Buzz Buzz...Life's abuzz

That's summer for you, or at least for me. Activities colliding, busy schedule, and a beautiful bountiful garden that I don't spend quite as much time in as I'd like. At least the bees and butterflies do. I just try and take some time to smell the flowers.

Tarps and Black Gold!

A garden trick for those of you who are looking at that patch of weeds, thinking: 'Boy, it sure would be nice to grow some tomatoes there!' Put a tarp down over it and unload your compost onto it.  The weeds need sunlight and oxygen and all that great stuff to survive.  Not only are you eliminating the weeds, but when you uncover the plot after two weeks to a month, it will be damp and easy to work...it might actually be too wet to work, in which case just let it air out for a couple days.  Oh yeah, and if you have a pick-up truck, go get yourself a yard of compost from your local compost company.  We got a truck load of organic black gold for 25 bucks from Sonoma Compost Company.  Its way better than 10 dollars for a bag at your local nursery.

Giant Pumpkin: Part 1

We planted Pumpy Giant Pants, our giant pumpkin yesterday.  He was happy to get out of the four inch pot into some fertile, expansive soil (I could almost hear his roots sighing "ahhhh" as they stretched out).  

This is gardening folklore at its finest--record size crops.  There's a wealth of information out there about growing giant pumpkins.  I don't think I'm going to join the cult of competitive giant pumpkin growers, but this is a fun foray into that world...I'll keep you posted on how big mine grows.  Apparently these things can grow over 1500 lbs.  What?  

Food for thought.  Two tablespoons of red clover seeds becomes delicious sprouts in about three days.  Its so easy, its ridiculous.  Think about that next time you buy a $5 carton of sprouts next time.  http://www.cityfarmer.org/sprout86.html

Never let anyone tell you there isn't room for a garden.  

Wherever you have sun, you can grow a container garden.  I also use this spot to start seeds which I then transplant into my community garden plot.  When starting seeds you need to keep them evenly moist and keep an eye on them...and also get excited when the first green leaf appears.  So its best to do it at home, even if its on top of a truck cap!  Then you can transplant them elsewhere--or into a container in the same spot! 

Fact: Plants love water.

(I just wanted to share this awesome photo taken while hiking on the Colombia River Gorge)

My worms are hungry hungry hippos!  Turning food scraps into nutritious soil for plants can be intimidating for a novice gardener.  Hot or cold compost, worm bins all seem a bit technical.  Until you do it.  Then its just an experiment you watch and react to.  

 

This is a storage container with holes drilled in the sides.  We put in a little soil, worms, food, damp strips of newspaper, and lid.  They like it damp, but not soggy, and dark.  And the worms also seem to be vegetarians who don't like onions or citrus.  

Check it: www.whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/Easywormbin.htm

You can start with just one bin and then build another when it gets going and you need to harvest your nutritious WORM CASTINGS!

Seedlings love sun.  That's not gardening folklore that's fact.  There are certain basic facts about gardening: the sun is good, water is good, loamy soil is wonderful, and PLANTS WANT TO GROW. Then there are all the wacky things gardeners do to try and improve their gardens.  Some of these things are fact, some are folklore, and some blur the distinction.  All of which are the part of the creative process of gardening.  

Pictured here are my baby okra plants bending towards the sun.