Pole beans, bush beans, third round of beets

Time 7:18am
Temperature - Sparks 57, CC&R Farm 66
Soil temp 62

Yesterday I planted onion starts that should have been in the ground at least a month ago...if they don't get to full size we'll eat them as baby onions.

Sowed third round of beets (Baby Ball and Cylindra).  The pill bugs in our raised beds really love these and ate the other two batches.  I'm going to start picking them out of the beds.  There's no mulch so no place to hide.

Sowed Kentucky Wonder, Contender, Lazy Housewife, and Empire pole beans, and Tri-color bush beans.  Some on the slanted fence trellis, other at the base of 6 ft bamboo poles inserted into the keyhole bed soil. 

Last year pill bugs ate most of our bean crop right when the seedling emerged, and birds picked what was left to death.  Lesson learned?  Pull the mulch about 6" away from the planted area to discourage pill bugs, and cover everything with something to keep the birds out. I use the flat racks nursery pony-packs ship in (see pic).  Nurseries will usually give you a few if you ask.

To increase bean germination success rate I roll the seeds in moist (not wet) paper towels, put the roll into a sealable plastic bag, and let it sit for hours prior to planting.  Then the seeds were coated in legume inoculant right before they went into the soil.