Early spring greens are coming out in full force — in the greenhouse — without any help from me. Most abundant is claytonia but there’s plenty of mâche, my favorite, and too much chickweed, which I don’t eat, but could.
Tag Archives: mâche
FIRST SOWINGS OF THE YEAR, DEADLINE MISSED
Onions & More, Late But They’ll Be Fine
I missed my deadline by four days, sowing onion seeds on February 5th rather than the planned February 1st. That date isn’t fixed in stone but the important thing is to plant onions early. Onions are photoperiod sensitive, that is, they respond to daylength (actually, night length, but researchers originally thought the response was to light rather than darkness, so the phrase “daylength sensitive” stuck). Once days get long enough, sometime in June, leaf formation comes screeching to a halt and the plants put their energies into making bulbs. The more leaves before that begins, the bigger the bulbs. Plants from seeds sown outdoors — towards the end of March — won’t have as many leaves as plants given a jump start indoors. I like big bulbs; hence the early February sowing.
Fresh Seeds & Mini-furrows in a Plastic Tub
First step on …