Composting Corn Cobs

Corn cobs are wonderful in the composter but they take a very long time to break down. The smaller the materials you place in the composter the faster it will become usable for your garden. Many items like apple or melon peal can be easily chopped nice and small. Some even use an old blender to liquefy as much as possible, a good item to look for at yard sale. Cobs can be sliced but it is not easy. I take my cobs outside to an old patio stone or the stump used to chop wood, and I get a hammer. I then lay a cob down and beat the bejeeses out of it. This can be especially useful during times when you need to rid yourself of a little extra stress.

Buy corn from a farmers market and include the cobs in your composter. If you have a stressful job but you don’t have a composter it may be a beneficial time to start one.

Wind Plays Havoc on Tender Young Plants

What a lot of windy weather we have been having and the impact on plants can be disastrous. Newly planted seedlings can easily be damaged or snapped right off even in a stiff breeze. When plants are hardened off they are mainly acclimating to sun and a little breeze, when the wind starts to rise we bring the tender seedlings inside to protect them. Whenever a plant is transplanted to the garden they should always be staked. You don’t need to use big bamboo stakes even something as thin as a skewer, $1 for a pack of 100 at the dollar store or 36 really thick skewers. Even short plants need a little support while starting out and these are the ones usually overlooked. I always utilize a fan while growing seedlings to help strengthen the stem and get them used to light winds but I do stake all plants until they are established or if they need long term support the small stake is exchanged for a full bamboo stake that will last until harvest.

Protecting tender plants early will help to ensure a healthy plant and a productive harvest.

Garden Festival

They say a festival is only as good as the people organizing it. Well the Garden Festival organized by the Sudbury Horticultural Society led by Wayne and Linda Hugli to celebrate the society’s 100th anniversary was fantastic.

If you did not make it out to the Farmers Market last week-end you truly missed a great opportunity to see some wonderful gardening exhibits and outstanding speakers. Everything was garden based, no hot tubs or furniture or hair care products just great gardening items, art, magazines, tools, plants, produce, information and so much more. I was very excited to be asked to talk on organics and sustainable gardening and the interest from the audience was outstanding. Speakers on gardening with arthritis, how to garden without pesticides, perennial gardens, and so many more captivated the audience. The variety and knowledge of the speakers was so interesting the seating area filled quickly. I thank the society for the opportunity to spread my own organic sustainable message. With this great turn out I sold nearly all of my heirloom vegetable plants, now I will start to plant the rest into my own gardens.

I had a great two days and thoroughly enjoyed talking to all those who came to buy plants or just gather information. There are so many interesting gardeners in our community, some have greenhouses, some garden plots and others getting creative with container gardening. It was lovely to meet so many growers.

It was wonderful to see many people who follow my tips and gardening dilemmas on Facebook, Dave, John, Pirjo… I now have a face for many of the people on the other side of my computer.

Kudos to all those dedicated people who volunteered a lot of time and talent to present our community with such an outstanding event. Happy 100th Anniversary to the Sudbury Horticultural Society.

Pepper Tip

Peppers do well in containers and the containers can be placed in the garden beside the other plants but when it begins to cool a little they are easily brought in overnight. Peppers hate the cool and will stop growing or not fruit if they get chilled, but they can fruit through November if brought to a sunny location inside.

Water Conservation and Vegetable Plants

Watering plants that are long season varieties like tomatoes and peppers, mound up the soil in a circle around them creating a dam under the plant. This will hold the water allowing it to seep deep down instead of running away.

Another idea is to take a plastic bottle and cut the bottom off, take the cap and pierce or drill a few little holes in it and place it back on the bottle. Stick the cap end in the ground close to the plant and fill with water. This will allow the plant to slowly take in the water and let it soak deeply. I also take a bit of nylon or cheesecloth and lay a square over the open bottle end and secure it with an elastic band. This will stop bugs, dirt and leaves from getting in and plugging up the little holes.

Springtime Arrivals

Each spring I look forward to the spring peepers, little frogs that belt out a lot of noise in early spring evenings. When I hear the peepers I know spring is here at last. I like to keep track of first sightings and compare them to last year.

Each year 5 starlings arrive in my yard, in 2010 they were here March 14th and this year March 17th. The butterfly that flitted by March 15th 2010 did not appear until April 22nd this year. I looked forward to the woodcocks which called, flew up and then plummeted down in the dusky evening March 19th 2010 but were not seen until April 6th 2011. The call of the sandhill cranes can be heard long before you see this large beautiful bird gliding over, they came on March 31st last year and, April 11th this year. Juncos were 10 days later from April 10th 2010 to April 20th 2011. The Spring peepers I enjoy so much hollered their little hearts out April 3 2010 but since this year the ponds were still frozen over on April 3rd and we had 5-6” of snow on the 20th they were pretty brave to poke their noses out on April 22nd .

It seems most arrivals have been over 10 days later than last year it would be a good idea to keep a close watch on temperature forecasts before planting the garden.
It may be the end of May before we can safely place out seedlings in the ground to give them the best advantage. Especially so for pepper plants, if they get a chill they may not grow into a nice sized bush or they will bush but not fruit.

Always best to keep an eye on Mother Nature before taking a chance and just going by the calendar.

Early Weeding

The weather is finally turning and this is a great time to get a first step into the garden. I like this time of year to start weeding the beds and preparing for the upcoming season.

In the fall the ground gets damp then it freezes over expanding in the soil as ice crystals do, in the spring the ice melts and leaves air spaces in the soil that makes it nothing short of fluffy. This is the perfect time to weed. The soil is loose and a quick pull can relieve a long root from the ground quick and easy. This is my favourite weeding time, the easy weeding time. It will not take long for rains to pound the ground and the sun to dry it out until it is pretty packed in again. So take advantage of the nice weather and start some early season weeding. You won’t regret it.

Tea Leaves and Coffee Grounds in the Garden

Tea and coffee have long been acknowledged as beneficial for the garden.

There is an old flower garden here which was long neglected, the previous owners were elderly and yard maintenance declined over the years. I can envision the couple stepping out on to the deck in the early morning and dropping their tea bags over the rail directly into the garden. I discovered many tea bags in that little garden for the first couple years. This seems like an easy and good practice, when it rains the plants will get a little weak tea water. However, for the leaves to become a part of the flora community you need to rip those bags open. The leaves need to be able to combine with the soil and compost which they can’t do unless the bag is opened before adding into the garden.

The same practice goes for coffee pouches. These are pre-measured, great and easy for a quick pot of coffee but again, rip them open before adding to the garden or the compost bin.

We take great enjoyment in our gardens and sometimes a little extra step can have an enormous benefit for the garden and therefore for us.

Planting Your First Vegetable Garden?

If you have decided this is the year you are finally going to get a vegetable garden in, start preparing now. Start with a small garden, you can always expand your plot but you don’t want to exhaust or disappoint yourself by going too big too soon.

Plant what you like. If you cook a lot of Italian dishes then go for tomatoes, oregano, sweet peppers. Try a salad garden with a variety of lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers. Plant peppers in large pots then partially sink them into the garden, when the temperature drops you can pull them out and take them indoors, they will last months longer is a sunny spot. Want vegetables through the winter with little work at preserves, plant peas and beans with a variety of herbs you can hang to dry.

A small garden with a variety of plants is a lot healthier than a large plot with rows of plants.

When you line all the plants up in rows you make them more susceptible to pest and disease. If a pest comes along and starts to munch on one of your tomato plants it will go right along the whole row chomping on each and destroying your full harvest. If you mix it up when the pest hops to the next plant it is not of its liking, it leaves and tries the next and then takes off for better pickings. Mix your veggies and herbs up just like you would a flower garden and the confused pests will take a far lower tole on your plants. A mixed up garden also looks a lot nicer than those boring rows. I call row planting Farm Gardening, farmers have to plant in long straight rows of the same type of vegetable because they use machines to plant, fertilize, and harvest. A nicely planned out vegetable garden looks as lovely as a well tended flower garden, and it is just as relaxing and calming a place to sit and relax.

So, choose well, start small and mix it up and you will have a lovely garden to enjoy your morning coffee in and healthy food on your table.

Checking Soil Composition Before Planting

Planning on digging a garden this spring? This would be a great time to check your soil composition. Whether your soil is mainly clay, sand, silt or a perfect blend will determine what you need to do to build your soil to grow the plants you would like. Here is an easy method to let you know what you are in for. Take a clean glass jar and fill about half way with your soil and then fill it with water. Shake the jar like crazy to completely break down the soil and blend it with the water, you don’t want chunks. Place the jar in a location where it will not be disturbed for at least 24 hours. If the water is still very cloudy let it sit longer, fine clay particles can take a while to settle. The soil will settle in the water in layers according to the weight of the particles. Sand will be on the bottom of the jar with a layer of silt next and finally a layer of clay on top. Perfect soil composition is equal amounts in each layer. The humus content of your sample will be left floating on top.

If you are growing plants requiring very good drainage and drier conditions you would need a larger sand content layer in the jar, or add sand to your plot.

This is a good measurement to take before you begin to dig a new garden or to check on the progress of an established garden plot.

Gardening from the ground up.

Check Your Mulch or Compost for Pesticide Residue

The merits of mulch are well known but how do you know if the mulch you are using is safe?

The benefit of using straw or hay as a mulch has been questioned. Unless you know the farmer and can ask what chemicals have been used in the fields how do you know the mulch you are using on your organic fruits and vegetables is pesticide free?
Clopyralid and aminopyralid, of the pyralid class of pesticides, are commonly used on hay and straw fields. Traces of these chemicals can be found not only in straw and hay but also in manure and compost as it comes through the food chain.

To test straw/hay mulch place equal parts of mulch and water in a clean container and soak overnight.

The next day, take ten 4-inch seedling pots and if it is a cool time of year plant peas if it is a warm time of year plant beans for quick germination. Label the pots into two groups, one, mulch water and the other clean water. Next, strain the mulch and water mix and use only this water on the five pots in the mulch group. If there is pyralid residue in the mulch material there will be poor germination and those that do germinate may be deformed or have curled leaves.

To test manure you want to use in your garden, pot up peas or beans as above. Next mix equal parts of manure and water and mix well until fully blended. Strain off three cups of liquid and use this on half the pots and clean water on the other, again, make sure the pots are labeled into the two groups. Watch for poor germination rate and any sign of deformity or leaf curling in the manure water group.

To test compost set up the ten pots into the two groups with five pots containing the compost you want to use and the other five pots containing regular potting soil. Water both groups the same.

Peas and beans germinate quickly and any sign of a tainted medium should be visible within a few days.

Whether you use compost, manure or straw it is best to test the medium for pyralid residue before using on your prized vegetable and berry gardens.

Healthy Food…. Healthy People

Egg Shell Precautions for Compost and Birds

Calcium is a beneficial nutrient in your garden, a lack of calcium can result in deformed or curling of new leaves and poor root development.

Brassicas – cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower…- benefit from the addition of calcium. A good source of calcium not to overlook is egg shell. Whether using egg shells direct to the soil or in the compost bin they are a benefit to the garden. Tomatoes and peppers like crushed shells worked into the soil around them.

Wild birds also are attracted to a calcium offering when they cannot get it naturally from the soil surface. During the winter months I often put crushed egg shells on the bird feeding platform and they love it.

Before you start to toss all shells out for the wildlife or into the compost bucket there is a precaution. Egg shells are good for the garden, but not eggs, whether raw or cooked. Unless they have been thoroughly washed egg shells still have egg white inside, and raw egg breeds salmonella. This is not good in your garden and certainly not healthy for the birds.

All residue must be removed inside and out of the shell before using. Washing fragile shells can be quite a task so an easier method is to bake them. Place the shells on a cookie sheet and bake at 250o for 30 minutes. This will sterilize the shells and make it safe for garden and wildlife. Let the shells cool down completely and if you are feeding them to the birds the pieces should be broken to under ¼”.

For the garden, direct or composter, they need to be smaller still. A simple way to crush the shells is to place them between paper towels, wax paper or newspaper and using a rolling pin or a can crush to a fine grit. This will speed up the breakdown for plants to absorb and when sprinkled direct around the base of a plant the small shards inhibit slugs and many other crawling pests.

A few simple steps and egg shells are a great enhancement in your backyard for healthy plants and birds.

A Quick Control for Slugs and Grubs

Trying to control slugs and grubs that are in your garden munching your plants at night can be a tiresome Endeavour. To save you time and to save your beautiful plants try placing a few slices of cucumber in a small aluminum pie or tart tin and place it in your garden. The chemical reaction between the cucumber and aluminum gives off a scent grubs and slugs do not like. A quick and easy way to rid yourself of garden pests.

Stop Weeds WIth Newspaper

A great way to stop weeds around your plants is with newspaper. Rip the newspaper into strips and soak in clean water.
Dig the hole for your plant and work in any compost or nutrients you would usually incorporate into your soil and plant your plants. Once they are planted and covered with good soil take the newspaper strips and layer, overlapping them around the plant. Top off with a good mulch. The newspaper and mulch will help to retain water and keep the soil and roots moist. By overlapping the paper you form a barrier that will block out weeds.
An easy way to cut down on weeds and save you time in the garden and now is a great time to save newspapers. Just use the black and white print pages, do not use any pages with colour on them.

What better way to spend time during these cold winter days than planning your spring planting with the help of gardening events. A great event that occurs across Canada every year is Seedy Sunday. Sudbury will host its second Seedy Sunday on February 20th 10 – 4 at the Market Square, sponsored by Seeds of Diversity Canada and Sudbury Food Connects Network (Foodshed Project). Seedy Sundays are wonderful opportunities to find local vegetable and flower seeds grown in your own zone. There are seed swaps and sales with local garden enthusiasts manning the booths able to answer questions and perk your curiosity. Booths on green programs, green energy, clean up events, landscaping information and ideas, organic growing information and so much more than you may have thought was available in your community. The speakers corner has a wide variety of local experts, master gardeners, eco information, guaranteed something for everyone.
These events are worth having community support, bringing together an amazing group of diverse people and information. In Ontario, Toronto’s Seedy Sunday will be on February 13th at Hart House, Sault Ste. Marie February 19th at Sault College cafeteria, B wing West, Hamilton on February 26 at the Royal Botanical Gardens and so many more. To find a location in your area simply go to the Seeds of Diversity Canada web site to find Seedy Sundays from coast to coast.
There are also Garden Festivals in many communities. The Sudbury Garden Festival will be on May 28th & 29th at the Market Square with speakers on Orchids, Shoreline Gardening, Gardening with Native Plants, Alternatives to Pesticides, Trees and Shrubs, Gardening with Arthritis, Perennials and I will be there talking about heirloom vegetables and the importance and ease of sustainable vegetable gardens.
Search for local gardening events and if you are fortunate to have a Farmers Market check there for winter and spring events to give you the best seeds, tools, products and information and warm your mind to make your 2011 gardening season the best and most relaxing yet.