Garden Seeds and Starts
During the cold and snowy weather, we continue work. At this time of year, the seeds have been ordered and some of them have been planted. We get most of our seeds from a seed company out of Pasco, Washington called Logan Zenner. They have been in business for Family Farms and wholesale seeds since the 1920’s. We are in good hands with generations of knowledge.
New for the 2023 Garden
This year we will plant a few new items in the garden along with all of the regular plantings. This year we will offer a personal size Romaine lettuce, Bok Choy, Red Onions, and a few new varieties of sweet peppers. The ghost peppers were a trial run for our gardens last year and we will continue growing a small set of them. Their late ripening produces peppers in late September and early October.
Planting Begins in April
The cold weather crops of broccoli, cabbage, onions, lettuce, and cauliflower will open the planting season. We work with the Iwasaki Brothers in Hillsboro, Oregon, to start our seed plugs for us. The Iwasakai Brothers have been in business in Oregon since 1916. We order our preferred seeds for our soil, climate, customer preference, and best production and some of the seeds are sent to Iwasaki Brothers where the seeds are started into plugs. These plugs are what we use with our transplant implement and fed by hand into evenly spaced plantings. We also directly sow our seeds into the soil at Fort Vannoy Farms.
Snow Working for the Garden
So, while there is snow on the ground making it all look like a winter wonderland, the cold and freezing temperatures are helping to conserve the organic matter. The plants that remained from last summers garden, will return their carbon to the soil as the snow, freezing ground, and rains help to break the plant matter down is a slow and gentle cycle. So, enjoy the beauty of the freshly fallen snow and know that your local farmers and Mother Nature are hard at work!
