Dandelions
5/07/2008
I was driving home from work the other day and had to stop the car to take of picture of this guy's lawn. He must be the most hated person in the neighborhood but to you Mr. Dandelion Farmer, I say, you're awesome!
Now here's a guy who probably hasn't used a lawn chemical in years and that's a good thing in my book. Most of my neighbors are retirees with lawns so green that it looks like someone painted them. If a stray leaf should blow into their yard, they're outside within minutes to pick it up.
Crews come every week to cut, spray, feed and blow all the debris off their outdoor green carpets. Having a "perfect" lawn was something that's important to that generation but thankfully the tradition is fading away.
And because I don't want to be considered the lazy Joe on the block, I'm out there working hard to get my organic lawn to look pretty good. That's my goal, just pretty good. As long as it's green and cut nicely, I'm happy. Thankfully, I have tons of clover mixed in my lawn that covers the looking green criteria. And it holds up better to my kids food traffic too.
But this Dandelion Farmer guy doesn't mind being the lazy Joe on his block. And in fact, in my imagination, I see him as being proud of it. Maybe his entire basement is filled with wine making equipment and he's producing homemade dandelion wine by the barrel. And that's a lot more exciting that having a boring lawn.
Posted by Anthony 6:57 AM 4 comments
Labels: garden pictures
Growing Blueberries
5/01/2008
One of the best plant purchases that I've made in the past few years was buying these blueberry bushes. I've had berries every year since buying them except when I had to do an emergency transplant to their current location because of my pool renovation. And since then, they recovered nicely and are very productive once again.
And when blueberry plants flower up like this in the spring, that means that berries are on the way. Sure, we won't be eating them for a few months but just knowing that they're on the way is nice.
When the berries do arrive this summer, I plan on getting my share. My kids are notorious for swooping in and eating all the berries before anyone else gets any. I've found that the best solution to that problem is to plant more berries. My latest totals are 5 blueberry plants, 6 strawberry plants and the blackberries are 6 feet tall and 12 feet wide. I think I should be able to eat a berry or two this year. Wish me luck.
Posted by Anthony 7:10 AM 7 comments
Labels: berries
Gardening With Children
4/30/2008
Posted by Anthony 7:34 AM 3 comments
Labels: video
Raised Bed Gardening
4/28/2008
If you're thinking about building raised beds for your vegetable garden, definitely go for it. Plants do better in deep soil and as long as you don't walk in the beds, you'll also avoid soil compaction. Now what root wouldn't want to grow in nice loose, deep soil? If I was a root, I'd tell all my root friends, "Hey come on guys, nice deep, loose soil over here, let's go!"
But this weekend, I had my first bad experience with raised beds. You see there was a root invasion from trees that were pretty far away. The closest trees to my vegetable garden are at least 30 feet away but I guess that's just a short hop for tree roots. It's almost as if one of these roots said to all his buddies, "Hey come on guys, nice deep, loose soil over here, let's go!"
So on Sunday, I was planning on planting some more salad greens but wound up spending the afternoon digging and pulling roots out of my beds. I always wondered why Mel Bartholomew in the book Square Foot Gardening
Well, I was wrong about that. After pulling a few giant piles worth of roots out yesterday, I made an executive decision. Whenever I build a new bed, a bottom will be a mandatory feature. I don't think I'll use a sheet of plywood for the floor as suggested in the book, but at a minimum, I'll load the bottom up with landscape fabric. Usually, I'd layer newspapers to stop weeds and because I know they'll break down and feed those earthworms that I was talking about. But since I want to avoid future root invasions, I think I'll pass on the newspapers. Do they make landscape fabric out of steel?
Mr. Bartholomew, sir, I'm sorry about the Square Foot Craziness remark. You were right and I should have listened. It won't happen again.
Posted by Anthony 7:14 AM 9 comments
Labels: raised beds, vegetable garden
Growing Tomatoes
4/24/2008
Go, Tomatoes go! If you're going to start tomato seeds indoors, I really can't recommend the APS-24 Self Watering seed trays enough.
This year I didn't buy any new tomato seeds and just used leftovers from previous years which I keep in a box in the garage. And look at the germination that I get with these trays. 23 out of 24 have sprouted and I still have hope for that last guy.
You may think these sprouts are pretty small for April and you're right. I like to plant outside when all possible chances of frost are gone and that usually means June 1st. Our last frost date is mid May but I give it an extra two weeks just to be safe. I don't trust myself to get my plants covered in case of a late frost so that's why I like to wait until my rhododendrons flower before I move my tomatoes outside. So according to that schedule, these tiny seedlings are right on track.
This year's tomato selection:
- San Marzano
- Black Krim
- Brandywine
- Brandy Boy
- Little Mama
- Big Mama
- Supersteak
- Mortgage Lifter
I usually get my first tomatoes (and first tomato sandwich) sometime around the end of July and that's fine with me. Good luck with your tomatoes this year.
Posted by Anthony 7:00 AM 6 comments
Labels: seeds, tomatoes, vegetable garden
Earth Day 2008
4/22/2008
This year, to celebrate Earth Day, I ordered a big pile of Earth and had it dumped in my driveway.
What...? Isn't that what your supposed to do?
Posted by Anthony 7:14 AM 8 comments
Labels: mulch
Pea Sprouts
4/21/2008
Just in case you thought my Planting Peas video was nothing but a bunch of Hollywood special effects, I have a follow up to prove that my advanced pea planting technique is for real.
Nope, nothing but a real live pea sprout in this picture, no CGI, no wax models, no fancy artist rendition.
Just the peas, ma'am.
Posted by Anthony 6:57 AM 2 comments
Labels: vegetable garden
Chives
4/16/2008
And the winner of the first garden fresh food ready to get eaten in 2008 goes to chives. Tell him what he's won, Johnny.
As the grand prize winner, Chives, you'll receive a wonderful spa day which includes resting on a luxurious bed made of baked potato.
Oooooooohhhhh.
But that's not all. We're also going to slather you with the finest sour cream.
Aaaaahhhhhh.
Posted by Anthony 7:38 AM 4 comments
Labels: garden pictures, vegetable garden
Blue Potatoes
4/14/2008
The big mess that's in this picture is going to turn into a big bucket of blue potatoes. Last year, I picked up a pound of blue seed potatoes and planted them not expecting much. But at the end of the season, I had about 30 pounds of them. I like when a vegetable under promises and over delivers.
So I saved a few pounds worth and stored them in a cool, dark place all winter. When I planted them a few weeks ago, as you can see in the picture, they were already growing eyes all over the place.
Do you know what potatoes like? Compost. As the potato plants grew, I kept adding compost to the beds and was eventually rewarded with a big bed full of potatoes. Think I'll do the same this year.
Posted by Anthony 7:11 AM 10 comments
Labels: vegetable garden
