Garden Fever
Garden Week One 3/27/2018:
Garden Fever
If you are not already, it is time to start thinking about the garden. We, gardeners, are a funny species. We all have a theory and evidence and experience to back it up. I take and give advice with a grain of salt. What works for me, may not work for, and vice versa. As I think about the garden A favorite quote comes to mind. “All of life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” – Emerson I find this to be true in many things. Gardening is no exception. Through advice and experiment, I have found the following to be true:
Plants and seeds found in local stores and nurseries often survive planting or the move to the garden more successfully. This is because we live in hardiness Zone 5, which means that our last freeze of the year tends to come around or after May 30th. Plants propagated or raised in the local area are naturally prone to survive the local climate. This is true everywhere.
No matter where live plants originate, they will have been in a greenhouse or protective shelter until the ground is warm enough. To prepare the plant for the garden, place outside in a sunny area for 2-3 hours, extending by 2-3 hours a day for several days. This is called hardening-off. The purpose is to prevent the plant from going into shock. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard, “Don’t buy from this place or that…the plants are terrible.” Unfortunately, the plants probably died of shock. Taking this little precaution can save you time and money.
You do not have to wait till the end of May or the first part of June to start your garden. Some plants like, even love the cool spring weather. Yum…cold-hardy plants like lettuce, chard and kale, carrots, beets and radish, let us not forget peas, can go in the garden soon! Many cold hardy plants taste better after a bit of cool or cold weather. In addition to loving cool weather, these plants take fewer nutrients from the soil. In fact, after harvesting these delicious plants, you can work the rest of the plants back into your garden to feed your warm-weather loving plants.
To protect your plants from the hardest frost, starting plants indoors, can be fun and easier than you may realize. I have used just about every type of tray or seed starting pod you can find. They all work. The trick with all methods is sunlight, moisture and warmth. I have set trays with a clear cover on my porch in the sun all day then moved them into the basement or garage at night with much success. Want to upcycle, try using, berry, cookie or other clear plastic containers (make holes for drainage in needed) as a make-shift greenhouse. This year I am also experimenting with egg cartons.
Don’t want to hassle with indoor or greenhouse starts, you can direct sow most cold-hardy plants once the soil temperature reaches 40 to 45 degrees. Row covers or caterpillar tunnels can protect young plants from frost and help to warm the soil for faster germination.
Once seeds are in the ground, all you need is sun, water and warmth or well frost protection.
No matter how you start your garden, you could be enjoying fresh roots and greens right out of the garden before the weather warms.
Happy gardening!
Get orgainzed, experiment, and have fun!
Learn from a Gardener:
Funny story. When I was a young person I had an uncanny ability to kill plants. It wasn’t until a friend who had gone to school for horticulture told me that plants are hardier than I realized, that I began to really thrive as a gardener. Don’t get me wrong, there are times and plants which require more care, but on the whole, plants are pretty hardy.
Books, articles, YouTube, Grandma, let me count the ways to learn more about gardening. There is so much knowledge it can take a lifetime to master the art. Fortunately, we don’t have to do it alone. A friend of mine once told me that Agriculture is one of the most unusual industries because everyone knows that sharing your knowledge only strengthens the industry. I believe the same is true in our own back yards as well. Ask around, someone you know may just be a Gardener too.
