Germination tricks

March 18, 2015

This year I have had amazing success with germinating my seeds.  While many factors come into play, the one thing I did was to try warming the seeding beds after planting.  I use a seed starting mixture (one small bag is enough for almost all of my starts), peat trays, and Gro Lux type florescent bulbs.  When I started the first "experimental" seeds (marigolds and peppers) during the first week of March I placed 100 watt bulbs under one of the trays to speed things up.  As expected, the warmer tray germinated much faster.  The problem was that the lamps did not generate a consistent temperature, and I was a bit worried about having a "jury rigged" setup.

I went through my junk collection and found two electric heating pads that I had salvaged years ago from an old instrument (I don't even remember what the instrument was!).  I attached the two pads to the bottom of one of my aluminum trays, and hooked them into a rebuilt "Veriac" (variable voltage transformer).

A plywood board holds the heating pads securely to the tray, and a sheet of 1/4 foam underneath provides insulation to reduce heat loss.

A thermocouple was placed between the large tray and the smaller tray holding the peat pots, and the Veriac adjusted so that the temperature at that point was 80 - 85F.



Even I was surprised when many of the seeds planted on March 13 had germinated by March 18!  I found a seed germination table that listed germination times based on soil temperature, and confirmed that this was normal.  The germination rates were also excellent (nearly 100%).  As of today only the peppers have yet to emerge.

Hello Spring

March 14, 2015

This was not the first crocus in the yard, but the "early risers" did not fare so well.  They are finally looking decent, so it was time for the annual "first flower of spring" photo.

It's time!

March 13, 2015

I made a quick trip to my favorite greenhouse Wednesday and while they don't have much ready for sale (no surprise there), I took a walk through and found that they already doing the first transplant on their tomato sprouts!  What I did learn was that the trays they start the seeds in have only about 1/2" wells.  Each slot probably only holds 1/2 teaspoon of seed starter.  Their flats were probably 12" x 12", so they each held about a gross of seedlings!

After seeing how far along their tomatoes were, I decided to go ahead and get some of my plants started (I'm counting on an early spring!)  Here is today's progress.

The marigolds, ornamental peppers, "Kroger" peppers, chives and leeks are all doing well.

After planting the new seeds I took my "rolling garden" out so that the plants could get some natural sunlight!

A bit early!

March 8, 2015

The temperature is finally starting to rise!  It is above freezing today and expected to hit near 60F by mid-week (there is still about 6" of snow over most of the yard).

I realize this is really pushing things....   I actually planned to start the chives, onions, and leek seeds in mid-February.   I went ahead and planted some marigolds so that I will have something to stick out as soon as the last frost is over.  The "experimental" part of my early planting includes two pepper plants.  The one is the small ornamental peppers that I like to use for borders.  I found one of the small purple fruits dried up under the mailbox in late January and just for the heck of it planted some of it's seeds.  The second flat of peppers I credit to my wife.  We love the long red sweet peppers (from both Kroger's and Sam's), and she gave me the cores of one when she was preparing a meal, suggesting I should try growing them.  I let them dry for a few days and planted them.  Surprise, surprise!  They did germinate.  Now the question is are they actually a hybrid so that I get some runty little peppers, or will they actually be the nice big red ones I want!

The flower on the right side of the photo is one that I decided to bring in last fall.  It was a miniature about 3" tall nasturtium plant in a 2" clay pot and had lasted all summer, so I felt sorry for it.  I transplanted it into a larger pot where it thrived all winter.  I find it interesting that it has been making seeds nearly all winter long (I assume self pollinated?).  

Enough is enough!

March 2, 2015

I can't help but remember my grandmother Huffman's advice "you should plant your peas on Valentine's Day" (she explained that some times you had to poke them in the mud in order to get them in that early).   Well, Valentine's Day was several weeks ago, and I don't think the ground has been clear of snow since!  This has been one of the strangest winters, thanks to the "Polar Vortex" or some such monster.  I finally went out today with a broom and tried to knock some of the snow off the cold frames.  In spite of over a foot of snow covering nearly everything the arugula, spinach, and kale all are bright green.

If the sun stays out, there will be enough heat that most of the snow will melt off (I hope!)

I think we are all tired of winter!

February 16, 2015

I may be getting tired of winter, but look at these poor guys.  I spent the morning sipping my coffee and watching three deer suffer through yet another snow storm.   They don't look too happy!

I guess they are just watching to see when I plan on putting in the garden!

Here we go again!

January 19, 2015

I have made my trip to BloomingFoods and purchased most of my garden seeds for 2015!  I got in the mood when we started having sunny days and my cold frames started looking beautiful in the mornings.  We have been eating some of the spinach and arugula (mainly as I thin it), and it is still looking very healthy.  I did notice deer tracks in the mud in the garden, so the hot wire may go up soon.

In addition to the "normal" cold frames (four total), I am experimenting with one that just uses a heavy plastic over a hardware cloth cage.  I wanted the latter to protect seedlings in the spring, so why not turn it into another cold frame.  You can compare this to the photo I took last year on March 3.

New varmint trap

December 30, 2014

I was drinking my coffee this morning and saw a new visitor to the area behind my garden.  Waiting for the rabbits perhaps?

Year end summary

December 14, 2014

As we approach 2015 the garden has slowly moved into the cold frames, or into the garage.  All in all the year was a success.  The additional sunlight (due to the clearing of trees in the utility right of ways) definitely increased the productivity this year.  The most substantial increase was in peppers and squash.  After the final harvest we had nearly 30 acorn and butternut squash (yes, we are still eating them!).  We finally finished the peppers last week--several times I was able to pick nearly five pounds of various peppers of several varieties.  One disappointment was the zucchini squash--while we had some,  it was not enough to suit me!   Part of the problem was the timing of vacations--we returned several times to find football sized squash that were good only for zucchini bread.

The tuber garden was interesting, but not terribly successful.  The sweet potatoes and Oca were grown in large pots.  One lesson learned was that clay pots don't work well with sweet potatoes. When we returned from a week long trip I found the pot cracked--the sweet potatoes had grown too large for the container!  The potatoes that I stared in the straw were a real mix.  Some were usable, but most were too small.  The OCA ended up being the most interesting of the tubers.  They are small colorful and irregularly shaped. I can certainly say that if we had to exist on these, we would probably stave to death!

If you compare the Oca plant to the left with the image from May 2 update you can see that the plant really took off!  I did follow the instructions and put in the garage to avoid frost after the fall equinox.  I may try again next year, but only because the plant is interesting, not terribly productive!

The photo below shows the "final" gasps of this years garden.  The pole beans are still growing, but most of the tomatoes are gone and only a few peppers remain.

I will probably start getting seeds ready in about one month for next years garden!

August update

August 12, 2014

As fall approaches, the garden is certainly abundant!  Keeping ahead of the weeds has proven challenging.  While this has been a fantastic year for growing veggies (adequate rain, moderate temperatures, few hungry creatures, etc.), it also means that the weeds are just as vigorous!

If you look in the corner of the garden you can see my neighbors gourds taking over the fence--they are actually climbing the tree in his back yard as well!

 While I don't really need the gourds, you can also see some of the acorn squash that have really taken off this year!

I also like the cute little lizard that likes to live next to the barn.  It has been some time since I have seen any of them in my back yard.

The eggplants and other potted plants on the picnic table continue to produce an abundant crop, and the Oca (located under the picnic table on the right side) seems to like the location.  The small pots are all starts from cuttings in the garden.

Going strong!

July 19, 2014

This is what one always hopes for in the middle of July!  About the only vegetables that are slow coming are the peppers.  We have had enough tomatoes, beans, Swiss chard, and summer squash that we had to make a trip to the local food pantry!

The yard-long beans (growing on the trellis's along the fence) are perhaps my favorite since I love to stir-fry.  We are actually still eating from the kale and spinach that were the winter crop!

The flowers are also starting to look nice, and the marigolds and nasturtiums are especially prolific.  The spider flowers are actually volunteers from last year.  The obedience flower (right) is just starting to produce.  They have been growing in the garden for years, but it was only last year that I realized they were not weeds!

My pollinators

July 11, 2014

I was enjoying my coffee this morning when I noticed a "cloud" over the garden.  The top photo shows what I was seeing--a large swarm of honeybees!  One of my neighbor's hobbies is raising bees, and occasionally they swarm to form a new hive (quite a show).  In the bottom photo you can see the mass of bees hanging from his plum tree.  In spite of having the hives only a few feet from where I work in the garden, they never bother me (so far!).

Harvest time!

July 1, 2014

This is what makes it all worthwhile!  We have an abundance of nearly everything (but no tomatoes yet except for a few cherry tomatoes).  The cucumbers and beans have been prolific, and the squash are growing faster than we can find them!  I like the purple Royal Burgundy beans as well as the normal Kentucky wonder and Top Crop beans.  The zucchini are starting to come on strong, and the kohlrabi are all ready for harvest.

Overflow gardens....

June 20, 2014

One of the few good things about the gas and electric utility companies clearing out the trees in the back yard is that I now have several new areas that can be planted in garden!  Since my fencing does not protect these areas, I have to either put the plants in hardware cloth "cages" or declare them sacrificial plants!  The following two photos show some of this area.

 

Watercress update!  Although it is looking a bit wilted, the watercress I picked up at the farmers market in May is still doing well in my little 3-tier fountain.  I will admit that I don't think I would want to eat this (too many birds use this as a bird bath), it is kind of fun seeing if I could grow it.

June 12, 2014

  
The garden still looks good!  The potatoes are growing rapidly (at least the greens), and most of the other plants are looking healthy.  Warm days and plentiful rain certainly help!

My favorite flowers (to eat anyway), the nasturtiums are doing well--I probably have more "nasties" than any other flower.
The picnic table garden is also doing well.  While there are no eggplant fruit yet, there are blossoms, and the Swiss chard is growing well.

Sorry--the smorgasbord is closed

June 6, 2014

A few deer go behind the garden nearly every morning.  So far they have been happy munching on whatever is growing behind the fence.  I found last year that if I put up a single wire electric fence and keep it energized for about one week I can just leave it off from then on.  A friend mentioned that pigs and cows will keep on testing to see if an electric fence is on--I guess deer are smarter!

It is amazing how fast things are growing in the garden.  I picked nearly a quart of sugar snap peas yesterday and a nice mess of spinach.  I also dug up the rest of the early Pak Choi  and cooked the nicer looking heads up with sesame oil, ginger and garlic (the majority was starting to get buggy and going to seed) .  I then added a few shrimp --not a bad dinner actually.

Empty nest

June 5, 2014

I started to water my flower bed when I noticed this:

I wonder how many baby rabbits were in there last week (they are now all in my garden).

One of my favorites.

June 5, 2014

You would think that I would know the name of one of my favorite perennial flowers, but I don't!   For a long time I called it a garden phlox, but after a bit of deep research (i.e. looking at Google Images), I am confident that it is Blue Flax (Linum perenne).  The thing that is spectacular about the flower is the mass of blue flowers each morning, shown in the photo below.

The thing I love about the flax is that the individual flowers loose all of their petals each evening, growing a new set each morning!

 

As you can see from the seedling above, the leaves are very slender, almost needle-like.  I have found that the plants are easy to transplant, and have several around the garden.

May update!

June 2, 2014

I can now sit back and enjoy the garden!  I finished the final transplanting earlier today and managed to get the weeds and vines out of the fence row before the evening rains (3/4").  New additions include two tomato plants from my brother Hank (Indigo Rose and a Ananas Noire).  He also gave me a pot with an "OCA oxalis species Andean tuber" (he grows weird stuff) which I transplanted into a larger container.  I will have to find a location for its "special needs".  I also transplanted a row of Swiss chard to complement the chard growing in the container garden.

Dinner yesterday evening was a pork stir-fry with zucchini, Swiss chard, Bok choi, sugar snap peas and fresh onions from the garden!  I am certain that this is the earliest I have ever had zucchini (yes they were small, but tasty).

 

We will probably be eating crookneck by the weekend as well!  If you look closely you can see the sugar snap peas.  They are tasty stir-fried and just raw in salads (quite a few disappear from the vine while I am gardening!)

The eggplants are also doing well--the ichiban are already starting to bloom and the black beauty are just budding.  I probably have too many in each pot, but they did so well last year that I decided to try again!

Finally, an update on the potato patch is in order!  So far things look good.  There have been several "sprouts" that have died (or at least disappeared), but as you can see from the photo below most of the shoots are looking healthy.

The first crop of bush beans are finally starting to form pods, so we should be eating fresh green beans from the garden in a week or so!

What rabbit fence?

May 31, 2014

I won't complain (too much).  My neighbor had major portions of his garden disappear in one day from the rabbits!  I had not been bothered since I learned from last years rabbit feeding frenzy that I needed a good rabbit fence if I was going to grow tasty plants (see earlier post--chicken fencing surrounds my entire garden).  Unfortunately, I looked out and noticed a cute (?) visitor hiding in the flowers inside my rabbit fence early this morning.

I finally cornered him (her?) and reunited junior with the parent that was hiding behind the garden.

 

I assumed that Mr. Rabbit had come in through one of my two gates (I often leave them open when I am working in the garden), so it was no big deal.  Later in the day I noticed that he/she had somehow gotten back in!  I went in and before I was done I saw at least six different bunnies.  I also found out that when they are that small they can just zip through the chicken fencing!

The only consolation is that they don't eat too much and will soon be too big to get through the holes.  I did have to put my hardware cloth cages (1/4" holes) around the kohlrabi which they apparently love. 

Nearly done!

May 23, 2014

The weather has been cooperating recently.

My picnic table is filled with plants ready to be transplanted.  I still have 10 -15 peppers that I hope to find room for--I hate to throw anything away!  Several of the clay pots will be transferred to my "ground stump" garden visible in the upper left.  This is the area where the gas company took out my large sassafras tree and ground up the stump.

The above view is looking toward the house from the back of the garden.  The white flowers are from the arugula that have gone to seed--I would pull them but Carolyn likes the flowers.  I have a new row planted on the other side of the rubarb.

This view, taken from the gate at the front of the garden shows the progress of the peas (on the lattice).  Several squashes transplanted today are in the foreground.

Finally, this is the "overflow" garden.  You can see the progress of the potatoes (to the left).

With any luck, the rest of the garden will be out by early next week!

More than just vegetables!

May 22, 2014

One of the things I am doing this year is adding a bit more color to the garden.  I have a variety of annual flowers started in flats, and some have already been transplanted to the garden.  One "star" this spring is my Clematis vine, shown below.

The bergamot  (bee balm) transplanted earlier is doing well--hopefully my neighbors bees will appreciate all the work I am doing for them!  I have tons of marigold plants started (the claim is that they repel bugs), and I will have nasturtiums throughout the garden.

Garden update (May 10)

So far this has been an excellent month for the garden!  It has only been slightly over a week since my last update, and much as happened.  The first thing I will brag about is the potato patch.  In the last update I mentioned that at least one shoot had appeared through the straw.  Here is this mornings view:

It was raining this morning, but I could see probably 15 new shoots above the straw.  Assuming something terrible does not happen, I should be getting a nice mess of potatoes this fall!

With the exception of the perennial flower bed in the Southeast end of the garden, all of the tilling has been done.  I have also tilled some of the new ground where Duke removed the trees at the Northwest end, and have a nice crop of Pak Choi growing there.

The current layout for this years garden is:

I was able to finish up the fencing and installed two gates so that I don't have to climb over the chicken fence each time I need to get in.  I have about 16 pepper plants of various varieties transplanted, and eight tomatoes!   If you have trouble reading the map try left-clicking on it.  On my computer this brings it up full size and you can pan around to see it.

I have a simple frame with chicken wire that hooks onto the two tomato cages to act as a gate.  Note in the bottom center of the photograph the field tile buried with about 4 inches showing.  This is an experiment to see if it makes watering the tomatoes easier.   The tile goes down about 8 - 10 inches and rests on the compost/soil mixture that the tomatoes are planted in.   The idea is to fill the tile with water and then let it slowly seep into the soil at the bottom.  This is another trick based on what my granddad Patmore used to do.  He would put a long row of tiles under his plants (he also used chicken manure and dug the ditch two feet deep!) and water the whole row from one end.

This photo also shows that the peas are rapidly growing, and (unfortunately) the arugula (in the background) has started going to seed.  The blue flax on the left side of the photo is an amazing plant.  Each morning it is completely filled with beautiful blue flowers, but toward the end of the day all of the petals fall off!  If you look you can see that there is a progression of flower buds on each of the long stems.  It is certainly one of my favorite garden flowers.

The above photo shows the flax in the foreground with my winter spinach (to the left) and kale to the right.  In between are the broccoli plants that have now been out for about one week.

For once it looks like I will have a nice herb garden!  I usually have trouble getting cilantro to germinate, and my basil is sometimes sporadic.   This year I carefully kept the area where I planted the seed moist for the week after I sowed the seeds, and it looks like I may have had close to 100% germination.

The above photo shows my bush beans (Top Crop and Burgundy Bush).  They were stared in the "seed starter" and transplanted slightly over a week ago.  All are looking healthy so far, and a second crop has now been stared in the Yogurt cup seed starter (see photo below)

Finally, I want to show my "pot garden" (that will probably get more hits than anything else in my blog!).  The seed starter is on the far end of the picnic table and the clay pots hold a variety of vegetables, including acorn squash, Swiss chard, eggplants, and various mints.  In the background you can see the straw for the potato beds.

Nearly every thing is now planted.   I will be putting out some more Swiss chard in the garden itself (now in flats), and the onion sets are all planted.  One thing that I am planting in excess this year is zucchini!  Last year I had a poor crop (damn those wasps that lay eggs on them that bore into the stem!).   I am making a real effort to get a decent crop this year.  In the photo below you can see my first squashes (zucchini in front, crookneck in back). You can also see where I have started my nasturtium  flowers along the fence.  I plan on having "nasty's" everywhere in the garden that I can (I love to eat them).