Seedling Update

I'm really glad I decided to winter sow seeds this year, if nothing else than the fact that the indoor seedlings were protected from the freezing temps of my unheated house last week. I'm shocked by the success of the cauliflower seedlings, pictured above on the morning of the 3rd day after sowing. I guess my makeshift growing station did the trick! Here is the same seedling later that evening:

 

So chipper! I have three other plants just like this one that are plugging right along...so much so that they are actually getting a bit too big for their britches and are falling over. I am reluctant to call this legginess yet because I only pressed the seeds into the surface of the soil hoping they would receive as much light as possible, so their roots are super shallow.

 

I read somewhere that brassicas benefit from deeply transplanting, and like tomatoes, if you bury the stem, it will produce more roots. So yesterday I opened up the soda bottle greenhouses and tucked in a few spoonfuls of warm, moist soil around the little seedlings to prop them up. 

Much better. They rewarded me today by waving out nice, full true leaves to catch some rays (the first sunny day in a while--we all needed it).  I braved Monday's snow shower to peek in on the broccoli seedlings outside in their milk jugs, and despite being frozen to the table they are sitting on, I was greeted with many of these little faces:

 

This little guy wasn't even close to being one of the biggest. There are about 2-3 seedlings in each jug, and I'm hoping they will be ready for transplanting in early March. It's incredible how warm it stays inside the jugs, despite overcast, wet, freezing weather. I should remember that for the next power outage!

Starting Seeds...You Hear That, Seeds? Start!

For the last week or so, Joe has been very confused. He sees me in the kitchen, mixing stuff in stuff in the brownie bowl and breaking out the cookie sheets. He doesn't understand why we aren't eating what Mama's cooking. Technically, I'm not cooking anything. I'm starting seeds.

Drawing on the model of WinterSown.org, the general idea is to create a mini greenhouse out of recycled materials for early cool-weather crops like broccoli, etc., and to stick them outside and let them do their thing until they're big enough to transplant into the garden. The benefits to starting seeds this way is that you don't need any special equipment, you don't have to buy already-started plants in early spring, and you'll have something to feed your obsession in the dead of winter. The benefits to the actual seeds is that they germinate fairly naturally according to the local climate while still receiving some protection from pests, heavy winds, floods, etc.

I'm doing all of this from the comforts of the kitchen, using kitchen utensils for the most part.

I mix up the seed starting mix with some warm water so it's just moist, then add it to rinsed-out milk jugs that I've cut mostly in half. I've also poked a few holes in the bottom so the water can drain out.

Tasty! I planted broccoli in these and taped them back up. I've read that broccoli can germinate at lower temperatures, so I thought they'd do well outside. These bad boys are parked on an old table behind the garage.

I'm hoping that soon I'll see little greenies when I check on them, but for now this is the view from the top:

I'm also doing a hybrid method of starting cauliflower seeds. Using clear soda bottles (for more light), I'm keeping them inside in a super-sunny window until they germinate. My reading suggests that although this is a cool-weather crop, these seeds need temps of over 70 degrees to germinate, and 14-16 hours of light a day.

I wrapped the bottom of each bottle in foil to help draw in and keep the heat, though I don't know if that actually helps or not. I'm really trying to avoid setting up a formal grow light and heating pad system to keep things tropical. At night, I set them up with a lamp for a few extra hours:

Hey, it may not be a fancy tube light, but that bulb IS a compact fluorescent, so that counts for something, right? I'm not too worried about the plants getting leggy as they stretch for the light because as soon as they have true leaves, they're headed outside. The two flanking flats are petunias and yarrow seeds that I wanted to get a start on because they need a looooong growing season. Once they actually sprout, I'll need to adjust the plastic wrap cover.

I keep telling myself that if these experiments don't work, then I can always buy plants later on. If they do work, however, I reserve the right to run around screaming like a mad scientist about them being alive.

Mum's the Word

Winter on the prairie is brown. Like, BA-rown. I can't help but remember the vivid colors that we were seeing just 2 months ago when the mums were in bloom, and I just want to fast forward another month to my spring bulbs that will eventually bust out. The weather has been warming up enough (50s-60s) that I can throw on a sweat shirt and my mud shoes and do general cleanup and tinker around in the gardens. Most of the work is about to be concentrated on the vegetable garden.

I decided to conduct a little flower gardening experiment in the meantime, and I'd love it if my more experienced readers could weigh in. In an attempt to save some money next year in the plant-buying department, I moved the mums that previously occupied window boxes and containers to the front flower beds.

Can you even see them? I know it's hard to see the brown on brown contrast. I can't tell if they are just dormant or if they're dead. I mulched them fairly well because we're expected to have a few more hard freezes.

In other news, there is action with my bulbs.

I'm pretty sure this is a hyacinth, but I can't remember. There is a whole row of them poking through and creeping open. Come on, spring!

Kitchen Herbs or Meet Joe Dirt

Folks, I don't know if I'll make it to spring. I'm kind of an impatient mess right now. I had such high hopes of being able to start seeds for the garden soon, but I'm just not certain that the coldest winter weather on record is going to bear out my hopes for an early frost-free harvest. This past weekend, I convinced myself that 40-degree weather wasn't really that bad and did some clean up and worked on the compost pile for a little bit. Not that I was very successful as it was pretty much a frozen-solid block of kitchen scraps.

Thankfully, my dear friend across the way gifted me with a kitchen herb kit. (I am seriously considering changing the name of this blog to "Thanks Again, One Acre Homestead.") I decided it would be a fun, tactile activity for Joe and I to undertake to try to chase away the cabin fever and to distract him from the pesky cold he had last week. It was an excuse for me to exercise my green thumb and an excuse for Joe to throw dirt all over the kitchen floor--good times.






In the end, we planted 5 pots of thyme, parsley, basil, chives, and cilantro. Whether these actually sprout or not, only time will tell. The directions merely say to position them "near a sunny window," but in my current research about seed starting for the outdoor garden, I'm quickly becoming convinced that nothing will grow without significant investments in grow lights and heating mat contraptions.


This arrangement will have to do for now: sunny window+frequent repositioning throughout the day+cosmetic mirror. I'll keep you posted.

God Gets a Lesson on Lawns

This is blatant blog theft. Hey, I'm on vacation. I stole this hilarious post from A Suburban Farmer, one of my new favorite gardening blogs. Having been raised in the 'burbs and being an unwilling laborer in my dad's quest for the perfect lawn, this made me laugh extra hard.

GOD:

Frank, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there on the planet? What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistle and stuff I started eons ago?

I had a perfect no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long-lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honeybees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But, all I see are these green rectangles.

ST. FRANCIS:

It’s the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers ‘weeds’ and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.

GOD:

Grass? But, it’s so boring. It’s not colorful. It doesn’t attract butterflies, birds and bees; only grubs and sod worms. It’s sensitive to temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?

ST. FRANCIS:

Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.

GOD:

The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.

ST. FRANCIS:

Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it – sometimes twice a week.

GOD:

They cut it? Do they then bale it like hay?

ST. FRANCIS:

Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.

GOD:

They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

ST. FRANCIS:

No, Sir, just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.

GOD:

Now, let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And, when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?

ST. FRANCIS:

Yes, Sir.

GOD:

These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.

ST. FRANCIS:

You aren’t going to believe this, Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.

GOD:

What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn, they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. It’s a natural cycle of life.

ST. FRANCIS:

You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.

GOD:

No. What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter to keep the soil moist and loose?

ST. FRANCIS:

After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something which they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.

GOD:

And where do they get this mulch?

ST FRANCIS:

They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.

GOD:

Enough! I don’t want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine, you’re in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?

ST. CATHERINE:

‘Dumb and Dumber’, Lord. It’s a story about….

GOD:

Never mind, I think I just heard the whole story from St Francis.

Patience is a Myth

I am pretty much the least patient person I know. The result? I plan future events TO DEATH because it gives me something to concentrate on while waiting for the event to happen. I think most of the world is organized into people like me, and people who are supremely irritated by people like me.

We are now officially in the non-planting period of the year, when the temps are cooler and it's often foggy or rainy. I say "often" but I really just mean a few times last week and today. Up until yesterday, really, it was still pretty warm and bright here, which isn't necessarily a good thing since most of our plants need to go through a dormant phase brought on by cold weather.

That said, we've been trying to get a jump on the New & Improved Wat Ranch Vegetable Garden 2010, since we undertook this year's garden completely unprepared. About a month ago, I borrowed a lovely gas-powered tiller from my friends over at the One Acre Homestead, and tilled up the plot where our new garden will go. Recall from this post that our previous gardening space was about 6'x20' total, so approximately 120 square feet.
Behold, the New & Improved Wat Ranch Vegetable Garden 2010 Plot:
This takes up a 40'x50' section in the southwest corner of our yard. Yes, math folks, that is 2,000 square feet. In addition to being impatient, I also tend to overdo things on occasion. :) That little black box in the corner is our composter which may or may not need to be moved when we start planting.

The goal for this plot is to have raised rows that are about 3' across, which we will sow with companion plants to improve flavor and pest control. We're also hoping the companion situation will help shade heat-intolerant plants, which can be a major issue in our unforgiving summer heat. Maybe one of these days I'll get ambitious and scan in our hand-drawn plans for the garden.

Something I'm interested in trying is "green manure." Cow manure and packaged compost can get super expensive when trying to amend over 2,000 square feet, so I followed the Farmer's Almanac suggestions for planting clover and winter wheat as a cover crop. Not only will this crop help with erosion control during winter rains, but it will also fix nitrogen in the soil and when it is mowed and tilled under, will act as a fertilizer (and it won't stink or inspire ill-timed poop jokes).

Like my homemade seed spreader? It's a Parmesan cheese shaker. I experimented with this Dutch White clover, then once it germinated I realized I needed A LOT more. Bill found a local seed wholesaler, Warner Brothers Seed Company, that I bought a winter wheat mixture and red clover seed from. It's great finding local resources, and so far the product has been excellent. See?
This is about 2 weeks post-sowing and there's green stuff popping up all over. In fact, it's so green over in that corner of the world that it's making the rest of the yard look downright brown:

Almost the inverse of the first picture, isn't it? And yes, the grass has been mowed since this was taken. We got a major case of the October Lazies and hadn't mowed in several weeks. I mean, it's not supposed to be warm this late into the fall, so who wants to mow when there is football and indoor activities to be enjoyed? And if the green appears in patches, it's because I had 2 lovely assistants (aged 5 and 7) help me spread seeds until they "figured out how to do it faster" by just dumping out their spreaders in one spot. Smart girls.

One last piece of business is garlic. I received 4 lovely bulbs of garlic in the mail (and forgot to snap pictures, so use your imagination), but unfortunately one of them was totally rotted through. I grabbed another questionable bunch from Lowe's, and planted everything that looked decent. So we'll see. I'm not feeling completely confident about this crop because I couldn't pin down a good planting time from my research, and the weather is so wonky....Anyways, this will be the garlic home for the next few seasons until it is ready for harvest mid-summer:
Godspeed little vampire killers!

2009 Harvest

Some pictures from this year's harvest, however tiny.

We ended up not eating these 2 eggplants, the first of about 5 that we harvested, because they went past their prime while we were on vacation. The plant was fairly hardy, and I think if we pay closer attention next year, we can expect a better eggplant production.

We tried planting potatoes in "potato bags" that I bought from Gardeners.com. The theory behind these bags is to fill them halfway with dirt and seed potatoes, then fill in dirt as the plants grow upwards. We ended up with pretty small taters and VERY leggy plants. We're going to go ahead and stick these guys in the ground next time.
One happy success this year was our peppers. We planted green, red, and yellows, and they didn't really take off until the end of September. Every time we harvest some of these little guys, the next group gets bigger. I've been chopping them up and freezing them to throw onto pizzas and into sautes.

Ah, the zucchinis. Has anyone ever NOT had success with zucchinis? We ate these guys in several different forms--pastas, breads, baked, soups--pretty consistently for 3 weeks or so in August. They went from tiny baby squashies to mammouth monsters seemingly overnight (documented by our lovely neighbor, One Acre Homestead here). Then, due to negligence on our part to nip them in the bud, we waged an epic war with squash bugs.

The cantaloupe vines we planted from seed had great potential and pretty much took over an entire bed by themselves. We might try trellising them next year. Something was wrong with the timing of these, though, because although the vines set out several good-sized fruits, we only managed to harvest 2 of them at the right time. The rest quickly rotted on the vine, even though they didn't look fully ripe yet.

The carrots were pretty disappointing all around. Most were woody and/or too small to do anything other than be thrown into the compost pile. A wise neighbor suggested that she planted her carrots according to the lunar cycle and had success, so we will be doing this next year.
I like to call these pole beans "tease beans." In late June we harvested a small handful of what seemed to be a promising crop. For the next 4 months, however.....nothing. These plants were setting several blooms, but no beans. Something about the coolers temps in September got the plants moving again, and now there are big beans all over the place. We decided not to harvest these, though, and will instead till them back into the soil as green manure. Bush beans next year.

How it all began...

When we first moved to Oklahoma in May of 2008 and bought our one acre of land, we were eager to throw paint on our walls, coordinate new furniture, and start a garden.

Mother Nature decided that I should focus on growing other things, however, because I quickly found out I was pregnant with our first child.

I got little accomplished the first summer and fall in terms of gardening, thanks to my "delicate condition," aka "alien invasion." I did manage to remove the 3-foot-tall weeds growing wild in the back yard and plant some spring bulbs in the front beds. My husband spent nearly all of the summer building a traditional split-rail fence around the back half of our property, which would act as a deterrant for our 2 wandering mutts, and also as a nice complement to the rural vistas. It was hard work trying to dig into the hard, red clay, so he rented a mechanical post-hole digger.



Our vegetable garden would have to wait until this past spring when our little helper arrived. We got started with the planting the day before Easter Sunday, and in retrospect that was probably much too late for most of the things we tried to grow. Theoretically it would have been better to start planting around the first few weeks of February, but with our son Joe making his grand appearance on Feb. 13th, planting just wasn't on our minds at the time.




After learning our lesson about the hard clay, we decided to go with 2 raised beds, one 6'x12' and one 6'x8'. I think when I first imagined these beds, I thought they'd be crammed full of healthy veggies, from which I could make countless meals and freeze up several pounds of bumper crops to later make into baby food. I later learned that 1 six-foot row of peas produces about a half-cup of shelled peas. So barely one serving.



But we had to start somewhere, so we stapled chicken wire (to keep out burrowing pests...which we don't really have in OK) inside a 12-inch-high wooden frame, and filled the whole thing with topsoil and compost. We later constructed 2 A-frame trellises out of a few old wooden pallets that we picked up at from my husband's work (for free! Also try Lowes, etc.) and strung netting hand-tied from twine over each. They held up surprisingly well in a pretty nasty spring storm, so we might try bigger ones next year.



We planted peppers, pole beans, peas, zucchini, cauliflower, pumpkins, cantaloupe, eggplants, and carrots. All in the same beds! All at the same time! What little we knew...or I should say, how much we've learned in the last 6-7 months. I think the most we had researched ahead of time in terms of planting spacing and timing we learned from the backs of seed packets and transplant containers. After exhaustively planning for NEXT year's garden, I realize how ridiculous the timing and spacing was, and we are lucky that we actually had some success despite ourselves. The zukes and peppers have done very well, and the cantaloupe and eggplants had a lot of potential, but we went on a week-long vacation right at a crucial time in their little lives.



In my next post I'll talk about what we reaped from this little experimental garden, but I have to say that our best harvest this year was lessons learned. We've got BIG plans for 2010, and I'm excited to documenting it all in this space. Stay tuned!