Last year, in some round about way, I heard about Linda of Tree and Twig Farm, heirloom vegetable grower, tomato lover and owner of a local organic farm operation. I've been following her blog, and had to stop myself from spending a small fortune on seeds from her this spring. Due to a hectic winter, I didn't get any tomatoes or peppers started from seed this year, so on the great May 24 weekend, I hied myself to Wellandport and, after recovering from the shock of seeing that many tomato plants in one space, picked up some tomato and pepper plants. And some bean seed. Because a woman can never have too much seed. Anyhow...
So, when Linda announced she was giving away free beet seed for the great beet challenge of 2011, I was in like Flynn.
Tonight, I weeded the area where lettuce and radishes grew this spring, and planted 12 rows of beets, all about 4" apart, in my raised beds which are filled with a mixture of top soil and compost. No additional fertilizer or inputs of any sort, and the one drawback of this is the area is on the north side of the small corn patch - while it will get good morning sun, it is quite shaded all afternoon. However, that's the only free spot in the garden, so it was the best spot available :)
Linda's blog gives a bit more information about the challenge and beets (seed cluster? I never knew that!), and the comment section has some links to other participants.
And so, the countdown to September 18 begins... game on!!!
Oh, one more thing. If you live in the area, and want to support local agriculture, give Linda a try! (Well, not Linda herself, of course...). Because, really, who else do you know gives away well over 200 beets to complete strangers (I still have over half the pack left!!)? Thanks Linda! And oh, do you have any of that Mrocumiere seed left? Or the Amish Deer Tongue Lettuce? Potimarron? Or Sibley? Or... sigh. So many seeds, so little space...
________________________________________
*I've seen them twice in concert - incredible. Oh, wait. That's Great Big Sea. My bad :)
LinkWithin
It's not too late for beets? I have some space I wanted to fill up but could only come up with lettuce and radishes. This is awesome!
ReplyDelete(And Great Big Sea are awesome too!)
Nope - isn't that great?? I *think* you could still plant carrots too, but hey - join the beet challenge with the rest of us :)
ReplyDeleteOh - I'm going to try a second planting of peas too, once I pull out some other stuff. After all, seeds are cheap!
Wonderful! Still so many things can be planted and I think with this heat and a good bit of moisture the beets will soar! Thanks for taking part...great post!
ReplyDeleteThanks Linda - I can't wait to see everyone else who joins in!
ReplyDelete