Stock Tank Gardens

Posted on May 9, 2020 by seedybeans

Since it is Mother’s day, and all a mother really wants is help in her garden…I thought I would share the garden I recently put in for my mom. Mom needs an easy, low maintenance garden that is safe from animals, wind, children, birds and well everything the wild west will throw at her! She wants to grow herbs and salad greens which she eats daily, as well as some other vegetable that she loves. Because she lives in the windy, exposed high desert, we needed a container garden situation. Wooden beds work well, but splinter in the sun and the nice ones are pretty pricey so we chose galvanized stock tank beds. You can fit them in your car and have a garden growing in one day!! They are high enough you don’t have to to kneel down and you can just pull up a stool and work them if you can’t bend over. You can grow in any size galvanized steel- even buckets, but these tanks have a drainage hole so you don’t need to drill any holes!

These tanks cost a hundred bucks each, but they will out live me so I figure it is worth it! If her gardening experiment doesn’t work she can always turn them into bath tubs, storage bins or simply resell them! You can get stock tanks locally here and here for starters and pretty much any farm & fed or hardware store.

Mixed cut and come again lettuce

I made little hoops with 9 gauge galvanized wire like I use in my garden and in the fields but be for warned, you do need bolt cutters to cut the wire. C3D775C6-6943-4815-9369-A1F768CCE8AF With a piece of medium weight ( 1.5 oz) row cover over top, which they sell by the yard at Agua Fria and Plants of the Southwest. We used plastic clips to attach the row cover to the tank and clothes pins to hold the row cover to the wire hoops bought at Walmart.

These medium size clips are perfect for keeping the row cover attached to the tank

Broadcast sown Spinach

For filling the beds I filled them 1/4 up with old rocks and gravel we had laying around and them a piece of weed barrier. On top of that I made a soil mix with

1 part Native soil

1 Part shifted compost

1 Moonshine

( which can be bought locally at Agua Fria Nursery)

1 Part Cocopeat

( which can be bought locally at Agua Fria Nursery)

(I used a 5 gallon bucket to = 1 part)

I mix all that in a wheel burrow with a sprinkle of water.

How much is enough? I did 5 loads using this recipe so that is 5 – 5 gallon buckets of each material. I made a video for you but an unable to upload it so for now here is a whole post on homemade soil mixes if you wanna give it try.

Carrots are sown in circle in case we want to add irrigation. They are sown very thick so when you thin them you can add the baby greens to salad- yes they taste just like carrots!

I hope I made that simple enough to inspire you to give it a try. It really is super easy and highly productive. I think mom is pretty happy with her high desert harvest today!

Getting Seedy

Posted on April 22, 2020 by seedybeans

Happy Earth Day- which is every day for me, but it always good to remember where you came from, your mother earth!

Today I got a handful of texts and calls asking me the exact same question…

Me….”Hello, growing home hotline”

Friends….”Help! I planted my seeds over a week ago and nothing seems to be happening, is something wrong?”

My first thought was, ‘a watched pot never boils’… are we in our gardens a little too much that are seeds are getting shy? I doubt it. Maybe something is in the stars…but after the new moon sap with rise again so things should start to sprout right out, but seeds need time, consistent moisture and appropriate temperatures to sprout.

Moisture– Don’t water by habit, water by feel. You don’t need to water every day but you do need to visit your seedlings everyday. Touch the soil, get up close. If the soil is moist to the touch (moist as a rung out sponge) you don’t need to water. Seeds are only in the first inch of soil so this is the area that needs to be moist. If when you touch the soil your fingers aren’t moistened, water. I water daily, but on a cloudy day if the soil isn’t drying out, I leave it. Outside I use row cover over my seeds, like a blanket. I sow the seeds, water and them put row cover over them, then water the row cover. I peek every day or so to check the moisture and water if need be. When I see sprouts, I remove the row cover and place mini hoops over the bed, then I put the row cover over the hoops so the seedlings don’t get squashed, but still are protected against wind, birds, cats, children, etc… I do fold the row cover back to water with a sprinkler until I have my irrigation up and running. 26D45477-CB87-46F8-84E0-7FCA88C6B3A6 ***Note- I always water with a watering can or sprinkler with a very fine spray. Seeds are fragile and can be blasted out of place by a hose or heavy flow from a can.*** Just like this little gardener!

82894CD0-5BEF-4205-81B1-1531A6C74479 Temperature–

Soil temperature matters more to a seed that air temperature for germination. If you are starting seeds these days indoors, your seeds should be plenty warm to sprout. Most vegetable need 70-80 degree temps to germinate, but keep in mind this is the soil temperature which is different than air temperature. Optimal germination temperatures vary according to the crop, but indoors is plenty warm for all vegetables. Outside, the soil may still be too cold to activate germination, but right now you should only be sowing cool season crops like peas, lettuce, arugula, kale, chard, broccoli, cilantro, etc…. which all like cool temps to germinate… 2029CBC8-5524-4EFC-A0C2-D2FBA353F6C4 I plant peas in the snow and it works every time! Many people are planting carrot now, which is fine, but it is still chilly out there and they do take a while! You can do a few things heat up the soil faster like row cover, plastic covers, or mulch, and indoors heating mats work really well for peppers, eggplant and tomatoes, especially in January!… but the soil will warm up soon enough, wait for it!

Time– Most vegetable seeds need at least 7-10 days to germinate. If it has been over 2 weeks, your seed may not be viable, but chances are if they are new they are just needing more moisture or warmth to go for it.

Seed Viability-If your seed is brand new it should have at least 90% germination rate because companies actually test for that. If you have had your seeds for a while, or if you are questioning the viability of your seed because it is old or been stored questionably (maybe got too hot or wet?) you can do a seed viability test. Basically take ten seeds, place them spaced an inch apart on a moist paper towel. Slide the towel into a zip lock bag, label it with the date and put it on your fridge… Keep a spray bottle handy because the towel needs to stay moist, but chances are if the zip lock is truly sealed the moisture level will be fine. Depending on the type of seeds you’re testing, they should begin to germinate anywhere from 2-14 days. (Seeds like peas and beans will sprout faster, while seeds like carrots or parsnips will take much longer).

Once the seeds being to sprout, give them a day or two, and then take note as to how many sprouted vs. how many did not sprout. This will give you a germination rate.

How to test seeds for viability and germination

Out of 10 Tested Seeds

1 seed sprouts = 10% germination rate
5 seeds sprout = 50% germination rate
10 seeds sprout = 100% germination rate

Obviously, the higher the germination rate, the better. Anything over 50% is decent. Anything lower than 50% still might be usable, but you may need to sow more thickly.

Mulch-Mulching is wonderful and necessary to retain moisture, create soil biology and protect your plants, but if a seed bed is over mulched before the seedlings are 3 inches tall it can suppress plants from coming up through it. I usually apply wet straw mulch around my seedlings, after they are 3 inches tall. If you do mulch with straw over a seed bed, make sure it is light and lose so the seedlings can push up through it. Like I mentioned above- Outside I like to use row cover to retain moisture till I get good germination.

Other Factors–

Soil Medium– Is there enough drainage in your soil mix? Some seeds get too much water and the soil isn’t draining properly. If you just scratch one up you may find they are actually rotting under the soil… it has happened to me!

Depth– Did you plant your seeds too deep? What about too shallow? Most things need soil contact to germinate ( expect many tiny flower seeds which actually need light to germinate). My rule of thumb is plant a seed twice as deep as it is wide… some say three times it’s size, but if you are buying seeds every pack will have very specific instructions to follow.

Pests– Did the mice, birds, cats come eat or dig up your seeds in the night? It’s happened to me!

Compaction– If your soil is too hard or compacted seeds may be struggling to germinate, and even if they do germinate they may not be able to wiggle those tiny roots down into the soil. Seeds need fluffy soil to take root.

Pre-soak– Many seeds like to be pre-soaked, especially really ones with really hard seed coats like Nasturtiums and Peas. Could help go things moving, give it a try.

Go here to read more on Seed Starting Indoors

Everything I know I learned by doing… and by reading my favorite seedy book. Which is where I got those cool charts pictured above.

I hope that helps, have faith , we reap what we sow!

“We are planting seeds of change, the fruit of which we might never see. We have to be patient.”
― Michelle Obama, Becoming

Gardening has NOT been Canceled

Posted on March 20, 2020 by seedybeans

It has been a stormy week for those of us here in the high desert. Corona cases jumped from 4 to 41 in our state one weeks time. We have been sent home & stayed home, social distancing for a … Continue reading →

What to Plant & When?

Posted on February 18, 2020 by seedybeans

Over the years I think the most common question I get asked as a garden teacher is “What do I plant, and when?” I have answered the best I can, sent people to my favorite books, taught classes, blogged about it….But I fear I may be giving too long and complicated answers… the basic home gardener doesn’t want calculate and compute, they just want to know what to plant and when and get on with it, am I right!! So here is this years attempt to make gardening in the high desert all the more straight forward and accessible to everyone. Please keep in mind, many might argue with me, as we gardeners all love our own way of doing things..I am just sharing what I do and what I believe you can do too. This post is loaded with links so be sure to click on them for more info.

January–

Plan– Take a seed count, Order any seeds from your favorite Companies,( Mine are Johnny’s, Seeds Savers Exchange, Native Seed Search , Order potatoes (companies can and do sell out)

Plant–Greenhouse (Indoor south-facing window) Onions, Leeks, Scallions, Tomatoes(yes it seems early but is works for me)Lettuce, Cilantro

Cold Frame– Spinach, Mache, Cilantro, Lettuce, Arugula, Parsley, Peas, Radishes and other cold season greens.

February–

Plan– Decide where you might want to put everything measuring square footage, you can use graph paper, or this fancy software. Once you know how much of what it is you want to grow, you can really start.

Plant- Greenhouse (Indoor south-facing window)Broccoli, Cabbage, Kale, Collards (these can also be direct sown outside next month),Tomatoes

Cold Frame– Spinach, Mache, Cilantro, Lettuce, Arugula, Parsley, Peas, Radishes and other cold season greens, Carrots, Chard

Outdoors with Row Cover-Spinach, Mache, Lettuce, Arugula, Parsley, Cilantro, Peas, Radishes and other cold season greens,

March-

Plan-Order Compost (I like to put down compost every year, about 1inch thick on all my veggie beds, if you can produce this much on sight, well done!!, if not it is worth buying some here) Plan/Purchase Irrigation system–lots to say on this matter, but this year we are going with t-tape.(more on all that later)

Plant–

Greenhouse (Indoor south-facing window)

Basil

Broccoli, Cabbage, Kale, Collards, (can also be planted directly at under cover outside)

Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplant

Cucumber, Melon, Winter Squash (Pumpkin, Butternut, Acorn, Etc…)Summer Squash (zucchini, Yellow Squash) These all do well direct seeded outside later in the season

Flowers- Calendula, Marigolds, Sunflowers, Snap Dragons, Tithonia, Zinnias (direct sowing works very well for all of these later in the season, I just have a greenhouse and can’t help myself!)

Cold Frame– Spinach, Mache, Cilantro, Lettuce, Arugula, Parsley, Peas, Radishes and other cold season greens, Carrots, Chard, Beets

Outdoors with Row Cover-Spinach, Mache, Lettuce, Arugula, Parsley, Cilantro, Peas, Radishes and other cold season greens, Broccoli, Cabbage, Kale, Collards, Carrots, Chard,

Outdoors in the great wide open– Potatoes, Spinach, Peas, Radishes, Lettuce, Dill, Chives, Flowers- Sweet Peas…I always try to get these guys in by St. Patty’s day, but am usually about a week or so late.

Just a note-March is when I really start planting outside as I am lazy with cold season watering. If I were more serious about production I would be gardening year round, but March really feels right to me, everything must rest, right?!! Remember, once you put seeds in the ground, you need to keep them moist for them to germinate and grow, granted the soil dries-out much slower in the cool season, but this is the desert, so only sow when you are ready to hand water (irrigation usually isn’t turned out till May). If you are watering outdoors in the cold months (you should be watering perennials and trees every 2-4weeks with these dry winters)…..always drain and unhook your hoses, they can freeze and burst and cause you real trouble!!

April

Plan- Spread compost and lay irrigation if that is part of your plan. Till or dig any bed you plan to turn.

Plant-

Greenhouse (Indoor south-facing window) I am full up in the Greenhouse by this time and just watering my babies. I always try to have a flat of sunflower sprouts growing, you can sow these once a week.

Cold Frame-Pepper, Eggplant (If your cold frame is tall enough this ensures a nice hot mini greenhouse that you can close up if we get frost before they ripen in the fall)

Outdoors with Row Cover- Spinach, Mache, Lettuce, Arugula, Parsley, Cilantro, Peas, Radishes and other cold season greens, Broccoli, Cabbage, Kale, Collards, Carrots, Chard,

Outdoors in the great wide open- Onions, Leeks, Scallions,Potatoes, Spinach, Mache, Lettuce, Arugula, Parsley, Cilantro, Dill, Chives, Peas, Radishes and other cold season greens, Broccoli, Cabbage, Kale, Collards, Carrots, Chard, Beets, Parsnips, Flowers- Marigolds, Snap Dragons, Sweet Peas

May (Last Frost date May 15th)

Plan-Spread compost and lay irrigation if that is part of your plan. Till or dig any bed you plan to turn.

Plant-

Outdoors in the great wide open- (Direct seed or transplanted from the greenhouse)

Broccoli, Cabbage, Kale, Collards, Carrots, Chard, Beets, Parsnips, Beans, Corn, Squash, Cucumbers, Melons, Amaranth, Basil, Flowers- Calendula, Marigolds, Sunflowers, nasturtiums, Cosmos, Zinnias

Who Did I Forget?- Garlic is planted in the fall, sweet potatoes I have yet to try though they are getting experimented with in gardens all around me, Bok choy- yet to really succeed against the flea beatles, but will let you know when I truly get a successful crop!

Well I hope that helps– never a short answer from me, but hopefully somewhat simple and straight forward? Happy gardening!

How low can they go?

Posted on May 1, 2017 by seedybeans

May is lovely- but can be wild too. As we have seen this weekend in Santa Fe- a foot of snow!!

It is such a transitional time, the last burst of winter before it finally passes. I looked back on my calendars and it does usually snow every year in the first week of May, so though odd, it is actually to be expected.

But the good news is no harm done over here. All the little cool season greens and seeds were tucked under row cover and only seemed to perk up from crisp air all the moisture gifted to them. If you are wondering how cold CAN your cold season crops get…well

How low can they go?

The hardiest of the winter vegetables are Kale, Collards, Peas and Spinach which can take Temps as low as low 20’s and in the high teens.

Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Kohlrabi, Mustard Greens, Parsley, Radish, Parsnip, Turnip can all take temps 28-25 degrees.

All of these can survive under thick row cover all winter, though they may not show many signs of growth, they will start to spring new leaves in February.

Other semi-hardy vegetables are Beets, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chinese Cabbage, Endive, Lettuce, Radicchio, Rutabega, Salsify, Bok Choy, Tatsoi and Swiss Chard, tolerant of Temps from 32-29degrees. These can usually be harvested till Christmas under heavy row cover, but will need to be replanted in the spring under row cover as well. (with the exception of Swiss Chard, this patch was almost invisible all winter under no row cover… but is coming back just fine!)

So not to worry, the storm has passed, we have gathered the moisture and now we prepare for hardening off and the planting out process… More on that to come.

Save

First Seeds!

Posted on March 1, 2017 by seedybeans

As some of you may have noticed I have been a bit distant lately… I think my last post was ……What can I say, “The Trump Effect”, Three children, and some however all my techno gadgets got completly full to the point of not functioning at all…. A good metaphor for my brain I suppose. I am in need of some serious spring cleaning and when you put something down for a while it can be hard to pick up again.

It has caused great reflection; who am I now, what do I do, what do I share, what is the most important thing right now? I am sure I am not alone in these musings, it is in the collective consciousness to reassess right now, and I pray that that only brings more clarity, action and commitment to good work in the world… But while I have been eddying in my overwhelm the gardening questions are starting to pop up in my inbox and messages, the seeds are starting to sprout and I just realized I better snap out of it and stop trying to answer life existential questions… there is work to be done!!

IMG_1071 (1) My work has always been grow food, feed people, teach them so…. and so though it may be simple work I am getting the message that it is still important, relevent and imperative in these crazy times. People will always need to eat and resistance creates hunger!! So I am here to feed and nourish the notion to do so…

So with no further ado I am back to my good old simple straight forward work of gardening. This morning I sunk the very first seeds of spring into my garden flats and it not only brought me a familiar calm but it just made sense. I think in these crazy times we all need to find those grounding acts that makes sense to us, the good work of our heart and hands that must be done to care for life itself.

I didn’t get a chance to make my gardening Calender yet this year, though I still may, but I will post here what I am doing, how and when, so that you too may following along virtually and we can sow seeds of hope together.

Today is a leaf day according to the biodynamic calender, meaning the moon is in a water sign, good juice for growing seeds… I planted Kale, Cabbage and Chard in my greenhouse and though it feels actually very late for those things, better late than never right!

Sending greetings of hope and new life your way today, Happy Planting!

The Extended Garden Tour

Posted on August 21, 2016 by seedybeans

What an honor to have our little 1/5acre of paradise featured on Soule Mama’s Blog this weekend. I was shocked at how many visitors this little blog of mine got and since a few of you asked to see more, I am so happy to share. You may have noticed I love taking pictures of my garden just about as much as I love taking pictures of my kids, so I have a lot of images to share. I put together an extended garden tour from photos I have taken over the past 5 years when I started this blog of mine, so it was also a good reflection for me to see how far we have come in seven years… so with no further ado, Welcome to our humble abode…

My husband is kind of a twisty wood collector, before we got married I think he thought he would retire early and set up a twisty wood furniture company… well, no early retirement for this papa of three, and now our gardens are all hemmed in with twisty wood creations…lucky me! He also built that ladder out of a single black locust log up to a tree nook in the box elder where he wove the branches together so it feels super cozy for the little birds who hang out up there.

When you enter you will inevitably be greeted by a curious small person. This very small person helped my weave these low garden fences out of willow we gathered together and hauled up the lane from the river. They keep the babies out of the garden and the constant layers of leaf mulch in. ( mulch is a must in a desert garden)

As you can see, I never remove weeds from the yard, I simply pull and lay them down in place. In the desert they dry up in a day or two and act as mulch, skips the step of buying mulch. My husband has been working for years, slowly surrounding the growing spaces with bricks he finds on craigslist. They are great water catchment, thermal mass and of course great for playing with trucks, riding bikes and learning to walk on.

Another masterpiece built brick by brick by my husband. Every nook ans cranny is utilized, horno under the shed roof, cradle on the freezer, etc… we use every inch we can!

Shade is key in the desert, now we have grapes vines that are almost covering it, but those grass mat fencing things work great for shade in the summer. In the winter we remove them and have a super sunny spot to warm ourselves on cold days.

Our first dinner party in the outdoor kitchen….followed by many many more!!

The boys built our Horno a couple of summers back which we now spark up every May for our annual boy birthday pizza party and every November for the Thanksgiving Turkey.

The garden studio craft shack was actually built for food storage, but I quickly took it over with all my crafting supplies, a girl needs a place to put all her yarn right?!

It was built out of old shipping pallets and mud and straw…there is a whole blog post about the shed here, check it out, it is awesome!

Another genius of my husband!! He said he had that antique O’Keeffe Merritt stove under a tarp for almost ten years before I came along. Now I got that baby canning and baking all summer long, I barely even turn on the oven inside for months!

Our washing station where of course the water runs right out to the peach tree behind the sink. And yes that is a very large salad spinner that was worth every penny! I haven’t had a turn yet, the kids always want to do the spinning!!

Step through another twisty garden gate and follow the red brick path….to your right vertical growing on the south side of the greenhouse is usually covered with tomatoes. To your left is a vegetative hedge of Currants, Nanking Cherries, Wild Plums, Wild Roses, and Hops all that started as twigs from the national forest service that help buffer between us and our neighbors and feed the wildlife.

The grandma tree beckons you back to discover more around the bend, my husband always says it was this tree that sold him on the house. When he moved in 15 years ago the lot was completely barren and the house in a state of disarray.

A sharp turn to the north and you will find hundreds of gallons of rainwater being collected for dry days ahead. And yes that is a Chicago fig gifted to me from my friends mom, but it dies back every year and only produces a few figs, but it’s cool so we keep it around, who knows, maybe someday the climate will change so much it will thrive year round ( the bright side right?)

Peek over the garden gate and the prize vegetable await!

Yep, another twisty wood gate!

And here it is from the other side- twisty wood arches everywhere, I told you!! We decided to fence in the garden last year so that I could let the chickens free in the rest of the yard. They are too messy to come into my tidy happy place!

My desert maiden Amanda enjoying the Japanese knot weed ‘lawn’ while the kids enjoy her gift, “The Imaginarium“! What a great Aunty!!

Kid, chicken, bunny zone

Someday I would like to see a nice blue grama grass lawn here, someday!

The little garden that could all hemmed in.

Along the north side of the house is the drive way and a 4ft wide strip of dirt that once was the vegetable zone but now home to 20 espalier apple trees. They act as a living fence and this is the first year they gave fruit and they are pretty as a picture!

The north strip garden is now home to a ton of plants gone wild.. tomatoes parnips, amaranth, arugula zinnias and whatever else has naturalize and perrenialized itself there.

Our hops monster eating the porch

And back to the beginning, the front garden is mostly flowers, herbs and medicinals that are cycling through at different times of the year, mostly a spring garden but it gets lots of action all through the year with the sand box right in it.

AHHH the Greenhouse in the high season, But I will save that for another day… next time I will invite you inside for tea and a look around!

Five years ago

Us today, my how we have grow!!

Thanks again Soule Mama for encouraging me to share and thanks to all of you who know small is beautiful and there is no place like home!

Cucumbers on the clothesline

Posted on July 20, 2016 by seedybeans

Just as simple as that … Out trellising cucumbers this evening and I was looking for what I had in the yard to get them up off the ground. I found an old plastic coated wire clothesline lying around and of course, clothespins. It turned out to be the perfect materials for cucumbers to latch onto and climb.

I hate to buy stuff I really can’t use for a million different things and re-use a million times, so there is no guilt when I buy even more clothesline and clothes pins to finish the job. I mean really can you have too many clothes pins? Never!So there is my clever garden invention for the day and with the evening backlight on my little cucs, I couldn’t help but share!

So up and away the garden grows!!

Garden Transitions- The Fall Flip

Posted on July 9, 2016 by seedybeans

I plan my garden very strategically so that there isn’t much work to do in June and July… For many reasons… Maybe first because I was a garden teacher for so many years that I planned spring and fall gardens with very little summer maintenance. Even though I am not running a school garden this year, I now have a tiny baby and can’t really garden much at all…so it is convenient that I don’t have much to do but harvest in the high heat. It is also convenient for leaving town during the hottest, driest time of year which we all want to do.

Yeah for harvest help from our good friends from Ampersand, love you guys!!

And probably the biggest reason I plan so much for spring and fall gardening is that is when gardening in the high desert is at it’s best! There is cool air, cooler soils and real water falling from the sky! I start things outside as early as February (my pea crop was started then and yielded my best crop yet!) and am eating out of the garden till Christmas eve. Summer is for being lazy anyways right!?

So though I am still being very lazy, I am starting to think about the transitions about to happen out there, the good old ‘fall flip’. This is when I pull out all the lettuce and peas that have stopped yielding and bolted into pure bitterness that may still remain and I plant a whole new slew of cool season crops.

Because it is only the 9th of July I can still plant a nice beet & carrot crop. Later in the month I will plant more lettuce, spinach, cilantro, and whatever other cool season greens I wish. I also have started planting big beautiful marigolds this time of year to have for autumn garlands.

High summer I hear a lot of people say, ‘oh I am too late to have a garden this year’…but you are not! Autumn harvest is within reach. Plant now and you will abundance you will reap!!

Hardening off & planting out

Posted on May 12, 2016 by seedybeans

I am sure many of you spent Mother’s Day weekend filling shopping baskets with new baby plants to bring home and fill your garden with, it is a Mother’s Day tradition, (and it may be the only day of the year you can get the whole family to help you in the garden without complaint). I received the wonderful gift of my son and mother planting a brand new climbing rose for me while I took a nap!! Heaven!!

However around these parts Mother’s Day week and weekend is also famous for snow storms, which is why the last frost date is in fact May 15th- not May 5th! Transitioning things outside and toughening them up enough to go from lush nursery conditions to exposed windy high desert gardens is an important step to protecting your investments.

Here is a post from years back that talks about the hardening off process and why it is important.

Here is another on with ten transplanting tips.

And lastly one about transplanting tomatoes, which is what I will be doing this weekend… and for many days to come until these babies are tucked cozy in the ground! If you are planting according to the Bio-dynamic Calendar, Friday and Saturday are not only fruit days but (specially good!!) So hope you are hardened off and ready to go!