Hot beds and cool lights

We had some rain yesterday and the weather has turned cold again. This past Thursday and Friday it was above 30C, and then the temperatures plummeted back to 10C and rain. It cleared today but it did not get above 13C a cold NE arctic like wind blew all day. Tonight has a frost warning and I had to replace the plastic before sundown. Thankfully the wind had died down for that, unlike the night before. The Kale is starting to really hit its stride, it won't be long before we can harvest some for salad. Kale is one of the healthiest greens for you but when bought from most commercial sources it is heavily sprayed and unhealthy.

We were planting some Super sugar snap peas today, so I had Levi help me plant and cover the seeds in a row I had made. The bed we planted in today had a deficiency problem from lack of organic material in the soil. A few weeks ago we buried uncomposted material in this bed, it is now completely broken down and part of the soil. We will be adding lots of organic material to this bed to help it become healthy, productive soil once more.

Adding uncomposted kitchen scraps to your soil is another way you can warm up your soil in the cool months. Composting organics release heat as a byproduct of decomposition. This is the basic theory behind hotbeds, but the traditional input is fresh horse or cow manure.

I usually make a small hot bed, using my neighbors cow plops, but he had to retire. He's letting another farmer use his land now so there are a few cows again. The way the season is going I am going to have to go load up and take advantage.

I like to plant the peas seeds 1 to 2 inches apart, once they are 2 inches high they should be thinned to 6 inches apart. If they are not thinned you will have thin spindly pea plants!

Pat that soil down!

It looks like a found a squash family sprout, or at least that is what this weed wants me to believe. Die weed, die.

I also had to change my lights from one room to another to allow me to get light on all of the seedlings. The LED light does not cast a very large spotlight, but it is a good light for the plants. My tomatillo is going especially crazy for the blue spectrum on this light.