Courtesy of Adithya Ramachandran, Kaleidoscope Vegetable Gardens, Dundurn SK, Canada
It looks like spring is arriving early this year in Saskatoon. My first plantings in high tunnels typically go in during the 4th week of March, but I may be able to plant a little earlier this year. Therefore now is a good time for me to start transplants of beets, chard, kale and spinach. In early March, I will turn on my irrigation system and water all my tunnels heavily as they tend to dry out over the winter. Irrigation also speeds up the thawing process inside the tunnels. I also give myself an early-season workout by rolling in wheelbarrow-loads of snow for extra moisture.
Direct-seeded cool-season crops such as dill, cilantro, kohlrabi,onion sets, radishes, (more) spinach and turnips will go in after the transplants on a staggered basis. (See Wally’s post on staggered planting here.) Later in April, I will also seed Quick Greens such as sunflowers and broad beans. The combination of all these crops will allow me to target at least a $1000+ marketing week in early May.
For that week, I am targeting the following at $3 per unit, or 2 for $5. Because demand is high in spring, I usually don’t offer a 5 for $10 deal.
> 75+ units of radishes
> 75+ units of scallions
> 75+ units of spinach
> 75+ units of kale
> 50 units of Quick Greens
> 50 units of other greens (baby chard, baby beet greens, turnip greens or salad mix).
In mid-April I start transplants of warm-season crops (peppers, eggplants, tomatoes) for my summer relay. Unlike with cool-season crops, I avoid taking risks with these crops and always wait until early June to transplant into tunnels.
SEE MORE ON SPRING PLANNING, INCLUDING PRODUCT SELECTION AND PRICING, IN THIS FORUM DISCUSSION.
