Transplanting

When the plants in the containers are about 2 in. high and have a few leaves, it’s probably time to get them in the ground. Choose a good place and dig a hole about twice the size of the container and a little deeper. I usually use my trowel and put the soil from the hole into a bucket and put aside. I have another bucket with a mixture of 1/3 soil builder. 1/3 good compost, and 1/3 soil that comes from the holes I’m digging for the transplants. This mixture gives the transplants a boost, even if you had added compost and soil builder to the garden soil either in the spring or the previous fall. Put enough of the mixture into the bottom of the hole that was just dug so that the plant will be a little higher than the surrounding soil, and set the transplant free of the container in the middle.

Now carefully use the trowel to fill around the new plant without damaging it or any plants around it. You will probably want that to be a couple of inches higher all around the plant and then carefully press the mixture down, put in the marker next to the plant, and lightly water. In a few weeks, you should be able to start harvesting some leaves for the table. If you repeat the process every 2-3 weeks you will have a continuous supply of greens until frost.

Some things you will need:

You are going to need some containers to start your seeds in if you choose not to plant directly in your garden soil. You could use some clay or plastic flower pots if you have some or buy some. Or, you could use containers that you would normally recycle. I use deli containers as well as yogurt etc. that I drill holes in the bottom for drainage. These can be used multiple times and then still recycled when they start to fall apart. Also the plastic pots that flowers and herbs come in can also see quite a bit of reuse. A good size for a container might be about 5 in. high and 4-5 in. wide at the top. A nice thing about the thinner plastic pots is that they will release the plant and soil as a whole easier without the soil falling away from the roots. That makes it less stressful on the plants when putting them into the ground.

You will also need a good organic potting soil, some organic soil builder, some compost, a trowel, some gloves and patience. There will be other tools that you are going to need and want, like a shovel, pitch fork, cultivator, etc. Keep in mind that a lot of tools could be found for quite cheap at yard sales or flea markets, and often old tools may be better. With time, everyone kind of develops a preference for certain tools, and it could turn out to be something your grandparents used in their garden.

To keep things organized and to know which plant is which, you will want to have some kind of markers or tags. I use the side panels of plastic 1 gal. water containers that I cut up into pieces about ¾ of an in. by 4 in. I have found that the industrial or laundry permanent markers will stay readable longer than the normal permanent markers. By the time your plants have matured in the garden and you want to know which ones did well and which ones didn’t, the normal permanent markers will be faded and you might be left guessing.