Mulch
The Value and Importance of Garden Maintainence
I have learned over the years that the most important part of gardening is showing up. Weeds do not weed themselves, tomatoes and peppers don’t pick themselves and unless you get lucky they are not going to water themselves either. It is important to take the time to observe your garden, to work in your garden and on some level to be a part of it.
Treating your garden like a small business is a fantastic way to be sure that everything gets done. You do not have to use firm timing or scheduling but it is important to keep in mind that the more seriously you take your garden the better return you will likely see. You have made the initial investment of seeds, plants, dirt and time. If you continue to put out this effort you can watch your investment grow into a beautiful harvest.
It is interesting to me that many people do not grasp the value of the garden. I like to think of it this way: If I go to the farmers market and buy 10 ears of organic corn, 4 organic tomatoes and 10 organic peppers I will spend roughly $10. For that same $10 I can buy four packages of organic seed. For the sake of argument we will say there are 20 seeds in each package. That means that you can grow 80 organic plants for $10 or buy two days’ worth of produce. Each of those 80 plants, depending on what they are, will produce two to 20 or more pieces of produce. This means that each plant has the potential to grow $20 (or more) worth of produce at fair market value. This is why it is important to treat your garden as if it were a business.
Watching your plants grow from tiny seedlings, seeing them bloom and ultimately producing vegetables or fruit is pretty rewarding. However in order to be successful there is more to do. Your plants, in this scenario are your staff and an unhappy staff usually creates a substandard product. Your plants need to be watered, weeded, propped up, mulched, fed and protected. Your plants need your supervision. Some things should be done on a schedule, other things do not need to be so rigid.
I water on a schedule, while you could wait for your plants to start drooping, your plants will be happier and your garden will be healthier if you water on a schedule. Keep in mind that early-morning watering is preferable to watering any other time of day. To be honest there many days I am out there watering in the afternoons, but at least it gets done. My personal rule for watering is fairly simple, if it has been (or will be) above 80° all day and it had not rained, my garden needs water. You can stick your finger in the dirt to tell the level of moisture, cold dirt has more moisture than warm dirt. You could also find a moisture meter online for about $10. It will tell you how dry your soil actually is. I have a moisture meter and I still use my 80° rule more often. Of course it is also very important that you do not overwater your garden. It is for this reason that I use my moisture meter. If I am unsure I will trust the meter.
Remember that the smaller a container is the more often it will need to be watered. Soil type and quality also makes a difference in the amount of necessary watering. I have a potato potted on my porch and it is primarily growing in cheap peat moss. When I water this potato I actually dip the entire pot in a bucket of water. I do this because the peat moss dries out so quickly and this is the most efficient way to water the potato. It is also important to learn from your mistakes, the next time I plant a potato on the porch it will not be in just peat moss.
Weeding is something else that you need to be doing on a schedule. Weeding is my least favorite chore in the garden, so I try tonmake it easy on myself. When I go outside to work in the garden I set a timer on my phone for 15 minutes. I pull weeds for 15 minutes every single day, that’s it. If a weed does not get pulled today it will just have to wait till tomorrow. This helps me limit the amount of time I spend pulling weeds and sets a definitive finish line for my least favorite chore.
Pretty much everything else you do in the garden can be done with more flexibility. Providing trellises or cages for your plants should be done while they are still small. Continually checking on climbing plants and providing support for plants like tomatoes should be done with every trip to the garden.
Mulching is obviously done at specific times throughout the season. Mulching is best done once the ground warms up to help contain moisture, reduce weeding and protect the plant. Potatoes also need to be mulched or hilled throughout the season.
Feeding your plants is also important. The best protection against poor production and diseases such as tomato end rot is maintaining a proper nutritional balance in the soil. I like to use a combination of compost, organic garden fertilizer and occasionally organic hydroponic nutrients. I started off my seedlings this year with hydroponic nutrients. I like them because they are liquid and highly concentrated. I mixed the nutrients directly into the organic potting soil prior to starting seeds and continued to use them while my seedlings were still in the greenhouse. I do believe that this gave my seedlings a better start this year.
When you think of a garden you do not necessarily think of the need for protection. However your garden does need to be protected. If you have dogs or cats you may want to think about how you can keep them out of your garden beds. You should also think about protection from rabbits and deer. There are a number of solutions that you can employ to protect your garden. I have pots of marigolds around my garden. Marigolds are said to be offensive to deer, I am not sure about that, but I have never had any marigolds eaten by deer. I also have stakes posted in my garden with row covers attached to them. I used these to protect my tomatoes originally from cold air, now I am hoping that flapping row covers scare off the deer who want to eat my tomatoes. I also strategically place dog hair around the garden. While I do not allow my dogs to wander through my garden area, the smell from their hair seems enough to keep the deer at bay most of the time. Blood meal is another way to keep the deer and rabbits from eating your garden. Blood meal can be spread in and around your garden any time of year however it is important to keep in mind that blood meal is also a fertilizer so it should be used sparingly in your beds if you are fertilizing with other compounds.
There are a few issues that require immediate attention. After a thunderstorm it is a good idea to check on your garden. To be sure the wind has not knocked over anything or pulled the tomatoes from their cages. First thing in the morning is a great time to check your garden. If the deer were interested in your tomatoes the night before you will find out in the morning.
Treating your garden as a serious business will not only increase the return on your investment it will also give you the peace of mind that you are doing everything you can to provide healthy, inexpensive food for yourself and your family.
The Mighty Tomato
Easy Plants for New Gardeners
The Tomato
Tomatoes are wonderful. Tomatoes make pasta sauce, chili, salsa, ketchup even tomato sandwiches. They are fantastic, versatile and easy to grow. There are a huge variety of tomatoes seeds available and tomatoes plants are so easy to find this time of year. There is no need to be intimidated by the mighty tomato.
This year I planted seven varieties of tomato. I have cherry tomatoes, sauce tomatoes and five different varieties of regular round tomatoes. Although there is really nothing ordinary about any of them. Two of the varieties I chose simply because they are different. One is a Barnes Mountain Orange the other is a Cherokee Purple. Both are average size slicing tomatoes with above average coloring, they will be fantastic in salads. I also added Brandywine and Old Virginia tomatoes this year so that I can have larger slicing tomatoes for sandwiches. While I was at the seed store I also found a tomato that I had never heard of a Crnkovic Yugoslavian, so I planted that one too. I have a fairly simple gardening philosophy, if I can grow it, I will probably like to eat it.
Growing tomatoes is fairly simple, they are happy in any decent soil. Ideally they prefer fertile well-drained soil with high organic matter but I have grown them in red Virginia clay with success. They should be allowed to live in a sunny spot in your yard or in a pot at a south facing window.
When planting your tomatoes it is best to “trench them in”. This means that you basically plant your tomato plant sideways. Tomatoes have the ability to grow roots from their stalk which is fantastic because the more roots your plant has the healthier and stronger it will be. Trenching is fairly simple, you dig a hole for the tomato roots and from there dig a shallower trench. Lay the plant in the hole sideways. As you cover up the roots pay attention to the top of your tomato plant. You want the top of the tomato plant to be still sticking out of the ground.
To be honest with you I have dropped tomatoes straight into pots, planted them a little deep and had no problems with them. However it is better for the plant to give it a great head start by trenching it in.
So you have chosen a spot, added some good soil, and planted your tomato, now what? Tomatoes get to be fairly large so your next job is to look around the house for something that can support your tomato plant. You can slide your pot next to a trellis, drive some stakes into the ground or purchase a tomato cage for less than two dollars at a hardware store, the choice is yours. The reason why we must think about supporting our tomato plant is because the fruit of the tomato is often too heavy for the branches to support on their own and tomato cages provide support for this throughout the life of the tomato plant.
Growing your tomatoes… Tomatoes appreciate consistent soil moisture, room to breathe and fertile soil. Once your tomato is in place and your soil has warmed up, you can apply mulch at the base of the tomato to help it retain moisture throughout hot summer days.
The best way to grow anything is to be consistent and patient. When I am outside in the hot sun weeding a bed, there are times I want to quit. It is too hot, it looks like it is going to rain, it has not rained in a month, my feet hurt… You can come up with 1000 reasons why you should not be out in the hot sun weeding a patch of dirt. But… nothing beats the feeling of harvesting your own vegetables. For $2.50 you bought a pack of little seeds and now with little sweat and work you have grown a bunch of tomatoes. You have grown enough tomatoes for yourself, your family, your neighbor and maybe even that guy down the street that looks hungry. You have proven to yourself that you do, in fact, have a green thumb. Anything new can be overwhelming it is important to take your time, breathe and be patient with yourself and your plant. Before long you will have more tomatoes than you know what to do with.
Happy Gardening.
Garden Planning: Container? In Ground? Both?
Once you have planted your seedlings and grown them to perfection (or picked them up from the store) you will need a place to stick them. How you build your garden is up to you. The easiest way to build a garden bed is to dig a hole and stick your plant in the ground. The trick is to not run it over with the lawnmower. Planning your garden bed is not difficult it just requires a little knowledge and some decision-making.
I have a friend who is a landscaper and that is all he is. When we discuss vegetable gardens including the layout of mine he gets a little quiet and seems a little nervous. He confesses to being intimidated by a vegetable garden. There is absolutely no need for that and I will show you why.
The sun:
Perhaps the most important part of planning your garden is knowing where the sun travels throughout the day. I chose to garden on the side of my house because that is the area that gets sun for most of the day. Where is your sunny spot? Now that you have a sunny spot in mind, what kind of garden do you want?
Container gardening:
Container gardening is fantastic. You have full control over the soil, less weeds and if your container is small enough, a portable garden. For those of you who have a porch and not much yard, container gardening is definitely the way to go. There are as many types of containers as there are plants. You could use a pot, a fabric grocery bag, bag beds, recycled clothing, a raised wooden bed even a small child’s swimming pool will make a fantastic garden.
While gardening in a bag of dirt is technically container gardening, I wanted to keep it separate because it requires a little more thinking. If you are going to plant herbs in a bag of dirt on the ground you will be fine to lay it flat and cut it open. If you are growing tomatoes a flat bag of dirt will not do. Tomatoes need more room for the roots than the thin layer provided by a bag of dirt on its side. If you are determined to grow your vegetables in bags of dirt be sure to prop up your bag of dirt and grow your peppers and tomatoes from the top. Gardening is all about understanding your plants needs and then reaping the rewards.
In ground gardening:
I have both container beds and in ground beds. My in ground beds are the first garden beds I built when I bought my home. This year they are housing my onions in one bed and my potatoes in the other. Gardening in the ground has its advantages and disadvantages. When the ground warms up your garden bed is warm enough for your plants but it is not necessarily ready for them. Your garden bed should be fortified with good soil and compost (unless your yard came with amazing soil). It is also helpful to break up at least the top layer of soil so your plants have room to spread their roots.
About tilling:
I have used these garden beds for three years. I have never tilled them. When I built these beds I laid out a 4’ x 8’ rectangle and began digging. I edged the bed, scraped the grass layer off of the top and then dug up soil in the center while mixing it with compost. I used this method of building a garden bed because at the time I did not own the tiller. I bought a tiller thinking I would use it for my in ground beds, I have only used it once and not even in the garden. While a tiller is a helpful piece of equipment, it is a large investment and not necessary for successful gardening.
Should you mulch? Yes. Mulch helps to hold in moisture and reduces the amount of weeds you have to pull. I once had a garden that I kept well mulched. It did reduce the overall weed count and it looked pretty. After turning the soil over in the fall, mulch becomes a fantastic additive for garden beds that are mostly clay or other not so desirable soil.
Does it matter what kind of mulch you use? Nope. It is that simple. It does not matter, you can use straw, pine bark, cedar, even grass clippings. The only thing you do not want to use is freshly ground wood pieces. For example a tree company comes cuts down a tree on your property and grinds up the tree for you. Do not use that ground up wood for a couple of years in your garden. Freshly ground wood can leach nutrients out of your soil so it is best to wait or use that wood for pathways.
Do you have to mulch? Absolutely not. This is your garden and you can do it the way you want.
Getting specific:
In landscaping we typically put the taller plants in the back and the shorter plants in the front. In gardening this is not the way to layout plants. As you are deciding where your tomatoes and broccoli are going to go, think about where you are planning to water from. If you are planning to water with a sprinkler do not block your water by putting a bigger or wider plant closer to your water source. While this sounds like something you would think of on your own, trust me, plant placement can mean the difference between standing with a garden hose for 30 minutes or running a sprinkler while you do other things.
In the end it is your garden, you have to look at it, you have to tend it… Your garden should make you happy. So choose containers, dig a hole in the ground, bust open a bag of dirt and have fun.
Happy Gardening!!
Organic Gardening Made Easy 