Quick tip-What to start in the May garden

New seeds in pot

Thursday, May 18, 2017

There are many heat lovers you can plant in the mid-May garden.

The heat lovers to start in the garden now:  Beans-bush, vine and lima, Beets, Cantaloupe, Carrots, Corn, Cowpeas, Cucumbers, Eggplant, spring Kale, Lettuce (heat tolerant varieties), Okra, Peas, Peppers, Potatoes, Pumpkins and other types of Winter Squash (Acorn, Butternut, Turban, Hubbard, etc), Radishes, Summer Squash (Zucchini, Pattypan, Yellow Crookneck, etc), Sweet Potatoes, Tomatoes, Turnips and Watermelon.

Just be sure to keep the soil moist until sprouted and not to dry out until the seedlings are a nice size with a couple of sets of "true" leaves.  These are the leaves that develop after the initial set of leaves.

Just follow the seed packet instructions for how deep to plant and spacing.   I like to put the large seeds like squash, cucumber, beans and peas directly into the garden.  For the smaller seeds, I will start in a pot and then when they are a sturdy size, transplant them into the garden bed.

Chard and lettuce ready to be transplanted to the garden

What's happening in the mid May edible garden

Herbs and lettuce in the garden

Sunday, May 14, 2017

Mid May is a wonderful time in the garden.  There are many greens for salads or steaming.  Herbs are growing robustly.  By this time of year, we no longer need to purchase produce from the grocery store and can get fresh herbs to add to ordinary dishes that make them taste wonderful.

The greens we are eating-French sorrel, chard, spinach, dandelion greens, salad burnet, corn salad, chick weed, sweet clover, green onions, tyfon, Giant Red mustard, sprouting broccoli leaves, snow peas, turnip greens.

Herbs to add to dishes and salads-chives, cilantro, parsley, rosemary, oregano, thyme, horseradish, overwintered leeks, Egyptian onions, tarragon, sage, dill, young garlic. 

The fruits and veggies-turnips, beets, strawberries carrots.

The flowers that are blooming-irises, marigolds, roses and the herbs and veggies going to seed-yellow flowers of the sprouting broccoli, white flowers on the cilantro, the sage has beautiful purple flowers, the white flowers of thyme, lavender chive flowers.  All veggie and herb flowers are edible.  A fun way to add flavor and beauty to salads or other dishes.

The lettuce is beginning to bolt so soon there will be the white, yellow and blue flowers from the different kinds of lettuce.  A couple of the carrots are starting to bolt, too.  If not pulled, they will have beautiful flowers resembling Queen Ann's Lace, which they are from the same family.  

The peonies and late blooming tulips came and went early this year.  

Potted lettuce

This week end, I weeded in the garden and pots.  We got some horse manure compost from a local rancher and it appears it was quite full of grass seeds.  Most were smothered by the mulch, but some managed to make it through.  Small price to pay, though, for that great organic matter.  I also added Azomite, which is chock full of minerals, and an organic fertilizer to all the edible plants.  It has been about a month since my last fertilizing.  

It is a good idea to wait 10 days after planting new plants before you give them much fertilizer.  It has been that long for the pepper and tomatoes.  I used Espoma's Tomato-Tone on both since they are both fruiting vegetables so have similar needs.

There has been an insect feeding on my tomato leaves and something chewing off a few of my transplants at the ground.  I sprinkled diatomaceous earth (de) on and around only the plants that were being bothered.  De is not discriminate between good insects and bad insects so I use sparingly.  I would not use on a plant that is flowering to avoid killing pollinators.

Once the plants get up to a decent size, they will no longer be at risk of being killed or stunted from being an insect's meal.   

Foreground is Giant Red mustard, in the middle are summer veggies, background are onions

I have also had a very enterprising mole in the garden.  The good part of this is that they do a great job of loosening up the soil.  The bad part is that if there tunnels go under your plant, there is a good chance, the plant will die.  I got out the mole deterrent and put it in the garden.  It is just a round metal tube that vibrates and makes a buzzing noise a few times a minute.  Hopefully, it will keep the mole from the garden!

I have been harvesting the extra greens and freezing them to use when needed.  By harvesting, it stimulates the plant to grow even more leaves.  My spinach did much better this year in the pot and garden.  I was very generous with the fertilizer!  Preservation garden

I do have a handful of plants that did not make it when transplanted or were an insect meal.  I have replacements started in the pot.  Planted the seeds a few days ago.  Should sprout in 7-10 days then I'll let them get there first real leaves on and to a nice size before transplanting them back into the garden. 

Seeds planted in pot

My 2017 Edible Garden Plan

Mid-May garden

Sunday, May 7, 2017

There are veggies and herbs I keep in my garden year after year and then there are the “experiments”.  I have my standby’s but I love trying new things each year.  New varieties or just new kinds of edibles.  I try new varieties to find the ones that are most prolific for my garden conditions and taste.

The perennials in the garden are your back bone.  They come back year after year with no effort on your part.  They are the first up in the spring and the last to leave in the winter.  If the winters are not harsh, many are harvestable year round.  Midwest Perennial Vegetable Garden

Edible perennials in our garden:

Herbs-lavender, bay laurel, rosemary, thyme, sage, mint, thyme, oregano, salad burnet, common chives, tarragon, horseradish, garlic, Elephant garlic, and leeks.  For more on growing herbs, Start a kitchen herb garden!  I am adding a creeping thyme with various flower colors this year.  Our rosemary did not make it through the winter, even though it is hardy in our zone.  I am trying two new hardy varieties Tuscan Blue and Arp.  The sage was so large that I was able to take a good part from a self-rooting stem and replant at my mother-in-laws.

Vegetables/Fruits-Goji berry, potato onions, Egyptian walking onions, French sorrel, blood veined sorrel, chard, cultivated dandelions, strawberries, apples, figs.  Corn salad, cilantro and sprouting broccoli both came back from their own seed.  I also had many self seeders come back: carrots, tomatoes, corn salad, lettuce, and cilantro. 

I have annual herbs, flowers and vegetables that I grow each year.  Most I have to either start from seed or purchase bedding plants from the store.  There are some that self sow and will come back year after year with no effort on your part.  Self-seeding crops, plant once and forget 'em

Large seeds are started in peat pots with starting soil and small seeds in the Aerogarden on right

Edible annuals I can’t live without that I have in my garden this year:

Herbs-celery (Utah), cilantro (Slo Bolt since our springs are short), basil (Lettuce Leaf and Genevose for cooking and pesto), borage, Wild Zaatar oregano (from Jordan/Israel), two new varieties of sage (Blue Monday and Salvia Sirius Blue mainly for their blue flowers), dill, English thyme and chervil for cooking and adding to body oil.  I have to have parsley in the garden.  It is a self-sower and usually comes back each year, which it did this year so no more are needed.  

Vegetables/Fruits-Solid red Terra Rose and solid blue Purple Majesty potatoes (started from seed potatoes), sweet peppers (Sweet Yellow banana, overwintered Ancient Red, Pizza, Feher Ozon paprika, Healthy), hot peppers (a Sicilian pepper Bocca Rossa, Ancho and Poblano for chili powder), summer squash (Early Prolific Straightneck and Cocozelle), green beans (vine types-Romano II, Scarlet Runner, Golden Sunshine Runner, Purple Podded and Bean Blauhilde), storage beans (Portal Jade, Good Mother Stollard and King of the Garden lima beans) and tomatoes (Cherokee Purple, Italian Red Pear an heirloom paste, Principe Borghese, Chocolate Pear, small and medium yellow storage tomatoes from Sicily, Black Vernissage, Lucid Gem, Patio Princess for the pot, and Rosella).  I always keep cayenne and jalapeño peppers in the freezer for salsa and cooking.  Right now, I don’t think I need to restock so I’ll wait and see on planting this year.

Other veggies I am doing this year are carrots, turnips (Purple Top and Golden), beets (Chioggia), tyfon for greens, Red Rubin brussels sprouts, many varieties of chard (Verde de Taglio, Bright Lights, Rainbow Neon Glow, Fordhook, Golden, Perpetual), Radish Rat's Tail, Spaghetti squash, Red Burgundy Okra, cucumbers (Mini White, Homemade Pickles, and Jaune Dickfleischige) and eggplant (Turkish Orange, Casper, and Kazakhstan).

For greens, I always plant and start a variety of lettuces, spinach and Giant Red mustard.  Lettuce plants purchased: Red Romaine, Buttercrunch, Red Leaf, Paris Island Cos, and Crisphead.  I'll need to start heat resistant types soon like Jericho Romaine and Simpson Elite loose leaf Bolt-free, sweet summer lettuces   I'll also have to so some Grand Rapids as it was one my Granny grew in her garden.  If you let your lettuce go to seed, you can save them and never have to buy lettuce seed again.  Never ending salad from one packet of seeds  I am also growing Dwarf Moringa.  It's a small tree that leaves are chock full of protein and can be used as a green.

Flowers interplanted with herbs and edibles

Annual flowers seeds started:

I always add flowers to the garden.  Not only do they look nice, they attract pollinators that increase yields.  Cock’s comb from seed my dad gave me years ago, Hummingbird vine from seed a neighbor gave me years ago, marigold (great deer and pest deterrent), sunflowers, Love Lies Bleeding amaranth, zinnias, Moonflower vine, blue morning glory, hollyhock (Summer Carnival and Peach), Roselle Red Hibiscus and delphinium.  For fun, you can add edible flowers to the garden.  Growing and using edible flowers

I started the most of the small seeds in the Aerogarden and the large seeds (squash, beans, Moonflower, cucumber, sunflower) I started in peat pots on a heating mat.  I planted the beans directly in the garden.

I decided against broccoli, cabbage or cauliflower this year because the beetle pests were awful last year.  All three of these are in the same family.  Without their preferred food this year, the pests should die off and I’ll plant back in the garden next year.

I plant the crops that like cool weather on the north side and where there is more shade to extend the season.  The heat lovers I plant where they get the most sun and won’t be shaded by others as they grow. 

I like to interplant flowers and crops.  This keeps the pests down by not planting one type of crop all together.  The flowers attract pollinators and can even repel pests. Get the most from your space-plant intensively!  Place this year’s crops in a different spot than they were last year.  Practicing crop rotation does two things.  Each type of plant uses different minerals and nutrients from the soil.  Smart rotation will keep your soil from getting depleted of what your crops need.  Rotation also keeps the pests down.  Crop rotation made easy for small gardens

For more on preparing your soil for plant (and crop) nutrition, check out this blog.  The next step in garden production and your nutrition-soil minerals

Last summer, my veggies just didn't seem to do as well as years past.  We got a lot of rain so that wasn't the problem.  By the end of the summer, we finally figured it out.  The rain was washing away the fertilizer faster than usual.  I applied a triple dose and everything perked up.  This year, I am going to keep a close eye on the growth of our plants and when they slow down, I'll be sure to give the plants some more food.

For year round steamed greens, grow chard!

"Bright Lights" chard

Saturday, May 6, 2017

Chard is a wonderful green, chock full of vitamins.  It can be eaten when small in salads.  The large leaves can be harvested for steamed/cooked greens.  The stems can be steamed or braised as a substitute for celery.  Chard has been around for centuries.  It hails from Sicily and was known as sicula.  No one is quite sure how it became known as Swiss Chard.

It is also ornamental if you pick one of the many beautiful colored ribs-shades of red, orange, pink, yellow.  They grow tall when planted in the ground so make a great focus in the back of the garden bed.  Chard also does well in containers for small spaces.

Potted chard

It is a tender perennial in our Midwest garden.  It grows in all seasons.  One of the hardiest Swiss Chard is the heirloom Fordhook and Perpetual.  Only the coldest weather kills it back to the ground, if not covered.  It is one of the first greens to sprout in the spring.

Chard can grow in about any condition or soil, even shade.  For the mildest taste, plant chard in fertile soil and do not let get water stressed.  It appreciates shade in the hottest time of summer; heat stress can cause it to take on a bitter taste.  As it gets warmer, the white ribbed chard in our flower bed, "Perpetual Spinach", remains mild in taste, more spinach like than chard.  It is also the most cold hardy, surviving through Zone 6 winters.

Chard handles the summer heat.   Like most greens, the more you harvest it, the longer before it bolts.  Even with seed heads, the taste does not become too strong when steamed.  You should harvest the outer, lower leaves frequently to stimulate new center leave growth.  For the most succulent leaves, harvest in the morning or right after a rain.  Growing summer salads

Chard is easy to preserve.  Simply harvest the leaves, clean, dry and freeze.  I lay out my leaves on a cookie sheet and quick freeze, then put into freezer bags.  Freezing the extras for winter  Don't forget to label with the type and date; frozen greens all look about the same.  You'll want to use the oldest first.

Baby "Perpetual Spinach" Chard

Chard is a power house of nutrients.  It is an excellent source of vitamins A, B6, thiamine, C, and K; contains fiber, carotenes, chlorophyll, and several minerals-potassium, iron, manganese, calcium, selenium, zinc, niacin, folic acid and even protein.  To top it off, chard is very alkalizing for the body and considered one of the most potent anti-cancer foods.  SELF has a cool nutritional database for details on nutritional values of food.  For chard, Chard nutrition info

You can either start chard from seed  Indoor seed starting tips  Outdoor seed sowing seed starting times  Or you can pick up plants at big box stores or your neighborhood nursery.  Nowadays, they have many colors and varieties available as plants.  If you want more unusual types, seeds are a great way to explore.

If this is your first year gardening, here are a couple of gardening blogs to help you get started.  For a garden bed, Easy kitchen garden  For a pot garden in a small space, Decorative container gardening for edibles

Small space French kitchen garden

French country garden

Sunday, April 30, 2017

It is common for the French to have a small kitchen garden where they grow herbs, greens and vegetables year round, winter included.  The French call these kitchen gardens a potager.  It is amazing the amount of food you can grow in a very small space!  If you have ever wanted to plant a French kitchen garden, but weren’t sure if you had the space, you can grow the staples of a French kitchen garden in as little as 7’ x 7’ space.  

You can grow food and herbs through all four seasons like the French and Italians do.  You can garden year round in small space  Spring, fall and winter are all seasons for cold crops.  When it comes to winter gardening, the secret is two fold-look for cold/winter hardy varieties and cold temperature protection.  Time to set out transplants for fall, winter, & spring harvests

If you have only a 7’ x 7’ space, a French kitchen garden could include the following:

Herbs (1 each)-fennel, cilantro, thyme, rosemary, sage, oregano, chives, basil and curly parsley
Start a kitchen herb garden!

2 tomatoes for summer-1 slicer type and 1 cherry type for salads
Choosing which tomatoes to grow

Beets and turnips interplanted with tomatoes
All about beautiful beets  All about turnips

4 pole peas for spring and fall, 4 pole beans for summer
Legumes-peas for spring, beans for summer

1 patty pan squash, 1 eggplant, 1 butternut squash
Everything you need to know to grow squash  Eggplant-add this native from India to your garden

8 shallots
Everything to know about growing onions

8 garlic plants
Time to plant garlic!

Arugula, spinach and lettuce scatter sowed
Growing fabulous lettuce and greens

Strawberry plant edging
Back yard strawberries

If you also have room for pots on the patio, you could grow the patty pan squash, eggplant, and cucumber in pots  (only 1 plant in each pot) and add kale, carrots and radishes in the garden bed.  
Decorative container gardening for edibles

If you have more room, you can add chard (they are ornamental as well as nutritious), fava beans, chickpeas, asparagus, cardoon, chicories, radicchio, endives, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, sweet peppers, other winter squash varieties, potatoes, or annual artichokes.
Get the most from your space-plant intensively!

The French also interplant marigolds to add color, attract pollinators and deter pests as well as ornamental flowers for cutting.  Insect control through plants There are even many edible flowers to add to the garden.  Growing and using edible flowers

Our kitchen garden

I tuck onions between my day lilies and plant marigolds all around the perimeter of my flower and veggie patch.  Day lilies are also edible and make a beautiful salad garnish.

Be sure to grow what you love to eat and don't start too big for your first year.  This is the biggest mistake first time gardeners make.  Start with a small garden, learn what does well and the rhythm of gardening. The next year, you can go big with confidence!  
Easy kitchen garden

Seed catalogs that have a good selection of French vegetables and herbs-Botanical Interest, Burpee, Cook’s Garden, Harris Seeds, Le Jardin du Gourmet, Johnnie’s Selected Seeds, Reimer Seeds to name a few.  Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds has many unusual heirlooms from around the world.

May 2017 Edible Garden Planner

Butterfly on the lilac bush in the garden

Saturday, April 29, 2017

May Day is when the old timers say is the best time to plant your summer garden in the Midwest.  Prior to May 1, there is still a good chance of poor weather, chilly temps, and frost in our Zone 6/7 gardens.  This can be catastrophic for tomatoes, eggplants, basil and other heat lovers.

Today, we have the added advantage of the 15 day forecast!  Check out your 15 day forecast to know if it looks safe to plant those tender summer veggies as it is possible to have chilly temps even into May.  If direct planting seeds, chilly and rainy conditions can cause the seeds to rot.  Warm, moist conditions are the best for seed success!

May is the time to sow summer lover's seed and plant warm season crops.  The cold crops are at their peak at the beginning of the month with many bolting and going to seed by month's end like spinach, cilantro, lettuce, chard, kale, sprouting broccoli, and onions.

Mid-May garden

So, what are we planting this year?  Of course, we planted the number one veggie in the USA-tomatoes!   I grew all of them from seed indoors.  This year, we are planting a variety of heirloom, chocolate types, storage tomatoes, paste tomatoes, small and large tomatoes and a couple of new varieties.  Choosing which tomatoes to grow  Loving the purple tomatoes with all their fantastic antioxidants!   I am trying a new orange and purple variety, too.  Different colors in tomatoes give different nutrition

I am growing several varieties: 1) Two yellow storage tomatoes, a small and medium size, 2) Two red cherry tomato, Patio Princess for the pot and 3) Rosella, 5) Principe Borghese a small red tomato good for sauces and  6) An heirloom large paste tomato Italian Red Pear that did great in our garden last year.  Tomatoes 101, everything you need to know to grow great tomatoes

The purple tomatoes I am growing this year are Chocolate Pear, Black Vernissage, and Lucid Gem a slicer with orange interior with black skin.   The Power of Purple

If you have limited space, look for the dwarf/bush types like Bush Early Girl (only 54 days till ripe tomatoes), Patio, Husky Red, Lizzano and Tumbling Tom. Typically, you can expect to have your first ripe tomatoes around the 4th of July.  The earliest tomato bearing variety I have grown is Yellow Tumbling Tom that gave me tomatoes in June.  They grow great in the garden or pots.  Compact tomato plants for small spaces

Green beans were planted two weeks ago and are sprouted.  I like the vining type.  They produce all season and they grow up so using a trellis maximizes the garden space.  We like the flavor from the flat Italian type of green beans.  The green bean types I am growing are Purple Podded, Romano II, Blauhilde which is a purple green bean, and Scarlett and Golden Sunshine Runner.  All three did very well in the garden last year.  Legumes-peas for spring, beans for summer  I planted 3 kinds of storage beans, King of the Garden lima, Fort Portal Jade and Good Mother Stollard beans.

Pepper plant in August garden last year

I planted several types of peppers.  I am growing mainly sweet peppers as well as Anaheim and Poblano for chili powder.  I have enough frozen Cayenne and Jalapeño peppers from last season to last another year.  Sweet peppers planted are 

All my pepper plants are in.  I am trying a new sweet peppers this year Pizza, Feher Ozon Paprika, and Healthy that are supposed to be prolific.  I also planted from saved seed Yellow Sweet Banana, and a Sicilian red pepper Bocca Rossa.  This year I am going to plant them all in pots.  It just seems that my peppers do better in a pot than in the ground.  I had two peppers that I overwintered in the garage Ancient Red Pepper and Chipetin.  I just added compost and fertilized them well.  They are doing great!  Peppers are for every taste and garden

I am growing two eggplants Turkish Orange and Kazakhstan.  I tried getting Casper to sprout, but it has yet to.  I bought the seed on line from an individual.  Looks like I will have to get different seed.  My husband really likes this white skinned one.  It stays sweet.  I love the Turkish Orange; the taste is smoky and rich.  The Kazakhstan is a new one I am trying this year.  It is a new variety to the US from Alma Ata, Kazakhstan.  It is very similar in size and color as Black Beauty.  It is to be an early fruiting and abundant.  Eggplant-add this native from India to your garden

I planted 2 kinds of summer squash-Cocozelle and Early Prolific Straight Neck.  They are susceptible to being killed by the squash vine borer if planted before June 1.  You can protect the vine to keep the insect from boring into the vine by wrapping the vine or just replant if they do get infected.  Zucchini grows fast!  Growing zucchini and summer squash  This may seem like overkill on the zucchini as one plant produces as much as a typical family needs during the summer.  I didn't have the greatest luck with zucchini last year.  Too much rain caused disease and insect pressure.  I also found some great ways to use and preserve zucchini that any extra will be stored for many new ways of using.  What to do with all that zucchini?!  I really liked shredding the zucchini and using in place of spaghetti.  I'll shred and put into freezer bags so I have a low carb, nutritious option anytime.

I also planted a winter squash-Spaghetti squash.  It is a low carb substitute for spaghetti, too.

Baby zucchini in summer garden

  I am planting cucumbers, sprouting broccoli, lettuce, kale, and parsley this year to make green smoothies.  Grow your own juice garden  All are already planted in the garden.  I planted interesting varieties of cucumber-Homemade Pickles, Mini White and Jaune Dickfleischige, a large cucumber that keeps for months.  The white is a small fruit.  It will be nice to have smaller ones so I can pick one for a single salad.    Cucumber info and tips for growing

Other veggies I planted were red veined sorrel, carrots, turnips, beets, Red Burgundy okra, Utah celery, salad burnet, typhoon, Radish Rat's Tail, Red Italian dandelion, chard, cilantro, dill, Dwarf Moringa, Roselle Red hibiscus, Red Giant mustard, Regina Alpine strawberries, Red Rubin brussels sprouts and New Zealand spinach.

For herbs, I added several to the garden this year.  I planted Tuscan Blue and ARP rosemary.  I overwintered our bay plants in the unheated garage.  Both are doing great and have many new leaves.  I started chervil from seed.  I love adding dried chervil leaves and lavender to add fragrance to body oil.  Make your own fragrant herbal body oil  I added another oregano-Wild Zaatar Oregano from the Jordan/Israel area that just sounded fun.  I also started Blue Monday and Salvia Sirius Blue Sage for its fragrance and its pretty blue flowers.  Other herbs were English thyme, Hopley's Purple oregano, borage, and many creeping thymes.  For more on herbs, see  Start a kitchen herb garden!

I am definitely planting basil: Lettuce Leaf, Sweet Basil and a variety I received with another seed order.  They have all sprouted in the coir pods, but aren't as big as I would like before transplanting to the garden.  Basil basics-harvesting, preserving, growing basil

It was also time for another round of greens.  Resowing every 3 weeks will keep us in salads all through the summer and fall.  Want continuous harvests? Succession planting!  We planted Bloomsdale Longstanding spinach which will last about two weeks longer in the heat than other types of spinach.    

For lettuce,  I planted bedding plants of Red Romaine, Buttercrunch, Red Sails, Paris Island Cos Romaine, Buttercrunch, and Iceberg.  For the next round of lettuce sowings, I'll go with the more heat resistant varieties Jericho Romaine which has been tested to last 3 months before bolting as well as Red Sails loose leaf lettuce which stays sweet after bolting.   Look for varieties that have heat tolerant in the descriptor.  Here are some varieties that are proven to do well in the summer   Bolt-free, sweet summer lettuces

Lettuce and spinach aren't the only greens you can use for salads, see more at  Growing summer salads

Potted lettuce and arugula

We have already fertilized, added compost, and mulched at the end of March.  When planting, I like to powder the roots of each plant with mycorrhizal microbes.  Mycorrhizal fixes nitrogen to the roots of the plant, helping it to grow sturdier, bigger and faster.  Once you have the microbes in the soil, they will stay year after year.  For a quicker route, you can add plant starter in each hole which has the microbes, root support and fertilizer all in one.

Later this month, I will add Azomite around each of my transplants under the mulch with the next round of fertilizer.  During the growing season, you should fertilize monthly.  Azomite contains many minerals which can result in significantly improved growth for your plants and more minerals in your harvested plants for a healthier you.  A win-win for your garden and your family.  The next step in garden production and your nutrition-soil minerals

Before you send your new transplants into the garden, insure they have been sufficiently "hardened off."  If you started your own seeds indoors, take your plants out daily over a week or so into a partially shady spot, letting them get used to the strong sun and wind.  I put mine out on the deck to get used to the sun and wind for several days before planting out.

If you purchased your transplants and they were already outdoors, they are ready to be plopped into the ground or pot and grow!

Iris in background and celosia in foreground interplanted with lettuce and sorrel

I always interplant my garden with flowers.  This year, I am using zinnias, marigolds, petunias, old fashioned Cock's Comb which is ruby red and grows 4 feet tall, red flowering Hummingbird Vine, Love Lies Bleeding,  Moonflower vine, heirloom sunflowers, and alyssum for annuals.  For perennials, there are delphiniums, hollyhocks in a variety of colors-Summer Carnival and Peach, red hot poker, day-lilies, irises, and gladiolas.

May is an exciting time in the garden.  Every day you go out, you can see things growing.  The spring vegetables are in their prime, the summer veggies are just starting, and there are so many herbs ready for seasoning your favorite salads or dishes.  Just be sure to keep ahead of the weeds and provide even watering.

Make your own all natural, complete fertilizer

Saturday, April 22, 2017

It is time to start planning for getting your garden beds in shape for the growing season.  Applying your soil food now will allow the nutrients to trickle down into the soil to be ready to support your garden plants growth this spring.

To get a specialized recipe for your specific soil needs, you can get a soil test at your local co-op extension office.  Many times this is free of charge for the basic test.  If you want a more in-depth analysis, there are labs you can mail your soil sample to like Logan Labs  www.loganlabs.com.  Once you get the results, you can input the results on the growabundant.com web page to get your garden’s nutrient recipe.  

When your plants are fed minerals, the veggie are too.
The next step in garden production and your nutrition-soil minerals

If don’t have the time or funds to get specialized analysis and recipe for your soil, you can make your own balanced, all natural, organic fertilizer and nutrient soil re-charge.  This recipe gives you enough organic fertilizer and minerals for 100 square feet:

3 quarts of any oilseed meal or 1.5 quarts of feather meal or fishmeal

Or can do a combo of the above.  2 quarts of oilseed meal, 1 pint of feather meal and 1 pint of fishmeal to get the most variety of nutrients

1 quart soft of collodial rock phosphate

1 quart kelp meal or 1 pint Azomite.  Azomite is a great source of micronutrients

1 quart agricultural gypsum

1/3 cup potassium sulfate

1 teaspoon laundry borax

1.5 teaspoons zinc sulfate

2 teaspoons manganese sulfate

1 teaspoon copper sulfate

I checked on line and could get everything in this recipe on amazon.

Steve Solomon, Territorial Seed Company founder, developed this recipe and calls it the “Complete Organic Fertilizer” (COF).  It is more than just the normal NPK and adds minerals and other nutrients your plants need to be their strongest.  Strong, healthy plants provide more food that is more nutrient dense.  Your plants are what they eat, too!