March 2024

 BED PREPARATION MARCH 27-APRIL 2

Prepare the garden bed where you plan to grow this crop so that it is ready to go when the time comes to seed or transplant into it.

• Clean out any vegetation (weeds, grass, old plants).

• Measure and mark out your bed (we like to use 30 inch wide beds and mark them out with string).

• Use a digging fork or broadfork to loosen the soil. Do not flip the soil over or try mixing it with the forks. Simply push the fork into the ground and pull it back lifting and loosening the soil without turning it. Be careful not to work wet soil, especially if it has clay in it. When it dries it will tend to have hard clods, making your gardening more difficult.

• Add compost and/or soil amendments (sprinkle them evenly over the bed and then mix them into the top few inches with a three tooth cultivator or similar tool). 

• Smooth the bed out with a rake 

MONTH: March	BED ONE NEAREST HOUSE ON LEFT, FACING HOUSE: FRUIT TAKES  PHOSPHORUS (NEXT YEAR BED 3)
SOWING INSIDE (Before LFD) March 6-12 (6 weeks) Black Beauty Eggplant California Wonder Pepper Jalapeno Pepper Heirloom Rainbow Blend Tomato Roma Tomato Mortgage Lifter Tomato Cherokee Purple Tomato
TRANSPLANTING (after planting) March 20-26 Lacinato Kale (35 days) Rainbow Swiss Chard (35 days) Lolla Rosa Lettuce (28 days) Parris Island Lettuce (28 days)	BED TWO BED 2: NEAREST HOUSE ON RIGHT, FACING HOUSE: ROOT TAKES POTASSIUM (NEXT YEAR BED ONE) DIRECT SOWING MARCH 20-26 Cylindra Red Beet (4 weeks) Little Finger Carrot (4 weeks) Imperator 58 Carrot (4 weeks) Snowball Turnip (4 weeks) MARCH 27-APRIL 2 Champion Radish (3 weeks)
DIRECT SOWING (Before LFD) DIRECT SOWING (Before LFD) March 20-26 Arugula (4 weeks)  Cylindra Red Beet (4 weeks) Little Finger Carrot (4 weeks) Imperator 58 Carrot (4 weeks) Viroflay Spinach (4 weeks)  Snowball Turnip (4 weeks) Peas (4 weeks) @20-26 March 27-April 2 Champion Radish (3 weeks) @27- APRIL 2	BED THREE BED 3: FARTHEST FROM THE HOUSE ON LEFT, FACING HOUSE: LEGUME LEAVES NITROGEN (NEXT YEAR BED FOUR) CULTIVATING  Peas
HARVEST	BED FOUR BED 4: FARTHEST FROM THE HOUSE ON RIGHT, FACING HOUSE: LEAF TAKES NITROGEN (NEXT YEAR BED TWO) DIRECT SEED MARCH 20-26 Arugula (4 weeks) Viroflay Spinach (4 weeks) TRANSPLANT MARCH 20-26 Lacinato Kale (35 days) Rainbow Swiss Chard (35 days) Lolla Rosa Lettuce (28 days) Parris Island Lettuce (28 days) Golden Acres Cabbage (35 days) ANY BED/N

Arugula

• Botanical name. Erica sativa, Eruca vesicaria.
• Botanical family: Brassicaceae (other members of this family are kale, broccoli, cauliflower, and mustard)

When?

• Sow arugula seeds in the garden as soon as the soil can be worked in spring, usually 2 to 3 weeks before the average date of the last frost in spring. Arugula seeds will germinate in soil temperatures as low as 40°F.
• Set transplants in the garden 4 weeks before to 2 weeks after the last frost.
• Sowing depth: ¼ inch (.6 cm)
• Space between plants after thinning: 6 inches. Intensive spacing: Sow seeds lightly in a band 2 to 4 inches wide.
• Days to sprout: 5-7
• Grow arugula in temperatures ranging from 45° to 65°F 
• Days to harvest: 40 days or baby leaves can be harvested 21 to 28 days after sowing.
• Make succession plantings every 2 to 3 weeks

 Where?

• Grow arugula is a good companion to other greens. Arugula has a shallow root system and can be grown between other members of the mustard family or under other leafy vegetables.
• Planting arugula in bands under or among slower-growing crops is a good strategy. Arugula is a good choice for intercropping with larger crops.
• Avoid growing arugula with peas, beans, or strawberries.

Growing Tips

• Water arugula regularly to prevent the flavor from becoming too strong or hot.
• In arid regions, use overhead irrigation to prevent the leaves from drying in dry heat.
• Add aged compost to planting beds before planting and again at midseason.
• Keep arugula plants cut back to about 10 inches tall. Arugula can grow to 24 inches tall but the leaves will be too bitter to eat.
• Cutting arugula back (as you would Swiss chard) will not hurt the plant; cutting arugula back will encourage new young leaves to grow.
• Once the flavor of the leaves turns bitter, pull out the plants and turn to new plantings.
• Pick young, tender leaves when they are when they are 2 to 5 inches (5-7.5 cm) long
• Use a pair of sharp scissors to snip off leaves 1 inch (2.5cm) above the soil.
• An arugula plant can be harvested cut-and-come-again four times before plants run to seed.
• Leaves that grow to more than 10 inches high can quickly become bitter and spicy hot.
• Pick new leaves from the bottom, outside of the plant. New leaves will sprout from the center crown.
• Wash arugula leaves by swishing them in a bowl of cool water. The leaves may require three or more washings to remove all traces of soil.
• If you want to refrigerate arugula, wash and dry the leaves thoroughly and wrap them in a paper towel or cloth then place them in a perforated plastic bag in the refrigerator crisper drawer.
• Arugula will keep in the refrigerator for just a few days.

Thin seedlings to about 6 inches apart, using the thinnings for salads. To reduce heat stress and prevent bolting, provide some shade for warm-season plantings. 

Soil preparation for leafy greens

    

I plan to divide the crops into the four beds according to what type of plant they are and what their needs are. One bed, for example, will have all the leafy greens in it.

Leafy green vegetables such as Lolla Rosa Lettuce, Paris Island Lettuce, Viroflay Spinach, Lacinato Kale, Rainbow Swiss Chard, Arugula, Cilantro, Golden Acres Cabbage, Flat Leaf Parsley and Large Leaf Basil differ among themselves in appearance as well as in taste. However, they also have certain things in common. For one thing, they all love fertile soil which is rich in organic matter and has lots of nutrient called nitrogen in it. Nitrogen is what matters the most to leafy greens. This particular nutrient helps leaf vegetables produce chlorophyll and perform photosynthesis. As a result, the plants grow and develop quality leaves quickly. 

• ADD COMPOSTED MANURE Animal waste is high in nitrogen; it’s so high that you typically cannot add animal waste directly to the soil, or it will burn your plants. The type of manure that you use varies in its “hotness,” so you need to compost it before adding it to your garden for at least six months. You can toss the manure right in with your food and garden waste in your compost. Chicken manure is considered the hottest manure, so you definitely need to compost it first. Cow manure, along with goat and rabbit droppings, isn’t as hot, and you could add them to your soil with a reduced chance of burning. It’s typically safer to compost, especially rabbit droppings, before applying them to the soil.
• PLANT NITROGEN-FIXING PLANTS Some plants are considered nitrogen-fixing plants, which means that they’ll add nitrogen to your soil as they grow. The two main ones to add to your beds are beans and legumes. Instead of absorbing the nitrogen from the soil, they fix the nutrients. So, consider growing beans and legumes where you previously grew nitrogen-hungry plants in the previous year. However, you may need to cut back or avoid fertilizing the garden beds or areas where you grew bean crops in the previous year. You might end up with too much nitrogen in the soil. 
• MIX COFFEE GROUNDS IN THE SOIL Coffee grounds are an excellent source of nitrogen. You can either add them to your compost pile or mix the grounds directly into your soil. It takes time for them to break down and release into the soil, but a bonus is that coffee grounds help to aerate the ground and improve drainage.
• USE FISH EMULSION Another nitrogen-rich fertilizer is called fish emulsion; it has an NPK ratio of 5:1:1. That means, while it does provide nitrogen to your plants, the dose isn’t high enough to burn your plants. Another benefit to using fish emulsion is that it also contains various other micronutrients that benefit your plants. Most garden centers sell fish emulsion in a concentrated form that needs to be mixed with water. The average ratio is 2-3 tablespoons of fish emulsion for every one gallon of water. Then, you pour it on the soil or spray the leaves of your plants. Or, if you happen to have a fish tank, use the water when you clean the tank in your garden.
• SPREAD GRASS CLIPPINGS AS MULCH In the summertime, you can apply grass clippings in your garden bed as an organic mulch. As the grass clippings decompose, they leech nitrogen back into your soil. 
• USE AN ACTUAL PLANT FERTILIZER When you select a plant fertilizer, look for one with a high first number in the NPK ratio. The ratio is displayed on the package of the fertilizer, looking something like 10-10-10 or 20-20-20. The first number indicates the amount of nitrogen, so using one with a larger first number gives a significant boost to your soil. However, a negative is that chemical fertilizers do tend to fade away faster and can also burn your plants by providing too much nitrogen at once. The organic ones usually have lower numbers, but take longer to be absorbed.