Above, a picture from the 2011 growing season of a cat basking in the summer sun in the Sprout garden. The days are getting longer and spring is just around the corner. Sprout has begun preparations for the 2012 growing season. We cleared out the garden, which still has abundant kale, due to the hardiness of this crop and an exceptionally mild winter (for Connecticut). We turned over our compost pile and found it nicely decomposed.
At our most recent meeting we ordered seeds for the garden. We also have some seeds saved from the past growing season. We ordered the Snowdown collection from horizon herbs, a collection of crops selected for their ability to withstand the cold. Planted in late summer, the crops will continue to produce through the winter with heavy mulching and protection from a cold frame or hoop house.
Sprout is also beginning the planning and implementation of a relocation of the garden. The new area will provide us with more space, and convenient location near the new sustainability center on campus. More details to come in blog post soon!
Below is the list of crops we will grow in 2012:
Herbs:
Basil
Parsley
Chives
Lemongrass
Thyme
Rosemary – we already have in the garden
Peppermint – we already have in the garden
Cilantro
Sage
Marjoram
Oregano
Fruit vegetables:
Zucchini
Eggplant
Tomatillos
Onions
Ground cherries
Tomatoes (for fresh eating)
Paste tomatoes for tomato sauce
Cucumbers – from saved seeds, also bought a packet
Tomatillos
Five kinds of hot peppers
Delicata squash
Sugar pumpkins
Sugar snap peas
Green beans – from saved seeds
Hard shell gourds - from saved seeds
Green Leafy Vegetables:
Collard greens
Kale
Swiss chard
mixed salad greens
Flowers:
Sunflowers
Nasturtiums
Lavender
Chamomile
Marigolds
Seed Vegetables:
Soup beans – from saved seeds
Pumpkins (the kind grown for the seeds, not the flesh)
Anasazi sweet corn
Root vegetables:
Blue Potatoes
Radishes
Snowdown, a collection of seeds for the fall/winter:
Beet, Touchstone Gold
Broccoli, Green Sprouting
Cabbage, Chirimen Hakusai
Carrots, Scarlet Nantes
Greens, Collard, Champion
Greans, Creasy (Winter Cress)
Kale, Vates
Leeks, Bandit
Lettuce, Winter Density
Peas, Snow (Mammoth Melting)
Radish, Daikon, Miyashige White
Spinach, Winter
