Seeds, Sprouts and Blossom Dreams

What a day. Wonderful partly cloudy skies here in Silverton. Yesterday it wasn't the case. Volunteers helped construct our second raised bed garden at Silverton. The rain was coming in sideways but the crew was chipper. We had a coffee break to warm up and made some more plans for our garden. I am hoping to clear out a site for a thick maiz patch somewhere but need to wait for the weather to let up. It is not a good idea to work soil in the winter in general but especially not when its is soggy and saturated. Soil might not always seem like a fragile thing but imagine that you are holding a mini ecosystem. When you work the soil while it is saturated (especially the clay soil of the willamette) they form impenetrable clods of clay, dirt, and detritus. These clods dry out easily and suffocate young and delicate seedling roots. The best practice when preparing soil for planting is to be patient and grab the soil with your hands on a daily basis. Try to form a ball simply by squeezing soil in your palm. If it feels like clay and forms like playdough put it back down, grab some coffee, and dream some more about how your garden will grow. If when you are forming the soil feels dry and breaks when trying to form a ball, drop it and do a rain dance because you just need a bit more water for perfect soil prep. If when you grab the soil it feels like a sponge when you squeeze it and holds a ball but resists clodding jump and dance because it is time to plant. Typically around here you can start planting early spring and summer crops like peas, radish, and some spinach later in February. You could certainly wait until March for peas but sometimes the weather has different ideas and knowing your soils structure and capacity will make your decision more intuitive to your own microclimate...a very important thing for green thumb development. So we need to wait for anything and let our gardens sleep. Completing the second garden was great so our compost and soil will have some time to settle out and cool down before planting. We received some great seed donations the past week. A huge package came in from High Mowing Seeds out of Vermont. Another big package came from Territorial Seed Company out of Cottage Grove. Al's Garden Center donated 12 4in plant starts. American Center for Sustainability is finalizing their plant list and will be donating up to 1000 plant starts for us this year. We are having a propogation party in March and hand planting 75,000 seeds! Phew...I am sweating just thinking about that. Outside the garden in my mind is in full bloom. I see peas and green climbing the sky. I already had to do some weeding in our beds because they are healthy and warmer than surrounding air making germination a pleasure. I can't wait to get growing. Come back to see more of OCDC's garden. Have any thoughts on fun projects to do with families in the garden? Fun activities for kids in the garden? Make a post and let us know your thoughts on how to immerse children and families in gardening and cultivation. We want to hear from you.