GARDENING AS "SCIENTIFIC, INTUITIVE AND CREATIVE"

I have for years gardened mostly intuitively and tried to be creative and my vegetable gardens were just not doing so well after I moved up north of the twin cities in the "sandy soil" land!  Finally after a few years, I decided I had to find out what was missing from my gardening as taught to me by my Mother and what I picked up "here and there".  So I went back to school at the Horticulture Center at Century College in Mahtomedi, close to the twin cities in Minnesota.  There I learned tons about soil and that the "secret to successful vibrant soil and produce was in the soil".


So, as the spring is near "full time" (right now it was 60's for two weeks and today it is 37 degrees) I am going to begin to blog about the "Science" to gardening.  "Science" is the first in the series of Gardening is Scientific, Intuitive and creative.  So lets begin with some thoughts of what the Science of Gardening might be.
1.  Plan your garden site early in the year with focus on warm weather plants needing lots of sun and cool weather plants needing less sun and can tolerate more shade.
2.  South side of your garden is best for warm weather plants as they will get more "early day" sun.
3.  Know which plants are warm weather and which are cool weather.  For instance, spinach is a great green leafy vegetable that craves cool, even cold weather and does not do well in heat.  So plant very soon if you are in Zones 3 and 4.  I planted my spinach in a raised bed outside my dining room on my deck two weeks ago, April 6th and they are starting to come up now.


Your assigned:  Consider what you want to grow and then check out from a reliable resource which are warm weather plants and which are cool weather plants.  Have fun.  Enjoy the great spinach.

TIME TO THINK "VIBRANCY" OF FOOD AND WELL-BEING

Using great gardening techniques, focus and loving attention, food can be as vibrant as what you see here. Some are fruit (some you can grow yourself) and the vegetables you can grow in your back yard, eat fresh, supporting your health and well-being. To learn the science, honor your intuition and practice your creativity, go to my blog which now is very active as spring is here....well it was for the last few weeks. Today, it is 37 degrees. But you can get your plans for your gardens firmed up and seeds and materials you need ready, etc. Talk with all of you soon
on the blog of thegardensgardeners.blogspot.com.
Check out my website also at www.thegardenersgardener.com

GROWING YOUR OWN BACKYARD VEGETABLE GARDENS

A must see!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCmTJkZy0rM


Growing your own backyard vegetable gardens and completely feeding yourself, garden to plate.  I hope you enjoy.


Maggie

WAITING, WAITING TO BEGIN THE GARDEN.....ALMOST

Greetings!  A funny time of year.  Still cool, sometimes warm.  Winter still official!  Seed catalogues, seedlings started.  Want to get out there and dig in the dirt.  I tried that a few days ago when it was warmer....warmer being in the high 4o's F but the ground is still frozen after digging into the first few inches.  But the big compost pile wasn't so frozen for some reason.
So began doing some garden preparation.  Applied compost in all the raised garden beds.  Will leave the soil for when the compost pile frost is gone.  I am anxious to apply the cow/horse compost to all the beds...on the soil top and the 12 inch raised garden beds.  I planted winter rye in all the gardens and beds early October last year to increase the amount of organic material available to the soil.  The land around here is sandy to sandy loam.  Once the frost gets out of the ground in about 3 weeks will add the cow/horse compost to the rest of the soil and till it in lightly.  Do not want to disturb the layers of the soil where earthworms and other organisms that provide organic material and aeration to the soil are....try to lightly (no more than 4 inches deep) till in organic materials is best.

I have one side of my garden that is about 30 feet by 60 feet that seems to stay so sandy in texture even with the winter rye and the remains of straw from mulching last year.  So once the rye and compost is lightly tilled in, I will plant a spring cover crop. The mix contains field peas, oats, and hairy vetch. Designed for spring sowing, but it may be sown anytime early spring through late summer.  I just caution all of you that when it gets about 4-5 inches tall, be sure to till it in.  Last year I got so busy that I didn't get to the tilling until it was about a foot tall....very difficult at that height to till it in.  It was a "wash" last year.  Learned a lesson.




That is about it that I can actually do in my gardens, except to plant some spinach in one of my raised garden beds tomorrow, design my garden space....what I will plant where being sure to account for rotation of crops, make sure I have all the equipment and supplies I need, check which seeds are usable from last year and make a trip to my farmer friend and pick up the straw bales I will need for this year.

That's all for now!  Enjoy your preparations.  Maggie

Check out my new website!!!
thegardenersgardener.com

COLORFUL AND NUTRITIOUS VEGETABLES AND FRUITS

When deciding what vegetables to grow this spring and summer, keep in mind the nutrition of plants.  If you have any health issues, this chart can guide you as to what to plant so that you can support your health and well-being.  And it is also fun to just have lots of color in your garden and on your plate.  Enjoy!

Wrnw1 radio interview

It is snowing out and here I am again talking gardening.  For today I am listing a 30 minute women's radio station out of New Your interview with KC Armstrong.  The interview is regarding my business "the gardener's gardener" and some highlight moments about nutrition and the power of growing your own food.  I'll be back to write more soon!

http://www.wrnw1.com/?s=maggie+McLaughlin

(the interview)

GETTING READY FOR YOUR 2015 VEGETABLE GARDENS

Yes, I know it is -33 degrees below zero with wind chill today here in central Minnesota.  Well, what a great day to be inside and begin my planning for the spring garden and evaluate what worked and didn't work last year.....and do my taxes :)

Time to bring out my seeds and what I have left over from last year.  I do find parsnips however they need to be purchased new every year to assure a good crop.  I look for my spinach as soon I will be able to plant in my raised bed outside my dining room deck...as they enjoy the cold weather and DO NOT grow well in heat.  As I browse through the seeds, I also look for my lettuces and greens as they will be one of the first things I plant as cool weather plants.  I may start some greens in containers.  Containers best for greens are short in height as they have more shallow roots and do best in shallow containers.  So, I'll be looking through my containers when the days warm up a bit.

I also have one half of my garden (30 feet by 60 feet) that I plan to sow early spring cover crops to enrich the soil for nutrients and then lightly till in before late spring plantings.  Last year I did this in this area and was so busy that I didn't get to the tilling into the soil in time.  They got pretty tall and couldn't really till them in as well so I lost the benefit.  This year I am going to make sure my son is available to till them in when the plants are about six inches tall.  It is a beautiful sight to see the vibrant green of the plants as they grow.  They can add so much great nitrogen and organic material to the soil. 

When planting in this area after the tilling I do need to make sure that what I plant prefers more nitrogen. Some plants like cauliflower prefer less nitrogen.  Last year I had beautiful cauliflower plants as far as leaves but not a head formed.  Will be researching this for this year.  It could be that I had too much organic material as I do use straw around the plants and till it in in the fall; or the variety that I used.  This also happened to another master gardener friends so to begin with I will be using a different variety of cauliflower this year.

So, I encourage you at this time to:
1. Check what seeds you have on hand.
2.  Order seeds that you will need.
3.  Consider growing something new in the area of vegetables this year.
4.  If you have a lot of garden space, consider planting an early spring cover crop or "green manure" as these are called at times.
5.  Read your garden diary from last year and evaluate what worked and what didn't work.
6.  Start creating your garden on paper. Draw your garden in relationship to width and length.  Include all your smaller or sometimes smaller garden areas (I have a number of smaller areas outside of my larger garden spaces).
7.  Start deciding where you will plant what in your garden and at what times of the season:  cool weather plants; warm weather plants ; placement based on full sun, partial sun, partial shade, shade tolerance.  Consider succession planting.  www.johnyseeds.com is a an excellent site that provides gardening information on vegetables, herbs and much more.  Great interactive tools that tell you best time to plant what; times for succession planting; diseases and more.  I personally love this site and they do carry organic seeds and plants along with the conventional.
8.  And also important is creating your budget for this 2015 growing season.
9.  Start dreaming of how your garden may look using differing gardening approaches such as :  soil gardening; container gardening; vertical and raised garden beds; straw bale gardening or other creative approaches.  And where you might place differing approaches.  This can be fun.

This is just a taste to get your "gardening juices" flowing.  I always maintain that gardening is scientific, creative and intuitive.  Have fun evaluating, dreaming and creating....even when it is -33 degrees outside.