T04:49:34","date_gmt":"2015-01-12T04:49:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenfreshveggies.com\/?p=1827"},"modified":"2015-01-12T04:49:34","modified_gmt":"2015-01-12T04:49:34","slug":"pre-planting-strategies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gopherknoll.com\/?p=1827","title":{"rendered":"Pre-planting strategies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Had I ever told you how much I like spinach? \u00a0It is SUCH a favorite veggie. \u00a0And until recently, it was almost impossible for me to grow it. \u00a0Spinach pretty obviously doesn’t care for my sandy, acidic, East Texas garden soil.<\/p>\n

First,\u00a0there is the problem of getting it to germinate. \u00a0It just wouldn’t.<\/p>\n

\"Presprouting<\/a><\/p>\n

Until I learned\u00a0a technique called “cold stratification”; exposing the seed to a moist, cold environment for a week or so prior to planting. \u00a0In fact, I usually just leave it in the fridge, wrapped in a moist paper towel and placed in a jar or plastic bag to keep it damp until it actually sprouts.<\/p>\n

Then I had to learn some tricks to raising the pH of the soil to bring up the pH of the spinach row without overdoing the rest of the garden with too much lime. \u00a0(Wood ashes worked into the row along with compost will do the trick to get the spinach off and growing by boosting pH without long-term changes.)<\/p>\n

The newly sprouted seeds will go into the ground toward the end of January, covered with a light row cover to protect the seedlings from flea beetles and other pests as they grow. \u00a0We should have fresh spinach some time in March. \u00a0I’m sure looking forward to those spring\u00a0salads!<\/p>\n

\"Bloomsdale<\/a>
Bloomsdale Spinach<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I tend to have all sorts of seeds in various states of cold-stratification this time of year. \u00a0Parsley and Lavender also tend to be easier to sprout if given a short stint in the fridge, and others do better if pre-sprouted (like sweet peas) or soaked for a day or two (like beets.) \u00a0If you go searching for a snack in our house, be prepared to find a selection of\u00a0seeds-in-waiting\u00a0hiding out in the refrigerator drawer alongside the cheese.<\/p>\n

If you’d like to share garden tricks or talk about the challenges, I hope you’ll come have coffee with me on Tuesday morning at Athens Organic Supply in Athens. \u00a0I’ll be there about 9:00 for an hour or so. \u00a0It’s been really fun to meet with a friend or two for some good conversation. \u00a0 \u00a0The coffee pot is always full and the chocolate is always hot!<\/p>\n

Hope to see you there. \u00a0\ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

UPDATE: \u00a0March 20<\/strong> – \u00a0Just so you’ll know, my early planting of spinach yielded a really poor rate of germination. \u00a0Soon after it was planted, we had an extended cold spell with temps in the low 20’s, ice and freezing rain for several days. \u00a0Even under the row cover, the ground was just too wet and cold for too long. \u00a0Most of the seed rotted instead of growing. \u00a0I soaked some new seed last week and replanted today. \u00a0With luck, we should still have a crop of spinach before our cool season is over. \u00a0I sure hope so. \u00a0It isn’t spring without fresh spinach!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Had I ever told you how much I like spinach? \u00a0It is SUCH a favorite veggie. \u00a0And until recently, it was almost impossible for me to grow it. \u00a0Spinach pretty obviously doesn’t care for my…Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-random","odd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/gopherknoll.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/gopherknoll.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/gopherknoll.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gopherknoll.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gopherknoll.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/gopherknoll.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1827\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/gopherknoll.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gopherknoll.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gopherknoll.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}