Garden Easter Baskets!

Window ledge basket!

Sedum metal basket hanging on the gate!

Herb wagon on the deck!

From Southern Living....Plant an Easter Basket! I don't often use material that is borrowed, but this was too wonderful to resists. Thank you Southern Living and Charlie Thigpen.

Hop into gardening by nestling small, plant-filled containers in strategic locations throughout the landscape. To create a fun seasonal look, we gave this display an Easter theme, mixing foliage, flowers, eggs, and a small rabbit statuary.

Classic Wicker
We lined our traditional Easter baskets with burlap and filled them with soil. Then we placed plants inside. To make the wicker last longer, you can leave plants in their plastic pots and arrange them in the basket. Fill in the voids between containers with moss or burlap. Take the pots out when watering, so the baskets won't stay wet.

Durable Metal
A metal basket makes an excellent, long-lasting planter. This one needed drainage holes, so we drilled a few in the bottom before planting golden club moss and hostas. Golden club moss grows flat and covers the soil like a shimmering chartreuse blanket underneath the leafy hostas. This shade-loving mix provides a medley of foliage from spring till summer.

New Life for an Old Basket
A rusted, wire-framed hanging basket makes a great planter. We removed the chains and let it rest on the ground. Then we added a coco-fiber liner and filled it with potting soil. When choosing plants, be creative and try a shrub. We put a small boxwood in the center and tucked petunias around it. Once the boxwood outgrows the space, plant it in the yard. We used variegated ivy along the outside edge of the container.

Tasty Treats
Two of the baskets contain edible greenery. One is filled with creeping thyme and topped with a large ornamental egg. The thyme's fine texture makes a nice green nest for the oversize egg. The larger basket contains chartreuse leaf lettuce mixed with chives, which have spiky, hollow foliage. Chives produce beautiful pink spring blooms. For a decorative touch, eggshells can act as pots. Crack open real eggs, wash the shells, and fill them with small sprigs of thyme.

This season, let baskets decorate your landscape. It's a great time of year to garden, and plants are plentiful. So what are you waiting for? Plant one for yourself, and give one to a friend for a memorable spring treat.

Rita Babcock...gardener of the week!

Bloom Where You're Planted!

Since this is my Mom's favorite saying, I was happy to see this sign hanging in our friends garden! Her garden is full of raised beds, potting benches and tools in a big mailbox. And, she takes the time to explain how little chickens grow up to be big white chickens to little interested girls. Thanks Rita Babcock for your gardening inspiration!

Best organic fertilizers....and info about poop!

At some point in your gardening experience, you may want to use a fertilizer to give your plants an extra boost. Unfortunately, many gardeners rely on chemical fertilizers to grow their trees, grass, flowers, fruits, and vegetables. However, there is an increasing awareness that many of the chemicals we use in our yards can over the long run negatively affect the environment and the health of our loved ones, neighbors, and pets.

Thankfully, there are a number of healthy natural and organic fertilizers available that will help you grow a lush, green garden and lawn without the use of potentially harmful chemical fertilizers.

THE BASICS OF ORGANIC FERTILIZERS:

Like traditional fertilizers, organic fertilizers show their content with three bold numbers. These numbers represent three different compounds: Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potash, which we can also describe with the letters N-P-K. The three numbers listed on fertilizer labels correspond to the percentage of these materials found in the fertilizer.

In addition to other properties, Nitrogen helps plant foliage to grow strong. Phosphorous helps roots and flowers grow and develop. Potassium (Potash) is important for overall plant health.

What Are Organic Fertilizers?

Some gardeners don't believe the claims of fertilizers to be really organic.

Yet chemical fertilizers are made in factories by turning nitrogen gas into ammonia and treating rock phosphate with acid. The problems with chemical fertilizers have been:

rapid release of nutrients and possible unbalanced growth,

a salty environment which damages plants and soil,

gross waste and pollution.

BEFORE YOU APPLY ORGANIC FERTILIZERS:

One of the best ways to improve the health of your plants is by adding organic compost to your soil. Compost can help reduce the amount of fertilizer treatments your plants need. If you’re not composting organic garden waste and kitchen scraps now, you should start as soon as you can. The addition of compost to your garden soil will add nutrients, improve drainage, and help your plants’ immune systems.


MANUREManures and composted plant materials add organic matter, which helps soil retain moisture and structure which prevents compaction, and helps prevent nutrients from leaching away. They also balance extremes in soil pH.

Good poop, bad poop

What is good for the goose, is not always good for the gander. There are a few manures that should not be used, primarily those of meat eaters. According to Cornell University "Homeowners should not use any manure from dogs, cats, or other meat-eating animals, since there is risk of parasites or disease organisms that can be transmitted to humans."

The most common sources of manure are horses, cattle, goats, sheep, rabbits and poultry. Below is a guide showing how manures measure up, nutrient-wise. While all animal manures are good sources of organic matter and nutrients, it's impossible to make a precise analysis, mostly because bedding materials vary so much. For example, manure with straw or sawdust will have a different nitrogen composition than pure manure. But it's useful to know whether the manure you're using is rich or poor in a particular nutrient such as nitrogen.

Just like we need to eat to maintain our health, soil needs continual replenishment of its organic matter to decompose into humus. Humus helps create a rich, moisture-retaining soil and makes nutrients available to plants.

How common manures measure up

Manure	Chicken	Diary cow	Horse	Steer	Rabbit	Sheep
N-P-K	1.1 .80 .50	.25 .15 .25	.70 .30 .60	.70 .30 .40	2.4 1.4 .60	.70.30 .90

Sources: Rodale's All-New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening, An Illustrated Guide to
Organic Gardening, by Sunset Publishing, and the Rodale Guide to Composting.

Chicken manure
Poultry manure (chicken in particular) is the richest animal manure in N-P-K. Chicken manure is considered "hot" and must be composted before adding it to the garden. Otherwise, it will burn any plants it comes in contact with.

Dairy (cow) manure
Dairy Manure may be the single most useful soil-builder around," says Ann Lovejoy, lifetime organic gardener and writer in Seattle, Washington. "Washed dairy manure from healthy cows is just about perfect for garden use; it can be used as a topdressing and for soil improvement," she adds. Dairy manure is preferable to steer manure, which has a higher salt and weed seed content. Though cow manure has low nutrient numbers, that's what makes it safe to use in unlimited quantities.

Horse manure
Horse manure is about half as rich as chicken manure, but richer in nitrogen than cow manure. And, like chicken droppings, it's considered "hot". Horse manure often contains a lot of weed seeds, which means it's a good idea to compost it using a hot composting method.

Steer manure
Steer manure is one of the old standbys, but it's not the most beloved because it often contains unwanted salts and weed seeds.

Rabbit manure
Rabbit manure is even higher in nitrogen than some poultry manures and it also contains a large amount of phosphorus--important for flower and fruit formation.

Sheep manure
Sheep manure is another "hot" manure. It is somewhat dry and very rich. Manure from sheep fed hay and grain will be more potent than manure from animals that live on pasture.

How to use manure

No matter what kind of manure you use, use it as a soil amendment, not a mulch. In other words, don't put raw manure directly on garden soils. Raw manure generally releases nitrogen compounds and ammonia which can burn plant roots, young plants and interfere with seed germination. In fact, it's recommended that all animal manure should be aged for at least 6 months. Many gardeners spread fresh manure in the fall and turn it in to the top 6 inches of soil a month before spring planting.

A better treatment is to hot-compost manure before applying it to the garden. Hot composting, where the pile reaches at least 150 degrees F) helps to reduce the probability of passing dangerous pathogens on to people who handle the manure or eat food grown with manure compost.

While the chance of contamination is slim, severe sickness and even death may occur if contaminated produce is eaten. To be safe, either compost your manure or apply it in the fall after harvest. Wash up after handling manure and don't forget to rinse the vegetables and fruit well before you eat them--always a good idea whether your use manure or not.

Spring is here with new little chicks!

More early sping plantings for your garden!

Rhubarb begins to peek up out of the ground very early on and grows quickly in the cool spring weather. My Mom used to make a killer rhubarb cake every spring. Rhubarb sauce with a little cinnamon and cream on top is delicious. And, there is nothing better than rhubarb strawberry pie.

• Planting: Usually grown from purchased crowns (rhizomes and buds). You can divide existing rhubarb plants (root balls) or even start them from seed, although they might not grow true to color. When growing from seed, it can take 2 years before the plants are large enough to harvest. Any well drained, rich soil. Prefers a slightly alkaline soil - pH of 6.0 to 6.8. Since you’re growing it for the foliage and it has a sort season, you want a soil high in organic matter, to support quick spring growth. Care should be taken when preparing the rhubarb bed, since the plants will be there for quite awhile after.

  Space rhubarb crowns every 3 - 4 feet in rows about 3 feet apart. If planted too closely, the plants will grow smaller and less productive. You can plant in a long trench, much like asparagus, or dig individual holes. Place the crown 2 inches below the surface of the soil. Firm the soil gently and water well.

  Rhubarb likes regular water, although mature plants are quite drought resistant.

  Remove flower stalks as soon as they appear. Flower stalks are rounder, thicker and taller than leaf stalks. If allowed to mature and flower, the leaf stalks will be thinner.

  Rhubarb does not like competition from weeds. A 2-3 inch layer of mulch will suppress weeds as well as help conserve water.

• Harvesting: As with most perennial crops, don’t harvest the first year. Allow the plant to hold onto its leaves and build its strength. A top dressing of manure will keep it going.

  You can take a small harvest the second year. Harvest stalks that are at least 1" thick and leave the rest. During the 3rd year, you can harvest for about 1 month. After the 3rd year, you can harvest whenever there are stalks ready for picking. Plants can remain productive for 8 to 15 years, unless affected by pests or diseases.

  To harvest, cut the stalks at the soil line or pull out individual stalks as needed. You can harvest the whole crop at the same time or harvest in succession over a 4-6 week period. Although the leaves are toxic, they can be used in the compost pile....the oxalic acid will dissipate in the composting process.
  

  As the temperature warms, growth slows and may even go dormant, but will resume in fall as temperatures fall.

• Dividing Rhubarb: To divide rhubarb, dig the root mass and divide the crown between buds or eyes, into pieces about 2" long, with roots attached. You can divide in spring or fall, but it’s easier in spring, when the plant is coming out of dormancy and growing new roots.
• Winter Protection: Rhubarb enjoys needs a period of cold to remain productive. A layer of mulch over the bed, once the ground freezes, will protect the roots from drying out. Otherwise, the plants should be fine on their own.
• Maintenance: Plants will need to be divided or trimmed every 4-5 years. You will notice the stalks getting thinner as the crown becomes overgrown and crowded. When this happens, either divide or Trim the crown to 4-5 buds.