We planted again on Wednesday with much more success than so far this season. The ground prep went better — still somewhat cloddy but a big improvement over the first two rounds of planting. Here are some photos of the process, post-tilling (including photos of transplanting with the Drängen!!!!!):
Casey marking the beds with the G — we have a set of vertical bars we put in place of cultivators to use to mark. That way we know our bed spacing matches the cultivator perfectly (important when using mechanical cultivation!).
The resulting marked beds. To lay out starts at appropriate in row spacing, we lay out a 200′ tape in a path to guide us for the first row. Then, we can eyeball spacing from the first row for the remainder in the planting session. Unlike the spacing between the rows, the in-row spacing doesn’t need to be perfect, just approximate.
Me, unloading lettuce flats from the Gator. Have we mentioned lately how much we love the Gator? Yes, we love the Gator.
Even with the Drängen around, we prefer to still lay our starts out walking in the path. Separating the two tasks is more efficient, and standing is an easier position for pulling plugs than lying on the Drängen. Here Casey is pulling some lettuce starts.
Ta da! The long-awaited Drängen transplanting photo! Casey cruising through the lettuce planting.
Another view of the planting routine.
Exciting stuff. We feel a lot better about Wednesday’s planting than any of the others this spring. In addition to planting lettuce, we also direct sowed some carrots, beets, and arugula. Also, by the end of Wednesday, we finished row-covering every single bed that’s been planted this spring (34 beds total). It’s just been so cold. They’re predicting snow in the foothills this weekend, apparently (that’s what I heard at the hardware store anyway). So, we’ve tucked our starts into their cozy bed. Now we wait.
