Onions and garlic, or spring has sprung!

This was a big week at the urban farm-- I transplanted for the first time this year outside of the hoop house. Despite waking up to snow flurries yesterday morning and the frost free date being a month away, there are no nights in the nine day forecast with freezing temperatures. I now am officially stricken with spring fever! (It also means I have been stricken with bike fever and will need to budget my time better so that I can fit in some rides along with work.)

You can't beat this outlook!

Onions

The first crop transplanted this week were the onions. I am testing out both the transplants I started from seed (Red Amposta and Yellow Sweet Spanish Utah) and sets (Yellow Stuttgarter).

The advantage to transplants grown from seeds are the amazing number of varieties available and the bulbs should grow larger. I have never used sets before, and I found out how easy they are-- just buy and plant. However, there were only three options available at my local garden store-- just one each of yellow, white, and red. From what I have read transplants produce onions that store better, though a friend from the community garden has had the opposite experience. I'm looking forward to seeing how they compare!

Sets: I selected the yellow option.

Transplants: they look small now, but I am excited to see how they turn out.

Because our urban farm has a small footprint, I am using intensive planting methods, many of which are described in the book All New Square Foot Gardening. According to this book, you can plant 12 onions per square foot. Since I am going to grow onions to full size, I decided to plant only 9 per square foot (this is at least double the density of my onions last year). Because of the high density, it is important to keep plants evenly spaced. I ran across a website that had a great tip, using a muffin pan to map out where to plant.

This muffin tin had the right spacing to give me 9 plants per square foot.

My muffin pan grid keeps me in line.

Garlic

I am very excited to plant garlic this year-- my first very first time trying it in my garden! I was lucky enough to have several bulbs of garlic leftover from my CSA. They stored very well over the winter, so these are a good variety to save. I broke up each bulb and planted the cloves, just like the onion sets.

Enjoy your early spring everyone!

Garlic cloves-- each one will yield one whole bulb.

No time, no space

It has been really fun to talk with people about my urban farm. Friends and neighbors have had a ton of interesting questions and ideas, and they have all been super supportive of my small patch of country in the middle of town (hopefully they don't think about The Settlers commercial when they think of me!).

No, thanks

Several people have expressed an interest in starting a garden, but there are obstacles standing in the way between some of these friends and fresh fruits and veggies:

• lack of yard space for a garden
• fear of soil contamination in urban areas
• lack of time for all that weeding while working a full time job and/or parenting

What are some options for getting local produce?

Community gardens-- find one, get on the list. In some areas (like Madison) community gardens are plentiful. It may take a little digging around, however, since some gardens can have waiting lists while others will have open plots this summer (my current community garden has available space). Also, some apartment communities have plots for their tenants. If you don't have any local gardens or they are full, a good option for the go-getter is to create a new community garden. Churches or schools are good places to start. Another option is renting from a land owner. I noticed recently that a farm close to our local dog park rents small garden plots. A free option is borrowing land from a neighbor or friend-- you could propose to plant and work the gardens together or you could do all the work and share part of your harvest as a thank you for the space.

My community's garden, Bock Garden

Raised beds, hoop houses, greenhouses-- if you're concerned about your soil, a soil test (such as this one that tests for lead) can help you find out if you have soil contamination. Raised beds can be used to avoid the city soil all together, and you can even set them on concrete if you don't have a yard.

Photo from nonabrooklyn.com

Another option is building raised beds inside a greenhouse or hoop house. Hoop houses can be inexpensive to build, and these "indoor" options will extend your growing season, which is especially important in locations with short summers (this blog is a great example of growing under cover).

A cool hoop house with raised beds from the blog Greenhouse to Table

CSA option-- if time is an issue, you can do small, easy things like growing herbs or microgreens in your windowsill and, of course, frequenting your local farmer's market. But the way to get a full summer's worth of garden goodness at a fair price is to join a local CSA (community supported agriculture). CSAs offer a subscription service with one price for a season's worth of vegetables, and sometimes fruits, eggs, honey, or meat. The produce is local, sustainable, often organic, and you are supporting a local farmer. In some cases you can get CSA discounts through health insurance or your workplace.

Have fun planning out how to grow, buy, and eat all your summer veggies!