F.A. Farm

The frogs are out. It is time to start onions, leeks and shallots. A sunny window facing south is just fine. If you also have a cable bed, so much the better. I have good luck with small pots that fit into a tin can (like a 28 oz. tomato can). The pot fits down into the can but not enough to touch the bottom. Excess water drains out and evaporates into the soil above it. My transplant mix is very simple - 1 part sphagnum moss, 1 part homemade compost, 2 parts soil. All of these are screened with a 1/2-inch screen. You can just buy a little screening and drap it over a five gallon bucket or a wheelbarrow. If you don't like using a small amount of sphagnum moss, you can go with perlite or some other water-absorbing substance. A web search will give you all kinds of transplant mixes you can make yourself. I make up 20 gallons at a time and mix it on the floor of the barn with a hoe. I also add 2 quarts of organic fertilizer (which I make myself) and 2 cups lime for a 20-gallon batch. Alliums don't mind being crowded, so you can leave them together until you plant or you can prick them out into individual cells as they get bigger. I also put down some shallots last fall and covered them with hay over the winter. We shall see how they do. I have also had good luck sowing leek seeds in a raised bed and covering them with hay. They come up right through the hay. This takes longer, though, and doesn't fit in with my row plan. However, for backyard gardeners, this is another alternative.

Broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower should be started around February 15th up here in the northwest corner of the US. Get those seed orders in. It would be in your interest to order extra. Most seed will carry over 1-4 years, depending on the species. You can always rotate your seed if you buy extra every year.