10/23/2021 – Sowed Detroit Dark Red Beet seed from Hurley F&F in the row 58 ft. from the fence on the west side of the north half. This is the first sowing this year. Hopefully, we will produce our first-ever beets.
The pre-planting steps taken below were extracted from several beet planting processes as recorded here in the Fall 2021 Planning page.
The afternoon before, we placed the seeds in a pyrex measuring cup, cover them with room temperature water, and let them soak for 30 minutes. Drain off and replace the water every 30 minutes for six changes of water to remove many of the natural germination inhibitors present in the seed coats. Drain the primed beet seeds on paper towels overnight, and sowed the dry seeds this morning.
Carved a deep V with the hoe in the center of the hill and scatter 1 cup of 8-8-8 for each 10 feet of row. Used the garden rake to mix the pellets into the soil in the bottom of the groove then pulled soil back over the groove leaving the fertilizer 3-4 inches below the surface.
Used the double-row dibbler and dropped one seed in each hole from the north end of the row to within about 10 feet of the south end. Then dropped in 2-3 seeds in each hole for those final 10 feet.
Pulled loose soil over the holes with the garden rake to lightly cover the seeds with loose soil.
10/24/2021 – Mixed 1 tablespoon of Borax in 2 gallons of water and sprinkled about a gallon on the row to apply it a 1 Tbsp/100′ row. The intent here is to also lightly water the seeds while adding the boron.
