More April Seeding - Carrots, Beets & Swiss Chard

Work on the compost bin proceeds and my husband may even have it finished today.  Really good news for all the compost currently sitting on the ground!

Today it was time to seed some more vegetables.  First up were carrots.  I seeded these at the end of the garlic bed.  Four varieties were chosen - Scarlet Nantes, Royal Chantenay, Little Fingers and Jeanette.  I seed my carrots in wide bands.

Carrot seeds

I try to space the seeds out, but they're small and finicky.  And since they're small, I cover them with with a seeding mixture.  This shows up well with a lighter colour so I know that what comes up here should be carrot seeds.  A dear friend thins her carrots by transplanting the tiny seedlings that are too thick, and I will probably do this once they're up.  Root vegetables don't like being transplanted and I know it will set them back, but my friend has had great success doing this, and I hate to waste seedlings!

Covered with seeding mixture

Once the seeds were covered, they got a good watering and were left to germinate.  Carrots take a good while to germinate - as much as 2 to 3 weeks - so patience is needed.

Next up are beets and Swiss chard.  Seeds from these plants are actually clusters of 2 or more seeds, so once they sprout, they'll require thinning.  Since the seeds are large, it's easy to space them out.  Swiss chard transplants well, but beets not so much.  I may give it a try though!  I only grow a small row of beets as I'm the only one in the house who likes them.  These will be destined to be pickled beets - which I love!

I seeded these in the bed that will eventually have some beans.  Currently it has 3 Lacinato kale plants at one end and lettuces at the other. The row of Swiss chard is sideways in the photo above as the beans will be planted at the side against the bean support structure.  Again, I covered the seeds with seeding mixture.  These larger seeds don't really need it, but it nicely marks out where the vegetables should be coming up.

We have a couple of cool, showery days ahead and then warm, sunny weather.  Perfect timing for planting.