This is a weekly look at what is happening in the school garden to assist teacher educators engage their students in agriculture. It can be used by garden students of all ages however!
First off. Winter is Coming!
Make sure that you cover your beds Friday before you leave.
Outside in the raised beds:
I have been getting questions about what can still be planted outside. You can still direct seed spinach, kale, and cilantro right now and water daily until you get good germination. Cover the beds before you leave on Friday. This is a good week to thin your baby seedlings if they got planted too thick. Water a few hours before you thin in order to make it easier to pull the extras. Because we have very cold weather coming, if you want to get seeds in the ground, earlier is better. We will likely not have another chance to plant after Thursday this week. Make sure that when we get to the cold weather you do not uncover your beds on a cold day so that you do not shock your seedlings. It should be above 45 degrees minimum to pop the top and it is better done around the middle of the day so you can re-cover, and build heat back up for the overnight lows.
Inside under LED lights:
You can still plant lettuce and bok choi under LED lights for maturation indoors or potential transplanting out under season extension. Do you have seedling ready to get planted or are getting close? Check out this video to get you started seed starting:
I planted Bok Choi last week and they were up by the weekend. I waited until the first true leaves came out then I thinned to one per cell. I am using 6-packs, but the technique is the same in a 2″ pot.
Water a few hours before so the seedlings slip out easier.
Thin to the strongest seedling.
Inside in the Aerogarden:
You can still start lettuce and herbs in the Aerogarden. The Aerogarden website has a tremendous amount of content to assist with maintenance of the units, troubleshooting problems, or how to take care of the plants in the system. CHECK IT OUT if you are having problems.
As always, if you have questions, feel free to email me at mcdermott.15@osu.edu