Out of the seeds I planted, only 2 out of 6 failed to germinate, which is pretty good. These seeds were planted in mostly potting mix with some clay loam wild dirt from the local Southern Californian hills applied on top later in this starter episode. Clay loam is a mixture of sand, silt, and clay that's heavier on the clay side than the other two components of dirt. Clay particles are tiny, flat particles that congeal together due to electrostatic properties or water surface tension like a sundried brick if you have no larger spacers such as organic matter, silt, sand, or rocks present; thus I would not recommend sifting any wild dirt you bring in through a strainer. I'm convinced that if I started with pure clay loam instead of potting mix, my plants would all be way bigger by now.
The Latin/scientific name for this vegetable is Beta vulgaris, a double misnomer in my opinion considering that this vegetable is neither beta nor vulgar looking. Swiss chard can be harvested for multiple crops. Maybe in another month the earliest true leaves will be big enough for a harvest!
6 апр 2018
