Urban Gardening

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Urban Gardening

Adventures in my Urban Garden

Keeping Hope ..... I Mean Seedlings Alive

So I picked up my seedlings last Saturday and like clockwork I started to get completely stressed out about how to keep them alive until it was warm enough to plant them.

I negotiated with the farmer from ReVision House and the staff from Allandale farm to try to get someone to tell me it was safe to just put them in the ground even though it was only mid-May. No dice. The seedlings usually get good and sad looking over the two weeks and I wanted to do better this year. I'm not expecting real growth, I just want them to stay healthy. I put the collards and brussel sprouts in the ground right away, but the cukes, tomatoes, basil, eggplant and pepper were not ready for that.

Also, my house is being painted, so I couldn't leave them out on my porch which is my usual routine. What on earth was I going to do? Not to count my chickens before they hatch, but the inaccessibility of the porch may have turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

As an aside, those of you urban dwellers know the unique challenges of growing things when you live in an apartment without a lot of space (indoor, but especially outdoor) and where all of that space is divvied up very carefully by all parties. There's no sunny growing spot out in the world that you don't work damn hard to get in Boston, that's for sure.

So I decided to ask my first floor neighbor if I could leave the seedlings in their yard (this is the yard that is in the back of the house I live in, but it is not mine) and put them in their covered "outdoor-shed/porch/living-room-type-thing" at night or if it looked to be bad weather. Given the house painting situation, they agreed. It turns out, this is way better treatment than they usually get on my own porch for a few reasons:

1) I usually put the seedlings on my front porch, which isn't as sunny during the day as the back of the house. I do have a back porch, but up until now it's been the "crappier" of my two porches because the paint in back was peeling so badly and because it's a little bit less convenient to get to than the front. Also both of these porches are covered on top, in typical triple-decker fashion.

2) Because they are on the porch and covered, I don't usually move them inside when it's going to rain. Also I have a cat (used to have two until this year, RIP my sweet Umbrella, but that is not what this blog is about so..... moving on) and the cat/s in my house have free reign and like to munch on vulnerable seedlings like nobody's business. So the long and short of it is that unless it was going to be freezing, the seedlings were outside for the duration with nothing more than a roof over their heads. Rain and wind could easily fly at them from the sides. Sometimes I'd cover them with plastic if the weather was particularly nasty, and only very rarely would they get to come all the way indoors.

3) In the past I kept the seedlings in the containers they came in. I knew this was wrong, but I just didn't have a plan for transplanting them. Again, where does a city kid keep all of the supplies needed for excellent gardening? It's a challenge. This year I was determined to do better. I found enough milk jugs, soy milk, oj and yogurt containers to give most of the seedlings a larger home. I still didn't have a great plan, because I was clinging to the delusional hope that global warming (tragic though it is) was going to work in my favor this year and I'd just plop all the seedlings in the ground.

Why I think this set up is better:

First of all, the seedlings look pretty good!

With the back yard set-up the seedlings get a lot more sunlight for more of the day and they are babied a little bit better ie: I've been bringing them in every night that it looks to get into the 40s and I keep them inside when it rains. Inside is pretty darn close to outside temperature-wise so I'm not sure what I'll do if the weather turns very cold, but so far I haven't had to worry about it and the forecast for next week seems even better. I think the complete absence of wind at night and the small temperature difference, probably helped a bit. In fact the subtle temperature difference probably works a lot better for them than going from low 50s in the evening to my cozy apartment which is probably in the high 60s. I mean they'd prefer it much warmer than that I know, but still gradual might be better.

The containers aren't perfect, but they still seem to help. I mean I totally screwed up on the water holes. I used a knife and ran it through the bottom of the containers leaving a few small slanty cuts (barely holes) for drainage. I was pretty sure I waterlogged some cucumbers this way, but they haven't died yet. I tried to fix the holes after planting in a couple places, but I don't think I got it. I learned my lesson with the yogurt containers and made larger holes which I think are better. Also, some of my containers are clear. I am sure that's not good since every planting vessel I have ever seen is a dark color. I assume this is to keep the roots away from the light. I'm hoping it'll still be ok because the containers are big enough that I don't think the roots will grow out to the edges all that quickly, but who knows.

The porches are due to be finished this weekend, but I really want to keep the seedlings where they are. It's just another week and I live all the way up on the 3rd floor.

Also, as luck would have it, I've realized that the back porch is likely the superior one for seedlings, but my current roommate is a smoker and she smokes back there. Cigarette smoke is not good for plants, especially tomatoes, so that's not a risk I'm willing to take.

Perhaps this porch-painting business is just the kind of bonding experience my neighbors and I need to make the back porch the permanent home for my spring seedlings. Who wants to stand in the way of a good garden produce, especially if you're a neighbor and might get some?

P.S. If things work out I'll have more seedlings than I'll be able to plant, so let me know if you are in the Boston area and might want some seedlings.

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Early May Garden Worries

So far so good in terms of the "old" seeds sprouting to life. I am quite pleased. The beets, arugula and radishes have all come up nicely. I'm pretty sure that carrots, cilantro, dill, shallots, onions and parsley all take a bit longer so I'm not too worried that I haven't seen signs of life in those rows yet.

Meanwhile, I've got a new/old pest to contend with: flea beetles. I don't think there's much I can do. Frankly, I'm amazed at the lengths I go to (or at least consider) to keep the pests at bay and the minimal impact my efforts actually seem to have on the pest population. Let's run down the assorted critters and issues I've got on my mind in these early planting days of May:

1) Cutworms - these are my enemies from way back. I try to make a habit of turning over the soil as late as I can in the fall to expose any larvae to the elements and then again in early spring. That seems to have worked the past few years, but if it's not that cold (like now) I worry.

2) Bunnies - I am not sure it's rabbits, but in the past, something has gotten to my lettuce and chomped off a whole lot of it in the early growth stages. Same as last year, I brushed the dog living in my house (new roommate = new dog) and tied a bunch of his hair together with a string and hung it over where the lettuce is growing. I have no idea if this will really work, but it's easy enough to do.

3) Flea Beetles - I am honestly shocked at how quickly they started eating little holes through my teeny tiny arugula seedlings. I really haven't figured out anything to keep them away and I can still eat the holey arugula, but it's infuriating to see the damage and feel powerless to stop it. I suppose I could try some really thin sheets of fabric that allows the sun through, but it seems so large-scale farm-like for a little plot in a community garden.

4) Cucumber Beetles - I always get them and I definitely hate them. They don't come until later in the season, but I'm growing at least 2 things just for them: radishes (supposedly repel them) and dill (supposedly attract helpful bugs that eat cucumber beetles)

5) Leaf Miners - These guys REALLY piss me off. I've never actually seen one of the bugs, but they spend their time eating through the middle of beet leaves (and chard and other leafy greens) making them ugly and inedible. I can usually eat the beets, but it doesn't make me hate the Leaf Miners any less. I mentioned this problem to one of the staff at Allandale farm last year who suggested taking a year off the beets, but I just couldn't do it. This year I'm planting them in a new spot, in between rows of radishes and onions and hoping for the best.

6) Wasps - these are new for me, and they've been back since my last post. I don't know if I really want to go to all the trouble of installing a fake wasp nest to deter them, but I am not pleased to have wasps hanging out right in my plot. Flying around in general is ok, but within easy stinging distance all the time....I'm not into that.

The pick up for Revision House seedlings is next weekend, so I'm excited to get a lot more in the ground. It's been so warm, it might even be safe to put in tomatoes!

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old seeds, new tricks?

This Saturday I finally managed to get into the garden to work. I did a pretty good job of weeding and turning over some of the soil in only 3 and 1/2 hours. It's been a while though and I guess I'm a bit rusty, because I also got a really stupid sunburn (the kind that makes it look like I'm still wearing a flesh colored t -shirt) and I planted cilantro (which I had already planted) instead of planting parsley. They really look alike!!

Overall I'm pleased with my accomplishment and feeling good about my work. I did plant old seeds though. This is not an encouraged practice since the seeds may not be alive anymore. I didn't store them in the fridge or take special care of them like you're supposed to, I just figured: "I have all these year old seeds, so what the hell?!" They had been in a drawer, away from extreme heat and sunlight, so I'm hoping I'll be lucky.

The real motivation was the fact that I don't have a car and didn't feel like biking over to Allandale farm. Partly because I just didn't feel like biking, but mostly because I knew I'd see things I wanted that were NOT seeds and that I would be unable to take back home on my basketless bicycle.

After I was done for the day, my favorite census taker drove me over to Allandale anyway. It was then that I bought some rosemary and "parsley" seedlings...that turned out to be cilantro. I was also on the hunt for something that might repel wasps. It turns out, my totally awesome cucumber trellis is attracting them. It appears to be the dry cracked wood that they like, but I am nervous that they'll try to make a nest which would completely suck. Wasps sting!! I mean, I've been stung a lot, but I'd rather not risk it every time I garden not to mention the fact that this is a community garden and there are 50 or so other gardeners and kids in the area all the time, some of whom might be allergic. I found a few comments online that mention installing a fake wasp nest to keep the wasps away. Apparently they are territorial and won't come near the nest.

The didn't have one at Allandale and I'm tempted to try it, but even looking at that giant (fake) wasp nest is a bit scary to me.

I think I'll keep checking the trellis for a few more days before I fork out the money for a giant, fear-inducing nest "waspinator" nest of my own.

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General Garden Update

I've been feeling like the world's worst gardener lately. June and most of July were so rainy and cool that I hardly had to water. I all but completely ignored the garden and let the weeds take over. This week I turned a corner though. I got up at 5AM on Monday to reign in the wild arms of the tomato plants and harvest a few things. Today again, I was up at 6AM to give the garden a good soaking now that it's actually hot out. The weeds are taunting me, but perhaps I will deal with them tomorrow. I'm quite pleased with the harvest this week: more collards, several beautiful cucumbers, beets and celery (first time ever!)

There are some good things happening despite my neglect. Yhe cucumber plants really did climb up the trellis and the cukes are dangling well above the ground, just like I had hoped. Unfortunately, all of the lower leaves seem to have rust colored spots on them. I assume it's some sort of fungus from all the rain, but I've been too lazy to even get to the bottom of it.

The leafminers chewed the hell out of my beets and my aggressive defoliating didn't seem to make much of a difference. I can still eat the beets though, and they look pretty good. Sad to say it, but I think for the next year or two I'm going to skip the beets and see if I can chase these pests away.

The best thing the garden is doing now though is donating produce to a local food pantry. We set out a cooler over the weekend so gardeners can drop off their harvest, and then someone picks it up early on Monday to take the bounty. I gave up some collard greens and cucumbers, but I think we're going to need a bigger cooler once the tomatoes get going!

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Beet it!

I was away in California and then NJ for about 10 days and, as is the norm when traveling during the season, I worried about my garden while I was away.

Luckily it rained almost the entire time I was gone and all of the next week. Unluckily, that meant I had a lot of weeding to do this weekend.

So, like many young Americans of my generation this past weekend, I let Michael Jackson be the soundtrack to my day. I popped on the headphones, put Off the Wall and Thriller into one playlist on the ipod and got to work. I was never a die hard fan, and I pretty much stopped paying attention by the time I got to high school, but especially when I was about 12 or 13 his music was very very important to me. The garden wasn't too crowded, so not too many people saw my "moves" as I boogied to the music.

It took about 2 hours and I got MOST of the weeding done.

After being away for so long, things looked pretty different. Mostly in good ways: cucumbers have almost started climbing, the collards and celery and brussel sprouts look huge and the tomato plants look to be disease free, despite all the rain. The big blow was evidence of my two most hated (after cut worms of course) bugs: beet leafminers and cucumber beetles.

I found a few things online that said that radishes repel cucumber beetles, so even though it's way too hot for 'em. I planted some seeds next to the cukes. I only saw one teeny tiny beetle in the California Poppies (which look great!), but it's early and I'm anticipating a swarm.

I'm feeling at a loss in terms of the leafminers though. I removed one of the leaves that seemed the worst and will probably go back and remove more if necessary. You can see from the top photo that the injuries from these evil pests are really really ugly. Even though I'll still be able to eat the beets, I want the greens too AND I definitely don't want them to infect other plants.

We've got a 3 day weekend coming up though and it's supposed to be sunny, so I'm hoping I'll have some more time to be in the garden and do battles against the evil bugs who plan my plants harm.

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My Vegetables are not Vegetarian

This Saturday I planted just about everything. It's a bit earlier than the dude where I picked up my seedlings suggested, but I feel certain that the plants have a better chance of surviving in the roomy, sunny and compost-ful environment of the garden than they would cramped in their seedling containers on my porch.

I had a fantastic time planting and am very excited to see how it all works out. It has turned colder in the past few days so I'm a bit worried about the cucumbers, but I think everything else should be able to handle it. Ah yes, I did have to get new cucumber plants at the farm, so it would be a shame to kill another set.

I also started the "summerizing" of my front porch with a few planted flowers and an overall clean up from the dirt and mess of the winter. Once again, you can see my cat in the photo if you look carefully. She loves the porch.

As part of all this prep however, I realized that as I've moved from a flat out beginner to a slightly more experienced novice, there are things that no longer shock me. One such example is the fact that I routinely (and gleefully) treat my seedlings to a diet of dead animal parts to help them grow.

Do vegetarians know about this? What about Jews who keep Kosher?

What the best organic gardeners advise for a healthy, thriving garden, are small amounts of things like Pro Gro or Neptune's Harvest which is essentially a bunch of nutrients including blood and crab meal in the case of the former and liquified fresh fish in the case of the latter. Ew right?

On the big planting day on Saturday I added a few handfuls of compost to the soil in, around and next to every one of the seedlings and then this Tuesday I added a handful of Pro-Gro to everyone as well. The fish will go on this weekend and then I'll be repeating all of those steps a few times throughout the summer.

But I'm wondering....is this "Kosher?" How are vegetables grown with animal parts classified? It's not like you're eating the animals, but it sure is a part of the process. I recently read a detailed article in the New Yorker about certifying Kosher products in China so I feel certain that someone must have thought about this. I am sure there are non-animal alternatives, especially in conventional, non-organic growing, but there is very little labeling in American produce aisles and I can't imagine that your average vegatarian even thinks about what might have been added to the lovely "vegetarian" foods they may be selecting. I know that I never did.

I was a vegetarian for 13 years and I slowly started bringing meat and fish back a few years ago...right around the time I started gardening. It's all part of the cycle of life and quite poignant that something dying makes life possible for something else, but still, I wonder how those who vow not to consume animals (or at least keep them separate from dairy or not eat certain kinds) draw the line. I also wonder if I would agree with the way said animals might be treated if I knew. As those who've been reading this blog may know, I have toyed with the idea of buying fox urine to keep the bunnies away, but I have no idea how they collect it and my guess is, its not a friendly method. So while it may be "natural," I don't know that it's something I really want to support.

Going down this road too far is a bit much for me. I/we live in an industrialized world and where we get our food and what goes into it is a touchy and politically charged subject. I like to think that by growing an organic garden and mostly eating organic food that I can identify as an actual plant or animal means I'm on the right side of most of these issues. Really though, I think it's more of a spectrum, as with lots of things in our modern world, there is a little "blood meal" on quite a lot of us.

No answers here, just questions.

Meanwhile, the garden is looking good and I really hope the seedlings make it through the cold and rain this week, but at least I don't have to water.

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Daisy in the Garden

My community garden is pretty amazing. In addition to the fenced off area that has all the garden plots, there are a few other open areas where neighbors can hang out. One of the important rules of the garden however is that no dogs are allowed in the area with the plots. And it's a darn good rule in my opinion.

And yet, sometimes a dog is exactly what you need.

Several weeks ago I planted some lettuce seeds and they seemed to be coming up nicely until I noticed them disappearing... apparently chewed to the ground. I've seen rabbits in the garden so I assume it's them, though I suppose it could be something else.

Last year, I had tried putting some Irish Spring Soap (or drugstore knock-off) next to the lettuce after I noticed a lot of greenery disappearing. It seemed to work, but with the bright green color and the STRONG perfume smell I'm still not sure if this was a smart idea - especially in a garden designed to grow food. Once I saw the damage to the lettuce again this year though, I went out and bought some "Emerald Mist" and planned to set to work. It's actually supposed to be the Sodium Tallowate in the soap that scares off the bunnies due to it smelling like a dead animal and not all that perfume.

Luckily I was chatting with a co-worker who said that his mom always used dog hair in the garden to keep away rabbits. Eureka! It just so happens that I live with a dog. Her name is Daisy and she is very cute and VERY hairy (see pic above.)

That very night I did some strange stuff with twine and dog hair that looks like some sort of ancient sacred symbol or sacrifice. Maybe voo doo? It's basically puff-balls of dog hair tied to the end of the twine and hanging a few inches above the lettuce. Oh the lengths we'll go to for the garden! So far I haven't seen any new damage, so we'll see if this works. I sure hope so, since dog hair seems way better than stinky chemical-filled soap.

Meanwhile I am fairly confident that the cucumber seedlings on my porch are toast. They look awful. I had to cut off many leaves because they were dry and discolored and the ones that are still left don't look too terrific either. I'm not sure if I should even try planting them or just pick up some new ones. The tomatoes actually look ok. Not quite as good as they did when I picked them up, but not terrible either.

The big highlight is that the San Marzano seedlings look terrific!

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Big Mid-May Garden Day

I arrived at Re-vision House at around 10:15AM on Saturday and there was already a line to pick up seedlings. After a bit of waiting around and some chit-chat, one of the staff led me around to collect my bounty. These were the seedlings I had ordered way back in February and I could hardly remember what I selected. Since all the plants come in 6 packs I arranged to share the order with a friend who is also another gardener in my garden. She hates brussel sprouts and I'm not that into trying to grow broccoli again, but the plan was to split just about everything else...I think.

Back to the seedling collection: first, my farmer-guide and I went to the cooler temp crops that were already in flats on the ground and picked up collard greens, brussel sprouts, and broccoli. Then we headed into the greenhouse. I forgot to bring my camera, but the seedlings all looked huge and lush and amazing. I got 2 mixed packs of tomatoes - 2 each of 3 types of cherry tomatoes and 2 each of three other types of heirlooms (I think brandywine, striped german and pruden's purple) plus another 2 six packs of brandywine and black prince tomatoes, black beauty eggplant and marketmore cucumbers.

And then the stress-out started. I asked the farm dude in 3 different ways how to take care of the plants that were in the green house. He said in no uncertain terms to plant them on June 1st and until then water them, keep them on the porch and cover them at night. He said I didn't need to replant into another container because being on the porch they would pretty much stop growing. I KNOW this is what he said, but I am still so afraid that I am going to ruin the poor seedlings and end up with crappy crops because of it.

Last year I decided to skip the Re-vision house seedlings and just buy everything at Allandale farm to avoid this very problem and now that I'm back doing the Re-vision House thing, I remember why I did that. It is so damn stressful keeping the seedlings alive and well cared for on the porch.

Anyway, when I got home I stared at my plot for a loooong time and then finally made some decisions about layout which you can see in the photo of the entire plot. I created a few planting areas and a bunch of paths to get around and get to them which I hope will work pretty well.

As sometimes happens in a community garden, I started planting right around the same time that another gardener happened by....and she offered me 3 celery plants. I've never grown celery and always wanted to, so in they went. This is part of the reason I never make set plans for what I'm going to plant until I actually start, something always comes up....in a good way.

So here's what we've got in the ground:

4 brussel sprouts
3 collard greens
3 celery
a few small rows of beet seeds
1 more additional row each of cilantro, red lettuce and arugula behind the trellis

The rest of the seedlings are on the porch along with the san marzanos (which look ok!) and the basil (looks only so-so) the marigolds (eh) the shallots and parsley (also eh) and more arugula which looks bad enough that I might just toss. I cut open a plastic trash bag to make a sheet of sorts and have been using that to cover up the seedlings at night. It's cold today though, but I took off the "blanket" to let them get some sun. I really hope this works.

Oh and the mint is not yet coming up in the sink, but I'm hoping that't just a matter of time.

P.S.: Special thanks to my two friends who came to visit during my 4 hours of gardening to help plant some of the seeds and keep me company!

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San Marzano Seedlings

This past weekend a friend from Vermont, who seems preternaturally gifted in the gardening department, gave me 4 lovely san marzano tomato seedlings that she started on the windowsill of her office. Seriously, she hasn't been gardening that long and she seems so good at it!

I was thrilled to get them and yet, almost as soon as they were handed over, I felt panicked.

I had ridden my bike to bowling (yes, I'm on a bowling team, but this is about gardening so...moving right along) so I had to have a friend take the seedlings in her car for me. By the time I got them, they were HOT and a little bit wilty from the stress of the car.

I brought them inside, but I wasn't really sure what to do next because these little guys were born indoors and I didn't really want to stress them by taking them straight outside. I knew they needed sun, but I had already decided that my sunlamps were making my seedlings too hot so I couldn't risk putting them under those either. My friend told me that they should be transplanted pretty soon, like in the next few days. All I really have are some leftover plastic soda bottles to replant them into and not that many at that.

So here's what I've done:

The first night I gave them a little water and left the plants on the windowsill and kept them there all of the next day. I knew this wasn't enough sun, but I didn't want to stress them with the wind and cold of the porch.

The next day I put the existing pot inside one of the soda bottle greenhouses I had made and put this out on the porch during the day. At night I took the whole thing inside and put it back on the windowsill.

The day after that I left it on the windowsill again, because I knew I wouldn't be home that night and I didn't want to risk the plants getting too cold overnight.

When I checked them this morning they looked pretty good. They were upright and a little bit taller, bigger and greener than when I first got them.

So...this morning I replanted 2 seedlings each inside soda bottle greenhouses. Unfortunately I don't have enough bottles to do the whole self watering system like I did with the basil seeds, so I just cut some holes in the bottom for drainage and will need to water regularly. I'm hoping that the plastic cover will be enough protection from the wind and cold. The problem is, the leaves are pressing right up against the plastic which I am guessing is not a good thing. I'm not sure what to do about this because I think without the plastic it could be too cold and windy for the little guys.

So I think the sun and the additional growing room is good. I think the protection from the wind and cold is good and I think the claustrophobia-inducing bottle top is bad.

I'm hoping to slowly get them used to the outside temperatures with the plastic cover and then start removing it (just during the day) until they seem strong enough to manage without it. I still might bring them inside at night if the temps look to be cold.

While I was at it I took my two healthiest looking basil seedlings and transplanted them to larger containers too (picture is at the top). I think I should do this with all of the seedlings that look ok, but I definitely don't have enough plastic bottles and containers for that.

Boston friends...can you help me out? Send me your yogurt, sour cream and cottage cheese containers and your 1 and 2 liter soda bottles yearning for a new purpose in life.

I should mention that I planted all of this in the leftover coir that I had already re-hydrated and stuck in a plastic bag on the porch. This isn't potting soil, but I think and hope it's ok.

Stay tuned for more stress inducing adventures. I am picking up my seedlings from Re-Vision House this weekend and will definitely be planting a few things and looking for ways to keep those that are not yet ready to go into the ground protected.

As always, advice in the comments section is enthusiastically encouraged!

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Seedling Update

Well I got back from Oregon and the seedlings are still alive.

They don't exactly seem to be thriving (ie: still a bit leggy, not much bigger), but not too terrible. I think my roommate kind of flooded them instead of just watering, but I guess they managed. I'm a little concerned because they are still on the porch and now a bit too tall to fit under the egg container cover. It's in the low 50s outside so I'm worried that the cold (plus the flooding) might all end up having been too much for the little suckers.

I might try to replant a few in larger containers this weekend and hope for the best.

The seeds I planted underneath the trellis seem to be doing great and I thinned the seedlings a bit. The flea beetles are already all over the arugula though and I'm not sure there's anything I can do about that. Holey arugula is pretty much what I've gotten used to.

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Seedling Experiment - Week 1

So far it's not an abject failure, but I feel sure that my end could be right around the corner.

The marigolds sprouted first and looked to be doing pretty well. Then came the arugula and the basil. All looked ok UNTIL after a few days all the seedlings seemed quite tall. This is (from what I hear and read) a sign that the seedlings aren't getting enough light.

I had the light SUPER close and was leaving it on all day. In fact, I was worried that it might actually be sizzling the soil and seeds. It felt quite warm to the touch. That's probably not good right?

Anyway, yesterday was 80 degrees and sunny here so I took a gamble and put all the seedlings out onto my porch to get some sun. I kept the covers closed though, so they didn't also have to brave any wind and so they might stay warm if the temperature dropped. Nothing seems to have died, so that's good.

I brought all the seedlings back in last night to "sleep" and then refilled the water trays, thinned a few so only one little sprout is in each egg cup and brought them all back out this morning. 2 little shallot sprouts showed up, but the parsley is still dormant.

Meanwhile the soda bottle green house, that was always on the porch, has two teeny tiny basil sprouts that showed up this morning. I think this could be more promising.

So while I'm struggling mightily (mostly in my own mind I realize) with the "indoor" seedlings, all the arugula and lettuce I planted behind the trellis has sprouted! No sign of cilantro yet, but I'm optimistic.

I leave for a week in Oregon tomorrow though so I'm not sure if I should leave the seedlings on the porch (and maybe ask my roommate to check on them) or inside. The temps should be warm enough for them to stay outside and I think they may appreciate the light, but I just don't know how fast they'll dry out and if I really want to saddle my roommate with the chore of checking on them in addition to taking care of my insane, geriatric cats.

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Are you Jealous of this Trellis?

Growing vertically and mastering the use of space in a small urban plot, seem to me to be a sign of someone who knows what they're doing in a community garden.

I have long viewed myself as more of a newbie, lacking the skills and expertise to try anything as ambitious as a trellis, let alone planting things near each other in a way that one plant can help the other.

I guess that's not entirely true. I've planted basil and marigold with tomatoes and those are supposed to help each other, and my arugula always seems to attract flea beetles which I think helps keep them away from my eggplant, but this plan, is far more ambitious.

Let me start at the beginning:

Last year I grew cucumbers and I really liked it. They attracted a lot of cucumber beetles though and took up a lot of space. The cucumbers also tended to hide underneath the leaves such that I could miss a cuke one day and show up a day later to find a baseball-bat-sized cucumber the next. I had heard, and seen others growing them UP and wanted to try it. In my internet searching I came across this cool design for a cucumber trellis that basically allows the cucumber vines to climb upward, but also leaves some room behind for lettuce which likes cooler temperatures.

I didn't really think I could build something like this myself. I'm easily intimidated by things like this. Luckily, I am fortunate enough have an in with Captain Awesome. He is pretty handy and agreed to build me a trellis.

So this Saturday ( a few hours after the seedling adventure) we headed out to Home Depot to get the supplies and make my garden dream a reality. We had a general sense of the items we needed and after I woke up from my "overwhelmed-by-the-choices-trance" in the nail aisle, we got it together enough to get our stuff and leave.

We bought 3 2x4s, some long nails, vinyl coated chicken wire, and a bag of plastic zip ties. Captain Awesome already had all the tools so we didn't need to get any of those. He built the whole thing right in the bed of his truck, with no power, or anything.

So now the trellis is all set up in all it's glory in my garden plot. I went ahead and used this opportunity to begin to figure out the layout for the garden this year. I dug up the black-eyed susan and moved it closer to the other perennials (and gave 75% of it to another gardener for her yard ) and moved the bee balm closer too. Now I've got only one area, by the sink, for flowers. I think this will work better and give me more room for veggies in the rest of the plot.

I've asked a few other gardeners if they think the stuff I plan to grow behind the trellis will work or get too shaded. Honestly, I'm too excited about this idea to even hear it when a few of them have said "maybe" or "I dunno." In this spirit, I went ahead and planted some lettuce, arugula and cilantro seeds behind the trellis. Sure, it might be too early, but I'm feeling bold and experimental at the moment.

I know that I can be very insecure about my gardening abilities, but at the core, I'm an optimist and a believer in my own ability to make things happen. Also, I do know SOME things. I haven't planted the cucumbers yet and I know I won't do that for at least another month.

I know I'm dealing with the natural world here and wanting something to work may not make it happen, but for now, I'll keep hope alive!

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So it begins...

Early Saturday morning, I got up and planted my seedlings.

As you may recall, I've been talking about doing this for a while, but it took longer than I expected to pull together all the necessary materials and then find the time to do it. Here's the play by play of the plan.

Step 1 - Potting Medium
First I had to take the coir and add 1 and 1/4 gallons of water to it to turn it from a rock hard brick to something resembling a potting medium. I had purchased 2 bricks because I didn't know how much it would turn into once I added water and the bricks looked pretty small. I definitely only needed one, I now have a plastic grocery bag full of the stuff sitting on my porch, plus the unopened brick that I didn't even use. Anyone in the Boston area need this?

Step 2 - Something to plant in
Next, I prepared the plastic egg cartons. I'd been holding onto plastic soda bottles and plastic egg containers for a while, with the intention of making some seedling trays and mini-greenhouses so I had a ton on hand. The ones I have include a ton of excess packaging: bottom egg cups, top egg cups and top flat lid, all made of clear plastic. I used some scissors to cut off the top egg cup part and used those for a water tray at the bottom. I used a steak knife to puncture the bottom egg cups so that water from the bottom tray could get to the potting soil to keep the seedlings and soil moist.

Step 3 - Assembly
I pressed the coir (which was thoroughly water soaked at this point) into the egg cups and then used a pencil to create a small indentation in each "cup." I decided to devote each tray to a different type of seed: shallot, marigold, arugula, parsley and basil. This is not the most ambitious assortment of seeds, but given the fact that I have yet to do this successfully I wanted to start small.

I tried to drop 3 seeds into each indentation (though I am sure I ended up with 4 or 5 in a few.) I marked each tray with some coffee stirrers and then filled the bottom (formerly top) egg cups 1/2 way with water and placed the covered coir-filled cups on top.

Step 4 - Location and lighting
I borrowed a small table and set it up with 2 grow lights by the window. The grow lights are REALLY close to the seedlings which I think is how you're supposed to do it. For now, they're mostly keeping the soil a bit warm, but soon they'll provide the light the seedlings need to grow. The grow lights don't cover every single seedling in light evenly, but I'm hoping it'll work out. If anyone out there with more experience than me looking at these photos sees a problem with how I'm doing this PLEASE let me know. I really really really want this to work!

Step 5 - Care and Maintenance
My plan is to turn the lights on when I leave in the morning and off when I get home from work each day. I'm sure I'll need to thin the seedlings eventually and maybe turn the trays around if it seems like the light is hitting some more than others. I'm also planning to check the water in the bottom tray every day and just refill those when they seem lower. I think this should be the right amount of water, but who knows?

List of Worries:

1) Is the light enough, too much, too close, too uneven?
2) Is turning the lights on and off bad in terms of the temperature during germination?
3) Is it too much water? They're basically sitting in water all the time right now.
4) Everything is covered up greenhouse style right now. I assume that at some point I'll want to uncover them. When should I do this and how do I keep my cats from eating them?
5) If this works, how do I harden them off and get them ready for the garden? Do I need to transplant to something larger first? I've kept a bunch of soda bottles with the idea that I might transplant some of the seedlings to these at some point.

Extra Credit

As suggested, I did create one larger soda bottle greenhouse with basil seeds and stuck it on my porch. It seems way too cold outside for this to work, but I'm hopeful.

Believe it or not, this was only the FIRST major garden related project of the day. More to come shortly.....

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Setting up for Seedlings

It's March 23rd and in the temperature is in the twenties!!

I've had about enough of winter and I'm ready for it to be warm enough to garden. In the meantime, I've been collecting the supplies I'll need for this year's seedling growing extravaganza. I'm still not convinced it's going to work and in the end I may have to spend more money than I normally would just to try. I figure it's still cheaper because I rarely buy any produce at any store once the garden is in full swing.

So far I've amassed an impressive number of plastic containers including lots of plastic egg cartons and an array of soda and juice bottles. I ordered some seeds from Johnny's Seeds in Maine and borrowed a small table from Captain Awesome. I still need to get some coir or other sustainable growing medium, some milk crates and a grow light from my pal Ms. Knapsack. I also got a soil thermometer...mostly because I've been wanting one for a while. I'm not sure it will even work for the seedling growing because the depth is so shallow.

Here's my thinking:
If I want to start planting around mid-May I should start the seedlings in the next couple of weeks. The small table is up next to the radiator which should keep them warm enough, although they're also near a window which could make them cold. The table will keep them elevated as a deterrent to my lovable, but evil cats who might like to snack on the tender greens.

The egg cartons have so much extra plastic, that I should be able to cut off the top flap and put it underneath and then poke holes in the bottoms of each of the egg cups and water only from the bottom.

Once the seedlings are big enough I can transfer the healthy ones to the soda bottle green houses, keep them inside at first and then eventually transfer them to the porch to toughen up before they go in the garden.

At this point it seems hard to believe I'll really be able to pull this off, but I am definitely going to try.

A few seeds I'm planning to start with:

Dill - I don't actually like dill, but I grew it last year because it attracts some good bugs, this is a good choice because I won't be crushed if the seedlings don't work out.
Basil
Marigolds
Parsley

A few things I think I can direct seed, but might try to do seedlings as well:
Cilantro
Arugula
Shallots - never grown these, but I'll be thrilled if I can.

You'll notice that I don't have any of the big-ticket veggies in here. I think I need to build my confidence slowly. If this works out I can always get more seeds to try more things a few weeks after I start. I've got the seedling from Re-Vision House ordered and I can always pick up more at the farm.

I've got the first draft of the whole garden plan done, but I need to review it in person to see if the spacing works.

I'm not planning to grow anything I've never grown before (at this point) except for shallots, just building on my skills with the stuff I've tried before.

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Gardening Freedom?

I would really like to grow my own seedlings. For a while now I've put growing seedlings on a pedestal, thinking of it as an "advanced" gardening skill that is "out of my league," but that's some seriously pessimistic thinking and I need to get past it.

Let's face it, I'm getting to the point in my gardening career where I am no longer a complete beginner. I know a thing or two and it's time to try (again or for the first time) things that I have considered to be out of my reach. Growing my own seedlings is definitely one of these things. I did try this once before.... but all the seedlings died. That was 3 years ago though.

In my mind, I feel that If I can master the whole seedling thing I can pretty much grow whatever I want on whatever time-line makes sense. That's real freedom.

What I do now is spend a lot of time planning when I'll go to Allandale farm. I go with a vague sense of what I want to grow, but then I always find that some things aren't there so I end up making decisions on the spot. I find the whole thing a little bit stressful, in part because I don't own a car so dropping by the farm whenever I get the urge is not an option. I can't to go to the farm too late in May because a lot of the plants will be snatched up so I usually end up making two trips, one for "early" stuff like greens and one for "later" plants like tomatoes and eggplant. Similarly, when I've ordered from Re-Vision House, the plant pick-up is in the middle of May which is a little bit too early for most things to go in the ground. You see my predicament. I'm beholden to the whims and caprices of others. I want gardening independence!

Towards this end, the 2 ideas I've been toying with are as follows:

1) Soda Bottle Greenhouse.
I got this idea from a post by Mr. Brown Thumb. The basic gist is you take a regular 2 liter soda bottle, cut it in half and then plant the seeds in the bottom half. Terrific right? He seems like a very competent gardener and suggested just "trying it out" on my porch so I think that's what I'll do. I find it hard to believe that a greenhouse could really be that warm, but I know this is an old and tested way to grow things and people do it all the time.

2) Figure out how to set up a good indoor growing system in my apartment.
I live in the city. I don't have a ton of space and the space I do have is shared with animals and a roommate. I think my set up last time was ok. I purchased little soil pellets in a plastic container with a removable clear top and stuck the seeds in there. The idea is to stick the whole contraption in a sunny spot, water occasionally and watch your future garden grow. My future garden struggled and eventually died but I think the problems boiled down to heat and light.

I spent a lot of time moving the seedlings to spots far from my plant-munching cats. My best windows in terms of sunlight happen to be in places they love to go. But how expensive could it be to get a little lamp for a few seedlings? I've got to really think about this, but I would love growing my own seedlings so much that the idea of getting a "sun" lamp for them seems completely reasonable. I do have a bit of an outlet shortage too, but I think I can make it work.

Oh and I've recently learned that usually the pellets in these seedling kits are made of peat which, as it turns out, is not a very sustainable soil. This time I'll need to look for coir pellets or something similar.

Come to think of it, maybe I should try the soda bottle greenhouses INDOORS. The cats might still try to get to them, but it would be a lot harder.

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Escaping the cold

The current temperature here in Boston is -8 degrees Farenheit. That's pretty cold. I haven't actually looked at my garden in a few months even though it's just on my corner. It's been freezing all week and I'm finding that my response to the cold is to think about my garden a lot. In the past few days I have thought about or done the following:

1) Drawn a little map of how I might lay out the plot this year - I'm ready for a change!
2) Talked or e mailed with no less than 4 people (including my Dad!) about whether or not I should try brussel sprouts again, make room for asparagus or order from the women's shelter that is also a farm with a seedling coop this year. Answers: maybe, probably not, yes, but I'll order only things I can plant right on the pick-up day.
3) Searched on the internet for designs for cucumber trellises and even bookmarked a few.
4) Contemplated the fact that this cold weather is probably good for the garden in that it may be killing some of the bad bugs that I hate. I also wondered what it does to the good bugs like worms and lacewings. Relatedly...
5) Will I plant dill again to attrack parasitic wasps to kill the leafminers? Still not sure on this one.
6) Thought about a few garden gadgets I might like to splurge on this year like a soil thermometer, better/sharper garden shears and a weeding tool like a friend has.

The colder it gets the more my mind wanders to warmth and the day when I'll first be able to turn over all the soil. By September the garden can seem like a chore, but in the middle of January, when I know I have at least 3 more months of winter, it seems like heaven.

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A New Leaf for 2009

In the past I've paused this blog because I felt too busy or because I had nothing new to say.The reason I put a stop to my "mostly weekly" garden updates back in August was my discovery that my little anonymous haven was in fact, not so anonymous.

I was in the garden back on that fateful day in the middle of the summer. My lovely garden plot neighbor and I were chatting, when she said, in a tone that I interpreted as a mix of apologetic and disappointed -- with a hint of quietness like that reserved for talking about other people's terrible misfortunes as in "divorce" or "cancer" -- something along the lines of:

"You know you could have told me that our tomatoes were growing too close to yours." She then went on to describe that she and her husband were new to gardening and would have appreciated the advice about needing to corral their tomatoes and that another gardener had found my blog and mentioned my concerns to her. I was caught. I had in fact blogged about her tomato plants creeping over to my side.

It is hard to describe my feelings in that moment. Horror, shame, embarrassment. The pit in my stomach lasted at least 2 weeks and I still feel kind of ill when I think of it. I walked around, scanning people's faces, trying to figure out if they knew about my blog when I talked to them. I mean, I am also pretty new to gardening and I would have loved to help them instead of make them feel like crap, not to mention make myself look like a petty, two-faced gossiper. Dammit!

She then went on to say that she had noticed that some of her tomato plants had been pushed way over (back towards her side) and that the stakes really looked as if someone had physically pushed them. She mentioned this to another gardener who told her about my blog. Oy vey! I told her that I really really hadn't done it and that all I had done was walk through between our two plots and try to push the branches that had grown over to my side over to hers. My stakes had been moving around a lot too actually. I didn't expect her to believe me. After all, I'm the kind of person who, rather than directly and maturely speaking to this lovely person about the issue I had with her tomato plants, just complained to the entire world on the INTERNET! This blog established motive.

I honestly never imagined that anyone in my neighborhood would find this blog. Somehow, thinking that no one would find it made me think of it as a sort of diary or at least a private conversation that I was having mostly with myself. Myself and a bunch of other gardeners I didn't know plus a few friends that I have mentioned this blog to and with whom I am comfortable telling my inner feelings (about gardening.)

I apologized right away and have probably apologized since then about 5 times everytime I see her. I'd also like to take this moment to apologize to anyone and everyone in my little neighborhood for anything I have expressed in this blog that was the slightest bit hurtful in any way to anyone. It's not what I intended and really not who I am most of the time. In fact, I think the thing that bothers me most is when I think of the kind of person I might seem like to my neighbors after all of this. It makes me cringe.

I do realize that this is also funny. Most of my friends have laughed heartily at the whole thing. I mean, who in this day and age actually thinks their blogs are really anonymous?! Come on!!

The long and the short of it is that I seriously considered taking the whole thing down, but I decided it was better to come clean. In fact, I was encouraged NOT to take it down first by the same lovely woman who I blabbed about and then a few friends who also garden and actually like my blog for the tips. Special thanks to my friend in Vermont who grows excellent brussel sprouts and whose asparagus I hope survived all the construction.

I'm not quite to the point where I'm ready to make it easier for people to figure out who I am, but I'll just be writing now with the knowledge and assumption that anyone I might have hoped isn't reading this probably is and I should get comfortable with that and act accordingly. I might loosen up a little bit on the code names and other "masking" tactics, but maybe I won't.

Thanks to all for reading and feel free to forward to anyone you want!

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Tomatoes!!

It seems that the rash of blossom end rot was short lived. I do have one tomato plant that looks pretty awful and which I don't expect to make it. Other than that, things seem to be doing ok. Tomatoes of all shapes and colors are coming out of my garden, ripe and healthy, every few days now.

My plot is weedy and messy and every time I walk over to it I feel pangs of guilt (mixed with joy at the great bounty I am getting of course.)

I hate to admit it, but as the season wears on, I find that I get a little tired of the labor part of gardening. I know that I could be planting fall crops now...or soon, but I just feel tired of the battles with bugs and diseases at the moment. And I am not sure I'm up for the daily watering for seeds. I look at the bolted lettuce towers and think " I don't know if I have the energy to start from scratch right now."

I think next year I really need to do a better job of thinking through the things I could do earlier in the season to make August - October easier. Mostly I need to mulch A LOT better and more often in June and July. Other than that I'm not really sure what else I can do. Pace myself? Chill out so I don't run out of steam? Maybe it's just that work is getting busier now (and it usually does in August and September) so I feel more torn.

In fact, I feel almost flooded with ideas for NEXT spring (I think I need to try growing cucumbers UP), but the idea of doing much more than maintenance and clean up in the fall THIS year seems very unlikely.

Either way, I am thrilled to have all the wonderful food even if I feel too lazy to cook anything really amazing with it.

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Not again!!

I was out of town for about a week so I had someone water the garden and agree to harvest anything that looked ready to go ie: orange cherry tomatoes, lettuce, an eggplant.

They did a great job. Nonetheless I came back to an assortment of good and bad things:

The Good:
a) tons of ripe and ENORMOUS food: all 3 types of eggplant, cherry tomatoes, jalapenos, cucumbers and beets.
b) the Blackeyed Susans now blooming
c) Purple Coneflowers going absolutely crazy and bees going crazy for them.
d) The mint really taking over in the sink
e) A mostly healthy looking garden

The Bad (and often ugly):

1) one tomato plant and stake leaning waaaaay over. Sincere thanks to Captain Awesome for hammering the stake back down with a brick!
2) tons of weeds
3) a very ugly and decrepit looking cucumber plant with icky, moldy-looking (but dry!) black shriveled leaves. I don't think I'll be getting anymore cucumbers this summer.
4) Swiss Chard that has not grown at all due to the leafminer!
5) 2 tomato plants with blossom end rot! How!?

The blossom end rot really pisses me off! I had blossom end rot a few years ago when I didn't quite understand how often you needed to water when it rains, but since then I have been so good about watering. I mulch, I track the rainfall and my own watering and I'm really really careful. Plus I don't understand why some plants would have it and others don't...although the two plants that have it are next to each other...have I been neglecting a corner? I really don't think so.

I guess it could also be the soil in that one spot, but that seems so unlikely.

So I'm feeling annoyed about the leafminer and the blossom end rot and my mysterious cucumber ailment and the weeds that are everywhere and the fact that my neat plot layout is no longer visible, but I love how crazy it is, and I love that it was only from weeding that I "found" the huge eggplants and cucumbers hiding under leaves and that it's getting to be the time of year where I bring something I grew to any BBQ, birthday or picnic I get invited to. I also love that my camera managed to take one glorious shot of bees on the purple coneflower.

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A new bug to hate

Beet Leafminers suck.

As you all know I really really hate cutworms. That has not changed, but I am realizing that compared to other bad bugs like cucumber beetles and leafminers, they are much easier to tackle.

Here is the deal with the leafminer: They are larvae, they live in the soil, they are hard to see, and get rid of. They eat through the middle of the leaves of beets, chard, spinach and a few other things forming squiggly lines that eventually connect and form big whitish/brownish blotches. The only thing to really do is try to disturb them in the soil by scratching into it and to cut off the affected leaves to prevent them from reinhabiting. Leafminers pretty much go for the leaves which means the beets growing below ground are usually ok. That's ok for the beets, but ya can't eat the greens. Grrr.

I spent about 30 minutes on Tuesday night hacking away at my chard and beets, removing any leaves that looked "mined." The result was a huge pile of food-I-never-got-to eat which I threw in the trash. You can't compost the buggy stuff. That would be evil since the bugs will totally reproduce. I am now the proud owner of a small chard plant with three puny leaves.

I'm really not that mad at the moment because I also made about 4 jars of pesto last weekend, got to eat one lovely sungold cherry tomato Tuesday and harvested an asian eggplant Wednesday night. Things are never perfect, but they could definitely be worse.

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Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

Deep down I know that some of my practices in the garden may not actually impact the health of my plants, but are simply garden myths passed down through the ages. I grow marigolds because they are supposed to keep pests away and basil near tomatoes because they are supposed to be good companions. Most gardeners do these things too. We're a superstitious bunch I think.

One of the other "rules" I try to follow is to keep my tomato leaves dry when I water and space the plants far enough apart so that the tomato leaves don't touch each other. Both of these practices are to prevent the spread of diseases and I have seen plenty of sad, spotty tomato leaves after a lot of rain to believe that they're a good idea.

Now I'm not perfect. My garden plot is a little bit more than 100 square feet and It's simply not possible to plant 6 tomato plants and have none of them touch, but I do a pretty good job for the most part. I water at the base of the plant. I cage AND stake and prune (at least a little) to keep the branches moderately under control.

Okay, so the plot right behind mine has some new occupants. They are a lovely couple with a toddler. They are absolute beginner gardeners and magically have strong, healthy looking plants with no signs of bad bugs or diseases. I'm pretty impressed -- beginner's luck for sure! They also planted all of their tomatoes right behind mine in a big row. They put in stakes, but don't seem to be tying the plants to the stakes at all and they haven't pruned anything. As you might imagine, their big, leafy, crazy tomato plants are all over mine. This is not good. For a week or so now I've been feeling pretty helpless. I rarely see the couple and I don't know what I would say to them if I did. Community gardening is supposed to be about community building and getting along. Yeah, ok, but it is ALSO about growing some awesome tomatoes right and fighting against the calamaties that could prevent this? What am I supposed to do?

Two days ago, after pruning and tying up my own tomatoes, I walked around the back of my plot, through the tomato thicket, and sort of pushed (gently I swear) all the branches I could, back over to their side. I was amazed at how well this seemed to work (see the photo.) I just went back today though and all their tomatoes are back over, cuddling up to mine. Grrrrr.

I don't wanna be a jerk or unneighborly and, as I've said, I'm not 100% sure that their tomato plants touching mine is absolutely, definitely a bad thing, but I don't like it -- at all. I also don't like the fact that I don't know how they're watering and my guess is they're just spraying that whole row of tomatoes with a hose from above. Which means that they are spraying MY tomatoes too. So all of my careful watering at the base of the plant so as not to get the leaves wet might be for nothing. Geez, I know I sound uptight here, but c'mon!!

I honestly don't know what I will say if I see them. I like them and I want to be nice : "Heeeey, hiiii, so I wanted to give you some advice about your tomatoes over here." I just don't know how to say it without it coming out snarky. So far everything looks ok though, so perhaps there is nothing to worry about.

Anyway, perhaps I will really try peas next year...as a fence.

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If you don't like the weather....get a garden

Gardening has changed my perspective in a number of ways, including my appreciation for "weather." If all I was concerned about was my own comfort, I might not ever want it to be anything other than warm, breezy and in the 70s.

Now that I am a gardener though, I really need a lot more "weather" to make things go my way. In the winter I want it to be really cold and snowy to kill bad insect larvae and protect the soil. If the winter is too warm I know the spring will be much more challenging.

For about the past week we've had crazy thunderstorms where it rains, and hard, every other day or so. This is not what we're used to in this part of the country in June, and normally I would be super cranky about a) carrying an umbrella everywhere b) making all of my "outdoor" plans tentative c) the damn humidity. But the garden is loving it AND I haven't had to water in more than a week. This means I can sleep just a little bit later in the mornings and that is really nice.

I feel like one of those super zen sorta folks who are just at peace with the world. When my friends complain about the weather I really only agree with a lame "yeah" so as not to draw attention to myself. The truth is, I think the rain is fine, so long as it doesn't turn cold or rain non stop. That would be bad. Sunshine and warmth with an occasional downpour is actually perfect right now.

I guess that's the other piece of it: I pay a lot more attention to the weather in general and some turns are really not good for the garden and I get annoyed. But again, it's no longer just about my own comfort anymore. The garden has changed how I think about "good" and "bad" days and given me more of a range to appreciate and that is fantastic.

Alright, enough of all that. I have two important flower updates:

1) I HAVE BEE BALM!!! Finally, after 3 years, I really have it (see top photo.) Interestingly, the bee balm I purchased, which is supposed to be purple/magenta (my true favorite) hasn't bloomed yet, but the red that my neighbors gave me -- after they heard how excited I was about it and, unfortunately, after I bought the other plant -- is going in full force.

2) A long time ago, just about when I first started to learn to garden, a friend c

ame to visit and brought me a plant. After a while the blooms died and, in my former life, I definitely would have thrown it away once it started looking unhappy. With my newfound skills however, I decided to try to keep it alive. For three years I've been watering it and trying to make it happy, but it never bloomed again....until now!! I'm not entirely sure what I did right this time, but the plant is called Gloxinia, and is somehow related to the african violet. I now have, in my apartment, one beautiful, fuzzy, large, purple flower and about 3 or 4 more buds. I can hardly believe it's really happening.

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Progress

I don't want to jinx myself so I am crossing my fingers as I type these words: I think this is my best garden season so far.

The poppies look great, the mint seems to be doing ok in the sink, the bee bal

m looks as though it's about to bloom and I've managed to survive the early bunny attacks. I'm already starting to get a few green tomatoes and its still just June!

For a while there the cucumber seemed to be getting eaten by some kind of bug, but even that looks improved.

I'm sure some unforseen calamity or obstacle is around the corner (there's always something) but for now I'm feeling very proud. Sadly, I think the secret really is buying the plants a little bit later from the farm as I did this year instead of from the non-profit like I used to.

It is true that the arugula has all pretty much bolted and the arugula, cilantro and basil I planted on my porch is going very slowly and doesn't look that great, but the plot itself seems pretty healthy.

I'm still a bit tentative (vs. ruthless) about pruning the tomato plants and removing suckers and "extra branches" even though I know that's really the way to go. I just worry about hurting the plant when a new shoot seems "established." I don't want to get too cocky. I think recognizing that I am doing well while seeing how much better I could be is a good place to pause and celebrate.

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Garden Sitting Ethics

From June 12th - June 20th I have agreed to water another gardener's plot while they are away in California. That is really all they asked me to do, except for trying to keep their strawberry plants contained in the the little bricked in area they have for them and to encourage their tomato plants to stay in the cages. All of this probably takes about 15 - 20 minutes every other day unless it rains.

I've only had to water a few times so far, but I've already noticed a few things to feel torn about in terms of my moral obligations as a garden sitter.

1) When I first arrived at their plot, they had a big half-full bag of straw mulch sitting in it. It's gone now. I know they're on vacation so I don't want to bother them, but is it safe to assume that someone else was authorized to take the bag or should I be emailing them about the missing mulch?

2) When I water my own tomatoes I always water just the base of the plant so the water will get to the roots and not the leaves under the theory that tomato plants prefer dry leaves and the water can spread diseases. They didn't specify how to water the tomato plants and it does take longer. Obviously the rain gets everything wet so maybe this whole idea of carefully watering only the ground is a dumb one or a superstition, but I am clearly superstitious and I feel bad treating their tomato plants less well than I would treat my own. How far should I go with this? Prune the suckers? Add fish emulsion?

3) Weeding. I haven't done any weeding in their plot, but it could really use it. I think weeding is going above and beyond, but maybe I'll weed a little bit because of my guilt about their strawberries.....

4) They have all of these ripe strawberries! They're just going to rot out there or attract pests if they aren't harvested so...I've decided that it is ok to take them. I feel mostly like it's the right thing to do, but I am a tiny bit worried that they already promised them to someone else without my knowledge and I am essentially stealing them. I could e mail them, but who wants to be bothered on vacation right?

For now I'll water carefully and keep "stealing" the berries.

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Soap, Hay, Heat

Saturday was insanely hot and muggy. It is likely a sign of my own gardening insanity that I decided to spend a couple of hours in the garden right in the middle of the day. I really had to. I needed to put in the dill and...sadly, plant some swiss chard to replace the final kale plant that the bunnies destroyed.

Physically, I felt 85% totally and completely awful (hot, sweaty, tired, light headed, eyes stinging from the sweat and sunscreen combo dripping in them) and 15% divinely transported, as I always do while gardening.

I am not quite sure what brings on this gardening euphoria and I think at least part of it is the satisfaction of putting in work and getting tangible (and edible)results. On this particular day my gardening glee was due to the following:

1) My California poppies are starting to bloom. These were my favorite flower to see when I lived in Los Angeles and I find it so wonderful that I can grow them here. Plus

, they're orange.
2) All of the perennials around the sink (bee balm, purple coneflower, yarrow, chives etc.) look amazing.
3) The tomatoes look better than they ever have at this time during the year (knock on wood)
4) The cucumbers seem to be growing really fast and to have gotten over whatever was making some of the leaves have white spots.
5) Because I had run out of mulch a few weeks ago, I decided to buy a combination of hay and straw called Mainely Mulch. As soon as I started laying it out I thought it looked really pretty next to the dark mulch that I already had and it smelled incredible. It also made me really dirty which, in gardening, makes me really happy. The bag it comes in is a very full cube of hay which also provided an excellent seat for the breaks I had to take while working out there.

I finally made it back inside and slowly labored up the stairs to my apartment and then sat still for a very long time.

Yesterday I waited until after 6PM to get back out in the garden to water...deeply (today is another scorcher) and try out the Irish Spring to fight bunnies. I saw that fox urine was $18 at the farm which seemed V

ERY STEEP to me. I figured I'd try the soap and then move up from there if need be. The CVS knock off of Irish Spring was only 89 cents!

I wasn't sure what to do to apply the soap, but I took a knife and shaved off some pieces around the lettuce and chard. We'll see how it goes.
I'm just a little concerned about the fact that it has artificial fragrance and color. That can't be too good for the soil. It's just a little bit though so...hopefully it'll be ok...AND work!

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Articles last updated at Jul 29, 2010 17:13:21pm.
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