Corn!

Now that we are deciding that while the real estate market on Vancouver Island is hot, hot, hot, on our tiny Gulf Island, it's not, not, not, I'm becoming resigned to the strong possibility that we will be staying here for the near future.  And that's not a bad thing!  We love the peace, security and quiet of our little island and have a lot going for us here.

And with this in mind, my enthusiasm for gardening - which had cooled somewhat lately - has returned full force.  It was time to start the corn!  I start my corn in the potting shed.  This allows me to start it earlier than I would outside which is a help when growing the sweeter varieties which take longer to mature.

I purchased extra deep potting trays from Lee Valley some years ago, and they work really well for corn which sets long roots and doesn't particularly like them disturbed.  Each tray has 36 sections, which is enough to give us a few good feeds of corn - that's all we ask for!

I fill the corn tray with a good potting soil, shake it to settle the mix and then add a bit more on top to fill the sections.  Then I place one seed in each section and press down with my index finger to just past the first knuckle.  More soil goes on top to cover the seeds.

The tray get a good watering.

Finally a plastic lid goes on top to keep the heat in for germination.  I will wedge pots at each side just in case a mouse decides to check out my seeds.  One year I had to give up on starting corn in the potting shed as mice came in and ate every seed!

The seeds will sprout quickly and just as I'm starting to see roots popping out the bottom, I'll plant them in their new home.  A covering of Remay cloth will keep them warm until summer is firmly in place.

Corn planting done, it was time to water the rest of the garden and do a few chores.  I like the early mornings for garden work.  Watering - which I prefer to do by hand - gets plenty of time for the moisture to seep down into the soil.  I take this time to thoroughly inspect each crop and adjust care as necessary.

I planted the beans a week ago.  This year I didn't move the bean structure as we weren't sure what our status would be.  It doesn't really matter with beans as they're happy to continue building up nutrition in the soil.  We'll move it next year.  I planted the beans at the base of the structure, 5 beans to a structure wall, protected them with water bottle collars and supplied each seed with a bamboo pole to help it reach the structure walls.  And yes, I haven't removed all of last year's dead bean vines.  They will eventually break up and fall down all on their own.  I am "The Messy Gardener" after all!

This morning I could see that the bean seeds have germinated with a lively green sprout showing in nearly every collar.

Finally I potted up the 2 remaining tomato plants which are destined to go to a friend who is still away on a trip.  The plants went into gallon pots and will now live outside with the rest of my tomatoes until the friend returns and can take them.

The only plants left in the potting shed are the peppers and a basil, all of which need hotter weather before they can go outside.