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seedlings

The magic of sowing seeds

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

Himanee Gupta-Carlson plants rhubarb crowns at Squash Villa Farm, photo by Jim Gupta-Carlson

Winter was hard. Just as I thought I could start to socialize again, new variants of the Coronavirus surfaced, pushing me back into isolation. I found myself feeling haggard from too much work at home, sitting at the computer trying to manage my teaching work and other responsibilities as a college professor alongside running our farm.

I longed to rip open a bag of organic potting soil, fill a tray of 72 seedling cells, and start planting arugula. But my husband Jim and I have been moving our farm, and with me left responsible for much of the packing, decluttering, and cleanup of our old locale, there was little time or space to make such a dream come true.

Seedlings at Owl Wood Farm, photo provided

Last weekend, though, was Easter and its promise of renewal. I celebrated with Jim at the new farm. We sunk our hands into the soil and began planting rhubarb crowns that had arrived two days earlier. I checked out the seedlings Jim had started under grow lights and marked times in my calendar for when I could help transplant those starts into the ground.

Last year, many of us fought back pandemic fear by creating what were dubbed “COVID gardens.” Gardeners planted radishes, turnips, arugula, lettuce, carrots, and peas. They obtained seedlings from such places as the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, along with tips on how to transplant, water, and fertilize.

This year, we can tackle combat pandemic fatigue with gardening again.

Greenhouse blooms at Burger’s Marketgarden, photo provided

Seeds for most spring crops – think peas, radishes, turnips, carrots, beets, lettuce, and kale – are widely available. Seedlings for summer crops, along with such vegetables as broccoli, will be available soon at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market at the Wilton Mall on Saturdays and, starting in May, at High Rock Park on Wednesdays.

Many gardeners – from novices to experts – came to my market stall last year with stories about their successes – the spicy tang of a radish pulled straight from the ground, the sweetness of a tomato just off the vine – and their failures – the seeds that did not germinate, the rabbits who made the lettuce bed their salad bar. Their celebrations and their laments show how planting seeds is about more than growing food. It’s also about magic: the healing power of letting our hands touch dirt, the wondrous transformation of a germinating seed to sprout, plant, and fruit.

It’s time to get planting. Let’s do it together.

This week’s recipe: Cornbread

Food security can begin right on your patio

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

Photo by Pattie Garrett

May means garden season, and this year, amid predictions of food shortages, growing your own food might be a vital source of sustenance.

“I always feel a few pots of easy vegetables or a small garden should be a part of life for any family,” says Sandy Arnold of Pleasant Valley Farm. “It’s so easy.”

Yet, many claim they can’t grow food, citing past failures as evidence.

We at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market want you to try again.

Burger Farm and Balet Flowers & Design are selling vegetable, fruit, and herb seedlings to help you start. Others such as Gomez Veggie Ville make it even easier with pre-planted culinary herb mixes in a pot.

Culinary herb pots at Gomez Veggie Ville, photo by Pattie Garrett

Here are some suggestions of my own:
● If you love peas, snag a bag of seeds and plant them now, up against a wire fence or trellis. They’ll start producing pods around July and will flourish for about three weeks. Plant more peas in three-week intervals through mid-July to ensure an ongoing supply.
● Hardy root vegetables such as radishes, carrots, turnips, and beets also are easy to start by seed, though sometimes seedlings are available. Radishes and turnips grow fast and will be harvestable in four to six weeks. Beets and carrots take longer. Plant these vegetables several times, as well.
● Plant lettuce seedlings from Burger or Balet and start harvesting the outer leaves in about two weeks. Keep harvesting like this or wait for the plants to grow larger and then cut all the leaves at the base. They’ll grow back, but you also can keep planting lettuce from seed to ensure a steady crop.
● Burger and Balet also have kale, Swiss chard, pac choi, and other leafy greens seedlings. Plant and harvest the leaves when they are eight inches long. These “cut and come again” plants, produce through late fall.
● You also can get broccoli, cabbage, and brussels sprouts seedlings now. Consider a second planting of broccoli and cabbage in late June.
● After June 1, start planting summer seedlings. These include tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, squashes, melons, and basil. They’ll begin producing fruit in several weeks and will continue until the fall frosts arrive.

Transplants at Burger’s Market Garden, photo by Pattie Garrett

This week’s recipe: Farmers’ Market Green Salad

 

Planting flowers and food on Mothers’ Day

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

The opening month of the Saratoga Farmers’ Market’s outdoor season is like a debut to summer: Several vendors are offering seasonal flowers, herbs, and vegetable seedlings. These items make ideal Mothers’ Day gifts. They also offer fast doses of color and character to fledgling gardens and promises of great harvests to come.

Look this weekend and next Wednesday for bright bunches of daffodils, branches of lilacs, and sweet-smelling hyacinths. Such flowers are available as bouquets. With them are pots of geraniums and packs of bedding plants, the horticultural term for fast-growing seasonal flowers and ornamental plants that can be transplanted into gardens immediately.

On Wednesdays, you can find such plants at the Butternut Ridge and Burger Farm stalls on the south end of the High Rock Park pavilion. And, at the end of May, Goode Farm will bring floral arrangements, dried flowers, and cut flowers. On Saturdays, look for flowers and plants at the Scotch Ridge Tree & Berries and Balet Flowers & Design. Also on Saturdays, the Wild Things Rescue Nursery is on hand with a variety of plants native plants that can help build bee and butterfly gardens. And, cut flower bouquets from Lot 32 Flower Farm will return in early June.

Scotch Ridge Berry Farm, photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

If growing food is your goal, many market vendors also offer a wide array of vegetable and herb seedlings. Some can go into the ground immediately; others are best nurtured in sunny windows until soil temperatures have warmed to about 65-70 degrees.

At the Burger Farm stall, tomato plants already are flowering and bearing small fruits. Andy Burger, who operates the farm with his parents, said that they started the plants at the end of January, raising them with heat and light in a greenhouse. The tomatoes are available for purchase now along with such summer plants as peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, zucchini and
summer squash. Burger recommends bringing such seedlings indoors at night and on chillier May days.

For immediate transplanting, try lettuce, spinach, arugula, kale, and other greens, along with such herbs as cilantro, oregano, marjoram, mint, parsley, rosemary, sage, and oregano. Other vendors who offer vegetable and herb seedlings include Butternut Ridge, Scotch Ridge, Balet, and Otrembiak Farm.

Most vendors will offer planting advice. Master gardeners with the Cornell Cooperative Extension Services are at both the Wednesday and Saturday markets, as well.