Early Spring bloomers!

By now your gardening efforts are blooming.....baskets of gold, pansies, tulips, daffodils, candytuft, anemonies, forsythia....and soon iris, lilacs and spirea. Spring has sprung! Enjoy!

Time to plant peas!

Among the cool weather things to plant early, peas are on the list.

1. Choose your type(s). There are three: English or garden peas (only the seeds are eaten), Chinese or snow peas (picked when the pods have reached full size but the seeds are still small and eaten pod and all), and snap peas (picked when both pod and seeds are mature; both are edible).

2. Sow peas directly in the garden as soon as the soil can be worked, usually about five weeks before the last expected frost. Because the seeds germinate so readily, and because you'll want to make successive plantings, there's no real advantage to buying started plants.

3. Plant the seeds an inch deep, 3 to 4 inches apart, in rows about 3 feet apart. Install supports for peas - even dwarf varieties - when you plant them, and start guiding the vines upward as soon as they're long enough to climb.

4. Plant a different, heat-resistant variety a few weeks after the first sowing. Then 8 to 10 weeks before the first frost date, plant a crop in another bed for an early autumn harvest.

5. Make sure young plants get about 1/2 inch of water a week (1 inch in very sandy soil). When plants begin to flower, they need an inch per week regardless of soil.

6. Help ensure heavy yields by feeding liquid seaweed or compost tea twice during the growing season.
   

7. Expect peas to be ready for picking about three weeks after the plants begin to flower.

Small spaces can yield garden produce!

Just because you don't have a huge garden space or live in a city, it doesn't mean you cannot grow healthy produce for your use. A creative gardener can use a roof top, large containers including garbage cans, or an old rain gutter to plant in.

Vegetable container gardening can bring joy and bounty. The simple pleasure of biting into a tomato still warm from the sun, picked and eaten on the spot, is almost unbeatable. You can grow just about any vegetable in a container garden and you can also save serious bucks by growing your own vegetable container gardens.

However, vegetable container gardening can be a frustrating and expensive endeavor if your plants don't thrive and produce. The following list of basic tips apply to most vegetables, and will help you and your plants get off to a good start.

Sun - Most vegetables need full sun – that means at least six hours of direct sunlight a day. It is easy to overestimate how much sun an area really gets, so either take out your watch and time how long the sun hits the spot where you want to put your vegetable container garden.

Water – Growing vegetables need water - lots of it. However, you don't want to drown your plants. The goal is to keep your soil moist but not wet. To figure out if your plants need water, stick your finger down into the soil, about an inch, or up to your first knuckle. If the soil feels dry, add water, and if you're not sure, wait and check later in the day. At the height of summer, you probably will have to water at least once, sometimes twice, a day. Proper watering may be the single most important and hardest part of vegetable container gardening. A water gauge that goes down to the roots is a good $6 investment.

Heat – If you live in a really hot zone you may have to shade your plants in the middle of the day in order not to fry them. Also, it's best not to use metal containers or dark colored plastics or ceramics, because they can heat up and cook your plant's roots. On the flip side, many vegetables don’t like cold soil, so make sure not to put your vegetable container gardens outside full-time, until you know the temperatures are warm enough. For many plants the soil needs to be at least 60°F. Using a meat thermometer is a good way to find out the temperature of your soil. Always make sure to harden off your plants before you put them outside. That means introduce them gradually to the elements.

Soil - Quality potting soil is really important for vegetables. Don't use soil from your garden, because it will compact in your container and won't drain water properly. Also, one of the reasons to garden in containers is so you won't have to deal with weeds. Chances are pretty good that if you use garden soil, you will be importing weeds into your container. I use organic potting soil because studies have shown that there are many benefits to growing organically, including better taste and a higher percentage of antioxidents and phytochemicals.

Fertilizer - Plants need food to thrive, and their food is fertilizer. If your soil doesn’t have fertilizer already mixed in, you’ll want to add fertilizer. I use an organic granular fertilizer and mix it into my containers from top to bottom. Every couple of weeks I will add diluted liquid fish emulsion or liquid seaweed to give them the nutrition they need. Another great way to add fertilizer during the growing season is to make or buy compost tea.

Drainage - Drainage is key to keep plants from drowning. You want your pot or container to let excess water out of the bottom, so your plants won't sit in water or soggy soil. Make sure your container has one large hole or several smaller ones. You can usually drill holes if the drainage is insufficient. To protect a deck under the pot...put a saucer under the pot to catch the drainage.

Containers – Choosing a container can be daunting. You can use almost anything for a garden planter as long as it is big enough and has good drainage. Keep in mind though, that the larger your container, the easier it will be to maintain. The more soil a container can hold the more moisture it will retain. I don’t bother with containers that are smaller than 12” and I am much happier if they are at least 18”. Bigger, really is better here.

I particularly love wooden containers for growing vegetables. I like the way they look and you can get really good-sized containers that aren’t too expensive, or you can make your own. Cedar will last just about as long as your garden does. Plastic or glazed ceramic containers are fine too. You can even use terracotta, but it is harder to keep your plants moist, because the clay tends to suck the water out of the soil. To help solve this problem, put a dish under your ceramic pot and fill it with water.

Seeds or Seedlings – You can start your veggies from seed or buy seedlings. There are some significant advantages and disadvantages to each. Starting your own seeds is much less expensive than buying seedlings, after some start up costs. If you start your own seeds can grow hard to find varieties and can also grow your seedlings organically. However, starting seeds isn't for everyone. You absolutely cannot let them dry out or they're toast. Conversely, if you give them too much water, they keel over dead. Check out the blog on starting seeds.

Building a raised bed garden!

Building the garden

If you're a beginner to the raise bed gardening world, laying out the garden in a rectangular pattern is the way to go. Rectangular gardens are easier to maintain and to work on. No matter which design you decide on, make sure to level the area first to make a flat base for starting the project. Other things to keep in mind when you're building a raised bed garden include:

Width and length. If your raised garden bed is accessible from both sides you can make it four feet wide. If the bed is accessible only from one side, limit the width to 3 feet. Most gardeners find it uncomfortable to reach farther than 3 feet to tend the bed. The garden can really be any length suitable to your landscape, but a good workable size is about 12 feet long.

Depth. Most plants need at least 6 to 12 inches of rooting zone, so the soil in the raised garden bed should be about 12 inches deep. Beds built higher may need retaining walls with foundations to keep the soil intact. The higher the raised garden, the less bending over for you.

Drainage. Place a few inches of small gravel in the bottom of each bed for good drainage.

Orientation. A north-south orientation is best for growing low growing crops, allowing direct sunlight to both sides of the beds. Beds that contain taller crops might do better on an east-west axis. When in doubt, just make sure the raised garden bed gets a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight a day and plants don't shade each other.

Soil composition. Fill the raised garden beds with a top soil or a good soil mix. Add compost and mix it in. Some sand can be added if desired for drainage purposes. After you plant your seeds, add about three to four inches of mulch. The mulch will break down over time and add nutrients to the soil and keep it loose. Mulch will also help conserve water and cool roots of the plants. You won't have to worry about weed problems if you mulch well.

Using a frame

Although most raised bed gardens are framed, they really don't have to be. Some gardeners simply mound up soil, to make planting flowers or vegetables within area landscaping easier. However, using a frame will help keep the soil in place during heavy rains and keep the raised bed garden looking neat. You can use a variety of materials, so long as whatever you choose is sturdy and long lasting. Here are some framing ideas:

• Wood. Avoid using pre-treated lumber for bed frames of vegetable gardens. Chemicals can leach out and injure plants. Use pressure-treated lumber, or rot-resistant cedar or redwood.
• Composite landscape timbers. Some landscape timbers are made to look like weathered wood. They are made from recycled plastic, weather well, are easy to install, and are long lasting.
• Concrete block or stone. A little pricier than wood, but very long lasting, blocks or stones make excellent raised bed garden frames.

Easy access pathways

If you're building more than one raised garden bed, leave walkways in between each bed. When deciding on the width of the walkway, keep in mind that plants at the border of your garden will hang over the edge and that you may want to bring a wheel barrow or garden cart in. For foot traffic only, 1-foot wide paths are usually big enough. Also, put something down on the walkway to keep it from getting muddy. You'll need easy access to those beautiful vegetables and flowers you'll be growing!

Amanda and Josh's New House Complete With Raised Beds!

Follow along this summer as Amanda and Josh learn how to garden in these wonderful raised beds already complete with drip irrigation system. Now all they need is Grandpa Steve's handiwork in the form of a potting bench and a load of manure!

Raised Bed Gardening!

A popular vegetable garden layout which many home gardeners choose is the raised garden bed. Raised beds are versatile, easy to use, and have many advantages over traditional gardening. For example, a raised bed allows you to easily control your soil mixtures so that you always have the proper soil for your plants. As you can customize the soil mixtures in your raised beds, you can greatly improve soil drainage for your plants. Many gardeners build raised beds just for this reason. Raising your garden bed even eight inches above the existing ground level can greatly improve drainage. I would suggest 12 inches however.

While one of the most obvious benefits to gardening with raised beds is their adjustable height, raised beds also have numerous other benefits. For example, because raised beds are designed so that you don’t have to actually step into your raised beds for maintenance, you can produce larger quantities of fruits in vegetables in the same amount space that you’d use in a traditional garden plot.

Garden maintenance is also easy with raised beds. You can quickly and easily remove weeds and control pests in your raised beds. If you use black plastic mulch for weed control, you will use significantly less plastic for your raised beds that in a traditional garden. Moreover, rodents and other pests that like to eat your veggies in a regular garden bed will have difficulty reaching plants in raised beds. Crop rotation is also relatively painless in raised beds, which can help prevent problems with diseases that can form in the soil over time.

Watering is also easy and more efficient, as you irrigate only where plants are growing and not the walking spaces between your garden rows. Additionally, you can grow your plants closer together, which helps to shade the soil and reduces evaporation. A drip irrigation system is ideal and efficient.

You can also quickly change soil and plants in your raised beds. For example, using a raised bed makes it very easy to plant annuals in the summer and replace them with bulbs later in the growing season. If you grow vegetables or fruits, raised beds can greatly increase the growing season. Soil actually heats up quicker in raised beds and the addition of a removable plastic frame transforms your raised bed into an instant cold frame.

Raised beds can also make gardening more creative, as you can use many different kinds of materials to build you beds including beautiful hardwoods, bricks, stones, and recycled materials such as railroad ties.

Vegetables are normally planted closer together than in the row vegetable garden layout making this is an ideal choice if you only have space for a small vegetable garden. These beds need to be narrow enough so that you do not need to tread on your beds to plant, weed or harvest your veggies. A good width would be 3 to 4 feet, (.9 - 1.2 metres) if you can get at the bed from both sides. You can build raised beds out of recycled wood, bricks, concrete blocks, stones or just pile up the soil on top of the ground. A good depth would be about 8-12 inches (20-30 cm).

A raised bed will enable the soil to warm quicker so you can plant earlier in the season. It will also improve drainage. Even if you have very poor soil or even a concrete slab (make sure you have a soil depth of 12 inches or 30cm for this situation), a raised bed will allow you transform a barren patch into a bountiful harvest. A raised bed also alleviates the problem of tree roots competing with your veggies for nutrients and water but make sure that any tree will not cast too much shade on the garden beds.

More potatoes!

Potato Varieties

There are many different choices for the potato gardener, limited only by personal preference. Listed below are the most common varieties.

Reds — This kind of potato has reddish skin, white flesh and a lower starch content. They are especially good for roasting. Red varieties are more susceptible to scab, as their skin is generally thinner and they have shallower eyes than brown-skinned potatoes. However, the issue is not serious enough to be a deterrent to planting red potatoes.

Whites — The most common type of potatoes found on grocery store shelves, white potatoes have pale skin and white flesh. They are good all-purpose potatoes, suitable for just about any dish.

Yellow — Varieties of yellow potato include Yukon Gold. Yellow potatoes have yellow flesh and are notably good for baking and frying.

Russet — The classic baking potato, russets have a high starch content (which also makes it great for mashing) and a skin that is a bit thicker and darker than other white potato varieties.

Many varieties, like fingerling potatoes aren't found in the grocery store but are plentiful in season at Farmer's markets.

Variety	Maturing	Comments
Yukon Gold	Early to Mid season	Large, yellow-fleshed variety. They are excellent baked, boiled, or mashed. These potatos store well.
Superior	Mid season	Good baked, boiled, or mashed. Resistant to potato scab.
Red Pontiac	Late maturing	High yields, large round potatoes, easy to grow, stores well.
Kennebec	Late maturing	Excellent producer, large potatoes, great for baking or frying, stores well.
Russet Norkotah	Late maturing	Excellent baking potato, excellent producer, large potatoes.
White Rose	Early to Mid season	Good producer, good for cooking, doesn't store well.
Russet	Mid season	Excellent producer, excellent baking potato, large potatoes, excellent for storage.
Norland	Early maturing	Red skin, white flesh, excellent when boiled, fried, or mashed, stores well.

Planting potatoes: Choose a sunny spot with well draining, loose soil, so that the roots and tubers can develop. . Trench Method: A traditional potato planting method involves digging a shallow trench, about 6" deep and placing the seed potatoes in the trench, eyes facing up. You then cover the potatoes with a couple of inches of soil. As the potato plant grows, soil is continually hilled up along the sides of the plants. This keeps the soil around the developing tubers loose and keeps the surface tubers from being exposed to sunlight, which will turn them green and somewhat toxic. Hill soil whenever the plants reach about 4-6" in height. You can stop hilling when the plants begin to flower.

Maintenance: Potatoes don’t like a particularly rich soil. If you have some organic matter and the pH is good, the potatoes should be happy. What they do rely on is a steady water supply. Water them at least and inch a week.

HARVESTING - New young potatoes are harvested when peas are ripe or as the potato plants begin to flower. For storage of full sized potatoes harvest them when the vines turn yellow or have died-back.

STORAGE - Keep them in the dark, in a spot where temperatures are about 40 degrees.