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.

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

Garden Vitamin Boost

Take your fresh kitchen scraps- carrot peel, potato peel, apple peel, eggshells, tea leaves, coffee grounds, lettuce leaves and place in a blender with enough water to cover them and puree. In the garden poke holes with the handle of a trowel or rake near the plants, pour liquid in and cover with soil. This is a great boost for plants or as a soil preparation before planting in an empty garden.

Eggshells can be crushed and sprinkled straight onto the garden adding calcium to the soil. This is especially good for brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower...)

Short Cuts: Planting with Easy Compost for Small Spaces

Gardening is forgiving, if a plant is not growing well in one area you can move it to another, but to have time to relax and enjoy your garden nothing beats a little planning and organization.

When you are thinking of adding a tree or shrub to a garden preparing the area in advance will make the transplanting go smoothly, lowering the trauma to the plant and yourself. It takes time and attention to add larger varieties successfully; this is the time to make sure the mature plant and the location are a good match, for both the plant and you.

Compost is so beneficial to transplants. Having a good nutritious hole to pop it into will save you a lot of work later on. Compost in the bottom of the planting hole will help to maintain moisture as well as provide vital nutrients to the new root mass. Many people do not have a compost pile in their yard to access for transplants but that does not mean you have to go out and buy it by the bag.

The summer or fall before you plant, pick the location for the new addition keeping in mind light and space requirements of the variety you have chosen when mature. Dig the hole. Make it larger than it will need to be, this will be your new in ground compost pile. Layer the bottom of the hole with composting materials: vegetable kitchen scraps layered with grass clippings, fall leaves, soil, sticks and twigs broken up small, any “brown” composting materials, water to keep damp but not soggy. You do not have to maintain a huge composting deposit, just enough for 12” – 18” of materials so they will compost down to a good 6”-10” for the spring planting. If you have pets who may be too interested in the new lovely scented hole, place a wire screen and couple baseball size rocks on top of the compost pile, you don’t want to squash the contents or block the air, just enough to be a bother to animals. This usually deters inquisitive creatures since the compost is in a pit and they can’t move the rocks or screen out of the hole to get down to the kitchen scraps. Late fall give it a good final mix and turn to aerate, make sure it is damp, then top with a layer of leaves or grasses and your screen and rocks again. If you have clover in your yard grass clippings this is especially good for the compost as it is high in nitrogen and wonderful for plants. Leave it over the winter, but plan on turning the contents when you are able to as spring approaches. No need to add more to the contents as you want these to be fully broken down to friable soil for your new addition.

When you are ready for your lovely anticipated tree or shrub, the hole is already dug with wonderful nutrient rich compost in the bottom. This also has given you time to assess the location. You live with the hole for a while so you can be sure of its placement, if not, dig another in a better location, shovel the compost out of the original hole and into the new. It is a lot easier to do it at this stage than relocating later.

Another tip for tree or large shrub planting: place the tree on a large piece of burlap. Some plants take two or three people to maneuver them into place, when it is on burlap you can pull it around or lift it with less trauma to the plant, and yourself. Next: fill the hole with water before you pop it in. If you put the tree in a dry hole it stays where it’s put, float it in water & you can give it a quick spin. So often I find a plant in a great location but the “better” side is facing the fence!

Some jobs are big but with planning they can go smoothly. A job is well done when you have time to sit and enjoy your work.

Happy planting.

Fall Garlic Planting

I have finally planted my garlic garden. I really like being able to plant a garden in the fall and then watch it pop up in the early spring. It almost feels like it does it all on its own, when I am just getting started on long days digging and planting these little beauties are reaching for the sun.

When I pull the garlic out I start to prepare the garden for the next planting right away. I like to put roughage in the soil to replace the roots and bulbs I removed. I cut the raspberry canes back three years ago I kept the long stalks, cutting them into 6-8” pieces, intending to use them in the composter but finding so many usages for them along the way. Turning sticks, twigs, fall leaves, old garlic stalks into a garden provides compostable materials and an avenue for rain to filter down deep into the soil and opens airspaces up for worms. Worm highways are important in a healthy garden.

Once the soil is prepared I select the larger bulbs from my harvest and break them apart, I poke holes and drop a clove in point up and cover it up. A hole about 2 ½ times the length of the clove so 2–2½“deep is fine. sometimes the cold will pop the clove back up, you will find them poking out of the soil or lying on top, poke a hole in with your finger, or a screwdriver works well, and tuck it back in. A friend uses a piece of doweling with markings for ½”, 1”, 2” and 3” and pokes all his planting holes with that. I find three inches apart works well, it leaves plenty room and a small space can give me lots of garlic.

The best crop is when I cover the garden with mulch.

You can use hay, straw or in the spirit of using what Mother Nature provides, I use grass. I cut long grass from the meadow, this year the seed heads were well over 5ft! I take a handful and with yard scissors or hedge clippers cut a couple inches up from the ground. I take the grass and cut the seed head off so I am not planting grass seed in my garden, I don’t want more than what I already have. Then at the garlic garden I clip the stems into 8 – 12” pieces and spread them and inch or two thick. This will protect the cloves, keep the moisture in and warm the ground early in spring when you will see fresh green shoots poking through the grassy layer as soon as the snow starts to disappear. Long grass can be gathered from the roadside, field or empty lot, when you start to look you will find many great gathering locations close by. When you cut the seed heads off you just might want to keep them in a paper bag for a quick yard fix that I will be posting soon.

I leave the mulch in place until all chance of frost is gone and the sun is reliably warm then I pile it at the end of the garden so I can turn it into the soil after the garlic is out.

I have left the grass in place until harvest and found it suppressed grass and weed growth really well, I just like to turn the grass late spring, early summer or after an unusually wet season to be sure there is no mould or insect issues and let it air out.

So, plant your garlic now and relax until you harvest it, you will have plenty time to gather great garlic recipes and don’t forget about garlic preserves, you will have lots of garlic so make it last. New Garlic recipes have just been posted at naturesfoodrecipes.blogspot.com. ENJOY!!