Saturday, June 28, 2014

Permaculture in a Midwest garden and yard

Interplanted suburban garden

Saturday, June 28, 2014

You may have heard something about permaculture.  The book “Gaia’s Garden” brought this type of gardening to many.  What is it?

Permaculture is creating a synergistic garden; one that is symbiotic and supporting.  It includes enriching the soil, planting for nutrients, planting for shade, planting for food, landscaping for water, planting to attract beneficial insects, planting to repel bad bugs, planting to optimize your harvests.  It is all of this combined to create a self sustaining garden and yard.

You can go big and do it all or start small and work your way into a full permaculture yard.

If you are just getting started, the first step is planning.  For planning, I would join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) to find out what grows well in your area and what you like to eat that can be grown locally.  You will get fresh nutritious food while supporting your local farmer.  It was amazing how well we ate and how small our grocery bill was when we first joined a CSA!  We also discovered many vegetables that we loved but had never eaten.

Before placing your garden bed, look at how your water drains.  Create small swells/berms to move the water to where you want it to go-like your vegetables.  Utilize rain barrels to capture water.  There are some quite attractive rain barrels available on line and even at big box stores.  Together these will significantly reduce your watering needs.

Next, determine how the sun traverses through your yard.  You will want to put the sun lovers where they get southern exposure.  Add shade to reduce your utility bills and give relief to your plants.  In the spring, all of your vegetables love the sun.  Come summer, many appreciate some shade and cooler temperatures, particularly greens.  Even peppers get sunburned when temps get in the 90’s in full sun all day.  Some relief from afternoon soon is appreciated.

When you are thinking of where to place those shade trees and bushes, consider adding fruit trees and bushes that you and the birds will enjoy.  Planting trees and bushes provide shelter for birds that love to eat insects.  Look for trees and bushes that also provide food for the birds, including winter berries.  Birds help to keep the garden in balance.  Don’t forget a water source so they can get a drink.  Make sure the water stays clean or the birds can get sick just like we do from contaminated water.

Now you are ready to place your garden bed.  For prepping the soil, a super easy method is to do sheet mulching which I outlined here http://victorygardenonthegolfcourse.blogspot.com/2014/02/easy-ways-to-make-new-vegetable-garden.html
You are basically composting in place, building incredible rich soil, alive with microbial and worm activity, which provide all the nourishment plants need to thrive.  The great thing about this technique is that no tilling is required!  Prepare in the fall and by spring, the bed is ready for planting.

When the garden bed is ready for planting, do a soil test, add the nutrients indicated.  I also add minerals to the soil as most soil today is depleted of their minerals.  After getting your soil in balance, you will be able to grow the right crops in the right rotational order and compost to keep the soil fertile and in balance without outside inputs.

Beneficial, pollinating insects love the herbal flowers and the ornamental flowers.  The pollinators insure the vegetable flowers are pollinated to produce their fruits.  If the flowers are not pollinated, they will just fall off.  We garden organically and only use organic insecticides in dire times.  Insecticides don’t know the difference between a good bug and a bad bug; it kills them all.  If you can wait, the bad bugs will attract the good bugs that eat them.  Then, you will have balance.  The first year, I bought insects that feed on the bad insects (lady bugs, parasitic wasps, and preying mantis).  It takes them a year or two to get established.

You can add beekeeping to your yard.  Or if that is not feasible, just placing mason bee homes on trees will attract these natives to your yard for pollinating.

You can plant flowers that naturally repel the bad bugs like nasturtium and wild marigold (tagetes minuta).  Even deer do not like the fragrance of marigolds.  Sometimes just surrounding your garden with marigolds and fragrant Mediterranean herbs is enough to keep the deer out of your garden.  I put nasturtium in pots and circle the garden bed with marigolds.

Interplanting vegetables and herbs that support others is a win-win.  An example is placing “nitrogen fixers” next to plants that love nitrogen.  You can also place nitrogen lovers in the spot the nitrogen fixers were.   Be conscious of how you interplant and succession plant your vegetables to keep the soil in balance and give each vegetable the nutrients it needs. Well known nitrogen fixers are peas and beans.  Clover also does the job and it is edible.

By having a variety of plants mixed in your garden, the bugs that prey on one type of plant will not be able to just hop next door for their next meal.  This keeps uncontrollable infestations from occurring.

A couple of common plants that bring an assortment of nutrients up from deep in the soil is mustard and dandelions.  If you want a larger leaf dandelion, the French dandelion is the ticket.  You get great salad greens even in the heat of summer and an auto nutrient fertilizer.

There are even plants that are good for breaking up your soil.  These are ones that go deep, like daikon, chicory, dandelion, and mustard.


This is just some of the highlights of “permaculture” to give you an idea of what it is about.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

What to plant in your vegetable garden over the summer



Saturday, June 21, 2014

Wondering what you can plant each month in the summer?  Here are plantings by month.  June planting is for summer harvesting.  You begin planting end of July and through August for fall and winter harvests.

June
Basil
Bush beans
Beets
Broccoli
Broccoli raab
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Chard
Collards
Corn
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Bulbing fennel
Kale
Leeks
Okra
Parsnips
Salsify
Summer squash
Sweet potatoes
Tomatoes
Turnips
Watermelons

July
Basil
Bush beans
Beets
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery
Chard
Chinese cabbage
Collards
Corn
Endive
Kale
Kohlrabi
Mustard greens
Parsnips
Rutabagas
Salsify
Scallions
Spinach
Tomatoes
Turnips

August
Arugula
Bush beans
Beets
Cabbage
Corn salad
Endive
Kale
Lettuce
Mustard
Radishes
Scallions
Spinach

Turnips

Monday, June 16, 2014

First ripe tomatoes!

Yellow Tumbling Tom

Monday, June 16, 2014

It is finally here; the first ripe tomatoes!  The number one vegetable grown in gardens across America is the tomato.  There is nothing like a vine ripened tomato fresh from the garden.

My first to the finish line in my garden this year are the Yellow Tumbling Tom and Baby Boomer.

Yellow Tumbling Tom is a dwarf that is happy in a pot or in the ground.  It is my first year growing this variety.  It will grow to 20-25” tall by only 6” wide.  You can put several of these plants in a single large container.  They are very ornamental, cascading over the sides of the container with their bright yellow fruits.

You can also grow the heirloom Red Tumbling Tom.  It has red cherry tomatoes and cascades up to 30” long.  It is a larger plant than the yellow hybrid.

Baby Boomer is a small cherry size red tomato on a dwarf plant as well.  Baby Boomer is an upright plant that will grow 20-25” by 20-25”.  It is purported to be a very prolific dwarf, yielding up to 300 fruits per plant.  They produce right up to frost.
Baby Boomer

To keep your tomatoes healthy and producing all season long, keep even moisture to them, don't water the foliage, and fertilize with one high in potash (the last number in NPK listings).  Uneven watering will cause fruits to crack.  Tomatoes are susceptible  to fungal diseases and water on their leaves encourages fungal growth.

How often you fertilize depends on whether you are growing your tomatoes in the ground or in a pot.  If in the ground, fertilize when first planted and then monthly after the first fruits appear.  I get the fertilizer specifically for tomatoes since it has high potash and the minerals calcium, magnesium and iron that are needed for robust fruits.  Lack of calcium can result in blossom end rot.  Egg shells have lots of calcium in them so you can crush the shells and place under the mulch around your plants as well.

Saturday, June 14, 2014

June planting calendar



Saturday, June 14, 2014

June is a perfect month to plant summer vegetables.  Warm season veggies like tomatoes, eggplant, squash, melons, peppers, and basil just love summer.  Don’t worry that you didn’t get these sun lovers in on Mother’s Day.  They will make up for lost time!

Here is a list of all the veggies that you can start this month:
Any Mediterranean herb-basil, thyme, oregano, chives, rosemary, sage
Bush beans or peas (I like growing snow peas so you can eat pod and all)
Corn (with corn you only get one or two ears per plant)
Cucumbers-bush or vining types
Greens-Chard, leaf lettuce (wait until end of July to resow headed lettuce for fall), mustard, collard greens, and spinach.  Give them a cool spot with afternoon shade for longest lasting before bolting.
Onions (my favorite is Egyptian walking onions, a perennial that loves to be in a pot or the ground)
Any in the nightshade family-eggplant, peppers, tomatoes
Potatoes
Root crops-beets, carrots, radishes, turnips (be sure to harvest young to get the best flavor in warm months)
Squash-zucchini, butternut, pumpkins
Sweet potatoes if you have a long growing season.

Watermelons-there are even types for pots or small spaces

Sunday, June 8, 2014

What I planted this week end

Newly seeded pot

Sunday, June 8, 2014

It is in the mid 80’s and we haven’t gotten any rain for a couple of weeks now.  Summer is definitely here!  I started watering the garden beds as the veggies were wilting.

I like trying new varieties while keeping the ones I have come to depend on.  This week end I planted seeds of summer lettuces I grew last year that did well and also am trying some other new veggies.  I will get them started on a planter and then decide if I leave them in the planter or transplant them into the garden.
*Heat resistant lettuce:  Red Sails-stays sweet even when bolting, Jericho romaine, Green Towers romaine, New Red Fire lettuce, and Simpson Elite.
*Pretty shades of red lettuce:  “Valentine” mix from Botanical Interests.
*Aunt Molly’s ground cherry:  1/2” golden yellow fruit, productive and only 18” tall by 24” wide.  Fruit from the end of July until frost.
*Purple tomatillo:  large purple fruits good for salads and salsa.
*Red Belgian pepper:  high yielding, 3.5” long, that are sweet and rich in taste.
*Thai Holy Kaprao Basil:  a religious Hindu herb that has purplish green leaves and a spicy clove scent.
*Blue spice basil:  vigorous basil with showy deep purple flowers and a heavy spicy vanilla scent.  I am growing this one to put in my cleaning sprays.  Sounds heavenly!
*Turkish orange eggplant:  3” orange eggplant fruits on a small plant that yields well.  Sweet, rich taste when picked while they are green with light orange.  And they are pretty to boot.


It is always fun to try new varieties!

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Back yard strawberries

Fresh picked strawberries

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Strawberries are super easy to grow and they don’t take up much room or have thorns like other berry plants!  Strawberries can be grown in the garden bed or in a pot.  They prefer a soil pH between 5.5 and 6.5 and a lot of nitrogen each spring.

Strawberries originated from woodland strawberries, which are small and not nearly as tasty as the cross bred strawberries in gardens today.  There is evidence that strawberries have been cultivated since the 1300’s in France.  The Romans mention its medicinal use in literature.  
Wild woodland strawberries
Strawberries are full of anthocyanins which are antioxidants known to be beneficial to arterial cell function.  They are low in sugar as well making them a great choice for those sensitive to sugar.

Strawberry plants are less than a foot tall and send out runners.  They are great for planting under larger plants.  The mother plant does not stay productive for more than a couple of years.  The daughter plants will pick up when mom drops off.

There are different types of strawberry plants:  June bearer, everbearer, and day-neutral.  I planted one of each so I get strawberries throughout the summer.  June bearer types give berries from late May to June.  Everbearers produce berries when it is cool in the late spring and fall.  Day-neutral types start producing in mid June and keep producing until frost.

I also grow Alpine strawberries.  They have been producing for about 3 weeks now.  They have tiny little berries that are very sweet.

To keep strawberries producing as long as possible, check them daily and pick any ripe fruit.
Strawberry plants

If growing in pots, pick a pot that is at least 8 inches deep and 12 inches across.  Fertilize every couple of weeks when you water if growing in pots.  For garden plants, fertilize with an organic fertilizer when planting, again when flowering and then monthly while producing.

Slugs and birds will be your competition for the berries.  Look for slim trails as a tale tell sign of slugs.  For birds, you can throw netting over the plant to keep them from eating your berries.  I just share with the birds.  They don’t eat much.

Different varieties do better in certain regions than others.  Go with the types that your local nursery has in stock.  They will bring in the ones suited for your climate and zone.


Strawberries do not have a long shelf life.  Wait to wash them until right before eating as washing speeds up the deterioration of the fruit.  If you can’t eat them right away, be sure to keep them in the fridge.  You can also freeze them.  My favorite is to soak them in balsamic vinegar.  They keep a very long time this way.  They are tasty spooned over a salad, ice cream, oatmeal, brie or yogurt.  Yum!

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Growing summer salads

Sprouting broccoli

Sunday, June 1, 2014

When it gets hot, the cool season greens like lettuce and spinach “bolt” which means they send up a flower stalk.  The leaves on many types of lettuce get bitter when this happens.  So, how do you keep a summer salad going?

Some go to cucumber, onion, and tomato salads.  I remember these from my Granny.  Add a little apple cider vinegar, oil, and sea salt and you have a perfect summer salad.


From the Italian side of the family, insalate caprese which literally means salad from Capri, an island off the Naples coast in Italy.  It was made with fresh sliced tomatoes, fresh sliced mozzarella cheese, a pinch of dried oregano and drizzled with olive oil.  Elsewhere in Italy it is made with fresh basil instead of oregano.  Either way is delicious!

A good way to keep the lettuce going is to keep resowing lettuce seeds every 3 weeks to keep a new crop of lettuce growing.  I resow this time of year with “bolt resistant” varieties.  This week end I planted Red Sails (it stays sweet even when bolting), Jericho romaine, Green Towers romaine, New Red Fire lettuce, and Simpson Elite.  Magenta summer crisp and Optima butterhead are also heat resistant. 

Lettuce seed will not sprout when soil temps are above 75 F.  If in pots, move to a shady spot or you can use a shade cover or plant in the shade of other veggies if in the garden to keep the soil temperature down.

Red sails lettuce

I also sowed “Valentine” mix from Botanical Interests seed company.  I just love the red lettuces.  “Valentine” includes Marvel of Four Seasons, Lolla Rosa, Redina, Red Oak Leaf, Red Salad Bowl, Rouge d’Hiver, and Ruben’s Red.  I enjoy buying mixed seeds to have a variety on hand in the garden.

When cutting your lettuce, remove just the outer leaves.  The plant will continue to put on new inner leaves so you can harvest for weeks off each plant.

A seed packet contains enough seeds for at least a two or three seasons in them for us.  I put the opened packets in a zip lock and store in the frig to keep them viable for years.

Besides succession planting, I use summer greens to supplement the salad bowl.  My favorites are Chard (they come in beautiful colors), French sorrel (tastes like a tart apple), Blood veined sorrel, Sprouting Broccoli (their leaves taste like a mild broccoli and stay sweet all season), cultivated Italian dandelions and cultivated plantain.  For all but the sprouting broccoli, use the small, new leaves.  As the leaves stay on the plant, they become tougher and more bitter.  For larger leaves, steaming or sautéing is a great way to prepare these fresh greens.  Granny liked to sauté with bacon grease and drizzle some apple cider vinegar over them.
Garden chives in bloom

Herbs are also a great add to the salad bowl.  Tarragon, chives, basil, salad burnet and leeks or Egyptian walking onions are favorite adds.


When your lettuce does bolt, let the tastiest stalk go to seed and save the seeds to resow.