Community Garden update, also Lettuce!

Spent a lot of time in the community garden on Tuesday, and after all that work, here's how it looked:
You can see the first of the 3 raised beds I'm installing, and the beginnings of the second.  We put down the newspaper and cardboard to block out the existing weeds.  I like newspaper because I won't be finding it in the garden for years to come - in order to lay down this paper we first had to pull up remnants of ground cloth that was who knows how old.  There was still some left, but I just ran out of "oomph".

Then we used the 4x4 boards as borders, and piled in there the twigs and brush from the plot that we had raked up.  Then we topped that with shredded pine bark (it tends to break down very rapidly) and salt marsh hay (few weeds), and finally I put a good 3 inches of compost on top.  I imagine everything will be broken down enough in a month when I go out to plant!

In the background you can also see the perennial rows, where there are strawberries and rhubarb already, and I just planted four blueberry bushes and some cranberry bushes.

You can also see my cute little cart which makes getting things out to the garden down the 500 yard path WAY easier.  I intend to go back out both mornings this weekend and spend a lot of time on the remaining beds!!!  I thought we would have had them done this Tuesday, but a rainstorm came up and my husband wanted to leave before we got rained on.

 

The lettuce in my home garden, that I planted out about a month ago, is looking really, really good.  It's covered to protect it from frost, cold winds, and also whatever is eating my peas (I'll get you, you pesky....  rabbit?).  So far that strategy has worked very well!

I'm looking very much to a tasty salad this weekend!  Now if only my carrots would sprout and give me yummy carrots!

A few of my asparagus babies are also up now - I could eat four pieces right now, if I wanted to, but those would probably be the last!

Last night I started from seed:

Beams Yellow Pear Tomato

Brown Berry Cherry Tomato

Gold Rush Currant Tomato

The tomatoes I planted last week are almost all up and doing good!  So are the peppers!

Sing a song

I forgot to mention the coolest thing that happened to me this weekend.  My next door neighbor has a 5 year old daughter that is just so cute - very precocious.  She learned about composting and nature on Earth Day and wanted to help me in my garden this weekend.  I figured - what the hey.  She slowed me down a little, but she was willing to take direction, and was just so darned enthusiatic.  The next day I also let her help, in the morning, and she also came out and helped me plant blueberries at the community garden.

So Saturday (I think) she comes running over to me - "Pam!  I have something for you!"  It was a card, with writing on it, and I thought, how cute, I got a thank you card from a 5 year old.

But her mom says, "Sophie, sing it like you did before!"

And I got serenaded, to the tune of "clemantine", by a 5-year-old:

"I love planting flowers!

I love planting flowers with Pam!

Pam is the best flower planter in the world!

Thank you Pam!  

I want to do it every day!"

It was awesome.  :-)

How to start a vegetable garden the easy way

I get a lot of questions on various gardening topics, so every time I write down an answer, I try and save it for posterity! Here is my take on how to start a garden the easy way:

If this is your first time having a garden, I would do things as easily as possible. Here's what I'd do:

1. Find a good site. Look for a spot that gets at least 6 hours of direct sun a day, preferably more. You want good drainage. I'd also test the soil for lead, at least where I live.

2. As soon as the snow melts, go cover the ground where you want your garden with about 4 sheets deep of black and white newspaper. Top that with about 3 inches of compost, either by the bag or in bulk (locally, from Weiss farms).

3. In the middle of May (locally), go buy small plants from a good nursery (locally, I've had luck with Mahoney's, Pemberton Farms, and Wilson's). Pay attention to how much space each plant needs, when deciding how many plants to buy. Easy plants to start with are: tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, chives, basil, marigolds, zucchini, and lettuce, at least around here. You can start beans, zucchini, and marigolds from seed, directly in the garden, around May 15, but for the rest I would buy plants, as they take more effort to get started.

3. Start by hardening off your plants, unless the nursery says they are already hardened off. That means taking them outside for gradually increasing amounts of time, to get them used to where they are going to go. Like first 1 hour in the sun, then the next day 2, then 3, etc., until they are used to the current, full day of sunlight. If you just put them right out into a sunny spot they will get sunburned or die from exposure. :-( Water your seedlings if the top inch of the soil gets dry.

4. After around May 15 (some wait until after Memorial day, depending on zone), plant your plants out so that when MATURE, the edges will be touching. This will leave a lot of empty space in between plants, which is ok. You can plant right through the compost and newspaper you laid down before to smother grass and weeds. Give the plants a good soaking once they're in the ground. If your layer of compost has shrunk down to less than 1", add more compost, hay, or shredded bark mulch (up to 4") to keep the moisture in the soil, and reduce weeds.

5. Water no more than once a week, and not at all if it rains a lot that week. The compost will provide most of the nutrients your plants need, but if you want to give them an extra boost, you can fertilize them with seaweed or kelp meal once or twice a month.

6. Pick stuff as soon as it is ripe!

:-)

Pam

Garden Timeline

Here's my Garden Timeline.  It's a work in progress, but so far it's been very helpful!

Garden Timeline for 2009

Mid winter (Jan - Feb)

Sharpen lawn mower 

Decide on a garden layout

-spacing

-crop rotation

-succession planting

order seeds and plants!!!

order bees!

Late winter (Feb)

Give houseplants a cool shower in the bathtub.

Spray fruit with dormant oil

Prune fruit trees and cane fruit ( everything except Rhododendron and spring bloomers)

Cut back:

-coneflowers

-sunflowers

-corn

-bird feeding plants

-asparagus

Very Early Spring (Late Feb - Early March)

Fertilize asparagus

Rake up any garden debris or unwanted mulch

PESTS - handpick asparagus and rhubarb

SAND blueberries and cranberries

Soil test?

Check soil for microbial life?

Replenish mulch - green on garden, brown elsewhere

BEES - put out bees and bee houses!

Start indoors:

-use mycorrhizal fungi on seeds and transplants

-onions

-leeks 

-lettuce

-peas

-slow growing flowers that need 10 - 12 weeks inside

-pansies

-snapdragon

-cabbage

-kale

-broccoli

-pine nuts

-mountain laurel

-celery

Start outdoors:

-Mache

Start hardening off:

-onions

-cabbage

-leafy greens

-pansies

-snapdragons

-broccoli

Early Spring (March)

Fertilize blueberries with Hen Manure

COMPOST!

Compost tea - soil & foliar application to reduce pathogens

Feed soil in lawn with soybean meal, corn meal, or corn gluten

Any other fertilizer

Plant any new trees or shrubs

WEED

Start a few early warm weather seedlings:

-tomatoes

-peppers

Plant/transplant outside with protection:

-peas

-radishes

-spinach

-mustard greens

Plant direct/transplant out:

-onions

-cabbage

-leafy greens

-pansies

-snapdragons

-broccoli

Harden off:

-leeks

-onions

Start seeds outdoors:

-Parsley

-Sage

-Rosemary

-Thyme

Mid Spring (April)

Set out early tomatoes with protection

Plant potatoes as soon as soil can be dug

Divide and transplant summer-blooming plants like asters

Weed

Start more warm weather seedlings indoors:

-tomatoes

-peppers

-celeriac

-eggplant

Start outdoors:

-sorrel

-peas

-swiss chard

-Switch lettuce & greens seeding from "cool" to "warm" types

-beets

-summer carrots

Transplant out:

-Leeks

-onions

Late Spring (May)

Harvest Asparagus, Rhubarb

Weed

After bloom, prune rhododendrons if neccessary

Spray lawn with compost tea

Start building projects:

-fencing

-trellises

Start outdoors:

-carrots

-peas

-beets

-scallions

Transplant out:

-onions

-potatoes

-cabbage

Start indoors early May:

-parsley

-dill

-basil

-zinnia

-melons

-cucumbers

-squash

Late late spring (After Memorial day):

Mulch

Weed

Plant/Transplant out:

-Tomatoes (if soil T>65°)

-Peppers (if soil T>65°)

-melons

-cucumbers

-squash (if soil T>70°) 

-beans (if soil T>60°)

Early Summer (June)

Plant out any remaining plants

Weed

Water as needed

Spray with seaweed

Spray and drench with compost tea, especially sick plants

PESTS - handpick or soap

Fertilize lawn, rake in compost

Plant out seeds (mid to late june):

--parsnips

--scorzonera

--salsify

--skirret

--corn (if soil T>70°) 

--sweet potato slips

Transplant out any remaining warm weather crops (if soil is warm, > 65):

--cucumber

--tomatoes

--peppers

--melons

--squash

--Celeriac

Harvest:

-peas

-strawberries

-leafy veggies

-radishes

Mid Summer (July)

Water plants regularly

Spray with seaweed in early July only

Deadhead flowers

Weed

PESTS - handpick or soap

Save seeds

Start fall crops indoors:

-brussels sprouts

Start fall crops outdoors:

--carrots

-fennel

-root parsley

Transplant out:

-celeriac

-okra

Harvest:

-Gooseberries

-Raspberries

-Blueberries

-Onions

-Garlic

-Potatoes

-early tomatoes

Late Summer (August - Early Sept)

Water plants regularly

Spray indoor plants/herbs with seaweed

Weed

Save seeds

Order bulbs

Order fall plants and trees

Preserve crops

Set up cold frame

Start seeds for indoor herbs:

-basil

-chervil

-parsley

Pot up indoor herbs (4" or larger pots):

-thyme (dig up or root soft tip cutting)

-basil

-rosemary

-chives (needs short chilling period)

-oregano

-parsley

-sage - tip cutting

Plant out:

-cover crops

Plant out fall harvest:

-string beans

-lettuces

-cole crops

-fall peas

-carrots

-swiss chard

-kohlrabi

Harvest:

-remaining onions

-tomatoes

-peppers

-squash

-pumpkins

-gourds

-melons

-herbs (including extra to dry)

Pull up overdone veggies:

-zucchini

Early Fall  (Late Sept - Oct)

Plant any new trees or shrubs

Clean up any diseased foliage or rotten fruit

Divide spring blooming plants, daylilies, hostas

Save seeds

Bring in and soak houseplants (including lemon, bay)

Mow lawn high

Overseed lawn

MORE COMPOST

Compost tea watering & spray

Plant out:

-additional cover crops

-spring bulbs

-garlic

-shallots

Start cold frame crops:

-kale

-mache

-claytonia

-spinach

-cool weather greens & lettuce

Harvest:

-remaining potatoes

-swiss chard

-collards

-kale

-cress

Late Fall  (Oct - Nov)

Soil test

Spray fruit with dormant oil

Gather leaves for compost & leaf mold

Clean, sharpen, and oil garden tools before storing

Plug in bird bath heater

Stock up on bird seed for the winter

Apply any fertilizer

Mulch garden

-Pine needles for blueberries

-Straw for garden

-Compost for asparagus - 3" deep, maybe straw also

-Thick layer on mums, roses

Plant out:

-additional cover crops

-spring bulbs

-garlic

-shallots

-more kale

Start indoors (for windowsill/light production)

-dwarf peas

-lettuces

-herbs

-chives

-radishes

-mini carrots

Early winter (Dec)

Spray fruit with dormant oil

Make cordials, jams, chutneys

Refresh potting soil for indoor plants

Mulch with Christmas tree limbs:

-Mums

-blueberries

-roses