Yes it is almost winter..but

There are still things to do.

I planted new lily bulbs-Holland Beauty and Bonbini. I put a bit of deer fencing under and around them, lots of compost- that flower bed has finally improved to actual soil instead of clay. Only took 6 years!If you are afraid of a freeze, dig your holes now while awaiting your bulbs. and don;t forget to dig a couple of extra inches and put in sand if your soil does not drain.

We do not know if the heavy snow cover ( leaving the soil wet) or voles did in so many lilies. Moles eat grubs, voles will burrow into or under anything, and eat plants. voles look like tailless mice.Just an FYI.Mole diggings mean voles have an entry point.So does heavy mulch ( thus the warning not to mulch until after a freeze for  many plants. Some things, like shallots, don;t appreciate being kept so wet, either.Waiting for that first solid freeze solves many problems.)So why mulch? to protect the soil, keep it from heaving, and keep your earthworms and other good guys busy munching that compost, leaves etc you hopefully put on your beds. Mulch one year and you will see the results in spring- I promise.

the other method is mulch in place-usually oats and winter peas at this time of year.


There are still turnips growing, under a light row cover. We hope for a harvest in a few weeks; if not, they hold the soil until spring.

the parsnips need to wait for a heavier freeze before we dig them up. It;s been a warm fall..So warm, I'll get another cutting of the nettles for the compost pile. ( remember your gloves) they are super composting material, very mineral and nitrogen rich.We leave the comfrey-also still growing-until spring. I could use the dried leaves for the potatoes, if i go for an early planting. They really cover the soil beautifully. it's not a waste to leave them in place.

Many of the herbs are in the little greenhouse, along with the young fig tree and a strawberry pot ( still green and putting out new flowers! could we hope?)Tropicals are under the growlight, which will keep them going I think, at least until they get moved aside for seedlings!

so much to do-and after Christmas, the new year-for the Garden-really gets going!

Are you ready? ( Time to start choosing next year's seeds!)

Yes, it is that time again. Why? because some things, like onions and asparagus, can be started as early as January. then I start the flowers..then the peppers, tomato and basil. this will run up into April when we start planting-onions, parnsip, pea, etc.

I'm investigating hybrid seed this year. Why? because drought does not explain dying zucchini, or a lack of bean pods on the green beans. I am attempting to find improved types with heirloom parents.I figure disease resistant types while I keep improving the beds will work, in the long run. I do have  saved seed of several veggie and flower types...I might add, good compost is one of the cures for disease. it allows a better balance of organisms.

Here are some ideas I am "noodling"

"Jade" and "Knight"pea and "Crockett" beans;"Big Beef Beefsteak" and "Country Taste F1" tomatoes,parsnips "javelin" and "gladiator", Cucumber "Fortune F1". Heirloom pumpkin, as they did fine-though powdery mildew resistance in butternuts, etc are possible; perhaps improved Dill...just type those trademarked names into your search engine and you should find lots of delightful seed companies.

I need a lot of flowers. nasturtium and calendula,cosmos and cleome (to bring the bees!) . and herbs and onions. I am going to expand the polyculture beds. As well as setting aside more room for beans! ( my niece loves roasted green beens...we cannot grow too many!) This means the peas and beans and onions get a reduced role ( or different ground for main crops)' but i want to expand the multiplier onion bed. I love the darned things.

Doubled the garlic grown..such a treat...Dugansky and Inchilium Red, and indeed the organic starts proved useful; no disease. the bulbs are just beautiful; flavor intense., should be even bigger this year.

The Tomatoes are going in to bigger planting pots. think Whiskey barrel or bigger.Might prevent uh-puppy playing damage. this probably does mean having to buy some soil for the first year(we have 2 bigger planting pots so need at least 4 more). I don't think you can overspend on such a basic part of the garden. Organic..good balance. May even give in and get specialized Tomato soil ( and might do the same for peppers; big pots of peppers. also to get them up from puppy teeth. had lots of them but didn;t get to eat them)

I do like Caribe potatoes and will order new stock for the potato bags. ( pale yellow; yummy) it was so hot i don;t think the bags were given a fair trial. All produced though not as much as i would have liked. the bags are filled with compost and mineral supplements,then comfrey and nettle leaves, then straw for the last few inches.

the big projects are placing vines around the new arbor ( ground covered with compost, minerals and lime, cardboard and straw) we think Ken;s Red kiwi vines, a clematis for the darkest corner..and perhaps morning glories or trombocini vines for fill in this first year.And completing moreof  the apple tree polyculture.

I'd like more cherry bushes,currents,  and nitrogen fixers around the apple trees; which did very well in spite of drought, with their flower and comfrey companions.We'll see if the medlar and jujube made it. I will say the berries are FABULOUS and should produce well next year.So pretty with all the leaves turned red...so happy in their bed of straw.

and do consider making soil blocks instead of all those plastic pots. I really think it improved the veggie starts tremendously.Don;t forget lime and minerals in your beds and compost...and things should be GOOD!

as far as those seed companies; some of my favorites

Johnny's Seeds
Southern Exposure
Kitchen Garden Seeds

That should get you started! don;t forget Park's, Burpee, and Harris.

time to get the garlic out!

no, not against the Halloween vampires-it's time to get ready to plant.I';m just waiting for some cooler weather-should come as early as Friday.

My bed has been broadforked twice; compost greensand , lime and organic fertilizer mixed  in.They are going to live in that bed until next July so we want them happy.I might add; the shallots and multiplier onions get moved/planted in front of the garlic; they are smaller and need the sun.( Multipliers give us spring green onions mostly)

I plant the first row six inches apart; then stagger a row 3 inches down, and each clove in the middle of the row before not directly in front of them.. this planting makes the most of space.Push each clove in and then cover the bed with loose straw ( leave off the shallots until after the first freeze. they can rot if covered.)

I don't soak, add a bit of clorox, or baking soda, anything; buying organic garlic means the cloves are as clean as you could want. but if you got to the store of have some excess garlic to try, I would put them in a baking soda bath for a few minutes; tear off any blackened wrappers as well. Commercial fields are a bit more prone to disease.

Garlic is easy, and fun. remove the straw in the spring; put on more compost; keep them weeded. Remember you can eat the garlic scapes ( flowers) and if any garlic got left behind when you harvested this year, the garlic shoots that come up -should be up now, are excellent fro many uses. Stir fry, salads....

the good and the bad

We finally got some rain..but quickly re-entered  the dry weather.

got a little patio greenhouse loaded it with a 55 gallon drum full of water to help keep the thing from freezing. (though not a problem in 85 degree weather in October! )patio plants, fig tree and strawberry pot are in there; herbs will get gradually moved in also.some of the lavenders and rosemaries are huge! despite puppy trimming ( I am drying so much rosemary...sigh)

to resist planting more lilies ( as so many died) I plan to buy mums and pansies and fill up the back garden with color.

turnips and spinach coming up; many beds ready for next year and just need some straw, LOTS of garlic to plant.... parsnips look good.Some late trombocinis ( squash)coming on and a few tomatoes and lettuce.the pumpkins are really cute! we will cook them up in a week or two.

we took the comfrey bed ( comfrey and nettles, for mulches and composts; high nitrogen) and surrounded it with iris., looks good! also lined the front of the house, where we had to cut down a tree, with  iris. hoping they do well!

BUT- the pups ate the peppers, decimated the flower gardens, even killed a small lilac. they keep digging, especially where I have just been working.Sweet potato production barely adequate. hm.Searching out the most PRODUCTIVE tomatoes, not just heirloom....BREAK O' DAY comes highly recommended.


must buy more currants and cherries for the polyculture fruit tree area.The berries sailed through the drought; young bushes not so much!a different nitrogen producer needs to be found too. I'm thinking buffaloberry ?


the littel asparagus plants now need to have the bed built above ground ( our plan) they are in about 6 inches now; started with a  trench and filled all summer. We'll see if second year growth is really superior to starting with crowns!


looking forward to vines in the spring on the new arbor. we are building the soil in the 2 beds first.Kiwis( Ken;s Red) and clematis..and some morning glories or climbing type squash possibly to fill in the first year.

we keep raking up acorns for the goats- despite the hysteria that we will poison them.

nope.they DO get grain and alfalfa too you know.

so as usual-some good some bad. we'll keep chugging along.

Rain-and acorns

the acorns have been falling so heavily it sounds like bombs going off while we are sleeping. Good thing the goats like them; just keeping the deck and the areas where we walk clear has been a challenge.I am talking buckets of acorns. the goats just go to town.

our first decent rain in about six weeks. i am hoping most of the plants made it-we lost cucumbers, roses, maybe azaleas...but i decided to be hopeful. Turnips and spinach and peas planted; replant garlic after we pull sweet potatoes. most of the herbs kind of like the dry; need to get a covered area to dig them up and lett hem have sun for the winter.

I have been composting and adding to beds... the asparagus needs several more inches to make it's foot deep bed...have enough leaves down now to treat the parsnips to a layer.

so life goes on-3 feet of snow or total drought, things keep changing  :).

Missile Alert!

no don;t hide under the desk-it's---acorns. so loud popping off the deck and roof it woke me up several times.

We actually like this time of year; the goat's breakfast this AM was carrots ( extras from a local restaurant) sweet feed and-acorns. excellent high energy food and it's FREE. comes at the end of the season when browse is getting sparse....just lovely.Pigs like acorns... and most farm birds-especially turkey and geeses-apparently like mulberries as well..so much bounty just for looking around a little bit!

the garden NOT so lovely- this drought has killed off much that was promising. so..we do the hard work again, clearing bindweed and grass from the beds( i got lazy when it was 100 degrees), setting out fall root crops, lettuce and spinach and arugula, and getting  a small structure (greenhouse) in here for the fig tree and herb pots for the winter. it'll do for tomato starts next spring too-we never built the green house; a huge arbor was constructed instead. big enough for-kiwi vines and clematis...big greenhouse next year ????

Just like the goats, much of what is good for the garden can be free. layers of cardboard and newspaper...leaves, especially chopped up..perhaps some gravel/dust form a nearby creek, muck from a pond...and hopefully everything you could think of was made into compost.all of this might help turn your ground into something special.

now try spading fork or broadfork instead of the tiller. yup, it'll work-promise.and leave your earthworms and other critters alive under the ground cover- leaves or straw.and rutabagas turnips or peas not picked will get left- as roots and leaves to hold the soil. heah, I'm just lazy..this stuff works. why do more?

organic beds, multicropping and layering of plants, all proved useful to us this year. the apple trees with comfrey and cosmos at the base-look great. so do the deep bedded berries. We have a bed of parsnips to die for.we did lose currants and cherries-too small for such a severe drought..but they can be replanted. cooler wetter weather should be coming.We have started beds next to the arbor;compost minerals and cardboard. compost leaves and straw go on next. should be superb by spring.

and that's the thing..you can always try again, next year, next spring, will come....sort of a nice message i think.

Basil!

A basket of basil, so perfect and green right now..ready to be stripped of it's leaves., leaves and olive oil in food processor, frozen in thin sheets to just break some off all winter if we are cooking with it. I love this stuff!A few parsley flowers are sticking out in front-dry enough to save seeds for next year ( parsley is biennial; I have some growing and replant some every year)

August

Truly it is August. rain has finally decided to grace us, along with 100 percent humidity..after the hottest and driest summer on record., the onions and zucchini gave up the fight, the pumpkins and parsnips are fine. Beans only so-so. I need to have a bed of picking beans ( despite loving the mixed beds)to have enough for meals instead of a handful a day. Cucumbers just starting to come on.I may have to break down and buy hybrid zucchini and beans.. instead of heirlooms, just too much wrong in the ground still I think.Fusarium wilt maybe?

tomatoes plants look terrible but the tomatoes are fabulous! we've made sauce, eaten fresh with mozzarella, made some oven dried tomatoes....just fun. Next year the pots will get outside stakes and the cages. the puppies knocked them over way too often.

i did notice everything growing near the pumpkin vines is healthier. especially in this very hot summer, the shade helped. It is something to remember- the vines themselves are useful not just the pumpkins.and even with this heat, you can walk around the beds and..no insect damage at all, none. mixed planting and herbs in the beds-just plain work!

the little asparagus from seeds are looking great and the trench is rapidly filling in.

Some of the beds have cover crops ( beans, buckwheat) and as I plant out the baby rutabagas and turnips and onions ( for green onions)-presently in a tray full of compost- I will add compost, manure, greensand,rock phosphate if I still have it more lime and possibly a handful of the mixed minerals,. anything not eaten becomes-cover crop for the winter. Extra straw after strawing the garlic and shallot beds will go on any bare spots.Peas in another bed. Broadforking before final planting.Economical, and workable. the commercial cover crop mixes are expensive.I do have more comfrey and nettles to add somewhere...great plants, produce lots of biomass and so much more.

these beds ought to be jumping by next spring.

to keep spinach and lettuce growing,. I plan to try some hooped row covers. low enough not to collapse under snow one hopes! We ought to have fabulous fresh greens up til hard winter!

I have tons of iris to replant//thinking of more tulips and i might break down and get more lilies-sigh. I miss the big bed of them. More hostas and daylilies need to be divided, and more plants put around the fruit trees, yes, they all survived this summer (permaculture works!) hoping for more berries next year so may break down and find better "berry" fertilizers. it is horrid acid soil; the cardboard is still visible in some places after nearly 2 years. but the berries seem happy :) to compare, I took an herb and pepper bed covered with cardboard and straw to kill off Jersusalem artichokes...it's gone. was gone in less than 3 months.

not a totally successful year- the heat did not allow a huge potato crop in the bags but i'm replanting the bags and using row covers when needed for a fall crop.But I learned, and the plants grew, and I am happy.

Bruce is building a room sized arbor- 5' by 7 ft and the arch starts 5 feet up. red roses for sure- and maybe grapes or kiwis., I also like autumn clematis.

I Know Why The Iris Didn't Bloom

I have just dug up the entire bed of iris in the front ( top of driveway) garden, We finally got rain-so i knew I could dig.let it get dry a few more days-murder. clay doesn't give.

To my surprise, the earth turned up easily-and was brown, not red. Loam! incredible! I haven;t cleaned that bed our properly since the electric company killed off trees and damaged the Iris, fortunately the daffs and daylilies weren't up at that time of year.I have over the last seven years occasionally weeded, put some straw mulch down from time to time, and threw fertilizer at the daffs occasionally. that;s it. Bruce plowed the fan shape and we did put in about 10 bags of topsoil when we first planted.that was just a nod-barely covered the surface.

Anyway, there are so MANY iris I don;t need to replant, the survivors should fill in nicely.( those too close to other plants i left alone; and no matter how you dig, bulbs/rhizomes actually, always seem to leave pieces behind)

so what I also found was..the iris, with the natural weed mulch and the garden building it's soil nicely-were buried too deep! the rule for iris is-backs to the sun. Literally. you don;t even want the whole bulb covered.

both my back seats in the van are covered with iris bulbs up to about waist high. Yes, I will have hundreds to give away-and 2 more beds to go. One can just be lifted with the broadfork I think, so they sit at a higher level.. all the iris will then be separated, and leaves on each fan cut back in an inverted V to save on water loss and encourage new fans (where your flowers will be next spring) the plants are so clean- the dirt still on them so rich, I'll definitely put everything not usable in the compost. not one plant shows signs of iris borer! (holes, )

natural methods work!/ this was just sort of by accident..but it just makes me more determined to invade as little as possible-no plowing, use deep mulches, and stand back and watch the show!

100 degrees and no rain in sight

yup, we are getting a super duper large sized July. we haven;t had an official reading of 100 degrees in ten years! 2 days of this-then several in the low 90's ( more normal)

If we were having rainstorms with this, it wouldn;t be so dire....but once again, we are in drought. We have been 6 of the eight years I've lived here.the 1 1/2 years of rain drowned everything, oh well.

the poyculture/ multiply planted beds are definitely doing better as far as moisture. tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins, squash basil-love the heat. and I don;t have any corn to worry about high heat( it may not tassel and pollinate the ears properly at high temps). I worry about the cucumbers, the shrubs, etc. the forest part can take care of itself.

so I water. and water. and kind of worry about the well ( we have guests who have left toilets running, faucets open...sigh)

goats are in shade with lots of water. puppies will be brought in by about 10 AM-not back out until 4 or 5.and we all wait-for summer to return to normal.

gotta take water to the little trees up front...

Garlic!

Geena, my niece, got to use a broadfork for the first time. And so now we have tons of garlic; I am quite happy with the crop.Dugansky and Inchelum Red. lovely things.

the shallots are another story. tiny and withered; the first blow was the snow plows running over the bed, the second was extensive heat and rather dry conditions. I will save the little guys and try again with them this fall.They may need to go in sooner than the usual instructions for more cool time in the soil.more compost too.

the tomatoes are amazing though the six month old puppies have knocked them over several time; all the broken branches were plucked of tomatoes no sitting on the deck  rail to try and ripen.We still have some lettuce and beans are on the way ( the polyculture has been excellent for these dry conditions. really holds the moisture)

tomato hornworms; ewwwww

yes, they found us. even though I moved toatoes out of the garden into pots. I squished five huge tomato hornworms today ( they hide under the leaf branches and can be hard to find.) I feel better after squishing them but the question is-how bad will this be?they can strip a tomato bush in a day. we have HUNDREDS of tomatoes on the 14 plants so...i really don;t want to let this go.

First, this is why I check the garden every day and-second-I will attempt to keep squishing instead of spraying, though there are some good fairly safe sprays on the market. one listed one is Sevin but i am told it is doing real damage to beneficial insects where it is sprayed.I do spray the fancy roses with Bonide, which is Neem oil-it is a fungicide too.-they are far from any veggie crop, and they just cannot withstand the japanese beetles. i will say, the bush roses, Knockout, just keep smiling. they have had only compost and minerals this year.

heat-not even July and we expect to hit 100 degrees tomorrow. worrisome. dogs and I hole up all afternoon. the plants can;t!

I expect the garlic onions shallots and potatoes will give up the ghost unless it cools off a bit more towards normal ( 80's next week?) so we will have smaller crops but sometimes you have to be OK with that.

I water every evening, supposedly a no no but the sun is too strong in the morning. at this level of heat, everything will be dry by dark..they need the cooling effect as well as the water. one fancy basket of flowers seems to have given up the ghost today.the strawberries to aren;t very happy.

the first! and a surprise to boot!

I harvested the first zucchini today. this was a surprise as I had thought the squash in the middle of all those pumpkin vines was an English thing-summer pumpkin. so I am grateful and pleased to report we will have zucchini this year! and the little fig tree has arrived-complete with figs growing! so cute! ( a tree you can keep in pots if needed; cover or set in a garage, etc for the winter. convenient.)

looks like the garlic and shallots will be ready in a few weeks. I am trying to wait a few days on new potatoes-so tempting to look inside the bags! we'll be eating the first strawberries soon also ( grown from seed!)

the buttoned ( bitter small heads) broccoli further insulted by getting bug eaten. it's been pulled. I may try fall sprouting broccoli-might work better here.Beans are coming on and finally-some growth from the  cucumber starts.waiting on the last of the turnips. have enough dill and cilantro for an army.( I save the seeds and-resow. keep the good bugs coming!)

when each bed empties, I'll be using more minerals. compost, and a cover crop-then they;ll be ready for fall crops. I use buckwheat in the summer-quick and effective. just cut it in about 30 days and lay it as a mulch and plant your transplants ( or move aside a bit for seeds.) I like the fall mixes later on or something that will completely winter kill, like oats. cover-mulch-in one step. can;t beat that!

multiplier onions seem very happy. if they work out-forget onion transplants. perennials are so much easier!

and did i mention the tomatoes? Japanese trifels(black) are racing the principe borghese ( sun drying tomatoes) to set more and more, and to ripen. the coustralee(red) and manyels( yellow) are not far behind.I count at least 20 on each plant-most have more.I've had to top every one of them ( branches taller than the cages are unsupported and can break) they will start new side shoots soon.( not a problem once you have fruit set)

Onion tomato and cheese sandwiches here we come!

some things are good, some are not

the broccoli, which grew well, has developed little button heads. I suspect the heat caused this; cut the main shoots off and hoping the side shoots are edible.I also found a cabbage worm and a snail in the area; if one is committed to not using poison, you find other ways to discourage bugs.so; we will rapidly change out the polyculture ( beans look great) and perhaps not even try cole crops again there. Increasing lime is also possible. Turnips are doing well which bodes well for fall kale, turnips and rutabagas).

the asiatic lilies are fabulous; daylilies are in bloom; every day it's a new set of surprises.We are having gentle rains every few days, and a few downpours, but it is so much better than the last 3 years, I cannot complain.of course more rain makes more weeds but the ground is soft and they easily pull by hand.

the tomatoes are to the top of the cages; I've had to top them. many many fruits setting and, they can still grow more side branches. unsupported branches over the top tend to break.I also clean off leaves and branches for about a foot on the bottom; supposed to stop blights and such, though we've never had them, i feel learning everything to improve tomatoes is worth it!( get every sucker-every new branch in a crotch between leaf and stem, at least until fruit set. also remove any leaf that seem to be touching a growing tomato or otherwise blocking light)We planted a french red, coustralee, japanese black trifele ( oooh they are good!) yellow manyel and true sun drying tomatoes-principe borghese-the branches of little tomatoes are so cute. 2 of the tomatoes live with melons and nasturtiums and everyone seems happy.the others, pots,partially covered by the hosta leaves, are doing great!

the cucumbers, once again, are not germinating as well as I would like. I am rather confused by this-not all the same variety and I bought fresh seed ( ps if you haven;t planted them yet-try pearl, a white cuke. just try them. fabulous)

next job-harvest garlic, later shallots. re-compost and amend; add buckwheat seed for a quick cover crop. then kale, etc can go in. I may go ahead and broadfork that bed rather than wait as we plan to have quite a lot of fall crops growing.

I am saving peas for a fall crop ( let the peapod get a bit dry with full peas inside-I pull them and dry them for a few more days in the kitchen before packing them in paper bags and bottom drawer of fridge) I also am finding left over field peas;saving them too. the parsley from last year should flower soon. (about half our seed is self saved now)

busy-pretty, such a nice time of year...new potatoes should be ready in a week or two  (we like the small, easily roasted or steamed kind; they taste so good)  and the replanted zucchini seems to be taking off.the pumkins are-doing their pumpkin thing. vines taking off everywhere. and that is a fun thing!

Carol and I planted her corn in the traditional manner-mounds with 3 corn seeds, surrounded by beans and pumpkins in between the mounds. it already is looking good!

time for garlic scapes!

We are making garlic scape pesto this afternoon! you actually cut the scapes ( flowering stalks) to keep the bulbs growing....but gee, this is a tasty addition to the garlic menu!


Here's the recipe

Garlic Scape Pesto
Ingredients:
1 cup garlic scapes (about 8 or 9 scapes), top flowery part removed, cut into ¼-inch slices
1/3 cup pine nuts
¾ cup olive oil
¼-1/2 cup grated parmigiano
½ teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste

start with oil and scapes; as these get blended, add in nuts, slat and pepper and grated parmesan cheese to taste. a serving on pasta is about 2 tablespoons.

Beat the heat

One more casualty of the winter storms is our heat pump. as it was a 23 year old system, this means replacing- the whole system. while we get it together to do that, we have gone back to older ways of cooling the house on hot days.Seems strange-need more sun for gardens-more shade for house., hm.

We have 8 paddle fans in the house. I also put a window exhaust fan in bedroom., it'll draw hot air up the steps and out-or that's the plan. so far, even at 90 during the day it's been fine for sleeping at night.

we did put in a room AC in the family room which has to cool at least 2 rooms (Rosie and babies must be comfy!in the living room); we can shut doors to hall, kitchen etc, and this works wonderfully. ( mostly we needed it in the time period before the trees were out in leaf,. that early heat spell was really something!Humid days are difficult;dry days not bad at all.) I can grill on hot evenings and keep heat out of the kitchen.

trees are miracles. it can be a full ten degrees cooler under the trees.( thus the desire to add some flowering trees and nice chairs to the area behind the house) For fake tree shade-umbrellas work. I have 2 on the deck. it covers the hottest part of the house during the day.I've wanted to try a sail ( triangle) over the kitchen doors but right now, I just lower the shades over the glass. keeping sun out is a big step in keeping cool.

on one corner of the deck, I've made a semi-tropical paradise. a fig tree is due in, to add to mandevilla, a fake grass mat rug, chairs and tables, a basket with geraniums. the hot red flowers are really lovely and the plants are, once again, covering the wall and helping to cool us.

We also left the bushes -bushy- this year. as long as we don't have central air-every bit of the shade provided by the bushes is welcome.( I normally cut them down by about half) I'd be putting in trellises and quick growing vines if i didn;t have large shrubs. We also lost the tree directly in front of the family room; quite a blow, it cooled the entire end of the house,mostly we want to get it down before it falls on the house. not sure what kind of replacement could be considered.perhaps a lower row of shrubs with the liriope at it's feet.

So-think it through, if one side of the house is tall, adding narrow/tall bushes or trees with more spread out bushes below can really help.trellises allow a large variety of plantings to grow, and most die back with winter, allowing the sunlight in,Simple shades, on up to thermal curtains if needed, can cut heat/glare form the windows. Fans move air. a dehumidifier might be enough if humid air is the problem and not the temperature,And a water feature will actually help; the sounds of water just speak of coolness.

Remember grandma's house? or beach houses cooled only by the breeze? take the hint-we lived without AC in the past. cutting back on machine created air-good for many reasons.

Which month is it again?

We go from 85 one day to 60 the next. Finally have started getting some rain.the early heat led to tremendous growth on some plants; I still have peppers cukes and beans to plant but trying to hold off on those. don;t have radishes or turnips or lettuce or peas out of the ground! the garlic is huge-but the puppies chose to play  in it. some stalks are bent over but i am leaving them alone; if they die off early, well, we may have garlic greens instead of garlic bulbs. it'll still taste good. the shallots look like wild hairy men who need haircuts.

Considering the growth, I have started re-mulching the beds with compost. ( keep biological activity up, keeps worms happy, shades the ground. soft ground better for plants after all) just a thin layer..which is good because I have used up most of the 3 piles! Goat manure breaks down fast;it's just a 15 minute chore to move more to the pile and then wait a couple of weeks.the rest of the garden compost goes to filling up the potato bags the rest of the way ( no manure, no lime, that's potatoes for you) they are nearly a foot over the bag;compost about 3/4 of the way up. I have just been waiting for the later starters to catch up.( fingerlings. the carolas and kerrs grew just fine) I could just put in straw but i want to see just how many potatoes will grow!( straw mulch did not work for me growing potatoes, even a foot thick) I am not sure if it just the bag culture or if the nettles and comfrey mulches I put in have caused the superior growth.just-do it all even the "one percenters" I guess! there are literally only a handful of holes from flea beetles. I am hoping this means predator/prey balance is good even this early, among the insects.

the polyculture is phenomenal. I am pulling lettuce, radishes, and herbs right now. may have to start planting beans in the next couple of weeks ( you have to keep the plants growing thickly. I didn;t have any peas to throw in so I'll be laying in beans fairly thick for nitrogen)

a medlar ( lovely tree and late fruit, which can be a blessing. you have to blet it-let it soften to eat it) an English thornless raspberry and an Anne yellow raspberry are sitting on the deck waiting to go into the permaculture or "food forest." the only losses up there were the little siberian pea bushes. strange as they are supposed to be drought tolerant.I have to find a different nitrogen fixing bush. the currants and cherries are coming along nicely.

the older permaculture- the chinese yam ( cinnamon vine) skirret and several daylilies survived the winter flooding.lots of alfalfa etc growing nearby to mulch the plants with. that's a surprise- that so much survived.we've never had water up over the road before.

none of the new lilies are up; perhaps they got eaten too. it's sad....

the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Tops on my list-Bruce found rose trees! Purple, Lavender and white,they are stunning, up against the house in front of the new paving stones....next on the list,a bench to sit by them! if this interests you, check out your local  Lowe's!

Zukes and other squash planted-with such hot weather, I can't hold them in the soil blocks any longer. I will say-those soil blocks- are wonderful. they whole thing pops in the ground no fooling with roots.More soil blocks for basil, zinnias ( cannot find square containers to fit up by the flowerbed..sigh) most compost-gone! and I need to treat all the beds with a dusting of it..will figure it out.

I replaced the goat eaten lilies-stargazers, suzukis, etc planted. even with wet humid weather, digging holes deep enough for these big, big bulbs was tough. ( B&D Lilies does not skimp...worth every penny) this was terrible ground to start with-very encouraging to see nice dark soil about 6 inches down, but the clay...is still under there.My shoulders hurt from digging!

A few of the little bushes in the new permaculture don;t look so hot. bummer. might replace the siberian pea bushes with buffaloberry.A medlar, and raspberries are on the way...which will fill out the strip quite nicely. let;s hope for more settled weather, not so hot! the blueberries and blackberries do seem happy  :)

the polyculture bed looks wonderful. we have edible radishes ( beans will fill in the spots) and the broccoli are humming along. parsnips, herbs, etc are growing well. Lettuce should start being harvested by next week! I love this idea!

Need to buy straw for the pepper bed ( full of Jerusalem artichokes-shoot-I'll just keep cutting them for the compost pile.) might finish off the potato bags with a few inches of straw too. the potato plants are already above the 18 inch bags, composted about 10 -12 inches deep...so compost or straw needs to go in there.

 the pitifully few pea vines are actually blooming and looking great. I'll have to devise better planting methods next year.the garlic plants are bigger than my irises..which are not blooming well this year well, maybe more settled weather will get them going too.

Weigela (lovely bush, pink/white flowers) and foam flower cover the front of the house...Megan;s weeping rose has bloomed..much to be grateful for so far.Tomatoes need their melon companions...tried to restart nasturtiums ( I seem to be clueless about nasturtiums)

Sunlight

Now comes the first of the strangely dark periods for the garden.the next comes in late August.

Late winter/early spring are great; plenty of hours of sunshine. then the trees leaf out ( very early this year due to a heat wave;but welcome when there is such heat as this house gets hot without the shade!) for about a month, until the sun is higher in the sky, there is more limited sunshine.

so we are already down to, in Eliot Coleman's words, the one percenters. the small things that can be done.

The white strips on the front of the beds really do help. they scatter sunlight for us nicely.

Mineralization-by adding rock dust ( granite in our case) rock phosphate, greensand and trace minerals-and lime- we have allowed the natural balance plants need, and they only take it up at the rate they can use. no run off, no loss of fertilization.

Hardscape-any of the new walls and corners do add some heat to the area. plants up and happy and growing well, will take off again in May/June, even if growing slower now.Straw is my mulch of choice and it also is light enough to scatter some light.

this is also why i started virtually everything as transplants and put them out 2 weeks early ( some of it was 4 weeks early this year) a late frost is manageable with row covers. i get the maximum sunshine to new plants.

container gardening-potatoes and tomatoes are in large pots ( I have saved every shrub container for years! so recycled too) and sitting in sunny parts of the yard, freeing up the beds for other things .they are attractive; placed to look like they belong, not just hanging out in weird spots.

future plans-an upgraded greenhouse to grow through more months of the year.

will let you know what I think, next month!

Hardscaping

We seem to be in hardscaping mode-that is permanent structures, usually of rock or wood.

We actually started out years ago dragging some old timbers out of the woods and making a corner garden by the driveway. I put in plastic edging around garden beds to hold edges while we figured out what to do next. Every time I found another stash of brick ( it's in several places) I used it to shore up garden beds too.
After you have survived laying a slate patio ( and in pieces, not squares) it all seems pretty easy. the walls around the patio went up fast-big heavy flat stones you can seat 2 or 3 rows deep without mortar, and capstones. Cool! that led to replacing a corner of a lower garden bed with this stone and my upper flower bed. it looks- nice!

Bruce is up putting in scalloped edging around the nettles and comfrey I use for the compost pile. a lousy soil tucked in to small trees; a corner that needed help-I figured these lovely dynamic accumulators would be happy, and whenever I have extra compost or manure, on it goes..

so now with the old greenhouse out of here, we can see an opportunity to add some flowering trees and benches, and an archway with roses. that's how it works, you do one thing, see another.We are also going to use paving stones in the strip between the deck house and patio., leaving a space for something formal, an espaliered fruit tree is tops on my list.all high and dry and level; which would have seemed impossible when we moved to this uh, hill.Hardscaping isn;t that hard. consider it; bed edgings or terraces....all sorts of new opportunities arise when you give plants different environments!

When Bruce pulled out the brick to put the bigger stone in on the corner of what is now an onion bed, i got another nice surprise, 2 years of mulching, putting in compost, broadforking, etc, and the ground is fabulous at least 6 inches down. brown, not red clay. I am so pleased!Tilling would never have done the same thing!this is better soil than the original raised beds; I hadn;t really looked deeply at the time ( no till, with newspaper) but it;s all the crud the builder moved aside after driveway.septic system. terrible in fact. but even that is giving way to good organic practices.the garlic sure is lovely!

tomato towers

I just had to show off these beauties-from Gardener's Supply. they really do everything they are supposed to-hold the vines, use year after year, and they are even-attractive!I think the hostas might enjoy the bit of shade the towers will provide ( especially as the vines grow)

Sweet potatoes,many colors many uses

I fell in love with sweet potatoes. no not just for eating-I've never liked them! for foliage.

i bought white sweet potatoes last year. yes, they are mealier, not the slick smoothness i hate in the orange types.I planted a few in the garden and threw the rest into the edge of a flower bed( full of old gravel!) where they went into viny loveliness. i am enchanted. Actually, the flower bed produced more tubers than the garden! ( this year, I have prepped the bed with sand for the sweet potatoes. we'll see!)

so I don;t buy the fancy sweet potatoes for foliage; I just plant my regular ones. Cool!And i even found a way i like to eat them-sliced up, fried or baked into chips, dusted with cinnamon and served with mustard sauce (mustard and mayo mixed)

Latest experiment-starting slips. I put one half tuber in wet sand, one half in a glass of water balanced on toohpicks, and just planted one in a pot. that one has become a foliage plant for my deck, though I could cut slips. the sand, surprisingly has produced slips much faster than the water treatment. At just a few inches you pull them, put the lower ends in water, and plant as soon as roots are growing-no longer than 2 inches,hopefully planting after the soil and air are good and warm. they'll grow until frost!

shoot the darn things want to grow! and they come in several colors! too good to be true!

Groundcovers

I am trying hard to diversify the ground covers. even if it isn;t a "food forest" it can;t hurt to increase the species in an area.

it took a helper, even after soaking, to get spaces dug in our clay. Thank you, Lindsey.then 1/2 cart of compost ( for 4 plants!) was nestled under and around each plant, and the looser clay mixed in the top with more compost.these "pockets" can be done under trees, in clay banks, etc.

the liriope was here when we moved in; we added the patio and retaining walls, hostas and grasses.
grape hyacinths along the stairs, and we've attempted to grass seed several times. This time, using the compost "pockets" I added hardy geranium, ajuga, and a gaura. Wish us luck!

the garden grows

the work to plant mint and vlolets as groundcover is paying off. placing pretty flowers in among the groundcover, ditto. As the cherry tree is getting big enough to cast shade, I will put foamflower in where we removed the birdbath.I started with 1 plant. it now covers most of the front of the house. I love this stuff.

this means; no mulching, less fertilizing......this garden is beginning to take off!

Another little experiment is paying off big. I planted pansies for the fall; covered them with a row cover before the last big snow. they were blooming within days and are now fabulous.

We also put in 2 dwarf Russian sages and a big moonshine yarrow, where the lilies disappeared.

for permaculture, think small. Take one corner of your yard. put in  a small tree and some shrubs, then put your flowers and groundcovers in. see how you like it, as the seasons go by.Take one garden bed and put ALL your compost, mulches, rock powders on it, for one season. start cropping this fall or next spring. or try cover cropping, and see what the results, after mowing or cutting, are, for you.

strange garden loss

the lilies that are up look fantastic, thick stemmed, growing well.I even found a grouping under the cherry tree I thought I had dug up and moved! growing among the hostas, phlox and violets, they look so nice!

but only about half of them came up in the main bed..I have all sorts-for smell, for color......this is really quite a blow.

I have to figure voles ate them ( voles eat plants moles eat insects) I am a little non plussed trying to figure out what to do about it. I hate the idea of sprays; chicken wire couldn't keep such wee things out., and it WAS a hard winter;guess they were hungry ( we've never had anything like this before)

I am enjoying watching the new permaculture area around the apples take off. the currants and siberian pea bushes look good. no flowers/herbs are up yet. but they will  arrive in their own time! Apples seem happy (second year) many leaves. I don;t care if they bloom as we need them to grow another year before we can harvest.

so it goes, the good, the bad.

Spring is here

a trip to Ohio revealed what I should have already known...I am highly allergic to tree pollen. Cleveland is a couple of weeks behind us, in the gardening calendar, so i got to deal with high pollen-twice! but a chance to see more pears and cherries and redbuds and tulip magnolias in bloom?" ahhhhhh.

the garlic has spring up to nearly a foot in height. the apple trees have budded out, the onion transplants look fabulous, we are eating green salads. a month ahead of schedule, but I am not complaining. tempted to start the squash and cukes and sweet potatoes( the slips look good) but i will wait.
tomatoes are happily growing under lights;peppers too.

the only groan so far is that the peas did not sprout well. at 95 degrees for 4 days-this is the hottest April on record, I guess they just didn't like it much.what does grow will still help the ground!

self care ground covers

Long before i read a book or took a course on gardening, of any kind, i had already figured out bare ground is never good. Better to leave weeds if you are';t going to use a patch of ground. at least the ground will be there when you get around to it.

I often filled in new flower beds with mint. if there;s too much, make some mint tea. rip some out. it's EASY. and in drought years, it made a definite difference.

the next thing i became happy with was violets ( note-both of these ground covers are indeed edible. just a little plus on their side) my mother gave me some;her neighbor had been selecting for bigger clumps and flowers.It was just put in the grass haphazardly;I like the flowers and it;s easy enough to mow.After about 2 years, I started transplanting into various beds. it looks great under the cherry tree, even looks good on the wilder northwest corner of the house ( where even my other standby, liriope, was failing)

hostas get moved into any shady spot; i started with a bunch pulled up from a friend;s house; little white grassy leaved flowering bulbs hitched along and also play their part.I have to split those hostas so often, i've used mulch to build a bit of soil and started planting under every tree near the house.

point is, you can keep the ground moist, and in place, without hauling mulch;just rip out what isn't needed for a new planting. most of these things are shallowly rooted.

won;t they-spread? well yes. and that scares some people. I just thank them for doing their job if I have to remove them.I haven;t done too much of this (more woody branches cut to let in more light) but the goats might enjoy bucketfuls of freshly pulled greens.

my new best friend is comfrey, I intend to split the plants this year and move them everywhere I can. nutrient accumulator, mulch builder, medicine, healing tea for growing plants-they do it all.Their flowers attract bees.They are just darned pretty.

Have you noticed most of this is cheap or free? makes it easy to go from a deep mulch ( back breaking and expensive) system. I might buy some thyme this year to fill in around stepping stones. the ajuga did';t do well, unfortunately.

and in some sort of the same vein, I intend to spread dill, coriander, marigolds, even morning glories wherever I can. the insects love them-and they are easy to pull up if in the wrong place. Most of us have plenty of these seeds; maybe excess garlic bulbs as well, which can go under the roses or apple trees, etc, for a little insect repelling boost.


so try it-using nature;s way of covering the ground. you might be surprised.

Follow the money

Well, the news is out.freezes down south, a Chilean earthquake, and our prices have skyrocketed.
So what can you do?

Grow yourself or
Buy locally.

these things are not mutually exclusve!

it is perhaps time to relearn the simple things-eating in season ( or frozen/canned from your own garden) instead of the luxury of fruits from all over the world, every day of the year.

if not the price, the fear of unknown sprays, etc should be enough to scare anyone into buying locally.
buying locally keeps your money local, usually costs less, and is better for you.

growing your own when you can control exactly what the plants "eat" is even more ideal.

so what;s a garden really worth? if lettuce is $3 a bag and you grow your own say, 20 weeks a year, that;s $60. tomatoes are so expensive-but you can have an endless supply with about 6 plants,which would cost you on average $4 a week. even if only for 2 months, 8 weeks, that's $48. A bag of potatoes is usually $5 now. if you use them a lot, you could save big bucks. Corn at the farmer;s market is often a $1 per ear.a small patch -say 50 ears....are you getting the point?

Herbs are expensive when you need them, throw a few into various sunny spots, and you have all you could use.

one estimate is that a small garden, even plants worked into a suburban backyard, could net $700 in veggies a season. Now we are talking!

if you have to buy pots, potting soil, etc, the first year won;t save as much as it could. but start that compost pile...save some seeds..and you are on your way to helping meet your family's needs.

just  try it.....

Organic is no better than conventional (chemical based) farming?

That's the verdict.I'd like to see what actual organic practices were used, what varieties were tested..as heirlooms have so many interesting properties,,,and I doubt that's what was tested.

BUT: all things being equal, a plant with enough in the ground to meet its needs, probably is equal in nutrition no matter how it is grown. That isn;t the why behind organic gardening at all.

First and foremost, chemicals from farming are showing up in strange places. herbicides in compost? it happened last year. from the feed for the horses or cows i believe. We have a farm near us-organic-everything died along one fence line. that was a kick in the teeth. and that ground is worthless for a long while to come.

  anyone remember agent orange and the prediction it would prevent growth for 50 years? 50 years!)Being told not to eat any chicken organ parts, becouse of contamination from chemicals, that build up generation
 after generation? that bald eagles were dying out due to thin egg shells from the same problem? Do we really have to sicken for twenty or thirty years before a government study confirms what we already know? this stuff isn;t good for us!

Chemicals and prescription drugs are in city water! and lastly, the number of chemicals found in baby cord blood ( many cords are now saved in case of future need) was astounding, in one recent study.

We just heard flea spot on for dogs and cats have killed or injured pets. NO chemicals are completely safe, that;s the truth.

One of the only ways to lower the chemicals you are exposed to is to grow your own food and control inputs. yes, almost any land could have farm chemical dumps, or the water night be not so good...but it;s a start.(silver colloidal filters are available for your hose.look for pet water filters you can clean up the water if you need to)

A second source is a farmer;s market or local stand.. though MOST say organic now whether or not they are. Ask when the produce was harvested!

We might want to change our language...we are looking for fresh, locally grown, naturally encouraged produce.

Why fresh? veggies lose some of their goodness if out of the ground for long. and even more when you cook them. We are talking hours, not days. so we want to find farmers ( or grow ourselves) so that we are getting peak nutrition from our veggies.

Organic or natural farmers concentrate on meeting all the plants needs, as a rule. fast growing produce tastes better-and there is every reason to believe trace elements should be supplemented, not just the big 3 nutrients.Selenium, lithium, and several other trace elements are known to be deficient in the US. A natural farmer is going to notice produce that isn;t as healthy as it should be much faster than a regular farm where maximum growth is the only yardstick.

Organic practices heal the ground, allow earthworms and other critters to flourish. a more complete ecosystem probably is better for plants, and us too! The bees and bugs sure like healthy gardens with no herbicides or pesticides. they go crazy.More natural practices might help restore some of our pollinating friends

It's cheaper. it uses up what we think of as garbage. crushed rock from other rock uses. Manure-which is a horror otherwise. it is more responsible in every way.
and-cheaper!

recovering huge amounts of conventionally farmed land,,,and the losses to insects and disease while the changeover occurred, might not be feasible.

But niche markets, etc have opened up possibilities for farmers that have not existed for 2 generations. let's hope some take advantage of that.

Well of course!

In a spring where I planned-with seeding in flats, with row covers, to get plants out early...it's looking like a warm spring. much of what I have done, I didn;t need to.

but the potatoes and peas will go out next week....could have been TOMORROW the traditional St Paddy;s day...but I have gone off Good Friday for the past few years...also traditional.

Yes, it can be depressing for garden lovers...

to see all that snow, the cold temps.The damage that becomes obvious as the snow melts (boxwoods are crunched, many of the azaleas look drunk but they are alive...)....but i decided to do what i could.Gardeners are nothnig if not a hopeful lot  :)

the daffs and iris and things are green and growing, despite everything. amazing. we found the little cocker stature and the house sign-WAY over in the yard. why did the local guy think piling EVERYONE'S road snow up on my property was OK? sigh.as it runs, huge ruts are appearing in the driveway. thanks, guys. uh, really.You choose the steepest driveway in the neighborhood to pile stuff on. yup, sure makes sense to me..not the driveways in the EMPTY houses or those driveways that are flat and have ditching to carry off water..

I moved the lettuce and spinach to the end of the green house still standing. they don;t care how the roof looks-should grow into nice salads anyway. I started some broccoli and fennel.....the little asparagus plants are so cute! lots of onions in the little soil blocks-maybe too many, considering we probably can only throw on compost and gently shape the bed-no tilling even broadfork with ground this wet.will make it hard to get the onions set out. so glad I started multiplier onions, garlic and shallots last fall.we will have SOME crop  :)

still have flowers tomatoes , squashes and basil to start-potatoes to chit, sweet potato slips to cut, but that comes as things finally warm up.Peppers finally beginning to sprout. I'm sort of out of room under the grow lights.....will have to figure some solution; older plants could sit on the shelves in the greenhouse in a few more days.I guess I'm really determined not to let it all go flat to the ground! have it propped with bamboo stakes..

then I have to decide when to start stacking plants in the parsnip bed (using the Gaia's Garden seven plant species self care bed)-April I think...though i will then worry about enough sun for the parsnips, at least I might be able to broadfork that bed.

and one final chore-currants, cherries, siberian peabush and autumn olive bushes for the apple trees. and fennel, comfrey, dill, flowers, turnips and dutch clover...under them. Maybe a strip bed of horseradish-dont; thin, deer like them. and oh-cutting up the fallen pines trees laying over the berry patch.the other permaculture was completely swamped when the creek came up over the roadbed; not sure what can be done down there. wonder if the chinese yams survived? skirret was down low and I have little hope for those plants.

I want to sprout the peas inside and then move out and cover with row covers for a few days. that  should keep us on track. the potato grow bags can sit in the ruined green house too, for a few weeks.Maybe it will be OK.

just bites.I want to reposition the white fabric strips at more of a angle, by rebuilding the front edges of the raised beds, but really cant...with this much precip.it'll be August....well maybe some things will be done and I can rebuild beds/amend then  :) I did A LOT of work last fall.

Compost and Winter-Amazing

To my utter surprise, the compost bin melted the snow quite nicely. and when I opened the lid yesterday, there was space in there. which means; even with the cold and snow, the bacteria and worms were eating and having a good time.

I can even add more to it; it had been completely full.

so-don;t give up on those compost bins, even if it seems hopeless!

and again...winter 2010

the greenhouse is crunched. we are going to look for a more permanent model. Gardener's Supply has a nice gothic arch model.that might stand up to heavy snow-who knew in Virginia you needed such a thing as snow readiness?

http://www.gardeners.com/Affordable-Grow-House/GreenhousesSheds_CompactGreenhouses,11210,default,cp.html

so what to do now?

plant more seeds of course. spring will come-sometime.planting seeds helps you remember that

What now? 2 1/2 feet of snow....

oh, trying to get the flattened greenhouse de-snowed and see if it is intact....mooning abut wet gardens in the spring ( I intend to simply apply compost-and plant. we broadfork often enough it should be ok) compost and mulch laid on the ground should be safe enough.

Miracles. after 5 days without power, and having to remove ourselves and our animals from the house, I cam back to-live seedlings. I am somewhat shocked. Go asparagus go!  tiny spears-miniature-adorable. I had no idea asparagus could be so cute. the lettuces and spinach for outside may become an indoor mini greens bar, unless I can get that green house back up.

Feb 15 things change

2 more feet of what? and more next week? did I move to the frozen north?

I really hate snow. sorry. Once a Floridian....and I am....this stuff just isn;t natural

anywya...Feb 15 we return to 10 hours of sun a day. Therefore, if you;ve got greens, etc started, you can put them in cold frames or greenhouses.might even want to start chitting ( greening up and sprouting) some earlt potatoes.

more later if we survive the storm

pop up greenhouses

I've had 2 now-I liked the Bloomhaus- it's like a giant Chinese Lantern, truly does just pop up..., after 3 years of snow and sun  we decided to replace it. I thought the head space wasted..so bought the Dream Haus model. ( you can zip them together to make a bigger greenhouse.FlowerHouse Mini & Portable Greenhouses - ON SALE

it is not holding up to snow as well; I have just located replacement rods
Flowerhouses.com - Replacement Parts

  but there is no way to replace the screen doors and bottom screen windows the puppies ATE last spring
(well, there were 12 of them!) so in the summer-it's a big open tunnel, basically!

It also does not seem to have as much effective heat as the high wide Bloom house.

I am going to have to consider a more permanent structure; though I do love these pop ups.I need-steep roof because apparently we are going to continue to have heavy snows in winter, around here. ( now: I could have taken the green house down for the winter; but I didn;t so I figure I won;t. any structure needs to outlast my laziness) I'd like a nice exterior; and there are different levels of polycarb/advanced "plastic" to cover. It needs to set up without making a foundation; I;m not really up to those skills. As that area is slightly sloped, I might even try digging even and setting in a slight berm for better temp control.

it needs to be easy to get shade covers on, and vents opened up.And will cost plenty I am sure.Still checking all the options out!

More snow!

not sure how much more of this the pop up greenhouse can take! Or me!

going to plant the onion seed this week well, it's something

here is a great timetable from Kitchen Garden Seeds

(my asparagus and strawberries are started; onions about next week. We are zone 7, on some maps zone 6A)

and...instead of soil pots, think damp paper towels, in a plastic bag not closed. works great for peas, etc...and no mess. let;s me only make up one pot per tomato or pepper as you only plant those that sprout!

the soil blocks are working-but man do they take a lot of watering. just an FYI

General Seed Starting Timetable: Eight weeks prior to last frost date

Horticultural Zones 9 & 10: Start seeds indoors now.

Horticultural Zones 8: Start seeds indoors in early February.

Horticultural Zones 7: Start seeds indoors in mid February.

Horticultural Zone 6: Start seeds indoors in late February.

Horticultural Zone 5: Start seeds indoors in early March.

Horticultural Zone 1-4: Start seeds indoors in mid to late March.

Vegetable/Herb Seed Starting Timetable (Listed in weeks before the last frost)

Four Weeks: Melons, Bitter Melon and Cucuzzi Edible Gourds.

Six Weeks: Asparagus, Fennel, Onions, Rhubarb, Shallots, Tomatillos and Basil

Eight Weeks: Eggplant, Tomatoes, Chiles, Sweet Peppers, Chives, Sage, Stevia and Thyme

Nine Weeks: Broccoli, Cabbage and Kohlrabi (transplant out four weeks before the last frost date)

Ten Weeks: Celery, Celeriac, Jicama and Lemongrass

Eleven Weeks: Leeks, Artichokes and Cauliflower (transplant out four weeks before the last frost date)

Twelve Weeks: Cardoons and Brussels Sprouts

Flower Seed Starting Timetable (Listed in weeks before the last frost)

Six Weeks: Cutting Ageratum, China Asters, Celosia, Cleome, Coleus, Nepeta Catmint, Euphorbia, Forget-Me-Nots, Dahlia, Nicotiana, Scabiosa, Snapdragons and Thunbergia

Eight Weeks: Milkweed, Coreopsis, Gaillardia, Globe Amaranth, Helichrysum, Hibiscus, Hollyhock, Heuchera, Nigella, Platycodon and Statice

Ten Weeks: Dianthus, Digitalis, Lobelia and Heliotrope

Twelve Weeks: Datura, Salvia and Viola

Sunlight

So you are told your garden spot should get at least six hours a day of sunlight.
(and just try finding out ways to increase sunlight..seems no one makes more effort to learn..easier to just, use the spot with the most sunlight..)

and guaranteed, it's the worst soil or inconvenient.

What to Do?

1.Make like the goats.

Goats will trim every branch off of a tree they can stand up and reach. this decreases sun-blocking foliage and can allow more grass, etc. to grow. We used our goats to clean out the trees to an almost park like state behind the house.

so....I picked up the loppers and made like the goats, on all the trees surrounding the garden.I check the surrounding trees every spring, now. Actually, if they have leafed out, I give em to the goats!

2. Do as the European fruit growers have always done.

Espaliered trees can be grown, especially on southern walls....often painted white. White reflects light back into the area.If however, the area might be made colder by light reflecting heat outwards, limit your white in some way...strips( see picture of our garden), mirrors or reflectors (old automobile shades have been suggested) or paint your raised bed supports white.It all helps.

3. Be a photographer.

Have you actually taken pictures of the garden site at different times of year? it could be, that by starting everything ( yes even carrots, turnips etc) indoors for a 2 week jump, and using row covers for that extra 2 weeks in the garden, you;ll have captured more sunlight. in some spots, this might be reversed;lower sunlight angles in August and September might really work well...so you might want to go slow with starting the garden every spring.

We get a lot of morning sun as long as the trees haven;t leafed out. we get good noonday sun part of the year-and some afternoon sun.Parsnips and green leaf crops are 2 of the best types if the sunlight is a little lacking.

4. Make suntraps.

Gaia's garden recommends a keyhole garden shape with the hole for the short path facing south. the rest of the garden is bowl shaped. you guessed it- a heat and sun trap.you could terrace this to increase the effect.I have enough terracing of the beds to not have gone this route yet-but I may.

Winter-yuck

I really hate winter. Sorry, but to a Florida raised girl, all this white precip is just-unnatural.the cold hurts. it dries you out. it costs big bucks to keep warm.(even though we have 10 acres of trees and a fireplace-getting around to cutting it depends on the man, I can;t handle the chainsaw. Bad neck-no hand strength. and with this economy, he is working 180 miles from home.)

We have had huge amounts of snow, night temps of 15 degrees -or less. ( this past week things have actually begun to return to normal. 40 degrees in the day, 25 to 30 degrees at night.)

But while we had that horrifically cold weather-we also had 2 feet of snow frozen in place acting as a mulch over the plants and garden beds.

Seems nature has some sort of plan.

I ripped up the tubs in the little greenhouse-even though everything survived, it might not grow well after taking such a beating. I added mineral amendments( which will have several weeks to be incorporated)-and started arugula spinach and lettuce indoors. they are under the grow light now ( the herbs and petunias are sulking about having to sit in the window, but they shouldn;t have to be inside too many more weeks. March 1st is usually warm enough for these things, in the greenhouse) Salads in March ought to be enough reason to do this!( and we plan to put 2 tomatoes in each tub, as well.) the seedlings in the soil blocks look great,I have had to thin them. (hands not so steady I can drop just one seed. so that;s that- I thin,)Asparagus is going and strawberries get started today.

and all of this busywork is just keeping me from starting the onions and peppers too early!

More on compost

yes even in January you can compost.

I just took the last batch straight from the house-coffee grounds and egg shell mainly, spread that and some lime where I want to grow asparagus. then I took cardboard ( it's not trash it's gold!)and covered it all up. I used fresh cardboard first and old rotten cardboard ( I stack it, in the woods, to let it get thoroughly wet and perhaps give a home to more earthworms) on top to hold it down. it doesn;t need to move for 3 or 4 months; and though dry cardboard will blow away; you could use a few bricks, etc to hold it if need be.I can pull this up and add it to the garden paths, back in the woods or, if rotten enough,to the big compost pile.

hopefully the sod will be killed, and biological activity fired up enough, to dig my trench, plant my asparagus, and that;s that.What;s left of the trench sod will also go in the cmpost-as we'll be adding layers as the asparagus grows.I add all my seed starting material to the pile as well.

We did berries last year; layered cardboard, leaves, grass trimmings, and some compost. they are doing very well!holes were easy to dig. they'll need a new bed of mulch this year. straw probably. if the scythe ever gets here, I'll cut it myself!

Sod cut and stacked and allowed to rot-is loam. talk about a perfect growing medium or compost.

Maybe I have made my point. Nothing that was organic is really trash!it's nature;s way to rot stuff-and let the soil organisms and later the plants eat it.

Leaves are easiest to use if chopped up first. so let's mow leaves not grass? I kind of like that.

You don;t have enough stuff for compost? what about buying a bag of alfalfa meal or pellets at your co-op or feed store, and layering that with straw, leaves, etc. Alfalfa is wonderful stuff.( think nitrogen) a bag of fifty lbs ought to have you making compost for a while.Mine gets-processed through the goats in the winter.A better diet for them means a better manure for the gardens.They browse in the summer helping us keep down weeds and getting fat and happy.and the trees get fed as they browse!

even poop isn;t wasteful!

Speaking of which; a bag of cheap dog food ( you want corn and soy in it!) will also help fire up a compost pile.Pet manure is not considered safe for compost nor are meat scraps and the like. but you can still reduce your household trash a great deal by composting.you Could pressure cook your chicken bones, etc and add the ground up mess to the compost; I just haven;t done that in a while ( it;s a great additive for homemade dog food)

I even take the bird;s papers and poops and put it in the compost. feathers-yes that too.

And lest we forget...Starbucks will supposedly give away their used grounds. Coffee grounds are wonderful sources for the compost pile, and don;t worry about the filters. they rot too.

I understand those with mostly cotton clothing can even add the lint to their piles!

Non kitchen type refuse ( garden plants leaves straw etc) are perfectly OK in an open pile., I do keep kitchen scraps in a bin; I have dogs. enough said. I add the bin product to the big pile 4 or 5 times a year.

and if you are using minerals-add it to the compost every few weeks. it will boost that activity and be ready for the garden without having to use amendments all the time.

Compost is an easy way to fertilize your grass. let a bucket or two dry for a day or so; put it in your spreader and off you go. no chemicals on the lawn and happy grass.I also use the wood ashes on the lawn, have on the garden too but we need more oomph and so are back to lime.

one more thought-if you take all those sticks and twigs you had to cut last fall, layer them thickly, a foot or 2 is not too much, you can throw some soil and compost on it and grow things! try a pile like this for potatoes.

there is no reason for us to throw away our refuse, and then buy fertilizer, etc. What a waste of resources and money. Let's use nature;s way!

peppers

i struggled for years to get anything out of peppers. I love peppers; the colors, the taste, the look of the plants. Round pimentos , colored bells, holy mole which is brown, long hot peppers, heirloom and European peppers.so getting little half stunted bushes and no peppers until September was discouraging. 2 years ago I managed to get a few lovely pale yellow ones out of the little greenhouse. but out in the garden is where they need to be-they need heat and sun and room to grow.

so the trick is to start them a bit earlier than the tomatoes, and then set them in a cold frame once they have a few leaves ( or in our case the little greenhouse) for some cooler nights through April, cold helps them later. Well, you might not believe it either but i did this last year and...got peppers! in spite of a cool summer.

Don;t bother with setting them out until it's pretty warm. May 15 is the earliest here-May 30 like the corn and beans and sweet potatoes, not a bad idea.

I did put down straw to help keep weeds off; you can also interplant with other crops.Carrots, onions, parsnips, peas, etc are often recommended. I plant tomatoes with basil and marigolds, so haven;t combined peppers and tomatoes.

If you buy your plants, cut off all flowers and baby peppers before you plant. they need time to establish their roots. I know-you are looking at future food-but you;ll get more if you help the plant succeed.

soil blocks

I loved making mud pies as a kid, so filling up my sink with black wet dirt is not a problem.the soil blocker is actually pretty easy to use-as long as the mix is right.

I got it too wet the first 2 times. they still hold; but oatmeal consistency means oatmeal, not cake batter. 3rd go was-perfect.

I have started celosia, arugula, lettuce, spinach and asparagus.I'd like to get some other things going before I get to the multi block onions. ( a real fascination for me)

Arugula used to be sold as rocket. we always got free packets with our seeds; put it out when we did lettuce and radishes, and hated the stuff. turns out it;s a cool weather crop and well, trendy now. who knew.

Asparagus and strawberries should be started now to get that extra growth before putting out. exciting ( supposed to be easier to establish the plants if they aren;t dried up roots sitting somewhere for a while. we'll see.) I have 2 nice strawberry pots so thinking that will make a nice display. a handful of strawberries to add to breakfast sounds good to me.

2 things.

I am not seeing the super germination rates that are often touted. if anything, the seeds are slower. it has been unusually cold so my usual warm spots may not be enough. or, the soil blocks are denser and need a warmer area ( or warming cables!)

you use up the mix FAST. that super duper soil block starting mix is expensive ( i can justify because all that goes in the ground furthering our soil building efforts) but the next bag will be good old promix.or screened compost, peat, etc.

so, I am only half way happy with current results. keeping it honest!

it was actually -2 degrees with wind chill this AM.

Of course, Florida is frozen too-so-no escape!

gardening talk at such temps is silly

Cutting Celery

today, I'm fixing Swiss Steak. the tomato juice helps break down slightly tougher meat.the mushrooms and shallots were leftovers I found in the veggie drawer;I had some beef stock as well. Smells great!

my in-house herbs-oregano, sage and cutting celery, seemed a whole lot closer than going out to the greenhouse for rosemary.(up all night-Starbuck had five puppies and everyone is doing well) Sage is smoky; oregano is peppy and celery is-well, deep and aromatic.

but my family hates celery-as in stalks. can;t make peanut butter stalks or ants on a log-I get the EWWW GROSS faces. So I started growing cutting celery last year.

All the flavor, easy to grow, and no stalks! I always preferred the leaves in cooking, anyway.

I am hoping my clump will either grow like mad this year, moved back outside, or go to seed. seed gives me plants like, forever.I intend to cut often this winter-and dry or freeze. haven;t made up my mind.

not a very gardeny blog but; there are solutions which will work, for your meals.(which is where the garden is supposed to end up after all. on your plate.not just in pretty rows out "there.") try a few new things out. Herbs are wonderful mixed into veggie beds-they help repel pests, smell great, and add so much in cooking.

I always have rosemary-lavender, oregano ( real Greek or Italian is the only thing worth buying) sage and mint(s)and love tarragon but have to replace each year. this is the first year-with grow lights indoors and the little green house for tougher but still not freeze proof things, that I have been able to keep all the stuff growing. lost the basil though-keep meaning to pick up a live plant at Martin's, the only place I have seen them.( Basil was a tough go last summer- like squash and other heat lovers. peppers and tomatoes were fine. hm)

we sow dill and cilantro willy nilly; love the look and smell, love how helpful they are.and did I forget parsley? oh my! worth the wait. sow it in cool soil and expect to not see it pop up for 3 weeks.I eat the stuff as a snack.My grandma always made me eat my parsley-so I still do!

We love basil and pesto so I am committed to a large area for basil this year.Cross fingers!

Winter composting?

just an idea-which should have been put into place 2 months ago.

the little greenhouse has only some spinach and herbs in it. the bottles filled with water and covered with black plastic-are frozen! but the plants seem ok.

the kitchen scraps composter is absolutely full and won;t start its process back up until after several warmer days( April?). soo...

I took a large black pot, cut the bottom out and put it on bare ground in the greenhouse. I added a couple of inches of straw and dirt from that area. now, the dogs can;t get to it-i can add kitchen garbage...and maybe we'll get compost. ( if not, then I'll add it to the big pile and turn it in, in April or so.)

if it works, and it starts to heat up, that can only be good news for our winter garden efforts!

In case it isn;t obvious..

most of our land is-well, forest. it's all very sloped due to the creek running through the middle. the basic ground is deep red clay though the spot I chose for 5 raised beds was nothing but gray white and yellow subsoil.but it got sun. in short supply here. I must say, further up the driveway we put in apples, a jujube, and berries. they love the clayey and rather acid soil. and it is deep there-well over a foot before you get to subsoil.

At the very front, 6 years ago we tilled up a fan shaped bed (the only garden I tilled, here!my friends have the big front end tiller and I keep forgetting t get it back!)-threw in some bags of topsoil,and put in daylilies,daffodils, iris, a butterfly bush-and despite never being watered, very infrequent clean up or weeding, and only the occasional fertilizer (espoma) it looks great all summer.

this ground WILL grow things-it just needs to be encouraged.

further back ( behind the house) we let the goats and good mowing clean out the weedy stuff. planted a bed of mostly lilies under the old satellite dish, and the little greenhouse sits next to it.in the tree line are the compost piles, the comfrey, etc.I used the goats to clean up next to the driveway, far side, and put in hostas, azaleas-little irregular beds that lead to the wild laurels. it is very nice.

the lilies are also sloped ( good for them;drainage) and the soil was awful.that;s taken six years to rectify and we also added a short garden wall. ( to match the new beds made by walls around the slate patio we built.)

I hadn;t realized how sloped the ground was until I saw that all the veggies dried up in August.( using no-till; just laid down compost and sheets of newspaper) no matter how I watered. that;s when Bruce dug out the raised beds for me, and we chose narrow 12 inch paths to concentrate the downward pressure and make-water baffles! did it work? yes! does compost work? yes! do we need to keep improving the beds? ( 18 inches deep or more?) yes! but it is a start. Lime and minerals and cover crops were the big chores this past fall.( I've used the wood ashes for years but it didn;t sweeten the soil as much as I hoped)

this year we have 2 new short beds further down the driveway( so should I say 240 square feet?)-and will try putting the tomatoes in tubs around the greenhouse (following that sunlight wherever I can)our usual greenhouse winter spinach is pouting in the extreme cold. but that;s OK cause it;s almost time to start flower seeds and then the veggies. I'm psyched!

Don;t forget to buy some comfrey!

one of the best all around garden helpers is Russian comfrey( I believe I have blocking 14 variety) it gets kinda big;hard to get rid of if you want to move it; but it can go in almost any setting, and it is a powerhouse for compost heaps, plant mulches, etc. it "mines" soil for minerals. it is high in nitrogen. this is the easiest first step for growing your own fertility I can think of.

But I have found other uses. (it is now not recommended for internal use for humans but is a powerful medicinal herb)

I take a big handful of leaves and put them in a cut off milk jug, etc. add water-let sit in the sun for 2-3 days. you need to cut this tea by adding a few tablespoons to your watering can;it enhances growth especially in younger plants; bugs don;t seem to like it. there is an immediate response to it. it's great stuff.

Oh-it will have a bit of smell. no worries. also, don;t just throw the used leaves out-put them in the compost pile!

If you also grow nettles ( pick with gloves!) you have added fire for your compost or mulching for beds that need it. Try both on potatoes.

My goats love both and I try to treat them to a bit of both herbs from time to time.

This is the year I can finally split the comfrey plants again.they easily take hold-those deep roots just want to grow. nettles-i swear if you drop a few new-growth ends on soil, they will root.I'll put some down in my attempted permaculture (yams-good-daylilies good turnips failed skirret looks great)and later, may start some around the new apple trees.

Feed your plants often. you are using them to help other plants-you can throw the compost and manure at them! they love it!

Find a spot where you just can;t garden veggies and try the comfrey ( mine came from Richter's in Canada. great service)

and while you are at it, remember dock and dandelions can go in the compost too. other great mineral miners.

or as my saying of the year goes-plant deliberate weeds!

Compost-the things we do.

Everyone tells you to do it, to compost. there are recipes and fancy things to buy.

I formed a windrow of manure and compost, side by side, along the tree line where it gets sun in winter and not in summer. easier to keep moist :) only 50 feet from the garden.I dig out the front of the goat pen during every warm period I can. In the summer, when they are out grazing, not so much to do.the old dog show mat-plastic, covers it. it lets in rain, it's recycled so not in the dump, it's getting a third life ( dog shows, base of greenhouse, now the compost pile)

kitchen garbage goes in what is left of a black box composter. the bottom level fell apart. so I removed it...it still works. keep the dogs out. every month or two in warm weather I dig out the bottom and move it to the big pile.Considering there is so much paper in it (paper towels with no chemicals and the paper coffee filters) I'm amazed at how fast it works.Egg shells, onion and garlic leavings. corn cobs and spent potatoes. you name it.this pile also gets spread among the tomatoes for the calcium content.when I kept tropical fish, I added the dirty fish water.

I have been adding some cut grass to the bigger pile-carefully-( the new scythe should make longer springier material, easier to add)all the garden trash, leaves get mixed in though I try to keep them separate ( I mow some and make a pile for the next spring veggies that like them-parsnips in our case)vines and stems;dead flower materials; non spreading weeds. but it still just barely keeping up with what I want to do.

the first time it happened, I was furious. having to shovel all the compost stuff back into the pile. and my white puppies were very black!And every once in a while, they;d drag the fake grass mat off and go to it again.

then I noticed something. when I put the pile back together;more and more of it was completely composted. what I waited months for was taking weeks! ( I dig into the bottom when I need compost for the garden)

it seems puppies as aerators really works!

so now, I am not so impatient with my little friends. ( they will be one in April; who knows if they will continue to "work" for me.)I am going to be adding minerals to the pile but I don;t suppose it'll hurt them.


sometimes just letting nature ( or puppies) just do what is supposed to,is all you need.