Did some good work today in advance of the rains- still some risk of a wash-out but I’ll take the chance.
Did the newspaper trick after clearing the old moldy fava bean dirt and the few weeds that had taken root.
Then it was just a matter of dumping a few bags of soil in, which was quite the workout!
I’m not making the same mistake I made with the moldy lettuce- I put a few good shakes of sure start fertilizer after bag of soil 2. See the weird roots of my lettuce might have been a result of not only the freak heat wave right after I planted them- but the lack of good soil microbes. Sure start fertilizer is a good way to inoculate the soil. I like to think of it as soil probiotics.
These are the Pac Choi I’m putting in, the green one is the “Joy” cultivar and the purple one is the “Rosy” cultivar.
I’ve had great luck with Pac Choi. It’s just a Asian cultivar of cabbage, but much more robust and pest resistant. Also easier to grow and the whole thing is edible. Yummy firm stems and green leaves (or purple!) make for a great side dish or stir fry. (Or salad or braised dish or…)
But I like a mixed bed- no mono cultures here!
So since I’ve been having bad luck with the Romaine plants- time to plant romaine from seed!
Two rows that will of course need to be thinned pretty heavily, but hopefully they won’t be washed out by the rains.
But that’s not all…
My dad’s favorite vegetable!
He eats so many of these I’m surprised I haven’t been growing them already!
I think I’d been laboring under the delusion that they’re hard to grow- maybe in other places, but not in our climate!
Three rows and the best thing is that you don’t need to thin them at all. Just a seed every half inch to inch and you won’t need to pull any till they’re full grown and ready to eat!
This is also one of the great advantages of growing in San Francisco as in different climates you’d never be able to grow green onions in winter but here- full speed ahead.
Anyways- it’s a pretty bed.
Romaine at the back which is the shadiest, Pac Choi in the middle, and green onions in the front to capture all the winter sun.
Of course the seeds might get borked by the upcoming torrents of rain- but I have plenty of seeds to re-sow next week in case of disaster.
That being said I am considering mulching over the seeds before the rains and then removing it after- but I haven’t made up my mind on that.
What I am is tired- this was a lot of soil to lug around on a Sunday.
Here’s a picture of some beautiful little cabbages:
God I love Pac Choi.
The Neanderthal Gardens 