And It's Time to Plant

And It's Time to Plant...I mention this point as a point because a lot of people planted their gardens in the warm wonderful weather just after Mother’s Day and before the Nor’easter…and plants that had a decent root system weren’t fond of the Nor’easter but did make it ok…it was the cucumbers, squashes and the like that just sort of melted away.  Funny thing about baby plants – they do take a bit of caretaking in order to thrive - especially when the weather doesn’t always go the way the gardener wants!!  This year had the earliest Memorial Day we can have (the last Monday of the month of May is the date) so the adage of waiting for Memorial Day to plant didn’t work as well as it does when the last Monday is further down the timeline!  We have plenty of replacement veggie and flower plants to repair any weather ravages AND every plant we have at the store is cared for!!!  NOT like the plants at Walmart or any other big box store. We can tell you the last time the plants were fertilized and you’ll see that reality in the plants themselves. The best thing (to my mind anyways) is that plants can’t lie and they can’t vote with their feet (although they might like to!).  That means that whatever the plant is demonstrating is what is actually happening and needs to be managed by the gardener.  

A lot of people begin to get really concerned that it’s TOO LATE to plant a garden if they don’t get it in on the classic planting days…My sister and I have planted veggies as late as July 4th and flower gardens even later – and had a very decent show through our long warm falls (one of the better perks of climate change!!!  Got to love our extended fall gardens ☺ ).

Seriously -   keep planting – any kind of planting!! – it’s a vote for the future…

The Sweet Potato Slips have ARRIVED!!!

And they’re the best I’ve seen in years!!

We have both Covington and Vardaman slips.  Vardaman is the one you want if you want to grow them in containers – it’s a bush variety.  Covington is the classic in-ground sweet potato…

Here’s what Fedco seeds has to say about growing sweet potatoes: 

Growing Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are tropical drama queens and need lots of heat and pampering to perform in the North. They prefer rich, slightly acidic soil (pH 5.5 to 6.5).

• Upon Arrival Slips that can’t be planted right away should be put in a vase of water in a warm sunny location. 

• Planting Out Sweet potatoes like a loose soil bed with plenty of organic matter and micro-nutrients—think Kelp Meal and Azomite (we have both). Plant slips 18" apart in rows 36" apart. We recommend planting after all danger of frost into hills or raised beds covered with IRT plastic mulch. Protect the plants with slitted plastic row cover over wire hoops and drench the plants regularly with Fish Hydrolysate with Kelp.

• Harvest and Curing Harvest just before frost. Before storing, spread in a single layer in a greenhouse or room above 70° for 10-14 days. After curing, store above 55°, and enjoy!

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Personally, we’ve grown great sweet potatoes in our Hugelkulture beds facing south and west – warm, open soils and pretty rich with minerals.  I’m going to try some of the extras in a couple of our stray containers running around the edges of the store.  You’ll get a chance to see how well we make out.  

Observation – and its aftermath – decisions!

Observation is a learned skill…so…learn it! Practice it! And use what it teaches you!  Observe as clearly as you can - Critical to everything and can’t be replaced by anything else. It’s your observations of your site that matter the most. From this comes your site analysis and your understanding of all of the possibilities your yard can offer you.

This skill used to be developed from the time a baby was walking independently and engaged in its environment. This is still true of course since that’s the way the human organism develops, but that period of time is now used in observing the man made and built environment – not the natural environment. BUT – you can start learning this skill at any time! That’s also the wonder of the human organism.  Get your notebook (or phone!) out – make notes of what you see, smell, feel (wind and sun – cold/hot, wet/dry you get the drift). Jot down your strongest memories of the late winter and early spring and then keep going into this year’s evaluations and next year’s planning. 

This is the kind of thinking that helps power through problems like early and late blight on tomatoes, mildew on phlox, or any other challenge to our gardens.  First, you have to really SEE (observe) the problem, then you have to PREPARE to handle it, and then – and only then – can you make an educated response stepping in so that you keep your garden from declining.

Gardens are human made events – at the best…a dance between natural systems and human needs – at worst – war. Use your best thoughts, research and experiences.  Read your own body language and use that information in creating a garden that you can be happy in (your shoulders will roll back, head will come up and your breath will deepen) not unhappy in (shoulders roll forward, head tips down, breathing is tighter). All of these signals are subtle so don’t think you’re going to be sensing something dramatic (unless the situation is REALLY good or bad for you). This allows you to check in with your emotional response to your yard. Mostly we like to think that we’re rational clear thinkers about things, but that’s not actually what most decisions are based on.

Aim for your relationship with your garden to be a dance – think Dancing with the Stars – and you want to “win” the competition by blending so well with the energy and drama of your partner (which means you have to know and understand your partner!!) that everyone votes for you! There are enough wars going on the planet – you don’t need to add to them… “I would wish…for the passionate sense of potential, for the eye which…sees the possible” Soren Kierkegaard. That “passionate sense of potential” is behind all really great gardening (or anything else for that matter). After all – left to its own devices – your yard would revert back to a mixed hardwood forest!!

A practical thought about trap crops –

and using one plant to help another…

Trap or decoy plants are a great way to both monitor what’s happening in your garden and manage for specific pests.  One of the best and most studied trap crops is Blue Hubbard squash – it’s used to attract cucumber beetles, squash bugs and squash vine borers. Because Blue Hubbards are so attractive, they can be planted on the outskirts of the garden – away from more desirable crops – to draw the insects to specific locations where they can be controlled.  Cool huh??  

And then there are the flea beetles – that have hit early this year.  You can use radishes and mustards planted two – three weeks ahead of your desired veggie (eggplants in particular) and then treat the trap crop (or remove it at dusk, bagging it as you go – trapping the insects in the bag so to speak!).

You get the point – using one plant to help trouble shoot known problems on other plants can take a lot of pressure off of the growing season.

And then there are the companion plants – those plants that can help each other. Two of the classic pairings are basil with tomatoes and beans with corn.  And the antagonistic pairings – those plants that fight for the same resources.  Two of those “not to make pairings” are beans with onions and potatoes with anyone.  Potatoes like space and nutrition and don’t share at all well!

And – a quick reminder of the next two workshops

We’re taking a short break from workshops until we’re outside of the main planting season – everyone has just too much to do until then!!

June 28: Managing Gardens for Health and Production-Working with Foliar Sprays, 10:00-11:30 am Here’s where the rubber really hits the road – or should I say leaf??  Foliar sprays can kill insects and diseases directly, but they can also be used to prevent problems from developing and can directly increase the base line health of your plants.  If you’re planning on eating anything from your plants then you’ll also see an improvement in flavor.  limit 10 – and includes enough foliar support for you to spray a gallon when you get home. ($30/person includes leaf inoculants) 

July 19: Troubleshooting the Garden, 1:00-2:30pm You’re back from July 4th vacation and problems have arrived (or are about to!).  This is the time when the expected energy drop in the garden occurs and problems of all kinds becomes amazingly clear. Now’s the time to get on top of whatever is going wrong.  Bring your questions (and any leaves or insects – well contained!) and we’ll see what we can do.  $15.00/person – limit 10

So – Memorial Day may be behind us but the gardening season is just getting started and there is SO much to experiment with, learn about and grow.  It’s even worth it to just come hang out in the Plant Side Yard and enjoy the variety of plants flowing around you.  Our goal is for everyone who’s interested to become a strong gardener – an asset to their family, their community and their local ecosystem…We’re here to help ☺  See you at the store!