Planting a Fall Garden the Easy Way

Fall doesn’t have to be a time in your garden when your bountiful summer crops simply start to slow down. In fact, in most areas of the country, fall can be one of the most productive times of year in your garden. Many crops thrive in the cooler weather of autumn, and even into winter with a bit of protection. Think spinach, lettuce, beets, carrots, cabbage, parsnips, turnips, radishes, broccoli, kale, chard, mustard greens — the list goes on!

One main question gardeners have about planting a fall garden is, “When should I plant?” No gardener wants to spend time adding compost and putting in new crops, only to have winter’s frosty chill come along and stall or kill the plants before they’ve produced harvestable yields.

In steps a tool we’ve been raving about for a few years now: the Vegetable Garden Planner. This online tool allows you to create a snazzy digital plan of your fall garden. You draw your beds, click on whatever crops you want to grow, and arrange them in your garden. The tool automatically spaces the crops for you. Then, you click on the “Plant List” button within the Garden Planner, and it tells you the window of time in which to plant each crop based on your exact location (you plug in your ZIP code when you begin), along with an expected harvest window for each.

New to the Garden Planner this year are various “garden objects” you can place in your plan. Especially useful for fall gardening are the season-extension devices you can add. Choose from hoop houses, cold frames, row covers, greenhouses, heated greenhouses and more. Just place whatever devices you’re using in your garden directly over the crops you plan to protect. The possible planting times and harvest windows will adjust for those crops.

In the image above, I’ve added a small hoop house over the left garden bed. Inside the hoop house, I’m growing spinach, kale and leaf lettuce. I’ve also added a small cold frame next to my shed, off the right. In the cold frame, I’ve indicated that I’ll be growing some mustard greens. If you like, you can add labels such as “hoop house” or “cold frame” next to these objects.

Of course, other crops were in these same beds earlier in the year — and that’s OK. For each crop you add to your garden plan, you can specific exactly which months it will be in the ground. When you remove summer crops such as zucchini and add some fall crops in the same spot, you just make those timing adjustments right in the Planner. The tool even tells you which crop family each crop belongs to, and warns you if you’re about to violate crop-rotation practices. You can see in the plan above that the kale, cabbage and mustard greens all have a light green shadow around them. The size of the shadow indicates how much space these crops will take up in your garden, and the color of the shadow tells you the crop family — in this case, that these are all brassicas. These features are so cool — and save me a lot of time!

If you live in an area with HOT summers — meaning spring and fall are definitely your prime growing seasons—you can tell the Garden Planner to “split” your seasons. When you do this, you’ll get two sets of planting windows and harvest windows: one for early in the year and one for late in the year. Fall gardeners can take advantage of this feature, too. If you want to plant lettuce, for example, in spring and in fall, just “split” your seasons to get two recommended planting times for the year.

For more fall gardening tips, see Grow Your Best Fall Garden. Happy gardening! We wish you bountiful harvests in every season.

[via Mother Earth News]

Guideline to Growing Medicinal Herbs from Seed

No matter how many years I plant seeds and watch them grow into mature plants, I am still awed. I feel an utter child-like excitement when I see the first sign of a sprouting seed poking out of the soil. Germinating seeds are a universal symbol of hope and renewal, ushering in the joy and promise of spring. In a world growing more complicated and technological by the day, it is a comforting pleasure to witness the simple, yet miraculous, processes of plant life. As an herbalist, I strive to cultivate direct relationships with the living medicinal plants I use in my practice, either through growing or wildcrafting. I came into this craft through my fascination with plants, along with their myriad offerings; growing medicinal herbs is one of the greatest joys in my life.

I have been growing plants for the last two decades and, like every gardener, I have learned as much from my mistakes as my successes. Growing up in the suburbs, I spent little time gardening; I didn’t catch the plant bug until I left home. My first vegetable garden was pretty much a flop, as I really had no clue what I was doing. But in my mind, I was now a gardener, and ready to try again the next spring. And luckily, many of my friends had green thumbs, or grew up on farms; they took me under their wings and taught me skills that are now instinctive.

Blue Cohosh seedlings (germinating three years after being planted)

When I started growing herbs, I soon realized that I had to pay attention to details and learn a whole new set of germination skills. Most of the annual vegetables we grow have evolved with the agricultural practices of humans, and thus have been selected over the millennia to have uniform, quick, and relatively easy germination. Not so with most of our medicinal herbs, especially considering that many of them are perennials, which typically have a more selective strategy for germination (with less of the live-fast, die-young lifestyle of annual plants). For the last five years I have nurtured an herbal nursery, and have learned even more tricks from other growers, as well as from watching and listening to the plants themselves.

Following is a special note on intention. Some years back we experienced an almost total failure in germination for most of the seventy species we planted. We re-examined all the variables: same soil mix we’ve been using for a decade, same fertilizer, greenhouse, etc. Now there’s always a chance that we missed an important ingredient, such as lime, which would adversely affect the pH, or our composted manure was too hot, or something to that effect. But, in reviewing our seeding scenario, I came to the conclusion that we sorely needed some ritual and prayer during planting time. By the time we are seeding, we have spent many moons in anticipation of this special moment, from the gathering of seeds to their stratification, the careful planning of the seeding schedule, and the formulating of soil. In addition to all of the material preparation, we are awaiting and co-creating the rebirth of the green world. Conjuring up a miracle in spite of frigid temperatures and gray skies. On a personal note, our first planting is also the beginning of my apprentices’ time working with my family and me, and I always want to honor the sanctity of those unfurling relationships. Now we mark our initial seeding with prayers, spoken intention, songs, and smudging. Since the inception of this little ritual, we have had very successful germination but, more importantly, our sense of place, community, and season has deepened.

My goal here is to lay out the most common systems for seed starting and the basics of caring for seedlings, including typically encountered problems, in the hopes that you are able to grow more plants to love, eat, and make medicine from. In addition, I will outline the special germination techniques necessary for many medicinal plants.

Direct seeding versus tray culture

Planting seeds directly in the garden has some obvious advantages, notably the absence of resources and energy necessary in seed tray culture. It is the easiest choice, and for those plants who do not tolerate transplanting, it is the only choice. The downside to direct seeding is the higher attrition rates with tender seedlings left to fend for themselves in the face of frost, competition, herbivory, drought, and disease. For plants with longer germination periods, the weed competition can be a major factor, especially if you aren’t familiar with identifying the seedlings of the planted herb.  However, the plants who do survive and reproduce will have offspring selected for their parents’ tenacity and vitality. Some plants that generally have good survival rates with direct seeding are: calendula, basil, holy basil, feverfew, German chamomile, borage, garden sage, skullcap, Echinacea, boneset, and anise hyssop. Many herbs need a period of moist cold before they germinate; these herbs may need to be planted in very early spring or in the fall. Check the resources below for each herb’s specific needs. For woodland perennial herbs with a two- to-three year germination period, planting directly in a prepared forest seedbed may be easier than keeping track of a seed tray for such a prolonged period.

California poppy seedlings interspersed with cooking greens

In addition, the following plants are typically seeded directly because of their dislike of transplanting, or because of the larger plantings inherent in cover crops: oats, California poppy, opium poppy, cilantro, parsley, khella, red clover, alfalfa, and fenugreek. I am somewhat of a control freak, so I rarely seed directly (except for the aforementioned herbs) and prefer to watch over my babes more closely in a greenhouse.

Seed Trays

Plastic seed trays are easy to acquire, come in a variety of sizes, and are often cheap or free. My nursery got its start with discarded mismatched seed trays, which I reused for years. An advantage to the seed trays with especially small cells is the ability to seed more plants in a relatively small area, which is especially helpful if you are planting in front of a small window, in a small grow light area, or you just want to heat a smaller greenhouse in the early Spring when it is still very cold. Obviously, with smaller cells you have to step up (transplant to a larger pot, or cell) your plants earlier (often when their first true leaves appear). Many medicinal herbs have longer periods of germination, so less precious space is wasted while we wait for their emergence.

Seeding in a greenhouse attached to the south side of a house

Note about sterilizing seed trays: I do not sterilize my seed trays for a number of reasons. One, it is a pain in the derriere, and two, my soil is alive with mycorrhizal fungal spores and beneficial soil bacteria from compost and worm castings. Plants with a healthy diet and environment, including beneficial flora, have more vitality to fend off potential pathogens. I focus more on helping to create a healthy terrain than combating disease. Preventative medicine is for plants too! If you do wish to sterilize, try using a hydrogen peroxide solution instead of bleach. Brewing supply centers sell many affordable eco-friendly sterilizing products.

I do have concerns about the environmental impact of chemicals used in manufacturing plastic, and the potential for endocrine-disrupting substances to leach from plastic containers and enter the soil and the plants contained within. Recently, biodegradable pots made from peat and/or manure have entered the market, and while more expensive, they may be better choices environmentally. Unfortunately, many are not manufactured domestically, so check their origin. Which brings us to another choice in containers– no container at all, the soil block.

Germinating blue vervain seedlings. Because of the smaller size of the cells in the tray, the seedlings will need to be pricked out and transplanted as soon as they develop true leaves.

These are blocks of soil, prepared from soil block makers, which are specialized metal forms with handles used to gather up moistened soil. The forms are used to create a row of soil cells, which are deposited on a wooden or plastic tray. Soil blocks were popularized by garden writer Eliot Coleman and are preferred by many organic farmers. The individual blocks are open to the air, so the plants roots growing in them are air pruned and cannot become root-bound, and consequently take off quicker after being transplanted. The forms come in a variety of sizes and can be stepped-up with the growing seedling. Once you get the hang of preparing the soil, reaching the proper moisture balance, and using the soil makers, the block making process can go quite quickly and efficiently. Soil block makers require a larger initial investment, but can last for many years if cared for properly. Another distinct advantage is the absence of plastic when using wooden trays and soil blocks. watch this video on making soil blocks

Germination set-ups

Soil Block maker- photo from Johnny’s catalog

Bottom heat
Heating the soil, through applying heat under seed trays, greatly improves the speed of germination, an important factor for medicinal herb seeds, which often have lengthy germination periods. There are a number of methods people use to achieve bottom heat. The most popular and easy is the electrical mat, which goes under a seed tray and comes in varying sizes, fitting underneath one to four seed trays. Some growers use special electrical lines that are run through a bed of sand, with the trays nestled in the warm sand. Another option is running hot water in pipes just under the surface of the soil in a greenhouse, with the heat provided by solar hot water heaters, with an on-demand propane heater as a back- up heat source. Yet another intriguing system is to build a hot compost pile in a greenhouse and place the trays upon the exothermic bacterial party.

It is helpful to have a soil thermometer, an inexpensive tool available from nursery and garden supply companies, to closely monitor the soil temperature. An ideal soil temperature for most seeds is 60 to 80 degrees F; I typically try to keep the soil between 65 and 75 degrees. It is important to not let the nighttime soil temperature dip too low as most seeds will bide their time until the soil warms more evenly. In addition, take care to not overheat the soil, as tender seedlings can easily desiccate or be damaged by excessive heat.

Heat mat from Johnny’s seeds

Greenhouses
How I love the quiet timeless magical hot greenhouse on a cold early spring day. Greenhouses can be built from glass, or thick UV resistant plastic (our 10 mil greenhouse plastic has lasted seven years). Old PVC pipes are often available for free or cheap from well drillers who cannot reuse them; they can be used to build hoop houses supported on posts made from rebar pounded into the soil. Alternately you can dig a hole with a steel bar and place the pipe directly in the soil. One-inch, schedule forty pipe, in twenty-foot lengths, will give you a nine-to-ten foot wide greenhouse with a six-foot height.  If you live in an area with snowfall, remember to create ample slope in your hoop houses so the heavy snow doesn’t pile too thickly and break the greenhouse. In our area, one intense winter storm brought down dozens of greenhouses. I have spent a good bit of time brushing heavy snow off our plastic greenhouses– snow can pile up, even with their generous slope.

Greenhouse fairies have proven to enhance germination rates by over 66%

Consider building a small greenhouse off the south side of your home if it receives ample sunlight. The thermal mass of the house will store heat from the sun during the day and radiate it off at night when it is needed.

Airflow is a greenhouse is paramount, both for lowering temperatures on sunny days, and minimizing fungal diseases. Design a greenhouse that allows for both ends of the greenhouse to open. Alternately, the bottom portion of the sides can be rolled up or raised. Fans are useful, and can be aimed to move air directly over seedlings to help prevent damping-off, a common fungal disease of seedlings (see below).

Greenhouse built onto the south side of our home/nursery/school

Sunny windows

Start your trays on a table or shelf in front of a south-facing window. Little to no investment is needed and typically no auxiliary heat is necessary. You may need to put your seedlings outside in direct sunlight on warm days. If your seedlings grow spindly or fall over, they needs more direct sunshine.

Grow lights

This germination set-up requires a start-up investment and obviously uses more energy than other methods. Full-spectrum fluorescent bulbs more closely replicate the spectrum of light found in sunlight.

Cultivation:

Soil
I recommend finding a very fine soil mix, which has been screened to a smaller particle size. It is easy for some of the tiny herb seeds to fall into larger cracks in coarse soil and never make it up to the surface. We add a moderate amount of an organic fertilizer bend to our soil recipe: a combination of blood meal, bone meal, and greensand. In addition, we add a mycorrhizal inoculant and small amounts of worm castings. We also add sand and actinovate (a bacterial inoculant), both of which help prevent damping-off. 
 
Following is my soil mix recipe for germinating herbs. It can be used for vegetable germination as well, but I formulated it specifically for smaller herb seeds. The fertilizer is enough to get the plants started but additional fertilizer, in the form of foliar feeding, will be needed when the seedlings grow their first true leaves. Sifting the peat and using smaller perlite are important steps in keeping the texture of the mixture fine enough for tiny seeds.

Fine Germination Soil Mix for Herbs

*5 gallon bucket = 1 part

Ingredients:

• 2 parts sifted peat
• 1 cup lime
• ¼ cup bloodmeal
• ½ cup greensand
• ½ cup bonemeal
• 1 ¾ part fine perlite
• ¼ part fine vermiculite
• 1 part sifted bagged compost (to avoid weed seeds)
• 2 cups worm castings
• ¼ cup mycorrhizae (modify proportions according to the directions on the specific brand of mycorrhizae you are using)
• 3 quarts fine sand
• Actinovate (follow the directions on the label)

Mixing:
I recommend wearing safety goggles and a mask to protect the eyes and respiratory passages from the dust and potentially harmful perlite. Sift the peat through a screen to remove large pieces and break up clumps. Place a screen with ½ inch holes over a wheelbarrow and mix the peat through. Add the lime, bloodmeal, greensand, and bonemeal and mix thoroughly. Add the other ingredients and mix with zeal and zest. Wet the soil thoroughly and add the actinovate (employ proportions as described on the label).

Watering
Watering medicinal herb seeds requires more attention than watering vegetable seeds as many seeds are tiny, or planted on top of the soil, and can easily be dislodged by regular watering. We water emerging seedlings with a metal mister, designed for a propagation greenhouse misting system, which we attach to the end of a hose (after first adding a filter so the fine orifices of the mister don’t clog with particulate matter). Alternately, you can use a watering wand nozzle attachment turned to the mist or fine spray setting. Just make sure it is a gentle enough spray for wee seedlings. Be prepared to spend a good bit of time watering, as thoroughly wetting the soil with fine misting is a slow going process. Another possibility is placing a non-draining tray under the seedlings and letting the water be sucked up into the soil through capillary action. Once the seedlings develop true leaves they are probably ready for the hard knock school of regular watering, which provides the tough love needed to prepare precious innocent sprouts for the real world of wind and rain. Make sure you are letting the soil dry out in between watering, not enough to cause wilting, but enough to let the soil get almost dry. Watering is a fine dance; it requires responsiveness to your dance partners, the plants, along with the musicians: light, airflow, and temperature. Flow with the changing ambient conditions, your intuition, and a close observation of the plants themselves.

Fertilization
I recommend using a small amount of organic fertilizer in your germination mix and periodic foliar feeding as the seedlings emerge. Foliar feeding applies nutrients onto leaves where they are absorbed directly. In my experience, foliar feeding greens-up plants quickly and is well worth the time and energy. We use a diluted mix of fish emulsion and seaweed run through a sprayer, applied after regular watering on the morning of a cloudy day. Too strong a preparation can easily burn plants on a sunny day and some plants are more sensitive to the nitrogen than others. Start with a very dilute mixture and slowly increase the concentration over time as you observe the plant’s response.

goldenseal seedlings from Mountain Gardens

Special seed treatments:

Following is an abbreviated version of special seed treatments, for a full discussion on this subject please visit my article on Cultivating Medicinal Herbs.

Stratification or Cold Conditioning– Many seeds have a built-in alarm clock that lets them know winter has passed and it is now spring, and safe to begin life. Stratification tricks seeds into thinking winter has passed by exposing them to an extended period of cold and moist conditions. Stratify seeds by planting them in the garden a couple of months early or by placing the seeds in moist sand for one to two months in the refrigerator. Boneset, ginseng, blue vervain, butterfly weed, blue cohosh, black cohosh, bloodroot, goldenseal, trillium, wild yam, wild ginger, false unicorn root, culver’s root, mullein, skullcap, wormwood and Echinacea spp. are just a few of the herbs that need stratification to germinate well.

Stratifying herbal seeds with wet sand

Light-dependant Germination –Sow these seeds directly onto the surface of the soil and very gently press them so they make contact with the soil. They then should be watered very gently by misting or bottom watering so they will not be washed off the surface of the soil. Many very small seeds are treated in the same manner, as they do not have the reserves to grow above a thick layer of soil. Angelica, bee balm, catnip, lobelia, lovage, mullein, Saint John’s wort, and violet are just a few of the herbs that need sunlight to germinate.

Scarification –Rub the seeds between two pieces of sand paper until you see a little bit of the endosperm (embryo nutrient reserves, usually a lighter color and different texture than the seed coat). Sometimes this is done before stratifying seeds and sometimes at the time of sowing. Astragalus, wild indigo, hollyhock, licorice, marshmallow, passionflower, red root, and rue are some of the herbs that will germinate better with scarification.

passionflower seeds being scarified with sandpaper

Transplanting

If your greenhouse has little airflow, consider hardening off your seedlings by gradually exposing them to increasing amounts of sunlight and wind before you plant them directly in the garden. Plant your seedlings in the garden on a cloudy day, or in the afternoon, and water well. You can use a diluted seaweed tea or willow twig tea to encourage root growth. If your plant is root bound (roots coiled around the edge of the soil), try and break them free and loosen the roots before planting.

Troubleshooting common problems with seedlings
My seedlings are spindly, yellowish, and stretching toward the light.

Get these babes to more light. Put them outside on sunny warm days in full sunlight (just a little on the first day, building up more time with each mild sunny day).

My seedlings are keeling over, pinched at the level of the soil, and now it’s spreading like wildfire; the neighboring seedlings are also biting the dust.

You got yourself a case of damping-off, a commonly encountered disease affecting seedlings, which is caused by a number of fungi. Try increasing ventilation with fans, open windows, etc. and increasing sunlight (if possible). Take care to not overwater (see previous notes on watering). We add sand to our soil mix, and many growers add a fine layer of coarse sand on top of the soil, both of which discourage fungal activity. In addition, we use an organic biological fungicide from a product called Actinovate. We add this bacterial inoculant to our germinating soil mix and periodically water our seedlings with the diluted spray.

Damping off killing a seedling- photo by Anne Tanne, courtesy of Creative Commons

My seedlings are slightly yellow and just don’t seem to be growing very fast.
Your seedlings probably need more nitrogen. Water them in with diluted compost tea or fish fertilizer. See the previous notes on fertilization.

May your gardens be bountiful, and provide nourishment, beauty and healing.

 To be of the Earth is to know
the restlessness of being a seed

the darkness of being planted
the struggle toward the light
the pain and growth into the light
the joy of bursting and bearing fruit

the love of being food for someone

the scattering of your seeds
the decay of the seasons

the mystery of death
and the miracle of birth
-John Soos-

Resources:

Seeds, Plants and Gardening Supplies
Horizon Herbs –  phone (541) 846-6704 Largest collection of organically grown medicinal herb seeds and plants. Catalog is also a growers manual and contains many of the germination specifics listed below.
Richters – phone (905) 640-6677 Huge selection of herb seeds and plants. Rare or hard-to-find herbs.
Prairie Moon Nursery –  phone (866) 417-8156 Seeds and plants of natives to the prairie and eastern states. Loads of germination information in their seed section.
United Plant Savers – Nursery and Bulk Herb Directory (available free to members)
Fedco seeds and Organic Garden Supply – cooperative seeds, trees, and gardens supply, located in Maine (207) 873-7333 or (207) 430-1106
Johnny’s Selected Seeds – 1-877-564-6697 large selection of garden/farm supply

Web Resources

Medicinal Herbs and Non-timber Forest Products – Useful links to many websites devoted to the topic of cultivating medicinal herbs. Dr. Jeanine Davis of NC 
Production Guides, written by Dr. Jeanine Davis and Jackie Greenfield. Covers the specifics of cultivating the following medicinal herbs: American ginseng, black cohosh, bloodroot, Echinacea angustifolia, E. pallida, E. purpurea, false unicorn, ginkgo, goldenseal, skullcap, wild indigo, and wild yam. 
Fedco seeds – Cultural information and planting chart for herbs – Fedco chart
Medicinal Herb Gardening Books please visit the resource section at the end of Cultivating Medicinal Herbs.
This article was previously published in Plant Healer Magazine, the paperless quarterly journal of the new folk herbalism resurgence – a downloadable, beautifully illustrated, full color PDF magazine

[via Castanea]

9 Steps to Start an Organic Garden

Jodie Frey, Assoc Dean and Dir of Recreation Services works at Lafayette Organic Garden near Metzgar Fields on Sullivan Trail in Forks Township.

With an increased focus on pesticides and contamination, many people want to incorporate more organic foods into their daily meals. Sometimes, these organics are priced significantly higher than the conventionally grown counterparts. If you have the space, start your own organic garden to help save money!

1) Prep the Soil

Healthy plants need healthy soil. Your organic veggies and herbs will need tons of nutrients from the soil and chemical treatments can deplete the soil. Other chemical fertilizers can harm helpful bacteria, microbes, and worms.
If you’re super serious about getting your organic garden done right, get a sample of soil and have it tested by your local agricultural office. You can let them know you plan to go organic and they will be able to help you tailor your gardening program based on what’s needed in the soil. Any nutrients you need to add should be added before winter.
Finally, make sure your soil has lots of humus. Humus is a mixture of plant materials that have decomposed. Add in some composted manure and you’ve got a recipe for success! When using manure in your gardening and composting, be sure it’s exclusively from plant eaters like cows, sheep, goats, and chickens. Never use manure from meat-eating animals.

2) Composting

Composting is one of the best things you can do for your garden, whether its organic or not. Compost feeds your plants, helps to eliminate weeds, and keeps food waste out of landfills. In order to make a good compost pile, you’ll need a minimum of 3 square feet, lots of  “brown material” (leaves, grass clippings, garden trimmings, etc), and lots of  “green material” (kitchen scraps and manure). Fill your compost bin with these types of materials and make sure it’s topped off with about 6 inches of soil. Each time you add a new layer of green or brown material, toss your compost pile to make sure things are mixing and decomposing evenly. You should toss it with a pitchfork, hoe, or shovel. In 2-3 months, you’ll have lush compost ready for your garden!

3) Choosing Your Plants

No matter how great your soil is, if you don’t have the right plants for your area, they won’t grow. It’s important to check the USDA’s Hardiness Zone map to find out if the plants you want will grow well. Once you choose your plants, you can begin to outline your garden and where each type will be planted to ensure its sun, shade, and moisture needs are being met.
Be sure to seek out certified organic plants and/or certified organic seeds. You may be able to find them at big box stores, but you’re better off at your local garden shop or an area farmer’s market. Most of your herbs and vine veggies grow best from the seed, so be sure to start your seedlings in late winter or early spring.

4) Planting

After you’ve chosen your plants, be sure and plant them in a way that is well suited for each plant. Raised beds are preferred for anything you’ll harvest such as cutting flowers, herbs, or vegetables. Plant vine veggies in long rows so they have lots of room to spread out. Plant your herbs in rows, but in closer clumps to discourage weed growth.

6) Watering

Of course, you’ll have to water your plants. Whether you water by hand or set up an irrigation system, the best time to water your plants is in the morning. It’s not very hot and there usually isn’t much wind, so the plants will be able to absorb the maximum amount of water. Be sure to water the roots and not the leaves. If leaves have water droplets on them when the sunlight shines on the plant, it can create a magnifying glass situation where the sun will burn the leaves.
Water your plants with lots of water, but only 1-2 times per week. To save water and help the plants keep their temperatures regulated, collect rainwater and use it to water your garden. If you don’t want to use collected rainwater, try using your filtered water so as not to reintroduce any contaminants back into the soil (and into your plants).

7) Weeding

Want to get some exercise? Get out in that garden and weed by hand! Hand-weeding is the best way to remove weeds because you’re not using any kind of sprays or chemicals. To cut down on the number of weeds, use your compost and if needed, use organic mulch on the top of your beds. Organic mulch will decompose into the soil. In a pinch, you can also use burlap fabric between the plants.

8) Protect from Pests

Bugs are a part of everyday life. Some will be beneficial for your plants, others won’t be. If you need to protect your plants from little critters, encourage predators like frogs, lizards, birds, bats, and ladybugs to hang out in your garden. Also, the more you diversify the plants in your garden, the less chance for a mass of bugs to hurt them. If you do need to spray your plants, look into Neem oil. Neem oil comes from the Neem trees in India and is a powerful bug repellant. Other plants (and their oils) like Citronella and lemongrass will help to repel bugs.

9) Harvesting

Finally, your hard work paid off and you get to reap the benefits of your labor. During the peak season of your various plants, you’ll need to check your garden everyday. Check the plant information for the best times to harvest your herbs and vegetables. If you have too much for you and your family, give some away or freeze and/or can your veggies. You can also fill ice trays with olive or sunflower oil and put fresh herbs in the oil. Freeze the oil cubes and this will help keep herbs fresh for a long time.
As you start thinking about warm weather, don’t forget to start planning your garden for spring. You’ll have tons of fresh, organic veggies all year at fractions of the cost. Happy planting!

[via Greener Ideal]

Composting 101

Understanding composting can be a bit intimidating. but fear not!...One of our favorite resources, Earth911 has compiled tons of great information to make the process of conjuring up your first compost pile a not-so-complicated challenge, hopefully increasing your knowledge and not stress! 

According to the EPA, 24 percent of the U.S. municipal solid waste stream is composed of food remnants and yard trimmings. If these materials were diverted to another use that kept them out of the trash, a significant portion of the country's everyday waste could be recovered for reuse.

Enter: composting. Grass clippings, food scraps and yard waste are all ideal materials to add to a compost pile. This means that starting one is about more than just creating a great soil booster for your garden or farm - it can cut down on your waste output as well.

For those who have been thinking about starting a pile for some time now, but are still unsure about taking on the challenge, understanding the basics of composting can make it a less intimidating process.

First Thing's First: What is Composting?

For households, composting is a way to recycle certain materials and kitchen scraps and turn them into a beneficial soil amendment for home gardens and reduce waste output.

For small-scale farms, composting is a way to utilize the residual plant and animal material generated and put it to good use as a fertilizer and soil-builder for future crop production.

In both cases, composting is the natural process of decomposition, sped up by a deliberate strategy in a concentrated environment to transform materials such as grass clippings, vegetable scraps, newspaper and more into a new material (known as "humus") that can then be incorporated back into the soil. Also, composting with worms, or vermicomposting, is another option over traditional composting using outdoor bins.

Break It Down: The Process

So, how does composting work? According to Nance Trautmann and Elaina Olynciw of Cornell University, microorganisms break down organic matter, producing heat, carbon dioxide, water and humus in the process.

When composting is done correctly, a pile undergoes three optimal phases:

1. The mesophilic, or moderate temperature phase, lasts 2-3 days
2. The thermophilic, or high temperature phase, lasts anywhere from 3 days to several months, depending on what is in the pile
3. The cooling and maturation phase lasts several months

In the first stage, what are referred to as mesophilic microorganisms quickly break down the easily degradable materials in the pile. The microorganisms’ output of this breakdown is heat, so the temperature in the pile rise. High temperatures in a compost pile are necessary to ensure that the next phase—where thermophilic (meaning "heat loving") microbes replace the mesophilic ones—ensues.

Thermophilic microbes then kill any pathogens that may exist, as well accelerate the breakdown of complex carbohydrates, fats and proteins that exist in the pile. Important to note is that if temperatures in the pile go above 149 degrees Fahrenheit, even the heat loving microbes can be killed, slowing the rate of decomposition.

Because piles can get too hot, aerating, or turning the pile, is essential if the cooling phase is to be reached. The cooling phase is where the high microbial activity of the other two phases is reduced, allowing for the compost to mature and become ready for application.

The Do's and Don’ts: What to Add, What to Leave Out

Besides the process itself, knowing what ingredients should go into a backyard composting operation is essential for a successful outcome.

“Green” (nitrogen rich) and “brown” (carbon rich) materials are required to be in proper balance to ensure that the pile does not become anaerobic. Anaerobic decomposition occurs as a result of an improper chemical balance, mainly a lack of oxygen.

This lack of oxygen necessitates aeration (turning the pile). If the pile is not properly aerated or has too much nitrogen and not enough carbon, rotting and stinking can occur. A compost pile should never smell, according to the EPA.

So, how to achieve this proper chemical balance? Let’s start with the greens. Green materials refer to those that are rich in nitrogen. Some examples of green materials include:

• Food scraps - Vegetable peelings are a common material produced by households and make a great compost amendment. However, never add animal-based leftovers (fat trimmings, meat, cheese, milk, etc) as the oils and fats are not conducive to a backyard composting operation.
• Fresh grass clippings
• Manure - If you have access to manure from horses, cows, sheep, goats or chickens, it is a great compost ingredient because it speeds up the decomposition process. It is not a requisite for a successful compost pile, however. Never use manure from carnivores.
• Plants and plant cuttings - Just-picked weeds from around the backyard (as long as there are no developed seeds or seed heads) are permissible, as are flower tops. Green leaves from a freshly cut branch work as well (just make sure to shred them).

Brown materials, on the other hand, are rich in another crucial ingredient, carbon. Carbon gives the microbes the energy they need to work. It is useful to shred most brown ingredients so as to lessen the workload for microbes, enabling decomposition to happen faster.

Some examples of brown materials include:

• Dead, dry leaves
• Hay and straw
• Simple paper products - Newspaper, paper and cardboard
• Crushed egg shells
• Coffee grounds - tea bags and loose-leaf tea work as well
• Wood ashes and sawdust - Use sparingly. Wood ashes can make the pile very alkaline, which limits microbial activity, and sawdust can take a long time to break down.

Some Final Tips: Water

According to the EPA, another important factor to keep in mind is the moisture content of the pile, since the hard-at-work microorganisms need an adequate amount to survive. Water also transports nutrients and organic matter throughout a compost pile, which keeps the pile from becoming stagnant.

But how do you tell if water should be added? According to the New York City Compost Project, if you have just loaded the pile with  autumn leaves from the backyard, make sure to add sufficient water to them so that they glisten. Doing so kick starts the decomposition process of the carbon-rich leaves.

Additionally, the NYC Compost Project recommends that "Optimal moisture levels for composting occur when materials are about as moist as a wrung-out sponge—obviously moist to the touch, but yielding no liquid when squeezed."

For advanced-level composting, moisture content instruments are available and can help you to be more precise, although rainfall will often do the trick, as it provides a slow soak that is optimal for a infiltrating a compost pile. For those in a drier climate, however, intentional watering will probably be necessary. Make sure to add water slowly and to turn the pile to incorporate the water so it reaches all sections.

Make It Easy!

To avoid countless trips out to the backyard to dispose of kitchen scraps, put them in an airtight bag and freeze them. This also helps to avoid the smell of old food.

Additionally, freezing will assist in achieving chemical balance in your compost pile. For example, if you have an overload of “green” food scraps from that get-together you had the other night and you do not have the necessary “brown” materials to balance out the pile, freeze the scraps for a while until you have enough "brown" to add to the pile.

Where you live and your particular climate will have a significant effect on your pile, some it occasionally may come down to some experimentation. For more guidance as well as some more advanced composting methods, check out the video below to get started: