Planting Finally Begins

Today I tried to multitask between painting and planting. I got a bunch of seeds and plants at WalMart (I know, I know...) yesterday, and I couldn't wait to get started.

I topped off last year's lasagna bed with six bags of compost/manure. (I'm going to need two more to finish the top covering.) Then I planted 6 Brussels sprout, 6 cabbage (Dutch flat?), and 8 broccoli (Early Dividend) plants. I played around with a wide staggered row for the cabbage and broccoli, almost like a square foot garden. I left room in the center to plant dill in a week or two, which will hopefully help keep pests away. I put about a teaspoon of bone & blood meal in the bottom of the hole before putting in each plant. I hope this will give them a good shoot of energy without burning the roots. Then I covered everything with fine tulle to protect from cabbage moths. I read about this in last issue's Mother Earth News, and I can't wait to see how it does, especially since I haven't been able to harvest broccoli yet because of cabbage loopers.

I also planted a third of a row of radish (sparkler) & romaine lettuce interplanted & spinach (teton hybrid). I will add a third of a row each week and then start containers, so I should hopefully have constant salad basics.