Book Review: The New Organic Grower

So, here's what I gleaned and want to remember from Eliot Coleman's, The New Organic Grower

Chapter 7, Crop Rotation.

Potatoes follow sweet corn because research has shown corn to be one of the preceding crops that most benefit yield of potatoes
Corn to follow Cabbage
Cabbage to follow Peas because the pea crop is finished and the ground cleared by August 1, allowing a vigorous winter green manure crop to be established.
Peas follow Tomatoes because they need an early seedbed and tomatoes can be undersown to a non-winter-hardy green manure crop that provides soil protection with no decomposition adn regrowth problems in the spring.
Tomatoes follow beans because this places them 4 years away from their cousin, potato
Beans follow root crops because they are not known to be subject to the detrimental effect that certain root crops such as carrots and beets may exert in the following year.
Root crops follow squash and potatoes because they are both good "cleaning crops" (easy to keep weed-free. also, squash has been shown as a beneficial preceding crop for roots.
Squash is grown after potatoes in order to have the two "cleaning crops back to prior to the root crops thus reducing weed problems in the root crops.

p. 66 (great illustrations)

bed 1: bean, cabbage, kale, radish (compost) - undersow clover pre, and winter vetch post harvest (for tomatoes)
bed 2: carrot beet, chard, onion, celery
bed 3: greens
bed 4: potato - undersow vetch after potatoes are harvested
bed 5: cornundersow soybeans to get rid of potato scab!bed 6: peas - sow clover after peas are cleared
bed 7: broccoli, cauliflower
bed 8: winter squash, summer squash, cucumber - clover
bed 9: tomato, pepper - undersow oats?

Rotation goes up, 10 becomes 9, 9 becomes 8, etc.

p. 78-81 (great illustrations)

Chapter 10 - soil amendments. Won't be spending money on it this year, but keep it in mind for the future.

P. 110, "Nitrogen is not a purchased input [in a sustainable farming approach] because it is supplied by symbiotic and non-symbiotic processes."

This quote was most shocking to me after watching the documentary "dirt," in which the visual of what excess nitrogen in the soil is doing to the water sources in the U.S. and far South of the U.S. was so depressing. To know that it doesn't need to be that way is really. really. sad.

Ch. 14. Soil Blocks. I'm convinced. I'm doing it. - see previous post for recipe and instructions.

Multi Plant Blocks:
beet - 4 seeds, 6 inches apart, rows 16 inches apart (2 rows per bed)
broccoli, 4 seeds, 24 inches apart, rows 30 inches apart (1 row per bed)
cabbage - 3, 24, 30 (1 row per bed)
corn - 4, 30, 30 (1 row per bed)
cucumber - 3, 30, 30 (1 row per bed)
leek - 4, 8, 16 (2 rows per bed)
Melon - (3, 24, 60)
Onion, Bulb - 5, 12, 12
Onion, Scallion - 12, 6, 12
Peas - 3, 6, 30
Spinach - 4, 6, 12
Turnip - 4, 6, 12
                             p. 149 (copy page 152 for soil block and potting on recommendations

Ch. 17. Pests (should be titled, inspiration for the biologically sustainable farmer).
My favorite chapter.

Ch. 18. Book Recommendation, "The Organic Gardener's Handbook. Natural Insect and Disease Control by Barbara Ellis and Fern Marshall Bradley


Ch. 19, "The optimal 'organic' farming system, toward which my farming techniques are progressing, is one that participates as fully as possible in the application of biological systems of the natural world."

The goal is not "organic." The goal is "biological." (biologically in balance) I appreciate that he makes this distinction. Many friends who don't want to buy organic say that the organic farms are the big names too, and they're just as bad. Well, maybe they are. The point isn't what company is being supported. The point is that the earth is being treated in a biologically sustainable way. Some organic farms may not do this. My goal would be to buy from those who do and to follow the practices which do in my own growing. The goal is not "organic." The goal is "biological."

Another favorite part, when discussing getting information from libraries,
          "Sometimes the staff do things for me because, since I'm older than the students, they assume I must be faculty. I have sometimes worn a coat and tie to reinforce that possibility. Other times, just looking helpless or smiling sweetly can overcome barriers. If I recieve a bureaucratic "no" to my request, I will often come back after the shift changes to see if I have better luck with the next person."

…oh Eliot :)

Notes on Specific Crops:
Onion, 5 seeds per 2" block 5 to 6 weeks before transplant
Lettuce - give a 12x12 space when planting it outdoors
Melon and Cucumbers like sandy soil because it gets hotter
Zucchini - favorite types "Zucchini Elite, Seneca Prolific, Ronde de Nice"
Peppers and Onions don't like high nitrogen (green manure)
Larger seedlings in blocks should be planted with a mesh bottom so air can reach every side and roots won't start growing out of the block, reading for air (corn, cucumber, melon, etc.)
financial return on sweet corn is low
Mulch potatoes with straw immediately after they emerge to reduce beetle problem
start pumpkin/squash 1 week early in greenhouse seed block
seed radishes in rows 4" apart and only 1" apart in the row. sow in succession every few days,
start rutabaga from direct seed 18" rows 1 every 4"where overwintered clover was prior
Spinach likes clay not sandy soil 4-5 seeds per block, transplant 3 wk old seedlings every 6 inches, rows 12 inches apart. Sow fall crop and overwinter it. Favorite types, "Tyee" and "Steadfast"
To sow in succesion: Kale, Carrot, Spinach, Brassicas, Lettuce, Radishes

Next to Read:
Urban Farm by Sarah C Rich (great pictures)
The good Food Revolution, Will Allen
How to Grow More Vegetables by Jeavons
The Winter Harvest Handbook, Coleman

Words to look up:
Nostrums
Bucolic
Panacea

Swiss Chard Quiche

Bought a quiche pan today. Really excited about mixing up quick meals in it. Chop some veggies, throw them in eggs. Throw them in the oven.

Ingredients:
Swiss chard
Mushrooms
1 Onion
Garlic
5 Eggs
Pepper
Cinnamon
Dill
Grate cheese on top

Saute Garlic, Saute Onion, throw in the mushrooms, then the chard. Beat the eggs, add the spices, mix together, pour in quiche pan, grate cheese on top. Bake at 375 in a 10" diameter quiche pan for 20 minutes.

Step 1: 

Step 2:

Step 3: 

Step 4: Yum!

Starting Seeds Step 2

At day 3, only having the grow light on day 2, some of my seedlings were already getting leggy, a common happening for starting seeds indoors. I always admire how un-leggy my little seedlings are when they are grown outdoors.

So, I decided to make my 2" seed blocks for transplanting (added the compost this time) and transplant only the 5 least leggy specimens.

I left one row of 5 in case those who have not yet sprouted (perennial spinach, leek, and swiss chard), decide to do so. I kept these on the top shelf with my one grow light so they will not get leggy if they do sprout.

I left the peppers on the next shelf down, hoping they won't sprout before the aforementioned. But as soon as they do, I'll have to bump the other tray out of the top shelf so the peppers don't get leggy - 'cause the pepper really need that light and to be started indoors while the others are really only experiments to start them this early.

In other notes, the jury is out on Coleman's idea of leaving the seeds on top of the soil to germinate. This is what they looked like when they germinated…on tope of the soil. Not sure how I feel about that. I'll observe them more as they stay on the top shelf and see how the roots go in.

Sprouts Already!!!

Came home today to put the grow light in the greenhouse and discovered I already have some sprouts.

After just 24 hours, we have:

Stonehead Hybrid Cabbage (leftover from last fall, Jung's)
Mammoth Redrock Cabbage (very small sprout)
Chinese Cabbage (also leftover)
Georgia Southern Collard
Red Romaine Lettuce
Buttercrunch Lettuce
One little Red Russian Kale is ready to poke her head out

Wish I had a micro lens for this, but here's what I've got:

In other news, yesterday I saved some butternut squash seeds…guess what's for dinner?

I love Martha Stewart's site for preparing in season vegetables. She really has a lot of great recipes. I can't wait for the new Coleman/Damrosh "Four Season Farm Gardener's Cookbook" to come out!!!

Check out her "seasonal produce recipe guide" I'll guide you to eggplant :)

I also saved these oyster shells as Eliot (we're on a first name basis now) says they're good for adding Calcium to the soil. I guess I'll need to attend the oyster bar happy hour more often ;)

Seeding Calendar 2013 Simplified

So your seed packets say, plant 6-8 weeks before transplanting or plant 4 weeks before last frost, and a lot of other things. Honestly, this really confused me. I realized last night that the logical thing to do is to plant cold weather crops however many weeks the packet says before their cold weather planting date (In Madison, this can vary in March and April), and warm weather crops the number of weeks it says before their warm weather planting date (In Madison, around Mother's Day or May 10.

FEBRUARY 16
So, I've started seeds in soil blocks for the following crops on February 16, 6-8 weeks before the soil may be able to be worked (mid April???) I'm keeping in mind that I have a LOT of work to do on my beds before they are plantable:

Start Seeds:

Tray 1:

Crisp Mint Lettuce (best in cold)

Cabbage

Kale

Collards

Tray 2:

Peppers

I will need to give a lot of these away to friends after they germinate to make room in the greenhouse.

Hopefully I can inspire others to have their own greenhouse with their already started seedlings. Maybe I could even trade for marigold, zucchini, summer squash, winter squash, melon, and/or pumpkin seeds.

Then again, maybe none of them will germinate because I forgot the compost in the seed starting formula :)

MARCH 17

Sow seeds that need 8 weeks of development before the last frost. Hopefully by the time these germinate, I will be hardening off (putting outside to get used to the cold and wind for gradually longer increments of time) Tray 1 above of cold weather crops.

Tray 3:

Eggplant

Broccoli - succession planting, start some, not all
Marigold

MARCH 31

Sow seeds indoors that need 6 weeks of development before the last frost:

Tray 4:

Tomatoes!!!

Add to Tray 3:
Ground Cherry

Broccoli

Leeks 

Collards

Kale

Cabbage
Swiss Chard

APRIL 14

At this point, Tray 1 and 3 will be transplanted outside and ready to be filled up with some new mini-soil blocks/seeds!
Sow indoors (crops that want 3-4 weeks before last frost seed starting):

Thai Basil

Nasturtium
Zucchini (3-4 per soil block)

This is also when I will begin to direct sow the cold weather crops:

Lettuces (that aren't specific to cold weather)

Snap Peas

Pac Choy

Carrots
Radish
Beets (Plant in rows with radishes)

I will also direct seed the rest of the chard, lettuce, cabbage, kale, spinach, collards and leeks to compare how they do with direct sowing to how they did with transplanting from soil blocks (pics to follow hopefully)

APRIL 28

Start half of my cucumber and watermelon seedlings indoors

MAY 12

This is when I will feel safe enough to transplant those seedlings which must be transplanted "after the last frost date"(those that I started the seeds of on March 17 and March 31st respectively). 

Direct Seed:

Sunflowers

Beans
Cucumber
Corn

To see where/how I will be planting all of these seedlings, check out my garden bed planning chart.

JUNE 30

Direct Seed:
Rutabaga
Lettuce
Brassicas (brocolli, cauliflower)
Radish
Beets
Cabbage

Companion Planting

Companion Planting: is planting crops together that help each other grow and have a symbiotic relationship.

For example, Marigolds tend to keep pests away from tomatoes. For some crops it has to do with pests, some shade, some, nutrients.

To see how I've dong companion planting in my beds, check out my garden bed planning chart.

Companion planting (especially with undersowing of green manures) is a subject I have a LOT to learn about. BUT! here's what I have so far:

nasturtiums love broccoli, squash and cucumber

tomatoes love marigolds and basil

carrots loves chives

tomatoes keep pests away from cabbage

dill likes cabbage to support it

marigolds control pests that may attack tomatoes and melons

…still a lot of research to do on this one, I really appreciate your comments of knowledge!!!

I think I'll read a book that was recommended to me a long time ago called, carrots love tomatoes.

Amazing Wisconsin Gardeners

Will Allen and Growing Power. Milwaukee, WI

Badger Rock Middle School!!! Madison, WI
                   My dream job; being part of the ELL program at Badger Rock Middle School

I would really like to see Badger Rock put in some community-run example gardens from Hmong and Mexican community members, even parents as examples of how gardening is done in different parts of the world and what is grown. I'm sure this could lead to a lot of wonderful curriculum projects as well.

 
To find community gardens that already exist in Madison that you can become a part of, check out the Community Action Coalition

Print Resources

A list of my favorite gardening books:

Coleman, Eliot. The New Organic Grower.
   I especially recommend chapter 17 entitled "Pests!" Very inspiring! (it's not really just about pests)

Coleman, Eliot. The Winter Harvest Handbook

Allen, Will. The Good Food Revolution: Growing Healthy Food, People and Communities.

Nearing, Helen and Scott. The Good Life: Helen and Scott Nearing's 60 years of self-sufficient living.

Nearing, Helen. Loving and Leaving the Good Life.

Jeavons, John & Griffin, Mogador & Leler, Robin. How to grow more vegetables.

Ashworth, Susan. Seed to Seed; Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners
   Published by the Seed Savers Exchange

Planning the Bed

So, I'm planning to have 10 beds, each about 8 feet by a little less than 4 feet, maybe 40 inches?

The first few beds are in the shade. Beds 3 through 5 have some semi-sun and beds 6 - 10 are also in the shade. Good thing I love my leafy greens as they don't require full sun!!!

I am keeping my perennials (that don't mind some shade) furthest from the house (hence in the first labeled beds) because they require the least amount of care.

1) perennial ground cherry, chamomile, parsley (biennial)    /      mint and other perennial berries

2) perennial strawberries, perennial asparagus                      /        perennial spinach and rhubarb

3) early harvest onion                                                           /         early harvest snap peas
    later harvest squash (pumpkin, cucumber, with nasturtium  /   later harvest beans and eggplant
   (nasturtium and cucumber want lots of water and sandy soil, maybe I should put them next to the lettuce)

4) early harvest snap peas                                                   /    heirloom tomato, marigold, basil
     later harvest peppers

5) garlic (planted last fall)
   Wisconsin 55 tomato, marigold, basil                             /     paste tomato, marigold, basil

6) cabbage and dill                                                            /   leeks

7) Carrot and chive                                                           /    early lettuce and spinach
                                                                                               later slow bolt lettuce and spinach

8) Spinach                                                                         / Kale

9) Collards                                                                        / Chard (wants full sun, needs to be moved)

10) Extras

I am growing a lot of tomatoes for canning, also pickling cucumbers, red cabbage to be canned as well as freezing kale, chard, collards and spinach, drying peppers, keep onions and winter squash in the basement, turn strawberries, ground cherries and rhubarb to jam. When I get there, I'll have to do another post reviewing the info out there on putting things by. I haven't canned tomato paste before, but I've canned my own salsa before and know it's very easy, so I feel confident in growing a lot of tomatoes. Also, isn't that the impetus for this garden in the first place!?!?!

Glossary

Glossary: 

undersowing (sowing seeds under a crop so they will be ready to grow (pun intended) when you harvest the previous crop in the bed.

picture from Eliot Coleman's "The New Organic Grower"

Green Manure: is any plant which is grown for the nutricious quality it adds to the soil. These are not harvested for eating, but only for turning over into the soil for nitrogen and other qualities that feed the soil. The best green manure for your depends on the specific needs of your garden and what will grow well in your garden. Most of these plants grow very fast and some of them do a great job of keeping the soil aerated and together with their roots.

Some example of green manure crops are: hairy vetch, bell beans, sweet white lupin (loosens the soil), bersem clover, sweet clover (bi-ennial) and red clover.

Succession Planting: Refers to planting crops in a succession that will be beneficial to their growth. For example, I mention in my seed starting post that the soil created after an onion planting is particularly beneficial to starting seeds. If you check out the below picture from the "New Organic Gardener" you can see some other beneficial succession plantings. Please retain a copy of the book for fully accurate information.

Permaculture:

Monoculture:

Community Garden:

Worm Castings:

Hummus:

Eliot Coleman and Soil Blocks

If you haven't checked out the videos of Eliot Coleman and his wife, Barbara on Youtube, you may want to consider it. They offer a LOT of great advice on everything from seed spacing to compost. I have been at this for five years and done a lot of research and still learned a lot from every video of theirs I watched. This video explains soil block makers and shows how to make them for free!

If you want to buy soil block makers, they are available at Johnny's Selected Seeds

Coupon for free shipping for 2013 from Johnny's

I am also learning a LOT from Eliot's Book, "The New Organic Grower." The book is more up to date than the videos according to the differing mixes in both for soil blocks.

There are many advantages to the soil seed blocks.

1) They require no additional fertilizer as all they need is already in the block with the compost.
2) The peat in them acts as a super fertilizer
3) Because they are divided from each other by only air, the roots do not grown in circles like they would in a container

Downsides
1) I hear they need to be watered more often, makes sense.
2) slightly larger initial investment (but after that, never break like stupid plastic pots)
3) no leaching from plastics (yes, I think about things like this
4) no waste of the plastic containers.

So, as you saw in my previous post, I made my soil blocks today and started my first seeds of the season. NOTE TO SELF: Next time, before starting soil blocks, read the chapter!!! I thought it was sufficient that I had watched Coleman's video on soil blocks, but there is so much additional information in the chapter in his book on it, I really wish I had read it first. I will summarize here for you with the most important parts.

* Seed Starting Soil Block Mixture:
16 Parts   brown peat                                           4 gallons
1/4 Part   colloidal phosphate                             1 cup
1/4 Part   greensand (leave it out if not available 1 cup
4 parts    compost (well decomposed)                 1 gallon
 - Note: Coleman also recommends using soil that has previously harvested onions and/or leeks as they seem to add something to the soil that is beneficial for starting seeds.

* Do not cover seeds with soil. At all.

* Many seeds can be put into "mulitplant" blocks

These include:
Beets - 4 (still need to acquire some beet seeds)
Broccoli - 4
Cabbage - 3 (whoops, next time)
Cucumber - 3
Leek - 4
Melon - 3
Onion, Bulb - 5
Onion, Scallion - 12
Peas - 3
Spinach - 4
Turnip - 4

* I only bought the mini-blocker and the 1 1/2"/2" blocker, but he recommends different sized blockers for different seeds. Below are the ones I care about.
Celery 3/4" transplanted to a 2"
Broccoli - 1 1/2" (I'll try to plant them in a group of 4 for an experiment as suggested above)
Cabbage - 1 1/2" (already did it in a 3/4", so it'll be an experiment, I'll probably do the next set in a "multiplant" larger block
Chinese Cabbage - 1 1/2"
Cucumber - 1 1/2" (also try multiplant and not multiplant)
Eggplant - 3/4" to 2"
Leek - 1 1/2" (again, already did it in the smaller, try bigger and bigger multiplant)
Kale- 1 1/2"(same deal)
Lettuce - 1 1/2" (same deal)
Melon - 1 1/2"
Parsley - 3/4"
Pepper - 3/4" (at least I got that one right!)
Pumpkin - 3"!!!!
Spinach - 1 1/2" (same deal)
Summer Squash - 3" !!!!!
Winter Squash - 3"
Swiss Chard - 1 1/2" (same deal)
Tomato - 3/4"


The below recipe will be useful later, once I have to return Coleman's book to the library, so I'll record it below:
*Blocking Mix Recipe (for transplanting seeds to after they are started)
3 buckets brown peat
1/2 cup lime. Mix.
2 buckets coarse sand or perlite
3 cups base fertilizer. Mix.
1 bucket soil
2 buckets compost
Mix all ingredients together thoroughly. Do not sterilize the mix.

Coleman's book also has EXCELLENT chapters on crop rotation, undersowing and green manures. I'll delve into this subject more when I have more time…and I'm hoping the new book I ordered, "Grow more vegetables" will have some insight on succession planting and even succession planting within the same season.

Starting First Seeds

Today, February 16, I started my first seeds. I started anything that can go out in the cold in mid April (after 8 weeks inside)…and peppers. Lots and lots of peppers.

I used soil seed blocks. More on that in another post.

I planted 240 pepper seedings from the seeds I've saved from peppers from the grocery store. No, I do not plan on using this many in my garden, but hope to share seedlings with others who were unable to start their peppers early enough.

I also pulled out of the freezer (they germinate better if brought from freezer to soil) my:

Swiss Chard, Bright Lights (Jung's)
Lettuce, Buttercrunch (Jung's)
Cabbage, Mammoth Red Rock (Seed Savers)
Kale, Red Russian (Seed Savers)
Lettuce, Crisp Mint (Seed Savers)
Spinach, Strawberry (Seed Savers)
  A perennial with edible fruits
Carrot, Dragon (Seed Savers)
  This was a mistake. I should not have started these indoors, good things I only did 20.
Collard, Georgia Southern (Seed Savers)
Lettuce, Red Romaine (Seed Savers)
  I planted this and not others because it has a longer (70 day) maturation time
Leek, Prizetaker (Seed Savers)
  I planted this early because of its long (110-135) day maturation time, also I've never heard of people successfully (or at all) growing leeks in this area, so this is an experiment.
Chinese cabbage (Jung's)
Stonehead Hybrid Cabbage (Jung's)

It is really only necessary to start planting peppers and onions this early, but I got excited and wanted to experiment with my new soil blockers and greenhouse in my kitchen.

The seedlings should be kept moist and between 70F and 75F degrees. I decided not to use my grow light to not dry out the seedlings…we'll see how that goes.

I did not use the seed starting mix recommended by Eliot Coleman (my current mentor in organic gardening). Instead, for ease and speed, I bought an organic seed starting "Jiffy-Mix" from Jung's Greenhouse. It made the soil seed blocks ok, but after reading the chapter on soil seed blocks in Coleman's book, it made me wish I had at least added compost. Also, after reading this chapter, it made me wish I hadn't covered all of my seeds with a tiny bit of soil.

The Backyard Garden Dream

So! Let me just reiterate again how lucky I feel to be able to have my own organic garden of considerable size (even if not of considerable sun) in my own backyard!

This project has been a dream in the works for the last five years now. I became interested in gardening after coming back to Madison, WI after living in Turkey for five years and realizing the vast discrepancy in availability of high quality fresh fruits and vegetables. To give you some idea of the vast quantities available, it was unheard of to buy one or two or even five of anything at a Turkish fresh food market. Alas, you do not buy your produce there by the number, but by the pound. Every crop has their own seller. If you frequent the same market often, you get to know the sellers and the quality of their produce. Often, though, the first twenty minutes of the shopping trip can be spent walking the aisles of the large open air market to find where you will buy each of your specialties. Interspersed are the vendors of other essential items. The guy selling underwear by wearing it on his head, standing on a table and yelling at customers was definitely one of my favorites. Though over time, I definitely stopped noticing him. I guess we can get used to anything.

So anyway, when I moved to Madison, the woman in the apartment across from mine (in the same building) just happened to belong to a local community garden (link takes you to the Community Action Coalition to find a community garden in Madison that you can be a part of). I was eager to reproduce the tomatoes of turkey after tasting the available produce in the U.S. She was very helpful and shared a lot of information on permaculture and composting as well as green manures. Because I had an 8 month old at the time and the garden was 3 miles, I couldn't invest as much time or energy in the garden as I wanted. I stayed with this community garden for 3 years. When I had my son, I could no longer keep up and gave up my plot.

Last year I was divorced. And while, yes, in many ways this is very sad, one benefit is that I was able to move to an apartment with a huge backyard for gardening, with a landlord who doesn't spray pesticides and many weekends to tend to the garden. I am so excited for my kids and myself to be able to harvest from their own backyard garden.

I am also looking forward to sharing information with other urban Madison gardeners through this blog. I haven't found a lot by way of blogs from urban gardeners in the Midwest. I am hoping to be able to help others along in their own gardens in much the same way my neighbor helped me.

Let's hope the tomatoes taste as great as Turkey's!!!

Madison Compost

Follow this link to find a source where you can pick up some great compost in Verona.

1.5 cubic yards (the back of a pick up truck) for $10!!! + the price of the gas of course

Cheap Madison Compost

Also, be sure to check out Eliot Coleman's videos on home composting with hay bales on you tube.

Madison Planting Calendar

Questions remaining - When can I plant my fall planting of spinach, kale, lettuce, broccoli, and chard? When to plant collards, cabbage, leeks and

ground cherry? - 6 weeks before last frost

Planting Calendar

To know when you plant your seeds, use this planting calendar. This calendar tells you to sew your onions indoors. I would strongly recommend you buy onion sets as they are regularly inexpensive and the space and time you take to seed onions just isn't worth it. I'm sure I'll be making changes and comments on this calendar as the season progresses and probably also after I take my urban gardening course at the local cooperative. I have adjusted this planting calendar to coincide with my availability to plant on Sundays.

February 17. I will start some Kale early indoors (I'd much prefer to direct sow this, but I will try some indoors for an experiment. I will also try a few lettuce, spinach, cabbage, kale, swiss chard and collard. broccoli indoors for experiment, though only a few because I much prefer direct planting. I will also sow a few early tomatoes just for fun in case we have a super hot summer early (not impossible with latest weather trends).

Kale - Red Russian from seed savers exchange
Swiss Chard - 5 color silverbeet from seed savers
Cabbage - Mammoth Red rock from seed savers
Collard - Georgia Southern from seed savers

Lettuce - Red Leprechaun

Broccoli - Calabrese

Broccoli - Romanesco

February 17. I will start my pepper seeds I have saved from my grocery peppers in the kitchen as it's the warmest place in the house. I will sow a few basil seeds, but I will sow most of these outdoors.

Pepper - from saved grocery seed

Basil - ?

Thai Basil - ?

February 24. Work on tomato stands, garden fence, planning out garden layout. 

March 3. As soon as soil can be worked, I will direct plant my snow peas (my favorite!), carrots, lettuce, and spinach, kale and swiss chard. start some tomato seeds indoors.

Pea - Amish Snap 

Tomato, Amish paste

Tomato, Wisconsin 55

Tomato, Beam's Yellow Pear

Tomato, Black Krim

Carrot - Dragon

Lettuce - Red Leprachaun (Cool weather lettuce)

Lettuce - SSE Lettuce Mixture (Cool weather)

Lettuce - Red Romaine (Cool weather)

Swiss Chard - Five Color Silver Beet

Spinach - America

Kale - Red Russian

March 10. Transplant lettuce, broccoli and kale seedlings into the garden (such a pain, but I will only have a few). Plant more lettuce, spinach, carrots, kale, chard and snow peas outdoors (successive plantings every ~10 days) Direct plant some broccoli.

March 17. Start some Collards, broccoli, cabbage indoors

March 24. Sow another successive planting of spinach, snow peas, carrots, kale, chard and lettuce outdoors.

March 31. Sow more lettuce, spinach, carrots, kale, chard and snow peas.
plant all "indoors 6 weeks before last frost"
ground cherry
broccoli - calabrese
broccoli - romanesco

April 14. Sow more lettuce, spinach, carrots, kale, chard and snow peas. Sow directly in garden seeds for sunflowers and nasturtiums. Plant onion sets and a few potatoes (potatoes can be a huge pain with the pests that eat the leaves and digging them up requiring so much work, but I'll try a few.)

Sunflowers - ?

Nasturtiums - ?

Onion Sets - Cobra (savers)

April 21. Transplant tomatoes to garden (maybe). 

Corn - Blue Jade

Corn  - Cherokee long ear (popcorn)

Beans - ?

April 28. Sow a few pumpkin and cucumber seeds outdoors and start a few indoors in case the outdoor ones get frosted. 

Pumpkin - ?

Cucumber - Japanese climbing

Cucumber - pickling

May 12. Last frost.Transplant peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers outdoors (maybe). Sow beans outdoors. Sow Corn outdoors.

May 19. Sow warm-weather lettuce crop in garden. Sow more beans.

Warm weather lettuce - ?

June 9. Happy Birthday to me!!! Sow 2nd warm-weather lettuce crop.

June 30. Sow 3rd warm-weather lettuce crop (Summer Crisp type) indoors or in garden. Sow 3rd crop of beans.

Buying Seed

This will be the first year I will have my own backyard garden. I have a 20x50ft plot! I'm going to also try to have sunflowers, corn and cucumbers (climbing the sunflowers and corn) in a circle around the fire pit. I hope to have Beam's yellow pear tomatoes lining the side of the house and to cast mushrooms next to the fence in the shady area.

Resources:
responsibly saved seeds

From Seed Savers Exchange, I will have:

Kale - Red Russian 

Lettuce - SSE Lettuce Mixture

Lettuce - Red Romaine

Swiss Chard - Five Color Silver Beet

Spinach - America

Kale - Red Russian

Broccoli - Calabrese

Broccoli - Romanesco

Pea - Amish Snap

Tomato, Amish paste (for preserving)

Tomato, Wisconsin 55 (preserve in salsa)

Tomato, Beam's Yellow Pear

Tomato, Black Krim 

Corn - Blue Jade

Cucumber - Japanese climbing

Cucumber - pickling (Preserve as pickles)

Ground Cherry - Loewen Family Heirloom
Collard - Georgia Southern
Leek - Prizetaker
Cabbage - Mammoth Red

Jung's

Onion Set - Cobra (a good saver)

Onion Set - another

I will also buy some early, mid and late ripening strawberries from jungs and 

if I can't find a friends raspberries to clip from, I will buy those from Jung's as well.

I'll also buy my asparagus from Jungs, but I know it won't come up for a few years.

Terrior Seeds

Corn  - Cherokee long ear (Preserve for popcorn)

Black-Seeded Simpson Lettuce (warm-weather lettuce)

Annie's Heirloom Seeds
Thai Basil 2.00 (add to calendar)
Kamo Eggplant 2.00 (add to calendar)
Argenteuil Asparagus 2.00 (add to calendar)
Mary Wisconsin Asparagus (add to calendar)

Sunflowers - ?

Nasturtiums - ?

Pepper - from saved grocery seed

Basil - ?

Beans - ?

Pumpkin - ?

mushroom spores - ?

strawberries - ?

Onion sets - ?

Raspberries, Blackberries - ?