Earthly Garden

Good Morning!
Hope you all had a good weekend. It’s raining something fierce here, and I’m glad. The garden is getting a nice soaking, and that’s always a good thing.
Do you read the newspaper everyday? Pass it along to your garden when you’re done! Newspaper is great in the garden. It acts as a great barrier against moisture loss and helps block weed growth. Here’s how to use it. First lay it down in 2-3 page layers. (If you’re doing this for your vegetables, use only the black and white sections, not the color ones!). Wet throughly and cover with a 3 to 5 inch layer of mulch. Try shredded hardwood or pine straw. This tip is especially useful in areas where water conservation is a serious issue as you’ll find the newpaper keeps the soil moist longer, resulting in having to water your garden less often.

Gardening Pic of the Day:

Good Morning!
Yesterday I talked about homemade pesticides and fungicides. Today I want to tell you about ways to nourish your Garden the homemade way. Here are a few tips!

Save those eggshells! Eggshells provide valuable nutrients to soil and are also an excellent source of calcium. Wash well, dry, and crush before adding to the soil. Eggshells are especially helpful for tomatoes because the extra calcium helps lower the chances of blossom end rot.
You can also use eggshells as a pest deterent. Crush and put them around tomatoes, peppers, broccoli and cabbage. The sharp edges will repell slugs and cutworms.

Coffee grounds are also excellent for nourishing your garden. They add nitrogen to the soil. You can sprinkle them wet around the soil for a slow release or dry them and work them into the soil. Acid loving plants such as azaleas and rhododendrons especially benefit from the grounds.

Finally, epsom salts do a lot more than soothe sore muscles! They add magnesium and sulfur, which promote bushy grow and increased flower production. They can even help seeds germinate faster! Roses especially love epsom. For usage tips, click here

Nourish your garden the natural way!

Gardening Pic of the Day:

natural fertilizers, coffee grounds in the garden,eggshells in the garden, epsom salts

natural fertilizers, coffee grounds in the garden, eggshells in the garden, epsom salts

Good Morning!
Yesterday I talked about being safe in the garden and mentioned there were safe, homemade alternatives to commerical pesticides and fungicides. Here are a few recipes.

For a safe and effective spray for pests like aphids, spider mites, etc, fill a spray bottle with lukewarm water and add 1 teaspoon of dishwashing liquid, 1 teaspoon cooking oil, and 1 teaspoon rubbing alcohol. Shake well to mix and spray. The soap makes the water “wetter” and allows it to cling better to the leaves, the oil suffocates the bugs, and the rubbing alcohol dries them out. Spraying in the morning is best.

For mealybugs, rubbing alcohol will do the trick. For light infestations, moisten a cotton swab with it and simply wipe them off. For more severe infestations, add two tablespoons of rubbing alcohol to a spray bottle filled with lukewarm water, shake well, and spray.

For fungal diseases such as powdery mildew, you can mix up a homemade fungicide. Again, fill a spray bottle with lukewarm water and this time add a tablespoon of baking soda, a tablespoon of dishwashing liquid, and a tablespoon of cooking oil. Shake to mix well and spray.

Tomorrow I’ll talk about organic ways to enrich your soil using things from the kitchen!

Gardening Pic of the Day:

organic pesticides,organic fungicides, safe pest control, gardens, gardening

organic pesticides, organic fungicides, safe pest control, gardens, gardening

Mornin’ earthly gardeners!

It’s raining AGAIN here today, and I’m sore from a round of physical therapy yesterday. So all my gardening work will be in the form of reading for a few days. Good thing I just ran across this index of old articles from Mother Earth News. CLICK HERE for list. There’s enough there to keep you busy for months! Put it in your permanent bookmarks file for your next rainy day…

dig it!

bobbi c.
Copyright ©2007 bobbi a. chukran.

organic gardening articles, Mother Earth News

Mornin’ friends!

A few have asked me why I go to such great lengths to make my garden organic when there are more and more organic items in the grocery stores these days. There are several reasons for that.

One, the items in grocery stores (unless they are supplied by local farms) have been shipped thousands of miles before they get to my local store. It’s a big waste of energy and resources, and the food just isn’t as fresh as your own or locally grown produce. Frozen organic foods are a good compromise if you can’t grow your own, but it takes a lot of energy to process those.

Two, I can also grow things that you just can’t find in the stores…heirloom tomatoes, fruits that might not make it through the shipping, etc.

If you can’t grow your own, there are hundreds of small organic family farms around the US….buying locally is a great thing to do, and a great alternative to having your own organic gardens.

After seeing the news reports about all the snow in New England, I’m thankful that I don’t have to deal with that. Our weather has been somewhat cool, not too humid yet, but it’s been very overcast and rainy, and the garden is just in a neutral mode right now…..waiting for sunshine!

dig it!

bobbi c.
Copyright © 2007 Bobbi A. Chukran

why grow organic, local small family farms, transportation costs of food

I was horrified when I read a news item yesterday that links the use of chemicals in our environment to obesity. It seems that scientists have found a link between certain chemicals and obesity. If so, then we’re all doomed. I shouldn’t be surprised, though. I’ve felt for quite some time that chemicals, pesticides and such in our environment was bad news, and cause many of the diseases and health problems that we all face these days. I myself have lingering health problems as a result of a chemical exposure in my home years ago–a supposedly “natural” product that was anything but natural.

This news story has links to the Washington Tribune and the Columbia Tribune, where the story was first reported. And it’s not just the chemicals in food that are problematic; chemicals in other things, such as plastics, are also blamed for numerous maladies.

I know how hard it is to avoid plastics, but we can avoid chemicals in our foods. Grow organic, use organic seeds if at all possible (I’ll be talking about that in a future blog post), buy and eat organic produce, and suggest to your favorite restaurants that they also buy and use organic foods. Every little bit helps!

dig it!

bobbi c.
Copyright ©2007 by Bobbi A. Chukran

organic foods, obesity caused by chemicals, organic seeds, organic produce, chemicals in plastics

I was annoyed to find that some of the seedlings I’m growing here in my office succumbed to some kind of withering disease. Maybe damping off, which is a sort of fungus. A good cure for that is to water them with chamomile tea. Also, two of the tomato plants I bought at a nearby garden center withered and fell over practically overnight. I suspect that the plants might have been carriers of some sort of virus that spread to the seedlings.

Lesson learned. I had already thought about all the salsas, homemade sauces and sundried tomatoes I would make from the fruit of those seedlings. In other words, I was “counting my chickens before they hatched”, as we say down here.

But, as we also say, never give up. I seem to have a stubborn Gardener Gene passed along to me from my paternal grandmother, and her parents who were farmers and share croppers, and my maternal AND paternal great-grandparents, who were avid gardeners. So I suppose I couldn’t give up on gardening if I even wanted to!

I’ll replant more tomato seeds, make a trip to the garden center with withered plants in hand and demand that they exchange them for something else.

We had a violent storm last night with almost 4-inches of rainfall. Many areas around here are flooded, but we’re up on a hill so that’s not a problem for us. The house shook with the thunder, and the lightning was fierce and so bright I could have read from the front porch if I’d wanted to. We needed the rain, but we didn’t need it all at once! On the bright side, our rainwater collection tanks are full. Since we are frugal with our water, that will last us for quite some time.

I was reluctant to peek outside this morning, fearing storm damage, but everything seems to be intact…even the nectarine and peach blossoms. Man, I’m already tasting the jelly I’ll make from those! LOL

dig it!

bobbi c.

damping off, plant diseases, tomato seedlings, vegetable virus, rainwater collection

Yesterday, Stephanie asked me if I had any suggestions for growing veggies in pots. As a matter of fact, I just got a new packet of lettuce seeds that are great for growing in pots and small containers. Specifically, the seeds are for Garden Babies Butterhead Container Lettuce, and are available from Renee’s Garden seeds. The Baby Butterhead lettuces are a new variety, originally developed for the Japanese luxury salad market, where flavor and quality are very important.
Here’s a specific link to more info. about the lettuce.

I potted up some seed into small peat pots, and they sprouted within a week. Once they get larger, I’ll put them outside in a semi-shady spot in a small pot. They don’t get huge, and supposedly are bolt resistant, which means they can take a little heat, unlike a lot of other lettuces.

Other than these specific lettuces, there are lots of veggies you can grow in containers. Cherry tomatoes, bush beans, bush cucumbers, miniature eggplants, etc. Most large seed catalogs have a section specifically for the smaller plants. Just remember, if they’re in pots, they’ll dry out faster. You might want to put one pot inside another, that will help with the watering because the inner pot won’t get so hot. Water them daily, keep an eye on them for insects, feed them with a good organic fertilizer such as liquid seaweed (my fav) or fish emulsion, and harvest when the veggies are young and small.

Enjoy, and dig it!

bobbi c.
All text and images here (other than photos provided by others) is Copyright ©2005-2007 by Bobbi A. Chukran. All rights reserved.

growing vegetables in pots, cherry tomatoes, Renee’s Garden, vegetable and flower seeds, liquid seaweed organic fertilizer, fish emulsion

Hi all,

I was horrified yesterday when a reader told me that rainwater collection is illegal in Colorado. I would never tell someone to do something illegal…except in this case! I think it horrifying that a state in general would not put any controls on over-development or population, but would make it illegal for a gardener to collect rainwater for their garden. So, if you live in CO, get a bucket, collect some rain (next time it rains) and collect it for your gardens. THEN try and get the laws changed. Thank goodness there are no such silly laws in Texas!!

On other more pleasant matters, yesterday I received an order of dibbers from my Nova Scotian woodturner friend and artist, Derek Andrews. I had never even heard of dibbers (AKA dibblers or dibbles) until I saw them on his Seafoam Woodturning Studio website, but now I’m finding out what great little tools they can be in the garden. You can use them for planting bulbs, seedlings or young plants, and I love that he’s marked measurements on them. Derek does wonderful work, and we have a few of his other pieces in our collection. His dibbers are smooth as glass, and I *almost* hate to get them dirty. I had to run outside and try them, and I love the way they work! I’ll write more about them when I use them to plant my new tomato babies. It’s so seldom that you find handmade garden tools! (And these are VERY affordable, too, and will last forever!)

dig it!

bobbi c.

rainwater collection, Seafoam Woodturning Studio, handcrafted garden tools, dibblers, dibbers, dibbles, wooden garden tools

We haven’t had rain for months here, and we desperately need some. Not only for our garden and landscaping, but also because we drink rainwater! Yep, that’s right….we collect rainwater and use it for ALL our water needs…we cook with it, bathe with it, wash our clothes in it, AND drink it. It’s filtered out the wazoo and treated with UV light, so it’s safer than the local city water or well water out here.

Rainwater is great for plants because it’s pH neutral…not too acidic, not too alkaline. To catch rainwater, you don’t have to have two humongous fiberglass tanks like we do, holding 17,000 gallons. You can buy yourself a cool galvanized bucket (I love that galvanized stuff!) and plop it outdoors next time it rains. Store it covered so that insects don’t get in and use it for a breeding ground. Next time you need to water a houseplant, dip into it and give that green baby a drink! Use it to water seedlings; they’ll appreciate the clean water. There are also larger systems that you can buy from online garden suppliers to collect rain from the gutters of your house, etc. if you want to tackle it on a larger scale.

Start small, see how well your plants do when they get to drink rainwater. (And ya know, it’s GREAT for human hair, too!)

dig it!

bobbi c.

organic gardening, rainwater collection, plant seedlings, watering plants

Somebody asked about the rosemary bush that was attracting all the bees. Here’s a photo of it, in my garden. It’s happy here in this Hill Country soil that is so much like the Mediterranean soil where rosemary is native.
This bush is about 8 years old, and is only one of over a dozen I have in my garden area.

I also got a shot of the first bulb to bloom here, a grape hyacinth. It was planted four years ago, and comes up like clockwork every February/early March.

dig it!

bobbi c.

rosemary, herbs, bees, honeybees, grape hyacinth, spring bulbs

Something a little more serious this morning….In more than 24 states across the country, bees are disappearing at an alarming rate. According to Ann Johansson of the New York Times and other journalists across the country, this is not only threatening the livelihood of beekeepers, but is also a threat to many of our important crops, such as the almond industry in CA. Not to mention our entire food supply!

Researchers aren’t sure where the bees are going. Some hives have died off, some have simply vanished.

For sure, widespread pesticide spraying of agricultural crops can kill bees, as can small doses of spraying, such as a homeowner might do in their gardens or yards. That’s just another reason that organic gardening is friendly to the environment.

Our entire food supply relies on pollination by bees and other such insects. There are many alternatives to synthetic pesticides on the market today. Next time you’re at your local garden center, look for the natural or organic section…see what’s there, and follow the directions on the label.

dig it!

bobbi c.

disappearing bees, pollination, insects, natural gardening, organic gardening, food supply

Mornin’ all!

I was excited to find a good selection of heirloom tomato plants at our new garden center last night. It’s hard to find heirloom anything around here, much less ready-grown plants. I bought a few Roma tomatoes and a Cherokee Purple. I wasn’t going to buy plants this year, opting instead to start my own from seeds, but I’m a sucker for the heirlooms.

Here’s an article I found that talks about heirloom plants and why you might want to grow them.

I like to grow heirlooms mostly because of their connection with gardeners of the past…gardeners who lovingly saved seed from their favorite vegetable because it had been given to them by their grandmother or had been carried from one home to the other. And if it tastes great, well, that’s just a bonus!

dig it!

bobbi c.

heirloom vegetables, seeds, seedsaving, antique seeds, heirloom plants, grandmother’s garden

I stooped over one of my raised garden beds on Saturday morning and planted at least 70 very teeny little scallion onion babies. I haven’t planted onions in years, because, as we all know, they are so cheap in the stores. But when we started buying organic onions, the price went up. Well worth the extra cost, I thought, especially given the problems that some restaurants have had lately with scallions.

I had already planted a bunch of onion bulbs in a pot inside, and in a larger tub outside, but wanted some of the long thin onions to use on salads, stir frys, etc.

After planting the first 25 or so, I got the hang of it, and started using my finger to poke just the right sized hole in the soil. I would poke, put the onion in, pinch the soil around the neck of the onion, poke, put in, pinch, etc. It became a meditative Zen thing, and while doing that I managed to turn off the Critic for a while, and actually got a few ideas for short stories, maybe even a short play. Amazing how that works–the garden has always been a source of inspiration for me in so many ways.

Onions are simple, take care of themselves, and can be harvested in a short period of time. You can find scallion starts in garden centers, hardware stores, some grocery stores and even at Wal-mart in their garden section.

It’s much warmer here the last few days, spring can’t be far behind!

dig it!

bobbi c.

scallions, raised bed gardening, onions

Many generations of gardeners have trusted the advice given by The Farmer’s Almanac. Over the years, various versions of the Almanac have been published by different companies, but they all have things in common….like listing the “best days” to plant a certain thing, or the best days to do a certain thing.

For example, this online Almanac says that today is a good day to cut your hair to increase growth. If you’d gotten it cut back on the 16th, that would retard the growth. Today apparently is a good day for planting beans, peppers and cucumbers “where the climate is suitable.” These dates are based on phases of the moon, etc. and even though many think this is just plain ol’ superstition, there is some scientific basis for this, and many farmers and gardeners swear by this information. (I plan to write more about this as time goes by.)

Either way, I find these almanacs fascinating. It’s just another link between me and the gardeners of the past…the gardeners who didn’t have computers, or websites, or blogs to know when to plant something.

So, if your climate allows, go plant some beans!

(And thanks to Wanda, who sent me the link to the online Almanac this morning!)

Dig it!

bobbi c.
In Central TX where it was 80-degrees yesterday!

Farmer’s Almanac, gardening almanacs, moon phase gardening, gardening by the phases of the moon, online almanacs, beans