Springtime Rant in the Garden

This time of year is so exciting with all the new growth going on in my garden! I enjoy checking it every day - ok, sometimes two or three times a day - to watch for the first leaves of the beet plants, see how the peas are almost tall enough to start reaching for the bean poles set out for them to climb, and the flowers as they appear on the tomato plants. Glorious birth!
I can really tell a difference this year in the growth and health of my garden vegetables with the addition of home grown organic compost. It ‘s my hope to have a bumper crop this year, and I plan on filling my freezer with produce. I've also started to think about whom else might benefit from the abundance I've planned for. The article in yesterday's Denver Post about school children in Denver who are learning about where food comes from made me think about how many families could benefit if every school had a vegetable garden. So many kids would be empowered with the knowledge of how to feed themselves and their families, as well as the nutritional benefits that they would reap with their harvests. Surely someone at each school could find the time to sponsor a garden; if not a teacher, then a parent, volunteer from the neighborhood or an employee of nearby nursery. I’d like to donate my time to teaching students how to compost and it’s various uses in a garden. Some schools might even find themselves being able to donate their garden produce to food banks and co-ops. With good weather, and the good soil that I’ve laid down this year, that’s what I plan to do!
Maybe we need a grass roots movement to contact school districts and request that space be made available at each school for a classroom garden, rather than the lawns that most schools have surrounding their facilities. Oh, how my mind does travel along a meandering pathway at times, leading me to consider ideas and dreams that crop up along the way!
And speaking of composting, I’d better get the latest batch of kitchen scraps into the composter, and put on my to-do list to shred some cardboard to mix in as well. After all, can one have too much compost?
Happy Composting!

How to Plant a Vegetable Garden If You Never Have Before

Growing your own vegetables has regained it's popularity, as evidenced by seed packets virtually flying off shelves at our local stores. This renewed interest is not without merit, since your own garden can significantly cut your grocery expenses, help you eat healthier, is a stress reliver, and the food is just plain yummy! So how does one get started?

First step is to plan where you're going to set up your garden. The best spot is one that gets good morning sunshine. Ideally, you'll also want a spot that will be somewhat protected from the elements and allows for good runoff of excess water.

Next step is preparing the soil. Check the soil for it's pH level, which ideally should be 6.5. Your local hardware/garden center will have usually have test kits available, and from there it is a simple matter of following the directions. Adding home grown compost will provide your vegetables with the best nutrients available, without chemicals to muck things up.

Now that you know your soil will provide the proper nutrients, it's time to get your hands dirty! This is the first lesson that my dad taught me about gardening. Every spring we'd take our shovels and turn the soil over, digging down to about 12 inches. This allowed for the removal of weeds at the same time, since their roots will be loosened from their grip on the soil.

Finally, chosing what vegetables to grow will be somewhat dependent on what region of the country you live in. For beginners, I recommend seeking out a reputable garden center and getting advise and seedlings from them. We grew some vegetables from seed this year, and while it's more cost efficient to grow your vegies from seeds, it is labor intensive. You must ensure the proper amounts of light and water, and the right medium to plant in. So, beginner, have your garden center helper guide you in chosing healthy seedlings that will thrive in your area.

With good compost, planning and initial investment of time and the cost of seedlings, your garden should provide you with luscious fresh and nutritious vegetables with very little maintenance. It's awesome being able to stroll out into the yard and pick from your garden what you want to eat that day!
Happy Composting!

Experimenting in the Garden World

Here it is, the last day of March, and my seedlings experiment has been very successful!  The newspaper 'pots' have held up without any degradation or structural problems, and the seedlings themselves are just so darn cute!  I'm particularly fond of the lettuces.  Raise your hand if you've ever purchased and eaten baby greens.  That's kind of how I feel about the baby lettuces...yummy looking!  The spinach are hanging in there as well, and I think that both are ready for regular dosing of BiOWiSH™ to determine what difference it will make on the growth of the plants.  I've got five seedlings, so I'll start dosing two (one lettuce and one spinach) and leave the other three plants as my test group.  I'll keep you posted on the changes and differences I see.  I'll even post pictures!

It's always tempting at this time of year to jump the gun and start full scale planting outside.  The weather here along the front range of the Rockies has been spectacular this week. Ok, ok, so we had a little snow last Wednesday.  But this last weekend and up until today have been picturesque, so I've been thinking more and more about getting out into the garden.  Last weekend I started digging a new area in front of the house along side the driveway.  I plan a 3 x 3 foot garden there for zucchini.  A neighbor had a front yard planting last year that I always thought so attractive when I'd drive by, that I decided to utilize some of that 'dead' space next to my drive for food!  It's unconditioned soil, so I'm going to be adding in a good amount of 100% organic, home grown compost...I'll try to hold out until at least April 16th!  Goodness knows we get our share of late frosts and spring snows.

Speaking of adding garden space, I've got a question for you woodworking hobbyists out there.  I was planning an addition of a raised bed, maybe 4 or 5 x 3 foot in diameter and two to three feet tall.  My husband fantasizes about using recycled plastic boards and specially designed and manufactured corner pieces to hold the walled sides together...to the tune of about $200-$400!!  Me, I'm more of a "let's see what we have lying around in our garage that we can put together for our purposes" kinda gal.  I know that compromise is important, so in that spirit of compromise, any of you have some ideas about how to put together a low cost, functioning raised garden?  A free Six (6) month supply of BiOWiSH™ Compost Boost to the best designer of a low cost raised bed garden!

Happy Composting!

Seedling Update Deux

This is week three of the trial - changing how we made the seedling pots from the suggested method on the video (see blog dated February 28th "Making Seedling Pots from Newspaper", and wanting to see if and how well they might hold up after being filled with potting soil (yes!  Potting soil!) and compost.

We also want to test out using potting soil instead of a medium made specifically for starting seeds. In the Denver Post article, SEEDS in the Saturday, March 13, 2010 edition of Inside & Out, author Susan Clotfelter  insists that seeds need to be started in 'soiless seed-starting medium' or they will experience 'seedling flop'.  This is otherwise known as dampening off, which causes the seedlings to fail after sprouting due to fungus in the soil.  We're going to try very low dose applications of BiOWiSH™ Aqua  as an 100% natural, organic and safe anti-fungal to test whether that will prevent 'seedling flop' in our seeds started in potting soild and compost.

There are now four out of four lettuce seeds that have sprouted, and two of the four spinach seeds. The pots seem to be holding up just fine, and I was outside today in the glorious Colorado afternoon sun mixing in our home grown, 100% organic compost into our garden soil to prepare for planting. We're especially excited this year to see how utilizing BiOWiSH™ Compost Boost in our compost effects plant growth. I'd recommend that you check out BiOWiSH™ Technologies website and read about studies they've been doing on how their products can boost production! Anyway, I do want to complete the experiment with the pots a full six to eight weeks, though, so I'll save transplanting the seedlings until at least the first week of April...maybe longer, unless I can plan on covering up those baby plants when frost or late snow threatens. Meanwhile, we have seedlings started and seeds for outside ready to sow.


Happy Composting!

An Experiment with Starter Pots

After I made bunches of seedling starter pots and packed them snuggly in their trays, I spoke with a friend about what I'd accomplished.  We discussed the various changes to the procedure that I'd made, why I made the changes, and what I might expect as a result.


This friend (we'll call her JS) expressed her concerns about using only a half a sheet of newspaper, rather than the whole sheet that had been suggested by the video on Ehow.com by the Ehow Presenter Willi Evans Galloway. JS was concerned about the efficacy (I just love that word, don't you?!) of the pot, whether it could hold up during the 6-8 weeks of water and sun.  And so the experiment has begun.  As of this morning, eight newspaper seedling starter pots are filled with a mix of potting soil and home made, organic compost  Four of the pots have lettuce seeds, and four have been planted with spinach seeds.  They are basking in the southern exposure of my kitchen garden window, soaking up the light and warmth from the sun, drawing in nutrients from the compost and water.  I'll keep you posted on the progress of the seedlings and their pots.  Will the pots last?

We Made Seedling Starter Pots from Newspaper

You may remember (that is, if there are actually, factually people out there reading this) reading my blog of  Jan. 6th that included a link to a video about making starter pots out of newspaper.  If you've tried this, you no doubt have made some adjustments to the procedure.  We made our first pots last night, and here's how we changed the process:

1. I thought that using a whole sheet of newspaper was too much...too much newspaper, more difficult to fold into the glass, plus I hoped that using less might make it easier to break down in the soil so that we could just plant the seedling pot and all instead of removing it from the pot.  I like to jostle the seedlings as little as possible! So I started with half a sheet of newspaper. 
2. Then I was folding it into thirds (again, less newspaper on the sides, bottom) rather than half and then half again, so that I could have a little taller pot to start out with.  I can also, then, have a little more length at the bottom so that I'm sure to completely cover the bottom and not have soil drop out.
3.  I folded the top over a little, like 1/2 an inch or so, thinking that it will hold it all together a little better.
4.  Finally, I used a jar to roll the newspaper up with because I don't have a straight sided drinking glass and didn't want to go buy one.  I also used a slightly smaller jar to mash down into the pot to flatten the bottom better.
5.  Into the soil that we fill each pot with, we'll be mixing in our home made compost so that we really give our seeds a great medium to start in.  I'm also planning on using a very low dose of BiOWiSH-Aqua™ on a control group of seedlings once they sprout to see what difference it will make on their rate of growth and production.  The BiOWiSH Technologies folks have done a study on hydroponically grown lettuce and BiOWiSH-Aqua™ with great results.
6. I know they recommended, in the video, removing the pot before planting.  Hubby says the pots will break down "in no time".  I'm alittle worried about stunting the growth by making it more difficult for the roots to spread out into the garden soil.  I'm thinking that putting slits into the newspaper every 1/2 inch or so will reduce the effort that the roots have to go through to break out of their pots.  We may have a control group for this, as well.

We're ready with our pots, and the trays that they'll set in.  Hubby is online right now ordering our seeds.  I'm even going to start my impatients from seed.  I never have before, but he has, so I'm willing to give it the college try.  I figure I'll save about $50 on the impatients alone.  I hope it works, because my front yard, raised bed for impatients next to my porch are a highlight of my summer! 

We have a garden window in our kitchen made for plants.  It has traditionally housed only succulents and cacti, because it faces south and I have had a challenge keeping greenery watered enough.  With hubby's help and extra care, we've added a potted oregano plant that has been doing just fine. Into this window, we'll be putting 4 trays of starter pots (28 pots in each tray).  Another 4 trays (containing the same number of pots) will go under a grow light in the garage. Wish us luck.  I have my mouth all set for those vegies!
Happy Composting!

Creating a Seed Starter Pot Out of Newspaper

I found a cool video to watch that teaches how to make starter pots for seeds out of newspaper that is well put together and includes simple  six step-by-step instructions. I'm certainly going to try them this year, since I know I'm going to be starting those new variety of tomatoes from seed. Plus it's great when newspapers can be used and reused!


All you need is black and white print newspaper, a straight sided glass or jar, soil and seeds. You'll note that in the video, the presenter suggests using a full sheet of newspaper. I think that makes for a very sturdy pot, but a half a sheet is just as good for purposes of starting seedlings, and the newspaper will break down much quicker in the ground.

Speaking of the pot in the ground, when you watch the video, you'll note that it's recommended that you take the newspaper off before planting. I personally don't think that's a good idea, because no matter how careful you are, the delicate roots of the seedling are going to be disturbed by the removal. Instead, I recommend a good soaking of the root ball/newspaper pot, then carefully poking through the newspaper at 1/4 inch intervals around the pot and then planting the whole thing.

And when you plant your seedlings, remember to use organic compost mixed into the garden soil for the nutrients the plants need, and the water retaining properties of the amended soil.  The nutrients will be in slow release mode and will continue to nourish your seedlings as they develop.  The compost will reduce the need to water by helping the soil naturally retain the moisture in the soil.

So here's the link for this how-to video: ehow.com seed starting newspaper pots
 
Happy Composting!