Cold Crops....phase two

I filled the raised tomato bed with 3 flats of cold season veggies... mesclin mix, baby bok choi, rocket, and spinach. Combined with what I planted yesterday, I will have organic greens throughout the spring, with enough to share with friends.This gives me almost three months of harvest from this bed before I plant my tomatoes in late May. I am experimenting with a "no store bought" produce plan for the 2009 growing season. Similar to a locavore program, I am going to try to consume only produce that is from my own garden, or known source produce, such as the CSA that I am participating in at Pennypack Farm. I will also consume produce from farmer's markets as long as the seller can tell me where the food was grown.In other words, if I don't know where it was grown, I'm not going to eat it. While I doubt I can follow this policy 100%, it should be interesting to see how close I can get.

rocket 3.9.2009


mesclin mix 3.9.2009

I now have about one month to get my act together and build the additional raised beds for this season. I need two 8' X 8' beds at the rear border of the yard, one for root veggies such as carrots, turnips, and onions, and the other for peppers.
Last year I had the peppers in the tomato bed, which worked out ok, but I want only tomatoes in that bed this year. I'll use the same number of tomato plants as last year (15), but they will have more room to spread out.Last year the tomato plants were too crowded. I also need a new raised bed along the outside of the garage wall.This bed will be for beans and peas, as well as for basil