Putting the Garden to Bed?

Went to a workshop at Swanson's last Saturday about preparing garden beds for winter. Besides the garlic and other herbs we will not be growing food here. Most of the beds will have cover crop (Faba Beans and Austrian Pea). Other than that I'm collecting the falling leaves to place down as mulch. The mulch will help protect the soil from erosion. So far the rains have been exposing rocks, which has been good to remove from the beds. Better not to encourage too much erosion though. I wonder how long the leaves will last before they decay though.

 

 

 

I wonder if we should transplant the catnip and other herbs in pots. They say it's better to have plants in the ground rather than in pots, which may not survive deep freezes. What will we get this winter?

 

 

Here is a nice little chore list for preparing winter: http://gardening.about.com/od/fallinthegarden/a/NovGarden.htm?nl=1

 

This is the worksheet Swanson's provided last Saturday: http://www.swansonsnursery.com/PDF/1_GENERAL/Putting%20the%20Garden%20to%20Bed.pdf

Fertilizer Fun

I picked up some Marine Cuisine from Swansons during one of their sales for 75% off. Not bad! So now I am preparing to place an application on our mildew-infested garden.

This product is made by FoxFarm and is "guaranteed" organic. It's contents are "derived from" Cottonseed Meal, Blood Meal, Earthworm Castings, Fish Meal, Shrimp Meal, Crab Meal, Bat Guano, Seabird Guano, Kelp Meal, Urea, Ammonium Sulfate, Triple Superphosphate, Potassium Sulfate, Potassium Chloride, Ferrous Sulfate, Iron Sucrate, and Manganese Sucrate. Some of that sounds pretty fun but those long chemical names are intimidating. The product's note of caution states, "Please keep out of reach of children and pets. Contains manure and other by-products that could make pets sick. After using this product, always wash hands and exposed skin with soap and water." Oh. Should I really be using this stuff?

First I must arm myself with more information, besides just the back of the package. Although I appreciate it directs me to do more research at Association of American Plant Food Control Officials, since I've never checked out that website before. Extremelygreen.com provides a "Fertilizer Guide" I now find myself relying on. And then there's simple google searches. I am learning that many of those listed chemicals are various types of inorganic salts. It's strange to consider applying salt to the garden. But the bigger issue is that if I apply this stuff I won't be able to say I'm growing an organic garden.

But look at that packaging! It looks so harmless! Look at those creature's faces!

Tisane Time

I'm writing this little blog entry as I sip the Stash brand green/white tea blend. Even though I have these herbal tea concoctions sitting right here. Guess I'm feeling lazy today.

In my inbox arrived a few articles on growing "tea herbs" - just in time as I'm planning garden beds for the BCC garden and Swansons Nursery has a perennial/herb sale August 17-Sep 3. The mint planted next to the house is doing alright (of course it is) but I'm moving out of here in 20 days. Once the tomatoes and corn get harvested in the community garden there's going to be a lot of space to work with. We currently have oregano, sage, curry and rosemary in the garden. There are also four round containers filled with strawberries that would perhaps be better suited to herbs.



But the question is what herbs can be planted now that will be hardy to overwinter? I won't be growing anything indoors. Don't really have space for that, or don't want to bother, or something. Tilth's Maritime Guide doesn't list anything except cilantro. An article from 2006 in Seattle Times recommends bay, rosemary and parsley. Swanson's recommends veggies, cilantro and garlic. Perhaps I should focus on the "Top Ten Herb" list designed by Herb Society of America. If the plant is a perennial, it's worth a try, I guess. Not that I would drink those regularly for tea.

Perhaps each container can have a theme... Hmm... Tisane's gonna be one of them.

Pruning For Prunes

Went to another workshop at Swansons this morning co-organized by City Fruit, promoting the production and maintenance of urban orchards and fruit trees in Seattle. I went so I could learn tips for caring for this very old plum tree on the property that hasn't been maintained for who knows how long.

Each year in the Spring, fruit trees should be pruned back to no more than a quarter of the total canopy surface. This is to promote fruit production and health, for purposes of increasing air circulation and greater light access. Branches situated at 45 degrees (rather than inward, vertical, horizontal or downward) are optimal for spaciousness. As can be seen in this photo the branching is heavy and mostly positioned horizontal or downward. The canopy is very dense.

Which makes a lot of sense because it's an old tree, and surely has a complex root system. The complex crown exists to balance it out. As can be seen in this photo, though, the tree was trained well in the beginning, there is good structure coming from the trunk. But at some point the maintenance was let go.

My task will be prune back the "4 D's", as Ingela the instructor put it, that is those parts of the branches dead, dying, diseased or deranged. All of the unnecessary complexity getting in the way of light, air and space. Cutting smartly, though, so I don't damage the tree by creating too many wounds. Carefully now. In the middle of March the moon will be in descent (waning) in the Saggitarrius constellation (warmth/fruit) which seems like a good time to battle the plums.

Grapes & Berries in Aries

We entered the Aries constellation today / warmth / fruit. And so appropriately, I went to workshop at Swansons this morning called "Grapes and Berries in Your Garden", and have walked away with some informational handouts and increased excitement for caretaking the berries and grapes currently established, and perhaps adding a few plants this year. Now is the time to plant bare roots. With the enormous rhodendron hedgerow shading out half the garden I will probably add currents, which are able to tolerate some shade. Other berries are said to need at least 6 hours of sun, which some beds in this garden cannot provide. Soon I will need to prune the table grapes.

 At the workshop I learned that in order to maximize sunlight, foliage should be cut back. Also the rows should be planted North/South. Unfortunately for these grapes, they are planted among a rhodedendron hedge East/West. Since I have to go in to prune, and can barely find the canes anyway, I'll be cutting back some of the rhodedendron.

For berries, we have one flowering current, one gooseberry, two blueberries (do not self-fertilize, so need at least two kinds of plants nearby each other) 

and lot's of ever-bearing strawberries (one main crop in June and smaller crop end of summer)!!! I found out contrary to my previous understanding, that strawberries, too, prefer lot's of sun, and like roses and other berries, should be watered from below - don't water from above and avoid fungal problems.

 I love this photo because it makes the strawberries seem like they have super intense root systems. What you are seeing here is a need for me to trim back some runners. I really need to clean up these strawberry beds because more space is better for productivity. One farm I worked on let the strawberries go and it because so dense in there, nothing much came out. The farmer decided to take out the entire bed altogether, but better maintenance would have ensured more crop. I'm one to talk. I should not have all that foliage as seen above. Strawberries are supposed to be "mowed down" after harvest to an inch to overwinter. I did this to some extent last fall. Since I'll be removing the border beds to plant alliums and nitrogen-fixers I'll finish the job soon. Months later. Today I will clean up the strawberries, tomorrow I will prune the grapes. Full Moon is on it's way.

A Snowy Planday

The beds have officially received this season's first snow - they were frost covered when I went outside this morning, with garlic peeking up. I decided to walk to Swansons to see what they are selling today, and to ask the managers if they ever donate plants (for the community garden). Sunday is never a good day to seek out managers. There was very little activity at the nursery today. After I left and walked down 15th I saw there is a store called Herbal Healing near 80th, then further down, some Garden Collective I must find out more about, and on the way to the library (on 58th) what looks like a community garden in an old house lot. There's a big sign that says SLUG. I got to chat with no one about these sweet finds because Sunday is not a good day to chat. I'll have this upcoming week for that.

At Swansons right now there are many native plants hardy below 0 degrees. So when I see snow on the beds I am reminded I could, indeed be gardening right now. I could pick up some plants and care for them in their pots until the right time to transplant. Such as the Gemo St Johns Wort now 75% off in the nursery's very back corner. As a curious consumer, I'm wondering what they do with the plants that don't sell beside tossing them to the back and out of sight. Plenty of herbs like rosemary, bay and lavender have been shelved, while mixed herb pots (Henry's Herbs) are being promoted. So what's going on with all the shelved plants? Can we donate them to the community center? Is it better to keep them shelved overwinter in the nursery or to fare them to the outdoors with some prayer?

I would love to take the numerous neglected St Johns Wort (the photo is not mine. Still don't have a camera) plants off their hands to nurture and harvest. What a useful plant that could be for loved ones. The herb is considered an effective antidepressent, and I know many people who would benefit from taking this plant if they are open. I drink a blend of St John's Wort with other relaxants as a winter tea to ride the cold. You can't go wrong with yellow flowers.