Gardeners 'To Do List': Nov

It gets colder and thus it is time to start planning for next year
This is the time to be picking the last of your harvest before snow hits. While racking up leaves is probably consuming your free time, now is the time to put your gardens to bed... If you have been freezing/canning/dehydrating then now is your time to shine. Time to make pies, start us the jars of jam, and heating up soup mixes.

I am preparing my garden beds for next year by:

• tilling garden beds
• fixing and setting up new garden beds
• emptying my compost bins to store leaves I am raking up
• mixing compost into the garden beds
• propagating my strawberry/raspberry plants to other areas
• trimming trees and shrubs (1/3 rule)
• storing my rain barrels
• cleaning gutters one last time.
• cleaning out the shed and checking the snow blower
• writing blogs to post next year :)

Time to harvest and eat:

• Kale
• Broccoli

Sow seeds into the soil:

• indoor herb garden.

You still have extra time and want to do more. (where are you getting this free time???)

• Go to a winter farmers market
• Plan for next years crop
• Read a gardening book
• Start building hot boxes
• Start building potato boxes
• Sharpen your gardening tools
• What about adding a automated drip irrigation system?

Gardeners 'To Do List': Oct

You should be seeing frost soon. Time to prep your garden for winter.

Harvest what is left. Dehydrate what you can't eat right away. I always have extra mint I need to dry out. Start mulching leafs and packing away the rain barrels for winter. Time to plant your garlic for next years harvest. Extra bonus points if you keep a green house going through the winter, as now is your time for winter setup and planing seed starting.

Time to harvest and eat:

• Green Tomato
• Peppers
• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Beats
• Broccoli
• Spinach
• Carrots
• Spinach
• Celery

Sow seeds into the soil:

• Garlic

You still have extra time and want to do more. (where are you getting this free time???)

• How about adding more mulch to your garden beds? You should be racking leaves right now.
• How about a hugelkultur garden bed?
• Water your plants with city water?

Gardeners 'To Do List': Sept

Lots of rain so far. While planting seeds has stopped, harvesting is going to be a full time job this week.

Finally all your hard work has paid off, but not what are you going to do with all this food? Might I suggest you read my post on "Storing Your Extra Food"  Personally I like to dehydrate because to the low energy needed and the long term storage potential.

Time to harvest and eat:

• Lettuce
• Cauliflower
• Sweet Potato
• Tomato
• Eggplants
• Pepper
• Winter Squash
• Summer Squash
• Potatos
• Cucumber
• Melons
• Corn
• Beans

Transplant into the soil (from your starting seeds or bought from a garden store):

• Done for season

Sow seeds into the soil:

• Done for season

Start seeds in doors:

•   Done for season

You still have extra time and want to do more. (where are you getting this free time???)

• How about adding more mulch to your garden beds to help retain moister and prevent weeds?
• How about a hugelkultur garden bed?
• What about adding a automated drip irrigation system?
• How about creating a small green house?

Gardeners 'To Do List': Aug

It is still hot. While you might not be harvesting this month, remember that tomato season is just around the corner. 

Still hoping for rain. In the mean time you should get organized for planting seeds and being ready to harvest tomatoes next month...unless you like fried green tomatoes.

Time to harvest and eat:

• Onions

Transplant into the soil (from your starting seeds or bought from a garden store):

• Cauliflower

Sow seeds into the soil:

• Lettuce
• Kale
• Spinach
• Broccoli
• Beets 
• Carrots

Start seeds in doors:
     None this month




You still have extra time and want to do more.

• How about making plans for better garden water retention for next year?
• More mulch
• More shade
• Hugelkultur garden bed?
• Garden water swales.
• Water your plants with city water? How about removing the chlorine through overnight evaporation?

Gardeners 'To Do List': July

It is hot. Good time to relax by water your garden, and leaving digging for another month.

Hope you enjoyed the 4th! but get back work and check your plants if they need watering  :-)

Time to harvest and eat:

• Lettuce
• Carrots
• Spinach
• Cabbage

Transplant into the soil (from your starting seeds or bought from a garden store):

• Tomato
• Eggplants
• Peppers

Sow seeds into the soil:

• Lettuce

Start seeds in doors:

•  Cauliflower

You still have extra time and want to do more. (where are you getting this free time???)

• How about adding more mulch to your garden beds to help retain moister and prevent weeds?
• How about a hugelkultur garden bed?
• Water your plants with city water? How about removing the chlorine through overnight evaporation?
• What about adding a automated drip irrigation system?

Gardeners 'To Do List': June

June bugs aren't the only bugs that are bugging me...

Well, the mosquito are back. The weather maybe hot, but time to get planting and maybe do some eating.

On the plus side the longest day of the year (June Solstice) is on Wednesday, June 20, 2012. Sunrise at 5:12am to sunset at 8:34pm, that is about 15 hours and 22 minutes of sunshine.

Time to harvest and eat:

• lettuce
• carrots
• beets
• spinach
• broccoli 

Transplant into the soil (from your starting seeds or bought from a garden store):

• Tomato
• Eggplants
• Peppers

Sow seeds into the soil:

• Potatoes
• Winter/Summer Squash
• Carrots
• Cucumbers
• Beans

Start seeds in doors:

•  Cabbage

You still have extra time and want to do more. (where are you getting this free time???)

• How about adding more mulch to your garden beds to help retain moister and prevent weeds?
• Have your turned you compost pile lately?
• What about adding a automated drip irrigation system?

Gardeners 'To Do List': May

April showers bring may flowers...

Well, we didn't have a month of rain. However non-soggy soil is a great time to add compost to the soil, transplant, and sow seeds into the garden.

Transplant into the soil (from your starting seeds or bought from a garden store):

• Tomatoes
• Eggplants
• Peppers

Sow seeds into the soil:

• lettuce
• Spinach

Start seeds in doors:

• Brussels Sprouts
• Melons

What's that... you still have extra time and want to do more.

Well how about installing rain barrels?
How about adding more mulch to your garden beds to help retain moister and prevent weeds?
Or starting a compost pile?

Starting Seeds: Hardening off plants

Time to toughen you up, for the real world.

I have potted up my seedlings. What else can I do before planting them in the garden? My little plants are still fragile. Growing in the protection my house with no wind, no heavy rain, no cold temps, and not baking under the full sun light. To prevent transplant shock and allow these plants to thrive I need to start transitioning them to the real world.

Why harden your plants?
Mainly to prevent the dreaded transplant shock. The effects of transplant shock include slow growth, reduce/prevent fruiting, product bad/rotten fruit, make the plant to susceptible to disease, or kill the plant.

When to harden your plants?
3-14 days before planting directly into soil. This is mainly advised when you have a environment outside then where the seeds are grown. This includes if the seeds where grown inside and it is still cold outside.

How to harden your plants?
Let the plants say out side in some shade/partial sunny area. Eventially you will slowly put the plants into areas of more and more direct sun light. Setting the plants outside to allow the plants to transition to a colder temperature. be cautions of weather under 50 degrees, heavy rains, or high winds. This is to protect seedling's stems from strain and the roots from shock.



Resources :

http://www.growit.umd.edu/SeedStarting/Hardening.cfm

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/914/#b

http://gardening.about.com/od/gardenprimer/ss/SeedStarting_10.htm

http://richmondfoodcollective.blogspot.com/2012/03/seed-starting-and-hardening-off-for.html

http://chiotsrun.com/2010/05/19/seed-starting-101-hardening-off/

Starting Seeds: Cubes

It's Soil, in 3D...

In one of my previous blogs is mentioned the soil cube. Normally don't buy 'new innovate garden tools' as they are more marketing then quality. After some research, I bought one. I still think it is a great item for starting seeds and will still use it, but maybe not a convenient as soil pellets. Here is what I learned.

The Marketing:

• Save Money! The soil cube system is less expensive.  It serves as both a container and the soil for starting and growing seedlings, eliminating the need for plastic pots and trays for transplanted seedlings
• Seedlings grown in soil cubes form stronger root systems than those grown in containers due to increased oxygen to the roots and the soil cube's natural tendency to"air-prune" roots. This creates a substantial advantage when seedlings are transplanted into the field, because plants establish themselves more quickly and, because of lessened root disruption, they are less prone to transplant shock.

Actual Pros:

• Plants don't have transplant shock
• Plants (after being transplanted) grow faster, have less issue
• No root issues, like root balling.
• less seed starting issues when they sprout
• very cheep to do a lot of seed starting

Actual Cons:

• little more work get soil ready to plant seeds
• little more messy to make cubes
• harder to keep moist (might do better with self water system...)
• if you water too much the cube become a puddle of mud

Summary:
Will I use this again? Yes.
It might be a little more dirtier and little more hime to make the cubes. The plants do so much better in the long term. Tomato plants last year did better then direct sow or seed tray methods. My only real worry is watering the cubes. Too little water and the seeds won't grow. Too much water and the cube falls apart. Then again, it might be good for beginner gardeners to teach how much water seeds need.

Future improvements: self watering would be great.



soil cube

Episode 600 interview with soil cube creator clayton jacobs

Starting Seeds: Trying Something New

Just guy with another project and another experiment...

I happen to have a southern facing window and thought I would try to get some seeds started. For now it is just lettuce, tomatoes, and cabbage. I am excited to see if the Self Watering Trays will work, as I am horrible at remembering to water my plants. I will post more updates and pictures to see works the best.

Here are following items I will be trying for starting seeds:

1. Soil Cube
2. Self Watering Tray
3. Grow Soil Pellets
4. Traditional Seed Trays

I am adding some as additional light to prevent legging/spindling. Plants need 14hrs of sun to get started (16hrs to flower and fruit). In Milwaukee we get 12hr in February and March, so I am going to add a little grow light on a timer that will add 2hrs of light. For more photos of this project click here

I always recommend you review common mistakes before you plan your seed starting approach.

TSP Gardening Advice

Learning from the mistakes of other...

Thinking about getting head of the garden game by starting seeds? Then this podcast might be for you. I would skip the 1st five minutes of advertising and the last 5min of personal rant. But great content about starting seeds and common issues.

TSP EPISODE-831- SEED STARTING PRIMER FOR 2012

• Understanding how seeds germinate in the wild
• Starting seeds: Cubes vs. Pots vs. Paper vs. peat
• Why starting indoors is a good idea
• Light and not all light is equal
• Building a simple grow light
• Mist watering and watering from the bottom
• Creating constant temperatures
• Culling and “pricking out”
• Starting seeds in pots that are generally considered “direct sow”
• Seeds that should almost always be direct sowed
• Hardening off seeds
• Potting up the why and how
• Holding back in ground planting until you are sure
• Mulch is your friend

Starting Seeds: Scheduling

A garden man with a plan

I know it just snowed just last week, but know is the time to plan what you are going to be growing. Your local hardware and garden stores know it is time, and they already have seeds ready to sell. Maybe you just need to plan what and where you are planting. maybe it it time to get some seeds started. Maybe you are going to start buying supplies for that green house.

First some basic (Zone 5):

Average Last Freeze: May 30th

Average First Freeze: Oct 1st

Schedule for seed starting/planting (Zone 5):

Starting Seeds:

Remember that if you are starting seeds you need to think about extra light, extra heat, extra water. Those poor little seeds need constant attention to get started.

Planting Seeds/Plants:

I would keep an eye on the weather. A frost or night temps at 32F could kill your plant or stunt its growth where you won't get any fruit that year.  You might what to look at a cold frame or hot box. I am going wait till May 20th for my hot box, and June 10th for regular planting.

References:

www.veggieharvest.com

www.squidoo.com