The Life of A Garden

Department of Redundancy Department

My friend Robert (R) is the garden coordinator for Zone 2 and the following is an email exchange between us that I found particularly funny.

Funny in particular!
XXKHT

"Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint, and the soil and sky as canvas." ~ Elizabeth Murray

Oh my goodness, it has been a busy couple of weeks! So many things have happened...For starters, spring is springing and how!

R and I measured out Zone 2 yesterday and today I painted a sign for the newbies. Of course I couldn't just spray paint a sign, I had to do it up. It was a good excuse to be outside, an avocation I've become quite passionate about these past couple of weeks.

and lest we forget the babies have been a growin' and a growin'....

and the Moon Flowers are a foot tall so we've been training them back on themselves (for now)...

Today, I soaked our Amish Sugar Snaps and Green Arrow Peas. After they germinate, they're going right in the dirt! (better late than never).

I have an appointment with my no-till/perennial garden site coordinator tomorrow morning. It seems the last people to garden my plot didn't clean up and I'm going to have to find someone to till it after I haul all the old stuff out of it (brussels sprouts, sunflowers, a pile of whatsit). Not really what I had expected, but I'll be happy when I have leeks till after the first frost, and kale and herbs that I won't have to take out whether they're ready to give up or not.

Last season, I took one of our Italian Flat Leaf Parsley plants and literally shoved it in a big pot with some soil. I set it on our glassed in but unheated porch and barely watered it, yet it  remained mostly green and edible until almost December, still had some green on it as late as March although it finally looked too weary to be appetizing. I'll definitely try that again next season despite that I'll be leaving the herb garden intact until nature kills her herself.

Which is as it should be.
XXKHT

“Life's real failure is when you do not realize how close you were to success when you gave up.”

My peppers are not doing well. The only ones that have germinated and grown leaves are the Chocolate Bells. The King of the North grew two tiny green curled over stems and failed to go any further. I tried replanting everything over, thinking that they were all victims of the holocaust, but so far a week later, nothing has shown up, and it's getting late for peppers!

I was so looking forward to Jimmy Nardello's Sweet Italian Frying Peppers, and the colorful Fish Peppers from my native Chesapeake Bay area...I feel I can't just give up so I went searching for more information (the only thing you can do).

What I found is this comprehensive website on starting chilis at:

Uncle Steve's Seed Germination and Growing Tips

Excerpted from there are the following things I did not do but am going to today. Better late than never right?

Before planting, we recommend soaking the seeds in a mixed solution of 3 Teaspoon of 5% Chlorine Bleach and 1 Tablespoon of TSP (Trisodium Phosphate) into one quart of warm water for 15-25 minutes and then rinse for 5-10 minutes under cold running water. This does two things, kills most seed born disease and helps soften the seed hull. An easy way to soak the seed is done by placing the seeds in a small sieve and dipping into a cup or bowl of the mixed solution. Dab the floaters with a finger to brake the surface tension. Any seed that will not sink remove. We have found that floaters generally do not germinate as well and/or produce stunted plants. After rinsing place seeds on several layers of paper towels to absorb the extra moisture (Seeds will not clump together and are easier to handle).

Also, I think this is what happened to the King of the Norths!

A day or two after the seeds germinate, a "hook" emerges from the soil, and soon afterwards the seed leaves unfold. If your seedlings are hull bound (seed leaves can not emerge from the seed hull) it helps to leave the dome on, thereby keeping everything moist. Do not pry or pick the seed hull off until the leaves have fully developed and have extended, otherwise you will damage or kill the seedling. At this point seedlings should have as much light as possible to produce strong stocky plants.

and then I think this was a problem as well (see holocaust):

Do not set a domed flat in direct sun! It can cook the seeds. Remove the dome once to every other day to let fresh air get to the seeds and mist spray soil if needed.

Uncle Steve also recommends using a heating pad which I have and will use this time.

Other problems we've had so far are a fuzzy mold and what appear to be mites on the marigolds. I hate to destroy the young flowers as they've done so well so far, but I can't have them messing up the other seedlings - which would be a most un-beneficial thing for a companion plant to do. Before I head to the garden store today I'm going to look up organic remedies before I take any drastic measures.

I also read that adding match heads to the pepper trays adds the sulfur they need, but it's not mentioned on Uncle Steves. Back to the net for further investigation.

I just have to keep hoping and trying...
XXKHT

“The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one often comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't.” Henry Ward Beecher

After the holocaust, I needed to take a day off and regroup.

In the meantime, I noticed that the alliums closest to the front of the table seemed thinner than the ones behind and that some were pulled up by their roots and fallen over.

I immediately suspected my adult male cat, GIR, who has a notorious appetite for salad bar of the houseplant variety.

I can't always be home and in the room, and I can't kill him, and I already have my female kitty (GIRL) sequestered for other reasons, so I had to come up with a cat proof plan.

I remembered an old mosquito net in storage and although at first, I feared it's flammability near the hot lights, after setting it up, I feel safe enough. The outside of the light isn't that hot, and it's easy enough to keep it pulled back from actually touching the fixture. Most importantly, after an overnight test, it appears to have worked!!

It's kind of romantic really. I pull it aside and work close to the bright light, which as it turns out, is stimulating not only the seedlings, but myself as well.

Today I put some more seeds in to germinate in the seedling tray to replace the ones that didn't make it. Rather than cover it with the germination lid, I lightly placed plastic wrap over the newly seeded compartments and we're going to see what happens.

I had planted five cracked Moon Flower seeds yesterday in a big yogurt container, and added two strong rooted ones into the germination tray under the plastic wrap today. We'll see which does better.

Also today, I realized that keeping the germination mix out on the cold porch probably isn't very practical and brought it in to store next to the radiator under the plant table. I have a big bowl of mix warming up, and later today plan to plant another full germination tray with the new tomato seeds and a few more peppers in order to hedge our bets - neither the Fish Peppers nor the Jimmy Nardello's Sweet Italian Frying Peps germinated, even with the soaking beforehand. I'm going to be very disappointed if either of them fail. On the other hand, three Chocolate Peppers came up strong and three King of the North are waking up (finally!).

It felt so good to get my hands dirty and stand near that light. It's eighty-two days until summer solstice and counting...and oh boy am I counting...

XXKHT

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” ~ Plato

...or in this case "women who are afraid of the light.."

Today I learned several things...

First, that I most likely planted my tomatoes way too early and that I probably should have started a few weeks from now (screw the two weeks hardening off etc. I was just making excuses to get started).

Be careful what you wish for, because today, in less than two hours, I lost all the sage, and all the Pink Ladies, Striped German and Brandywine, Tommy Toes and one of Joanna's Plum tomato seedlings. They fried like they'd reached the end of the Green Mile (Oh John Coffey, I'm so sorry!)

So much for "can't get the lights close enough." Apparently, seedlings need to harden to the light as well as the cold.

The other thing I learned today was that it's a good idea to plant way more than you need, and be prepared to exterminate the weaklings.

Sound harsh? Well, for some of us, it is; but that's what this boils down to. Survival of the fittest, with a little help from The Goddess in You Form.

Next round, I'll plant six seeds in the hopes of getting two plants, and I will get the light on them as soon as they break ground, and I will not ease them into the light.

Always happy to end on a high note, I have two:

At least now, I get a do-over without having to intentionally destroy viable plant matter.

And... the new tomato seeds arrived today with a bonus packet of Lemon Cucumbers.

We grew them last year and they did well early on but got powdery mildew about mid summer, so we pulled them out because they were an ugly spot in the front of our otherwise pristine oasis of community garden space.

Somewhere along the intensive self study course of the past few weeks, I read about a homemade mixture of baking soda and water...now that I have them anyway... I guess that'll be another fun learning experience to look forward to.

Stay tuned!
XXKHT

"My Love is Like a Seed, Baby...It Just Needs Time To Grow." ~ Janice Joplin (Trust Me)

Today I learned that I may have done pretty much everything wrong so far.

For one thing, I don't think I have nearly enough light system for what I am trying to grow. Woodchuck Gardener's locally experienced advice aside, every other garden source states that windowsills are only to be used a last resort and without grow lights, it's a waste of effort.

But it's not enough to have a grow light, you have to have enough grow light as well. Through sheer luck I ended up with a super light contraption with full spectrum blah blah and I haven't the least idea what any of it means but it was free so I took it (gratefully!).

I was also gifted an APS planting system starter kit and then added to it without really knowing what to expect, and now I feel overwhelmed with trying to fit all the pieces together using what I have and have purchased.

As of this minute, I have what can be covered by lights under the lights. I thought I could have the lights hang up higher and cover more area, and it was pure green horn ignorance that got us to this point.

Apparently, the lights don't do any good, or rather they can even do harm by producing spindly weak plants if the source is too far from the seedlings; the little ones burn themselves out reaching for the light. Rather than concentrating their energies into producing fat, dark, energy producing leaves, they grow long vulnerable stems that crush and break easily.

On top of that, I read today that I may have started my tomatoes a month too early! According to Garden Desk:

"For instance, tomatoes should only be under lights for 4 to 6 weeks before transplanting and you shouldn't transplant them until all danger of frost has passed. In my area, the average last frost is May 15th. That means that I should wait to plant the seeds of my 27 main season tomato varieties until mid-April."

THAT'S MY LAST FROST DATE! JEEZUM CRIPES!

I'm tempted to start over. But then, the peppers are coming up. All but the Italian Ice and Hillbilly Potato Leaf tomatoes have broken ground. The marigolds are going great, as is the kale which I now want to plant more of.

And then there're the four tiny basil seedlings that I know I'm going to want more of when the time comes because I just discovered that basil is an excellent companion plant with tomatoes. How apropos!

I think I may have killed the Johnny Jump Ups. Impetuously, I put the light on them right after we installed it and left their humidity holding bags on. I think the blunder steamed them to death!

I will just have to start them again, because I'm going to have their happy faces in my garden this year. And this IS going to all work out fine, whatever it takes - even if I have to break down and buy a few more light fixtures.

Oh yeah...to end on a happy note - The Moon Flowers have cracked and are going in the dirt today. They look like dinosaur seeds. Click on the photo and see for yourself...

XXKHT

“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” ~Albert Einstein

Moths and Moonflowers

Last week, my beloved B sent to me some seeds from her collection. She not only added greatly to our tomato selection, but also a variety of marigolds and an edible flower/bean called Scarlet Bees.

She also enclosed Moon Flower seeds that she'd gathered from her own gorgeous vines that she grows over the brick and iron wall of her city garden in downtown Baltimore.

Moon Flowers might be my favorite flower of all. A member of the nightshade family*, they have an enormous, pungent white blossom that unfurls after dark like a virgin on her wedding night - one time only - then closes back into a beautiful fractal spiral within which a fat pistachio shaped, hard-shelled seed will grow inside a sexy coffee colored pod.

The seeds are so hard, that in order for them to germinate, the cultivator must nick them - or as I like to think of it, give them a love bite.

What flower is more sensuous than this? I can't think of any.

Velvety, ghostly, voluptuous petals reek of desire. They require particularly well endowed moths like the Carolina Sphynx - one of the hummingbird species - noted not only for resembling the bird in size and shape, but also for it's extra long proboscis, the better to reach into the deep wells of their sweet nectar.

Oh my. Moon Flowers and Moths have it all over The Birds and the Bees. I move to change it.

XXKHT

A nice poem about Moon Flowers is here: Cold Tea Blues Moonflowers

The picture at left is jacked and edited from here:
Moon Flowers and Carolina Sphynx Moths

*Same as tomatoes, peppers, egglplant etc. but a different genus.

"Tomatoes...they consume you before it's the other way around." ~ KHT

I believe I may be going 'round the bend.

I can't stop obsessing about the garden and in particular the TOMATOES.

I was minding my own business today, lurking in the Blotanical Pick Lists and began following a thread of tomato leads which ultimately led to me ordering five more varieties of tomato seeds!

Even without the veggie porn (few pictures), I was enchanted by the names. Besides, I was concerned over the lack of solid red in our tomato patch and they made me buy them...

Cuor di Bue
This Oxheart type Italian heirloom has been a favorite in Italy for many years. Beautiful 12 oz. fruit have a delicious sweet taste, similar to the shape of a heart, great for fresh eating or cooking. Large vigorous vines. Hard to find.

Cosmonaut Volkov
A smooth and attractive, medium-large red tomato that has a full, rich flavor. The productive vines yield well even in hot weather, perfect for canning or slicing. This variety is from Dniepropetrousk, Ukraine, and was named after the first Russian Cosmonaut. In response to many requests, we are pleased to add this variety to the catalog.

Tatar of Mongolistan
We were sent this rare tomato in the late 1970's by Iraqi seed collector, Aziz Nail, who was living in France. Medium-sized fruit are very flavorful, red, and flattened in shape. These have become popular with seed savers since we introduced it about 5 years ago. We are glad to have this tasty type back. Great fresh or dried.

Bloody Butcher
A small 3-4 oz ‘cluster’ tomato. Fruit are deep red in color and have a nice tomato flavor. Production is really good, but where this open-pollinated tomato really shines is its earliness. It ripens in only about 60 days, making it ripen about the same time as Early Girl, but this tomato is much tastier.

So if you don't want to go crazy (like me) whatever you do, do NOT go to visit Rare Seeds.com

If you think you can remain sensible, DO go to visit:

Garden Desk: The Pros and Cons of Heirloom Tomatoes a wonderful and informative post about what it says it's about...

and

Garden Desk: White Tomesol Heirloom Tomato which contains an impressive list of 20 kinds of Heirloom varieties, in addition to 13 hybrids that Garden Desk writer is growing this season.

I'm increasingly amazed at how much there is to know even on the most basic levels of gardening.

This being only my second season, I am truly nuts to try to do this so totally, having no experience, and I am likely in for some huge disappointments; but I can't help myself. The whole process is downright addicting.

Every day I learn about ten new things. Today I learned (don't laugh) the difference between hybrids and heirlooms (thanks Garden Desk). I learned that I should expect lower yields from my heirlooms and that I'm going to have to do battle with the buggers - but I figure we didn't have fantastic tomato yields last year anyway, and I'm growing so many varieties, some of them are going to work and whatever didn't I will have learned from the experience and will try to improve next season.

Best case scenario, I have so many tomatoes, I'll be a slave to preservation and sales - I plan to sell some veg this year at (hopefully) The Old North End Farmer's Market and also (maybe) to some local restaurants.

Worst Case Scenario: I get few tomatoes and I study harder next time and learn from my mistakes. I will still have an exciting array of seed varieties to play with and I can perhaps enlist a mentor for insurance.

All this talk about it has give me the urge to go look at the babies. The kale needs transplant already because it's in the germination tray and not under light. It's leggy and is crying for a different situation.

Also, my daughter is going to sign up for a plot so she'll be on hand to take the stragglers on. With all that going for us, I'm pretty sure we're going to be buried in delicious veggie goodness by July.

Mmmm, mmmmm, good.
XXKHT
*veggie descriptions lifted straight from rareseeds.com

“We dance round in a ring and suppose, While the secret sits in the middle and knows” ~ Robert Frost

Even though it's way off topic, and after I refused to reveal myself to my first commenter stating that I want this blog is to be about Kimberley's Garden and not so much about Kimberley...

My new bosom garden blogging friend Linda who writes Garden Girl has invited me to participate in a meme: "List Ten Things That People Don't Know About You" It's almost too challenging since I tend to be a very open person, so I'm changing it to...

"Ten Things That The Public May Not Know About Me"

1. I was born in Wurzburg Germany while my father was in the military headed to Vietnam
2. I gave birth at home four times (on purpose! as Linda says)
3. My eldest child is 21 - the age I was when I had him - making me officially old enough to be a grandma. (Yikes!)
4. I do not want grandchildren - but not for reasons of vanity. As much as I love meine kinder, I feel guilty for producing a litter of western super consumers and I hope they'll be gentler to the environment than I was. To clarify:  I would dearly love any grandchildren that come along, but my hope is that if my children want to have families that they'll consider adopting someone who's already here and needs one - the more humanitarian and ecologically responsible option.
5. Ok, my other blog readers are well aware of this, but I am a die hard agnostic and I publicly question and often ridicule all the major religions in a quixotic effort to find and/or add some clarity to the convoluted and dangerous subject. (you gotta start somewhere)
6. I've been a professional cook/chef off and on for 28 years and the highlights were working as the pastry chef at Robert Duval's former restaurant (was his at the time) The Rail Stop in The Plains, Virginia and also at Restaurant Nora in Washington DC, the first all organic haute cuisine restaurant in the east.
7. Nora and I did NOT get along. But Mr. Duval and I did. He has a major sweet tooth and loved to watch me bake, often asking questions and or just lurking around to observe the process.
8. I say outrageous things just to get laughs (all the time)
9. Sadly, I have never attended college
10. In addition to being an avid new gardener and former chef, I am also a traditionally published writer (culinary and travel topics), a mixed media artist and photographer, and my recycled bike parts sculpture "Where Bicycles Come From" will hang in downtown Montpelier, Vermont all summer as part of their Sculptcycles exhibition. The picture is of the model, but the actual sculpture will be approx 5'x5' made of bike tires spray painted and wrapped in white duct tape with a tricycle suspended in the center. The contraption will be suspended from fishing line from some high anchor hopefully to the effect that it appears very sporelike to the viewers below.
11. Bonus: I am unemployed. (Anything considered.)

Well there you have it.
XXKHT

Next up BABY PICTURES! (and I mean the green kind)

"Meticulous \muh-TIK-yuh-lus\ adjective"

...M-W's Word Of The Day. It means: marked by extreme or excessive care in the consideration or treatment of details.

I knew from the beginning, that this seed starting project wasn't going to be a cake walk. Like all aspects of gardening, you can choose to throw everything together and hope for the best (and sometimes get it like we did last year), or, you can go blind reading every minute detail on the subject because - and I'm speaking from the last few days experience here - there is a seemingly endless amount of information to sort through - even just for starting onions.

As I'm reading along, new questions arise. For instance, some seeds benefit from a soaking in hot water before setting them in germination trays (or stations as we may end up calling them). "Do onion seeds like this?" I don't know! I've read hard shelled flower seeds do for sure, but can find nothing about onions in particular and if they would benefit from this practice.

There's a danger in garden writing in that many writers use vague terms of description leaving much to the imagination of over-eager readers looking for definite answers. I'm coming to realize that although there are hard truths in gardening, the variables outnumber them by a thousandfold. Add a gazillion opinions to that pot, and even though all these fabulous offerings are based on solid experience, the conditions you're going to work with may not support them.

Choosing your methods, equipment, and the area(s) you're going to work in; while considering factors such as temperature, moisture, air flow and/or protection from it, drainage, growing mediums, sterilization, EXPENSES!! Calgon! Take me away!! (see video)

I will say, that Ron Krupp - writer of A Woodchuck's Guide to Gardening - and fellow gardener down in Tommy Thompson that I hope to meet someday, offered some of the most comforting (and yet still vague) advice I've read so far:

"There isn't one right way to this business of seed starting. Gardeners of all shapes and sizes develop their own techniques. Most home gardeners have an assortment of techniques to germinate seeds, grow seedlings and care for young plants. We all learn what works for us."

and...

"The plants may not look as green and strong (as those under the fluorescent lights), but they catch up and do just fine in the garden."

I guess there's nothing for it but to just choose a method, be diligent and hope for the best. Remember the "wait and see" attitude I mentioned needing in a previous post? I'm calling upon it today.

That and a good old fashioned dose of humor - Here's an old Calgon commercial for those of us who remember such things...

Ha ha..that rascal Billy,

XXKHT