Spring Planting is Here

Caio Baba Marta! March is coming to an end. In a few days, April will be here. But in the mean time, Marta is up to her old tricks. I've spent more time winterizing irrigation, only to have to reactivate it because temperatures went back up into the 70's and 80's. This year, she really couldn't make up her mind. But no matter. I still wear my martenitza, but tomorrow, I will hang it from the almond tree. That was the first tree to bloom this year.

Tonight it is getting cold again. It is 42 outside and dropping. But for the last couple of weeks, we really have had some nice weather. And I took advantage of this to do some planting. Over the last few years, I have experienced some attrition in my lavender field. Primarily with the "grosso" variety. Overall, I have lost about 10% of the plants established two years ago. So this year, I'm replacing them with plugs from last year's planting. That's me to the right with a tray of healthy lavender just ready for the planting.

My soil is very heavy. So when I replaced the plants, I tried to lighten it up a bit. I have a place on the farm that has ample supply of sand. I use this to lighten up the spots where the heavy soil seemed to make a rough time for my sweet lavender. I brought sand up by the tractor load full. For each plant that didn't make it, I dug a hole about two feet deep and 1 1/2 to 2 feed wide. To the removed dirt, I added 2 to 5 gallons of fresh sand, and a shovel or two of compost. I mixed these all together, and refilled the hole. It is in this "lighter" soil that I then planted the new replacement plant from the plug tray you saw above. Here to the right, you see the new baby plant in the freshly made soil. The buckets contained the sand and compost. The weather was beautiful those days. And I must say I got some good sun. For me. We humans need sun too you know!

This was heavy work. But my hope is that the new plants will thrive much better in the developed soil than the old plants did in the heavy clay. I guess only time will tell.

We had a bout of hot weather (there goes Marta again!) so I used this opportunity to clean out all the sand filters, check the irrigation lines for leaks, and give the field a good drink of water.

I also started the seedlings for my summer garden this month as well. It is still much too cold and unpredictable to start the plants outdoors. I use my cold frame. But the first thing that needs to be done, is to prepare the starter soil. For this, I get two 5 gallon buckets. Fill one with sand, and one with compost. Then pour them both into a mixing tray and mix together with a hoe. This makes a nice light but rich soil for the seeds to germinate. Then I fill a bunch of 2" trays I have saved over the years with the soil.


Once I have all the trays filled with my starter soil, I plant the seeds. I planted zucchini, pumpkin, tomato, pepper, basil, and tarragon and a few others. I am happy to say that the zucchini, pumpkin, pepper were all 2nd generation. The pumpkin is actually 4th generation. This is my first year with tarragon, so I couldn't save seeds for those.

To me, seed saving is nothing short of a miracle. When I think of seeds, I think of a promise. When you eat a zucchini or a pumpkin or a tomato, slice it open. Inside are dozens of seeds. Each seed is a promise. A promise that there will be many more meals where that one came from. This is a miracle gift from nature. It's way of telling you that nature will take care of you, if only you take care of her. It is quite beautiful actually.

When I finished planting, I marked each tray with color toothpicks. This is the way I track what each tray contains until it sprouts. Then I place the trays in the cold frame, and wait for the baby plants to emerge. Here you can see the newly planted trays with my other babies: lavender, rosemary, and some artichokes. Ahh, I cannot wait until the summer!

It isn't too late for you to plant your veggies now! Zucchini and pumpkins will germinate quickly. Basil can be started quickly, and nothing is yummier than fresh pesto! Even tomatoes and peppers. There is still time to plant your garden. If you aren't ready for a large garden, just plant a few plants in large pots. Get started. It's fun! And it really is the only way to experience the promise nature has made to you first hand. Free food. All you have to do is plant it.

Spring, Vetch, and the Continuing Art of Tiller Maintenance

The Vernal Equinox is in one week, on Friday, March 20th. This is when the Earth is inclined neither towards nor away from the Sun. In other words, Spring is coming. It's still cold here on Tassajara. It got down to freezing again last night. The Sun just set, and the temperature is dropping fast. But today, it was sunny and warm. And the grasses and vetch are growing rapidly.

It is time to turn under the cover vetch in the Lavender fields before it grows too high. Actually, in the last week, it already grew too high. Shall I say, before it grows much too high. We already started working around the plants, clearing it out. But I need to cultivate between the rows now.

Remember this? If not, you can revisit my January article on Bees and the Art of Tiller Maintenance. This is the hole in my tiller engine. You may recall that in the fall, it threw a rod right through the side of the crank case. Not good if you need it to turn under the vetch. I started the repairs two months ago, but as is common with me, I decided to completely disassemble and restore her. But grass is growing, and the time has come to finish the job.

I got the machine a few years ago on craigslist. I only paid a couple hundred bucks. It served me well until about a year ago, when I smoked the engine getting the new field ready. In January, I got a new engine and was putting on the last coats of paint (I like to paint my equipment purple and yellow to match the fields). With the cold weather, it was taking a long time to dry. So I put it aside for awhile.

Now look at her! What a difference a coat of paint and a new engine make, no? If I get around to making a bracket to hold a battery, I can rig it up for push button start. Now THAT is fancy :) Anyhow, I fired her up and tilled up some test strips. This engine is a bit more powerful, and runs much smoother.

All ready. And just in time for Spring. Tomorrow I till vetch!

Update from the Home Garden

I'm always looking for easy things to grow. This Thanksgiving, I travelled Scotland. On the train back to London, I was looking out the window when I noticed large turnip fields. The climate there was cold and drizzly. Very much like our winters here at Tassajara. I like turnips, but I had never tried growing them. I was intrigued with the idea of growing them in my winter garden. I had to try.

When I returned home, I got some seeds and promptly planted them directly in the ground. The weather was mild, and they sprouted quickly. But as the temperatures grow colder, the turnips grew more slowly. The cold weather did not kill them, but growth did stop when the temperature dropped. And when we had warm spells, growth resumed. My feeling is that late November / early December was not ideal. They would have thrived better had they started in September and got two months of mild weather.

Never-the-less, nature is forgiving and we have success at last. It's been about three months, and at least part of the crop is now ready for harvest. I got some beautiful purple and white ones. Mmmm. If you have a good turnip recipe, let me know, there are plenty more where these came from!

Chestita Baba Marta!

I am fortunate. My wife, Daniella is from Bulgaria. It is an old country, being established in 681, it is almost 1,400 years old. With that maturity, it brings customs that are as old as it. Many of these centuries old with wisdoms from a time that no longer exists. A time when people were more closely aligned with nature. And being married to a Bulgarian woman, these customs now grace and enchant our life here on the farm.

March is a special month. Bulgarians, always celebrate March 1 with a "martenitza" like the one to the right. A happy couple made from red and white yarn or thread. These were made by Daniella's mother before she passed on. The detail is fun for such a simple pair. The male has a vest and little socks, and the female sports an apron. The man's name is Pizho and the woman is Penda. Today we hung a large martenitza also made many years ago by Daniella's mother on our door. Both Pizho and Penda wear a headband with a delicate flower. The apron is part of the Bulgarian national costume. The martenitza is a symbol of fertility, and the man and woman represent the beginning and nucleus of the family. The red represents both the color of blood and of health. While the white represents the snow still commonly present in March on the Balkan Peninsula. Together, they promise health and happiness as winter comes to an end, and Spring begins life anew. Everyone wears one almost always during the whole month. It is a wish for health, happiness and - watch out - fertility. So be careful when you wear it!

In the Bulgarian language and culture, March is the only female month. And therefore it is very unpredictable. It could just as easily bring more snow and cold weather, as it can bring warmth and new life, all in one month. The legends say Baba Marta (Grandmother Marta) had eleven brothers. The youngest being Ianuary (January) and the oldest Dekemvry (December). Marta was the third child, and was not known for her good nature. She could be vindictive and tempestuous. Wearing the martenitza helps keep you in her good graces.

When you see the first signs of spring, in Bulgaria that may be a stork, or here in California a budding fruit tree, hang the martenitza in the tree. Today our almond trees are in bloom, so I will most likely hang mine there in a week or so, after wearing it (I don't want Baba Marta coming down on me, a storm with strong wind is headed in as we speak!)

Wishing Chestita (Happy) Baba Marta! to all of you, my friends. And to all of you - be happy, healthy and fertile in March!