Hello Again

After many issues with my computer, I had to relent and buy a new laptop.  Happily, I received my new laptop Sunday.  And what a relief it is to have a machine that works.  Took a little time to get used to it but I think i have the hang of it now.  Now that the issue is resolved, there is much to tell/relate.  Given winter is right around the corner, time is of the essence.

I was doing chores this past Thursday in my backyard.  Having completed my work there, I went out front to discover that a sizeable tote of spent flowers and plants was sitting in my driveway.  Apparently, one of my neighbors knows that I am an avid composter.  If it's green or brown, it will most likely end up in one of my 4 units.  So, I carried it back to my garden area to begin the prepping process.  I put the cuttings into my wheel barrow.  Here is the result of that.

I then took a shovel and sliced through the mass in order to speed its decomposition.  I lightly watered them down and went on with my chores.  Here is how they looked after the chopping.  I was happy to get these as its a pretty good unexpected haul and will definitely go a long ways to giving me the bulk that is necessary.

I put the container in my driveway, not knowing who exactly gave me them.  I then worked in my greenhouse and went inside my house, noticing that the container was now gone.  Next morning, I woke up to yet another set of plant debris in my driveway.  This one was a little bigger in mass than the first one as shown below.

I then added these to the previous donations and cut/watered them like I did before.  Here are before and after pictures of my compost treasure. 

I went to put the container back in my driveway and my neighbor accross the street walked over to retrieve her container.  I thanked her for it and she said it was easier to do this than to bag them up and she knew I composted so might as well put them to good use.  People surprise you sometimes.    

I have left the cuttings in the container and actually added a few pots of spent soil and some grass cuttings.  It rained on them over the weekend so they are off to a good start.  I'll add them to my working composter at the end of this week before the weather turns.  

It's great to be able to post again without the computer wonking out on me.  There is a lot to cover and I will do so over the next week.  I have a bunch of competing outside tasks to get accomplished this week as the weather is currently unseasonably warm and I plan on taking advantage of it.  I'm not complaining but as we all know, there are only so many hours in a day.        

So, in my next post, I will take stock of the progress of the seedlings I have currently growing.  Lots to write about but It will get done.  Until next time everybody, Happy Gardening!

 

Weather issues

It's been awhile since I last posted.  That is because I have been fighting a very tenacious cold that just won't go away.  Just seems to have the ability to linger on - mostly through a cough.  But I figured it was time to check in so here we go.
Lots going on actually around the area.  Spring has taken leave so Winter has been the dominant feature of the weather.  We had temps hit lows in the teens and actually had a "snow" event this past week.  Today, Sunday the 10th, was probably the mildest day we have had in awhile.  Temps have been in the 50"s today and we're supposed to see a general trend of warming for the coming week.  All good news indeed as I need to get the garden rolling.
I have recently been adding vegetable scraps to my composters(pictured below) to try to get them reignited with micro biological activity.  Each of them have had about two sets of scraps put in them.  I will wait until we get more consistent weather then I will begin adding more mass to them.

They are about 1/2 full each with seasoned compost ready to use once the temps moderate. I will have to prepare my three beds first by cutting and working in the winter rye that is currently growing in them.  Here is one of the beds I have.  The Rye grew well despite the colder temps we have had.

I will wait for about a week or more before I begin the process of cutting the rye down to begin working it into the soil.  The reason I am waiting is that we are possibly going to have yet another set of colder days around the 21st through the 23rd.  I am trying to let the Rye grow as much as possible in order to maximize the input into the soils.  One week of good temps has often added and inch or more in the past.  

Well, next week, weather and health permitting, I will begin diving in big time into the gardens.  Till then, have a great gardening week!

What's happening in the garden.

Here's hoping your Christmas/Holiday was all you hoped it to be.  We are fast approaching the end of 2016 as hard as that seems to fathom.  And while this is traditionally the time I generally am disconnected from the garden, this is not the year for that.  I have been thinking a lot about the garden and how I can make it produce more benefits for the family and neighbors.  The one glaring area where I have seldom ventured in all my gardens is with respect to a winter garden.  I have thought about it from time to time but have never put forth a serious effort given our cold temperatures and the subsequent snows from January through early March.  As I have related, I have been busily attempting to grow a winter garden this year with some good results so far.  I took the picture below Saturday morning.

As can be seen, the lettuces are not faring too well at this point.  I think it is due to a combination of picking the wrong variety of lettuces and the lack of a strong enough sun getting through the layers. The other crops, however such as the spinach, carrots and onions seem to be faring quite well at this time.  So, overall, I'd say it is definitely a mix bag of results.  The true test will be when our winter weather is upon us and how frozen the ground in the structure actually gets.  

I went out today and made a path to this part of the garden as it was getting quite muddy given the rains we have had.  I raked the ground and laid foot stones to the plants as can be seen below.

As you can see, it will reduce the mud situation for me until it snows.  I'll cross that bridge when the soon approaching time comes.  My plan is to plant the area with grass this Spring so I don't have to deal with weeds next year.  You can also see that the winter rye is doing fairly well in the beds given it's late planting and the temperatures.  It will at least have laid down roots for the next summer crops which will add structure and nutrients.

I am also continuing to add plant material and kitchen scraps to my compost bin.  This isn't the usual time of the year to be doing this but our temps have been somewhat moderate.  The weather is supposed to be very mild through this week with a high of 60 tomorrow and mid-high 40's the rest of the week.  While the process of the breakdown has slowed at this point, I had a bunch of scraps yesterday from our Christmas family dinner so I decided since it was almost 50 yesterday and was going to remain that way for a few days, why not add them to the existing pile? You can see that in the photo below. 

The egg carton is biodegradable and so are the paper towels.  The egg shells will break down with a little effort on my part in the spring and the potato peels will disappear eventually.  After I added the various items, I covered them with a heavier layer of decomposing grass cuttings I saved just for this use.  

I will add some leaves in the early spring along with kitchen scraps to get the decay process reignited for the next season.  But for now, I have to keep an eye on the temps to insure that the edible scraps actually break down.  I don't want to invite any uninvited guest to my yard.  

Below is a picture of the units that I use to compost given our areas population of field mice.  They have worked out really well for my area,

I also began prepping for my first plants to start from seed.  According to my calculations, Broccoli and Cabbage need to be started around the 22nd of January and Cauliflower follows on the 29th .  I also plan on growing peas this year.  As I said early in this post, I plan on making this garden the best ever and that entails a wider array of plants - and a lot of planning.  So, I won't be having a bumper crop of tomatoes or peppers like I did in 2016.  

That's a wrap for all that is going on in the garden at this time.  Seems like it's a lot but it has been somewhat therapeutic to say the least.  This is probably my last post for 2016 so I will wish you and yours a very Happy and Safe New Years.  Until next time, Happy Gardening everyone!   

Leaves, leaves and more leaves.

One of the mainstays of my gardening routine is the annual fall collection of leaves.  It affords me time to get outside, get some exercise and collect one of the most important ingredients for my composting.  Last Saturday, our region was hit by some really heavy winds which meant a good portion of the leaves that were still on my tree were blown to other yards and even over my house. When I looked at my tree after the storms, it seemed mother nature threw me a huge curve ball by stripping away a larger percentage of the leaves from my tree than I even imagined.
Nonetheless, I went out yesterday to recover the leaves that were piling up in my back yard.  Much to my surprise, it seems that I was still left with a sizeable amount of leaves.  When all was said and done, as seen in the picture below, I was able to get 6 heavy duty bags of leaves collected.

  

Not a bad haul given the loss from the storms.  I will take these back behind my garage and let them sit in place during winter.  They should decompose a bit during this time.  If my neighbors do put their leaves on the curb for pickup, I may take a bag or two to augment my supply.  These are such a great additive to you compost that it seems such a waste to see them thrown away.

On another note, I checked in to my mini winter garden to see the progress.  As seen below, so far so good!

The lettuce and spinach are doing quite well while the carrots are slowly maturing.  All the plants seem to be on schedule.  We have had several freezes and temperatures in the 30's and the plants seem quite robust given these conditions.  Of course, the telling factor will be when we get into winter weather.  My hope is that the plants will grow to a point where I can cover them with compost thereby adding a little more protection to get them through the winter.  The lettuce probably will not make it through this.  It was a gamble that, to date, has paid off.  I am told that carrots and spinach that have been exposed to colder temps taste better.  We shall see.  And as I have said, this is an experiment that I undertook just to stay active in the garden.  I will have to water them today which should get them through the week.  Winter gardening requires much less work than summer ones.  

Well, that's all for now.  Hope you are enjoying whatever gardening you are doing.  Happy gardening everyone!     

Composting deluxe

Before I begin writing about my continuing composting activities, I must relate that today and tomorrow are very sad days for my wife's family.  We begin the funeral process of saying goodbye to her beloved grandmother who passed away on Saturday after living for 90 wonderful years.  I have known this fine lady for almost 20 years now and I can honestly say - I have never met a sweeter, kinder, more loving and accepting person in my life.  She truly epitomize the very essence of being a lady living under grace.  I will deeply miss having her in my life.

I decided to look into the progress of my composters as I had some kitchen scraps to add to my current working pile.  I have three units which I have lined up behind my garage as seen here.

 I have one composter with finished product which I will add to my beds once I finish the reconfiguration of my beds which I an currently working on.  It's the furthest composter in the above picture.  Here is a picture of how much is available.

 












Additionally, I have one pile that is probably 80% through the process as seen below. It's the nearest composter in the first picture.

And, I have one that I just recently have been adding product to so I can get the last possible compost for the year as seen by these two pictures.  It is in the middle as I am going to take steps to attempt winter composting and I figured it may insulate it from the winds.  

 

As can be seen, the decomposition process is underway already as attested to by the gray pores developing on the compost.  They showed up at about day 4.  Those are fungi and actinomycetes which are generally prevalent at the beginning the breakdown process.  They prepare the waste for further breakdown by other actors in the pile.  I wanted to show you how it looks when the fungi appear.  So after I took these pictures, I added leaves, watered it down a little and turned the product in order to get the proper breakdown process underway.  

I will continue to add product and water to the middle pile through the winter - snow permitting.  I will also continue to add moisture to the other pile to assist with the ongoing breakdown of that pile. By the beginning of next Spring, I should have two composters filled with ready to use product.  

Composting is an ongoing year long process.  It pays dividends to do this if you want to control what your produce is taking up.  

One misconception is that compost is only for vegetable gardens.  It is actually a great amendment to a variety of items.  I use it as a planting medium for flowers and grass seed.  You can use it as a foliar spray on any plant by making compost tea.  It can also be used as a fertilizer for your lawn by spreading the compost over the lawn.  Additionally, it can also be used as a side dressing for any plant.  And on an environmental note, if you compost, the waste you recycle through composting is kept out of the landfills.

Composting saves you money.  It has been a long time since I bought commercially produced compost or fertilizer for any part of my landscape.  And, I know that the compost I produce is as fresh as it can be.
You may be thinking that you don't have the space to compost in your yard.  While I have 3 what I consider larger composters, there are alternatives for small space composting.  There are numerous small composters offered online that fit into every urban landscape quite well.  And, you have to keep in mind, that with a small landscape/garden, you have less demand for compost.      

So, there you have it.  If you have any questions regarding composting or any other gardening subject, you can add a comment or you can email me through this site.  Happy Gardening everyone!  

Fall composting?

Most people think that at this time of the year, composting would be drawing to a close.  Nothing could be further from the truth actually.  I am currently loading my 3 composters with all the materials that I can find.  I still have many bags of leaves that I collected both last fall and this spring that I need to use.  I am collecting as many table scraps that I can find and am combining that with the leaves and cardboard to get a last pile into play before the weather turns colder.
This is a perfect time of year to actually begin to compost as the wealth of items are outstanding.  I use newspapers, cardboard, fresh cut grass, kitchen scraps, tea and coffee grounds and of course, my bags of leaves.  Also, this is the time of year that if you have a garden, you can put your clean spent plants into the composter.  You have to be vigilant to not put any plant waste that died from a disease or fungus.  You would only be adding that to your garden next year.  You can always look online to find more extensive lists of materials you can use.
The point is, now is the time to either begin to compost or get your last loads in before the snow and cold weather begins.  It is a fact that if the pile is big enough, it will continue to breakdown over the winter.  It will just happen on a smaller scale and at a much slower rate.  But, it still happens.
Naturally, those of us who live in the warmer climes of the south can compost year round.
I cant emphasize enough as to the importance that composting plays in the scheme of gardening.  It is the black gold of soil as it renews the ground and recycles the natural resources we have at our disposal.
If you have never composted, you can check out my guest post that I did for Brennan Young at The-Urban-Farmer.com. that will explain the details of composting in much better detail.  I hope you like it!

Blossom End Rot - scourge of the tomato.

"Failure of one thing is repaired by the success of another."  Thomas Jefferson, Garden Book,1809

I don't think that there is anything more disheartening than putting in the planning, exerting the labor and tending to your tomatoes only to have them end with Blossom End Rot.  Although this malady of the soil can occur on other plants such as squash, peppers and even watermelons, it is most associated with the tomato plant.  That may be because the tomato is likely the most planted vegetable across all gardens. 
Unlike Mr. Jefferson's outlook, to have it all end with a black, soft spot on the end of your tomatoes is an almost epic failure in most gardeners opinions.  But, is there really anything a gardener can do to decrease the chances their tomatoes won't be beset by BER?  Thankfully, the answer is that there are certain steps that can be implemented that will reduce the occurrence drastically.
In order to defeat this scourge, one has to understand the origin of it and the complex nature of the issue. Blossom End Rot is often mistaken as a fungus or pest issue by gardeners.  If they see it, they will spray their plants with pesticides or fungicides to combat it.  When in fact, BER is really an environmental soil issue.  Once detected by sight on the fruit, it is almost impossible to correct the situation in time to save the rest of the crop.  
Rot occurs under certain identifiable soil and weather conditions.  Calcium deficiencies and long periods of wet weather are the main culprits that bring on rot.  While one cannot control the weather, you can control the structure and mineral content of your gardening soil to manage it.  As with any issue of the soil, it is best to start with a soil test.  Preference here would be to submit your soil samples to the local extension service instead of using the do it yourself kits that are available.  The extension services often will give you concrete steps to take which is based on their many years of experience.
If the soil test showed a calcium deficit, you will likely will be advised to add limestone to your soil.  If there was too much, you will told to add gypsum.  The test may even show you have the necessary calcium and nutrients for your plants.  The rot may have occurred because your plants cannot access either due to other practices.
Whichever your results are, the next step is to build up your soil structure.  As alluded to earlier, BER can be the result of your plants inability to take up the calcium and nutrients present in the soil that they need.  They are blocked by other less noticeable issues.  This condition is generally brought about by poorly draining soil, the use of high nitrogen fertilizers or salts and/or irregular watering practices.
Poorly draining soil can be best addressed by adding organic matter to your beds in the spring before planting begins.  It can take the form of almost any amendment offered.  Compost is perhaps the most used one.  Either buy a OMRI rated compost or use your own if you practice composting.  Others would be composted cow manure, mushroom compost or leaves.  One caveat here.  When buying commercially produced amendments, look for the OMRI certification to insure you have a clean product for your garden.  No sense in introducing harmful pathogens into your garden. 
Adding organic matter addresses a multitude of issues that can occur in your soil.  It both allows your soil to hold the necessary moisture, and it also structurally allows it to drain the excess off.  It adds nutrients to your soil that are slowly released to the plants too.
With tomatoes, an even watering pattern will go a long way to lessening the chances of Blossom End Rot.  Uneven watering does not allow the roots to supply the fruit with the balanced nutrients required for successful maturity.  A balance must be maintained between your watering and the rains you get.
Another step that can be taken is to mulch around your tomatoes.  This results in the maintenance of a constant soil moisture and temperature.  Mulch has the side benefit of also depressing the occurrence of disease transfer from the ground to the plant leaves when it rains or you water in the garden.
Another practice to stem BER is to rotate your crops each year so the plants are not being grown in the same plot year after year.  Different plants deplete different nutrients throughout the growing season.  Rotating also reduces the opportunity for diseases and pests to become prevalent in the garden.  
One last trick that can be used is to spread dolomitic lime into the hole you are transplanting your tomato seedlings into.  Then cover the lime with native soil and transplant the tomato.  This will allow for a ready supply of calcium right at the root zone.  You can also spread a little of the lime on the top of the soil for an added boost later.  
These are the most effective known methods and practices any gardener can take to insure the best possible outcome for your tomatoes.  Using any combination of these will significantly decrease the occurrence of Blossom End Rot in the garden.  I hope this has been helpful and that it will ensure you great tomato crops in the future.  Happy Gardening everyone.         

And then summer hits with a bang!

Well, between the evening of July 4th and the morning of July 5th, we received over 1.5" of rain.  It was one of those nice soaking even rains that are just so good for the plants.  Plus. it filled my rain barrels with over 125 gallons of free, clean water.  But now, that has been followed up with probably the hottest weather we have seen in quite some time.  This presents a very difficult challenge for your garden.  Today's high was in the 90's with what I would characterize as high humidity.  You just feel it as soon as you go outside.  It's not oppressive but just give it time and it will be.
The challenge is to make sure your soil isn't drying out even though just about a day ago, you just saw some really significant rains.  Heat of this magnitude can sap the moisture right out of the soil just as easily it put the rains down a day ago.  Easy come, easy go anyone?  And your plants will not generally show the effects of this whipsaw until they have transpired the saved moisture in their leaves.  You can go to work and come home and it's like night and day.
To guard against this, you need to give the plants - as illogical as it sounds - a good watering to ward off the weeping plant syndrome.  That's where I will be this evening.  I will use my sprinkler as I do not want to overexert myself in the heat.  I will use the rain water in the mornings when the sun is not so powerful.
On a side note about watering.  There is new proof that watering your garden in the noon hours (12-2PM) is very beneficial to vegetables.  They actually produce better and more veggies.  So, if you can do that without putting yourself at risk, the rewards are reportedly worth the extra efforts from what I have read.
So there you have it.  The never ending challenges facing a backyard gardener.  Go out and give it a try folks.  Gardening is both a reward and a challenge.  Until next time, happy gardening.

Fertilizer practices

In my quest to become as organic in my gardens as possible, I have followed several practices to attain the organic balance in my gardens.  I have instituted a system of cover cropping at the end of each season, I collect and mulch my leaves and grass clippings throughout the summer and fall months, I compost most months of the year, I use an adapted system of crop rotations and I collect and use rainwater for watering.  These are considered to be what are called regenerative organic gardening practices.  I modeled them after practices that have been developed by the Rodale Institute over their many years of actual field research at their Kutztown Pa. facility.
I used to be a very strong advocate of the raised bed system called Square Foot gardening.  While it was productive, I noticed that over the years, I had to continually add fertilizer to the soil which I did.  I did not find that the soil maintained it's fertility without an aggressive composting and fertilizer regimen.  And, the fertilizer regimen bothered me for many reasons.  The reason I was gardening was to produce vegetables that didn't have the inputs such as chemical fertilizers.  While SFG had it's certain advantages, I began a quest to become organic.
I stumbled upon the Rodale Institute while watching a segment on Growing a Greener World that is hosted by Joe  Lampl.  It spiked an interest in them so I searched out their website and, through the years, I have adopted as many of their practices for my small garden as practical.  And, the results have been very pronounced.
I have always stayed away from chemical fertilizers in my garden as much as possible.  But, there rarely was a year when I didn't use them at least once or twice a year.  Due to my adherence to the practices listed above, one of the most striking results is that over the last two years, I have not used any fertilizers whatsoever.  And my plants have been healthier and have been producing more vegetables than they ever have.  Through the inputs and practices previously discussed, I have been able to stop applying herbicides and such items too.  I feel better about that.  I know what I am growing intimately and I know I can trust that my crops are as organic as almost any I would buy in a grocery store.  Additionally, my vegetables are fresher and more nutritious than the store bought ones given their very short time from garden to kitchen table.
It is very rewarding and I take pride that I have been doing this far longer than organic has been in fashion.  I've known that my vegetables have always been healthier for me.  I just didn't like the idea I had to use the fertilizers and chemicals that I really didn't trust.  And once you see and taste the difference, you too will understand why you too should grow organic in your backyard.
Well, that's all I have for today.  I now have to go out and dig out from the 29 inches of snow mother nature just delivered to the Baltimore area.  Big fun today.  Happy Gardening everyone!