Upcoming dates/ GFE classes/ Starting seeds/MLK Day

 

The Presidio is looking very green and signs of a new growing season are everywhere. Yesterday's sun and rain was a nice treat and we spied this full rainbow over the main post. The garlic is up, the onion sets are planted, the first daffodils are blooming, slugs are making appearances in the veggies, and we have a greenhouse full of flats ready to grow. We hope to see you in the gardens soon! 

1/27 Portola from 10am-noon

1/27 Ft. Scott from 1-3pm

1/30 MacArthur from 1-4pm

2/10 Ft. Scott Garden Resource Day from 10am-1pm

Garden for the Environment is a fantastic, and nearby, garden resource for everyone. Check them out!

February is bringing another great set of workshops to GFE at 1590 7th Ave. (at Lawton). Join in and invite your friends!  

Urban Composting- Free!
When: Saturday, February 3rd, 2018, 10am to 12pm
Register: bit.ly/GFEcompost2018

The Edible Garden
When: Saturday, February 10th, 2018, 10am to 12pm
Register: bit.ly/GFEedible2018

Intro to Beekeeping
When: Saturday, February 17th, 2018, 10am to 12pm
Register: bit.ly/GFEbees2018-1 

Urban Chickens
When: Saturday, February 24th, 2018, 10am to 12pm
Register: bit.ly/GFEchickens2018

Sneak peak for March: the Sustainable Gardening Series returns - bit..ly/GFEseriesMar2018.

Thank you, Adam Long

Education Manager, Garden for the Environment

www.gardenfortheenvironment.org

7th Avenue and Lawton Street | San Francisco, CA  (415) 558-8246

Taylor's Blog Post #7: Starting Seeds

Now that we have a greenhouse in the Fort Scott community garden, seed starting has been an absolute breeze. We have been able to grow arugula, cauliflower, kale, and peas from seed to start (aka seedling) in just a few weeks (in the coldest part of winter), and even keep some small basil seedlings alive! We’re really excited about how fast our starts are growing, but we’re even more excited about the possibility of being able to provide community gardeners with a few seedlings at garden resource days in the future.

Here is some helpful information to inspire you to try starting some seeds of your own:

The two ways you can start plants in your bed are (1) transplanting seedlings or (2) starting plants from seed. Transplanting can often be much easier than starting plants from seed, however, there are many plants that just don’t respond well to transplanting. These plants are often characterized by their underground yield- we call them root crops. Carrots, beets, parsnips, turnips, potatoes, onions, and radishes are all root crops, and all need to be started by seed or ‘sets’ (for onions and potatoes). February-March is the ideal time period in the planting year to sow seeds for these root crops. And seeing as February is just around the corner, I thought I’d give you all an introduction (or refresher) on seed starting.

Before you begin, check the date on your seed packet. Seeds generally remain viable for 1-3 years if stored in cool, dry and dark conditions. Larger seeds tend to remain viable longer. Consider sowing more thickly if your seeds are older, or do a germination test before starting.

Cool season crop seeds should be started in a soil temperature that will stay above 40 degrees F as they need some warmth to sprout. Moist soil can help to regulate soil temperature by holding heat, so making sure that soil is moist during sowing and germination can make all the difference! However, too moist of a soil can make it difficult for delicate sprouts to push up towards the surface. Striking a good balance with the amount of moisture in your soil is not too difficult, but very important to seed starting. Weeds can also crowd out seeds and prevent them from sprouting. It’s really important to clean out your bed, or the space where you are going to be starting seeds, before you begin sowing. This will set your seeds up for success.

Once you have decided that your bed is warm enough, moist enough, and cleared of weeds, you can prepare your seedbed for sowing. Turning amendments such as compost or organic fertilizer into your bed before sowing could be an important part of this preparation, especially if you didn’t amend your bed after pulling summer crops. Breaking up large clods of soil and moving rocks or small pieces of bark out of your bed will help seedlings to push through to the top of the soil and sprout. In Golden Gate Gardening Pam Peirce writes, “Use a rake, hoe, or your hands to form a fine seedbed in the top 3 to 4 inches of soil. The seedbed needs to be finer for small seeds than for larger ones; a piece of undecayed bark that a bean seedling can easily push aside will stop a carrot seedling in its tracks.” Ensure that your seeds don’t have any impenetrable obstacles by examining the surface of your soil.

When trying to decide how deep to plant your seeds, consulting the back of the seed packet can be very helpful. The rule of thumb is to plant at a depth 2-3 times the diameter of the seed. Large seeds can be planted individually but with small seeds scattering and sowing thickly may do a better job of ensuring growth.

When growing within the limited space of a bed it can be tempting to pack as much of a crop in as you can. Closer spacing of seeds will give you more plants in your bed, however, the plants may be less productive if they are crowded. Some crops are more sensitive to crowding than others but typically spacing root crops out so that at maturity a ½-1 inch space exists between mature roots is ideal. Your seed packets will offer more precise information, but these are general guidelines for seeding root crops that have been effective for myself and other gardeners.

Once your seeds have been sown and you’ve lightly firmed down the soil around them, remember to water! You won’t need to water long (seeing as deeper soil in the bed will stay moist) but gently watering the top layer of soil where the seed is attempting to establish itself is important. Letting that top portion of soil dry out for more than half of a day is dangerous for the seeds. Seeds need moisture in order to begin growth.

That’s all of the information I’ve got for seed starting! Hope you all start planting some root crops soon (February is just around the corner) and start preparing your garden beds for the heavy planting that comes with the spring season J

Please email me with any questions you might have about seed starting, what to grow at this time of year, or your garden bed- tjais@presidiotrust.gov

Taylor

Finally, in case you are curious what we get up to in the gardens, last week we had 10 volunteers join us from the M.L.K. Day of Service in the Presidio 

(around 80 people came out total). The kids loved our push mower, we scoured the hillside for cheeseweed seedlings before they get to be 6' tall, and Taylor had a lot of help clearing out the herb garden. Here are some photos: