Last week a link to Tom Philpott’s article “New research: synthetic nitrogen destroys soil carbon, undermines soil health” showed up on Energy Bulletin, one of my favorite news sites. The article was originally published in Grist.
The article’s title pretty much says it all: a couple of recent (2007, 2009) studies by soil scientists working in Illinois (and a 2009 study by soil scientists in Iowa) support what some very old sources — published before WWII— had claimed, that use of synthetic fertilizers is bad for soil. What’s bad is that the readily available nitrogen speeds up growth of soil bacteria and fungi; as they grow, they do their usual job of decomposing organic matter more quickly, which results in soil with lower organic matter content.
It has been thought that agricultural soils on which plant debris had been left and then turned under would serve as storage for carbon, which could help mitigate climate change, but the new studies suggest that the industrial farms that rely on synthetic fertilizers are not going to be useful as carbon sinks.
In addition, soils that are lower in organic matter drain less well, hold less moisture, hold nutrients less well, and have lowered numbers of nitrogen-fixing bacteria. As the spaces normally held open by organic matter in the soil close because of the loss of that organic matter, the soil compacts and air is squeezed out. Roots need those air pockets, and so do many members of the community of micro- (and not so micro-) organisms that live in the soil.
I’m writing about this for a couple of reasons. The first is that not everyone who reads my blog reads the same websites that I do, so they might have missed this news. The other is that I had just about decided to save some money this year by using some synthetic fertilizer on my veggies. Obviously, I am going to have to change that plan (back to the cotton-seed meal, kelp meal, etc).
I would say that “Ignorance [was] bliss,” but I am glad to be able to avoid harming my garden’s soil. I may have to drive back out to that horse farm for another load of manure, though.
NOTE: The article discussed here is one in a series posted on Grist about soil nitrogen. Tom Philpott has written them all.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Sweet Potatoes
“Without the sweet potato,” said Robert Odeu, “there would be terrible hunger.” Odeu is a farmer in Uganda, and he is quoted in the first sentence of chapter 27 of James Lang’s book Notes of a Potato Watcher.
Most of the book is about “regular” potatoes, but the one section is about sweet potatoes. As a result, since I am reading the book, even though it is way too soon to be thinking about sweet potatoes, here I am, thinking about them.
The hunger-stopping capabilities of the sweet potato that Odeu was referring to are partly due to its hardiness and productivity, and partly to its keeping qualities.
In my yard, sweets also are productive and not prone to die from diseases, and they also keep through the winter just in a basket on my kitchen floor, so I am aware of those particular benefits.
What comes out in the book, though, is that in other, non-U.S. parts of the world, people prefer differently qualities in their sweets than we do. Varieties like Beauregard that are popular here are orange-fleshed, fairly moist, and very sweet. In other countries, sweets that are more dry, less orange, and less sweet are more popular.
Part of this is a problem, because people in some of those places would benefit from the beta-carotene in orange sweets, but the dryness is attractive because that helps in storage; in some places, sweets are dehydrated for extended storage. The sweets are pounded thin for drying, then ground into a flour that is used (in many ways) in cooking. It would take a lot longer to dehydrate a Beauregard than it would a drier Ugandan variety!
This is relevant to my garden because I grow not only Beauregard, but also a Puerto Rican sweet. I got slips for these Puerto Ricans last year from my friends Jack and Becky. Becky’s family has been growing this particular strain in this county for 103 years. They were a cash-crop for Becky’s father.
However, when I have spoken with Jack and Becky about cooking these sweets, they’ve both emphasized that these are not like standard grocery-store sweets. I had already noticed that they benefited from added liquid after cooking, but Becky also said that putting them in the microwave to cook, like some people do with other sweets, just turns them into hockey pucks. I believe her.
The Puerto Rican sweets have good flavor, but they are definitely dry. They would probably dehydrate well. What this means is that I will be spending some time next fall, looking into dehydrating sweets. I don’t think I’ll be pounding them thin with rocks, Uganda-style, but the general concept is worth considering. Right now, though, I don’t have enough left to experiment on—only enough for another meal or two and to start slips for this summer.
Most of the book is about “regular” potatoes, but the one section is about sweet potatoes. As a result, since I am reading the book, even though it is way too soon to be thinking about sweet potatoes, here I am, thinking about them.
The hunger-stopping capabilities of the sweet potato that Odeu was referring to are partly due to its hardiness and productivity, and partly to its keeping qualities.
In my yard, sweets also are productive and not prone to die from diseases, and they also keep through the winter just in a basket on my kitchen floor, so I am aware of those particular benefits.
What comes out in the book, though, is that in other, non-U.S. parts of the world, people prefer differently qualities in their sweets than we do. Varieties like Beauregard that are popular here are orange-fleshed, fairly moist, and very sweet. In other countries, sweets that are more dry, less orange, and less sweet are more popular.
Part of this is a problem, because people in some of those places would benefit from the beta-carotene in orange sweets, but the dryness is attractive because that helps in storage; in some places, sweets are dehydrated for extended storage. The sweets are pounded thin for drying, then ground into a flour that is used (in many ways) in cooking. It would take a lot longer to dehydrate a Beauregard than it would a drier Ugandan variety!
This is relevant to my garden because I grow not only Beauregard, but also a Puerto Rican sweet. I got slips for these Puerto Ricans last year from my friends Jack and Becky. Becky’s family has been growing this particular strain in this county for 103 years. They were a cash-crop for Becky’s father.
However, when I have spoken with Jack and Becky about cooking these sweets, they’ve both emphasized that these are not like standard grocery-store sweets. I had already noticed that they benefited from added liquid after cooking, but Becky also said that putting them in the microwave to cook, like some people do with other sweets, just turns them into hockey pucks. I believe her.
The Puerto Rican sweets have good flavor, but they are definitely dry. They would probably dehydrate well. What this means is that I will be spending some time next fall, looking into dehydrating sweets. I don’t think I’ll be pounding them thin with rocks, Uganda-style, but the general concept is worth considering. Right now, though, I don’t have enough left to experiment on—only enough for another meal or two and to start slips for this summer.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Migration
I was out walking one of the dogs this afternoon when a small flock of sandhill cranes flew by, heading north. It seems a bit early, but I was glad to see them. They flew in a classic, sharply-pointed V formation, calling out that amazing stuttering trill (our battered copy of Peterson's field guide to Eastern Birds says it's "a shrill rolling garooo-a-a-a repeated").
One more sign that spring is on its way.
One more sign that spring is on its way.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Plant a Row for the Hungry
One of my volunteer activities is working at a Plant a Row for the Hungry garden (PAR). We take our produce to a local food pantry, where it can be distributed to people who need food. This morning, the PAR gardeners had a planning meeting.
This was the meeting at which we catch up on everybody's news, drink coffee, and try to figure out what we should probably try to do differently in the garden.
One topic of discussion was the condition of our tomato cages. They are old enough that they have lost some of the legs that are supposed to poke into the ground; as a result, when the plants get big, the cages fall over. A couple of people are going to look into alternatives.
Another topic was that a couple of our trellises need repair. We think this won't be hard to take care of, but we are sometimes mistaken about how long/hard such work is going to be. We will see how that goes.
Our Fearless Leader also told us the soil test results for this year. Apparently, the soil is very depleted and needs more 10-10-10 than it has in the past. After two seasons of Big Rains, this should not be a surprise, but it kind of was. We do try to maintain soil fertility, but we didn't manage it as well as usual last year.
Another topic was weeds. Last year, someone tilled the garden for us in early spring, which was very kind (it is not a fun or easy job) but then it rained and rained and rained, so we didn't get the garden planted and mulched in time to stay ahead of the weeds. It felt as though we spent half our time trying to slice/chop/pull out the weeds. This year, we are thinking about not tilling.
We already have spread a thick layer of leaves over about half of the garden and will spread leaves on the other half soon. We are thinking that we might just pull back leaves from the spaces we intend to plant, on the actual planting day, and loosen, fertilize, and plant at that time, working on one section of garden at a time.
The garden is fairly large, maybe 4,500 square feet, and is a traditional row-type garden rather than raised beds, so we are not sure how this will work, but we really do not want to spend another whole summer weeding. We think this strategy of keeping the garden thickly mulched might help.
What we expect to grow:
Marketmore 76 cucumbers
White Mountain half runner beans
Sugar Nut hybrid melon
Clemson Spineless okra
Assorted tomatoes, as disease resistant as possible (these are started from seed by the same gardener who starts our peppers)
Assorted peppers (the gardener who starts these for us chooses, and she does a great job of providing a wide selection of delicious peppers.)
Beauregard sweet potatoes
Kennebec potatoes
Bush beans (I don't remember the variety name)
Seminole pumpkin squash
Trombocino squash
Yellow straight-neck squash
Carrots, variety unknown right now because we haven't grown them before in this garden
Our goal is to produce as much usable food as we can from our space. We don't plant a fall, winter, or spring (other than the potatoes) garden, so everything we grow needs to work in a traditional summer garden. The food we grow has to be familiar enough that the people who receive it can easily use it in meals, and the food pantry can't accept greens, because it doesn't have enough cool storage space to keep leafy veggies in good condition. These factors limit our choices of what to grow, but also help us choose wisely.
This was the meeting at which we catch up on everybody's news, drink coffee, and try to figure out what we should probably try to do differently in the garden.
One topic of discussion was the condition of our tomato cages. They are old enough that they have lost some of the legs that are supposed to poke into the ground; as a result, when the plants get big, the cages fall over. A couple of people are going to look into alternatives.
Another topic was that a couple of our trellises need repair. We think this won't be hard to take care of, but we are sometimes mistaken about how long/hard such work is going to be. We will see how that goes.
Our Fearless Leader also told us the soil test results for this year. Apparently, the soil is very depleted and needs more 10-10-10 than it has in the past. After two seasons of Big Rains, this should not be a surprise, but it kind of was. We do try to maintain soil fertility, but we didn't manage it as well as usual last year.
Another topic was weeds. Last year, someone tilled the garden for us in early spring, which was very kind (it is not a fun or easy job) but then it rained and rained and rained, so we didn't get the garden planted and mulched in time to stay ahead of the weeds. It felt as though we spent half our time trying to slice/chop/pull out the weeds. This year, we are thinking about not tilling.
We already have spread a thick layer of leaves over about half of the garden and will spread leaves on the other half soon. We are thinking that we might just pull back leaves from the spaces we intend to plant, on the actual planting day, and loosen, fertilize, and plant at that time, working on one section of garden at a time.
The garden is fairly large, maybe 4,500 square feet, and is a traditional row-type garden rather than raised beds, so we are not sure how this will work, but we really do not want to spend another whole summer weeding. We think this strategy of keeping the garden thickly mulched might help.
What we expect to grow:
Marketmore 76 cucumbers
White Mountain half runner beans
Sugar Nut hybrid melon
Clemson Spineless okra
Assorted tomatoes, as disease resistant as possible (these are started from seed by the same gardener who starts our peppers)
Assorted peppers (the gardener who starts these for us chooses, and she does a great job of providing a wide selection of delicious peppers.)
Beauregard sweet potatoes
Kennebec potatoes
Bush beans (I don't remember the variety name)
Seminole pumpkin squash
Trombocino squash
Yellow straight-neck squash
Carrots, variety unknown right now because we haven't grown them before in this garden
Our goal is to produce as much usable food as we can from our space. We don't plant a fall, winter, or spring (other than the potatoes) garden, so everything we grow needs to work in a traditional summer garden. The food we grow has to be familiar enough that the people who receive it can easily use it in meals, and the food pantry can't accept greens, because it doesn't have enough cool storage space to keep leafy veggies in good condition. These factors limit our choices of what to grow, but also help us choose wisely.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Potato Thoughts
I have been thinking a lot about potatoes lately, partly because I am growing some from seeds I saved (back in 2007) when a couple of potato plants in my yard flowered and actually set seed.
So far, my potato plants from seeds look just fine; they appear to be a lot less sturdy than the shoots that come up from seed-potatoes, but that is to be expected. The tiny true seeds contain a lot less in reserves.
I have no idea how this potato experiment is going to work out, but Carol Deppe, in her book Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties, tells about a guy who breeds potatoes by growing the seeds. It really is the only way (besides random mutations) to get new varieties. The seeds grow for him, and the resulting plants produce potatoes. When he digs up the potatoes and discovers a new kind that he likes, he saves the actual potatoes to replant (the usual way) to increase the numbers of potatoes in that line, until he has enough to sell or share.
James Lang, in his book Notes of a Potato Watcher, tells about a different potato breeding effort, this one by the CIP (International Potato Council), to produce disease free starts, both cleaner seed potatoes and actual seeds, for farmers in developing countries.
CIP was working on this because plants that are infected by many diseases are less productive than uninfected plants. It turns out that the true seeds are much more free of disease than seed potatoes saved from an infected field. (Not a huge surprise.)
One way farmers in the Andes traditionally addressed this disease problem was that seed potatoes were typically produced at higher altitudes, where it was colder and the disease pressure was less. Farmers at lower (warmer) altitudes bought fresh seed potatoes every few years to get cleaner stock, when their potato production dropped.
CIP’s initial effort to grow potatoes from true seeds (as a way to cut back on the disease problems) was somewhat successful, but when the little plants were set directly into the field they did not produce well. What worked better was to let the little plants develop a tiny potato each while they were in the seedbed, then to plant the tiny potatoes in the field.
In the end, the CIP did finally develop a hybrid seed that worked well without having to wait long enough that a tiny potato had formed and could be transplanted to the field.
When I saw that bit in the book about diseases in warmer areas, I thought right away about my yard here in Georgia. Saving seed potatoes would probably not be a good idea for me, even if I could manage to actually save some from each year’s crop (we eat them all). The disease pressure here is intense for many kinds of vegetables. If my growing-potato-plants-from-true-seeds experiment actually works, I will be able to avoid the expense of buying seed potatoes every year AND avoid having to worry about whether what I’ve saved from last year is ok to replant.
So far, my potato plants from seeds look just fine; they appear to be a lot less sturdy than the shoots that come up from seed-potatoes, but that is to be expected. The tiny true seeds contain a lot less in reserves.
I have no idea how this potato experiment is going to work out, but Carol Deppe, in her book Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties, tells about a guy who breeds potatoes by growing the seeds. It really is the only way (besides random mutations) to get new varieties. The seeds grow for him, and the resulting plants produce potatoes. When he digs up the potatoes and discovers a new kind that he likes, he saves the actual potatoes to replant (the usual way) to increase the numbers of potatoes in that line, until he has enough to sell or share.
James Lang, in his book Notes of a Potato Watcher, tells about a different potato breeding effort, this one by the CIP (International Potato Council), to produce disease free starts, both cleaner seed potatoes and actual seeds, for farmers in developing countries.
CIP was working on this because plants that are infected by many diseases are less productive than uninfected plants. It turns out that the true seeds are much more free of disease than seed potatoes saved from an infected field. (Not a huge surprise.)
One way farmers in the Andes traditionally addressed this disease problem was that seed potatoes were typically produced at higher altitudes, where it was colder and the disease pressure was less. Farmers at lower (warmer) altitudes bought fresh seed potatoes every few years to get cleaner stock, when their potato production dropped.
CIP’s initial effort to grow potatoes from true seeds (as a way to cut back on the disease problems) was somewhat successful, but when the little plants were set directly into the field they did not produce well. What worked better was to let the little plants develop a tiny potato each while they were in the seedbed, then to plant the tiny potatoes in the field.
In the end, the CIP did finally develop a hybrid seed that worked well without having to wait long enough that a tiny potato had formed and could be transplanted to the field.
When I saw that bit in the book about diseases in warmer areas, I thought right away about my yard here in Georgia. Saving seed potatoes would probably not be a good idea for me, even if I could manage to actually save some from each year’s crop (we eat them all). The disease pressure here is intense for many kinds of vegetables. If my growing-potato-plants-from-true-seeds experiment actually works, I will be able to avoid the expense of buying seed potatoes every year AND avoid having to worry about whether what I’ve saved from last year is ok to replant.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Surprise!
The good people at Sand Hill Preservation sent a couple of free packets of seeds with my order. Even though they have included a freebie every time I've ordered from them so far, I still was surprised. Then I read what the seeds were, and I laughed. More tomatoes!
The people up there in the office must know me pretty well and be chuckling mightily (is that possible?) over my imagined reaction, because I had my tomato areas planned out very carefully. Nothing more is going to fit. And yet, as a true gardener, I cannot just not try these seeds.
Luckily, I have time to rework the plan before 20 April (or there-abouts) when the tomatoes go into the ground in my yard.
The seeds are for Olivette Jaune cherry tomato and a red Chinese tomato. According to the catalogue description, Olivette Jaune is an indeterminate midseason producer of "large olive shaped yellow cherry tomatoes. From France." The Chinese is a midseason producer of "4 to 6 oz. red fruits, huge yields." We will learn, soon enough, how disease resistant the two varieties are.
The Wuhib paste tomatoes that were such great producers for me last year came from Sand Hill Preservation (purchased), as did the Yellow Marble cherry tomato (freebie)that produced so much earlier than all the other tomatoes in my yard.
Last year, the Yellow Marble tomatoes were very tart, but I was growing the plant in a container and I have since learned that sometimes the container can affect flavor, so I will be starting a couple of those to plant in the ground, to see if that makes a difference. If they survive (my yard is ground zero for Verticillium and Fusarium tomato wilts), even that will be something to celebrate.
The people up there in the office must know me pretty well and be chuckling mightily (is that possible?) over my imagined reaction, because I had my tomato areas planned out very carefully. Nothing more is going to fit. And yet, as a true gardener, I cannot just not try these seeds.
Luckily, I have time to rework the plan before 20 April (or there-abouts) when the tomatoes go into the ground in my yard.
The seeds are for Olivette Jaune cherry tomato and a red Chinese tomato. According to the catalogue description, Olivette Jaune is an indeterminate midseason producer of "large olive shaped yellow cherry tomatoes. From France." The Chinese is a midseason producer of "4 to 6 oz. red fruits, huge yields." We will learn, soon enough, how disease resistant the two varieties are.
The Wuhib paste tomatoes that were such great producers for me last year came from Sand Hill Preservation (purchased), as did the Yellow Marble cherry tomato (freebie)that produced so much earlier than all the other tomatoes in my yard.
Last year, the Yellow Marble tomatoes were very tart, but I was growing the plant in a container and I have since learned that sometimes the container can affect flavor, so I will be starting a couple of those to plant in the ground, to see if that makes a difference. If they survive (my yard is ground zero for Verticillium and Fusarium tomato wilts), even that will be something to celebrate.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Calendar of Events
Having a plan in place in advance of the actual beginning of the growing season helps keep me on track. Just so I’ll have it in a place where I can’t possibly lose it under a pile of papers, I’m posting the plan for the next month or so here.
Just about now (early to mid-Feb.): start seedlings indoors for the brassicas and the earliest spring greens (the spring kale, the coolest-weather lettuces, spinach, any biennial and perennial herbs - parsley is one - that haven’t been started yet); plant the scallions outside (I know, that sounds so wrong, but “as soon as the ground can be worked” is already here!).
20-27 Feb.: on the nicest day in that week, plant the English peas.
As near to March 1st as I can manage: plant potatoes and onions outside; start peppers, eggplants, tomatoes inside; if any seedlings from mid-Feb. are ready to bump up into bigger pots and more nutritious soil, take care of that.
8-15 March: plant seeds outside for carrots, beets; if the greens and/or brassicas are far enough along, transplant some outside after hardening them off; start some of the more heat-tolerant lettuces inside.
20-30 March: transplant outside any little plants that look ready; plant some spinach and radish seeds outside; inside, plant some of the smaller sweet potatoes to get slips started; inside, start from seed assorted flowers, squashes, cukes, any/all remaining greens, ground cherries, tender herbs (e.g., cilantro, basil), the Slobolt lettuce (the most heat tolerant).
If tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants are ready, bump up to bigger pots and more nutritious soil.
Just about now (early to mid-Feb.): start seedlings indoors for the brassicas and the earliest spring greens (the spring kale, the coolest-weather lettuces, spinach, any biennial and perennial herbs - parsley is one - that haven’t been started yet); plant the scallions outside (I know, that sounds so wrong, but “as soon as the ground can be worked” is already here!).
20-27 Feb.: on the nicest day in that week, plant the English peas.
As near to March 1st as I can manage: plant potatoes and onions outside; start peppers, eggplants, tomatoes inside; if any seedlings from mid-Feb. are ready to bump up into bigger pots and more nutritious soil, take care of that.
8-15 March: plant seeds outside for carrots, beets; if the greens and/or brassicas are far enough along, transplant some outside after hardening them off; start some of the more heat-tolerant lettuces inside.
20-30 March: transplant outside any little plants that look ready; plant some spinach and radish seeds outside; inside, plant some of the smaller sweet potatoes to get slips started; inside, start from seed assorted flowers, squashes, cukes, any/all remaining greens, ground cherries, tender herbs (e.g., cilantro, basil), the Slobolt lettuce (the most heat tolerant).
If tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants are ready, bump up to bigger pots and more nutritious soil.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Is Plastic a Gardener's Best Friend?
There was an email announcement in my inbox a couple of days ago for an upcoming talk (Feb. 23) on vegetable gardening in Fayette county, south of Atlanta. The announcement claimed that the guy who is giving the talk is a big proponent of plasticulture.
I hadn’t heard that word before, so it’s probably no surprise that my brain started wondering what our credit card-based society had to do with gardening. However, I looked up the word plasticulture and found that the word just refers to the use of plastics in gardening, mostly to cover the soil (as mulch) or plants (as row covers and hoop houses).
This article on Plasticulture from the University of Washington explains the uses of plastics in the garden. And these uses are mostly familiar.
For several years, various seed catalogues have offered red plastic sheeting to be used as mulch under tomatoes. The red plastic is supposed to be very beneficial to tomatoes, boosting their production. This year I noticed that one catalogue is also offering green plastic sheeting to use as mulch, with the claim that melons, especially, show improved production when grown on green plastic mulch.
I do use plastic in my yard for covering a frame over plants as a season extender, and buying more when the old has worn through always gives me a bit of a twinge, but somehow, knowing the actual word makes this practice seem worse. Even without these uses, there is a lot of plastic in gardening. Nursery pots are plastic, and lots of soil amendments and other useful products come in large plastic bags.
It would be great if gardening could be a truly “green” activity, but that dream seems unlikely to be fulfilled any time soon. I do hope that my own bits of plastic aren’t heading out to the Pacific Ocean to join the continent-sized gyre of plastic swirling around out there, but I have no good way to know. Even if it doesn’t, my “demand” for plastic encourages the production of more, and some of that will undoubtedly be going for a swim with the fishes, eventually.
A long time ago, Joe made a little wood shelter with an old window on the top to use to protect my plants, but it is not as easy to use as the plastic that I use now. It was small, so only a few plants fit inside, and it took more time and attention to not cook the plants on sunny days (it was a good lesson in the “greenhouse effect”). In addition, it was heavy enough that I couldn’t move it on my own. Obviously, though, I need to be rethinking my season-extending tools.
I do re-use plastic pots over and over again, until they wear out, and some of my soil amendments are bag-less, hauled in the back of my little truck, but that really isn’t enough. It’s a problem.
31 Jan. edit: This Good Morning America segment contains more information about the Pacific Garbage Patch:
I hadn’t heard that word before, so it’s probably no surprise that my brain started wondering what our credit card-based society had to do with gardening. However, I looked up the word plasticulture and found that the word just refers to the use of plastics in gardening, mostly to cover the soil (as mulch) or plants (as row covers and hoop houses).
This article on Plasticulture from the University of Washington explains the uses of plastics in the garden. And these uses are mostly familiar.
For several years, various seed catalogues have offered red plastic sheeting to be used as mulch under tomatoes. The red plastic is supposed to be very beneficial to tomatoes, boosting their production. This year I noticed that one catalogue is also offering green plastic sheeting to use as mulch, with the claim that melons, especially, show improved production when grown on green plastic mulch.
I do use plastic in my yard for covering a frame over plants as a season extender, and buying more when the old has worn through always gives me a bit of a twinge, but somehow, knowing the actual word makes this practice seem worse. Even without these uses, there is a lot of plastic in gardening. Nursery pots are plastic, and lots of soil amendments and other useful products come in large plastic bags.
It would be great if gardening could be a truly “green” activity, but that dream seems unlikely to be fulfilled any time soon. I do hope that my own bits of plastic aren’t heading out to the Pacific Ocean to join the continent-sized gyre of plastic swirling around out there, but I have no good way to know. Even if it doesn’t, my “demand” for plastic encourages the production of more, and some of that will undoubtedly be going for a swim with the fishes, eventually.
A long time ago, Joe made a little wood shelter with an old window on the top to use to protect my plants, but it is not as easy to use as the plastic that I use now. It was small, so only a few plants fit inside, and it took more time and attention to not cook the plants on sunny days (it was a good lesson in the “greenhouse effect”). In addition, it was heavy enough that I couldn’t move it on my own. Obviously, though, I need to be rethinking my season-extending tools.
I do re-use plastic pots over and over again, until they wear out, and some of my soil amendments are bag-less, hauled in the back of my little truck, but that really isn’t enough. It’s a problem.
31 Jan. edit: This Good Morning America segment contains more information about the Pacific Garbage Patch:
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Tools Inventory: A Wee Widger
The slender metal tool on the rim of the flat is a widger, a tool for transplanting seedlings from their starter medium (which is usually a very low nutrient, sterile, finely textured mix) into a more nutritious medium for their next stage of growth.
My father-in-law, an engineer, used to remind us that it was important to use a tool designed expressly for whatever task was at hand ("the right tool for the right job"). On Friday, I used my widger to lift the delicate little potato seedlings from their very small starter flat, and to open up planting-holes in the potting mix that fills the larger flat that will be their home for the next few weeks. It was the right tool for the job.
However, before I had my widger, I used a table knife for the same purpose, and a good friend uses an old paring knife. My father-in-law might not have approved (he has been gone for ten or so years), but it is unlikely that I would have harmed the table knife by using it in this way, and it worked just fine.
He would have been glad that I finally used the appropriate tool, though. Happily, a widger is not an expensive item. Mine is from Bountiful Gardens, and it cost $5 plus S/H.
Joe (husband) made the wooden flat to fit in the baker's rack that stands by the back door. While the seedlings are small, two fluorescent bulbs lie across the top of the flat. As the seedlings grow, those lights will be raised slowly (suspended by strings) to stay just an inch or two above the tops of the plants.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Fall Carrots
My sister in Louisiana called a couple of weeks or so ago, laughing about her carrots. She had planted the seeds back in September when she was supposed to. Then, she had pulled a couple up in early December, and at the time the roots were still spindly and pale. After Christmas, she still couldn't see anything but green above-ground, but she pulled another one up, just to check.
It had definitely grown; in cross section, it was shaped just about like a wedge of pie. The carrot was three inches at its widest diameter and only seven inches in length. The shape is what made her laugh, but, as a bonus, the carrot was sweet, with good carrot flavor. The leaves smelled carrot-y, too, making the plant a complete carrot experience.
The other carrots she has harvested from her garden since then have all been similar.
When choosing the seeds, she bought whatever was available in bulk at a local store. The stores that carry bulk seed, for gardeners to measure out themselves, (usually a "feed & seed" store) typically carry seeds that will work well in their area, making it hard for a beginner to choose poorly.
The variety my sister's store happened to have was Danvers, which, according to Wikipedia
My sister's yard definitely has heavy soil, but she built some raised beds to keep her plants up out of the worst of it.
She has been pulling the carrots "as needed" for meals, and they have all been tasty and not tough (the way root vegetables can get as they age).
She will plant them further apart next year, maybe six inches apart; she planted these about 4 inches apart which, for most carrots, would have been a fine spacing, but these carrots needed more room.
The carrots I grew in 2009, Little Finger and Jaune du Doubs, both did very well in spring, but fizzled in the fall, so I have ordered different fall carrots for 2010. If I were very smart, I would just buy a packet of Danvers, since they did so well for my sister, but I do not always do the smart thing.
Instead, I have ordered a packet of Oxheart, which should be shaped a lot like my sister's carrots and are advertised as doing well in the fall garden, and a packet of Nantes, which I have grown before with good success.
One potential problem with the Nantes variety is that some strains do better in spring and some in fall. I am not sure which category my packet belongs in, so they will be a bit of a gamble. However, I would likely lose more money gambling with actual cash in Vegas than in my yard with a packet of carrot seeds.
It had definitely grown; in cross section, it was shaped just about like a wedge of pie. The carrot was three inches at its widest diameter and only seven inches in length. The shape is what made her laugh, but, as a bonus, the carrot was sweet, with good carrot flavor. The leaves smelled carrot-y, too, making the plant a complete carrot experience.
The other carrots she has harvested from her garden since then have all been similar.
When choosing the seeds, she bought whatever was available in bulk at a local store. The stores that carry bulk seed, for gardeners to measure out themselves, (usually a "feed & seed" store) typically carry seeds that will work well in their area, making it hard for a beginner to choose poorly.
The variety my sister's store happened to have was Danvers, which, according to Wikipedia
"has a conical shape, having well-defined shoulders and tapering to a point at the tip. They are somewhat shorter than Imperator cultivars, but more tolerant of heavy soil. Danvers cultivars are often puréed as baby food. They were developed in 1871 in Danvers, Ma."
My sister's yard definitely has heavy soil, but she built some raised beds to keep her plants up out of the worst of it.
She has been pulling the carrots "as needed" for meals, and they have all been tasty and not tough (the way root vegetables can get as they age).
She will plant them further apart next year, maybe six inches apart; she planted these about 4 inches apart which, for most carrots, would have been a fine spacing, but these carrots needed more room.
The carrots I grew in 2009, Little Finger and Jaune du Doubs, both did very well in spring, but fizzled in the fall, so I have ordered different fall carrots for 2010. If I were very smart, I would just buy a packet of Danvers, since they did so well for my sister, but I do not always do the smart thing.
Instead, I have ordered a packet of Oxheart, which should be shaped a lot like my sister's carrots and are advertised as doing well in the fall garden, and a packet of Nantes, which I have grown before with good success.
One potential problem with the Nantes variety is that some strains do better in spring and some in fall. I am not sure which category my packet belongs in, so they will be a bit of a gamble. However, I would likely lose more money gambling with actual cash in Vegas than in my yard with a packet of carrot seeds.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Seed Orders for 2010
I've made the major decisions about what to grow this year and am posting the list here. I also have seeds from last year (and the year before that) to plant this year, including Pigott Family Heirloom crowder peas, Dakota Black popcorn, Wuhib paste tomato, SloBolt lettuce, and MANY more.
This is a lot of seeds, and the garden space isn't exactly huge. However, the seeds - and transplants grown from the seeds - won't all go into the garden at the same time; some of these are for spring, some for fall, and some for summer.
From Fedco Seeds, in Maine:
Little Leaf H-19 cucumber
Rocky Ford green flesh melon
Raven zucchini
Cherokee Purple tomato
Scarlet Nantes carrot
French Breakfast radish
Evergreen Hardy White scallions
Jimmy Nardello pepper
Black Czech pepper
Rutgers tomato
Golden Detroit beet
Total $14.00 (no S/H charges since I ordered with a friend; together, we got above the no S/H minimum)
From The Cook’s Garden, in Pennsylvania, but owned by the CEO of Burpee:
Sugar Nut hybrid melon (2 packets)
Costoluto Genovese tomato
Cilantro
Total $13.35 (plus $5.95 S/H)
From Sandhill Preservation Center, in Iowa:
Blue Marbut pole beans
Ukranian Beauty eggplant
Red Russian kale
Vegetable mallow
Aunt Molly’s ground cherry
Pollock Rocky Ford melon (orange flesh variety)
Detroit Dark Red beet
Marvel of Four Seasons lettuce
Winter radishes mix
Straight Nine cucumber
Yellow Out Red In tomato
Sweet Genovese basil
Total 20.25 (no S/H)
From Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, in Virginia:
Oxheart carrots
Hanover Salad kale
Forest Green parsley
Capitan lettuce
Cajun Jewel okra
Napolean Sweet pepper
Ice Bred White turnip
Total $17.24 (plus 3.50 S/H)
The grand total cost for seeds (so far) is $64.84. With S/H charges included, it's $74.29. When onion sets become available, I will be buying a bundle of those. Last year, one bundle cost $1.50, and I am expecting this year's bundle to be a similar price.
If I were more strapped for cash, I would have ordered from just Fedco and/or Sandhill preservation. They have more varieties for lower prices than other sources I've seen, and they have no S/H charge on orders above a minimum ($30 for Fedco, $10 for Sandhill Preservation). If my seed-ordering friend and I could find a few more people to order with us, we could get a "volume discount" from Fedco (10% off orders above $100).
This is a lot of seeds, and the garden space isn't exactly huge. However, the seeds - and transplants grown from the seeds - won't all go into the garden at the same time; some of these are for spring, some for fall, and some for summer.
From Fedco Seeds, in Maine:
Little Leaf H-19 cucumber
Rocky Ford green flesh melon
Raven zucchini
Cherokee Purple tomato
Scarlet Nantes carrot
French Breakfast radish
Evergreen Hardy White scallions
Jimmy Nardello pepper
Black Czech pepper
Rutgers tomato
Golden Detroit beet
Total $14.00 (no S/H charges since I ordered with a friend; together, we got above the no S/H minimum)
From The Cook’s Garden, in Pennsylvania, but owned by the CEO of Burpee:
Sugar Nut hybrid melon (2 packets)
Costoluto Genovese tomato
Cilantro
Total $13.35 (plus $5.95 S/H)
From Sandhill Preservation Center, in Iowa:
Blue Marbut pole beans
Ukranian Beauty eggplant
Red Russian kale
Vegetable mallow
Aunt Molly’s ground cherry
Pollock Rocky Ford melon (orange flesh variety)
Detroit Dark Red beet
Marvel of Four Seasons lettuce
Winter radishes mix
Straight Nine cucumber
Yellow Out Red In tomato
Sweet Genovese basil
Total 20.25 (no S/H)
From Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, in Virginia:
Oxheart carrots
Hanover Salad kale
Forest Green parsley
Capitan lettuce
Cajun Jewel okra
Napolean Sweet pepper
Ice Bred White turnip
Total $17.24 (plus 3.50 S/H)
The grand total cost for seeds (so far) is $64.84. With S/H charges included, it's $74.29. When onion sets become available, I will be buying a bundle of those. Last year, one bundle cost $1.50, and I am expecting this year's bundle to be a similar price.
If I were more strapped for cash, I would have ordered from just Fedco and/or Sandhill preservation. They have more varieties for lower prices than other sources I've seen, and they have no S/H charge on orders above a minimum ($30 for Fedco, $10 for Sandhill Preservation). If my seed-ordering friend and I could find a few more people to order with us, we could get a "volume discount" from Fedco (10% off orders above $100).
Sunday, January 3, 2010
New Year, New Garden
Every year my vision of my garden changes. The garden always includes edible plants, but my goals shift, my tastes change, and curiosity moves my choices in new directions, so that each year the garden is new, even though it always has, for example, tomatoes, peppers, and okra. This year the plants will be essentially the same (even though there will be some new varieties and some different kinds of greens), but this is the year that I will be working on seed saving in a more systematic way.
I've had a copy of Suzanne Ashworth's book Seed to Seed for long enough that the text is making a home in my brain, and one of my new books for Christmas this year was Carol Deppe's Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties. Between these two sources, information I've gleaned from various blogs and websites, and the successes I've had with saving the easiest kinds of seeds, I'm making plans to work on my melon problem (my favorite melon is a hybrid with limited availability) and to segregate flowers of several kinds of vegetables to insure that the varieties don't get crossed with others nearby.
Of course, the main goal is to get as much good food as possible out of the space that I have, and many seed catalogs arriving in my mailbox promise abundant harvests of beautiful and delicious crops, but none of the catalogs I receive are from Georgia; the two nearest are Park and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange.
This means that many of the seeds I buy from more distant (Pacific Northwest!) sources might not do as well as I would hope; they aren't bred for this yard's weather and soil. By saving more of my own seeds, from plants that do well in my yard, I'm hoping to improve the odds of having a successfully productive garden each year.
I've had a copy of Suzanne Ashworth's book Seed to Seed for long enough that the text is making a home in my brain, and one of my new books for Christmas this year was Carol Deppe's Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties. Between these two sources, information I've gleaned from various blogs and websites, and the successes I've had with saving the easiest kinds of seeds, I'm making plans to work on my melon problem (my favorite melon is a hybrid with limited availability) and to segregate flowers of several kinds of vegetables to insure that the varieties don't get crossed with others nearby.
Of course, the main goal is to get as much good food as possible out of the space that I have, and many seed catalogs arriving in my mailbox promise abundant harvests of beautiful and delicious crops, but none of the catalogs I receive are from Georgia; the two nearest are Park and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange.
This means that many of the seeds I buy from more distant (Pacific Northwest!) sources might not do as well as I would hope; they aren't bred for this yard's weather and soil. By saving more of my own seeds, from plants that do well in my yard, I'm hoping to improve the odds of having a successfully productive garden each year.
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