It's The MOTHERF#@&ING Birds!!!

Although he is an accessory to the crimes (seen yesterday eating pieces of tomatoes), it is apparent the main culprit of the tomato killings is not Mr. Squirrel. The bandits are from above. And here is how I know:

Assuming that Mr. Squirrel was causing the problems, I erected 3 ft. high fencing around the plants. This prevented the furry rodent from climbing into the pots and grabbing the tomatoes. But this afternoon I walked out to the garden to see two birds fly out of the patio tomato plant. Sure enough the red tomatoes, untouched this morning, were damaged and clearly done so by a bird beak.After screaming in anger, frustration, and sadness, I rushed back to Home Depot to finish the protective fortress I started yesterday.

Upon my return, I wrapped the tops of the plants with a plastic mesh designed to keep birds away. With plastic ties, I secured the mesh to the plastic fencing and (hopefully) created a barrier between bird and tomato.My security plans do not end there. A good fortress needs a good guard.

Meet Oswald. His wicked stare could give anyone the heebeejeebees. Let's just hope the birds buy into the fact he guards those tomatoes with his life and is willing to take theirs' to do so.

His permanent replacement is almost ready to stand guard....but you'll meet him later.

One more thing: Don't think this crime went unpunished. I returned the favor by destroying the bird nest in our front gutter. Don't mess with the gardener or you'll get the hose.

Batten Down The Hatchs !!

Yeah, yeah... you're telling yourself, "Hatches is spelled wrong, dummy." In this case, I intended to not spell it with an 'e'. When I write, 'Hatchs', I mean hatch chiles. And authentic hatch chiles can only be found in one place: Hatch, New Mexico. Brought from South America, chiles evolved around the turn of the 20th century when New Mexican ranchers and horticulturists interbreeded different pods to create a heartier and tastier chile. They're used for many things and in many recipes. Green chile stew is my favorite.

Enough with the english and history lesson.

With the plants growing to full size and fruit forming on branches, Mother Nature and gravity will start taking a greater toll on the plants. I've found pepper plants need the most help in supporting their own weight.

When I first potted the plants, I inserted long stakes for support. This allowed the roots to grow around the stakes rather than the shock of jamming stakes into mature root systems later on. Now that the plants have grown, this weekend was my chance to utilize that support.

I use twine to wrap the stalks and large limbs to the stakes. It's pretty simple to do. I prefer to use a figure-8 method. Just wrap the twine around the stalk, cross it, wrap around the stake, and tie a knot. I think it provides good support but won't strangle the plant to the stake. It also allows room for the stem to grow bigger.

It's not plastic surgery, folks, but it does a pretty darn good job of keeping things from sagging.

Pick Your Fairy Tale Reference For This One

I guess I could get cutesy with something from "Jack and the Beanstalk" or "The Princess and the Pea." But forget it...I'm not feeling so Hans Christian Andersen-inspired tonight. It's pouring rain outside...again....and I rushed out to cover my New Mexico chile plants. They're struggling to grow because of over-watering (on my part..not Mother Nature). And for my efforts, I'm pretty soaked.

But I can feel good in knowing my sugar peas are doing wonders over in the back corner of the garden. I started them from seed, or pea, and quickly they have ascended upwards, grasping on to my A-frame trellis.

What's the fairy tale secret? Well, it could be this magic potion suggested to me at the garden center. In the botanical world it's known as garden inoculant. It contains stuff that I could not begin to spell or pronounce. Simply, it's a bacteria that gathers nitrogen. And we all know that nitrogen is a good ally in our garden kingdom.

I followed the instructions and soaked the seeds in inoculent and water before planting them in my pots. The inoculant helps fertilize the soil and promote better growth and yield.
Well, after a month or so, I can safely report the plants are quickly shooting for the sky and grasping onto anything they can. That is why I built the A-frame trellis. One close look shows you how the vines wrap tightly onto anything for support. The trellis so far has done the trick, but last week I had to add an attachment for the plants not close enough to grab onto the original frame (It's also smart to sometimes gently "guide" the vines to wrap onto the support). Within a day or two, the new piece was swallowed up in vines, stalks, and leaves. I'm betting by this weekend, the pea stalks will reach the top of the A-frame.
I haven't seen any pods.But when I do, odds are it will be underneath the trellis. The vines start producing mature peas at the bottom first. So I'll keep my eyes "pea"-led for some in the next week (sorry).

Vacation's Over. Time to Get to Work.

The Garden: April 19th

Less than 12 hours back from our wonderful vacation to Italy, I was on my way to Merrifield to buy some plants and get with the planting program. My eyes are always bigger than the space in the backyard so I had to contain myself while I ran up and down the herb/veggie aisles like a kid running through Toys R Us.

My first task was picking out tomatoes. I knew I wanted to grow four varieties. After last year's huge success, I wanted another patio tomato plant. The plant grows bushy rather than tall and thus makes it nice for a small growing space. I picked out a big boy variety tomato and a supersweet 100 tomato breed. The supersweet is a small variety that resembles a cherry tomato. I think this would be great for salads and caprese. The fourth tomato I want is an heirloom tomato. Heirloom tomatoes are very oddly shaped but very delicious. I couldn't find any heirloom plants, so I'll keep looking throughout the week. The garden center gets shipments almost daily.

After the tomato draft, I grabbed my standard herb varieties. Sage, oregano, rosemary, and basil all made it into the shopping cart. Before I knew it, I was elbow deep in potting mix and planning the layout for the garden.

Get the plant deep into the pot...

A good tip for planting your tomato plants: bury them!!! When you set it in the pot or ground, you want to stick it deep in the ground so the roots will be further down. Deeper roots makes it easier for the plant to find water and nutrients in the ground. I bury almost half the plant under ground. Don't worry if you cover some of the young branches. They'll find their way back to the top.

...and then fill the potting mix halfway up the stem

I also planted a jalapeno plant. I include two stakes in the pot to help support the plant when it gets large and begins to bear fruit. Adding stakes/support when you FIRST plant is key. Once the plant gets too big and has no support, it is too late to try and add a stake. Trying to jam the stake into the soil through the roots is not easy and harmful to the plant. So have a little forethought and put the stakes in early. As the plant gets bigger, you can tie it to the stakes.Thank goodness we got all the backyard work done on Sunday because the skies have opened up today. Perfect timing for rain if you ask me.

Check Out The Legs On That One!!!

Cilantro Seedlings

A couple posts ago I mentioned a problem I was having with my new sprouts called "legging". Legging occurs when the newly sprouted plants do not get a proper amount of sunlight. The sprouts are so desperate for light, they grow very long stems trying to reach for sunlight. Everyday for the first week, the sprouts would actually lean towards the window.

Legging is bad because the plants use all their effort to grow up rather than begin a strong root foundation. Also, the long, thin frame leaves it succeptable to the outside wind and cool temperatures.

I had to go a couple routes to help alleviate this problem. Since we've had a lot of rainy days, I needed to find a way to provide artificial sunlight. I ran over to the local garden center and bought a 150-watt grow light. On cloudy, cool days I leave the plants inside and turn on the grow light for 8 hours. This process helped in stopping the plants from continuing to leg. At least now they can begin to strengthen their roots and stalks.

In The Second Week, Jeremy Created Light

My second route was to actually plant some of the sprouts in their permanent summer homes. The acorn squash seedlings had become quite leggy but had good leaf structure. Knowing that we had passed our last freeze, I planted the squash in a pot I planted cucumbers last year. But when I planted them, I buried the sprouts almost to the leaves. The plants were not strong enough to handle winds and hard rain. By burying the plants so deep, the soil provided support. But as you may see in the picture below, some of the stalks still could not handle the stress and broke off. This is not a bad thing in that surviving stalks now have more room to grow and spread. Kind of like the garden's version of natural selection. 

Planted Acorn Squash

I also read another option to alleviate legging is fanning the plants with paper or other objects. This simulates wind and tells the plant it needs to strengthen itself in order to survive the environment. To me, this sounds like you'd have to do a lot of fanning. So my advice is to get the plants as much natural sunlight and warm temps as possible. And if you can't, buy the light.

Let's also update the status on all our crops. I can say as of this past weekend, ALL of our seed varieties have germinated. Some better than others. 

The Outside Crops

All the root veggies have begun popping up. The rutabagas came up first followed by the onions and carrots. The salad mix lettuce has also made its appearance. Last year's peppermint is still rising from its winter death bed and the strawberry plants are all coming back to life. The chives plant is a huge weed (which is awesome for mashed potatoes).

The Sugar Peas Are Reaching For The Trellis

I'm very impressed with the way the dwarf sugar peas have sprouted. I fully expect within the next week or two the sprouts will have reached the base of the trellis and will quickly head to the top. They have been the fastest growers.

The Inside Crops

With the legging problem under control, I'm feeling good about the inside guys, too. The cilantro has begun making leaves with that signature rigid look. The chamomile and thyme haven't done much since first sprouting. The lavender has one stalk that looks healthy with large leaves. The rosemary is the runt of the family. But my focus is on the New Mexico chile varieties. They both germinated a little earlier than I expected, but they look really good at this point. I have my fingers crossed.

Because we are going on vacation for a week and a half, the inside crops will be under the kind care of a coworker in the bureau. They are in my boss's office in front of a large west-facing window. So let's hope for some long and sunny afternoons!!!

All-in-all, we're looking pretty good. Once we get back from our trip, it will be time to get the other veggie plants into the pots and on their way to producing great eats.

"The Distinguished Gentlemen from Colorado requests an earmark..."

One Stop at Home Depot Yielded This

I'm wondering if all this money being handed out by Capitol Hill for infrastructure could maybe trickle down to the backyard on Jersey Dr.? Heck, most of the republican governors around the country have been turning down their stimulus package funds. Why I can't I take a little from Sarah Palin's rejected handout to help build my fiefdom's infrastructure?

In all seriousness, I've quickly discovered that the hardware of a garden can quickly add up in price. Just this weekend, I dropped a pretty penny on more pots, potting mix, and supplies to build support trellises for a couple of our new crops. I'm beginning to wonder if growing a home garden is actually a cost-cutting move for our food budget. I'm guessing over a long period of time it does, but it certainly doesn't feel that way after you sign the dotted line at the garden center.

I have found one good tip in building your garden's infrastructure: DO NOT buy pots, planters, trellises, etc. from garden centers. The prices at these centers are typically very high. I make it a point to buy these things at Home Depot. They're usually a third of the price of comparable pots at garden centers. You also can save money by purchasing pots made out of plastic rather than clay or ceramic. My experience says the cheaper pots work just as well as their earthy counterparts. Plus, they're much lighter, making them easier to move around.

One of my new crops will be snap peas. Peas are vine plants that need something to cling onto and grow. This required me to build something for them to do this. So in my visit to the HD, I picked up some lumber and constructed an "A" frame trellis. I'm not the master craftsman, but I was able to saw, hammer, and staple my way through it. I used some leftover plastic mesh from last year's strawberry cage to give the plants something to grasp onto. I planted the peas in long pots and positioned them underneath the A-frame.

I wish I could say I'm done with the '09 building plans. But I know myself too well.

Sowing The Seeds

The Herb/Flower/Squash Beginnings

Despite a weekend of non-stop drizzle and cool temperatures, the time was now to get cracking on the crops I'm growing from seed. I want to give the seeds 4-6 weeks of germination before I transition them to bigger pots outside after the season's last frost. I took out the supplies I bought two weeks ago and first planted the cool season crops in their permanent pots. The finger carrots, rutabagas, Lisbon onions, and lettuce were the first to get put in potting mix. I chose long planter bins in order to simulate rows. I simply added potting mix, spread the seed, and covered the seeds with more potting mix at a desired depth per directions from each of the veggies' seed packets. I positioned the pots in a part of the backyard getting most of the sun. If you notice in the pic below, I still have the strawberry, peppermint, and chives plants from last year. Strawberries are perennial while the chives plant has quickly re-emerged. I was about to throw the peppermint plant away, but I saw green sprouts emerging from the soil. I figured I might as well keep it. As for the salad mix lettuce, I planted it in the round elevated pot I used for last year's cantaloupe. No special reason....it just looks like a salad bowl.

From L-R: Strawberries, Peppermint, Lisbon onions, Rutabagas (2 pots), Finger Carrots, Chives (back left), Salad Mix Lettuce (back right)

Once I finished with the outdoor seeds, I prepped my tray and starters for the herbs and acorn squash. I plan on keeping these cups inside at night and cool days. If the weather is nice and sunny, I'll probably stick them outside during daylight hours. As you can see, I have six seed cups for the inside. A seventh cup, dill, I'm leaving outside. The seed packet noted dill seeds must sit on the surface of the soil in full sunlight in order to start germinating. It does no good to have those seeds inside away from the sunlight. I'm very eager to see how the rosemary and acorn squash seeds develop. Rosemary is my favorite herb and I don't think my plant from last year will recover from the winter cold. As for the acorn squash, I won't be able to move that outside until late April or early May. So I figure I have a good month and a half to get the seeds to germinate before I can safely pot them outside.

Instructions Said to Plant 6-8 Acorn Squash Seeds Per Mound

Aside from the sowing this weekend, I've been mapping my layout for the garden. It will be much bigger and I'll have to put some plants on the other side of the walkway. But one lesson I learned from last year was accessibility to the plants. Once the plants grew to full size, it was very difficult to prune, water, and harvest because they were bunched together. This year, I need to make sure I have paths to walk between the plants. I also need to take into consideration which plants will want to spread out and cling onto things. Those may be better suited for the edges of the yard near the landscaping and fence.

It's March and Snowing!!! Perfect Gardening Weather.

Yesterday I made my first expensi.... errrr... extensive visit to the garden center. It's that time of year to start thinking, planning, and even planting for Garden '09.

For X-mas, I got several pouches of seeds for root and leaf veggies (Thanks, Mother Mason). Little finger carrots, rutabagas, salad mix lettuce, and white Lisbon onions are all new additions to the garden line-up. They also are all cool season growers. It's recommended they be planted in early spring as soon as the soil can be worked. Well, since we grow everything in pots, that's pretty much whenever we choose.

So yesterday I went to Merrifield Garden Center and bought the infrastructure to begin sowing the seeds. I bought a couple long rectangular planter for the carrots, onions, and rutabagas. This is to simulate rows. I also bought three bags of potting mix, 7 small cups to start seeds, a tray to catch water from the cups, and a pouch of acorn squash seeds. Emily and I love acorn squash and since I never saw acorn squash plants last year, I figure I need to grow them from seed. I also bought some fertilizer for the lawn. But I could create a whole new blog just on taking care of lawns.

Remember, if you plan on growing things in pots, YOU MUST USE POTTING MIX. Garden soil will not work as well.

Of course this morning we woke up to a light blanket of snow on the ground. So I'll have to hold off planting the root veggies outside for another weekend. Not that they couldn't handle the weather. I just don't want to be outside in the snow dealing with potting mix and wet ground.

It also appears I won't have to worry about planting chives again. The '08 plant is thriving right now. The sun is shifting back north and providing sun for a couple hours in the backyard. By moving the chive plant into that sun area has given it new life to photosynthesize. I also fed it a couple weeks ago. So now it has the nutrients to get going. Chive mashed potatoes will soon be making their appearance back on the dinner table!!!

About Our Garden...

The Garden June 30th, 2008

The Garden May 27th, 2008

Because our backyard is not very big and completely landscaped when we moved in, I had to resort to planting all of our garden in pots....very large pots for vegetables and fruits; and small pots for the herbs. Not only does it save in space, but I can move the plants around the backyard to maximize sunlight exposure. Last year I started fairly small; a couple tomato plants, two bell pepper plants, yellow squash, and basil. We had a very dry summer which greatly hampered the tomato and bell pepper plants. But the basil and squash did great....as long as I watered the heck out of them.

So this year, I went bigger. Bigger in the size of the garden and the pots I put it in. I also used exclusively potting mix from Merrifield Garden Center rather than any organic soil or dirt. When using pots, ALWAYS use potting mix. Potting mix is best for containers as it's lighter, doesn't compact as soil does, drains better, and allows more air to get to the roots. I also made sure there were enough holes in the bottom of the pots for proper drainage.

The list of things I planted is to the right. I was really curious to see if I could grow okra and cantaloupe. So far so good. We've received a lot of rain this year along with some constant warm temps. I planted much of the garden in late-April and things really took off around the first of June. I've maintained a watering schedule of every-other day. Also, I "feed" the garden every two weeks. Food for food? That's right. The plants need a lot of nutrients aside from the H2O and sunlight. Nitrogen and Phosphorous are the biggies (I'll explain some other time). I found that Miracle-Gro tomato food has been great the two years I've used the product.
Hopefully this gives you a quick introduction to the "Left Thumbs" garden. As time goes on, I'll "dig" deeper into particular plants and how I take care of them.