March 16, 2017

Good morning, Yes it does look like the extra early planting may work out. I do see a little cool weather induced Chlorosis in the chilies and eggplants. This should change as the weather warms. The okra is really growing slowly. I am curious to see if this cooler soil sowing will just stunt the okra's growth and force me to resow. This is new territory. The soil thermometer is creeping up to 70.

t has been a few years back that I tried to over winter a few chilies, eggplants, and okra. It also happened to be a winter that we got a fair amount of winter precipitation too. Normally our soils do not drop below the forties but with ice and snow melt, the soil several inches down dropped into the 30,s. Not very good for these over wintered veggies.

I had trimmed all these plants back to the very lowest leaves and covered them during the coldest days with 6 or so inches of compost. This all could have very easily worked if it was not for the snow and ice melt. Most everything did not survive but the eggplants. All of the leaves I had carefully left, expired. It was sprouts from below the ground that grew and really did quite well. They ended up being behind my transplants but 7 of the 8 eggplants had survived. I think it was the chilled soil that did the other plants in. It is strange that most literature about eggplants says it does not like cool to cold conditions. Maybe it is the variety I grow or because it is from saved seeds but I have not noticed this temperament from the eggplants that I grow. Although I have not been pleased with the small size of fruit from my eggplants I decided to use the same variety but with fresh seed form a seed house on line. We will see if it is a weather thing or a genetic thing.

Anyway back to the over wintered Solanaceae. I am going to give it another whirl. This time I will do everything I did in the past but I think I will cover with plastic film if there is going to be an ice event. This may help keep the soil warmer. I think if these plants could regrow from the overwintered branches they possibly could out perform fresh seedlings for no other reason than they would have mature root systems with very small tops. All of these plants are perennial in their native countries.

It really is not a lot of extra work and the time of year is slower in the garden. What the hey a little mind candy. If eggplants can overwinter in a nasty year, who's to say what it will do in a warmer year.

This really does fit quite nicely into what a think permaculture really is, long lived plants on a grid pattern.

Traditional permaculture would not work for me, because it is a totally random spacing because everything sprouts from seeds that landed where they fell last fall. This would work for someone's kitchen garden. I just like the production that one can achieve with a grid planting pattern.

Anyway it would be interesting to have non traditional perennial plants.  

This week I harvested chard , kale, spinach, Asian greens, lettuce, beets, and turnips. Please email as to availability. My Card and kale are beginning to grow nicely. I hope to list them soon.