24th March, 2011 - Posted by shawn - No Comments
The future garden
We’ve had seeds planted for a few weeks now and most of them are up already which really makes it seem like Spring. I planted 15 different things so far, most in these home-made greenhouses that we love. We’ve got lettuce, cabbage, rudbeckia, violas, peppers, onions, leeks and some stuff I can’t remember.
Tom Thumb Lettuce - I think
These mini greenhouses are made from eggland’s best cage free egg cartons. They are amazingly efficient at starting seeds that will be transplanted. They take little soil mix and are self watering plus provide a “greenhouse” lid to get germination started fast.
When I get tired of the snowflakes falling outside, I just take a look at my garden inside. Makes it all better.
27th February, 2011 - Posted by shawn - No Comments
Butterfly Bush - on the Invasive "Watch" list for PA
One of the brochures I picked up at the PA Farm Show discussed invasive plant species in PA and I was suprised to find a few of the plants I was growing in my yard on the list of situational invasives. Specifically we have English Ivy and Periwinkle.
Invasive plants are those which are not native to the area but have been introduced either directly by planting or indirectly by seed spreading and are agressively spreading into areas and threatening the native ecosystems.
The brochure I have was put out by DCNR and you can see their information online here. This listing is somewhat different and does not include situationally invasive plants. They are right out there with the rest of them. This list also includes a watch list which includes one of my favorite plants – the butterfly bush.
25th February, 2011 - Posted by shawn - No Comments
Bee on a Sunflower
One of the things we’ve been thinking of doing for a few years in keeping bees. We’ve done a lot of reading on the subject and though we really want to do this, it seems beyond us. What we’d like to do is find a mentor to help us through the first year or two so we can learn first hand how to raise a healthy colony.
I have to admit that I am afraid of being stung. I know the valuable role bees play in pollination and that there is some side benefit in gleaning honey if the hive does well, but I am still nervous about it. We have ground bees here also and hornets and all kinds of other things that sting so it comes with the territory.
At the PA Farm Show I picked up a brochure put out by the PA State Beekeepers Association called “Give Honey Bees a Helping Hand.” You can download a copy of the brochure here.
In the brochure they discuss the decline in bee populations and what you can do to help. Even if you don’t want to keep a hive yourself, you can help the bees by planting a pollinator’s garden. See info on making a bee friendly landscape here. For now I’m sticking with that.
Eventually though I will get over my fear and we will find someone to walk with us down this path, but for now we keep reading and learning.
20th February, 2011 - Posted by shawn - No Comments
We have a to do list a mile long here at our place so who knows when we’ll actually get to each item on the list but this one is getting nearer the top – keeping rabbits with a vermicomposter (worm bin) underneath.
We would like to keep rabbits for companion reasons as pets and there is some interest in raising them for meat (not from me…) We have a rabbit cage in the garage just waiting for a rabbit but the hardest part about doing this is figuring out where to put bunny. Our house in on a busy state route and we know rabbits aren’t into loud noises. We thought perhaps our back deck might be a good place, but we’re not sure. We’ll have to think on it.
Anyway, if you haven’t heard about this idea before it might seem a bit strange. Basically you have a rabbit hutch that is raised and underneath it you put a worm bin to catch the bedding and waste from the rabbits. Rabbits are more comfortable with a partially solid floor (easier on the feet) so the open wire part would go over the worm bin. As the rabbits eat and poop the worms turn the leftovers into wonderful compost. All the worms need is a little moisture and some turning of the bedding every now and again.
Folks say this is the perfect combination and we really want to try it out. Perhaps this is the year. We’ll see.
20th February, 2011 - Posted by shawn - No Comments
Welcome Bees!
We love bees at our house – the nice kind, not the nasty ground bee kind. (We unfortunately have both.)
Scott and I both loved the John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seed catalog but we had already ordered so much from Pinetree that we just stuck with one thing – the Bumblebee Habitat Flower Garden Mix. We have nearly an acre in plain grass that we want to convert to wildlife habitat and food producing and this is going to be a step in that direction.
The mixture includes 21 different varieties (if I counted correctly) of bee favorites. I grow many of these separately but we’re hoping a large plot of them will bring even more pollinators our way. Our biggest challenge will be preparing the soil and avoiding flooding since our property is stream side. We’ll see how we do.
19th February, 2011 - Posted by shawn - No Comments
Thinking of Greener Days
Most magazines I receive are tossed as soon as I page through them a few minutes, they are just not of use to me anymore since we aren’t practicing a cosumer lifestyle. But one magazine this week did have an article in it that made me go, “Now I can use that idea!” The article discussed how to make a Forsythe Pot to propagate new houseplants. It included step by step instructions and pictures.
Basically you have two pots – a large plastic one and a small clay one. You put vermiculite into the large pot. If the clay pot has a hole in it you plug it with a cork or something and then put the smaller pot into the larger pot. The small pot acts as a water supply for the larger pot so you can root cuttings in sterile medium and not have them dry out. It works for various things but my mind is on ivy and African Violets (which always seem to rot for me before they root.)
This idea is definitely on my to do list for Spring.
If you want to make your own, many websites show how to do this. Here are just a few:
17th February, 2011 - Posted by shawn - No Comments
If you look back on the website you’ll see a post saying we probably aren’t going to order many garden seeds - yeah, that didn’t happen. We ordered a lot of seeds. Mostly from Pinetree but we did pick up a few from Seed Savers Exchange. Here is what we ordered (with links to the SSE website for details):
13th February, 2011 - Posted by shawn - No Comments
Tea box outside
We make a lot of iced tea at our house and I just emptied a Salada tea box this week. When I took a look at the box I thought “Hmm, this would make a great seed starting box.”
The box is square and has 4 dividers. My mind says to fill it up with dirt, divide the sections and use it to start larger seeds that are easy to place. Or perhaps tomato seeds or peppers. The box will degrade and the inks are most likely not safe to use in the garden so it would be a temporary home only, but it still would give me another place to plant seeds this spring and judging from how we didn’t stick to our plan to not order seeds, space it going to be at a premium.
Tea box inside
If you are looking for seed starting space, look to your trash before you go and buy trays and pots. Here are some of the things we use as seed starting locations:
- egg cartons (the two part plastic ones like Egglands Best Cage Free make great mini greenhouses, I’ll post on that later)
- yogurt containers – wash well and put holes in the bottom or cut up for plant markers
- cans - watch for sharp edges and put holes in the bottom
- large and small plastic bottles – cut tops off to make mini greenhouses, plant in the round bottom section
- milk jugs – clear ones work best for greenhouses, but white ones can be cut off to use the bottom as a planter. The top (with the lid off) makes a good funnel. With the lid on it makes a good scoop for birdseed or other dry goods. Also can be cut up for plant markers.
- formula containers – the plastic ones, put holes in the bottom
- salad containers – great mini greenhouses
- aluminum trays – great to put under plants when watering. I’ve also used them as flats to sow seeds in a pinch.
- old cookie sheets, baking trays, etc – again great for watering trays or planting
- large plastic containers of any type – wash well, fill with 1 inch of vermiculite in the bottom with seed starting mix on top, don’t overwater. Cover with plastic wrap for greenhouse.
- popsicle sticks – use as plant markers though ours have all rotted and molded up quickly, even with good washing
- jars, bottles etc – use for vases for flowers or for rooting cuttings, jars are good for saving seeds
6th January, 2011 - Posted by shawn - No Comments
Matt's wild cherry
We have so many seeds now that I doubt we’ll be ordering from anyone, but I avoid buying form Burpee because of their link to GMO seeds and companies that produce and market them. They do have PA Certified Organic seeds and plants which you can be certain have no GMO traces but who knows about the rest of what they offer?
All the same, their catalog is beautiful and I do window shopping every year. These are the things that caught my eye this year:
Page 4 – The picture of the Sunforest made of Sunflowers – I want to try that this year for our kids
Page 6 – Round Midnight Basil – so beautiful (too bad I hate the taste of basil)
Page 10 – Phantom Petunia – WOW!
Page 11 – Raspberry Truffle Echinacea and Raspberry Lemonade Zinnias – love that pink!
Page 17 – Punch Bowl Gaillardio – reminds me of a refreshing slush in the summer
Page 48 – Tangerine Dream Pepper – love the color and shape of the peppers
Page 49 – Golden Baby Belle Pepper – would be great filled with an herb cheese
Page 71 – Variegated Cat Grass – the white is really striking
Page 84 – Pinnk Lemonade Blueberry – just to have something different
Page 89 – Honeyberry – again, something different and fruit is always good
Page 95 – Oktoberfest Calendula has a great shape and Tricolor Daisies are just darling
So that’d be my list…
23rd November, 2010 - Posted by shawn - No Comments
Every year the seed catalogs show up earlier and earlier – just like Christmas in the stores. But unlike Christmas in the stores I actually WANT this catalog to come as soon as possible so I can start window shopping for my garden.
We have saved an enormous amount of seed from our own garden in 2010 and also from the produce we received as part of the Spiral Path CSA this year. We also have tons of seed from previous years that never got planted. As a result of this, my seed request list is very short and will probably only contain viola seeds and a few other types of seeds that can’t be kept year to year.
Scott’s list however is pretty long as he’s working on his permaculture training garden. He’s got the Pinetree catalog marked up on nearly every page!
If you’ve never ordered from Pinetree, please consider doing so. They offer human sized seed packets at very affordable prices and their customer service is excellent. The do not support genetic modification or seed treatment and openly state so in their catalog. A family run business they are a far cry from the mechanized superpowers like Burpee. My only complaint is that they don’t offer a lot of organic seed – but they do offer a lot of heirloom varieties you can save seed from yourself.
You can see their wares and order a catalog at their website here.
Happy garden planning!
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