Whitsend Market Garden

Update as of April 26:

Bed cleaning and seed sowing continues.  Almost al of the Garlic has emerged.  Now the guessing game begins - which ones are going to size up?  Which ones will remain healthy enough for extended shelf life?  Which ones will taste good?  Which ones will survive the season?  Which ones should be reserved for seed garlic next year?  What's going on down there (out of sight) underground, anyway?  At least with Turnips and beets, one can see the progress at or just above the soil line.  

I have a few extra "Green Zebra" variety Tomato plants that should be ready for transplant mid to late May depending on the temperature of your garden, porch, etc.  If plenty of fresh Tomatoes are not enough, let me know and I will get one or two to you.  Note that a couple of them will be small, as they were late germinating.  First call, first serve...

Hey Folks:

Here is the best update I can give you for the time being - photos taken by Randy on Monday April 22.

First - the big view:

These beds were prepared prior to ground freeze up last fall.

Some beds have IRT mulch on them to warm them up prior to seeding.

They are awaiting the first of three flushes of weed sprouts, which are cultivated out using a co-linear hoe.  Once the third flush of weedlets is removed, the weed seed load on the beds is reduced for the rest of the season, provided the soil is not disturbed too deeply.

Cleaning a bed for this year's Brussels Sprouts:

Here's a bed that was not prepped last fall.  Finished today in about an hour and a half - note the bed immediately behind me.  This is what the bed currently being raked looked like.

During bed building, we find tons of rock.   The smooth ones (in fore ground) are used for pinning down row covers.


The set of beds being worked in the above picture are situated in a north south direction, and receive more  most shade (note deciduous trees in the back ground) during the height of summer.  Crops that are prone to heat stress are planted in these beds.

The straw filled beds in the foreground of the above picture are where your Garlic is growing.  These were planted last fall and have begun emerging in the past two weeks.

The straw keeps them insulated against the night lows and prevents the wind from drying them out.  It is pulled back away from them in the morning, and piled up again at night.

This is the famous "Fish Lake" variety.

I mentioned celery sprouts in the previous post.  Here they are, about 2 weeks old.

Many plants are started in the nursery to give them a few weeks head start in our short growing season.  Not all seeds germinate.  By growing them in trays, I can eliminate gaps in the beds, ensuring that I use the maximum amount of field space.

These Tomatoes (foreground) started out in trays.  As they grew, the healthiest ones were chosen and potted up to accommodate their growing root system.

In the back ground, you see the Rhubarb Chard.

In the far background is the plastic wall of the rear of the nursery.  behind it are many straw filled bags which insulated the nursery since it was activated last February.  The straw and space heat keep the nursery temperature range stable enough to allow the plants to cope with the cold.


Erica requested Pak Choi and Chinese Cabbage.  Here they come...note how closely related they are.  At two weeks since sowing, they are virtually indistinguishable.  Kale, Broccoli  Arugula, (and many more) all look more or less the same.

All of these sprouts will wind up being transplanted in the next couple of weeks.  They should land on your table in the first weeks of June.

The Garlic and Tomatoes should be a few weeks after.

Talk to you soon.


PS - still room for a few more customers, and I NEED one or two more interns.

If you know of any one who is interested in either (or both) options, please forward them to me.

I will be closing sales soon.

Bob