I have some gardening questions today that I need your help with!
Besides discussing the huge connections between healthy soil and nutritious produce, I also need any soccer Moms or Dads out there to answer an important question for me, and all you seasoned gardeners to answer some questions, too.
1. Deadly Soccer Balls
When figuring out what we have room to plant this spring in our first real garden, we’ve been limited with our space because the kids play soccer nearby. Does anyone know how many times a soccer ball can go screaming through a garden before killing everything?
Whatever we don’t have room for (or whatever gets annihilated by a soccer ball), will give me a good reason to still go visit my favorite farmers at the farm market and fill in that way. (They grow organic and sustainably, and are a neat young couple – see below for info on their new CSA!)
2. Do You Have Good Luck With Container Gardens?
Our container garden on the deck last year was a bomb – we didn’t get much and learned that veggies are best when grown in the ground. So we’re planting some herbs there this year instead and hope that turns out better. (I can’t wait to cook more with fresh herbs!)
3. Do You Buy All Organic Seeds?
When it comes to just the seeds, I might not be as stuck on buying organic if not for the GMO concern, but since that IS an issue, it’s only organic for us. I’m curious what your thoughts are on this.
4. Who does more of the gardening at your house?
My brother keeps telling us how easy a garden is and how little time it takes him to take care of it, but I’m still thankful that Kent is excited about doing this, since I know nothing about gardening. Kent grew up eating straight out of their garden, and he and his four brothers helped their Mom with everything, including canning. This is a very good thing. Besides, we have snakes in the yard sometimes…what the heck do I do about THOSE? (If you wake up someday and don’t see a new post from me, now you’ll know exactly what happened…)
5. Do you ever talk to soil specialists or consult with someone about all natural pest control and fertilizers, or do you just wing it?
We are fortunate to have Venman’s Landscaping nearby. They know their stuff and are a great resource. Last year John fixed me up with some all natural fertilizer and foliage food for my garden. This year he’ll test our soil to see what it needs to be healthy, so we’ll grow not only great tasting veggies, but super nutritious ones, too.
Healthy Soil Is Like A Healthy Body
John reinforced what I’ve heard before and it makes so much sense: soil is just like our bodies. If we’re feeding it what it needs, it can be strong enough to resist disease – healthy soil has few pest problems. The first article below also talks about Venman’s…
- More Gardeners Give Organic Products a Try
- For more information on Earthkeeper Farm and their new CSA, call Andrew or Rachelle at 616-403-0526.
- Below are more good links that you'll like.
- The importance of HEALTHY SOIL with Jay McCaman
- The Quest for Nutrient Dense Food – High Brix Farming & Gardening – call me crazy, but I find this topic so interesting – I want my own refractometer!
- Why we buy local, organic, sustainable food as much as possible
- Pesticides Health Effects
Kelly says
Thanks S.E., I’ll tell Kent, because the mole was at it again last night!!!
Sustainable Eats says
Hi Kelly,
I’ve been reading the book Carrots Love Tomatoes which is fascinating but she mentions that you can put thorny bushes like raspberry, rose, etc down their holes which will scratch them and cause them to bleed to death. Sort of passive violence and hopefully they would go deep into their burrows to die so you don’t have the stench…maybe worth a shot. Otherwise maybe get a mongoose?
Kelly says
Julie, how disappointing after all that work to not get anything good. Our garden is going good so far, except for MOLES – if they ruin our garden…I’ll…I’ll…I’ll get Kent to get them good! (I don’t have a clue how to do it – any suggestions?!)
Julie says
Last year I had a container garden only but horrible soil in the containers so we had very little yield. This year I have a huge garden space and so far it’s going okay although we are struggling with weeds. I’m using square foot gardening to maximize yield, organic chicken manure for fertilizer and heirloom or organic seeds to avoid the GMO issue. I have high hopes but I’m also skeptical since last year was such a bust. We did put in a drip water system which is fantastic. With a baby coming in the next few weeks I knew I needed to cut down on the amount of work I would be doing on the garden.
My ultimate goal is to buy some property and grow the vast majority (if not all of our own produce), so I’m thinking of the gardens I have now as practice so I can be ready and know how to grow each type of plant once we get to that point.
Julie
Kelly says
Crack me up – I’ll let Kent handle checking the ground for us! Thanks for all the great info, Annette. 🙂
Annette says
Hi Kelly,
If it says as soon as ground can be worked they are expecting you to have more snow/frost. It just means your starts won’t grow as quickly but shouldn’t die. You may want to get some floating row cover (mentioned above) to put over them just in case there is a snow – it will help shield them somewhat. Another thing you could do is find an old window at a renovation place (we have lots in Seattle, re-store demolishes old buildings then re-sells things for example.) You can put one end of the window on the ground then prop the other end up on a brick to slope it (southernly to maximize the sunlight) over where you planted those seeds. That will both protect them and warm the ground. I’m guessing you won’t have an issue with the ground drying out for a month or so yet, otherwise you would be sure the ground is evenly moist or the seeds won’t sprout.
Don’t feel dumb for not getting the “second spinach” comment, I’m not sure what they mean by that either and I’ve been reading garden books all winter.
Also I remember something in NT by SF about needing to cook your spinach – you can probably check in the index.
If you do start any seeds indoors be sure and harden them off before planting out in your cold ground – that means put them outside during the day in a sheltered location for 1-2 weeks so they can gradually get used to the cold air.
And for anything that says not to put in the ground until the soil is 65 degrees the indians used to check soil temp by sitting on the dirt for 30 seconds wearing no pants. If it’s tolerable you are good to go. Just don’t let you neighbors catch you doing it.
Annette
Kelly says
Hey all you smart gardening friends, I have 2 more questions for you (I’m sure I’ll be bugging you a lot as we get going on our gardening adventure!):
1. We live in Michigan and most of our seed packets say to plant outside after the danger of frost OR they say to start the seeds inside 7 weeks ahead.
BUT a few of our seed packets (spinach, lettuce, parsley) say this: “plant in a sunny location as soon as the soil can be worked” – so do you think they know I live in MICHIGAN? Should we just wait ’til after the last frost to be sure we’re not going to kill them right off the bat?
2. On the “baby whale spinach” seed packet it says, “Should be used as your second spinach for continuous cuttings.” They’re not speaking my language, I have no idea what that means… “second” spinach??? Help!
Side note: save me the Google research (and I trust you guys more than what I’d find “out there” anyway) – is it true that we shouldn’t eat spinach raw? I hope it’s not true, I love spinach salads. I’ve been meaning to look into that and haven’t had the time yet…
Thanks everyone! 🙂
Kelly
Mari says
That should do the trick, Michelle. If you don’t want to buy in so much bulk, I purchased row cover from Vesey’s last year. https://www.veseys.com/ca/en/store/tools/seasonextenders/floatingrow
I bought some from a different place for this growing season, but I’ve not tried it yet so I won’t comment on it. Most garden supply catalogs carry it, too.
Michelle says
Mari, that sounds really cool! I did a web search, and this is the only thing I found that fit your description: https://www.obcnw.com/b2b/shop.php?prod_action=showdetail&prod_id=3135#Agro%20Fabric%20Crop%20Covers Is this what you’re talking about? Is there a particular company you like best?
Michelle
Mari says
Hi Michelle,
I’ve found a summary of row covers to copy and paste here for you.
Row cover cloth is made of an extremely light-weight woven or sun-bonded synthetic material that allows light and water to penetrate. Row covers can be used early in the growing season to get cool season crops off to an early start. They work by trapping the sun’s heat and warming the soil an extra 1 to 3 degrees. Crops, such as radishes, lettuce, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, peas, Chinese cabbage, beets, carrots, turnips and parsnips, can be seeded directly into the garden and covered at planting time, leaving enough slack in the row cover to allow for growth.
The material is so light it literally floats on top of the plants as they grow. Secure the edges with soil; hold them down with two-by-four lumber or anchor them with U-shaped pins (made from coat hangers). Securing the edges prevents the entry of troublesome flying pests, such as cabbage worms, cabbage loopers and leaf miners, as well as marauding birds and squirrels.
Use drip irrigation or a soaker hose to water plants under row covers. You also can use a sprinkler because the row cover material is water permeable.
Michelle says
Mari, Could you expound on the light weight row cover? What do you mean? i am getting visions of those tunnels made out of bent PVC and clear plastic stretched over them.
Michelle
Mari says
1. I think a more important question than the soccer balls flying into your garden would be how many feet would be retrieving the balls. 🙂 Could you possibly install a low fence around your garden or are they more high balls?
2. I grow tomatoes and herbs in the kitchen year-round and most of my outdoor planting is in raised garden beds (which are basically giant containers sans a bottom. I have great success both indoors and outdoors. I also recommend the book “Square Foot Gardening”. It’s loaded with tons of information that is useful whether you’re planting raised beds or a regular ground garden.
3. I buy all my seeds through Seed Saver Exchange and Territorial Seed Company. I also buy fruit plants through Raintree Nursery and interesting herbs through Richter’s Herbs in Canada. I wouldn’t buy a standard seed from an untrusted source, but when I trust the source of my seeds, as I do, I don’t care if they are officially labeled organic or not.
4. I do all the gardening at our house. I built 4 raised beds last year and 6 more this year. I think the initial work is well worth the payoff of more food and less mowing (which I also do).
5. I’ve never consulted anyone, but I do read Mother Earth News cover to cover and pick up cheap natural gardening books whenever possible. I’m a big believer in three things: light weight row cover, mulching, and Spray ‘N Grow. Spray ‘N Grow is amazing. I tried it for the first time last year and I couldn’t believe the amount of produce I had. I even used it on my fruit trees. One peach tree that never produced before gave me 80lbs of fruit after a spring and summer of being sprayed weekly with Spray ‘N Grow. As for the light weight row covers, it’s the easiest, cleanest, and in the long term, cheapest form of insecticide. I keep everything covered until blossoms appear. The crops that don’t blossom (cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.) stay covered until harvest. That’s where raised beds come in handy. I can just plant everything that will stay covered all season together in one box. I keep the cukes covered until they blossom and then uncover them the rest of the season. I keep the lettuce and spinach covered until they’re big enough to fend for themselves. Heavy mulching with straw means I don’t have any weeding at all to do through the growing season. I also installed drip irrigation so I don’t have to worry about watering, either.
The stronger the plants are, the more resistant they are to pests and disease. So I try to focus on strong plants. I also invested in some mason bees to make sure everything gets pollinated.
Kelly says
Get this, I just found an awesome “site for dummies” (ME!)
https://www.companionplanting.net
All sorts of good stuff there! Someone told me to Google “companion planting” (maybe it was in an email?), and I found it then – I’m learning a lot.
CHEESESLAVE says
There’s ink in newspaper. If you don’t feel comfortable with that, you can use cardboard.
CHEESESLAVE
Kelly says
Of course I would never mind if anyone wants to post something here to help inform others, post away!
Ann Marie, way back in the comments you talked about Lasagna gardening and using newspapers – I thought there were tons of chemicals on newspapers?
Kelly
Mary says
Kelly,
Mel Bartholemew’s book, Square Foot Gardening, has really handy charts for when to plant what, based on last frost dates and even on first frost dates for second crops. The charts include info for many plants on when to seed indoors, when to begin to harden off and when to plant outside. Then continues with when to plant for second or fall crops.
This info is charted by number of weeks before or after frost dates, so no matter where you live, you can use the info.
I am sooo jealous of those of you starting to put things outdoors already. We are still having winter weather advisories…Our last frost date is the end of May, so I have a long time to wait yet. We are just going to be starting our indoor seeds this weekend.
If you are new to gardening, don’t mess with your soil unless you know there is a need. The previous residents here dumped manure on and our soil was waayy too rich. Lots of green, and no fruit and three years worth of blossom end rot on our tomatoes. Finally we had the soil tested because it was driving me nuts. We planted lots of corn for several years and now it seems to be moderating.
We struggle with wild grasses, both quack and crab, and so we mulched with newspaper and now we have slugs. First thing they say to do to get rid of slugs? Get rid of mulch!
And so it goes. But it is just fun to be out there and I have learned not to get stressed about it. At first it was constant guilt. Too many weeds, harvest too small, everything ripening at once so it wastes. Now I just enjoy whatever happens. It would be different if we lived in an economy that demanded we provide all these things for ourselves. By God’s grace that time will not yet be this summer.
Alyss, Thanks for your perspective on wild things. I will try to remember that when it comes to slugs and grasses.
Mary
Heather says
For the seeds, try https://www.fedcoseeds.com (not affiliated, but I have been their happy customer for about 15 years). They’re a co-op, & their catalog is not fancy with color pix, but their prices are great, their selection is outstanding, they have lots of organic seeds, and a HUGE selection of herbs,…and they do not knowingly sell GMO seeds of any sort.
I look at the other catalogs for their pix, but I do business with Fedco.
Rosy says
A word of warning, get all crock neck squash and zucchini seeds as heirloom varieties. They were the first to be sold as GMO seeds. I didn’t know that until recently.
I have a tomato plant, catnip, parsley, and some dying chives. I am looking to add some strawberries, lettuce, and scaloppini squashes. I do all my gardening by container, as I live in an apartment. It takes more effort and you have to look for plants that do well in pots. And get big old pots, clay is nice, or big wooden buckets, this allows the soil to breath more, I had problems with plastic. Add a layer of small rocks to the bottom for drainage. I will have to look into worms
Michelle says
Since I can’t edit my posts, I will just say that I DO know how to spell compost. (winking smiley here)
Michelle
Annette says
Hi Michelle,
Kelly has a post to high brix food here: https://kellythekitchenkop.com/2008/10/quest-for-nutrient-dense-food-high-brix.html. It seems to be a way to measure the nutrient content of food (mainly sugar) using a small hand held tool. I know nothing about it though but it’s an interesting concept.
Annette
Michelle says
So far I am using 1/3 soil, 1/3 compose, and 1/3 cow manure. I own chickens and fully intend to add their manure to the garden each fall. (I just got them, so no significant accumulation yet.)
What is brix? I searched, but didn’t find anything that seemed to apply to gardening.
Michelle
Annette says
Hi Beth – I could post but I’m not sure what you want. A picture maybe? Sorry I’m a little dense. I was up late working on a test breakfast cereal then all the little ones were up with the crack of dawn today.
For everyone who gardens – I was wondering if you amend your soil at all? I read about Azomite in NT so I got some of that but do you add other things? Do you brix? Where are your favorite sources for things?
Annette
Beth says
Kelly,
It took out what I was responding to – I don’t think it liked my punctuation. I was responding to this when I posted about the spiral: ” I don
Beth says
Annette,
If Kelly doesn’ mind you could post here or on your blog? Thanks so much!
<>
Kelly,
I started a gardening notebook. I like spirals. As I read through a friend’s copy of Carrots Love Tomatoes I made brief notes on the plants I was interested in just listing likes/doesn’t like. I did that for a few other books also. If there was a diagram I wanted to keep or an online printout I just printed and cut/glued into my spiral. It’s been fun! So, when I was ready to make the trellis it was in there. When we were planning the garden (and were quite confused, BTW) I made little cards of the veggie names for us to shuffle around on big piece of paper while referring to my handy-dandy notebook regarding which to keep close/separate, tips, etc. When we’re ready to make the rain catcher, it’s in there. Notes on pH, etc – it’s in there! Since the pages are perforated I can always change to a binder later if necessary.
Beth
(who does much better at planning than implementing; and better with projects than routines!)
Annette says
Hi Beth, do you mean if I mind you posting this info somewhere else? I don’t mind at all – otherwise I’m not sure what you mean but I probably don’t mind it either. Typing out smiley to beat the system…
Annette
Michelle says
Thanks for the tips, Cheeseslave. I figured it was somthing to do with the links.
Michelle
cheeseslave says
I think there were 2 reasons Akismet thought those comments were spam:
For Alyss, I think it was all the smiley faces.
For Michelle, it was all the URLs. I think if you put more than 2 or 3 URLs in your comment, it spams it. It did this to me the other day, remember, Kelly?
cheeseslave
Beth says
Kelly,
Thanks for starting this thread. I have so much to learn. I had a post typed up and just lost it :(. This is my first season with a veggie garden. The bed isn’t ready so I just expanded a flower bed for now. I’ve found that I am not a seed person! I’m trying a variety of things to see what works for me.
<>
Annette, do you mind posting these? I have a friend with chocolate mint and I’d like to pass it along.
Thanks,
Beth
Kelly says
Stupid spammers make it tricky on the rest of us. I’m sorry Michelle & Alyss, I just found your comments in my spam folder – they’ll show up by date now, so those of you who have been following the comments may need to go back up to read those you missed.
Please always email me if you don’t see your comment so I can go looking for it!
Kelly
Betsy says
I built a square-foot garden 3 years ago. I’d like to expand next year, but now is not the time. The first year I had tomatoes (regular & Roma) and bell peppers and they did great. I also put in a couple of herb plants. Last year I went crazy – cantaloupe, watermelon, eggplant, tomatoes, peppers; just one of each. NOTHING did well. I think it was just too damned hot. All of those were plants from Home Depot.
This year I bought heirloom seeds. I have 4 tomato plants (2 big, 2 cherry), one bush bean and 2 pepper. Unfortunately, I put them outside last week, still in the peat pots, and I think a squirrel uprooted one of the pepper plants! Sometimes I think it will live, and other times I think it’s a gonner. I’m thinking about transplanting to the garden this weekend.
This year I had spinach (from plants) and lettuce (from seed) in pots. Damned squirrels got their vitamins when they ate the spinach. Lettuce is doing fine, though.
The SFG is great. I’ve never had a weed problem. Each year I just dump in some more compost and plant. Easy peasy.
Amanda says
Just picked up Lasagna Gardening from the library, thanks for the tip!
Amanda
Alyss says
I blogged about my squre foot garden. I have read about lasagna gardening and like that method, but the square foot system looks really doable. I’ll keep you updated 🙂
My container garden last year failed miserably. You have to pay more attention to the soil if your plants don’t have access to all the earth has to give 🙂
I am with Donna on the chicken wire. I’m going to do something like that to keep my dogs out of the garden (check out my blog for a super cute pic of my dog as a baaaad dog 🙂
And as for snakes – which do you dislike more? Snakes or rats? Moles eating the roots of your plants? Mice pooping in your dry good cupboard? Then say thank you to every snake you meet 🙂 They are there to keep those nasty things under control. If you see a snake just walk away. She is more scared of you than you are of her. Walk away, give her time to find a burrow and then go back to what you were doing. Lucky you to live in a place wild enough to have snakes!
Alyss
cheeseslave says
Oh, yes self-watering containers are very smart. I don’t have any of those but they are great.
You can also water your containers automatically by rigging up some container soaker hoses. You can find these at Home Depot. They are miniature soaker hoses that you can cut to fit the size of the pot.
You attach them all together — and then you can hook them up to a hose, which you can attach to a faucet with a battery-powered timer on it. A low-tech way to keep all your pots watered automatically.
cheeseslave
Peggy says
Google “composting” for tips on the natural way to improve your soil and your gardening success. And Google “companion planting” –certain combinations of veggies, herbs, and flowers fend off undesirables and improve production and flavor. And be sure to rotate your crops -for example, don’t plant corn in the same spot each year.
Our garden doesn’t get a lot sun, and I’ve had success with carrots, cucumbers, and peas. This year I’m going to try some leaf lettuces.
I just learned at a gardening class last night, that in this are, we should be planting most of our garden between Mother’s Day and Memorial Day.
Michelle says
I thought I put this up WAY earlier, but it’s not showing up, so here I go again:
First, let me say, OH GOODY! This is my favorite thing to study these days!
1. Deadly Soccer Balls My solution for you is to build a fence. If you put up a four foot tall welded wire fence like this one: https://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=92244-307-72795&lpage=none the vast majority of those stray balls will be deflected. I know there will still be a few that go over the fence, but I wouldn
Vicky says
I use self-watering containers (have a reservoir at the bottom that soaks up) from Gardeners Supply – they have worked great for me for tomatoes, lettuce and herbs, limited success with carrots and broccoli.
Donna Jackson says
This will be our 2nd year with a garden in this location. My husband built me “square foot garden boxes” last year and we are adding more this year. The boxes worked great. I have 2 dogs that like to think every inch of the backyard is theirs including tromping through my boxes. We wrapped chicken wire above the wood and stapled it to the supports and tops of the wood boxes. It worked great. No more puppy paw prints in the tomatoes or okra. About snakes….my theory is ALL snakes are deadly…they cause heartattacks. In my book, there is no good snake, at all ever!
This year I am going to try herbs in pots on the porch. Our thyme got quite big last year and wanted to take over the garden box so it will get its own pot. I figure if they need extra support in the pot, I will use tomato cages.
Last year we grew green beans, yellow squash, big and cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, thyme, and others I can’t remember. Oh yeah, okra. We are greatly expanding the green bean planting so we have lots of extra to freeze and take us through next winter. I would also like to can or freeze tomatoes for cooking.
I enjoy your articles. Keep up the good work!
Donna Jackson
Annette says
Kelly,
You’ll remember after a few years – just don’t plant too many things in the same year to keep it simpler. And ditto on the mint comment – our yard used to be a blackberry/ivy bog and even though we took that out there are roots in the stone retaining wall that we can’t get. I planted mint in the ground next to that thinking who cares if it takes over that and believe it or not it is! It’s right at the base of the rock climbing wall into the kids fort so I figure at least if they fall on it they’ll smell good and it bushes up like crazy. I have to mow it down 3 times a year to keep it below knee level. But it’s the loveliest chocolate mint that we candy or use to make simple syrup to flavor ice cream, iced tea or frosting.
Start with a few things and really learn how to incorporate them into your cooking before you add too many more plants, otherwise I find that I get overwhelmed with the harvest and most of the crop goes to waste anyway.
And one idea for the soccer ball – you could buy chicken wire & those stakes at home depot to act as a fence – which you could then grow beans or peas up. That will keep the soccer ball out of the rest of the garden since it will act like a fence.
Annette
Kelly says
Geesh, I have a lot to learn. If Kent wasn’t all over this I’d be VERY overwhelmed with all that I do not have a clue about! I don’t get how you all remember every little thing about every different plant you’re growing. This one you can’t plant until ________ and it needs lots of ________, and only do that one in a pot, and on and on!
I told Kent that we’ll have to be sure and keep good notes on everything we do, so through the years we can see what does and doesn’t do well for us.
cheeseslave says
Kent, I love your attitude! I LOVE Jamie Oliver, too!
You definitely need a lot of containers for herbs. Herbs are perfect to grow in pots.
I feel that at the bare minimum, I must always have the following herbs for cooking:
Thyme
Rosemary
Basil (in summer)
Parsley (and/or Italian Parsley, which I prefer)
Mint
Oregano
I also love lemon balm, lemon grass (for Thai food) and sorrel (lemony taste — good for soup, salad, or sauces).
And of course lots of lettuce. Lettuce is never better than when it is freshly picked from the garden.
You want to always grow mint in a pot because it is invasive (it will take over your garden).
Most herbs will grow just fine in pots and you can bring them inside when it gets cold.
cheeseslave
cheeseslave says
Hi, Kelly! I love your questions. Here are some answers:
1. Deadly Soccer Balls
I wouldn’t worry about this too much. If you have hardy plants, they’ll live through a lot. My mom (longtime organic gardener and president of her neighborhood garden club in Dallas) always taught me that you only want hardy plants. If they don’t survive and thrive, chuck ’em and move on to something else.
2. Do You Have Good Luck With Container Gardens?
Yes! With container gardens, just like with a regular garden, it’s all about the soil, the water and the sun. Make sure your soil is good and loose and rich with compost and manure. Add worms if you don’t have any. I just use compost and steer or chicken manure once a year. I add fish emulsion occasionally — when I think of it. That’s it. No chemical fertilizers.
My soil is so good and so full of worms, I get almost no weeds. The only trouble I have is slugs but I just live with them. I don’t like to kill anything in my garden. I figure it’s there for a reason and I like to let it be. (I am going to cover my strawberries with netting this year, though. Last year the squirrels and birds ate them all before I could get to them!)
For water, I do automatic sprinklers otherwise I will forget. And plants do SO much better when you are super consistent (which I am not), watering them at the exact time every day.
If they’re not thriving, try moving them into better (or less) sun.
3. Do You Buy All Organic Seeds?
YES. Monsanto is buying up all the seed companies so unless you buy heirloom and/or organic seeds, you don’t know what you’re getting.
4. Who does more of the gardening at your house?
It’s just me. Kate likes to “help”. 🙂 I do VERY little though. It pretty much runs itself.
Oh, and we do have a gardener who comes once a week — but all he does is run the leaf blower (I HATE that thing) and mow the lawn, trim the bushes, that sort of thing. He doesn’t deal with my veggie garden (except for the occasional time I ask him to plant a fruit tree.)
5. Do you ever talk to soil specialists or consult with someone about all natural pest control and fertilizers, or do you just wing it?
It’s all about the compost and manure for me. If you put enough poop and rich compost on the ground, you don’t need to worry about anything else.
I added a bunch of worms when I first started this garden, just for good measure. I think I also added some ladybugs. You can often find beneficial insects at organic nurseries (I bought these from a guy at the farmer’s market).
Oh and I don’t believe in tilling or deep digging. I just put the stuff on and let the worms do the rest. You don’t want to disturb all those creepy crawlies — let ’em do their thing undisturbed.
One of the best books I have ever read — probably THE best book is called “Lasagna Gardening”. Get a copy. It explains how to make garden beds without ANY digging whatsoever. I have done this numerous times. You literally put wet newspaper or cardboard RIGHT ON TOP OF THE GRASS. Then you layer it with manure and compost and leaves and other organic materials. Like lasagna. Then you plant right into that.
That’s IT. NO DIGGING. So easy. And I swear, every time I have done gardens like this (and I always do it this way now), my soil is incredible and my plants are AMAZING and HUGE.
Hope that helps!
cheeseslave
Kristin says
You asked about GMO and organic garden seeds, Kelly. I do not believe there is anything to worry about with GMO and garden seeds at this point unless you intend to grow dent corn, soybeans, or sugar beats. These three crops are the biggest GMO wise. To ensure that you are not growing GMO in this case, buy heirloom and/or organic seeds from a trusted source. But most people don’t grow these things in their home gardens.
The only difference between the organic and non-organic garden seeds is generally how the plant that provided the seed is grown. And often times, seeds are grown organically and not certified. I believe it is more important to grow the plants organically in your own garden. And while organic standards require that the seeds be non-GMO, there is no guarantee since organic farmers can’t stop pollen drift.
Some folks are concerned about Hybrid seeds. Hybrids are NOT GMO but are rather an unstable and natural breeding cross between two parent plants. You can save the seeds from Hybrid plants and replant them. You just may end up with a tomato (or broccoli, bean, lettuce, etc.) that you don’t care for. This happened when I grew SunGold cherry tomatoes. They are yummy. But when some of the seeds volunteered the next year, they looked and tasted nothing like SunGold. In fact, they really weren’t very tasty at all. SunGold tomatoes are called “F1 Hybrids”. This label is a good indication that saving seeds won’t guarantee the same results the following year.
Over time with extended breeding, hybrids can become stable. This means they breed “true”, the resulting plants are repeatable, the same from year to year. The Sugar Snap Pea is an example of a stable plant that was originally a hybrid. In fact, most of the “heirloom” seeds you buy were bred for years for repeatability.
I hope I’m making some sense here!!
Local Nourishment says
My containers yield the best plants for me if the containers are deep – like a foot deep or more. Anything less than that doesn’t give roots room to grow and develop. I do use organic seed, but not because they are organic, necessarily. I like heirloom plants and the best seed for those comes from Seeds of Change.
As for fertilizer, we have two cavies (guinea pigs) that provide lovely “pellets” for my garden! They are similar in composition to rabbit pellets but slightly less acidic.
When I grew corn (NOT in containers) I would take the skin from the fish I was cooking and blend it with water for instant fish emulsion fertilizer, and a cool Bass-O-Matic job for the boys.
Local Nourishment
Kent says
Oh man, every time I read another comment, I want to plant something else. We’re just going to have to plow the whole yard under. I’m thinking I need way more than four containers of herbs. My favorite cook on the Food Network (Jamie at Home), goes through a ton of fresh herbs with everything he cooks, and it always looks awesome.
I already use dried chicken poop to fertilize the yard, now I need liquified worm poop? I grew up on a farm. This is really getting fun for me.
Jeanne, I’ve heard of using coffee grounds, but never egg shell water.
jeanne says
I have had good luck with container gardens for tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, spinach. I keep them on my deck and steps of the deck to avoid the deadly soccer balls and the deer. I do all of my herbs in the ground up by the house, last year I planted tomatoes and peppers, and sunflowers with them also. I love it when the snow melts and I have green parsley underneath the blanket of white! This year we are going to try peas and onions. I have always garden throught out my flower beds. Some how it doesn’t seem like as much work.
My mother use to always feed her houseplants and container plants a mixture of eggshell water and coffee grounds. I am going to try it this year. She just kept a larg glass jar of water on the counter and all the egg shells went into it. I remember it was very stinky, probably why I have never tried it before!
Amanda says
This will be my first year growing a garden. I feel very overwhelmed 🙁 I have a nice yard for it but am worried about rabbits and other backyard critters eating everything before I get a chance to. Wish me luck!
Amanda
Lisa says
This is our third year of having a garden. Each year, we do better. The first year, our garden yielded next to nothing due to weeds. Last year, there was a lot more hoeing going down, so our crop was bountiful. This year, we’re getting chickens. My organic way of fertilizing and controlling our beetle population.
Bob A. says
We’ve tried growing tomatoes for several years in containers on the patio with limited success; it’s my goal every year to get a few more usable tomatoes than the year before…. Last year we fertilized them with Terracycle tomato plant food, which is made from liquified worm poop. Yum! It seemed to work well and we bought it at Home Depot.
terracycle.net