In the Garden: Recent Episodes
In the Garden
Gardening is an art form all its own. I contend that gardening is not just miniature farming or farming-lite but rather something entirely different than farming with different objectives and methods. As a gardener my objective is twofold; one is to have a continuous harvest of fresh veggies during the growing season and two is to grow a crop to harvest for storage to keep us in veggies over the winter months. To accomplish this I use a simple method, a recipe of garden basics. The garden basics are: Permanent Bed, Permanent Pathways, Perfect Soil, Grid Planting, and using a Trellis as much as possible. With these simple technics I use to grow more in lot less space and with lot less work than the old methods of gardening. By using this simple formula, you can sell your roto-tiller and tractor, you will never need them again for gardening.
On this episode of In the Garden, Corm and Peter Burke answer your questions, talk to you about poisonous plants, what to plant, and what to do to keep your garden healthy!
On this episode of In the Garden, Greg Hooker and Peter Burke talk to you about gardening beyond the garden season. He'll give you tips and tricks for growing things past the typical gardening season.
On this episode of In the Garden, Joel and Peter talk to you about planning for the next gardening year. They'll discuss way they reflect on how the season has gone, and make plans for the future.
On this episode of In the Garden, Peter and Joel talk to you about what you can still be doing in the garden at this point in the year!
On this episode of In the Garden, Joel and Peter talk to you about planting a second round of crops, take your calls, and give some advice on how to keep soil conditions more regulated.
On this episode of In the Garden, Peter and Joel talk to you about the somewhat close harvest! Peter will give you some tips on what to do once the harvest is upon us, as well as take your questions, and talk about what's happening, In the Garden!
On this episode of In the Garden, Peter and Joel talk about the Shelburne Museum, take your calls, and discuss all the things there are to do in the garden this time of year!
On this episode of In the Garden, Peter and Joel talk to you about Japanese Beetles, take your calls, and talk about what they've been picking In the Garden!
On this episode of In the Garden, Peter and Joel talk to you about spraying your plants, and diseases to watch out for this time of year!
On this episode of In the Garden, Peter and Joel talk to you about vegetable jam, lettuce, and answer your questions!
On this episode of In the Garden, Peter and Joel talk to you about Electric Cars, Pets getting into the garden, and anything else that comes to mind!
On this episode of In the Garden, Peter and Joel talk to you about composting and weeds!
On this episode of In the Garden, Peter and Joel take your calls, talk about Garlic, Sweet Potatoes, and The Seven Sisters and the Heritage Food Systems of the Wabanaki People and of the Chesapeake Bay Region by Frederick M. Wiseman.
On this episode of In the Garden, Peter and Joel talk about Memorial Day weekend, the beginning of the traditional growing season, and answer your questions!
On this episode of In the Garden, Joel and Peter talk about Trellis', bugs, and answer your questions!
On this episode of In the Garden, Peter and Joel talk to you about Rhubarb, answer your questions, and carrots!
On this episode of In the Garden, Peter and Joel talk to you about early planting, containers, and potatoes!
On this episode of In the Garden, Peter and Joel will answer your questions about bugs, crops, and containers!
On this episode of In the Garden, Peter and Joel talk to you about a handful of topics! They'll discuss strawberries, answer your questions, and talk about what you can be planting in the garden!
In this episode of In the Garden, Joel and Peter will give you gardening tips, answer your questions, and kick off this season of In the Garden!
On this episode of In the Garden, Peter and Joel bring the show to its yearly end! Peter brings you up to date with his house, talk about how to store vegetables, and answers your questions!
On this weeks episode of In the Garden, Peter and Joel talk to you about how daylight impacts plant growth, answer your questions, and talk about whatever else comes to mind!
On this episode of In the Garden, Joel and Peter talk to you about why keeping your garden clean is important, and how to do it!
On today's episode of In The Garden, Joel and Peter talk to you about butterflies! They discuss how butterflies can help your garden, what's in their butterfly gardens, and answer your questions!
On this episode of In The Garden, Joel and Peter talk to you about some solutions if you have plants but no fruits, as well as answer your questions!
On this episode of In the Garden, Joel and Peter talk to you about Peppers! The different types, what Peter and Joel use them for, and a variety of other topics!
Today on In the Garden, Peter and Joel talk to you about Preserving the Harvest! What do you can? What do you freeze? What do you dry? What do you ferment? What do you save for cold storage?
On this episode of In the Garden, Peter and Joel talk to you about Raspberries and answer your questions!
On this episode of In the Garden Peter and Joel talk about how heat impacts the garden, as well as Garlic!
On this episode of In the Garden, Peter and Joel want to know what are you planting and what are you harvesting? They're also curious if you grow Elephant Garlic and, more importantly, what you use it for. Also, what variety of Tomatoes do you grow and use?
On this episode of In the Garden, Joel and Peter talk to you about taking care of Blueberry Bushes, as well as take your questions!
On this episode of In the Garden, Peter and Joel correct some advice given in the last episode, as well as give you some miscellaneous advice and answer your questions!
On this episode of In the Garden, Peter and Joel talk to you about watering your plants and making sure they stay well hydrated!
On this episode of In the Garden, Joel and Peter answer listeners questions! Join them on this phone call filled episode!
On this episode of In the Garden, Joel and Peter talk to you about Brussel Sprouts, and how to grow them!
On this episode of In the Garden Joel and Peter talk about composting and the part it plays in your garden!
On this episode of In the Garden, Joel and Peter talk to you about how the temperature impacts when you should be planting things in your garden!
On this episode of In the Garden, Joel and Peter talk about Hummingbirds and Blossoming Plants
On this episode of In the Garden, Joel and Peter talk to you about how to take care of your plants once you buy them from the store!
On this episode of In the Garden, Joel and Peter talk to you about potting beds and take your questions!
On this episode of In the Garden, Peter and Joel talk to you about getting started early on your garden!
Joel and Peter bring you the final episode of 2021! Peter talks about his book "Year-Round Indoor Salad Gardening", and of course takes your calls!"Year-Round Indoor Salad Gardening" Book
Joel and Peter talk about Chestnuts with Terry of the American Chestnut Foundation. They also discuss how the show is coming to an end for this season. Next week will be the last episode! And of course, they take your questions!
Peter and Joel talk about 12 things to do to get ready for the Fall season. They also take your calls and questions!
On this episode, Joel and Chip talk about gardening in the changing climate. They also discuss ways you can do small things to help with climate change and keep the carbon in the ground. And of course, they answer any calls you have!
Joel and Peter talk about how harvest season is going with callers, and starting to think about the fall - what sort of things you still have time to plant!
On this Episode, Peter and Joel talk about Baked Pears, taks your questions, harvesting garlic, and chestnuts!!
This week, Joel and Peter talk about kale and some ways to cook it! They also answer your questions and talk about tomatoes!
A special episode of In the Garden recorded live on 7/17/21 as WDEV celebrated its 90th birthday!
In this episode, Peter Burke and Joel talk about radishes, feeding plants, and answer your calls!
This week Peter and Joel talk about a variety of topics including the Woodstock Farmers Market, Tomato Plants and weeding.
Host Peter Burke talks about different fruits such as berries you can grow in your garden
Peter takes listener calls and answers their pressing garden questions. Take a listen and see if someone has the same question as you.
With the hot summer weather moving in, now is a good time to review proper watering amounts and techniques. Peter gives you the amount of water to give your garden when we get dry spells with little rain like we have now and how to make your watering most effective for your plants.
How can you keep fresh vegetables on your dinner table through the freezing Vermont winters? Peter goes over which produce you can store longer in a cold cellar, what you can can, ferment, or pickle, and some more shelf stable recipes like pesto and salsa to take advantage of your upcoming vegetable harvest and make some delicious food even in the middle of winter.
Peter picks up where we left off last week discussing composting in Vermont and how you can apply composting best practices to your garden to help it grow without the need for spending money on the best fertilizers or soil.
Composting used to be a practice only performed by gardeners. But with the new state laws on composting and landfills, just about all Vermonters are composting in 2021. Peter answers your compost questions, from bins to ratios and more.
We're getting into the peak of planting season. Peter gives his list of seeds to be starting right now and it's quite long. It is perfect weather for things like salad greens, carrots, peas, onions, and much more.
Peter just got his box of potatoes and he's excited to get them in the ground. Peter goes over how to get them ready and the care potatoes need in the early season.
Welcome to the next season of In the Garden! We're very excited to get growing and enjoy the summer weather. To get us started, Peter covers what you can start working on now and what to plant in the next few weeks.
We may be getting into September, but there's still so much to do in the garden. Peter goes over what you should be harvesting right now, what will continue to grow once it gets cold, and how to put the garden to bed at the end of the year.
This concludes the 2020 season of In the Garden. Thanks to everyone who listened and called in with questions. We'll see you all next spring!
We're getting down to the end of the season for "In the Garden," but that doesn't mean that it's time to stop gardening for the year. Peter goes over what you can plant outside in the late season before the heavy frosts set in.
Peter and Joel talk about their favorite recipes for their fresh produce out of the garden. They also take some listener calls to share their favorites. Got a recipe to share? Contact WDEV on Facebook or email inthegarden@radiovermont.com.
We start the show with many listener questions about protecting from pests, this summer must have been good for the bugs and rodents because it seems like everyone's garden has some pests trying to steal their produce. Peter also gives some ideas on what you can do once you harvest your produce, from pesto to tomato sauce to canning. Make sure you get your supplies ready beforehand.
Peter explains why right now is the best time of year to buy your garlic starts and when to plant your starts in time for winter. And as always we take your calls and questions about garlic or anything else garden related.
Peter and Joel take listener calls and answer your questions on everything from pests to storage and more.
Peter and Joel talk about what they've been eating out of their gardens, like tomatoes and pole beans. They also take listener calls and answer your questions.
We've talked in the past about how to deal with bugs, but Peter and many of our listeners are having their produce devoured by small animals like chipmunks, squirrels, and rabbits. We talk about the best ways to keep them away and Peter answers your questions.
Peter jumps right into it this week answering your questions. Take a listen, you might find someone with the same garden question you might have.
The Leek Moth has been a big problem for parts of New England and New York. Now there are the beginnings of reports that it has It likes to feast on members of the Allium family including onions, garlic, leeks, chives and shallots. Peter gives his recommendations on how to protect your plants. And he also goes over how to protect from Japanese beetle, a common pest in Vermont.
Peter invites his neighbors and mushroom growers, Sarah and Steve Gallagher, to call in and talk about how they grow mushrooms and how they have found success, particularly with Shiitakes.
Hilling potatoes involves covering the plant with loose organic material periodically to encourage the tubers to grow deep and wide, improving the flavor of the potatoes. Peter talks about how to hill potatoes when you're growing them in a garden bed. Unlike in many other places, in a bed there isn't a lot of room and dirt around the plant to hill with. So instead, you can scoop up the soil you can around the plant and then add a mixture of germination mix and compost for additional material.
With outdoor garden season basically in full swing and a lot of new gardeners experimenting now that grocery store visits seem a bit risky, it's important to review the basics and refresh even the most seasoned gardeners. One of the biggest keys to garden success aside from permanent beds are the permanent pathways. They'll save you a lot of time and energy later weeding out grass and other weeds from your beds.
We had some hot weather this week, but this being Vermont there's still more cool weather on the way that can harm some plants. Peter goes over what to get outside now and what to wait on a little more for more consistent weather.
With the warming weather coming in, now is the time to start planting the rest of your plants. A few more tender things might still be affected by night time temperatures, but the majority should be good to go. Take advantage of the beautiful spring weather.
It's still a tad cold out, but there's still plenty you can plant right now. Peter tells his tale of getting a soil thermometer so you know what will grow right now and what to wait a bit longer on.
With the cold weather we're having right now, it's more important than ever to plant things that can handle this early season cold. Things like rhubarb, spinach, and arugala can thrive despite the cold. When things warm up, then you can plant the more heat-loving produce.
If you want your garden to be able to keep your panty stocked for the year with delicious produce, you'll need to do some planning. Think about how much produce your family would eat in a year. Then think about how you can get that amount of produce out of the space you have available. Peter explains how he plans his garden and takes listener calls to give his insight.
At a time when grocery stores are seeing some shortages and people are encouraged to stay home, the garden is a great place to look to fill out your produce needs. Peter goes over the garden basics to kick off another growing season and another season of "In the Garden."
Just because we're in September, doesn't mean the growing season is over. When something comes out of the garden, something else can go in. Peter gives his advice on what you can grow this time of year.
Peter interviews John Hayden, owner of The Farm Between in Jefferson, VT. He and his wife Nancy wrote the new book "Farming on the Wild Side: The Evolution of a Regenerative Organic Farm and Nursery."
With the advent of the Labor Day weekend, the summer growing season begins to come to a close. There are things you can do to maximize the output of your plants in this time and ways to preserve your harvest through the winter.
Dietrich Gehring and Laura Ten Eyck join Peter to discuss their book, "The Hop Grower's Handbook" and how you can get started growing hops at home.
Buy "The Hop Grower's Handbook" here: https://www.amazon.com/Hop-Growers-Handbook-Sustainable-Small-Scale/dp/1603585559/
Peter and Joel talk about the environmental benefits of organic materials both in the garden and on the farm.
It may be August, but that doesn't mean you can't plant some delicious produce. And with the hot summer we have had, it may be a great August to plant with temperatures expected to keep trending warm. You can still grow certain types of peas, carrots, parsnips, beets, lettuce, cilantro, and more late into the season.
Wondering when to pick your zucchini and squash? Peter tells you when the ideal time to harvest is and how to keep your zucchini and squash plants producing as much as possible. And a bonus tip, what to do when you get a huge zucchini that's overripe.
After taking phone calls from listeners, Peter gives his advice on how to protect your cabbage from pests.
And don't forget to water your plants often during this hot weather. Try to keep water off the leaves as that can magnify the heat of the sun and keep the soil moist.
Peter takes a call about how to maximize apple yields and gives his tips on how to get the best apples from your apple trees. Then he talks about how to grow mint for tea without having it take over your whole garden.
Peter talks about how to water your garden most effectively. While we enter the hottest months, now is the most important time to make sure you're watering your plants properly.
Peter talks about one of the most frustrating pests that plague gardens, Cutworms, and how to protect your plants from them. And as always Peter takes calls to answer your most pressing garden questions.
It's not too late to get your plants in the ground. The weather has still been a little cold recently and now is still the time to plant. Peter gives some more insight following up from a few weeks ago about planting and keeping those young starts safe in your raised beds.
The number one vegetable grown in gardens nationwide is tomatoes. And with the Memorial day weekend, now is the perfect time to plant. Peter gives some tips on growing tomatoes and some varieties of lettuce and other greens.
Peter Burke and Joel Najman talk mushrooms in response to a listener question. Peter gives his tips for growing potatoes and gives a few varieties to try.
This week we cover how to take care of your berry plants: blackberries, blueberries, and more. Proper care starts in the fall and continues into early spring to ensure a good crop. Then we talk about what sets to plant now and which to wait a couple weeks on to protect them from frost.
How often do you try something new in your garden? Whether it's new varieties, completely new types of produce, or different methods it's important to try something new each year to maximize your garden's efficiency and introduce yourself to new foods. Peter gives his advice on a few new things you can try to shake things up in the garden.
We're back in the garden for the 2019 growing season. Peter gives you tips on how to get your garden ready for the season; from melting the last bit of snow to loosening soil to compost needs.
You don’t need a huge space for a cold cellar. A refrigerator fits the bill just fine. Ideally you want a cold place between 33 and 40 degrees. You can keep just about anything in a cold cellar. All the methods we discussed have different uses and advantages. Use them all to keep your harvest all year round.
Dehydration is one of the oldest methods of food preservation dating back thousands of years. There are endless possibilities when it comes to using a dehydrator. Some of our favorites are dried cantaloupe and strawberry rhubarb fruit leather. There are many dehydrators on the market so find the one you like best, any will do. You can also use a dehydrator to preserve your mints and herbs for homemade tea.
Why Drying is Effective To continue our series on Preserving the harvest let explore using a dehydrator. Drying foods is one of the oldest methods of food preservation dating back literally thousands of years. Foods like grains and beans have long been a staple food for humankind dried to last not just one season but over many seasons. Fruits, vegetables and meats can be preserved as well. We found a few surprises when we started experimenting with a dehydrator; one of those surprises was dried cantaloupe. The dried cantaloupe pieces delicious, chewy, exotic flavor and it actually didn’t take that long to dehydrate. My wife loves dried cantaloupe with cashews. Another surprise was Strawberry-Rhubarb fruit leather. We can’t make enough of it for the kids and we are always passing it to friends too. It is simple and easy to make, we use 12 Rhubarb spears to make a batch so it is a great way to store, long term, a large amount of Rhubarb.
Drying Tips We found out that you can store 20 standard sized tomatoes in only one quart jar, so when the freezer was full one season when we had an abundance, we were able to fire up the dehydrator and store all of rest of the harvest in a few jars. There are lots of dehydrators on the market and any one of the will work but I like the Excalibur with a timer and temperature setting. It blows the hot air across the shelves evenly not from bottom to top. But any one of the many brands available will work. If it heat from the bottom up, you may just want to shuffle the shelve top to bottom to get even drying. One gardener said he used an incandescent light bulb in his stove as a dryer so there are lots of ways to dry foods! We dry a lot of our herbs and teas. We dry a gallon of mint and a gallon of Tulsi, aka Holy Basil, and a few quarts of Chamomile to make teas all year long. I’m not bragging but the Tulsi tea we make is THE best because we harvest when the plants begin to flower before they set seeds and it has a sweet flowery flavor I have never had from commercial teas. Dehydrating is another great tool for you Food preservation tool box! Next up we’ll talk about cold cellars.
Original Air Date: July 28, 2018 Why Freeze? Freezing your harvest is easy and rewarding. I recommend it for everyone. My own personal favorite is freezing Pesto; I make and freeze 30 - 1 cup containers for the winter from 16 plants that fill a 4x4 bed. It is simple to make and freeze and get rewarded every week throughout the winter. Tomatoes are ridiculously easy to freeze. I wash them, fill a gallon bag and throw them in the freezer. When I’m ready to use them as soon as they begin to thaw I slip off the skins so there is no peeling. In this case freezing is temporary storage until I use the tomatoes to can Salsa in a big batch.
What to Freeze We freeze soup stocks, apple cider, shitake mushrooms and tons of greens from kale, collards and swiss chard and some years when we have plenty we freeze spinach too. We also freeze peppers, beans, broccoli, and cauliflower when we have a good harvest (but dry our hot peppers). Most vegetables need to be ‘blanched’ before they are frozen. Blanching is a quick dip in boiling water and cooled in icy cold water before freezing. When we have enough blueberries, strawberries or raspberries to freeze, we first put them on a cookie sheet and freeze them then bag or box them, that way they remain loose and easy to pour out as you use them rather than freeze up into a lump. I prefer the plastic freezer boxes to plastic bags because the bags tend to slip around and fall out of the freezer! The Boxes stay put and are easy to label, and last for years. So, call in and let me know what’s your favorite freezer foods. One surprise, we found by accident or desperation you might say, was a great use for those ‘whoops’ zucchinis, you know the ones! The zukes that are the size of a bat. We blanch them and put them in the food processor and bag them in one-gallon plastic bags, we use these as a soup stock for THE creamiest texture you can get. The flavor is mild enough to use for any kind of soup you make. Oh, and one last tip - DATE and LABEL everything, really, you won’t remember. Freezing in one more tool in the gardeners tool box to preserve food for the winter.
Original Air Date: July 21, 2018 To preserve the harvest, you a have a few options. Canning, Freezing, Cold Storage, Fermentation/Pickling, and Dehydration. Let’s start with canning.
What is Canning? Canning is called ‘canning because it originally was done in, you guessed it, tin cans. Today home canning is done solely in glass jars, Mason or Ball jars. The glass jar with the metal insert with a rubber gasket and metal sealing ring has been in used since the early 1900’s and it is still the standard. The heat and the rubber seal creates a vacuum in the jar that prevents any air from contaminating the food inside the jar.
High Acid vs. Low Acid Foods There are two ways to ‘process’ canning jars and it is extremely important note the difference. Hot Water Bath canning is only for high acid foods (4.6pH or lower) like fruits, jelly, tomatoes, and veggies in a vinegar brine like pickles. Low acid vegetable like beans and corn (4.6 pH or high) must be processed in a pressure canner - MUST be done with the high pressure and high temperatures reached in a pressure canner. So, let’s go over this again because it is too important to overlook. The water bath techniques, (and this is a general look not a detailed how-to lesson), consists of the jars, lids and rims; a big pot with a rack. You’ll need a jar lifter to grab the very hot jars out of the boiling water and a large mouth funnel to pour the hot food into the warmed jars.
High Acid Examples Tomatoes, jams, pickles, salsa, dilly beans, rhubarb compote and pickled beets are acidic enough to use the water bath method. I make a fresh salsa with tomatillos, Sweet onions, sweet peppers and a hot pepper (not too much for me), Basil, olive oil and some vinegar, balsamic or apple cider, and a little salt. It is a fantastic salsa fresh. I can a version of this, I follow a Ball recipe and use it all winter. The idea is simple; high acid foods are canned in a water bath; low acids foods in a pressure canner.
Low Acid Examples Low acid foods, peas, String beans, corn, carrots, all meats need to be process with the high heat and the pressure of a pressure canner. This is a non-negotiable fact. Poisoning from Botulism is just to dangerous to fool around a risk. This is why I insist you get a book from the library or online instructions on using a pressure canner if you want to preserve vegetable. It is another one of the tools gardeners need to know about to store the harvest until next season.
Fermentation and pickling are different in that fermentation is when the veggies make a brine of it’s own juices where pickling uses a brine made from vinegar. They’re similar in that they preserve using a brine to store the veggies. Sandor Katz has a great book on fermenting called Wild Fermentation. I also recommend taking a class as well as reading a book on fermentation to get started.
Freezing is fairly easy and rewarding. Tomatoes are ridiculously easy to freeze, for example, I wash them, put them in a gallon bag in the freezer, then remove the skin when I thaw them to prevent peeling. This is perfect for soups and sauces in the winter. Most vegetables need to be blanched before freezing so do some research on what you’re freezing and make sure it doesn’t end up going to waste.
Today, home canning is done almost exclusively in glass Mason or Ball jars. There are 2 ways to process canning jars and it’s extremely important to note the difference. The hot water bath method is for high-acid foods like fruit, jams, and tomatoes or vegetables with a vinegar brine like pickles or dilly beans. Low-acid vegetables like beans or corn should be processed in a pressure canner. I recommend getting a book or searching online for the best method specific to the crop you’re trying to can.
One of the best things about gardening is having a steady supply of home-grown foods throughout the year. The objective of storing your harvest is having enough crops through the winter until next year’s crops come in. There are a number of ways to keep your crops through the winter:
Canning Freezing Cold Storage Fermentation and pickling Dehydrating
It’s best to be familiar with all of these because they all have advantages depending on what you want to preserve.
Original Air Date: July 7, 2018
Lawn Care There was a question last week about lawns, so I thought I would run through lawn basics. The first thing is to test your soil. It probably is on the acid side and needs lime but the test will answer that question. Make sure to test a few locations. Then over seed your lawn in the spring. Some of the grass will die back over the winter and reseeding will both add to the green look but will help to crowd out other plants, aka weeds!
Lawn are just like gardens in that they need added organic matter. This can be done by hand broadcasting compost, I like the dehydrated compost manure because it is both dry and easy to spread as well as being high in nitrogen. Next try not cut your lawn too short. The recommended length is 3” so try for that and you’ll have a greener healthier lawn, that is less likely to turn brown in August. The only way I know to keep out the weeks like dandelions and pigweed is to just hand pull them. I just don’t see that the use of herbicides that eventually make their way into out streams and lakes as a good idea. That a green lawn is worth the price. Second Season To Do List
Thin the apple trees to one apple every 6 to eight inches, water and fertilize. Hill the potatoes Thin the carrots to one ever 3 inches and, beets to 3 or 4 inch depending on variety (eat the beet greens) and thin any seeds that you have seeded very closely. It is important to thin so the tender young plants don’ get leggy! Tie tomatoes to stake or trellis and pinch suckers, trim bottom leaves. Tie up cucumbers to trellis Stake and tie up peppers and eggplant if they a leaning at all the weight of the fruits with a heavy rain can topple them over like peonies Plant more lettuces, Cut your garlic scapes and use them for pesto, soup stock, grill them with a little oil salt and pepper Setup Japanese beetle traps, they will be here soooooon! Water and feed asparagus and rhubarb to prepare them for next year’s harvest Plant your second season crops Spray the Cole family crops with BT or Spinosad, they are coming… Water your berries. Raspberries, Blueberries. There is a tendency to overlook the need to water fruiting bushes just because they are perennials. But they will benefit for this kind care, and so will you!
Second Season My wife and I like Kimchi (if you don’t know what that is, it is like an Asian sauerkraut), we like it a lot! So this time of year we plant Chinese Cabbage and Daikon Radish under covers (a must) and in a few weeks we will plant Tat Soi because I grows so fast if I plant it now it will be overgrown when I want it for the Kimchi. Also, you can have a second planting of Kale, Carrots and the Summer lettuces. If you can find the onion bulbs you can plant a second planting for fresh eating Scallions. To really get the most from your garden plot continue to plant a replant though out the season. Mulch Mulch can help in this hot summer we have.
But choosing the right kind of mulch is very important. For instance if you use hay, even so called ‘mulch hay’ it can be loaded with seeds of very variety so only use straw for a mulch in your garden or you can use shredded paper, peat moss. If you have used black plastic or a fiberglass product that is OK but in the heat of summer it might actually get too hot so for the cool weather crops consider a mulch of straw to keep things cool.
NEVER TOO LATE TO START A GARDEN.
Original Air Date: June 30, 2018 Seed School Today we are talking with Bill McDorman of the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance located in Ketchum, Idaho. Bill is presenting a six-day “Seed School” at Sterling College up in Craftsbury Common. This is an immersion course, August 5th through 10th. The course covers both the mechanics of seed saving and breeding as well as the politics of seeds. I like the Bumper Sticker “No Farms-No Food” and I think it is safe to add, “No Seeds- No Farms – No Food”. Seeds is where it all begins. Now we know it is the chicken or the egg it’s the seed that came first.
Questions! You can tell I’ve been reading your syllabus!
What is a Seed Citizen? Tell us about the Seed School you are teaching at Sterling College. Can you put this in Context both Locally, and Globally? What does it mean to “explore the appropriate scale of seed saving? Have you heard about the Gilfeather Turnip bred here in Vermont? What are a few good varieties for a small gardener to start with? How can a small gardener help to keep our Heritage seeds? I watched the documentary “Seeds: The Untold Story” and saw what you referred to as “Mother Corn” my question is how, how the heck did you get a hold of that corn? How do you ‘own’ a seed? If you can, I’d like to own dandelions! One of our local bakeries, Red Hen Bakery, offers a bread made with an old grain called Cyrus Pringle.
For answer to these questions please listen to the Podcast. For more information on the Seed School seminar at Sterling College call (802) 586-7711 or go to their website https://sterlingcollege.edu/ and get details there. That’s it for this week, thanks for listening. See you on the radio next week July 7, 2018. We will be preempted July 14th by an early game with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Original Air Date: June 23, 2018
Watering The Garden Over 70 to 90% of our garden plants is water. The benefits of providing enough water to your plants regularly are not always obvious. Your plants will certainly be more productive and stronger but also will be more resistant to pest, more resistant to diseases and absorb nutrients more consistently so the plant are less likely to be vulnerable to the elements. For instance, Blossom End Rot on a tomato is often attributed to a lack of calcium in the soil but the problem is often brought on by inconsistent watering because the plants can’t draw up the calcium with out adequate moisture in the soil. As Ed Smith points out in his book The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible, water is a transfer agent, “Nutrients pass from the soil to the plant through a film or water surrounding the tiny root hairs that grow from the plant’s roots.” (the bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it!) Also a lack of water will send a message to the plant to begin to produce seeds and bolt, so our lettuces turn bitter, out spinach starts to flower and our radishes become hard a woody.
How Much Water The goal of watering is to provide an inch of water every week across the garden bed. That is about 10 gallons of water for a 4x4 bed! Rain is not always a reliable source of water and therefore it is important to water regularly, so your garden plants have a steady, consistent source of water. Farmers have irrigated from centuries. You remember your lessons about the invention of the screw being related to lifting water to irrigate fields in Egypt? Even if you have a rain gauge if you have had summer rains that are fast and furious and shows a 1/ 4 inch of rain probably none of that rain water penetrated the soil. None. Unless you have a day of soaking rain during the week, water. Water thoroughly with one inch of water. One of the advantages of having ample vermiculite in your soil is that you can water too much because the vermiculite will absorb the excess. Also remember that your sets and just seeded beds will need daily watering until they show sings of growth then they get the same routine as the rest of the garden.
There are numerous methods of watering:
Cup and a 5-gallon bucket Sprinkling Can Sprinkler (like used for lawns) Watering Wand hose end sprayer Soaker Hose or Drip Irrigation Irrigation with Sprinklers Rain
Cautions about watering:
Don’t water the paths Water the ground not the plant Water in the morning so the plants dry out during the day if you are watering from above. Careful to pour softly don’t drill a hole near the roots!
Mulch as watering? Double that in HOT weather I have, for many years used a 5-gallon bucket and a cup to water my garden. When I plant my sets I plant then in a recess, a cup so to speak, so that when I water I fill that cup and the water goes directly to the roots. The benefit is plain to see watering where your plant needs it and leave the rest of the bed dry on the surface. This creates a “dust mulch” that discourages weeds. Also, this keep the leaves dry and less susceptible to disease. Watering this way is kind of relaxing, even therapeutic you might say, but it is a way for me to relax while inspecting my plants looking for trouble, harvesting any runaway zucchini, and enjoying the great outdoors. How ever you water is great the plants don’t care, just water your garden! And let me know how you water your garden. Thanks, that it for this show. See you In The Garden next week Saturday at 12:30.
Grow Up with the Trellis The Trellis is one of my favorite garden basics. I use it for all of my cucumbers, peas, pole beans, cherry tomatoes, tomatillos, and even zucchini plants, winter squash, and watermelons. Growing up uses 1/10 of the space you use growing on the ground. This means less work weeding, fertilizing, and watering. For instance, I plant 8 cucumber plants on a 4-foot trellis. That's only 4 square feet of garden space. The same plants on the ground would require 30 square feet of garden space. Harvesting is easier too, since you don't have to look under the plant canopy and the fruit is closer to eye level. Also, plants grown vertically tend to be more resistant to pests and diseases because the plants are up off the ground and get more air flow around them.
Green Manure and Cover Crops Often in the garden you have a bed that is empty after harvest. If you don’t have anything that you plan to plant in that bed consider using a green manure crop, sometimes called a cover crop. A cover crop was initially used to prevent erosion of open land after a harvest but in now used as a ‘green manure’ to both hold the soil to prevent soil erosion but also to enrich the soil, adding nitrogen, organic matter (sometimes referred to as biomass I used to call it humus), as well as improving soil structure. An added benefit can be the suppression of weeds, help prevent nematode infestation and helps condition the soil with deep tap roots. As the name green manure indicates the comparison that legumes are used to add nitrogen to the soil much like an animal manure add nitrogen to the soil. With all that organic matter in the soil it definitely encourages earth worms and they are on of the best soil conditioners, both aerating the soil but adding their worm castings as well.
What to Use as Green Manure Crops The most common green manures are legumes to add nitrogen as mentioned. Field Peas, Clovers, Vetch all add nitrogen to the soil. Grains like Winter Rye or Oats are used to add organic matter, suppress weeds. Mustard is used to suppress nematodes, add biomass and help suppress weeds. One unusual green manure crop is Daikon Radish. I can grow10” deep into the soil and 2” around, It is useful in breaking up clay soil and hardpan as well as adding a huge about of organic matter to the soil. Another thing to consider with green manures is that they can be used in a crop rotation plan. Crop rotation is important in organic gardening to help prevent soil borne diseases cause by planting the same crop in the same place year after year. Learning to use green manures is well worth the effort for the gardener on many levels. It adds fertility, conditions the soil, adds organic matter to the soil. They also help with weed and nematode suppression. What more could you want?
Listener Questions Garlic Harvest Q: Mora in North Ferrisburg wanted to let us know that her husband enjoyed the show but she worked on Saturdays except today so she had a question about garlic. Mora bought four types of from a nursery in Oregon and planted them last fall. She wanted to know how to tell when to harvest the bulbs. A: Garlic is ready to harvest when one third of the leaves turn brown. Also it is a good idea to check clove formation by actually pulling on of the bulbs to check that the individual wrappers are forming around the individual clove. If the cloves are not formed it is too soon to harvest. On the other hand if you see that the bulb is opened up and you can see individual clove the it is ‘over ripe’ in a sense. Although this doesn’t spell disaster it usually considered to effect the long term storage life of the bulb.
Nitrogen and Tomatoes Q: Fred in Monkton Ridge said he put too much nitrogen on his ‘Mexican Tomatoes’ because he misinterpreted the application rate. A: It is hard to unring that bell, but you can use a few tricks. One is to use a wood chip or sawdust mulch, both are notorious for leaching nitrogen from garden soil. Two is you can water very thoroughly twice a week to leach away some of the nitrogen. You can try to plant squash plants close to the tomato plants, they are heavy feeders and will grow in a manure pile.
Kale Worries Q: Brenda in Huntington planted Kale sets and they seem to be wilting not growing. A: It sound like the Cabbage Root Maggot. Pull one of the affected plants and inspect the roots. The maggot will wiggle and are about 1/ 4” long. At this point it might be too late to do anything about it but I have been able to save some of my plant by mixing in some wood ashes in the soil around the roots and water. It is worth a try. The best treatment strategy is prevention like crop rotation and barriers like a hoop house and woven fibergla...
Varieties: The Spice of Life in the Garden, An Important and Fun Tool Why are there so many varieties of some vegetables? Different uses dictate different varieties. If you want to make pickles, then you want to select a pickling cucumber variety. Take Tomatoes for instance, the nation’s favorite vegetable, (which is actualy a fruit!), has so many varieties that even the varieties have varieties! But why? When I say the word tomato in my garden class I can almost see the vision of a huge Brandywine tomato in thought bubbles of each person, the bread and mayo ready for a thick slab of juicy goodness. I always pop that bubble by explaining that it is best to start with Cherry Tomatoes, I can see the shoulders slump and disappointment on their faces! There are two general categories, Bush (determinate) and Vine (indeterminate). Then there are different sizes, Cherry, Saladette, Grape, Medium Slicers, Paste, and Beefsteak or Brandywine. There are Hybrids, Heirlooms, Greenhouse and Grafted tomatoes. To add to this there are Red, Pink, Yellow, Orange, Black, Purple, Zebra and Green Tomatoes (Pink Berkley Tie Dye). Then add to this we have Early, Mid-season and Late
But Why? Why So Many Different Varieties? Well besides the ‘Spice of life’ thing, there are good reasons to choose and that comes down to what you plan to use the tomato harvest for when they are ripe. To start, decide if you want bush or vine tomatoes. I apologize it is not either or bush or vine. The bush tomato will produce a crop that is ripe and ready within a short window of time so you can get several large batches to can, freeze or dry all at once. So for storage bush is the way to go. The vine type produces tomatoes regularly over the season so are best for daily salads and cooking. But you will need staking or a trellis to support the vine. So you may want some of both varieties.
What Ripens When First to ripen are the cherry, grape and saladette (1 to 4 ounces), for the early salads and eating out of hand - plant these. For beginners it is the easiest to succeed with smaller varieties, and the Sungold Orange are like eating candy. Most cherry tomatoes are vine types and need a trellis. Mine will usually grow 6 to 8 feet tall and will produce fruit up until the last frost. For sauce, drying or freezing, select the Roma Paste tomato types (4 to 12 oz) I suggest you only use red tomatoes for sauce because the colored tomatoes tend to turn the sauce brownish. The Medium slicers (4 to 12oz.) are great for general use and if the meat is solid they will work for sauce as well. I know Ed liked the Jet Star, a great producer bush type. Beefsteak and Brandywine (12 to 16 oz.) are the largest and we love to make sandwiches from these big boys. They are also the most difficult to grow. They are heavy feeders, require pruning the fruits to one or two per bunch and need strong supports so they don’t fall over from their own weight. With the work goes the reward! All the colors are just for spice. The green tomatoes of ‘fried green tomatoes’ are unripe tomatoes but there are green varieties that are green when mature. They are a novelty but useful when you make a Tomatillo Salsa to add for flavor and retain the unique green color of tomatillos. I plant a red, yellow and orange variety for my salads.
Green Beans Bean varieties are similar to tomatoes. There are Bush and Pole Beans, each has it own purpose for the gardener. The bush beans, like the bush tomato bear fruit in a short window of time, good for canning and freezing. Pole beans bear over the whole season for fresh eating. We love to steam the beans to just tender, dress with butter, and Umeboshi vinegar, a salty plum vinegar from Japan. It’s like eating popcorn. Both Pole There are also Shell beans for eating the bean and not the pod like Fava and Soybean Edamame, as well as Lima Beans and Black Eyed Peas for eating fresh.
Grid Planting vs. Row Planting Rather than planting in a row, plant your seeds in a 1 square foot block. For instance, radishes are planted 3 inches apart in rows, so in a square foot block, they're 3 inches apart in both directions, giving you 16 plants in one block. Grid planting saves you a lot of space, saving you time usually spent tilling.
Make Your Own Perfect Soil Rather than dig up soil trying to improve it, I start with 6 inches of perfect soil on top of the bed. It's just like the soil you see in greenhouses to start plants or in potted flowers. It's a perfect mix for starting plants of 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite, and 1/3 compost. Use the mix to fill the bed. I like to add to this mix a cup of organic fertilizer, a cup of sea kelp meal, 1 to 4 cups of rock powder like azomite, and a cup of lime. This will provide the soil and plants with plenty of nutrients for intense gardening.
Original Air Date: June 2, 2018
Garden Fortress: Beasts, Bugs, Blights, Oh My! Weeds, Hot Days, Cold Nights, Wind, Hail, Yikes!
There are so many elements that can in some way spoil your hard work in the garden. There are beasts, bugs, blights, viruses, bacteria, weeds, soil imbalances and fertilizer needs. You need a sort of garden fortress to protect your plants.
Beasts The voracious appetite of a ground hog can level a new crop of green beans in the blink of an eye. Chipmunks will steal you almost ripe strawberries just before you get there, bowl in hand and mouth watering for a treat. Mice, moles, as well as chipmunks can eat the bottom half of you root veggies. I have had almost a whole 4’x4’x bed eaten from below. Birds are more of a problem with berries than with veggies. I've watched birds fly off with a blueberry in his beak and back in minutes to steal another one. I remember vividly the first time I saw that the ripe strawberries in the garden where gone to a chipmunk, “I can share, how much can they really eat?” I thought. Well they will eat them all, so I found out. And come back for more! The birds will steal a few blackberries but the chipmunks don’t seem to like the thorns, so they leave them alone. I have had chipmunks scale a dwarf apple tree and take a bit of not one be several ripe apples. At least he could just eat a whole one instead of nibbling on a few apples. Sheeesh! And once a chipmunk scaled a trellis to eat Sugar Snap Peas.
Not Just The Small Animals Either As if the little creatures were not enough of a bother, the last two years a bear has been knocking over out compost bins. This last fall the bear destroyed three bins completely, we had to recycle them. They cost about $100 each so it was an expensive attack. The deer generally leave us alone until fall when they like to level out Brussel Sprouts. One year it was the night before our thanksgiving dinner. I went out to pick them fresh for our feast to find almost all of the stalks stripped. The deer will also level the Swiss Chard and the Collards overnight if there is any left.
Bugs That’s just the beasts. The bugs are a whole ‘nother story! The infamous Cabbage Worm and now the Midge attack the Cole crops along with the Cabbage Root Maggot. Young plants are regularly attacked by cutworms, slugs, flea beetles and root maggots. If you have ever watched a Horned Tomato Worm feasting on your plants, you will agree that they are truly monstrous! They must be the inspiration for horror movies. I had one infestation of aphids the literally ate a bed of Chinese Cabbage I had in a hoop house. I check in one weekend, everything was fine, the next weekend the plants were brown and dried out. Yipes! The weird thing is that I never saw them coming and by the time I noticed the damage they were moving to the next thing. I will admit that I never have had a plague of locust! I have had leaf miners attack my spinach, but the plant usually outgrows the problem. Colorado Potato Beetle lay bright orange eggs under leaves of potatoes and eggplants. It took us three years to get the Asparagus Beetle under control in our patch. Japanese beetles really eat hardy on my green beans and my Blueberries. I manage squash vine borer by growing most of my cucurbits on trellis’ that seems to avoid the problem.
Blights, Wilts, Fungi, Viruses, Bacteria, Mildews. Oh My! In our region Late Blight is the most destructive of all of these, wiping out a whole crop of tomatoes or potatoes overnight. Farmers and Gardeners alike can see their hard work vanish with no hope of recovery. The most popular garden vegetable, the tomato, is affected by lots of wilts and diseases. Fortunately Hybrids and NEW breeds have been developed to resist many of those diseases. Already there are a handful of varieties are being goffered that are Late blight resistance. Early blight is not as destructive and its cousin it still can cause troub...
Permanent Pathways and Permanent Beds: A Power Couple The second part of garden basics goes hand-in-hand with permanent beds. Mulching the paths between beds saves lots of time spent weeding. I extend the path 2 feet on all sides from the garden. This keeps any grass from creeping in. I recommend using a landscape cloth covered with cedar bark. Both are available from our sponsors. Permanent pathways discourage anything from growing in the path and retain moisture in the soil for the garden. And they keep your shoes cleaner than walking in rows of loose dirt.
Why Permanent Beds are Better Than Rows for Gardens The first part of garden basics is the permanent beds. I like raised beds made out of wood frames, boxes about 6 inches deep. The best part about raised beds as opposed to rows is that you will never need to rototill or dig the garden again. The prime tool for hand preparation is a hand rake. Because you never walk on the beds, the soil never gets compacted. Also, the soil stays loose so it dries out quickly in the spring meaning it can be planted earlier in the season. When you water or fertilize, you only apply water or fertilizer where the plants are growing, not in between rows where weeds are growing.
Planting Seeds and Sets in the Garden Original Air Date: May 19, 2018 Last week we went into more details about Planning the Garden. This week let’s talk about what to do with those seeds and sets you grew or bought and soil preparation. But let me remind folks that the podcast is available anytime online, but also the write up of my monologue is posted with the podcast. I often don’t get through my monologue so it might be worth reading separate from the podcast. I don’t know about you, but with all the plant sales I’m chomping at the bit to get planting. And as tempting as it is to plant today, it is best to wait the extra week before you plant the frost sensitive plants unless you have bullet proof way to protect you plants from a hard frost, I discourage you because the soil is still cool from the late spring. But don’t hesitate to plant to frost hardy plants like all of your cole plants, broccoli, kale, Brussel sprouts, collards, as well as lettuces, spinach, beets, chard and all the cool weather plants.
Soil Preparation If you have raised bed, bed prep is pretty simple. You can just rake the surface and make sure all the weeds are pulled, fertilize the bed and then plant. Some folks use a broad fork to do a deep till without turning the soil. If you plan to roto-till the garden then you’ll need to let the soil dry out a little to avoid making a hard pan where the tine spank the sub soil and pack it down. After you rake, level and fertilize the bed you’re ready to plant.
Planting Seeds If you planting seed have only the seed pack you are planting out in the garden and open, the rest of your seeds should be indoors or at least in a shaded spot in a box or plastic container so the package does not touch bare ground. The paper packaging will absorb moisture from the ground a reduce the viability of the seeds left over for the next planting. Check the packet for the key information for planting, how much space between plants after thinning. Use the grid method for you planting in raised beds. For row planting seed into a shallow depression then cover with fine soil and water.
Planting Sets Prepare the sets by hardening off to make sure the plants are acclimated to the cooler outdoor temperature and conditions. Most of the plants that you buy are hardened off already, but if you grow your own indoors you will definitely need to give the plants a gradual transition to the harsher conditions outside in the garden. I plant my sets into a slight bowl like depression, so it is easier to water because the water pools and soaks into the root zone. Firm the soil around the plant then water.
Getting the Plants Ready To get the plant out of the 6-pack tray don’t pull them out by the stem! But rather squeeze the individual cell with the tray tipped on one side. The root ball and plant will fall out of the tray cell. If your tomato plants are 8” tall prune the lower leaves, and plant 6” in the ground and leave 2” above ground. If the plants are taller than 8” then dig a trench and lay them down leaving 2-3” above ground. Bending the plant up can be tricky, I’ve actually broken off the top of a plant or two, to my horror, but I found a cool way to let nature do the bending for me. I discovered by accident that when you lay your tomato sets down (mine fell over and I didn’t notice) they will bend up towards the sun all on their own making it perfect to transplant. The reasoning behind the trench vs a deep hole is that the root ball developes only in that top 6 inches. I always envisioned the stem growing a mass of roots all along the stem so I used to plant them in a deep hole until I happened to dig a plant up at the end of the year. I noticed there was the original root ball at the bottom and only other root mass was the top 6” of soil. In contrast when you lay them down the whole stem puts out roots.
Feeding New Plants Once the plants are in the ground water them slowly with a weak te...
Original Air Date: May 12, 2018
As Requested, More Detail on Planning Your Garden Last week we talked about planning your garden with a Garden Notebook and a Garden Map. I had a number of requests for more detail about planning so I’m going to detail how I start the process. This is just how I do it, and I know everyone has their own style but this might be a help some.
Four Types of Beds The way I look at it there are four different categories or types of garden ‘bed’ that I use. One is the full 4’x4’ bed, a 16 square foot bed. To symbolize this type of bed I draw a square with the number 16 in it at the top of my list. Type two is the Trellis. The trellis covers 4 square feet across the back, north side of a 4’x 4’ bed. Instead of the ‘back forty’ I have a back four! To symbolize the Trellis I draw an upside down ‘U’ shape with a ‘T’ in it at the top on my list for Trellised plants. Using the Trellis on the bed leaves 12 square feet in front of it open and these is my Third type of bed I plan for in my garden map, “The 12”. Of the 50 4’x4’ beds I have a trellis on the north side of 24 of those beds. Twelve squares works really well for the planning because most of my sets are in 6 packs, for instance I plan to plant 24 Broccoli plants, that’s two of ‘The 12’ beds and 4 of the 6 packs. Easy. The fourth type of bed I use to plan with is the Hoop House. I use two 3/ 4” PVC pipes the full 10’ length, one in front of the bed and on at the back bent over and stuck in the ground inside the wooden box that make the raised bed. The height of the hoop is about 30”, plenty of room for most plants. To that, I attach a 10’ pieces of galvanized 2x3 wire fencing with 3- 7” plastic ties to secure the fencing to the pipes. This makes a veI symbolize this at the top of my list simply ‘HH’ for Hoop House. Brilliant, I know! In summary there are four types of beds I plan for: The 16, that is a full 4’x4’ bed The 12, that is the 12 square feet in front of the trellis The Trellis, on the North side of the 4’x4’ bed And the Hoop House, the 16 with a hoop on the bed. Of my 50 beds I have 15 4’x’4 beds (the ‘16’) I use for Garlic, Carrots, Beets, Bush Tomatoes, Bush Beans, Onions, Leeks and Potatoes. As well as anything I plant in the ‘12’ beds I have 24 Trellises that I use for cucumbers, Cherry Tomatoes, Trombone Zucchini plants, Pole Beans, Peas, Tomatillos, Malabar Spinach and for Large Dill plants. I also use the trellis for large tomatoes if I don’t have room anywhere else in the garden. With 24 Trellised beds I also have 24 of ‘the 12’ beds, the 12 squares on the front or South side of the 4’x4’ bed with a Trellis on it. I use ‘the12’ beds for all of my lettuces, spinach, New Zealand Spinach, Parsley, Claytonia (Miner’s Lettuce), Mesclun Mix, Corn Salad (Mache), Swiss Chard, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Kale, Collards, Brussel Sprouts, Swiss Chard, Early Carrots, Bush Beans and more. I use a hoop house for all of heat loving veggies, Peppers, Egg Plant, Basil and Holy Basil aka Tulsi. Also, I use a hoop for those plants that are very susceptible to insect infestation, Chinese Cabbage, Daikon Radish, Tat Soi, and more recently Cole family plants to protect from the Midge, like Broccoli and Cabbage this is a new disease that can be prevented with a wrap of Remay fiber cloth. With these beds in mind it is easier to figure out how much of what to plant where. When you head off to the plants sales with a clear idea of what you have room for in the garden it takes a lot of the guess work out of planning.
Listener Questions Q: Joe in East Calais has two 40’ rows of Asparagus plants. Last year they got hit with the Asparagus Beetle. It is a small red beetle with spots on its back. It is about half the size of a Lady Bug. They eat the spears and the ferns and set them back so the harvest is not as productive. The beetles lay eggs that become gooey larvae that eat the ferns.
The Garden Plan, Continued with the Garden Map So now that you have your list with quantities, you are ready to draw out your garden plan. Take a pencil and paper and make what I call a garden map. For example, I have about 50 4-by-4-foot beds. I like to store carrots so I plant 2 beds of that and I mark it off in my garden map. I like broccoli, so I plant 24 plants of that AFTER I check to see where they were planted last year and the year before. Crop rotation is important and helps avoid pest problems. The only way you'll be able to do this is by marking it down on your garden map. I love pesto, so I plant 16 basil plants and I mark that down on my garden map. The garden plan and map are essential to a successful garden.
Why Have a Garden Plan? The Garden Plan is a very important tool for gardening and should never be skipped. To determine what to grow, I suggest start with your grocery list. What do you already buy? From that grocery list, make your garden list and see what you could feasibly grow at home. You can skip tree fruits like oranges, but salad greens and root vegetables are great for home gardens. If you don’t like Kale, don't grow it. But don't be afraid to try new things. Once you have a list of what you want to grow, come up with a realistic quantity. Start small because it's very easy to get excited and have too many plants and become overwhelmed and discouraged.
Original Air Date: May 5, 2018
The Garden Notebook is Important as a Rake and a Hoe One of the most important tools for a gardener is a garden notebook. Yeah, I know, it doesn’t sound like much of a ‘tool’ but it is as much a necessity as a rake and a hoe. Since we are now eyeballing the garden plot it is time to plan. For you experienced gardeners you probably have a good idea what you are going to plant, still, keeping track of what was planted where is important information when you rotate your crops.
What's Inside? In my garden notebook I have a section for each of these: The Garden Plan, and Garden Map, a List of Seeds and Notes for Next Year. I keep Past Years Plans and Maps, also it is helpful to record Harvest Stats, and I like to keep a Picture Scrap Book. Helpful but not necessary is a Planting Log, Bed Journal of individual beds, an Inventory of Seeds, and it might be helpful to keep records of Temperature Highs and Lows for your location. The Garden Plan and the Garden Map are two different things. The Plan is what you want to grow. How many Broccoli plants, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes do you think you need? How many Brussel Sprouts or Green beans do you want to plant. But the if nothing else the Garden Plan and the Garden Map will help plan your garden.
How to Start To begin with, to decide what you want to plant in your garden I suggest that rather than starting with the beautiful seed catalogs that flood your mailbox in January, start with your grocery list. What do you and your family use every week, what do you buy, then from the grocery list, make a garden list. Decide what you can grow from that list. Obviously, you can skip the oranges out of hand! But salad greens, veggies, root vegetables, tomatoes and cucumbers, peas, green beans are all easy to grow and if your family likes them start with those things. If no one like kale in your family, don’t grow it, that is unless you are attempting to add more leafy greens to your family diet then experiment by all means, try new things. Once you have your list then try to come up with a realistic quantity. I talk to a new gardener recently who told me he was planting 100 tomato plants, I just about chocked, even I don’t plant that much! Start small and add because it is very easy to start starry eyed and get overwhelmed with large quantities and get discouraged. So, plan your garden like you plan your trip to the store with a simple list of what you need for seeds and plants.
Drawing a Garden Plan Once you have your list of seeds and plants, from your grocery list, now you are ready to draw out a simple garden plan. If you are a beginner it is hard to know how much of each vegetable to plant. Sometimes you have to work backwards or in a sense from both ends of the puzzle at once. How much room do you have for a garden and how many permanent beds do you plan to put in, those decisions will help to determine how much you CAN grow. Draw a simple map of the garden, I use graph paper, but notebook paper works just fine. Sketch out your map. Lets say you decide to start with 6 4x4 beds. Sketch the bed and the start to place the veggies so you will quickly see how much you can plant.
Mapping Your Beds I have approximately 50 4 foot by 4 foot garden beds. It is a big garden and I have a pretty good idea what I want from it. I like to store carrots so I plant 2 4x4 beds for fall harvest, I mark that on my garden map. Broccoli and it is a cut-and-come-again crop so it lasts until mid-November and it's delicious, I plant 24 plants after I check to see where I planted the last year and the year before so I rotate that crop. I plant 6 trellis’ with cherry tomatos, six per trellis and mark those on the map. I plant 4 4x4 squares of garlic in the fall so I have already filled in that planting on the garden map. Also in the Fall I plant several 4x4 beds of spinach for the next Spring, again that goes on the garden map.
Every week we'll be releasing a bonus feature on Wednesdays with useful garden tips. This week is about garden basics. My Garden Basics Philosophy Gardening isn't farming. It's entirely different. My two goals of gardening are:
Have a continuous harvest of fresh veggies
Keep us in veggies all winter long
To do this, I follow the gardening basics. The gardening basics are:
Permanent Beds
Permanent Pathways
Perfect Soil
Grid Planting
Using a trellis as much as possible
By using these simple techniques, we can grow a lot more in a lot less space with a lot less work. With these you'll never have to break out the heavy equipment. This method of gardening began in Paris over a century ago and is known as the French Intensive Method.
There are lots of books you can refer to on this method. My favorites are:
The Vegetable Gardener's Bible by Ed Smith
Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew
How Grow More Vegetables by John Jeavons
Original Air Date: April 28, 2018 Early Season Chores If you still have snow on your garden you can lay out a sheet of black plastic to melt the snow or scatter ashes from the wood stoves to hurry things along. Other early season chores: Empty the compost bins by adding about a 5 gallon bucket to each 4’ x 4’ bed. Pull any leftover weeds and clean up any stems or stalks. Replace garden boxes that are falling apart. Refresh the bark mulch in you pathways so they are about 6 inches deep and weeded. Fertilize each bed with 1cup each of sea kelp meal, organic fertilizer, limestone powder, Azomite or rock powder per 16 square feet of garden bed, or approximately a tablespoon per square foot of garden bed.
Raised Beds If you are using raised beds you can start to plant hardy seeds right away because the soil will be dried out enough to get started. But, if you are not using raised bed you’ll have to wait until the soil dries out enough to till and plant. To test the moisture content ball a handful of garden soil and squeeze when you open your hand if it stays a ball it is still too wet. If it falls apart you are good to go plant. So ‘As soon as the soil can be worked’ simply means that when the snow melts off your raised beds.
Early Season Veggies Early season veggies are spinach, onion bulbs or plants, peas, radishes, mesclun mixes, leaf lettuce seeds and sets, Buttercrunch seeds and sets. Tat Soi, miner’s lettuce (Claytonia), corn salad (Mache) to start with. Also leeks, early carrot varieties, turnips, purslane, water cress, radicchio, mustards, escarole and baby kale.
Listener Questions Problems with Yellow Dock Q: Merv from Marshfield called to ask what to do about a raised bed that he had of Horse Radish that was surrounded by yellow dock. It was really hard to get rid of and was choking out the horseradish. A: Yellow dock has a tenacious root system so cutting it down is in effective. It is typical of a weed in that it is a ‘plant out of place’ and has many uses as food and herbal remedies. The best way to control this kind of weed is to smother it, first cut it down with a mower or machete close to the ground. Then lay black plastic down, two layer thick two feet awide around the entire bed. Cover this with a double layer of landscape cloth and top with at least 6 inches of bark mulch. Use landscape staples along the inside and outside edges of the cloth to keep it secured to the ground. Add more bark as it get compacted.
Small Carrots Q: Rich in Sarksboro was wondering why his carrots were not very big, only about 5 to 6 inches. He had planted them in a raised bed and expected a better yield of large carrots. A: First look at the variety of carrots that were planted because early varieties are selected to be fast growing and only about 5 or 6 inches long. Second check the actual depth of the raised bed. With carrots and only long, long root crop needs about a foot of soil depth. Next, plant the large carrots varieties early in the season, the larger varieties need at least 75 to 80 even up to 90 days to mature. Also remember that all plants are 90 % water and need regular weekly watering and twice a week through July and August. Make sure to soak the bed or row so the water penetrated deep into the soil. And my wife reminded me that you have to thin carrots early while they are pretty small, about 2” tall to about 3” apart. It is best to use scissors to do the job without disturbing the roots of the plants left in the ground. Next week: Salad Success, planting for a daily supply of fresh salad greens from your garden.