Lynea Petty, food production manager, and our farm team have been hard at work to ensure The Hunger Coalition will still be able to provide harvest fresh food to local families this summer despite the COVID-19 outbreak. She shares her wisdom below to help us all cultivate a healthy harvest this year.

From Lynea:
It sure feels good to be outside working in the garden during these unsettling times. We hope you too can be in your yard or on your patio/balcony or walking by the river to soak in the fresh air and get your hands in the dirt.

Here is what we are up to this month: 
Week of April 6: Take notice of if your garlic, planted last October, is coming up – it should be! Prune fruit trees; trim back any perennial vegetation (for us, this is a lot of our pollinator plants). 

Prepare beds that will be seeded first: spread compost (about 1/2 inch thick for us), spread fertilizer (we use about 6 lb per 125 square feet. We use organic pelleted chicken manure at Bloom Farm, and we use bat guano and alfalfa meal at The Hope Garden, which has higher phosphorus levels). Deeply fork the ground (though don’t turn over the soil!). Rake to smooth the planting surface. 

Greenhouse/Indoor seeding:  bok choy (win win); cabbage (minuet); green onions (white spear); Tomatoes (sun gold, supersweet, granadero, marmalade, big beef, new girl), kale (redbor, winterbor), chard (bright lights), fennel (preludio), kohlrabi (terek, kolibri)

*DS = directly seeding into the soil; TP – transplanting from a tray begun in the greenhouse

We are moving our outdoor seeding and transplanting one week earlier, given the good temperatures!: Snap peas DS (sugar ann), snow peas DS (oregon giant); spinach DS/TP (flamingo); radish DS (easter egg). 

Week of April 13: Soil test for Bloom Farm and Hope Garden. We use Stukenholtz, and they are continuing testing during this time. Continue preparing soil where you will plant next. 

Greenhouse/indoor seeding: cilantro (calypso), spinach (flamingo), basil (genovese), eggplant (nadia), tomatillos (toma verde), artichoke    

Outdoor seeding and transplanting: beets DS/TP (red ace and chioggia), carrots DS (mokum), lettuce DS (all star mix), turnips DS (hakurei), kale DS (red russian, seeding outside thickly for a baby kale cut), bok choi DS (asian delight), arugula DS (astro).  

Week of April 20: Continue preparing soil where you will plant next.
Greenhouse/indoor seeding: green onions (white spear); beets (red ace); head lettuce (monte carlo, rouxai); broccoli (gypsy); cabbage (tiara, storage #4, omero)  

Outdoor seeding and transplanting: radish DS (easter egg), spinach DS/TP (flamingo), green onions TP (white spear), cilantro TP (calypso), salanova TP (various), Kohlhrabi TP (terek and kolibri); head lettuce TP (monte carlo, rouxai)

Week of April 27: Continue preparing soil where you will plant next. Greenhouse/indoor seeding: bok choy (win win); cabbage (minuet); cilantro (calypso); head lettuce (rouxai); basil (genovese); flowers! (sunflower, cosmos, marigold, borage, etc.) 

Outdoor seeding and transplanting: turnips DS (hakurei); arugula DS (astro); lettuce mix DS (all star); bok choi DS (asian delight); kale DS (thickly seeded for baby cut, red russian); carrots DS (mokum); beets DS/TP (red ace, chioggia); onions TP (patterson); cabbage TP (minuet, omero, tiara, storage #4); broccoli TP (gypsy); head lettuce TP (rouxai); radish DS (easter egg); kale TP (red bor, winterbor), chard TP (bright lights); bok choy TP (win-win) 

Looking ahead to May: Have these seeds ready to start: cucumber, green onions, head lettuces, summer squashes, winter squashes, basil, cabbage, broccoli.

Where to find resources:
Compost
Winn’s Compost
Sun Valley Garden Center
Fertilizer
can be ordered online, some can be purchased locally at garden stores; and garden stores are also happy to order it in for you specifically.
Organic pelleted chicken manure
Bat Guano
Alfalfa meal