Flower Power

From the Jan Johnsen's Facebook page Heaven is a Garden: 

https://www.facebook.com/heavenisagarden?fref=nf

 

Heaven is a Garden  My sentiments exactly!  I am reading this book at the moment and hope to have a review ready before long.  The photographs are beautiful and inspiring!

Seed Saving

For months now, I have been saving seeds from all of the flowers and vegetables that I grew this year.  I am always blown away about how generous Mother Nature is!  For instance, one tiny grape tomato will provide all the seeds I will need for the following season(but of course, I'll save more than that)!

Last year, the rabbits ate all of my beans.  I had five seeds (black beans) left in a packet, so I put them in a container and those five seeds generated about 50-60 seeds!  I saved and planted those seeds this year, which yielded enough black beans to eat over the winter!

Some seeds have generously reseeded themselves, like the yellow pear tomatoes, the arugula, and the parsley. Although I saved as many foxglove seeds as I could, they are finally popping up in different parts of my garden, thanks to self-sowing.

I learned a lot about saving seeds from the book Seed Sowing and Saving, by Carole B. Turner.  The most important lesson I learned is that often, only one variety of a vegetable or flower can be grown at a time,due to insects and cross-pollination. So, unless you have the space to grow plants in isolation, it is better to grow only one variety of certain plants if you intend to save the seeds. I decided to grow just one variety of pepper this year, one variety of cucumber, melon, squash, etc.  I did read that you can grow different varieties of tomatoes and still collect good seed.

I will be sharing my sunflower seeds with all the cardinals and chickadees this winter (and the squirrels...)and probably sharing my seeds with my friends.  My list of seeds can be found here:

How about you?  Are you saving any favorites?

Flea Beetles on the Eggplant and Tomatoes

I'm not sure what flea beetles look like, but The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control (Ellis and Bradley) says they cause damage that looks like this:

 

The book says to use a spray or dust containing pyrethrin.  The book is for organic gardeners, so I'm guessing pyrethrin is safe enough (?)  I used a dust, which I found in the organic gardening section in Home Depot:

 

I did NOT like using this dust at all, and will go back to the spray I used on the cucumbers earlier in the week.  I dusted the eggplants and tomatoes on June 8th:

 



One Pepper Seedling

April 6
The saga continues.  I have one little pepper plant that just seems to want to survive.  I planted it tonight, in an old sour cream container with holes drilled in the bottom.  I followed the planting instructions from The New Seed Starters Handbook (Bubel).  She says to line the bottom of the container with 2 sheets of newspaper, to keep the soil from draining out of the container.  Then she says to line the bottom with an inch of moss - and wet it.  Then, moisten some potting soil and fill the container to within 1/2 an inch from the top. Then put the seedling in.

I chose a potting soil that has a slow-release fertilizer (Fafard). Now the pepper plant is sitting under the grow light in the basement.  I really hope it makes it....

Not a great picture.  I've been wondering if maybe I should have started the pepper seeds in wet paper towels.  Something to try next time.  I have new seeds growing.  Today is Day 7 and I see about 3 tiny sprouts.  I have put them under light, but I am keeping them on heat because most of them have not sprounted.  I did add some water, because the peat pots seemed so dry.  I put on my 10X magnifiers and discovered a little fuzz (fungus - already!!) on one of the seedlings.  I pushed it off with my finger.  The others look OK.

If these don't grow then I'll try the paper towel trick.  I'll keep trying!  I'm also going to  buy plants from the nursery if I have to.

 

4/19/13 - UPDATE

My little pepper plant is doing well!  It has it's first true leaves!  And all the new pepper plants planted in the plugs are also doing well and about to grow their first true leaves, too.  Hurray!

 

 

Update:  June 2, 2013 - One and a half months later.  This pepper plant made it!! 

 

It is planted in a container, sitting safely in the pool area where animals can't get to it.  I did find some aphids on it the other day... just a few.  I picked them off and I have been keeping a close eye on it.  I have to go to Florida for a week and am really nervous about not being able to watch my plants.

 

 



April Last Year

I found this in on my computer in my documents - not a very effective way of keeping records.  I prefer this blog because it allows me to keep everything so organized and I can find anything I need with a click of the mouse.

Rereading this entry from last April reminded me that it was actually hot at this time last year!  Today (April 2) was freezing!

Here are my notes from last year:

April 16, 2012

Today is unusually warm for Massachusetts – 91 degrees!  We had mulch delivered on Saturday, the 14^th, so Jamie has been laying it all around the garden beds up front – to start.

I have been yanking weeds.  Buckets full.  I feel like I’m wasting a lot of time, but I also feel like it’s better to yank them than to pour more chemicals in our yard.  Also, if I yank them, hopefully they won’t spread their seeds.  I read that the grass has a better chance of growing thicker when it doesn’t have to compete with the weeds. Makes sense.

We hired WEED MAN to do our lawn for us this year, but we asked them not to touch the yard on the side of the pool by Jan’s house, because that’s where a vegetable garden is going.  We don’t want any chemicals touching any veggies we’ll be eating.

We have asked Joe to mow our lawn for us.  Two calls to him so far.

I am ordering another grow light.  I resurrected one that I bought about 20 years ago and have put a bunch of seeds under it:  snapdragon (3/?), poppies (?), plum tomatoes, peppers, cosmos (4/2).  So far, everything is taking off except the peppers.  I’m a little concerned because the tiny plants seem to reach a certain height and then flop over.  I see this happen with all of them except the poppies – probably because they are still quite small.  Overcrowding is another problem.  When I go to thin the plants, I end up killing some of them because they are disturbed.  Next year I will sow the seeds more sparingly.

I started a compost pile behind my shed.  I admit, I don’t really know what I’m doing.  But you have to start somewhere!  I threw in all the grass that grew into my flower beds, all the weeds that I yanked, plus stuff from my kitchen, like old broccoli, green onion tops, orange rinds, banana peels and a little spaghetti.  Don’t know if any of this is off-limits for a compost pile, but I guess I will learn.

I planted some sweet pea seeds in a shallow terra cotta container.  I plan to make a trellis for it out of branches when the little plants emerge.

I need to get all of my tools organized so that they are easy to get to and don’t get lost in the shuffle.

I had to stop myself from ordering a half dozen books online last night.  I have so many questions, so many goals.  I need to remind myself constantly that there is no rush… I have lots of time to learn and it’s OK to make mistakes.  I need to enjoy the process, just as I have enjoyed learning the process of cooking over the years.

April 23, 2012

I’m reading a book called Square Foot Gardening, by Mel Bartholomew and I am really excited because it makes gardening seem so much easier, not so overwhelming.  Already I got a great tip for starting seeds – don’t use nearly as many seeds when starting plants, and cut the extra seedlings with scissors instead of ripping out.  So smart!

I set up my new grow light and moved it into Jamie’s room.  He insists.  Poor guy – it seems so bright!  I sowed more seeds tonight – dill, parsley, zinnias and basil.  I discovered that my peppers, which are finally starting to shoot up after 21 days, are organic, so I will be able to save seeds.  The plum tomatoes are also organic.  I made little signs to put in the trays and removed the seed packets, which were getting wet.  Supposedly, the seeds will last for a few years if stored properly.  I have them in a little plastic filing case but need to find something bigger.

May 3, 2012

I planted more seeds on the 27^th, April:  3 different kinds of zinnias, cucumbers and zucchini squash.  I’m beginning to realize that I should have started the seeds earlier.  The plants are all tiny – especially the snap dragons.  I guess I’m supposed to put a heating pad under the seeds.  Maybe I’ll try that next year… I don’t know.  It seems like growing seeds can get kind of expensive after a while.  Might as well just go out and buy the plants!  I’m keeping track of all of my expenses, so I’ll see whether it’s worth it or not.  Any way, it is a good thing to know how to grow things.

That 90 degree weather we had a couple of weeks ago convinced some of the shrubs to send out its blooms a little early.  A few nights ago, we must have experienced a frost, because I noticed our lilacs are almost dead, and I barely noticed they were out yet.  Some of the azaleas were also affected.  I made me sad to see all the little frost-burned lilacs and white flowers.

I mowed the lawn for the first time the other day – good thing, too, because we’ve had nothing but rain since.  I did the front; Jamie did the rest.  I want to take care of our own lawn, because I think it’ll look better if we take more of the responsibility on ourselves.  I need to start reading more and make some plans to care for this lawn.

I spent a lot of time cleaning up the flower bed by the garage.  Grass had grown through where juniper and phlox are supposed to be.  I’m going to lay some new weed cloth there.

Finally, I went to Lowes and priced boards to make my square foot gardens.  It’ll cost about $10 per garden for the wood.  I need to find someone to help me cut it, since Jamie doesn’t really have the tools, and neither of us have the know-how.

Garlic, Lettuce, Green Onions and Spinach

I noticed last week that my garlic is growing.  I planted the little cloves in October (? - I'll have to check on this) and was so pleased to see their little green tops poking through the soil.

I remember reading in Joy of Gardening that it's good to grow green onions, lettuce, spinach and even carrots with the garlic.  I'm not planning on growing carrots this year, but I did sow lettuce, spinach, and green onion seeds in the garlic bed on Saturday, the last day of March.  All the books/seed packets say that the seeds should be sown directly as soon as the soil can be worked.  It seems like it should be so easy, but again, this is a first for me:  I read the back of each seed packet and tried to carry out the instructions.  We'll see how well things turn out!  I planted the onions in only half the bed - trying to avoid the garlic, and I planted 4 "bands" of lettuce, so that I can do some "succession planting".  Finally, I planted spinach in the other half of the bed.

After I planted the seeds, I realized that we haven't opened our pump, so I didn't have a convenient way to water the seeds.  Then, I couldn't find a watering can, and I couldn't find enough hose to reach the bed from the outside faucet.  Thankfully, it rained yesterday, and we're expecting more rain this week. 



I like this picture because all the garlic tops are visible.  That's my shadow.

Here's my other Shadow... in the shadows!