vegetable boxes

i’m doing vegetable boxes besides the harvest it yourself system.

it’s interesting because it pushes me to try to get the maximum out of it in terms of diversity.

the first box is next monday. the first of may.

getting diversity in autumn isn’t so difficult, but getting diversity in spring, specially something with a bite is quite difficult.

so to get some nice vegetables in may:

• sugar snap peas: grown in the greenhouse, seeded somewhere in january. i took a low growing kind that i seeded quite dense in a soil full of vegetable seeds of last year, so they’re wrapping themselves around the plants that are there, no need to put a fence or something like that.
• rhubarb: nothing to do, it’s perennial.
• leek: from last year
• warmoes: from last year and new ones nin the greenhouse, self seeded.
• radish: seeded outside half of march (i got some in the greenhouse in the beginning of april, seeded 17 february)
• turnip: preseeded i forgot when, planted in the greenhouse and they will start to be ready the first of may.
• carrots: seeded 17 february in greenhouse, they will probably be ready end of may.
• springonion: seeded 17 february, i can probably start harvesting half of may.
• fresh garlic: planted outside in october, ready to harvest end of april.
• koolrabi: preseeded somewhere in february, planted in greenhouse beginning of april, ready to harvest hopefully end of may, beginning of june.
• rucola, salad, spinach, mustardleaf, silantro,…  leafy greens: seeded in august/september /october for harvest in the winter early spring, seeded in february/march/april/may for harvest in spring/beginning of summer. regulalry seed them to regularly harvest them, better 10 times a little bit than twice a lot.
• cauliflower: planting in august of walcheren winterbloemkool to harvest in may.

i think next year i can get earlier carrots/springonion by seeding them in january. and very early springonions by seeding them in august/september.

maybe preseeding koolrabi on a heated raised bed (see another post) in january might give them beginning/half of may.

for next year i’m also going to try to get pointy cabbage in the greenhouse over the winter to get them very early in spring. seeding them somewhere end of september.

same with romanesco and why not trying it with koolrabi.

I have to pay attention that i don’t get a hole in my production in june, because of trying to be very early and forgetting to be normal.

 

balance between chaos and order

i’m going towards more order in the field, because it’s easier to maintain. so i don’t put 20 different plants on 1 raised bed anymore. besides that i try to get more diversity in the hedge, with berry plants and herbs/flowers, so the chaos is somewhat restricted to the edge of the field but not thrown out.

2 maximum 3 different plants on a raised bed.

i’m wondering what the effect will be in terms of health, do i have to pay more attention to rotation? or will the health of the soil in combination with a lot of flowers and a wild hedge be enough to rebalance the pests. i will probably get the answer in a couple of years.

although i already pay more attention to rotation than last year, not too strict, but i have a scheme, but let’s say that a vegetable bed where i planned to seed carrots isn’t ready in time and another where i planned beans is perfect at the moment i want to seed carrots, i change and fuck up the rotation 🙂

full on in spring

it’s a while ago i posted something. so a small update.

the field is bigger, my way of managing it changed also, a bit less intensive, less mixed, less work per square meter.

more on nice and straight lines, gertrude franck system but a bit different.

pictures will follow one of the next days.

just 2 to brag, the harvest of 2 april for the connect conference at the steinerschool.

and the most awesome transportation vehicule.