Test Soil Temperature and Plant!

                             April 7, 2013                                                    April 23, 2013

Two weeks ago I said that I was ready to start outdoor planting.  Well, several snow storms and a lot of cold temps later we are finally expecting spring to hit this week.  My south facing garden bed is now completely snow free and today I decided to see if it is ready for planting.

How does one know if a garden bed is 'ready for planting'? 

First, if you did not clear the dead plant debris last fall, now is the time.  It really is best to clear dead debris in the fall so that any diseased material is removed and doesn't incubate for the following season.  It also allows the soil to warm up quicker in the spring.  If you have roots, bulbs or perrienal plants that need winter protection, cover them with a layer of fresh straw or chopped leaves rather than leaving their dead stems & leaves standing.

Second, the soil needs to be dry enough to work without causing clumping.  This is especially important in high clay soils like those we have in the Red River Valley.  Working the soil before it has adequately dried will create clods of soil that become very brick like once they dry.  You will not enjoy trying to break them up and neither will your plants.

                            about 4 inches deep                                       about 2 inches deep

Third, check the temperature of the soil.  Most seeds need at least 40F or greater soil temp to germinate.  You can use a soil thermometer or if you like, you can do like my Mom & raid your kitchen drawer for a reliable meat thermometer. Insert the thermometer at least two inches deep (seed planting depth) and wait a minute or two to take your reading.  Once your soil temp is 40F or greater, the soil is ready for the cool season seeds (peas, kale, spinach, some lettuce, etc).  If you are transplanting started plants, take a deeper soil temp to be sure the deeper soil is warm enough for the established roots of the transplants.

Now that I know my south bed is ready for planting, I am looking forward to getting my fingernails dirty later this week.  How about you?  Do you have a garden bed ready for spring planting?

Just encase you are wondering, my main veggie garden is still under snow as well as most of my front flower bed. 

Happy Spring Gardening from the Frozen North! ;)

Started Spring Planting Yet?

Main Garden

Are you ready to start planting your garden?  I was looking at my spring seed starting and planting guide today and realized that I am just 5 weeks from the average last 32F frost for my area!  That means that technically I should be able to plant spinach, kale, kohlrabi, potatoes, peas and other seeds already!  Woo! Hoo! Wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to get all of those cool season seeds in the ground and enjoy some early garden produce!  :D
 

South Garden

A look out my windows tells me that it will be a week... or two, or three, or... until I will be planting anything in my main garden yet this year.  There is probably a foot of snow still standing in my main garden, but the little garden I started on the south side of the garage last year is almost clean of snow.  That little space is my little ray of garden 'hope' for early spring planting. :)  It is still too wet, but maybe next week it will dry out enough to drop a few seeds.

So, planting outside is at least a week away at my house.  How about yours?

Happy Spring Gardening...?  :)

Spring Preparations: Keeping an itchy thumb busy!

Tomorrow (3/31) will mark 6 weeks until the average last killing frost for my area (May 12).  Over the last several weeks I have started broccoli, cabbage, peppers, tomatoes and some flowers indoors in preparation for planting day which I hope will be sometime the week following May 12.  :)

We have had an exceptionally warm spring this year and many gardeners are finding it hard hold back from planting both flower & veggie gardens.  If your green thumb is getting itchy maybe this is the year to try your hand at starting your own bedding plants.  Starting plants is not difficult and does not have to be expensive.  Most bedding plants should be started 6-8 weeks prior to being transplanted into an outdoor garden so the timing is still good! :D  In fact, many older gardeners will tell you to not plant your garden until Memorial Day weekend if you want to avoid frost and I have planted into mid-June in the past and had a good harvest.  Using Memorial Day as planting day would put us 8 weeks out.  Perfect!  Check out my seed starting show and tell to get you started.

If you insist on spending some time in your garden this weekend, consider one or more of these ideas...

1) Collect a soil sample so that you can analyze for nutrient deficiencies. 

2) Trim trees & shrubs (do not trim lilac or any other fall set flowering shrubs/trees).

3) Scatter flower seeds & gently hand cultivate the surface in informal flower beds so that plants can start as soon as the soil is ready.

4) Plant spinach, kohlrabi, kale, radishes, potatoes, onion sets, radishes, turnips. (Do NOT till your garden if it is wet, esp if your soil has a high clay content!  You will make a mess of your soil!)

5) Start a compost pile.

Have a great spring weekend!  Come back Monday and let me know what you did over the weekend.  Happy Gardening! :)

Plant of the Week: Peonies

Double Peony (Paeonia sp.)

Peonies are a favorite spring perennial and though right now spring may not be your first thought, it is a good time to think peonies...

Wild peonies are native to the northern hemisphere and come in three forms, herbaceous, tree, or a hybrid of the two called intersectional.  Whether cultivated or wild, peonies flower in the spring with cultivated peonies classified for sale by their flower type which may be as simple as a 'single' or complex as a 'bomb-double'.  Flower color may be white, red or yellow with many shades and combinations there of.

Cultivated peonies should be planted or transplanted in the fall (late August - October).  (This is why now is the time to be thinking peonies!)  If you have a well established peony that has not flowered well or at all for a season or two, it is time to dig it up and transplant it, but be aware that peonies develop extensive root systems.  While digging up the tuber may take time and energy, it is important that you take your time and try to keep the whole root intact.  Before digging, cut all the stems back to about 4 inches above the ground and then carefully start digging keeping in mind that the top of the tuber will not be more that two inches below the soil surface. 

Rinse off any remaining soil and debris on the tuber with spray from the water hose.  You will find that you can divide the old plant into several smaller sections and multiply your planting, or share the floral blessing with friends, family and/or neighbors.  As you divide the tuber, remove and discard any diseased or insect infested sections and keep those with 3-5 buds or 'eyes'.  A section with less than 3 eyes will take several years to produce a flower and then only in optimal conditions.

Whether transplanting an old plant or planting a newly purchased tuber, be sure to prepare the soil well.  Dig a hole twice as deep as you need for your root and fill the bottom with compost and a handful of bone meal.  Plant the tuber with the eyes facing the soil surface no deeper than two inches below the soil surface.  Be sure to tamp and water down the soil well as you back fill to ensure that the tuber is no deeper than two inches or it may not flower.  It is a good idea to cover the peony with 3-4 inches of  mulch the first winter, especially if it didn't get planted until late October, but peonies do not require mulching beyond the first winter.

Happy Gardening (& Spring Thinking!)! :)

Encouraging Ripening

Last week the first day of fall nearly past before I realize it had even arrived, and today is the average first 32F frost for my area and I didn't realized until late in the afternoon.  Why do I point these days out?  Well, because whether we like it or not, garden season will soon come to an end, and there are always a few last fruits/veggies that we would like to encourage to full ripening before that finale killing frost. 

This year I have green tomatoes, pumpkins & peppers.  Not only are the plants full of green fruit, but they are still trying to set on new fruit.  The reality is that any new fruit at this point in the season is not going to reach maturity, so I spent time in my garden this weekend cutting off all of the very small fruit, the flowers and growing ends.  This makes the plants focus their energy on the fruit that are already set.  Truth is I should have done this a couple of weeks ago, but now is better than not at all and hopefully I'll have 2 or 3 more weeks of warm days for these plants to invest all of their energy into the fruit they have and I'll have an abundant ripe harvest before this season ends.  :}  One can always hope...

Have you called an end to your 2011 gardening season yet?

Happy Gardening!  :)

Fall Planting

I planted a few things today hoping that we will have a long enough season for those seeds to produce for at least a few meals. ;}  Last week I posted my Fall Garden Planting Guide and hoped that I'd be able to do some planting over the weekend.  Well, we spent all weekend working on our ongoing deck project (one more weekend working on it & the deck should be completed & ready to stain. Yeah!) and I didn't do any planting .

Today I decided it was now or never so I dug out my seeds and planted a few things.  Here is what I planted:

-spinach
-mixed salad lettuce
-Brune D'Hiver Lettuce (from my Seeds of Change purchase)
-kohlrabi

Are you doing a fall planting?

Happy Fall Gardening! :)

Sick Tomatoes: Lesson Learned

Devastated Red Oxheart Tomato

On Monday I posted that I have some very sick tomatoes and I was in contact with some plant experts to try and figure out what is wrong with them.

I first contacted the National Gardening Association with pictures and questions.  They suggested the possibility of Tobacco Mosaic Virus but also recommended that I contact my local county extension.  I took their advice and emailed my pictures and questions to my local extension agent.  He thought that it looked like herbicide damage, but forwarded my email to the NDSU Plant Pathology Diagnostics Lab.  I spent 2 days in communication with the Plant Lab and ended up taking some of my plants to the Lab at NDSU.  They confirmed that my tomatoes are displaying classic signs of herbicide damage.

The question then turned to where in the world would that herbicide have come from.  The first suggestion was my mulch.  I was able to rule that out because I had observed the disfiguration of the tomato leaves before I put down the mulch a couple of weeks ago (besides the fact that I am very careful to keep treated grass clippings out of my garden!).

The focus then turned to the composted manure that I had used to amend my garden this spring.  I have gotten manure from the same source in the past and had asked myself the same garden safe compost questions that I would for any compost I had not made myself, but I contacted my source again and verified that they had not knowingly fed the animals herbicide treated food.

This left me stumped until I realized that certified weed-free hay is often required for traveling competitive animals, which some of these horses are.  It is very likely that they had eaten treated hay on occasion at the very least.  According to the Plant Lab, water soluble herbicides will pass through animals and remain potent for years after. So now I have an answer.  Most likely, my garden is contaminated by a water soluble herbicide that was introduced via manure I had used to amend the soil this spring.  :'(

Unfortunately, they were unable to tell me how long the herbicide will affect my garden, or if/when any produce from the garden will be table safe.  One individual from the lab had experienced similar damage in his garden last year and said that the plants did not exhibit negative effects this year, and that his family ate out of the garden even though it had been contaminated.  I will have to make that decision for my family sooner or later, but for now I have pulled up the four worst affected tomatoes only.  I am going to leave and observe the rest my plants until my husband & I have decided what to do.

This has been a not so pleasant garden adventure but a valuable lesson learned.  I do want to take this time to say we have great resources available to us, no matter where we live, through the National Gardening Association and local county extension!  Do not be afraid to contact either of them if you have questions or concerns.  They will at least be able to direct you to someone who can help you.

Happy Gardening! :}

Is it too late to plant a garden this year?

On Tuesday I was listening to my great friend Sheila, from FM Cheapskate, share about frugal living on a local radio station.  There was a question on how to get a deal on produce and along with other suggestions, she suggested one might plant a garden.  (What a GREAT idea! (wink! wink!) :D)  Discussion followed as to whether it was too late to plant a garden yet this year and what one could plant.  That got me thinking, how would I answer those questions... so here I go.

Is it too late to plant a garden yet this year?  
Short answer...
Absolutely NOT!  In fact, I was out in the mist and rain planting seeds just yesterday. :)

Long answer...
I went to my trusty NDSU extension website and pulled up their "Average Last Date of Spring Frost & First Fall Frost in North Dakota" page to figure out how many days we could expect yet in our season locally.  On average, Fargo's first fall frost (32F night time temp) is September 26 and hard frost (28F) on Oct 2.  After counting out the days, we have approximately 100 days of growing season left this year.  Remember, these are average dates, so frost could be earlier or later, but it's a great place to start working from.  Also, if you are willing to be vigilant about covering your garden, you may be able to extend that an extra week or two, but many of the warm season crops (like tomatoes & peppers) will stop flowering & producing fruit as the day time temps drop as well.

For those of you not local, contact your local county extension to find how long your growing season is.  Then you can also sit down with a calendar and count out the days remaining in your growing season.  For a generic frame of reference, Fargo is in the hardiness zone 4.

What can one plant yet this year?
The place to start with this question is to write out a list of what produce your family eats or might like to try and then look at the back of seed packets.  The back of each packet will list 'Days to Maturity' along with other planting information.  There are lots of plants that have been bred for short growing seasons and will list 80 days or less.  These are the seeds that you will want to look for.  For some veggies, like tomatoes and peppers, our full growing season is not long enough to get much, if any, harvest and those plants need to be started inside during late winter (see this guide for when to start seeds indoors) or purchased from a local garden center.  If you are interested in growing these plants you can get great deals on them right now as the garden centers are clearancing them, but check their 'days to maturity' as well and select those that look as sturdy and healthy as possible.  Many times end of the season plants produce great, but know that they are often pot bound and stressed and may not survive.

What if you do not have a backyard garden, is there still time?
(This wasn't one of the questions, but I'm sure some of you may be asking it.)
Yes!  You could dig up a spot this weekend and plant if you have the time and energy, but you can also plant a few things in flower beds or in pots.  Carrots, leaf lettuce or herbs strategically planted are just a couple of ideas for planting right into flower beds or containers without making them look like veggie gardens if you don't want to.  I frequently link to creative and frugal planter ideas on my facebook page, so be sure to check The Full Circle Gardener facebook page as well.

If you have an specific questions or ideas for short season planting, leave a comment or send me an email.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Happy Gardening! :D

Garden Watering Basics

After planting, my attention turns to making sure my new plants get everything they need to produce an abundant harvest for me.  Since I have already made sure there is adequate nutrients in the soil by adding composted manure this spring, I am now focusing on making sure the plants have the water they need.

A garden needs about 1 inch of water per week to keep the plants healthy and to produce an abundant harvest (maybe 2 inches during peak production depending on what you have planted).  In my area, typically we do not need to water every week.  During dry spells, I will want to water once a week so that the soil is wet 6-12 inches deep after that watering.  This encourages the plant roots to reach deep and helps the plant to tolerate short dry spells. 

I conserve my watering investment by mulching both my veggie garden and flower beds.  I mulch with lawn clippings from our yard in the garden and wood chips in the flower beds.  Mulch insulates the soil from the ever-blowing North Dakota wind and summer sun, and can provide more organic matter for the soil as it breaks down.  As a secondary benefit, mulch helps reduce weeds as well. (YEAH!)

Next time I will share with you some mulching options and things to consider as you choose the mulch that is right for your yard.

Happy Gardening! :)


Other Post in this Series:
Garden Watering Basics
Mulching Basics
Capturing Rainwater for Drier Days
Thinking Through Making Your Own Rain Barrel

Spring Planting! Experimenting with Square Foot Gardening

My newly planted garden - May 19, 2011

Last week I shared with you that I have made a real effort to use the vertical space in my garden.  Doing this has given me the ability to plant and grow more in the space that I have.  This spring I also planted some things using the gardening method called 'square foot gardening'.  I'd never heard the words 'square foot gardening' until this spring when I attended a gardening day, but this method is also suppose to maximise utilization of garden space and I'm all for that!

Mel Bartholomew, the creator of the concept of square foot gardening, recommends planting in small raised beds so that you do not have to walk in your garden space.  This is a big benefit as you do not have to leave space for walking inside your garden and you do not have to worry about decreased production from compaction in the root zone.  While this is a great option for someone who does not have an established garden, I already have approximately a 14x20 ft raised bed and am not planning on changing it anytime soon.  I instead chose try my hand at square foot gardening along the front edge of my garden where I can reach in without having to walk in the garden.

reachable squares for easy access

My kids and I planted carrots, parsnips, spinach, lettuce, beans, kohlrabi and snap peas along this front edge (kids too can reach in and help without walking all over my plants... I'll tell you in a month or so if they strip all the produce out as well! ;}).  According to this system, your garden should be divided into one foot squares in which you plant specific numbers of seeds or plants based on the size of the mature plant.  Thankfully he also gives recommendations in his book** so I followed his guide.  Below is what I planted and the recommended densities for one square.  Note: Some of my seeds are several years old so I did plant 2 seeds in each location that I will have to thin out if both come up.

carrots     16
parsnips*     16

4 squares of snap peas

spinach     9
lettuce     4
bush purple beans     9
bush wax beans     9
kohlrabi*     9
snap peas     8

* not in his chart so I found something that was close at mature size and followed that suggested density

**'All New Square Foot Gardening; Grow more in less space' by Mel Bartholomew

Are you trying something new in your garden this year?  a new veggie?  a new variety of an old favorite?  a new method of gardening?  I'd love to hear about it!

If you are a square foot gardening 'pro', I'd love to hear your thoughts as well.  :)

Happy Gardening! :)

Spring Planting! Go vertical!!!

Planted May 19, 2011

Oh the joy of digging your fingers into deep, dark, rich soil and dropping a seed or two into the hole knowing that in a few short weeks will be producing juicy tidbits for your table!  Today I had that distinct please as I planted my garden.

I also had the distinct pleasure of knowing that I had started all but two of the plants I put into my garden.  In January, I began the 2011 journey of gardening by inventorying my seeds and deciding what I wanted to plant.  Then in February I began starting seedlings in anticipation of this day.  I am not completely happy with how my seedlings did this year.  The tomatoes are small yet and the peppers just past the first leaf stage this week. :(  I did plant the tomatoes, but the pepper are still in the greenhouse.  I have been letting the temps get up to 98F in there during the hot part of the day and they have started to really take off.  I'm hoping that it will stay warmer in there over this upcoming rainy spell & they will be encouraged to a size big enough to plant and get produce from before fall frost!  (If not, I'll be knocking on your door for a couple since you started yours with me right?!? ;P)

You will notice lots of structures in my garden.  A couple of years ago I realized that I was missing out on using a huge chunk of space in my garden by not using the vertical space.  Last year I took the leap and made myself some structures to start using that vertical space more efficiently.

Mini-Pumpkin Trellis

Today, I planted mini boo & jack-be-little by the 6ft tall A-frame.  Last year they shot right up the side and I thought they'd go for the stars!  Instead, after reaching up a couple of feet beyond the top, they started down the other side.  (These little pumpkins were so much fun in the fall for the kids to paint and I was still able to cook them for pies!)

Cucumber Trellis

 I used an old crib railing I was given to trellis my bush cucumbers.  Last year, the crib railing was the perfect height for the plants and the cucumbers hung down through the railings so they were really easy to find.  I was so happy with both of these vertical structures and would wholeheartedly recommend something like them to anyone wanting to move into the vertical spaces of their garden!
  
Notice the ice cream buckets with netting over them under the trellises?  This is something new I'm trying this year.  I have been plagued with squash borers the last couple of years.  They are the larvae of a moth that lays it's eggs at the soil line on vining plants early in the spring.  After they hatch, the larvae borrow into the stem and eat it from the inside out.  For two years in a row now, they have killed my bush buttercup squash and left their mark on the rest of my vines.  I'm ready to put a stop to them!  My Dad read about using a tunnel he called a cloche and netting to stop moths from getting to plants, so last fall he and my husband made a couple of tunnels so I could try this out.  I really hope it works... I'll let you know in a couple of months.

squash cloche covered with bird netting

I am also planning on using the tunnel as a trellis after the plants are well established.  I'll stake it up on it's short side and let the buttercup squash climb it.  I was just reading this week on a National Gardening Association facebook post that you can support heavy produce with a sling made of panty hose or t-shirt, so I thought I'd give a more weighty crop the trellis treatment this year.  I also planted some jack-o-lantern pumpkin seeds that I got from the Seeds of Change organic seed deal that was available in March.  I plan on making a trellis for that to go vertical as well!  Are you seeing that you can put so many more plants in your garden when you use your vertical space?!?!

A cloche is technically a bell-shaped greenhouse placed over a plant to protect it from the elements according to an article on the National Gardening Association's website.  I employed this concept using milk, juice and soda bottles to cover my small tomatoes today.  I'm hoping that this will keep them a little warmer and encourage them to grow quicker.  I just removed the lids for ventilation, cut the bottoms off and slid them down over my poor little tomatoes.

My tomato cages are new this year.  They are another brain-child of my Dad.  I have complained since I began my own garden that I couldn't find a study tomato cage; one that wouldn't collapse under the weight of plants heavy with tomatoes.  Mom and Dad had made the above mentioned tunnel cloche and this tomato cage as part of their arsenal to keep deer and turkey out of their garden.  Mom was happy with her cages and said that she had at least one plant come out the top of the cage!  I placed the cages in clusters of 3 hoping they will support each other, but I remain a little nervous about the stability of the cages.  I guess time will tell!  The cages have a 2ft diameter and so I took a chance & planted 2 plants in each one.  I suspect that I will have a tangled jungle on my hands this fall!  Again, time will tell.

I told you that I was able to attend a gardening day a couple of months ago and was excited to implement some of what I learned in my garden this year.  I was encourage to continue my utilization of the vertical space, but I also was introduced to the concept of square foot gardening.  I implemented that concept with a number of my smaller crops and will share more about that soon in another post.

I hope you were able to play in the dirt today, especially if you're expecting rain like we are tomorrow!  I certainly enjoyed my day. :D

Happy OUTDOOR Gardening! :D