The Life of A Garden

More on Peppers

More on my search for trying to salvage the pepper seeds...

From the Old Farmer's Almanac:

PEPPER SEEDS need warm soil to germinate. Experiments by Georgia horticulturists have shown that the highest rate of germination (80 percent) occurs when the soil temperature is 70° to 80° F. Water seedlings from the top with warm water. I'm planning to dig out the heating pad for this and I hadn't used warm water before.

Start pepper seeds three to a pot, and thin out the weakest seedling. Let the remaining two pepper plants spend their entire lives together as one plant. The leaves of two plants help protect the peppers against sunscald, and the yield is often half again as good as two segregated plants. Interesting! I will definitely do this if I ever get some seedlings!

If you buy pepper plants at a nursery, use the seed leaves (the first leaves to emerge) as a "stress barometer." As long as they are strong, green, and healthy looking, you have a good, healthy plant.

When pepper plants bloom, make a solution of Epsom salts in water, and spray the plants. The NGA asked test gardeners to mix one tablespoon of Epsom salts in a gallon of water and spray it on the leaves of 'Gypsy' peppers, once when they bloomed and again ten days later. The results, attributed to magnesium in the salts, were larger plants and fruit. What's a Gypsy Pepper I wonder?

Take a book of matches with you when you set pepper plants out in the garden, and put two or three matches in the hole with each plant. They give the plants a bit of sulfur, which they like. There's that match head advice I was looking for. Check.

Okay then...
XXKHT

“If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is the significance of a clean desk?” ~ Dr. Lawrence J. Peters

Helpful Hint #3

Never leave a dish bin full of germinating mix lying around - even if you think you might use it again soon(ish); It resembles a litter box and this will not go unnoticed by your kitties. (duh)

On that note...all this studious attention to blogging has let the apartment run to ruin. Drat!
XXKHT

“Few tasks are more like the torture of Sisyphus than housework, with its endless repetition: the clean becomes soiled, the soiled is made clean, over and over, day after day” Simone de Beauvoir quotes

“I won't belong to any organization that would have me as a member...” ~ Groucho Marks

Except....of course....The Burlington Area Community Gardens!

It's about that time for returning gardeners to get their registration forms in to the BACG. March 21st is the deadline to guarantee your spot if you're returning from last season.

Although this will only be my second year*, I'm told that the organizers do a great job of keeping folks in roughly the same spots as previous seasons, which is great for fostering a sense of continuity. As for me, I've never been more attached to a patch of earth in my life, and even though we're planning to work two plots this season - a till and no till - I definitely want the no till to be the same spot as last year.

As for new gardeners: the process is simple. Go to the BACG site and download a registration form (you can click on these images to preview the forms, but you must go to their website to download them)

Full sized lots are approximately 700 sq ft or 20x30'. The price is $52 for Burlington residents (R), and $57 for non-residents (NR). If that seems like too much for the first time out, they have half plots for $32R/$37NR and even " novice and family friendly" plots for $18R/$25NR.

Folks with limited incomes can apply for reduced rates and free seeds by contacting Community Action at 802.863.6248.

The seasonal membership fees include rent for your plot, water access, community tools and site preparation as well as invites to BACG meet ups and a newsletter etc; basically everything you need to get started other than the plants.

As mentioned above, returning gardeners have until March 21st to sign up, followed by open registration which begins March 24th - only 8 and 11 days from today!

Although we're down in the Tommy Thompson Gardens, it's helpful to note that Burlington has ten locations all together so there should be plenty of room for everyone.

Opening dates are dependent on our wonky weather, but the organizers aim to get the sites open in early May (good to know, since I have our leeks on the schedule for 4/20 transplanting) and the final day to clean up is October 18th.

The site does not appear to mention that there is a certain amount of "volunteer" duty expected of members - we heard it's been upped from one day to two this season (and there it is on page two of the form!).

It's nothing to be scared of, as there will be lots of opportunities and I know from last season that the coordinators are in charge and willing to work with members who have difficult schedules by offering special projects etc. Usually members take care of this by joining beginning and/or end of season "all hands on deck" kinds of gatherings, either readying the sites or cleaning them up respectively, and it's big fun to meet fellow gardeners at those times.

See you, down' the garden!
XXKHT

*Robert has gardened down there for many years intermittently and is the Site 2 coordinator for this season.

White Rabbit: You saved Wonderland, Alice. I thought it was you that made the garden bloom.
Alice: Oh, I could never do that. Only someone special could make flowers bloom.
Princess: Do you want to know a secret, Alice? You are as special as you think you are.

"Wishing and wanting to see you, I step on thin ice." ~ Madoka Mayuzumi

We're not quite ready to begin germination, but I am antsy with anticipation and so we went down to the Gardener's Supply today to buy some name stakes (or markers or whatever they're officially called).

I couldn't believe the price at 10 cents a piece. Doesn't seem like much until you have a small stack of flat molded plastic that rings up at close to $7.00! I know that they're not worth more than a quarter in materials all together. What a racket!

I'm beginning to feel the guilt of not being more creative in my efforts to recycle and reuse. Robert is what is known as a Gear Head - someone who always wants the newest and the best.

If we're planning to re-use something over and over, I suppose I don't object (much) to buying quality, newly manufactured things. But if we could find a reusable alternative, why not?

I can't count how many yogurt containers we've thrown out this winter... I did save many of those clear plastic egg cartons that my old neighbor mentioned were great for seed starting, and am thinking of using them for last minute starts, just to give a few things a tiny jump and as a kind of experiment.

The reason we have the APS seed starting system is because my aunt swears by them and also bought the first round as a gift. They make perfect sense with their wicking systems and covers; and clearly they're the product of years of logical evolution. Of course, I want the babies to have a solid start.

But now, Robert is looking at light meters and talking about heating pads and I so want this done as holistically as possible. People were starting seeds in cold frames and on window sills for centuries before we had all this gear!

It's not that I don't love technology, but it's not infallible. Speaking of which: perhaps it's my poor searching skills, but with all the ten gazillion gardening sites and blogs out there, there don't seem to be any that have step by step photos of the seed starting process. Bad news for Kimberley, but good news for TLoAG because this is going to be the place.

In the meantime, I'll keep studying and hoping for the best. I'm so eager to get started that this blog is saving me from going stir crazy - also, while we were down getting the name stakes, we couldn't help but to drive a little further to see the garden at rest in her winter whites.

The Intervale Compost looked downright majestic with her rich, black mountains, steaming like mini-volcanos as great flocks of crows flew overhead.

I can't believe they're going to close it down and redirect all that natural goodness to landfills. It won't be the same, and I keep hoping that a miracle will occur and everyone will put aside their differences for the good of one and all.

But I promised myself to keep this blog upbeat and uncontroversial; that's what my other blog is for.

And so it shall remain, at least for today,
XXKHT

notes on pics: I took several photos of the compost but for whatever reasons I don't like them well enough to share. I'll try again later and add them here if something better comes out.

A gardener's best tool is the knowledge from previous seasons. And it can be recorded in a $2 notebook..." ~Andy Tomolonis

...or in this case a beloved iBook...

Here is a database on all the things I could think of that might be useful to know later. They say that keeping a garden journal is the best way to improve your gardening. Frankly, there is a lot to keep track of - Botany is not a potential post graduate subject for nothing.

I have a feeling I'm going to be making some changes to the database format before it's all over. I'm glad to have the planting dates all sorted out and can feel free to go to the garden store, armed with all the details to make informed choices.

I admit, I got a little overzealous in the number of plants I hoped we'd start.; we only have the one grow light system. But Robert and I are home all day, and we can move the plants around even a few times a day if neccesary, in fact, we'd be glad to. 

This whole process is about having a we'll wait and see attitude. It's like lending money - you can't count for sure on ever seeing it again, so it's best to lend it with impunity. Same with the garden. They're notorious for getting ones hopes up only to smash them to bits as if for spite. Still, despite how bitchy she can be, a true gardener adores Mother Earth, Colorado Potato Beetle* and all. Besides the "we'll see" mantra extends to the exquisite miracle inside every seed, and the joy we can anticipate every time a tiny set of primary leaves unfurls from beneath the rich dark soil.

Ahem....Getting back to business... here's the first Seed to Harvest spreadsheet. I hope she's the beginning of a beautiful, lifelong learning experience.

Maybe by next year I'll have figured out how to blend spreadsheet/screenshots.
Cheers to that!
XXKHT

*unaffectionately dubbed Blood Sucking Slug Beetle by moi