Busy Person's gardening,part three

So you have sent away to get your soil tested, right? So now you know what your soil might need to be a good garden. But don't go buying anything yet. Most of the soil improving is started in the spring or fall seasons. Since it is officially winter here in NJ, we won't do any serious soil improving yet. But here is what you can do: send away for seed catalogs.  Very busy people are too busy to grow your plants from seed (high maintenance), but you can use the catalogs to get an idea of what you might plant in your garden. Most seed catalogs can be had for free! See my new link to a useful sight which allows you to order a bunch of catalogs at once.
Tune in for the next blog on how to decide what to plant. Happy New Year!

Busy person gardening, part two.

It's really not time for part two, since you haven't had enough time to complete part one! So go back and do it, ok? In the mean time, before the ground gets cold and hard, go out to your patches of ground (if you have some). Dig out a large shovel full of dirt, then reach down into the hole and scoop out some dirt into a shoe box or other clean container. Dig several holes through out  your areas. Don't forget to refill the holes. Mix up all the samples indoors, then pour it out onto newspaper and let it dry out. Go online to the Rutgers soil testing site, and print out the form with its directions. You are going to send your soil sample in for testing . The results will tell you what is in your soil, and what you need to do to help it out in the spring.  Happy digging!

Busy person gardening, part one.

So how do you grow anything if you are busy? Are you working 40 plus hours? Running kids to soccer? Going back to school? Not only do you have time to grow, you NEED a garden and don't even know it! Gardening is like meditation with a purpose. You get a chance to slow down ,breathe, listen, smell, let tension release. You get cheap,organic,fresh veggies (You WILL grow organically. It's the only way to grow!).

You can begin today! First step: DO ALMOST NOTHING. Easy, right? I really mean this. Don't buy a thing. Don't make a to-do list (you A-type personalities will have trouble with that one). All you do for the first several days is walk slowly around your house, apartment, ect. inside and out. SLOWLY.  Walk at different times of the day each day. Don't worry if you skip a day or two between walks. Just look very carefully for at least seven days. What will you see? Where the sun is at different times. Which parts of your domain are in shadow most of the time,which seem to be getting some light. Breathe deeply. Can you tell if the air inside is dryer in some places? Colder? Are your windows cold? Any drafts? Now, go outside. Note everything just as you did inside. Reach down into your soil if you've got some. Is it dry? wet? Hard? Soft? Rocky? Sandy? Where does the water collect or drain? Do you have shade trees or bushes? Can dogs get to your ground? Cats? Deer? Squirrels? Are the outside walls warm? Cold? Wet? What changes from day to day? What changes at different times of the day?
While you do this, keep in mind that it is late fall. This means that the sun disappears earlier, and is lower in the sky than in the spring/summer months. So, guess what? You will get to do this again in the spring. Exercise. Fresh air . Relaxation. Time to yourself. Imagine the growing plants to come.Thus ends the first lesson.

Soil Testing and blueberries

I know i promised to blog about a busy person's garden, but I had to first do a brief update on my garden. I found some blueberries grown organically near by (link to follow for those of you in south jersey, they also do mail orders for those of you further afield). In case you are wondering, fall is perfect for planting Today, I dug the trench, filled it half way with leaves, plopped the plants on top, then filled in with  peat moss.  I then used some of the earth to top off, and finished with more leaves as a mulch. Next, I will water,then hunt down for some pine needles to get those blueberries the acid soil they love. I worked up a sweat with all that digging! Garden as exercise! Bonus of  berries in spring! Where is my masseuse? Next (this time I mean it), a busy person's garden.

Thanks Giving

After a Thanksgiving meal that "can't be beat", I was unabashedly asking every one at the dinner to join in reading this blog. To a person, they were asking how in the world I could  blog about a garden in the winter. I have to admit, I am looking forward to trying to blog about gardening as a way to get through the cold dark months to come. I honestly don't know how gardeners in places like Minnesota do it. At least here in jersey, we occasionally get weather like today: sunny,mild,and in the 60's..Warm enough for the beach! Which is where I was today,after a visit to the garden,of course.(you knew I would get there eventually, right?)  The row covers are making my greens very, very happy. The mulch pile is warm...a very good sign. Every time I get to walk out back with bare feet,breath fresh air, and touch living plants I am so very thankful!

My plans for tomorrow include a hunt for a blueberry bush or two to plant while the ground is still soft. And the hunt is on for some new posts (free) to support the expanded (free) fencing. Next blog: gardening for busy people. Happy gardening & happy Thanksgiving!

Leaf blowers and other anoying things

Another day of good weather today,so out to the garden I go. The greens under the row cover are now micro green size, but I am holding out for them to grow bigger. I also collected shredded leaves by the bag full from my neighbor. So here is my dilemma: can I complain about the whine of leaf blowers all over the neighborhood on the weekends while at the same time reaping the benefits by confiscating the leaves? Hmmm.

Photos plus: Spring in fall!

The weather the past few days has been unbelievable ideal! It seems that the day after I prepared for frost, we got days of mild weather: highs of almost 75 on some of the days! Sunshine, a fresh breeze, and lovely warmth! Not that I'm complaining, mind you, OR implying that I have the power to change the weather by gardening. Although,if I could....never mind!   I'm still waiting on some labor to expand the garden...right now the new areas is grass/weeds, and is frankly too much work to turn over by hand. So I'm hoping for a rototiller with a guy or two behind it to do the hard work for me (you know who you are!). A REAL gardener would insist on double digging to create the new raised rows. If you don't know what double digging is, suffice it to say its a nightmare of back,shoulder,& knee pain disguising itself as worthy gardening practice. Not for me,folks!
On another previous subject, the row covers are working like a charm. Here are some photos of the covers and the plants under 'em. Enjoy!

  

Season extender!

So riffing off the blog "wizbang" (see link for row covers), I made my own row cover system. I used 10 foot pieces of 1/2 inch pvc pipe which I cut in half with a small hack saw. Then, I got 24 inch long  pieces of 2 inch pipe, and cut those in thirds (result,,,8 inch long pieces). Then, I drilled a hole through both ends of the five foot pieces about 2 inches from the edges, and one hole through the 8 inch pieces about 2 inches in also. I pounded one 8 inch piece into the ground on the left hand side of the row, and then one on the right. I placed a five foot piece inside the 8 inch piece, and placed a thin bolt through the holes, then fastened with a nut to prevent the bolt from slipping out. I bent the pipe over to the other side ,and bolted it,too. Since I couldn't figure out how to drill the holes in the long pieces so that when they bent the holes lined up, I sometimes had to turn the smaller pieces in the earth to match the holes up. So some of the bolts face different ways. But they work anyhow. I then covered the resulting hoops with "frost cloth," and clipped it to the hoops with plastic vices I bought at the big box store for 7 dollars. They were different sizes, but worked anyhow! Total cost  for a row three feet wide and about 15 feet long,  including the saw and enough left over to do another row, 35 dollars ( or 17.50 per row). These should last a few seasons at least,but let's see if the kale, spinach, and lettuces pay me back in harvest!

Yes, folks,that's snow!

I must admit that I was not ready to see snow on the ground when I woke up this morning! Most of it is melted by now,but it's still cold out there. I am making spiced apple butter today ,otherwise,doing nothing but watching bad movies. This is the disadvantage of not planting some fall veggies nearer the house: I have to walk out in the cold to check on their progress. BURRR!
Here are some photos of the last of the  garden's flowers  Enjoy!

What is this,winter already?

So today I was planning to get started on the row covers,when I looked out the window to see miserable weather. In the car on the way to the store for some winter pansies (half off at a big box store), it began to sleet.Then snow. Then sleet. And blowing wind. The grass is frozen already, and I got the row covers on while shivering in the sleeting wind. We will see if  the cover rescues the fall crops. Yipes! Tell me again why I live in New Jersey? 

Apples and such

Cool weather is definitely upon us here in south jersey, and so are the early sunsets. But there is still lots to do in the garden,including getting ready for next spring. But I couldn't resist a trip to buy some apples (you pick it farms having shut down for the season). I took a lovely drive, got lost, and finally found the place. Got some delicious Macoun apples I will be turning into pie filling, applesauce,and juice tomorrow. What a delicious variety! Having perused the pickyourown web site, I read through the list of stands to find one that had a large variety of apples for sale by the case. Not knowing many of the varieties, I bought one of each and got to tasting! The cashier , who must have been the owners' daughter, looked at me like I was crazy (an accurate diagnosis). Anyhow, the day was fun from start to finish.
Today I happened upon a yard sale, and picked up a book for a dollar. I am going to give you the entire  information so you can keep a lookout for one. After a quick read,I am finding it very helpful! It is not exactly an organic guide,but if you ignore any chemicalishness (I made that word up) the rest is very good:
"Month-by month Gardening in New Jersey", copyright by author, Pegi Ballister-Howells, 2005. Cool Spring Press, Nashville Tenn.,publishers. You can find it on line for about 14.00.                  

Fall gardening

So Mother Earth News Magazine (I get NOTHING for mentioning it) is a dangerous publication! Why? Because every issue gives me more bright ideas for the garden! As you all know, I am no where near an expert gardener. I usually give up on the garden in August, when the infamous New Jersey humidity gets to be a bit much. My fall gardening usually consists of putting everything to rights for the spring. This year, I am trying a very small fall garden,(thanks to MENM) planting garlic, lettuce,and kale. And I am researching ways to build a free or nearly free shelter to winter over my small herb garden. Here's to a warm fall!

Fall projects galore!

I decided at last to get some help with the long list of fall garden projects. Last week, a crew of two teens , plus my son James and his girl Kristen came over and assisted. We chopped weeds,removed the old fencing,and weeded the garden.Phew! Today,  James returned to finish work on my new compost bin. It looks so good! And all based on a small , angled photo in Mother's Earth magazine (thanks!). He is so handy.


I finally took a photo of the mystery fruit,which I am going to send on to "You Bet Your Garden" to see if it can be identified. Stay tuned! And here also are some photos of all the work.

Just plain lazy?

It had been raining for several days here, which is a good excuse for me to avoid the heavy lifting I have yet to do in the garden. The weeding and paper mulching is almost done, and I cobbled together a new compost bin. But that's it. The fall seeds I ordered never came in, and the stores here stopped stocking seeds last month. So it looks like my only chance for a fall garden is planting garlic, and perhaps potatoes. The new fence is still waiting to be installed. The garden looks decidedly pitiful right now. I am still canning tomatoes bought from the local farm (10$ a bushel), trying to store enough before they disappear in two weeks. In truth, I am grateful for the excuse of the rain. I hope my energy comes back soon, but in the mean time, I think I'll take a nap!

Garden mystery

Remember the area of the yard I dedicates to melons? Anyhow, they were really happy there. Some plants are still growing, although there is one problem....I have no idea what the plants are! I am getting vines producing perfectly round fruit, a bit smaller than a softball, which starts out green and ripens (I assume) to a beautiful yellow/brown stripe. The fruit softens to an interior of pale yellow muchiness which smells a bit like cantaloupe. I haven't tasted it, because I may have planted some gourds, purely by accident. I know, the ideal gardener would NEVER not know what is in her own garden! But then I wouldn't have the fun of trying to find out, would I?
.

Oh no,is it Labor Day already?

The coming fall season has me in a gardening tizzy. I have been given some beautiful new fencing, and I will be using it to expand my garden for the next spring. I am removing grass, weeding the rest of the garden, drying herbs, and canning,canning,canning. I will not be building my geodesic dome; I haven't the energy! I am going to scour the neighborhood trash for panes of glass to make a cold frame or two, or perhaps build one with pvc pipe.  I ordered some heritage seeds from a newly discovered web site for fall planting. If all goes well, I will add a link to my blog page. And I will be shopping for new border perennials, which are always on sale around this time of year. Phew! I need a nap.

Preparing for fall

I am clearing all my beds, getting ready to spread the compost the worms made for me out of our veggie kitchen scraps.As I cleared the herb garden of weeds today, I decided to build a cold frame close to the house to try to extend the growing seasons. After researching, I decided to build a geodesic dome greenhouse instead.There are quite a few sites online that offer advise on this project. Stay tuned!

Small lessons for next spring.

This morning I have been busy in the garden, after a couple of weeks of  neglect due to very hot and humid weather.  Pulling weeds, harvesting seeds, and clearing the rows for fall plantings. Here are a few things I have learned. Smarter gardeners then I probably know these things already, but there is nothing like learning from personal experience! So here goes:

• Newspaper as a weed block and garden mulch really works well. I will use it throughout the garden!
• Peas are delicious, but a pain because they take so long to shell. I will now plant mostly sugar snaps.
• Try a new variety of cucumbers, the ones I tried this year had less taste than I like.
• The soap/pepper/garlic spray works like a charm.
• Be careful not to wait to long to harvest the seeds from bolted lettuce. Several varieties dropped their seeds before I got to them.
• I like the way plum varieties of tomatoes grow.A longer season of production, no cracking, healthier plants, and easier to support.
• I liked my separate area for melons. I didn't have to worry about encroachment on the other crops, and they seemed low maintenance.
• I liked my herb garden, but I need to work on making it more low maintenance too. The veggie garden takes most of my gardening energy.

Did I mention tomatoes?

It has been so hot and humid here in south jersey that I come in from the garden literally dripping. So I have confined myself to harvesting and watering. See my photo of today's harvest below! In the mean time, August is soon here. The days of reasonable gardening weather are few. And most of my garden is getting ready to quit. So I am reading about fall gardening. This is not something I usually do, my gardening energy decreasing in direct proportion to the increasing humidity. Stay tuned.
         I am saving seeds and planning for next spring. The most successful tomatoes seem to be the Italian (plum) variety. They have not been bothered by the heat; they have not wilted even a little bit . They have produced beautiful, regular, delicious fruit. The least successful are the big ones. They are huge, but they wilt, crack easily, and grow in irregular shapes. They also seem to attract the most pests.The spray I use (see my last post) keeps the bugs at bay now, but the big tomato plants have not recovered. So I will save seeds from the best plants for next year. Today's tip:  many seeds are now on sale at a big discount. Grab the heritage organic varieties, stick 'em in a Ball jar with a packet of silica (you saved those, didn't you?), and shove them in a cool ,dry,dim,spot . Happy eating!

Tomatoes city !

I am picking so many tomatoes every day now that I have put out a table to "sell" them (letting people leave what they wish in a jar on the honor system). And the formula I found on you tube for anti insect spray seems to be working very well.  I will give my version of the "recipe" here with this strong caution: do NOT get this stuff on your clothes, because it really does STINK and you will have to wash everything AND take a shower.
Here is the recipe : Put a few tablespoons of garlic in a blender along with a couple of  whole hot peppers (dry or fresh, with seeds included) and add water. Blend. Pour into a lidded container (i used a couple of quart sized canning jars) and then add some chopped up vegetable based soap (i got mine at a yard sale ). Let this whole brew sit for a week or more. Strain the resulting mixture into a spray bottle (hold your breath. It stinks) and spray all over your plants. NOTE: when I first made this stuff I put the soap right in the blender, which did work until the soap made bubbles and overflowed onto my counter. So don't do that!

If I could save time in a bottle...

Here in jersey the weather is fantastic. Clear blue skies, a few fluffy clouds, and lots of heat. Except of course, for the occasional sudden thunderstorm. I love it. An early morning or late evening trip to the garden to visit the tomatoes, harvest the cukes, and spray for bugs. Done and done. I am busy traveling to the local pick-your own farms, trying to save summer making jams, jellys, and freezing fruit. And I am going to try to make some plum wine with the kit borrowed from my ever-patient son in law.
Ever since the summer solstice, I have been rising early and staying up late, soaking up the sun against the impending fall. I am going to try to meet each day with joy and gratefulness, knowing that gardening is a privilege not many have. If i get a little blue in the coming cold, I'll just open a jar of jam and remember to count my blessings!

f

Gardening in summer heat

From previous seasons, I know that my enthusiasm for gardening decreases as the summer heat and humidity increases. The exciting days of planting are gone until the fall,and the routine tasks of weeding and disease prevention multiply with the rising heat index. Time to get out the sketch book, and try to capture those little pieces of beauty in the garden like the blossoms, the tendrils.This encourages me to keep the garden relatively neat in the heat. That, and a small glass of wine!

What do vacations do to a garden?

Taking a summer vacation can be a risky business for gardeners. Ours was last week, and the before-travel preparations seemed to have worked  fairly well. I placed layers of newspaper around all the tomato plants to keep weeds out: a complete success. I should have done between the rows too! The automatic sprinkler kept the garden happy through a weather hot spell. I was glad to see that the tomatoes, peppers,cucumbers, and melons all have blossoms & I can't wait for the fruit. The insecticidal soap I used seems to have worked for the most part; some of the tomatoes have damage on their lower branches which I will have to look at more closely and try to treat. The herb garden is completely overtaken with weeds,the result I fear of neglecting to mulch as I should have. And my front yards flower beds look (as my daughter eagerly pointed out) like a suburban jungle. But at least everything is GROWING. Hurray!

Lettuce,tomatos,and peas...oh my!

This is a prolific time of year for the garden. Planting is done until fall, so all I do now is weed,water, and harvest! The garden is doing well, some plants better than others. Here is a report...or a spot of  bragging, take your pick:

The early crop of lettuce is now so prolific that I am giving the stuff away . The peas are unexpectedly slow; they are just now developing pods. The broccoli is positively huge,and I am waiting for those baby florets.The tomatoes are growing fast, although they have developed a bug problem,and just I sprayed them with insecticidal soap.The peppers I thought were dying have bounced back with enthusiasm, and the cucumbers are growing well too. GO garden!

Caning Preparations

Several days of heavy rain have restrained my garden activities, so I have begun preparing for caning season.Caning can be economical IF you do it several seasons in a row to make up for the initial costs of supplies and equipment. The best reason to can, though, is to make those recipes that you will never find on the supermarket shelves.I made a new recipe (for me) last year called pear cranberry chutney which is nothing short of amazing. My best advise: get the Ball book of caning entitled "The Blue Book of Caning. " for a great how-to guide.

Internet garden?

I am about to date myself by  observing how the internet has changed gardening. Puzzling over why my favorite lilac tree is not blooming , I searched my favorite web site (It's you bet your garden,I have a link for you), looked up lilacs and found my answer (not enough sun) in a few minutes flat. When I first started gardening, I would have had to visit local library, and spend at least a half an hour trying to find an answer. Amazing! BUT I still have to go out there and trim the tree near the lilac myself, don't I? Thank Goodness, I do!

Row cover review & update

I started the spring hunting for more economical alternatives to row covers. You see these things in garden magazines, seed catalogs; half moon shaped wire covered with cloth. They are placed over crops to warm the soil in the spring, extend the season in the fall, and protect the crop from insects. Sounds good, right? Only trouble is, they are expensive. I decided to buy yards of  cheesecloth, drape it around the plants, using left over wooden stakes from an old fence to hold it up, plus clothes pins and landscape fabric pins to hold it all in place. The good news; it is working like a charm! It has kept out bugs and rabbits, too. But after being in the garden in all weathers, it is starting to unravel in places, and I suspect it will not last more than one season. Here's hoping!

Lettuce Eat!

So yesterday I gathered the first real harvest in the garden. A basket full of lettuce, all plucked from the outside leaves so there is plenty more where that came from. This stuff is so tender, sweet, and gorgeous that I could honestly have eaten the whole basket full in one sitting. The most successful are the ones from a variety pack entitled "mescalin," so what I really got was a variety of lettuces unaffordable in the grocery store. Looking them up, I find I have Mizuna,Oak Leaf, Arugula,and Ruby. I also have Boston, Iceberg,and Romaine in another row. Plus, I got a few small spinach leaves, too. Last week, I started some more baby lettuce indoors to see if I could get another crop in before the heat of summer comes. If not, I can eat the sprouts,call them micro greens, and feel like a real gourmet!

Hardscaping Adventures

Hardscaping is the name given to non-growing things put in the garden. And I discovered exactly why. It's HARD! this year I decided to try to make a permanent path to my garden as an attempt at beautification. At first,  I thought I would get some free crushed oyster shells, having remembered that on one of our many drives , my husband and I had seen house-sized piles of them in a town called (I am not lying) Shellpile. So I made several frustrating phone calls to find exactly who was in charge of the shells. Eventually, I was told that the shells were all owned by the state of New Jersey, which uses them to restore oyster beds (again, the honest truth). Oh,well. I then scrounged some patio bricks from my long suffering son, read a bit about how to install them, and was off to the races.Two weekends and sore backs later we had installed a small path through the herb garden . I love the result, but so far, lack the fortitude for the bigger project out to the main garden. I comfort myself with the thought that it may be pretty, but I can't eat it! 

I'm hunting wabbits...

Even though the row covers I have over my lettuce seems to be keeping them at bay, I still resent rabbits. It is so disheartening to raise plants from seed, put them out in the garden, watch them grow, and then- disaster. The furry beasts eat everything down to the roots. Every time my dog chases one out of the yard I let go an evil chuckle. Hee-hee-hee. Go find your food elsewhere,you wascally wabbit!  Those veggies are MINE!

In the weeds

As scripture says, God rains on the just and unjust alike, and so it is with gardens. The same rain followed by sunshine that has been encouraging prodigious crops of lettuce has also encouraged weeds. Lots of 'em. Bunches.Armies.This year, I am trying a tip I think I heard from Whyy's "You Bet Your Garden," newspapers. The idea is to uses them as a mulch between plants to prevent the weeds from getting any sun. I laid down a double or triple layer of paper and anchored it with landscape fabric pins. Here's hoping!

Encouraging Words

After a couple of days with out a visit from me, the garden has (forgive the cliche') blossomed. All the plants I have out there have grown. So have the weeds,of course. Some of the lettuce is ready to harvest! I feel like having a salad party...is there such a thing? While weeding today, I found some little dill plants which have sprung up where I planted seed last spring. So I am going to try to transplant them to the cucumber section of the garden. Anyhow, this is all by way of proving that nature will have her way, and that a gardener's job is to

get out of her way whenever possible. What a relief!

Garden Envy

Perusing this month's Mother Earth News I was struck with the wrong kind of green thinking...it is envy. This is what happens when I see photos of other people's gardens, especially the pretty ones! It is also what happens when I am not actually IN my garden for a couple of days, as happened this week due to the weather and my schedule. Pretty gardens are nice, and I have nothing against them. But I am trying to have a low cost garden, and lots of the prettier frills are things I will need to hunt for for free, or buy on clearance at the end of the season. Just like I did for my essentials (shovel and rake bought on sale. fence gotten for free, etc.). I think I will trot out to the garden in spite of the rain today. The plants will still be growing, even inside my ugly fence!

Garden gadgets

How much stuff do you really need to have a garden? Not much, really. Start with a spade. A spade is a shovel with a pointed end. If you can only get one tool, you need to dig, obviously. And I have found that the pointed end of the spade to be quicker penetrating earth than a shovel. Of course, they usually are a bit smaller, which means more digs. For short people like me, with small arm muscles, a spade will keep you from lifting too much at once.
Next, get a rake. Not a flexible leaf rake, but a metal one. You will use this to even out the soil, weed between rows and between plants. This will save your back, believe me!
Lastly, you will need a hose and access to a spigot. Every gardener runs across a bit of dry weather. If your soil is dry a couple of inches down, its time to water. Water as early in the morning as you can to keep your garden happy.
 For my first garden , my kids and I used spoons to dig the holes for our plants. Our plants grew anyhow. The family still jokes about it eventually became difficult to eat our breakfast cereal because all the spoons were in the garden!

Gardener's brains

Even though I have had some type of vegetable garden of my own for many years now, in some ways,I feel like a beginning gardener. Take for example,roses. I don't grow them. They are beautiful, and I especially love the fragrant varieties, but after reading about the maintenance...diseases, planing requirements, varieties,and so on, I am still too intimidated to give them a try. I am already busy with my yard; my veggie garden, my much smaller kitchen herb garden, my few flower beds, and my fruit trees keep me busy already. Plus I am still working on clearing the outer edges near our fence, which were overgrown with mysterious vicious leafless sticker vines when we came to this house 20 years ago. These things are pure evil,whatever they are, and have caused many a wicked cut. So I have avoided roses.
All this is by way of saying that it is easy to be intimidated when beginning to garden. And it doesn't help that the image of gardening is so-what's the word- uncool? Gardeners are dirt poor hippies, or rich yuppie hobbyists, or garden club geniuses. They use Latin, for goodness sake. They have gardener's brains. A beginning gardener can feel as if there is too much to learn, and that it is impossible to succeed with out encyclopedic knowledge and an infinite budget. But as someone I know recently pointed out, they are only plants, after all. If they don't work, you can throw them out, learn a little, and try again.

when you're weary....

This time of the year has more garden tasks than there is time. Making new beds, planting seedlings, weeding, starting seeds for later in the season to name a few. I enlist the help of my little grandchild. There isn't much in the way of real help there.But the fun we have discovering worms or just looking at the plants' progress gets me back in that mellow state of mind that I garden for.

Weird garden wisdom: worm compost

Warning: those of us who garden can tend towards weird obsessions, and this is one of them: compost. Don't be alarmed, though. Compost is just stuff from the garden turned back into the garden to keep it growing. We want to get the soil healthy. Vital and strong soil leads to vital and strong plants, leads to vital and strong harvests, and leads to vital and strong people (see I warned you about obsessions)!
Anyhow, instead of going to the big box store for bags of costly and chemical full soil,why not make your own ? For practically nothing? Dare to be weird. Put worms in your kitchen. For the last few seasons, I have had a big mulch pile out back and did nothing much to it except add leaves and plant leftovers (plus coffee grounds and clean egg shells), turn it once in a blue moon, and wait. I still have one, but I am finding the kitchen worm compost bin so much easier. I don't have to make daily trips to the pile anymore. I just feed the worms my chopped up bits of carrot tops, pepper stems, egg shells, and onion skins, ect. They are feeding like champs and making beautiful rich castings I will soon be feeding my garden.Here are photos of my bin, made from (cleaned) cat litter containers. I sent away for the worms...so should you!
 

You say to-may-to, I say to-maah-to.

Here is a photo of the lettuce. Some progress, huh! I spent the morning planting tomatoes, and soon realized I have more plants than I can possible fit in the garden. What to do? I think I'll give some away and plant some in my flower beds. I have yet to figure out where to put the melons. Fortunately, my plants don't mind; they keep on growing in spite of my un-gardener like indecision. My garden has no performance expectations.

Garden tip of the day: transplanting tomatoes

I have been concerned lately about my tomatoes, raised lovingly from seed since March. They were green, alright, but had stopped growing. I have been feeding them a mild tea made from worm castings, so I was expecting more progress. Last week, I decided to transplant them into bigger pots and hope for the best. BOY did it work! After only 10 days, they have sprouted up so far I now can put them in the garden. Why did I bother instead of putting them directly into the soil last week? 'cause this is jersey, folks, and I know spring weather can get cold (and last week it was in the 30's!). Here's hoping the warm weather is here to stay now!

Garden tip of the day:getting ready for summer

Here in south jersey summer can get hot and sticky, and the  ocean beckons. One of the investments I made in the garden is a water timer, and it has been a treasure for the last few seasons. It attaches to the spigot, and waters the garden automatically . Last summer I set it to water at 5am for an hour, a setting which I only changed if we got two days of rain in a row. I water with a circular sprinkler. I tried drip irrigation one season, but found the hose degraded; after one season parts of the hose just fell apart. I have several lengths of hose leading out to the garden all attached to each other with "quick release" gadgets so I can detach them easily and move them for the mower. So easy, and inexpensive too.

An Easter Garden Meditation

What can Easter mean to the gardener? It's not just the usual cliche' about the renewal of the land, the return of the sun,the birds and the growing season (however profound they all are). When I struggle with the world's horrors and personal loss, the garden gives hope.  Sometimes the simple act of holding some earth in my hands is unexplainably consoling. A garden teaches me to wait. If I wait, and don't do too much, if the weather holds and the pests stay away, maybe, just maybe, a good harvest will come. A garden makes the Ultimate Invisible visible.

Can you can?

Today is bad garden weather, so I am posting about home canning.
I started to make my own jams years ago as an attempt at making Christmas presents when we were too broke to buy. This was an unusual thing for me to do, as no one I knew canned. The puzzled looks we got that Christmas were unforgettable, as the recipients were not sure if my efforts were o.k. to eat, since my jam did not come from a store. Now, my family begs for the stuff, and I can't make enough! I only do water bath canning (no pressure cooker) , which means that I can do jams,jellies,compotes, marmalades, pickles and tomatoes (no low acid veggies,no meat).

Starting canning is expensive at the beginning, because you will need to buy some things especially for canning. Some online companies sell "kits," which are convenient for the beginning canner. You can go to the library to read up on home canning, and youtube has lots of how to videos to watch.The best results come when you are able to get very,very fresh (picked the day you plan to can) local produce to work with. Be sure to check out my link list to start your research.

Garden tip of the day: unconventional garden materials!

 In keeping with my theme of frugal gardening, here are a few things I have done to save some cash:

• I have found that several materials usually used in construction are great for the garden. I use a concrete reinforcing grid to grow my peas on. It has lasted three seasons thus far . I also use concrete reinforcing rods to aid my bamboo tomato stakes. Sturdy and cheap. Part of my fence, as regular readers know, was donated by my generous neighbor, & was originally used by a construction company in a demolition project. Ugly, true, but it has lasted well and was free!

•  I have a plastic shelving unit in my shed. I divided it in half (two shelves each). The holes in the shelves are perfect for standing/storing rakes ect. I have large plastic buckets (again from construction)  to store things that won't fit in the shelves. 

• My outdoor mulch pile is bordered by some shipping pallets rescued from the trash by my patient son-in-law. 

• Every fall, I keep an eagle eye out for those huge bags of leaves people intend to throw out and I snatch them for my mulch pile.
• I save those little packets that come in shoe boxes. They are great for keeping seeds dry.

Weed control

Ok, I admit it, I hate to weed. Today's tasks in the garden include me on the business end of a hoe, trying to clear the outside edges of the garden. Our grass has always included more creeping weeds than actual grass, and when the growing season kicks in the @#$%^& stuff  creeps right into my garden.I hate it so much I was even thinking -very briefly- of using chemical weed killer! I opted instead for using cardboard (as weed block) in the gaps between my rows and around the garden edges, but I am finding I don't like stepping on it. I like the feel of the earth beneath my feet. So it's high hoe-ing for me.Oh, well, it's another free workout, right?

Garden tip of the day: container gardens

This is for you out there who don't have the time, land, or desire for a full fledged garden....do a container garden! Get a big something....anything will do, really,(and free is best) but aim for a container that will stack, that is will fit on top of something else so that you don't have to bend down too far to tend it. Try for something non-toxic (no car tires, railroad ties ,ok?). It doesn't have to be very deep. Plan where you will put it...because once you fill it it will be a bear to move. Drill or punch holes in the bottom for drainage (not too big or the dirt will fall through). Get some stones, or broken pottery to put in the bottom. Then fill it up with a mix of peat moss (comes in a big square), top soil, and compost. For most people, these will have to be purchased. DON"T buy pre-mixed "potting mix" . Fill up the pot where it will reside.
Now for your plants. IF you do a tomato or two, you will need room enough in the container to support it as it grows...either by a stake or a tomato cage. Remember that whatever you plant will get (hopefully) a lot bigger...the label will tell you just how big. Water well, then let it be. Good Luck!

Garden tip of the day: where to begin?

If you have never gardened before, and live on the East coast, now is the perfect time of year to begin. If you are luck enough to have a patch of earth you call your own, hooray! If not, I'll post tomorrow on container gardens.
For everybody, here's where to start. Tomorrow morning, look outside to see where the sun is. Walk around your whole house/apartment/whatever (free workout,no gym time needed) and just see where the shadows or shade are, and where the sunny spots are too. When you come home from work, make the same trip again. Then see if there is a spot with dirt in it (no concrete)  that had pretty good sun at both times. That spot is your best bet for a successful veggie garden . Next:  the soil.

Why Garden?

Why do I garden? Previous posts may have given the impression that I garden to get healthy, fresh, organic food (true), or because I am concerned about the environment (true), or because I like getting food less expensively (true). But the real reason is this: I love playing in the mud! A day like today, after huge rain storms, is almost my favorite time to be in the garden. The earth is soft and squishy, and the whole garden has that fresh after-the-rain smell...take a deep breath and be joyful, it says. Let down your hair,close your eyes, take off your shoes, and feel,really feel the earth beneath you. Who cares if your hands and feet get muddy? Some fools pay to have mud treatments, right? And we gardeners get to do it for free.

Garden tip of the day: deer repellant

Here's a tip by way of my Dad, who has a garden in a part of his five acre woods. He struggles every year with the deer who come from the woods and ravage his garden plants down to the roots. He has tried mechanical owls ( break easily) , wolf pee ( washed away) , electric fence (they leaped over it) , all to no avail. This year, he is trying a new approach. He set up a motion sensor in the garden, and is connecting it to a radio at top volume and tuned to talk radio. He hopes the talk will fool the deer into thinking there are people around.. Either it will work, or the deer will all turn up.at election time to vote Republican!

Garden tip of the day

Here's a new feature I'm going to try: my garden tip of the day. I used yards of cheese cloth (paid about 30 dollars all together) held up by old garden stakes (free) to create my own row covers. I used clothes pins (cost 2 bucks ) to hold them on the top, and garden pins to hold them to the soil (the kind usually used to hold down weed block fabric, cost for a large box 12 bucks). I hope these will serve to keep out rabbits.
Cost for 32 ft of store bought version: 38 dollars plus shipping.
My cost for the entire garden, over 108 feet, 44 bucks.

garden tip of the day

cheap raised row covers

Why non-gmo seeds?

I grow most of my veggie garden from seeds that have no genetically modified organisms. Why? In my garden and yours, there should be a variety of plants, most of which have ancient origins from our own region. These plants have natural defenses against diseases native to our soil.  Our garden soil should be enriched with compost, worm castings, and cured cow manure. Our plants should come from seed grown organically, and contain no animal dna. This results in healthy plants that produce food rich in trace minerals,  which you can eat with confidence, knowing that you have supported a healthier earth. Need more? See Why not GMO next.

Another garden day

Although today seems filled up with errands galore, I am still lucky enough to go into the garden! Latest news: I dug raised rows for this year's garden. I follow "you bet your garden," a radio show on whyy radio every Saturday....he advises raised beds (using wood or or brick to create a bed and filling it with soil). I tried that last year, but honestly, I do almost all the garden work myself, and found establishing raised beds too taxing. Hunting for free wood, trying to fit it in my honda and dragging it to the garden...ugh! So this year I am just creating straight rows, building each up by digging. Much easier!

Baby plants

Here's a photo of my seed starting efforts. I got a plastic shelf unit a couple of years ago. I bought regular shop lights and 40 watt bulbs. They hang from the bottom of the shelves on little hooks, and can be adjusted for height. I buy non-gmo seeds (more on that later)...Here's a photo of some seedlings in March...some of these are now in the garden!

Welcome! to lizzy's backyard garden!

Welcome to my garden blog! I am experimenting with this blog as a way to brag about my garden, and share tips and ideas to all you weekend gardeners out there....I will be posting photos of this year's garden: enjoy!

The disaster after the storm.

The Beginning

This year's garden almost didn't happen! We had a series of weather disasters, one particularly wicked storm blew down several trees and knocked down my garden fence, and scattered debris everywhere. Thanks to the weeks of hard work by me, my son, and hubbie, we eventually cleared most of it away in time for spring!