Whitsend Market Garden

Hey Everyone:

Two weeks to our first delivery.

I'm constantly worrying about everything.  Have I planted enough?  Have I planted too much?  Will the rodents crash the fence and eat everything?  Did I wait too long to plant some crops?

I just keep planting food, keep the beds in shape, and shore up the fence every chance I get.

We had a frost last week that killed several pepper plants.  These plants were protected by straw and row cover (as were many other crops), but this particular bed didn't seem to withstand the test.

There are replacements, but not enough to fill the entire bed.  Extra tomato plants will have to cover the rest of the space.

Several other crops were touched by frost, though not to the same degree.  These oldest tomato leaves carry the scar of their first frost.

I left a little bit of straw at the base of the plant. This serves two purposes.

First, the straw reduces the evaporative pressure on  the soil above the root zone.

Secondly, the straw prevents cutworms from wrapping themselves around the stem to feed.

I adapted this tip from Natalie who helped out at Whitsend a few years ago.

Cutworms wastefully eat one part of a plant - the stem at ground level.

This is a green bean variety called provider, it germinates well in cool soil, so is the first bean variety I  plant  in the spring.  We should start to get these in the first or second week in July.

It will produce until the heat gets too much for it (or when the second round of beans starts to produce).  After that, these beans are picked one last time and the bushes composted to make way for the fall lettuce.

Look carefully - there are two plants that have had their terminal bud nipped.  These are finished, and will grow no further (Another example of wasteful eating).

The pattern of damage is consistent with rodents.  A groundhog would have eaten the entire row.  It is possible a rabbit may have snuck through the electric fence, as they are surprisingly nimble.  With such a small quantity of damage, I am more inclined to think mice ate these.  More catnip!

Lettuces.  The cool weather has been good for some.  This is a new variety for this season.  My usual first delivery variety is no longer available, so I chose one that seems very similar.  

Enough lettuce for our first two weeks is one of my chief concerns.  I'll need some good luck, and optimal growing conditions to ensure these size up decently.

What I can do to promote their growth is to keep the paths in check so that the lettuce receives as much sunlight as possible.


Unlike last year, the spinach has germinated very well this season.  Last year should have been good too (lots of cool, cloudy days).

Last year, I was using row cover to retain moisture in the beds (the seeds won't germinate if the bed dries out).  Consistently, the spinach didn't germinate.  Late last year (too late), I came across a reference in one of my tests that suggested that leaf crops tend to need a lot of sunlight to germinate, so I assumed that this was the mistake I had made.

This year, I am watering the beds more and leaving the row cover off.  So far, it is working.

I tried a new radish variety last year (Cherry Belle), and it was the first time I received compliments for this crop.  These will be delivered during the first two weeks.

Compare this bed of carrots with a post from two weeks ago - the nantes type carrots.  Growing very slowly from the ground up.

I have to keep reminding myself that most of the growth is occurring underground, as they drive their first tap root down.

A big success for this year...parsnips.  Parsnips are tricky for several reasons.

First, the seed naturally has a very low germination rate.  I purchased about fifty percent more seed and seeded thickly.

Second, parsnips take about 3-4 weeks to germinate.  Grass and most weeds require about seven days.  I do a little bit of cultivating to help keep the weeds down, but I can only go in between the rows to ensure I don't cultivate out the parsnip seeds.  Despite this, the bed is a weedy mess by the two weeks after the planting.

Third, when the parsnip does germinate, its first primary leaves look similar to many weeds.  At this point, each row needs to be weeded very carefully to ensure I don't pull out the wrong plants, or that pulling out a weed doesn't disturb the adjacent parsnip sprout.

If I can get through these three challenges, then we may have a decent crop in October.

I planted something here about two weeks ago.

Now some dark green leaves are emerging from the soil.  Any recall as to what this is?

To give you a sense of scale, the weed sprouts to the right are about 2 cm tall.

Right now, the potatoes are exposed to the first wave of potato beetles, which should be arriving any day now.  However, the beans need protecting from the rodents.  Which is worse?

Here is a fennel sprout at about two weeks.

Above ground, it is barely changing in size, and has added only one or two secondary leaves.

Below ground, it is driving its tap root down and could be up to twice the size of the rest of the plant.








Celery is a crop that demands patience.

While we wait, I've sown two rows of cress in between the celery.  If I can keep it cool and moist enough, these will be ready in three weeks.

Great space saver!

Shades the celery stalks.

Cress grows very thickly so also keeps the weed pressure down on this bed.



The first crop planted this season in the nursery finally makes it out into the field.  Echinacea.

The final decision as to where to plant it was long in coming.

If I can get it to settle in, you'll see where I chose to plant it during the open house.

Planting guides suggest planting it with mint.  I have some lemon balm ready for transplant (a mint family crop and also a capable self seeder), so i chose to place them together.  This will help me keep the lemon balm away from the closely related catnip - I don't want to get the two confused on delivery days!

So a lot of challenges to overcome.  I need to stay focused and maintain my cool.

Talk to you next week.

Bob