Are you really growing organically?

That is a very hard question to answer with just a simple yes or no. There are many reasons to grow vegetables in your own backyard. Most people speak of the superior freshness and taste of the produce. Some point to the rampant use of GMO seed stock and the use of herbecides and such on the produce you get in most stores. Not to mention the carbon footprint of some of the foods we eat that travel over 1,000 miles or more. But, a fair portion of the gardening world will answer that they garden in order to have "organic" vegetables and fruit. But, if you have a garden, the question remains - are you truly organic? I always thought that I was truly organic. I have my three composters, 4 rain barrels and I don't generally use any herbecides on my plants. I tolerate some destruction in my garden as the natural course of events. If the infestation is intolerable with the risk of total loss being high, I then us a BT based powder to combat the issue at hand. BT is a targeted insecticide that does not kill beneficial insects. It is considered to be organic as it is a naturally occurring bacterium found in the soil. I recently watched a gardening show where I discovered that while I practice generally organic principles, I have been acutely unaware of one area I hadn't given much thought to - seeds! Yes, seeds. I mean, who knew? As pointed out by the guest on the show, if you are using GMO produced seeds or hybrid seeds, then you are truly not growing organic. As a person with a multitude of such seeds, that was quite an eye opener. I guess I need to be careful where I buy my seeds. That's a topic for another post. I hope this was an eye opener for you too. Well, till next time, happy gardening everyone!

Sunday, Sunday

Here's hoping all the Mothers had a very Happy Mother's Day. I sit here looking out into my backyard.  It is sunny and warm while my garden buddy Barkley is running amok with his youthful exuberance.  It has been quite the eventful week as our son graduated (Yeah!) from college yesterday. Both his mom and I are very proud parents.  So, I have a bunch of things to get caught up on as the garden was on minimal maintenance this week.  All the plants are still alive so there was no harm done by my absence.
And that is a very big lesson right there.  Regardless of how much we may think we have control and can affect the outcome of our gardens, the truth is that we are just stewards of the garden and not the master.  There are just so many other variables that go into a garden season that one has to be grateful for the harvest you do get each year.  I don't believe we should take credit for the output from our garden as I believe God has so much more influence.  We can only help the plants along the way.
I have a ton to do as I need to get my peppers and tomatoes planted along with starting the cucumbers.  Much to do very little time to spare.  It is unseasonably warm for this time of year which is having a negative effect on my lettuce that I planted.  Most, but not all lettuce likes it cool.  So far, because the hydroponic system gets the early morning sun and is shaded from the afternoon sun, the lettuce seems to be growing albeit at a slower than normal rate.  I can only hope that we will get back to the 70's which will help with that immensely.
So, for this week, the theme will be plant, plant and plant some more.  Here's hoping your garden is coming along well.  till next time, happy gardening everyone.

What a wonderful life!

This weekend was crazy busy to say the least.  Two days is hardly enough time to get all the work in. During periods like this, I often wonder if I am trying to do too much.  There is that little voice inside my head that doubts the sanity of doing so much to get the garden I really want.  If you are like me, you too will have those moments.  And, just like me, you will come realize in the long run, that it is indeed worth the effort.
We had two beautiful days that were absolutely ideal for gardening.  Both days highs reached near or 80 degrees.  I also had to fit in a family function on Saturday.  So, that compressed my gardening activities even further.  Both days I was up by 6 and in the garden.  Saturday, I put a fence around both beds in order to dissuade my gardening buddy (my puppy Barkley) from digging in my beds or worse.  I also worked on other home items so, for the most part, the fence was major item completed.
Sunday however, was a different story.  I was up by 6 (habit) and out in the garden.  I planted 3 cabbage and 3 cauliflower plants under my shade structure.  I also checked my hydroponic system for the progress of my various lettuce plants

As seen in the picture, there are many pots with plants in them.  The big ones in  bowl 11 are spinach.  It will take another couple of weeks before these are ready to eat.

I also put up a mason bee hive in hopes of getting these voracious workers to settle in my backyard.

They're supposed to be wonderful pollinators and aren't the least bit hostile.  Time will tell on whether this experiment works or not.
Additionally, I erected my mini greenhouse in order to harden my plants for transplanting in the next week or so.  As seen by the pictures, it is quite roomy and it ages well as this one is 6 years old.

Here is another view of it with my plants in them.

So, there is a little snippet of what I did on Sunday.  There is much more to do as the time to plant the warm weather crops is upon us in the Mid-Atlantic.  I can't wait to get digging into the dirt.  Till then, keep on gardening! 

Hallelujah!!

Well, April is always full of surprises when it comes to weather in the Mid-Atlantic region.  Last night was no exception to this.  We had a series of thunderstorms that were quite active with heavy downpours.  I was concerned as the night progressed that my shade structure and the attendant cabbage plants under it were goners.  So, when I went out at 6 this morning with my dog, to my surprise, it looked undamaged much to my delight.  Upon further review of it when I arrived home from work this evening, it did not have any damage I could detect.  And better yet, the plants were doing just fine.
We're certainly not out of the woods weather wise but it appears that the structure can stand up to storms.  I planted 3 Broccoli plants under it tonight.  Which brings to mind how I go about planting seedlings into my beds.  When I do this, I start by making a mixture of equal parts peat moss, composted manure and my fresh compost.  I generally use vermiculite in place of peat moss as the peat bogs are being farmed at alarming rates so I want to do my part to help with that issue.  But, I just happen to have some peat left over from a grass planting I did last fall soo I cannot let it go to waste.
Once I have the mixture made up, I water down the seedlings (soak them actually) and let them drain while I cut in the holes to plant the vegetables.  I cut the holes a little bigger than the size of the root ball and then take a little of my mixture and lay it in the bottom of the hole.  Then I pull the plants out of their containers and tease the roots if they are circled around the medium they are in.  Even if they aren't, I still pull them a little to ensure they're ready to plant.  I then put the plant into the hole and fill any voids around the plants with the mixture.  I lightly press in around the plants with my fingers, water them down and put more of the mixture around them to make sure the root ball is covered.  You should make a slight bowl shape around the seeding to hold the water near the plant to allow it to soak into soil and reach the roots.  It sounds difficult, but you will get the hang of it in no time.
Well, hope you are getting into your gardening full swing at this point.  Happy gardening!        

Its been hectic!

Well, it's has been a while and I certainly apologize for that.  My job has been hectic, work in the garden has ramped up immensely and best of all, my son is getting ready to graduate from college very soon. So, to say life is rolling along would be an understatement.  But still, I do have to apologize for going off the grid for this timeframe.  I will endeavor to be more consistent in the future.

So, garden-wise there have been some successes and alas, failures.  Failure, in one respect or another, is part of the vegetable gardening world.  This failure is really not that big in the whole scheme of things although it is disappointing.  As I have related to you, my goal with my gardening is to stay "organic" in all things.  Last fall I researched various fertilizers to use in the starting of my plants. I switched to an "organic" fertilizer from my preferred one which wasn't certified organic.  After having used this one this year, I would say it was a big let down in regards to my pepper plants.  I am not sure why it didn't feed them enough nutrients, but their growth seems very weak.  My tomatoes seem to be a little behind but not so far behind as the peppers.  Now, if these were the plants I was depending on for my food source this year, then that would be a huge issue.  As it is, my remedy for the situation is to run down to my go to plant supplier and buy theirs.  Of course, this means I will have to substitute their variety for mine, but that is the price to pay this year.  A minor price no doubt.

I finally finished the reconstruction of my beds that I started last fall yesterday.  I will get pictures up shortly once I have plants in them so you can get a sense of what my garden looks like.  Yesterday was one of those days you only get 4-5 times in spring or summer - maybe.  Beautiful sunlight, mild temperatures and a very gentle breeze.  To say I was in my element is an understatement.  I did my sniff test just to jog my brain out of it's doldrums.  What a sweet aroma it has.  All the winter rye has broken down and the beds are now ready for the year.  The soil is a nice dark brown, still cool to touch and friable.  Just the way you want it now.  

I built a structure over the area where I am planting my cool crops this year.  I will need to shade the plants from the sun towards the end of their growing cycle.  I had some left over weed fabric that I tested and it worked pretty well,  Light got through it and at the same time, it shaded the area.  I tested the soil this morning with my hand test and the soil under it was noticeably cooler than the surrounding uncovered areas.  I planted 3 cabbages and will be adding cauliflower and broccoli in the next couple of days.  I'll let you know how this works out in future posts.

Well, that's all I have at this time.  There is so much ground to cover when it comes to vegetables that it is nearly impossible for me to know what you may be interested in at this time.  Let me know and I'll be sure to address it in one of my upcoming posts.  Till the next post, keep on gardening!