Some helpful garden videos

http://www.territorialseed.com/video_index

from territorial seeds click the link above

I just watched the hour talk at OSU, on varieties of vegetables and how to start them. Really good for our area

some highlights are

*plant root crops loose soil, only compost, don't fertilize (alien looking carrots are from fertilizing)

*when a season is coming to an end and your tomatoes or peppers are not ripe yet, stop watering so they kick into ripening

*the summer solstice determines the size of your onion bulb, so start your onions early

*beans if it starts to rain and your beans haven't dried completely yet pull the plant up and put in a dry place so they can finish drying out

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/t-video.aspx

from johnny seeds click the link above

You can check out from the public library lots of books and dvd's on gardening

Jerry Baker, and Rebecca's garden are a few dvd's you can check out

as well as a good OSU talk on composting

Of course there are u-tube videos on gardening and other sites.

Johnny seeds has a seed starting and plant starting chart, you just type in your zip code

and territorial seeds has a good planting chart.

I'm excited for this years garden aren't you?

Starting seeds

http://www.cooksgarden.com/gygg/content.jsp?contentId=Zone8

The link above is for our zone and has recommendations for now.

From Cooks Garden Seed Starting Basics December 01, 2010 Winter is a fun time of year for gardeners. We get to browse seed catalogs and web sites and dream of bountiful gardens with never a thought for inconvenient truths like digging or weeding. But before you actually start buying seeds, take time out for a reality check – especially if you are a new gardener. Do you know how much sun your garden will receive through the growing season? Most vegetables and many ornamental flowering plants need at least six hours of full sun daily. Now consider the growing requirements of those seeds you’re contemplating – just how big is your garden, and how much room will those seeds require when they grow into mature plants? Keeping these realities in mind as you decide which seed varieties to buy will help ensure a successful harvest later. Growing from seed not only gives you a much larger selection of vegetables and flowers to choose from – including unusual varieties you’re unlikely to find at a garden center – it also lets you get a jump on the growing season by starting many plants indoors. Generally speaking, annual flowers and vegetables are the easiest to grow, and their seeds germinate quickly. When to start seeds indoors is a little tricky: Check seed packets for “days to germinate” and how many weeks growth each variety of seedling needs before being transplanted to the garden, then count backwards from your area’s last frost date. (If you don’t know that date, call your extension service or ask a local nursery.) You don’t want to start too early, or your seedlings may grow weak and leggy. To get growing, you’ll need peat pots, pellets, plastic flats, egg cartons with holes poked in the bottom, or other shallow containers with good drainage; growing medium (a special soil-less mix for seeds is best); a plastic humidity cover or plastic bag; plus water, fertilizer, labels, warmth and light. If you re-use plastic pots or flats, make sure they are thoroughly clean – a couple of minutes in the microwave should sterilize them – before filling them with moistened mix to within ½-inch of top. Or use peat pellets, which expand when moistened and can be transplanted intact, without disturbing delicate roots. Whatever containers you use, place them in a waterproof tray so you can add water from the bottom, so seeds aren’t disturbed. Keep the mix damp, but not soggy. Plant seeds according to packet directions – generally, two or three times as deep as the seed’s diameter. Seeds that need light to germinate should barely be covered. Label each container with the plant name and variety, and date of sowing, then cover it with a humidity dome or place it in a plastic bag until seeds germinate – but allow for air circulation by not sealing the bag. Bottom warmth (75 to 85 degrees F) helps seeds germinate, so set trays on an electric heat mat, or atop a refrigerator or radiator. Once seeds germinate, they need light. A sunroom or windowsill that gets lots of natural light (with daytime temperatures of 60 to 70 degrees F) might work, but most gardeners will need to put their seedlings under fluorescent or full-spectrum lights for 12 to 16 hours a day. Inexpensive “shop lights” will work fine. Position the lights immediately above the seedlings, and adjust upwards as the plants grow. When plants have two sets of true leaves, add half-strength liquid fertilizer such as fish emulsion to the watering tray once a week. Some seedlings may have to be transplanted into larger pots to give them room to grow and develop their root systems. Use the same procedure and mix as for seeds. Handle the baby plants gently by their leaves, not stems or roots, and try to keep the tiny rootballs intact as you move plants to their new pots. Poke a hole in the moistened mix with your finger, place seedlings in the hole, and gently firm mix to eradicate air pockets. Water and fertilize as before, and provide plenty of light and gentle air circulation. Your young plants need to be hardened-off before you can transplant them into the outdoor garden. That means gradually adjusting them to the outdoors by setting them out in a sheltered, shady spot for a few hours a day. Each day, increase the time and the light exposure. Keep them watered, as small pots will dry out quickly outdoors. After a week to 10 days, plants should be ready to be transplanted into the garden – though you may still want to cover them with sheets of newspaper at night if temperatures are particularly cool.

A lovely day in the garden

After watering the seed starts I cleaned out the leek bed.

Then filled the two large trash cans with bleach and water to sterilize garden pots.

Filled the 103 gallon galvanize water trough with water.

raked some leaves and debris in piles.

Then cleaned the leeks I picked and sliced them up covered with water and heated up to make potato leek soup.

Then mixed some kelp mulch and rock phosphate together to use on plants later on.

N-P-K what does this mean?

When you look on a fertilizer package the three numbers listed are

N is Nitrogen for greening of plants

P is Phosphorous for the roots of the plants

K is Potassium to fight against disease, drought and cold tolerance of the plant

So when you see the numbers on the bag

1-3-2

would be 1 part Nitrogen, 3 parts Phosphorus, 2 parts Potassium

some numbers are different according on what you buy.

Different plants will have different needs, of these 3.

So the next time you see those numbers you will know what it's about.

I recently bought 4lbs of kelp meal with the number 1-0-2 so that would be for plant growth

and 5lbs Rock Phosphate 0-3-0 for root growth.

Then mixed them together so I have a fertilizer for plant and root growth.

Finishing up a project I started earlier

Putting silica gel packets in jars with seed

to keep the seed dry when putting them in the refrigerator

the silica gel packets are made with 2 tablespoons of silica gel in a tea bag

Stapled the bag and put a label on it, so no one things it's tea

You can find silica gel in the flora area of a craft store.

It's used to dry flowers

Baby it's cold outside

Not raining, windy, clear skies, and 39 degrees, I'm bringing the citrus in from the greenhouse and putting it in the back hall.

Eric is warming his shoes up to go outside.

I straightened the great room and now having breakfast by the fire.

Terry wasn't able to make it yesterday to fix the garbage disposal, he had truck trouble but he said he will come out this afternoon.

I put some red potatoes, yellow potatoes and some sweet potatoes each in their own paper bags, with an apple in it. The put a rubber band to close the bag and sat the bags in the great room where it's warm and dry. I'm trying to force sprouts, this will take a couple of weeks. Once sprouted I will plant them in the potato bins.

The dishes and laundry are going, I sprayed the top of the stove top with oven cleaner. It's sticky from making marmalade. I'll clean it up after awhile, the grates are soaking in hot soapy sink.

Not wasting time when tomorrow will be the most productive day

It's Friday and all the supplies need to be here to work on Saturdays project rain or shine.

When I was at Winco I bought a Mothers Earth News Magazine

There was a great article on A better way to Fertilize your garden

So I went to Coast to Coast Farm store to get amendments for making seed starter mix, and fertilizers and other garden needs. If you go to a farm store you can buy in bulk and save some money.

To top seeds after planting:

Chicken grit

For making planting starter Mix:

Peat Moss (found at Home Depot)

Vermiculite

For greening up plants:

Epson Salts

For Making fertilizer: Recommended from the article I read

Bone Meal

Agricultural lime

Dolomite lime

Gypsum lime

Soybean Meal

I need to find Kelp Meal in large quantity or Rock Dust

and steer manure

and a rapid water heater to heat the container tank water

Now that we have most all the amendments and fertilizers we can mix and match them as needed.

Organic Fertilizer Recipe

4 parts soybean meal

1/4 part agricultural lime

1/4 part gypsum

1/2 part dolomitic lime

Plus

1 part bone meal

1/2 to 1 part kelp meal or basalt dust

The article goes on to say what plants require how much fertilizer is needed based on low, medium and high demand vegetables.

Getting things ready despite the snow today

It's snowing here this morning lightly

But this isn't snow your seeing on the raised bed it's Epsom salt

The rhubarb is beginning peak it's head out

This is our new cleaning station for cleaning our containers and sterilizing them

The galvanize tub will be where we wash the pots

The garbage cans have 4 gallons of bleach each, then topped off with water for sterilizing the pots

The pots will soak for 10 minutes and then taken out to air dry before planting.

Eric is going to see if he can find a bucket heater for warming the water for washing the pots at a farm store

We needed the galvanized container to be large enough to clean a flow tray

I cleaned the greenhouse yesterday and planted peas, the citrus seedlings are in here so I put the little heater in the greenhouse to keep it warm at night,

we may have a large electric bill this month.

The new greenhouse plastic tarp is keeping the roof from leaking.

We do have condensation but all greenhouses do.

I have some more things to plant today.

You can plant potatoes now.

Organic gardening

I was watching a DVD by Jerry Baker and he has some weird tonics and ideas about gardening, but they work. I've tired some of them.

One of the ideas is to save the middle of disposable diapers that have been tinkled on and place in the hole before planting your tomatoes.

Well this is on idea I haven't tried but now that I have a source I may try this one.

Other ideas are beer for slugs

Strange combos of cola, beer, mouth wash and chewing tobacco to rejuvenate your soil. I have tried and it does work.

You can check out the DVD's at your local public library.

Progress

Eric and I set up the water trough behind the greenhouse. We decided that we only need two blocks high instead of three for stability. So we were able to make 4 rows of 2 blocks high and that gives really good support for the water trough.

Eric crawled under the house tonight to turn the water on to the garden. Now I can water the plants in the greenhouse and fill the water trough.

He also went to the pump house and pulled out a garden hose to hook up the the garden faucet.

The greenhouse has 10 flats of 36 pots each of peas, that's 360 potential pea plants. I have 20 more seeds to plant which I'll do tomorrow.

Maybe tomorrow I can dig out the green house lights of the garden shed and maybe we can hang them up.

It was a lovely day today, hope you had a chance to enjoy it.

Lovely day

This isn't the trough we got but on similar without the middle support

Imagine it being raised on large concrete bricks to waist height

It's so nice outside I was able to clean the greenhouse. yea!

Put the 6 flats of peas I planted so far on the shelves.

Eric and I had lunch at Wilco for their chili and then picked out a galvanized trough 2'x 4'x 2' they cost $99. It holds 103 gallons of water.

We are going to stack 8 bricks 4 on each side to lift up this trough to waist height so I can clean all the pots outside instead of in the bath tub. I checked out old tubs at Habitat , but they were around $150 and don't look as good as a galvanized trough.

This was one of the items we budgeted for in January at our planning meeting.

Last year I cleaned the pots in our bath tub and then used a garbage can to sterilize the pots.

Eric really didn't like the idea of cleaning the pots in the tub, it was messy and hard on my knees.

It makes sense to do this project outside next to the container corral, behind the green house.

It takes time to save up for things and work out all the kinks.

Planting peas

http://www.territorialseed.com/product/7269/213

link to where I bought the seed and seed information

Peas are soaked over night in water

Then drain water

Third cover peas with inoculant

The flats filled with pots that have been sterilized

Filled with sterilized soil

Left outside for the rain to moisten the soil are ready to plant

Once the flats are planted with peas don't forget to mark each flat with one plant tag, with the name of seed and the date planted

Broccoli sprouts

You can buy sprouting seeds or just seeds

I use a coffee filter, a sprouting lid, on a canning jar to sprout our seeds

I'll let you know how many days this takes

Sprouts are really good for you

Growing Vegetables by Steve Solomon

Organizing garden seed for this year

Growing Vegetables by Steve Solomon
A great garden book recommended by Tina Miller

It was written for our area, He owned Territorial Seed and sold it a few years back.

I just started to read it, so far I agree with Tina this is a great book.

Steve organized his seed according to seed planting date in wide mouth canning jars and stores them in a refrigerator, with a little bit of silica gel in each jar to keep the moisture out.

He has 14 jars with the following planting dates, March 1, March 15, April 1, April 15, May 1, May 15, June 1, June 15, July 1, July 15, August 1, August 15, September 1, September 15.

Then he grabs a jar and plant the seed from the jar on it planting date. If there is seed in the jar that will be planted again for secession planting he moves the seed to that jar.

So I'm taking on that project now and by doing this I can see what seed we have and what seeds we need to get.

Peas

I'm planting peas today from territorial seeds on February 17th.

PE634/P sugar sprint bush snap pea 3oz packet / for $3.55

there are 379 seeds in a package

I'll plant 10 flats of 36, and a partial flat of 19

Lettuce planting dates for a continual harvest

One year I planted lettuce in a window box in the green house

Then thinned out the seedlings to make space for some seedling to get bigger.

We ate the ones I pulled out (like sprouts) so nothing went to waste

Lettuce secession planting dates for our area in the Willamette valley, April 1, April 21, May 15, June 5, June 30, July 21, August 10, August 25, September 10

Plant the first planting in a 4x4' area, then the next planting in a 4x4' area and so on by June the first planting is done and you can plant something else.

One thing I've been reading is to plant twice as much as you think you need, incase the seed isn't viable, or weather and or pests, have an effect on your crop. That way you are insured of the crop you need and any extra you can give away. Not a bad idea.

planting peas

One year I planted what I thought was nasturtiums seeds only to find out it was peas, there were so many plants they supported themselves.

http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Plant-Peas-17623136

Above is a good video link on how to plant peas.

Now I soak the peas then after soaking the peas over night I cover them with inoculant.

Then I start the peas in a little pot with soil because we have so many birds. These pots I keep in the green house until the peas come up and when they are around 3" tall I transplant them in an area where the soil has been cultivated with added compost next to a trellis.

We have been doing it this way for several years now with great success.

strawberry plants

I'm reading about strawberries,

You can't plant them where tomatoes were for at least 3 years

You need to replant your strawberry plants after 5 years because they loose strength

You want to fertilize them before they blossom

for ever bearing strawberries you want to cut off all the runners so they keep bearing

when you plant don't bury the crown

I've also have read you want to cut off all disease leaves and throw them out don't put in compost pile

you can start strawberries from seed, put seed in freezer for two days, then soak seed overnight before planting. Use only heirloom seeds.

You can start a new plant with runners.

Some people will have 4 beds, rotating the beds with replacing the oldest bed with new plants. That way you have good production with all the beds.

It's time to clean the greenhouse

I put all the pots on their trays and stacked on one side of the greenhouse.

All the pots and trays will be cleaned and then sterilized.

Now that one side of the green house is cleared, I can now pull the shelves out cleaned them off and clean the the greenhouse walls.

Then put the shelves back in place.

Repeat this process on all sides of the green house.

This project will take several days.

Now that the citrus seedlings are transplanted and water I can put them in the greenhouse.

Getting ready for the planting season

I brought home some citrus seedlings

They needed to be transplanted into a larger container

These seedling are not of great quality, I was told by one grower they are the ones that are usually thrown out, the runts.

So they may not become of anything.

I also brought home two olive seedlings

and one quality orange tree seedling

It's time to sterilize those containers before planting in them

the seedling list I brought home

1) improved meyter lemon/ swingle

2) eustis limequat/ carrizo

3) improved meyer lemon /pomeroy

4) parent washington navel

5) kalfir lime / sour

6) taggiased Italy oil olive tree

7) olive on self arbosana irta

8) clementine caffin rubidoux

9)honey mandarin / swindle

10) Lisbon 2 / macrophylla

11) triflolia root stock/ ? whats on top

garden link

http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/2010/06/potager-gardens.html

A link that seems helpful for gardeners

Clean those containers for future planting

Remove Mineral Deposits and Sterilize Your Plant Pots

When I can't work in the garden, most of the houseplants are dormant, and the new season's seed catalogs haven't arrived yet, I turn to cleaning.

One of my regular winter chores is to remove scale and mineral deposits from my plant pots and trays. I used to live with the chalky waterline that marked most of my pots, but now I use vinegar to clean them

before spring.

Clean Mineral Deposits From Your Plant Pots

Soak your pots in a mixture of half water and half white vinegar for a couple of hours. After they've soaked, wipe them down with a paper towel. For stubborn mineral deposits, brush them with an old toothbrush or plastic scrubby. This usually works fine for me. I pour my vinegar in the sink and turn the pots half-way through soaking so everything makes good contact with the mixture.

Clean Those Tough Mineral Deposits With a Strong Vinegar Solution

If the spots still won't come out, sponge a three - quarter strength vinegar/water solution on the spots and let them sit under a damp cloth for an hour; then scrub. This will also work for spot cleaning pots that are housing your plants indoors over winter.

If you are cleaning clay pots, soak them in plain water first so they don't absorb too much acidic vinegar (they're porous).

Sterilize Your Clay Pots in the Oven

I usually go the extra step of cooking my clay pots in the oven on high heat in order to kill any bacteria or fungus. I've also known people to run them through their oven's self-cleaning cycle.

Sterilize Your Plastic Pots in the Dishwasher

I run my plastic or aggregate pots through the dishwasher if they'll fit. If I think there might be a problem with them, I'll even turn the water heater up so they'll get a hotter bath.

Buy Your White Vinegar in Volume, It's Cheaper

White vinegar is available in a half-gallon jug. I keep one under the sink for descaling, cleaning the coffeemaker, and for washing the wood laminate floor in my kitchen.

Clean Your Garbage Disposal While You're at It

Once you've cleaned your pots, pour a half-cup of baking soda down your garbage disposal, followed by your leftover vinegar. This solution will clean and deodorize your disposal and pipes.

After a good pot cleaning and scrubbing, I start getting into the spirit of spring planting.

Container Preparation

Container Preparation - Step 1

Fill a clean 2-gallon bucket with tap water and a ½ cup of bleach. (Protect your hands by wearing gloves, and wear a waterproof apron to prevent staining your clothes.)

Container Preparation - Step 2

Gently wash the entire container, removing any dirt inside and out, then gently scrub the pot in the bleach solution. Rinse in clean water.

Container Preparation - Step 3

Invert the sterilized container on a drying rack. Allow the container to dry completely before waterproofing.

It's funny after 33 years you start to think alike

I was thinking yesterday as I was working on the yard that each year things are looking better with each passing year.

Then Eric comes home and says"You know our yard is looking better every year."

That was encouraging to me after working on it for 6 years.

It takes time to develop the soil beds from clay to a sandy loam. It takes years for some plants to get establish before they fruit.

There is always maintenance.

I can understand why it's hard for a gardener to move after all that work.

I remember a master gardener who loved to garden whose husbands job was to move around every few years. She learned to adjust with the attitude of learning something new and leaving every place she had been beautiful.

I was amazed by this wonderful attitude.

My husband and I have moved 4 times in 33 years. Not too often in today standards. Each place we left a wonderful garden with raised beds. We made major improvements to every house and yard for the next owner. It was a learning experience and fun working in the process.

We have a lot of work to go on this place yet it's encouraging to me that it's come a long way with God's blessing and hard work.

from Jerry Bakers newsletter

Get Rich Quick Scheme for Winter Soil

Are you ready? Spring’s on it’s way!

Even if you can’t dig your soil because it’s frozen or just plain wet, now’s the perfect time to get outside and dump some compost or manure onto the surface in places you intend to work into beds later this spring. The organic matter will weather nicely, and under the piles, earthworms and tiny critters will enjoy a sneak peak of warmer weather to come—no matter what old Punxsutawney Phil says!

While you’re outside, gather up any limbs and sticks that have fallen to the ground because of strong winds and heavy snow. Besides helping out your resting lawn, you won’t run the risk of tripping over these dangerous obstacles when they get covered by new snow.