Post Planting Cold Snap

The weather in the mountains never ceases to amaze me.  I thought we had wild temperature swings when I lived in the midwest, but once the weather got warm out there, it generally stayed that way until fall.  Here in the mountains we can have a few weeks of beautiful weather and temps in the 80's followed by days of wind, cold rain, and at some elevations, snow.  This year this cold snap came around just a week after the last average frost date for my area.  I know that the average frost date is just an average, but the warm temps that had been teasing me for the couple of weeks before the frost date lulled me into a false sense of security.  My garden was planted the week after mother's day.  This week I am crossing my fingers that the squash, cucumbers and beans don't germinate until things warm back up again.  I am also praying that the temps don't actually dip below freezing, or I will likely lose my corn, tomatillos, peppers and tomatoes.

The peppers and the tomatoes have been covered by a makeshift green house that will hopefully keep them alive through the cold snap.  The corn and the tomatillos will have to fend for themselves as I don't have enough hoops and rebar stakes to construct the low tunnels that could protect them.  Depending on how cold it gets over the next couple nights, things could get rough out in the garden. 

If I need to replant corn it shouldn't be a big deal, but the ones that have already come up have grown two inches tall and had a great head start on the growing season. 

The tomatillos seem to grow pretty fast so if I do need to replant them, they shouldn't be too far behind by the time summer reaches full force.  In a few days I will know what made it and what didn't.  In the mean time I will try to think positive.  Plants can be hardier than you expect and while this cold snap may stress some of them, if they make it through they will probably go on to become really good producers.

Tibetan Purple Barley

When I went to the food and farm forum this past winter they give out an information bag to everyone that participates.  In the bag there are various pamphlets explaining various farm related organizations that are active in this area and a breakdown of the day's scheduled events.  They always throw in a few surprises every year and this year I was happily surprised to find a packet of Tibetan Purple Barley seeds in my bag.

I hadn't given much thought as to what I would do with these particular seeds.  There were only about forty seeds in the packet so it wouldn't cover much ground.  I didn't want to loose the seeds in the sea of weeds that my yard becomes in the summertime and I didn't want to set them out to be free snacks for the local birds.  I decided to plant them in a long shallow planter this year which solved all of my issue quite simply.  By planting them in the planter I could be sure that the only thing growing there was this barley and I wouldn't lose them in the jungle of my yard.  I could also cover the planter with a screen until the seeds germinated to prevent birds from snatching them all up.

It has taken a few weeks, but they seem to be germinating little by little.  If I can coax these tiny shoots into growing more seeds for me I will be able to plant a larger area next year.  I am hoping they will thrive in my climate and I will be able to help continue a rare line of barley for generations to come.

Growing My Own Sweet Potato Slips

Last year was the first year that I had ever grown sweet potatoes in my garden.  I had one that had started to sprout new growth over the winter, so I decided that once the weather warmed I would tuck it into an empty spot in my garden.  I planted the whole potato, not knowing that there was a better way.  It still produced a couple small potatoes, so I ate one and saved the other for the next growing season.  Over the winter the single potato has sprouted several new vines.  Each vine has the potential to become a new plant in the right conditions, so I am setting out to do it a better way this year.

Starting with the single sweet potato, I stuck three toothpicks into the root so I could soak it in water without submerging the whole thing.  After a few weeks in water the sweet potato started to grow new roots into the water and it sent new shoots up into the air.  Sweet potatoes don't grow exactly like regular potatoes.  The part we eat is actually the root of the plant as opposed to regular potatoes which are tubers that grow off the stems of a plant.  Regular potatoes will send up new stems and the tubers form at the base of the stems that are underground.  Sweet potatoes can be cuttings of new growth that have the opportunity to form new roots (and therefore new sweet potatoes).  To make the slips I waited until the new vines were several inches long and then I broke them off of the rooted sweet potato and stuck them in their own jar of water.  I am hoping that they will develop a strong enough root system of their own in a few weeks.  Once they seem like they are off to a good start and the weather is staying generally warmer, they will be introduced to the summer garden where they can grow to their hearts content.