In Between Rain Showers

I always seem to have more transplants to plant out than I have time.  Every year at this time I look at those overgrown plants and think about how much I have to do and I feel paralyzed.  The only way I get them done at all is by telling myself, "Just plant one thing each day."  So, today I planted the last of the zucchini, acorn squash and cucumbers.

I have had mixed results with zucchini.  I am behind this year for sure because of failure to germinate and transplant failure during the first try.  This is the only spot they do well for me and that is because they are under the eaves and get spared the bulk of the rain.  Zucchini plants do not get huge in Sitka like they do in the lower 48.  Cucumbers generally don't do well here outside, but I had a hot recommendation on a variety so I thought I would try it. And as far as acorn squash is concerned I did actually harvest an edible sized acorn squash one year!

When it started to rain I headed for the sunroom and planted lettuce, spinach, dill and fennel in soil blocks for a second planting.  Here are a few shots of the soil blocker in action....

Once all the blocks were filled I sprinkled some sphagnum moss over the seeds to keep them moist and covered the trays with plastic.  Soil blocks are handy for plants that don't sprout up tall and skinny right away.  You don't have the bother of sterilizing pots and when it comes time to transplant there isn't a trail of pots and labels behind me to clean up!