Freeze, Thaw, Repeat

It’s late February and we are expecting another 10” of snow tomorrow evening. We spent the day prepping for and planting seeds for spring.

Last weekend I went over to Agrihood neighbor Matt’s house to watch him tap a maple tree. No sooner did I get home and get my coat off than he texted me that the bucket was full. We were both amazed, as syrup making is new to both of us, but apparently cold nights + sunny thawing days = sap river.

Now it’s warmed up and the flow has slowed, with 8 gallons collected by Matt. Seems like a lot until you understand it takes about 40 gallons of Sugar Maple sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. Matt tapped Norway Maples and that sap requires closer to 60 gallons to yield one gallon of syrup. But, like everything else we are doing in the first year, it’s about education.

Matt stopped by and checked out our seed setup today and we agreed, the first year is a test and a learning opportunity. We either learn how to do it or learn not to do it.

We either learn how to do it or learn not to do it.

We plant seeds every year but we were dilettante early gardeners, only growing a few varieties of tomatoes on some spare windowsills. And when planting time came we’d rely on the kindness of friends who planted too many seeds during their winter and trips to Colonial Gardens to buy rootstock. This year, along with everything else at Sans Souci, we are leveling up.

We’ve upgraded to real multi-spectrum grow lights and improved seed starting trays. Most importantly we expanded the diversity of what we put in the dirt. We tried to cover every early season variety that we wanted to grow but there are only so many shelves and lights. We’re hoping these start to sprout right when the weather breaks and we can relocate them to the greenhouse and start the next batch of seeds.

We also plan on sowing a lot of seeds directly into the mushroom compost between fruit trees so all of this effort and investment should save some labor and money in May. Here’s what we planted for the annual garden today:

LEFT
1 TOP
Golden California Wonder Pepper
Wild Cherry Tomato
Umpqua Broccoli
Belgian Beefsteak Tomato

2
Clear Dawn Onion
Italian Torpedo Onion

3
Heirloom Arugula
Marvel of Four Seasons Lettuce
Batavia Lettuce

4
Judy’s Broad Kale
Forellenschluss Lettuce

RIGHT
1 TOP
Shintokiwa Cucumber
Sweet & Bright Tomato
Ruth’s Perfect Tomato

2
Purple Apple Tomato
Golden Delight Tomato
Detroit Dark Red Beet
Kimberton Hills Yellow Tomato
Green Zebra Tomato
Striped German Tomato
King of the North Sweet Pepper
Cascadia Snap Peas
Purple Bumblebee Cherry Tomato

3
Sugar Snap Peas
Sora Radish

4
Shintokiwa Cucumber

And, in the spirit of permaculture, we three a lot of extra seeds into vacant pots and we’ll transplant them throughout Zone 1.

Stay curious.