Doesn’t look like much, huh? Hopefully, it will grow lovely lettuce and carrots one day!
April 29th: I planted our carrot seeds. Preparing the ground took a while; me and the kids spent some time trying to pick out all of the rocks, sticks, and sod from the soil.
Carrots can’t have anything like that in their way while they are growing, or their tips will split and they will grow funny. The soil has to be loose too.
Once the dirt was cleaned up enough I raked two rows, each about a foot wide and 24″ apart. Then I used the hoe to make a 1/2″ deep rivet along the top of each row, to plant the seeds in.
I did my best to plant the carrot seeds 1″ apart, but the darn things are so teeny tiny, they kept falling out of my hand by the half dozen!
I’m not sure how they’re going to grow, but if they come up I’m going to have to do some major thinning out!
I also dropped a few lettuce seeds in with the carrots, as I read that they grow well together, and won’t interfere with each other’s growth.
The lettuce is supposed to come up before the carrots, so this will help mark the rows. I only planted a few lettuce seeds though; I plan on going back and planting more in successions. I planted the lettuce seeds about 1″ apart and about 1/4″ deep.
Once I was done placing all of the seeds, I covered them back over with soil, and watered the rows.
You’re not supposed to let the soil crust over until the carrot seedlings emerge. I read that placing a 2×4 board over them until they come up will help, though I did not do this.
I planted Scarlet Nantes carrots and Paris White Cos lettuce. It takes carrots about 14 days to emerge. I’m not sure about the lettuce. We’ll see!
And as usual, I said a prayer that the Lord would bless my efforts. I can’t wait to see how they do!
A city girl learning to homestead on an acre of land in the country. Wife and homeschooling mother of four. Enjoying life, and everything that has to do with self sufficient living.
Kendra,
I planted carrots and lettuce also earlier in the year. My carrots are now about an inch high. If we ever stop getting rain I am going to go out and thin them out since I had the same problem with the seeds being so small. I didn’t know about planting lettuce with them though. Thanks for the tip. I will try that with my next planting. Good luck with your garden.
I planted some lettuce in containers and it has died. I didn’t realize that lettuce doesn’t like full sun. I am learning as I go. I have a couple in my garden that are growing, though. I also planted carrots. I don’t think any of them have come up yet. Not sure if they will. This gardening thing is an adventure!