Existential Gardener

In Shock or Dead?: Patience is Required with New Plants

  

     So many gardening sites offer beautiful pictures of pristine gardens, complete with bursting blooms and succulent, ripening veggies.  For once we're taking the gloves off and showing you the seedy underside of the process.  The pictures today won't wow you; you won't want to share them for their beauty.  But the pictures are important because plants some novice gardeners might see as dead, are just in shock, and they might stay that way for quite awhile until one morning you wake up and BAM!, they're fine. 

     Above is my first specimen, my mother's Shasta Daisies.  Last summer she came over carrying a bucket full of ones she had separated from her garden.   I stuck them in the ground, and they looked dead.  Worse than dead actually, some of them were just tipping over.  For about two weeks it was touch and go.  And then they bloomed.  This year, I probably could separate some myself.  Each plant now has ten new ones.  Mom gave me more this year for a new bed in another part of the yard, and sure enough, as you can see, they look rather shaky.  They perk up in the morning, but by afternoon, they have curled at the leaves and tend to faint to the ground.  I am confident that by next summer, they will certainly look more like the established daisies below.

    Then there is the vinca.  In a fit a fear over snakes infiltrating her yard undetected, my mother begins every summer by pulling up dozens of vinca transplants.  She generously gives them to me (apparently my yard is impervious to snakes).  I can't stand to see any plant go to waste so I stick them in the yard anywhere that needs ground cover.  For about a month, they look sad and forlorn.   Neighbors will tell me that I need to water them or pull out the dead ones.  But I wait and soon enough, not only have the ones that were transplanted regained vigor, but they are also sending out tendrils all over the place.  The before and after pictures below demonstrate just how resilient (and somewhat invasive) the vinca can be.  Last year's one small vine has turned into quite a bunch.

     

     Sometimes the trick to gardening isn't about good dirt and fertilizer, sometimes all it takes is patience and faith.  Add that to your repertoire and you and and your garden will have done some growing.

Natural Measurements Make Planting Easier

   Is anyone else confused as heck about measurements?  We have so many competing standards you can't throw a stone, without landing on a slug, or trip over a cubit.
    All measurement comes from the idea that you can tell someone an amount without having to show him/her.  Measurements range in difficulty from the natural and easy (finger, hand, cubit, ell, etc.) to medium (cm, m, km), to world class difficult (corn, inch, hand, yard, rod or chain, furlong, mile, league.)  The measuring system you use has a great deal to do with where and when you grew up and what you were taught. 
   But what does this have to do with gardening?  Well, one way or another, it is important to give your crops the appropriate amount of growing room and thin your carrots, for example, to 5 cm (2 in. or 3 fingers).  But unless you are really intense about perfect measurements, you probably aren't going to whip out the ruler. 
     Enter, natural measurements.  Everyone has natural measurements as part of our bodies.  It is not extremely important whether the carrots are 4.5 cm apart or 2 1/4 inches as long as they have room to grow.  I am an engineer, and I certainly do not use a ruler to plant seeds.  It's a garden, not a blueprint and a 1/4 inch or .5 cm will not cause my crop to fail.
    Most veggie seeds come with a few simple measurements for planting.  With a ruler and a few minutes you can change the row spacing, seed spacing and planting depth to natural measurements.  You'll save yourself considerable time and your plants will benefit from the attention to detail.

Herb Bed

Just got the first of the herb beds in. I can't wait to see how the hyssop does. It's our first attempt with it, and I'm a little anxious about how the rosemary will do in a raised bed.

Cover Crops Make Weeding and Pests Rare

   

Have you ever visited a commercial farm?  If you have, you probably noticed many rows of green plants with lots of bare dirt between them.  Weeds and insects (other than pollinating honey bees) are verboten and chemically eradicated.  Additionally, after a heavy rain, a good bit of that soil is washed off, leaving the field a little less fertile.
     Loads of fertilizer must then be applied to the soil along with more herbicides to keep out unauthorized weeds, and pesticides to keep ravenous Sabre-toothed pests at bay.  But nature always finds a way, and there are new strains of chemically resistant weeds and pests.  In some parts of the Midwest, farmers are resorting to hand weeding these new super weeds.
     From a bug's or weed's eye view a farm or garden is a quick stop market.  Pests have rows of grouped foods waiting for them, with few natural predators to hinder their feeding frenzy.  Weeds have a lovely clear patch of ground with abundant sunshine and little real competition between rows.  This is where cover crops, or beneficial weeds come in.  Instead of herbicides, gardeners can make the weeds work for a living.
     Cover crops protect soil between the rows, and can enrich the soil while choking out weeds.  Cover crops with long tap roots can assist in bringing deep soil nutrients to the surface where they are available to the main crop, reducing the need for chemical fertilizers.  They can also attract and shelter predatory insects that will eat your pests.  If planted concurrently, the cover crop can confuse pests, reducing the losses from hungry bugs.  In some cases, the cover crop can actually be even more appetizing to the pest than the main crop.  There are many crops that can be used as cover crops:  rye grass, rye grain, buckwheat, alfalfa, and (our favorite) clover.
     Dutch White Clover is a self re-seeding perennial.  If you've observed it in your yard you will know that it forms dense mats that choke out weeds (and grass) and needs little mowing.  The roots contain nitrogen fixing bacteria (read free fertilizer) and go deep to bring up nutrients, while allowing the soil to hold more water.  This moisture assistance is particularly helpful during a drought.  The flowers attract honey bees to aid in pollination and predatory insects for natural pest control.  If you have larger furry pests, many (like rabbits) prefer the clover to the crop.  For those who are adamant about eating as much as possible from the garden.  the dried flowers make tea and the leaves contain 10% protein, and are edible after 10 minutes of boiling.  However, it's not the tastiest concoction. Moreover, if anyone has sprayed a neighboring garden with any sort of chemical, I wouldn't recommend it.
     So as planting begins consider abandoning those pristine bare rows for mats of green.  Your back and garden will thank you.

10 Rainy Day Activities for Gardeners

The last few weeks have had several rainy days, and even sunny days have still been too wet to do too much in the way of major gardening.  After a long winter, all I really want to do is play in the dirt.  I spent the winter looking at seed catalogs, and although that it is still diverting, I am ready for more.  Here are 10 ways I found to get through the rainy spring days.

1.  Plan your garden layout.
     If you can't get into the garden, you might as well make a detailed schematic of where everything will go.  Such planning will also let you explore companion planting.  You will save yourself a great deal of time when you actually get into the garden.

2.  Go to nurseries.
     It has been my experience that nurseries aren't very busy on rainy days.  Most people aren't thinking about gardening during a downpour.  This downtime allows me to get more personalized attention from the nursery owner and get some great tips for local gardeners.  Bring your garden layout.  The owners and employees will be more than happy to help you revise and make additions to your design.

3.  Analyze last year's crop usage.
     Did you use what you planted?  Still have five bags of zucchini in your freezer?  Did you run out of something canned or frozen sooner than you though you would?  Take the time now to really look at what produce you consume versus what produce you wish you would consume.  Otherwise, your garden isn't going to help much with your grocery bill.

4.  Repair and sharpen your tools.
     One of my biggest pet peeves with my husband is that when we go to start a project, he usually has to do some tool repair first and then half the day is wasted.  Use the rainy days to prevent this from happening to you.  If you have a reel mower (and you should), go ahead and get those blades sharpened.  Check your garden shears,  Make sure nothing is rusted or broken.

5.  Build structures you might otherwise be tempted to buy.
     Even though it's raining, you can still be in your workshop or shed.  If you have planned out your garden, you probably already know if you need raised beds, trellises, etc.  You might not be able to completely assemble these structures, but your major cuts can already be done and half the work could be out of the way.  By not waiting until you need the structure, you can also take advantage of reusing found materials.  Old oak pallets can be cut apart and the boards used for raised beds and potato boxes.  This deconstruction can be time consuming, but will save you a great deal of money.

6.  Plan your pest attack.
     Make a list of last year's villains and research organic methods to control the problem.  If you are adamant about using insecticides, read the list of ingredients and look into the effects these have on humans and pets.  You might change your mind on using them.

7.  Plan to attract good insects.
     Build blue orchard mason bee houses; decide which bee and butterfly loving plants you will use.  Look into ordering some beneficial insects as natural predators to the invasive ones.

8.  Read gardening blogs, trade papers, and magazines.
     You will find more information than you know what to do with, and you will surely discover methods to improve your garden and save you money.

9.  Get seedlings started.
     This one is pretty obvious.  Check your seed packets for how many weeks ahead you need to start each type of seed.  Don't buy seed starter kits.  A search of the web will result in many different instructions on how to make seed starters from newspaper.  Just make sure you don't use the comics or the magazine inserts.  The ink can be toxic when it breaks down.

10.  Figure out one way to make you gardening practices greener.
     We all are trying to be friendlier to the Earth.  Decide this year to give up at least one ecologically unsound practice.  If you already are nearly perfect in that respect, give yourself a pat on the back and help convince others to join the fight for the Earth.

Cuttings and Transplants are Rewarding with Patience

    My grandfather's yard was filled with a collection of flowers and bushes he had acquired from friends and relatives throughout his life.  Although he supplemented with nursery plants at times, he preferred to take cuttings, separated bulbs, and saved seeds.  He rarely consulted a garden book.  He seemed to instinctively know how to use location and structures to create ideal conditions and proper shelter for his transplants.  In the spring, we would walk the yard (which was more a small, urban park), and he would tell me where all of the flowers, shrubs, and trees came from.  Naturally, I wanted my own yard to reflect that same idea, that connectedness through cultivation over the decades.
     Unfortunately, my experience with cuttings has been more similar to an episode of ER.  The patient arrives somewhat in shock, and I thrust him into the ground as quickly as possible in the nearest open location in my yard.  The usual result it that for a few days, my neighbors think that I have simply stuck a stick in the ground to mark something.  Then, in a miraculous turn of events, it will start to green up right before the first frost.  Last year, my mega store grapes and blueberries were a total flop, and no amount of coddling would save them.  Yet, the Rose of Sharon that I put in a pot and forgot over the previous winter, rallied all summer and now is a full fledged mini-tree.
     A few weeks ago I joyfully received my Nanking Bush Cherry cuttings in the mail.  Wrapped in wet newspaper, I placed them in our basement to await the proper time to plant them.  On Sunday, my husband and I sat down and carefully read the instructions that came with them.  We followed them to the letter, and right now the small sticks are fighting the blustery day in our backyard.  Although we have had great success with my garden, cuttings have always seemed like magic.  But success with cuttings has less to do with the right spell and more to do with time, patience, location, and attention.
     My uncle told me that I need to find the hole before I get the cutting.  Sounds like common sense once someone finally said it out loud.  I've usually dug my cutting up and am walking around the yard trying to find space for it first.  The faster one gets the transplant into the ground, the less stress on the transplant.  And if you can find a location that is similar to the one the transplant is used to, even better.
     Another thing to consider when transplanting is the time of year.  Most successful transplanting takes place in the spring or fall, before flowering shrubs begin to put out flowers, or when they have become dormant.  This timing allows the cutting to concentrate on putting out important root systems, rather than splitting its time between making flowers and making roots.  Additionally, getting cuttings to root in the summer puts additional stress on the tree or shrub because of limited water.   Spring transplanting allows the cutting to get acquainted with its new surroundings in a moderate temperature.
       Finally, even if one has followed the above, special attention must be paid to the cutting the entire first summer.  I believe that is why so many of my cuttings have been brought back from near death experiences.  The cutting will need extra water and perhaps extra support from a small post.  Even if it looks like it's dead, don't dig it up and throw it away.  Let it stay for awhile, it may yet come back.
     If you have never tried cuttings, I encourage you to look in to it.  It's an excellent way to keep memories from past homes, trips, and relatives to enjoy every year.  The best thing about cuttings is that if you fail, you can always get another and try again.  They are, after all, free, and rarely hurt the donating plant.  Another method (and the one we usually use) is transplanting volunteers, those little trees that appear next to lilacs, forsythia, etc.  It helps keep the bush at a manageable size and helps us create a beautiful, scented hedge in the summer.  So explore your surroundings and talk to your neighbors and try some cuttings and transplants of your own.

Waiting to Garden

      March weather around here has been up and down.  And like most gardeners, I've got spring fever, and the longer, sunny days have me itching to plant.  So what should you be getting into the ground now?   Check out what zone your in first, and then consider some of the following suggestions.
     I'm a zone 6 gardener, and we are still in danger of a frost.  Although the trip to the mega-store Sunday did make me buy some plants that are already started, they can't be put in the ground just yet.  Over the next few weeks, I'll be hardening those off and getting them used to being outside.  For those of us in similar zones, we should be primarily focused on getting the ground turned and planting spring or early summer crops.  Peas, kohlrabi, cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, brussel sprouts, and cauliflower are all good candidates for this early planting.
     A few friends have succumbed to temptation and already planted some veggies and flowers that maybe should've stayed in the greenhouse for another couple weeks.  Admittedly, their gardens and front yards looked summer fresh during the balmy, tease-of-summer week we had.  Now, unfortunately, they've got black leaves and lighter pockets.  If they had consulted the almanac, they would have been better off.
     If you still can't stand the thought of not running your fingers through the dirt, go to your local farmers market and get some advice.  Most farmers are more than willing to talk shop with you and can tell you some of the secrets of watching nature for cues on planting.  For instance, my husband's family, long time farmers, won't plant a single thing until a certain tree in the yard starts to bloom.  Although it sounds like to mumbo jumbo, most of these old-time tricks have a basis in science if you just scrape the surface.  That tree only blooms when the danger of a hard frost is completely over.  The family learned a century ago that to plant before that tree flowers is folly.  So listen to the lore your farmers have to offer.  Maybe practicing watching nature can help curb the craving for damp earth.

Where do your seeds come from?

    

     Ahh . . . the fruits of your labor.  Can anything be more delicious and satisfying?  But wait, where did that come from?  I know you grew it, but where did your seeds come from?  You aren't sure?  Shame on you.
     It is difficult to determine where your seeds come from these days.  It is easy to say, "I got these at Stiffler's, my favorite garden store."  But where exactly did they get them?  Turns out only a few large scale seed producers still exist in this country.  Most seeds, even if bought from different places in totally different packages come from the same conglomerate.  This fact isn't necessarily bad; it just limits your real choices.  If you choose to go with a smaller seed company, you will certainly get a higher quality, but be prepared to pay.
     So where should you get your seeds?  The four main choices are your local hardware/general store, a nursery, seed catalogs/websites, and seed savers/exchanges.  However, the nursery often gets the seeds from the same places you do, so in reality there's only three true choices.  A large part of your choice will depend on your budget, your seed politics, and your desire for something different.
     For those of you new to urban gardening, store seeds are a good place to start.  They are inexpensive, and they perform well.  They do tend to be the "plain Jane" variety, but usually, that's the draw for most people.  They know what to expect.  Some tremendous bargains are to be had if you shop at the right time.  (Right after Thanksgiving is great.  We purchased a huge lot of seeds at our local hardware store at 85% off!)
     For those who have no luck (or time), nurseries have plants already started for you, so you can skip the step of starting your own.  But keep in mind that those plants can be a little pricey.  Are you going to get enough broccoli to offset the $6 per plant price tag?
     The best find that we have found is using seed savers or exchanges.  They specialize in heirloom varieties, and most can be had for the price of shipping and handling or a self-addressed stamped envelope.  Some require membership, but most of the time membership is free or a small fee. Wherever you choose to get your seeds, make sure you need them and can use them.  Don't be enchanted by descriptions only to find you never cook anything with rutabaga.

Pedigree or Mutt: How do you prefer your garlic?

I love looking at pedigree dogs.  They are bred for beauty or for a job, and they are very good at that.  But for all the dogs (and cats and rabbits . . .) that I've owned, I have always loved my mutts the best.  Mutts have greater adaptability and can be much better all around dogs.

Similarly, garlic comes in many vareties.  Softneck- Hardneck, Italian, Russian--the list is endless.  But what kind do you pick up in the grocery store?  Is it good enough to cook with?  I am not a "any kind of garlic is good enough" kind of guy, but if you want to grow garlic, start small.

Please, don't go out and buy some really great cultivar of winged Ethopian Hardneck garlic.  Go to your grocery store and buy generic garlic.  This mutt of a variety is highly specialized to grow, not for taste, so it should be relatively easy to raise.

I take a bulb of garlic and pop it into the fridge for a day or two.  After that dunk it into ice water for an hour or so, then break it up into individual cloves and let it dry.  Poke cloves into the soil so the top of the clove is about an inch (right between the second and first joint of your finger) under the soil.  Then wait.

If you plant the garlic now, you might have a nice small bulb by Novemberish.  The best practice is to plant it in the fall and let it wait until next fall.  Once the garlic bug bites you, feel free to try all the fancy pedigrees while you enjoy your mutt.