Hi I'm Erin.
The goal today is to get this lettuce transitioned into being ready to be planted in the high
tunnel.
For that to happen there's lots to do and several steps to take first on Our Wyoming Life.
This is the second spring that we have grown lettuce, spinach and radishes well before
our last frost date.
Our last frost date in this part of Wyoming is right around the 20th of May.
It worked so well last spring that we even grew spinach all winter and harvested our
last crop of radishes in November.
Warmer temps have returned this week after some bitter cold weather has been hanging
around for the last 3 weeks.
We're behind our target date of planting the lettuce in the high tunnel on March 1st
but there's no point in arguing with mother nature.
Today is just one step in the journey of the lettuce from seedling to harvesting for farmers'
market.
If this is your first time here make sure you subscribe so you don't miss an episode
and come along with us as we explore the ranch and escape the ordinary.
Growing crops for farmers' market while there's still lots of days of cold weather
and I'm sure more snow on the way is definitely not ordinary here in Wyoming.
The winter spinach growing went really well with one exception.
Aphids.
They attacked the spinach and now we have to deal with them before we try growing more
crops that the aphids will be sure to love.
Today we're doing everything possible to ensure the success of our transplants and
hope the aphid problem can be solved.
Aphids are small sap sucking insects.
Aphids can be hugely destructive to crops and are a nuisance to gardeners.
I hate them.
They reproduce ridiculously fast through asexual reproduction and before you know it one aphid
that you didn't even know was there can turn into thousands or millions of the bugs.
My guess is last fall there must have been a few aphids on the tomatoes.
Not enough to even notice.
This winter with the addition of crops, water, sunshine and warm daytime temps they got busy
on the spinach and radishes and wreaked their havoc.
I'm definitely not an expert on aphid lifecycle and all I really need to know at this point
is how to kill them.
So this what we are going to do.
We're going to burn them first.
The bed where the radishes grew before they froze when temps hit 15 below and the rest
of the high tunnel except where the spinach is still growing is going to be hit with a
propane torch.
This will hopefully kill any living aphids, their eggs if they laid any, and also get
rid of the weeds.
Mike fires up the propane torch for me and I get to work.
I am doing a heavy burning.
If I was just doing weed control I wouldn't have the flame up so high or hold the torch
as long over the weeds.
But I really want to kill the aphids so hopefully it will be beneficial to be through with this
step.
All of the spinach gets cut.
I snuck out when I had an hour of free time and cut all of the spinach.
I didn't film it and I'm sorry.
The reason I decided to cut it is because aphids live on the underside of the plant.
It makes it really difficult to get rid of them and cutting the foliage will hopefully
help us eradicate all of the aphids.
A couple days after the first burning warm weather is back and it's back to work searching
and destroying aphids.
With temps in the low 30's outside it's a nice 80 degrees in the high tunnel and a
perfect day to work.
The Hoss wheel hoe that Mike built on Tuesday's project list video is ready to be put to work
for the first time.
A majority of the weeds have died from the first burning and we run the hoe through the
tunnel with the oscillating blade attachment on.
It's like a giant stirrup hoe and it worked great.
It cuts through the soil nicely and pops the roots loose on the weeds.
The hoe was really simple and nice to use.
It's so much faster than a traditional stirrup hoe.
I can definitely see that we will be using this wheel hoe a ton this summer.
The only draw back is my arms get tired.
I guess I'll get in shape this summer!
Mike takes over the hoeing and again fires up the propane torch and everything gets burned
one more time.
Back in the shop I mixed up the chemical we are using today.
We are using a Take Down Garden Spray Pyrethrin and Canola oil pesticide.
It kills all stages of insects including eggs.
Which is going to be key in our aphid killing success.
Pyrethrin is now days chemically manufactured but it is naturally found in chrysanthemum
flowers.
The spinach gets sprayed as does the rest of the soil in the high tunnel.
We don't want to miss even a single aphid.
The peppers from last summer still need to be dealt with.
Today is a great day to take care of them.
All of the row cover and plastic that we have been using to protect the crops from the cold
has to come out.
There's probably aphids on it, so out it goes.
The dead pepper plants are pulled out of the plastic row cover and tossed into piles.
Then the row cover can be rolled up and Mike finds a wheelbarrow that makes getting the
row cover and pepper plants out of the tunnel much easier.
The next day we're back at the high tunnel.
There's still a few more things to do before the lettuce can be moved from the basement.
The soil where the peppers were at hasn't been tilled since last spring so now is a
great time to go ahead and get that done.
We might end up planting some stuff over there and its easier to till now instead of later
when there's lettuce everywhere.
Now that's its been 24 hours since we applied our aphid spray we can water everything.
A sprinkler gets set and a hose gets run from my mom's house and we're in business.
A yard sprinkler makes watering large spots of the tunnel go much faster.
The soil in the tunnel is very sandy.
Which is fine but it does take a lot of water to get the soil damp.
We will need the soil damp for when we transplant the seedlings and direct sow more seeds.
We have a few days until the lettuce will be able to be transplanted.
We might as well warm the soil some while we are waiting for the lettuce to harden.
Clear plastic gets laid over the freshly watered soil and it will raise our soil temps 10-15
degrees in just a few days.
This will make the transplanting more successful as the roots won't go through so much shock.
Now the moment we've been doing all this hard work for.
The lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower and kale can be moved from the basement into the high
tunnel.
We can't plant them yet but they can hang out here in the tunnel and become acclimated
to their new surroundings in a process called hardening.
The seedlings are under lights but it's not the same as direct sunlight.
Also the temps in the basement are a consistent 60-65 degrees.
It doesn't get cold at night and hot during the day.
The hardening process allows the plants to get used to the sunlight and temperature swings
while they are still in their original pots and we haven't disturbed their roots yet.
There's also a few things we can do to help them transition better.
Gallon bottles have been filled with water and are placed around the trays.
The water will become warm during the day and release it's heat during the night.
It's simple and cheap and it really does help the seedlings harden gently.
Because the plants aren't ready for 11 hours of direct sunlight everyday we will use frost
protection row cover to shade them.
Hoops get placed in the ground around the water fortress and the row cover can be draped
over the hoops to help shade the seedlings.
We make sure that it's vented so things don't get too hot underneath the row cover.
Every day we can increase the amount of direct sun the seedlings receive and at nighttime
the row cover will be doubled or even tripled and we will tuck the seedlings in so they
adjust to being cold but aren't shocked by it.
Now we're finally done with this phase of the lettuce seedling journey.
They're not in the ground yet but we are a heck of a lot closer to accomplishing that
goal.
Early next week we will be ready for transplanting.
The weather forecast is decent.
One day of snow but otherwise very warm and sunny for us for this time of year.
It's a great feeling to be back outside with the sunshine and gardening work happening.
It's time for winter to be over!
It's not over.
It's going to snow again but we can pretend for a couple of days that it's spring time.
Mike has a new video out on Sunday and even though we've already started calving Mike
is going to finally get ready for calving and show you everything he might need to help
have healthy calves on the ground.
Next week I will show you part two of the seedling journey from basement to dirt.
Make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss anything here on the ranch.
We love taking you along for the journey as we explore the ranch life and escape the ordinary
on Our Wyoming Life.
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