{"id":18931,"date":"2017-04-08T20:51:30","date_gmt":"2017-04-09T03:51:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/time-to-start-planting-your-veggies\/"},"modified":"2017-04-08T20:51:30","modified_gmt":"2017-04-09T03:51:30","slug":"time-to-start-planting-your-veggies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/life\/time-to-start-planting-your-veggies\/","title":{"rendered":"Time to start planting your veggies"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m not sure if March ended like a lamb. It certainly wasn\u2019t worse than its entrance, but compared to the gentle, idyllic springs of the past two years, it was lacking. Last month found me in the process of moving off the boat and onto solid land. I\u2019m sure there are things more exhausting than moving, but at this moment, I can\u2019t think of anything.<\/span><\/p>\n

No matter how much you think you own, nothing prepares you for the realization of how much you actually have. I knew I had a lot of containers on my back deck, but do you know how much soil was in each one? Neither did I.<\/p>\n

The move is throwing off my springtime rituals even as I plan new gardening projects. I\u2019m hoping to get more settled and to begin some starts soon. It\u2019s not time for the tender plants such as zucchini; now you can begin kale, Swiss chard, kohlrahbi and pak choi.<\/p>\n

These vegetables can be sowed directly into the ground, but there are advantages to beginning them inside. Larger plants are less vulnerable to predation. As the plant emerges, slugs feast upon them and you never get a viable plant. Beginning them inside also means that you can harvest them sooner.<\/p>\n

There was a time when I felt there was too much kale in my life. I don\u2019t feel that way anymore. I like the taste and the different textures that are available. From dinosaur-leafed Lacinto and Nero di Toscano varieties to the ruffle-edged Siberian and Winterbor or to the flat-leafed Red and White Russian varieties, it\u2019s all good. One of my favorite plots at the community garden consisted of different varieties of kale. The dark green to the purplish colors, combined with the various textures, made an attractive display.<\/p>\n

Another bright spot in the world of vegetables is Swiss chard. Bright Lights is a multi-colored variety, but don\u2019t overlook Golden for its yellow hues or Argentata with its big green leaves and white stems. Unlike the kale mid-rib which is too tough to eat, the center rib of Swiss chard has a clean, crisp flavor and is nice to add to salads.<\/p>\n

Kohlrahbi has been one of my favorites since my friend\u2019s dad would lean over our fence and hand us slices that he cut. Try Early Purple Vienna, Early White Vienna or Delicacy White.<\/p>\n

Pak choi does well here, either as a cut and come again vegetable or something that is sown two or three times a season for multiple harvests. I appreciated Joi Choi last year in my plot. It was a mix between the baby and the long, Bok Choi stalks. It didn\u2019t do well in the plot where slugs frequented, but I harvested in up to the end of the season. Cutting it two inches above the soil line and letting it regrow.<\/p>\n

I have been thrown off by my life changes, but I did manage to plant a hanging basket with cilantro, basil and parsley. It\u2019s nice to know that some rituals will continue, whether I\u2019m rocking with the tidal changes or planted firmly on dry land. Well, a ground that will eventually dry out when the final snow melts.<\/p>\n

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\u2022 Corinne Conlon is a freelance writer based out of Juneau. She can be reached at dirtgirlgardening@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n

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I\u2019m not sure if March ended like a lamb. It certainly wasn\u2019t worse than its entrance, but compared to the gentle, idyllic springs of the past two years, it was lacking. Last month found me in the process of moving off the boat and onto solid land. I\u2019m sure there are things more exhausting than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":7,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[149],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-18931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","tag-outdoors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18931\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18931"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=18931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}