This time every year my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, starts the vegetable seeds indoors in preparation for the coming growing season. Among the first - the onions.
Starting onions from seed isn’t difficult. They can be planted closely together in seed starting trays and because they are shallow-rooted, they can be pulled apart easily when ready for transplanting outdoors. Many of our trays, supplies, and seeds are from Johnny’s Selected Seeds - I've been using Johnny's for years. Once planted, the onion seeds remain in the greenhouse until they’re moved to my vegetable garden. By mid-summer, I'll have bounties of beautiful, flavorful, fat onions to enjoy and share.
Enjoy these photos.
It’s not unusual to see all kinds of seed packets on my head house tables this time of year. It’s important to start vegetable seeds early, so they are ready in time to plant outdoors once the weather is right.
Johnny’s Selected Seeds catalog provides detailed seed variety information to help in choosing the best seeds for one’s garden.
Seed starting trays come in all different sizes and depths. I use trays with shallow compartments for planting onion seeds. These are 20-row seed flats from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. They keep varieties separate and make the removal of seedlings easy for transplanting to larger celled trays or pots later.
Because I use a lot of onions for cooking and for sharing with my family, I plant many trays of onion seeds. My head gardener, Ryan McCallister, fills the seed starting tray with an appropriate mix.
It’s best to use a pre-made seed starting mix that contains the proper amounts of vermiculite, perlite and peat moss. Seed starting mixes are available at garden supply stores. I use Miracle-Gro Seed Starting Potting Mix.
The soil should be level with the top of the tray. Ryan fills several trays first and works in a production line process.
Ryan uses the edge of a wooden ruler to make quarter-inch deep furrows.
Here, one can see the indentations in each cell.
Blackie sits nearby and watches Ryan working.
On one side of the marker Ryan writes the vegetable variety so we can keep track of what grows well and what doesn’t.
On the other side, Ryan indicates what color this particular onion variety is – R for red, W for white, and Y for yellow.
Ryan places a marker into one of the cells, so it is clear what variety is growing in what tray.
Onion seeds are very small, so be sure to take time dropping them into the tray cells.
Johnny’s Selected Seeds offers a Hand Seed Sower to help drop the seeds into the trays.
But one can also do this by hand – slowly and carefully, so they are evenly distributed along the rows.
The pellet coating on these seeds helps in seeing, handling, and sowing.
These are easier to drop by hand. The sprouts will be selectively thinned in a few weeks. This process eliminates the weaker sprouts and prevents overcrowding, so seedlings don’t have any competition for soil nutrients or room to mature.
Ryan also adds another thin layer of soil mix to this tray and tamps down lightly.
The trays are watered thoroughly next door in the greenhouse.
And then Ryan uses a kitchen flour sifter to drop a thin layer of fine vermiculite on the seeds. Vermiculite is a lightweight mineral that holds water, but prevents water logging.
Vermiculate will also aid germination, protecting the seeds and creating idea conditions for sprouting.
Once the seed trays are done he places them into our trusted commercial size Urban Cultivator growing system – it has water, temperature and humidity all set-up in the refrigerator like unit. Seeds are usually started about two months before the last frost. We will be planting seeds well into March. Follow along to see what other vegetables are started from seed right here in my greenhouse. I hope these blogs help remind you what you can do to get ready for the next gardening season.
What does it take to move a 1200 pound marble tabletop safely and efficiently? Here at my farm, it's the right tools, the right plan, and a whole lot of strength and teamwork.
Yesterday, I asked my outdoor grounds crew to move a large table from my Tenant House to my production guest house. The table, which was previously used in my daughter's kitchen, was extremely heavy and fragile, so Pete built a wooden frame to protect it during transport and recruited the power of five to help get the table to its destination.
Enjoy these photos.
Good teamwork certainly rings true when it comes to moving a very heavy piece of furniture across a farm. Here are some members of my outdoor grounds crew ready to take on the challenge – Pasang, Fernando, Adan, Pete, Phurba, and Alex.
This table belonged to my daughter Alexis. She used it as a kitchen table where she and her family ate meals. When she replaced it, it was brought here to my farm – I knew I could repurpose this beautiful piece of furniture.
The table has a very interesting gray marble top that weighs hundreds of pounds. Despite marble’s strength as a surface, it is very hard to move. Marble is prone to cracking if mishandled. The team had to have a good plan.
So Pete, who has worked with me for years, thoughtfully devised a step-by-step process for moving the marble table. Using plywood and some other wooden scraps, Pete made a frame to hold the top in place during transport.
The frame had to fit perfectly to keep it protected, so he made it to the exact measurements of the marble top.
Once the frame was ready, Pete gathered everyone together and explained the process.
The team turned the tabletop on its side and slowly carried it out of the Tenant House.
Here it is carefully carried out to the wooden frame.
Pete directed the entire operation. The tabletop was placed into the frame padded with blankets.
Another piece of covered plywood was placed on top to sandwich the marble.
Pete used screws to secure it.
And then industrial straps and ropes were used to support the bottom and give the team something to hold while moving.
And then one slow step at a time, the team carried the heavy marble to the forklift of my Hi-Lo.
The top was re-strapped and secured to the forklift and ready to move.
This forklift is attached to a long extendable arm that can be maneuvered efficiently over garden beds – nothing is disturbed during the move.
And Pete is off. Next, the team meets again down at my production guest house.
The table base was easier to move. I instructed the group to place it in the center of the room.
Here’s Pete driving up to the house – everything is intact.
And in the same careful fashion, the team unloads the top and carries it into the house.
Pete directed its positioning…
And then checks it from underneath to make sure it was placed exactly where it needs to be.
It looks great in this room – wait and see how it is used. Thanks guys!!
We’re expecting more mild weather here at my farm with temperatures in the upper 40s - a good time to continue with some outdoor gardening tasks before the winter chill returns.
My crew is busy with many projects, including pruning and grooming various trees and shrubs, pollarding the London planes, fertilizing and mulching the garden beds, and clearing any late season leaves. Here at Cantitoe Corners, it's crucial to take advantage of every good day we get.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
It’s mid-January, but some of the snowdrops are already giving a sweet welcome to spring. Snowdrops, Galanthus, are the nodding, crisp white flowers that dangle above clumps of strap-shaped leaves from now through March. I have planted lots of snowdrops around the farm.
Ryan feeds the area with Azomite, a natural mineral substance used primarily as a fertilizer and soil amendment. It is rich in potassium,, magnesium, iron, and calcium which are essential for plant growth and soil health.
While the temperatures have been pleasant these last few weeks, my outdoor grounds crew has been able to get a lot of chores done. These “ancient” apple trees, which have been here since i acquired the property have just been pruned. Good maintenance always pays off – these trees continue to provide delicious fruits in autumn.
My dwarf apple espalier was also recently pruned. Espalier refers to an ancient technique, resulting in trees that grow flat, either against a wall, or along a wire-strung framework. There are four rows of espaliered apples here.
I also have these espaliered Gravenstein apples across the carriage road which were also just pruned and groomed.
Yesterday, Pasang pruned the European hornbeams, Carpinus betulus, surrounding my vegetable garden.
These are fast-growing deciduous trees and are being grown as a hedge along the inside of the half-acre space.
Pasang works efficiently and quickly. Here he is cleaning up all the dropped branches and late season leaves after the chore was completed.
This is also a good time to prune my hydrangeas. I have hydrangeas growing in a large bed across from my chicken coops, around my peafowl pen, outside my tennis court, under my allée of London plane trees, and along one side of my large “run-in” horse paddock.
Here, Matthew trims the hydrangea stem. When cutting hydrangeas, it is important to cut just above the bud or node to ensure the plant can continue to grow and produce flowers. To be certain this is done properly, all the pruning is done by hand, one shrub at a time.
In my middle hayfield allée, the London planes and smoke bushes were also given some attention. I planted the allée in 2019. In December 2024, I started pollarding the London planes, a pruning technique that involves the removal of a tree’s upper branches to promote the growth of club-headed stems and dense new foliage. London planes are well-suited for pollarding and respond well to this practice.
One can see the developing “knuckles” or “boles” made by removing growth back to the main stem.
Outside the vegetable garden, Alex works on a long stand of American hornbeams. I instructed him to trim them down two feet from the top, keeping the entire line of trees level and square in shape.
These trees grow about 12 to 24 inches per year.
Alex does a lot of the work by hand. These Japanese Okatsune shears are specially made for trimming hedges. These shears are user friendly and come in a range of sizes.
For the tops, he makes sure they are all cut to the exact height by using the STIHL HLA 86 Powered Extended-Reach Hedge Trimmer. I’ve been using STIHL for many years and find all their tools durable, efficient, and easy to use.
Here, Phurba and Adan work to clear the late season fall foliage from gardens outside my Tenant House. My crew works in teams getting so many tasks done every day.
Back down in my Japanese Maple Woodland, Pete spreads a layer of good mulch made right here at the farm. He transports loads using my Kubota tractor.
Mulch has a lot of benefits – it insulates the soil to protect plants from extreme temperatures in summer and in winter, gives the beds a finished look making them very neat and tidy, and because I make my own, I know it is filled with nutrients, which improves the overall health of the plants.
Here are some snowdrops with a new layer of mulch insulating their young and delicate flowers and leaves. Maintaining a farm depends largely on the weather. These last weeks have given us a chance to check many jobs off the list, thanks to Mother Nature.
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