This point in winter, just after the Solstice and during the general holiday season, always seems to me to be the most contemplative time during the year. At least in terms of my life as a gardener. Oh, yeah. I’m still digesting the experience of last year, thinking about what I want to do in [...]
Filed under: Nature, Rural Living, Soil Management | No Comments »
As everyone realizes, growing plants on soil means that the plants will draw out nutrients from that soil. Some soils start out in fertile condition, offering a high level of essential nutrients – and some don’t. But in any case over time, there will be a draw-down of nutrients – mainly nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, calcium, [...]
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We’ve harvested garlic, onions, pears, apples, squash, hot peppers, and a few other things in the last ten days. I’m now getting a jump on some of the autumn work, since I will be away for some of the early part of the season. We’ve got fall leafies growing in the greenhouse. I put in [...]
Filed under: Food, General Practices, Organic Gardening, Soil Management, Tips & Tricks, Vegetable Gardening | 4 Comments »
In a small way, I’ve resumed my informal experiments with volcanic-rock dust or powder as a soil amendment for plant starting. I reported on some results with the powder in the spring (see my post of April 26). In that case, I was starting several kinds of plants using a bagged potting soil we bought. [...]
Filed under: Organic Gardening, Soil Management | 3 Comments »
Well, our carrots in the side garden are up. Potato rows out in our larger garden are sneaking the first deep-green of leaves above the surface. We’ve now got more lettuce planted outdoors, too. But the slowly warming temps have also enticed us to put in some more decorative plants down by the pond and [...]
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With much satisfaction, and eagerness for the eventual tomato crop, a couple days ago we potted-up our Bonnie Bests and our San Marzanos from their 4-inch pots to gallon ones. These varieties are round-type and paste-type, respectively. They are both indeterminate (vine-type) varieties, which are well-suited to greenhouse nurturance. And that’s where we’ve put them [...]
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Well, we’ve had two real frosts, the second one (two nights ago) definitely qualifying as a “killing frost.” Back about three weeks ago, I worked up a swath of ground for planting garlic. It goes in as cloves the the fall, overwinters, then in the spring the cloves send up green shoots and begin to [...]
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Recently, I’ve planted some sections of our larger vegetable garden with fall rye, a cover crop. These are areas where I had potatoes and garlic growing this year, and I’ve harvested those. The rye is coming up a beautiful bristly green. Fall rye competes well with weeds (and I’d rototilled the area before seeding), so [...]
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I’m like all organic gardeners in that I regard the soil in my garden plots as something more than an inert material for holding moisture and anchoring the roots of plants. I see soil as a living system, involving minerals, humus and organic materials, air, water, visible organisms such as earthworms, and micro-organisms such as [...]
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Some years ago, when there were not too many grape varieties being sold at the local nurseries, I bought a Steuben grape plant. The nursery considered it suitable for our Slocan Valley situation – cool-to-cold winter with snow covered ground, a growing season that often could not be counted on for more than 150-165 frost-free [...]
Filed under: Food, Garden's Givens, Soil Management, Tips & Tricks | 4 Comments »