Trench Composting!

Greetings everyone.  It has been a year since last I blogged.  Last year was a very intense year with the work that I was doing for an international spiritual group during some intense Earth event times.  So, there was a need to focus there for this last year.  Now, it seems I can get back to my gardening blog.

I do want to say that we seem to be going through some Climate changes with the seasons such as spring starting earlier, temperatures overall slightly warmer.  Within climate changes are changes in our weather patterns.  We have had such seasonally warm weather here in Minnesota over the last month, fooling some of us into planting warm weather crops in late April to mid May.  For the first time, I actually did that, then that "white stuff" called "frost" I found on all the plants, flowers for sure and some on the vegetables, this morning.  I continue to live and learn.  So, a few words of advice, wait till end of May before planting your peppers, beans, squash, tomatoes and all those sun loving plants.

Wanted to share something new I did last year in the fall.  I live in the country and I store my kitchen wastes and wastes from canning in 5 gallon buckets and take them to the fenced in garden.  When I have enough, we dug trenches where the potatoes had been last year.....somewhat deep....perhaps 12 inches and filled the trenches with the kitchen wastes.  These were more nitrogen based (green) and not so much "brown", newspapers, cardboard and the like.  And then covered the trench up and then kept doing the same as I accumulated kitchen/garbage waste.

And then of course, along came the ground freezing and winter.  So, this spring, we decided to plant the potatoes again in their same place and where we "trenched" the kitchen wastes.  My son dug the area up our usual 6-8 inches and low and behold, it was all very rich-looking black dirt.  Hoping the potatoes will love it.

Two things: by doing this I am able to compost my nitrogen waste (kitchen waste) and not send to the garbage landfill and I get fully composted soil that is so rich and I can just plant in it.  I am so pleased.

Try it!  Especially if you live in the country and have the room to do it.  It is a great way to compost and especially over the winter months.

WEEDING....WHAT A WONDERFUL AND IMPORTANT GARDEN ACTIVITY!!!!

Greetings, I am delighted to talk with you about keeping the weeds out of the garden.  Most people are not enamored with this practice of gardening and many will just take out the chemicals and spray the weeds (and sometimes the veggies take a "hit" also and die) because it is easier.

First of all, weeds are natural in gardens.  Insects like to lay their eggs on the leaves and the beneficial insects are good however the non-beneficial insects you want to not provide a place for them to propagate their eggs.  Weeds compete for soil nutrition along with your vegetables so you want to minimize these by pulling them up and getting them out of the garden or put on your compost pile if they have not been exposed to soil or plant disease or have been treated with chemicals.

For those of you who like to use chemicals in your gardens (I don't advocate because our Blessed Mother Earth is already choking and being poisoned by so many chemicals) please note that when you spray these herbicides on the plants and also the soil you kill the billions of beneficial bacteria, fungi and micro-organisms that reside in the soil and provide for soil health.  So, your soil looses some of its ability to provide nutrition for your plants and you have to keep spraying these chemicals the rest of the season because the microorganisms just don't "re-invent" themselves over night.  You want to maintain soil health not destroy it.

Weeding is one of my favorite activities in the garden.  I know, I know that sounds a little "Off".  For me, I love to get down on my hands and knees and get "up front and personal" with earth, getting my hands in the soil, nurturing our Mother Earth and experiencing the same in return.  I am a huge advocate of helping our Mother Earth improve and maintain her ability to provide us healthy experiences.

When I am weeding I also get a close look at the plants, both on top, bottom, stems, checking soil moisture; checking for insects and insect damage; checking for any virus, bacteria or fungal infections in the plants and then intervene in organic natural ways.  And I also get to enjoy the on-growing growth and vibrancy of my plants.  I spent 3 hours yesterday weeding out the oat grass from the oat seeds in the oat straw I had used for mulch for my tomatoes and also the walkways.  I try to weed on a regular basis, such as 1-2 times a week to keep on top of it.  It can get overwhelming if left for long periods of times.

So, you can make the experience of weeding a "drudgery" or "a friendly earth" experience and take credit for the vitality of your garden and garden plants.  Enjoy!!!

Pictures below....

Before weeding of my tomato patch.  Lots of grown up weed seeds of the oat straw.  Post weeding, notice how many less weeds there are.  I left the field peas from cover crops that had been tilled in before planting.  The field peas will provide some added nitrogen to the soil.

ROOT CROPS.....YOU EITHER LOVE THEM OR DISLIKE THEM!!! AND EASY TO GROW!

Root crops such as rutabagas,  turnips, parsnips, carrots and beets to start with are packed with great nutrition for all of us.  And over the years I have found that you love "em" or you dislike them!  I am an "O" blood type and according to the book "Eat Right for your Blood Type", "O" blood types are to eat root vegetables.  In the beginning of humans, food was eating roots, berries and animal meat.  Animals were hunted with respect and honoring and only killed so the new humans could survive.  Perhaps because I am an "O" blood type I tend to love "Root Vegetables" and there runs DNA memory of my origins.
I have started growing root vegetables now ever year.  I have found the best soup recipe called "ROOT SOUP" with carrots, rutabagas, turnips and parsnips.  Easy recipe and easy to make and freezes very well, tasting fresh when I take a vacuum seal bag out of the freezer months later.  if you have a root cellar you can store them for a much longer time after harvesting.  You can also store them in a refrigerator at about 32 Degrees Fahrenheit and they last well into winter.


When I grow root crops and seeds are so tiny, I over seed in my rows and then rely on "thinning" them.  It is important to thin them the first time when the plant has 2-3 leaves and are about 1/2 inch tall.  If you let the thinning go too long, you can get long spindly stems that cannot hold themselves well in the soil and the roots don't form as well.  So, I start thinning them right after they appear being very carefully when pulling out seedlings that I wish to remove.  What works for me is to pull them to the side gently instead of straight up and it won't disturb the soil of the seedling "left behind".  You can also use a tweezers and cut off at soil level those seedlings you want to remove.


I just thinned the root crops out for the third time yesterday.  See the pictures below.  As the root or bulb grows and expands I will need to watch closely to make sure there is enough room between the plants.

I want to do a general fertilizer 10-10-10 at planting or my animal compost when planting and after a few weeks, I want to decrease the amount of nitrogen in any fertilizer as I want growth in the root and not in the leaves.  Nitrogen helps "leaves" to grow.  I never in the past did well with root vegetables because I did not feed the "roots".  I have discovered a "root crop" fertilizer through Gardens Alive that is high in Potassium and phosphorus and low in nitrogen.  Potassium improves the thickness of the stem so roots grow full and large; reducing water loss through leaves so plants better endure dry periods and acts as an antidote to excess nitrogen.  Phosphorus aids strong root development and promotes greater disease resistance.  I add this great "root fertilizer" at planting and then again mid-season by using the "trenching" method of making a one-inch deep furrow near the base of the plant and pour a pencil-thick line of the fertilizer in the furrow, cover and watch the roots grow and fill out.

WARM WEATHER CROPS...FERTILIZATION AND CARE OF TOMATOES

Warm weather crops are now in as of the last weekend of May and early June.  Had to wait a bit as we had such a cool spring.  Planted my tomatoes on the garden side that I planted a spring cover crop.  All kinds of field peas shooting up also, will leave them and weed out the weeds that the oat straw has produced...normal.  The field peas are high in nitrogen. Hoping to not have to fertilize the tomatoes all summer but will watch their vitality and growth rates and also buds and blooms for any need of fertilizer.  After the tomatoes start blooming, higher nitrogen fertilization needs to be avoided as the plant energy garnered from fertilization needs to go to the blossoms and fruit and not to the leaves.  Nitrogen helps create the green and the leaves.  So more Potassium, Phosphorus fertilization needed to support stems, water circulation, and blossoms and fruit. 
 Perhaps if you did a cover crop in the spring or fall on the soil you are using for Tomatoes you may well not need to fertilize, especially with nitrogen.  It is very individual depending on how you have supported your soil before plantings.  Even if your soil is rich in nitrogen (compost, cover crops) you still not to watch for good blossom formation and development of the fruit of the tomato. 
Because of our rather long and cool spring it is hard to tell how the warm weather crops are doing until we get a few hot sunning days.  And then watch them grow rapidly.
Warm weather plants planted this year:  Squash, including zucchini squash, peppers, tomatoes, green beans (climbing and bush...and purple in color), cucumbers (slicing and pickling).  Pictures below.


It is important to support your tomatoes with cages, fencing, some form of staking.  If I use bamboo poles I cut up an old sheet into strips and tie the main branch of the tomato to the bamboo pole.  Heavier wood might need to be used.  And whatever you do just be sure to support your tomato bush.  Be sure you know if you have a determinate (more of a bush tomato plant that has a determined time of growth and fruit production) or indeterminate (climbing, keeps growing and bares fruit throughout the season and even into fall for some varieties).


When watering, try to provide drip tape water irrigation, soaker hose or controlled hand watering at the root zone about one inch of water a week, which includes rain.  Avoid watering from above with sprinklers, etc. as it is more possible to attract fungi or what we call blight.  Once blight has set in, not too much you can do but pull off the infected leaves and take them out of the garden put in trash bag and sent with the garbage.  Do not compost these infected leaves.


More on other warm weather crops in future blog postings.  Stay tuned.

SPRING CROPS IN A COOL TO COLD SPRING

Happy spring and soon to be summer everyone!  I have not blogged for about five weeks.  Lots going on in my life, cool spring and personal issues I needed to attend to.  So, here I am now for the summer and fall and into winter.
Our spring was very cool and I did plant my spinach about April 6 as spinach loves the cool to cold weather.  I also got ahead of the game and was able to plant most all the cool weather plants.  The rutabagas, turnips, parsnips (one of my favorite root vegetables), beets of course as we love eating beets whole, grated into salads and especially pickled!!
Also arugula, romaine lettuces as long as the cool weather is here.  Onions do well in cool weather also along with the broccoli and cabbage.  Though it is suggested that cauliflower be planted in later summer and into fall, I still plant it early spring!.  One thing that has worked for me is to plant my cabbage in containers with good fertilization....cow/horse compost and a small amount of osmocote as they are heavy feeders.  All went in at the end of April and have done very well.

BEGIN PLANTING COOL WEATHER CROPS

Greetings everyone.  WOW, I do think that spring is here!  Still crisp and cool in the morning.  My spinach I planted on April 6th is up and about 2 inches tall.  Fresh spinach in about 3-4 weeks.  Excited to have fresh produce.

So, today we planted the potatoes, big red's, more than enough for my son and I but will share with the Food shelves when harvested.  Dug a trench about 6 inches deep added compost and covered.  Also I use container gardening for most of my herbs as I can keep them on my front step and pick them whenever I need flavors for cooking.  Just a short way to go and enough shade that they get both sun and shade.  Cilantro, Rainbow Rhubarb Chard planted in containers also and on my front step. 

In my 4 by 4 feet raised beds west of the garden fence, arugula and beets planted because they enjoy cool weather.  It will be the first planting of beets, which are mouth watering to us....we love eating and pickling them.  Beets can be planted every few weeks to keep beets on our plates.

Today, my big open half of my garden where potatoes were planted along the fence, we "broadcast" a green manure/cover crop of field peas, hairy vetch and clover, raked them in slightly and then put the overhead sprinkler on that part of the garden.  This will make great organic material for the soil and the peas and clover are high in nitrogen, which most plants need.  I plan on planting my tomatoes, peppers in this area this year.  It has been about 3 years since I planted them in this area.  Crop rotation is good to do for all vegetables, especially tomatoes as my soil holds the fungus responsible for blight.  It just seems that it is impossible to get rid of it, but still do let the soil rest.  Lets see what happens this year.

So let the planting begin.  I suggest that you do your research and identify what cool weather plants you can put in your garden at this time.  I will begin to plant broccoli cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower,, kale, romaine, onion sets, parsley, radish, turnips over this coming weekend....last of April.  All tolerate and some prefer cool weather.  I always keep in mind that we can have a frost.



A great resource for planting dates, when to start seeds, planting distances, dept of seeds and more is available at:

http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/vegetables/planting-the-vegetable-garden/

Happy Planting!!!

TIPS FOR PREPARING THE SOIL FOR SPRING PLANTING

Getting the soil ready during the window of opportunity April 6-16 before it got cold and had a little snow.  It is important to prepare the soil by putting compost of some sort on the soil, about one inch, either fall or spring.  I usually prefer spring so it is fresh.  I have a large compost pile of cow/horse and left over plant parts composted from last year.  You can see me shoveling this into the wheel barrel and then putting on top of my raised bed gardens where I planted winter rye last fall for good organic material available for spring.  You will see my two dogs roaming around and my precious Saddie in the bed exploring.  She is a bundle of energy.















Below you will see my larger sandy soil with rye growth from
the fall, which has been tilled in.  I will not be putting
    compost on the top soil this year as this year when it
    warms up a bit I will be planting a spring cover crop or what is
    called green manure of field peas, hairy vetch and clover to
    enrich the soil with nitrogen and also organic material.  Because
    my soil is so sandy, it always needs amendments.

 To the right you will see further raised bed gardens on the west side of my south fenced in raised bed gardens.  Ready for planting a variety of greens soon hopefully so that I can do succession planting...when one batch so to speak is done then plant another batch of fresh greens for eating and juicing!!!  Happy happy about that.

My raised bed garden in the south side of the main gardens, Rye and compost tilled in.  Will keep the garden beds watered if no rain to provide moisture for the microorganisms to continue breaking down the organic matter from the compost pile providing a slow release of soil nutrition.