Archive for ‘Organic Gardening’

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June 14, 2011

Children’s garden harvest and edible weed #1

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that teaching my son about plants, gardening, cooking and the environment is very important to me.

In addition to helping out in the garden at home, he also has a 4′ x 16′ garden that he shares with a buddy at the MN Landscape Arboretum as part of the Seed Sowers (children’s garden) summer program.  The group has had two weekend planting days prior to today, one in late May and one in early June.  Today was the first day of the weekly program where they tend to their garden by watering, weeding, harvesting and cooking.

Since Grandma brought him to and from the Arboretum today, I was anxious to hear how it went and what he did.  He came busting in the door, so proud to tell me all about his day.  He had been very busy watering, weeding, making his own hummus with “beans, garlic, lemon juice and goosefoot”.  Plus he brought a bag home with a head of lettuce and a radish!

His garden harvest made a nice addition to the Quinoa Risotto with carrots and sugar snap peas we had for dinner and was he ever proud to put the salad on the table!

As he was telling me about his day, I decided to ask a little more about goosefoot.  “Goosefoot?” I asked.  “Yep, goosefoot, mom.  It’s a weed we can eat.” he explained.  (Since Seed Sowers planting day #2, he’s been on the search for goosefoot in our garden as well).  “We put it on top of our hummus.”

Not knowing a lot about goosefoot, I did a little internet research tonight so I know what to look for in our garden.  While researching, I found that goosefoot is indeed edible and very nutritious, another interesting tidbit… goosefoot and quinoa (that we coincidentally had for dinner) come from the same plant.  So, now I know, and if you didn’t before, now you know too!

The Children’s Garden
Snapdragons and Black-eyed Susan
Lettuce, Tomatoes and Onions

Happy harvest from a proud mom!

Kate

Posted in Children's Garden, Organic Gardening | 3 Comments »

June 7, 2011

Water, water, water!

We’ve had record-breaking temps in the Twin Cities the past couple of days. This weather is tough.  It literally feels like a blast furnace to us and most of us aren’t outside all day and night.

This is the kind of weather that really tests Darwin’s theory or evolution and truly the strongest (healthiest and most fit) will survive.  Plants and trees have no respite right now, so they really need us.  We all need to do our part to keep our plants and trees well watered right now, not only to keep them moist, but on these really hot days, their roots need cooling too.  Container plants especially need their roots cooled.  Remember a few days ago I was mentioning that it’s great that the soil in containers heats faster than the soil in the ground because you can get a jump-start on seed germination and plant growth?  Well, here we are, less than a week later and I get to remind you that there’s a down side to containers as well.  The soil in containers heats faster than the soil in the ground… On days like today when temps are over 100 degrees the soil temperature in containers is soaring as well.  If your plants look limp, but the soil is still wet, please give your plants a drink anyway.  Just like us, they may not be thirsty so much as just too hot.  The cool water will help cool their roots and get them back to a comfortable temperature, lessening the stress on the plant.

As if these temps alone aren’t enough to torture plants and trees, add dry air and high wind and we’re asking a lot of our green friends.

And now for a little plant biology. 🙂  Much like human perspiration, plants lose water through openings on their leaves in a process called transpiration.  The rate of transpiration (loss of water) is affected by humidity in the air, wind, air temperature and light intensity. The drier the air, the higher the wind, the higher temperature and the more intense the light is will increase the rate of transpiration/loss of water.

So… on hot days, water.  On dry days, water.  On windy days, water. And on hot, dry, windy days… please, please water!

Kate

Posted in Container Gardening, Landscaping, Mindful Living, Organic Gardening, Ornamental Grasses, Perennials, Veggie Garden | 2 Comments »

May 27, 2011

Planting time!

Memorial weekend, garden calendar, garden notebook.  What do all of these things have in common?  It’s time to plant!

By now we should be in the clear as far as frosty nights are concerned, but the other key factor to seed germination and plant growth is warm soil.  Each seed needs certain conditions to grow, warm season crops and tender crops typically need the soil temp to be 60 – 85 degrees in order to germinate whereas cool season crops only need it to be around 40 degrees.  Granted we’ve had a crazy spring, (although growing up in Minnesota, I’m not really sure what a “normal” spring would look like!) but the soil temperatures over the last week or so have been hovering in the low to mid 60s in Central Minnesota, so it’s basically a green light to plant.  As the soil continues to warm, the seeds will germinate and the plants will begin to grow.

One thing to keep in mind if you’re doing container gardening is that the soil in the containers warms and cools more drastically than the soil in the ground.  What this means is that they truly benefit from a warm, sunny day now because the soil will warm faster, likewise later in the summer they will continue to warm faster, which is why some plants tend to wilt in pots.  The soil in containers will  also cool significantly faster as well.  This is part of the reason why container gardens typically need more attention than plants in the ground, but that’s another subject all together.

So, now’s the time to pop those warm season crops, such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, etc. in the ground.    If you haven’t started your own seeds earlier in the season, buy seedlings or more mature plants from local plant sales or garden centers.  Warm season crops have a long growing period.  If you plant these from seed now, they won’t have enough time to grow and produce fruit before frost in the fall.

Now is also a good time to plant the tender crops like cucumbers, pumpkins, melons and squash.  These, unlike warm season crops can be planted by seed now.  To help them germinate more quickly, you can cover them with hot caps (a.k.a. Hot Kaps, Hotkaps) to help warm the soil and get them to germinate faster.  Remove the cap when they are  growing vigorously.

If you haven’t already done so, you can also plant: beans (bush, pole, dry, lima), beets, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, radishes, kohlrabi, lettuce (leaf and head), parsley, potatoes and sweet corn.

I wish you a happy holiday weekend and happy planting!

Kate

Posted in Container Gardening, Organic Gardening, Seed Starting, Veggie Garden | Leave a Comment »

May 12, 2011

… showers bring May flowers…

Today is another cold and rainy day in the Twin Cities, but for some reason it didn’t get me down.  Okay, maybe a little, while I fought the urge to hang out under a blanket and read a book instead of going to my son’s baseball game tonight.  But since they didn’t cancel the game and he was so anxious to play, I went. My jeans wicked water from the bottom to mid-calf and my socks were more like damp sponges, but I got to see my son’s first hit of the season so I couldn’t be happier.  He even got the “game ball” tonight.  No blanket or book could have been better than seeing the smile on his face.  It was a great end to a wet, grey day.

There are many things about rainy days that I love.  I love hearing the cars splash through the puddles.  I love listening to birds sing while they use the rain as their own personal shower.  I love watching rain drops slide across leaves and drip down to the ground below.  I love how the filtered sunlight changes the colors of everything outside.  I love how intense the yellow is on goldfinches and orioles.  I love that rainy days slow everything down.  It takes everything back a couple of notches.  Especially in the spring. Ever since the weather has begun to warm up I’ve felt a surge of energy.  Energy in the plants, animals, water, everywhere.  It’s like everything and everyone has been running in high gear. The rain gives me a chance to pause, reflect and catch my breath.

Rain seems to have the opposite effect on plants though.  Have you ever looked out the window while it’s raining and just observed?  Rain is like an instant energy source for plants.  Give them water and I swear you can watch them grow before your very eyes.  In the past couple of days I’ve watched my raspberries leaf out, buds start to pop on the grape vines and the pear trees go into full blossom.  The asparagus is now ripe for picking, Monarda is popping up everywhere and peonies and lilies are growing taller by the minute.  Tulips, daffodils, rhododendrons, azaleas, hyacinths and Forsythias are all in full bloom, as are the magnolias and some of the flowering crabs.  The best part is… there are so many sweet smells to go with it!

The rain has also made my lawn bloom, literally.  Since I don’t use chemicals and haven’t focused much time on weed control, there is a nice crop of dandelions and creeping charlie in my yard.  We inherited these with the house when we bought it and I honestly haven’t devoted much time to getting rid of them. However, there’s a part of me that thinks of these “weeds” as a gift.  I know, you probably think I’m crazy but the most beautiful time of the year in my backyard is right now.  Resting within the lush green grass is a sea of purple creeping charlie blossoms combined with bright yellow dandelions and splashes of white and lavender violets. If everything is timed just right, in a few days the pink petals from the flowering crab will begin to fall and add yet another color to the mix.  It truly is beautiful.

I promise to provide pictures to prove it!

What have the spring showers brought you?

Kate

Posted in Flower Gardening, Mindful Living, Organic Gardening, Ornamental Grasses, Perennials | Leave a Comment »

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