A Garden Box Tale

    This is sort of a Show and Tell post so you can see some of the particular areas I'm working on in my yard.  I will try to scatter a few more of this type of post in between so you can see the applications of what I am writing about.

    Last week, I was digging in a garden box that i had also mulched last year,  to see what its looking like underneath.   This box had been the vein of my existence for almost the whole time we’ve lived here.  When we moved in it was full of Golden Raspberries, but it was so overgrown with grass, that in an attempt to dig out all the grass, we slaughtered most of the Raspberries.   

     I dug that box out every year for three years, and replaced the soil, with potting soil, and every year it was overtaken again.  Last year, after watching the Eden Film,  I decided to give it one last try.  I covered up the grass with 4 layers of newspaper, and added the 4 inches of mulch, and then planted several starts from my greenhouse in it.   The plants did not do so well,  (the box is to the far left of the photo) because the soil composition was not good to start with.  There was a strange powdery mineral type substance that was surfacing in a few places on the top of the box.  This was the only picture I could find of it from last year.  But I know the mulching was working its magic on the ground beneath though, because this year, the grass is gone and I found beautiful, dark composted organic material and several worms crawling around. 

This is what it looked like when I went out to clean and prep it for this year.  There is a tiny bit of grass in the corners, but it came right out.

Look at this rich soil!  See the worm in the middle?

I am excited to plant in here again this year.  Plus a few of the Raspberries popped up last year on one end of the box, so I will let them take over again, little by little, and let the box go back to being a raspberry patch.  Only this time, one without weeds!

I added another couple inches of Mulch and then wrapped a short fence around the base, to discourage my Chickens from digging in there and throwing out all the mulch.  We'll see if it worked.  :-)

Mulch - "The Earth is Meant to Be Covered"

    I know I keep referring back to this fabulous gardening movie, Back to Eden, but when you find something so Golden it is hard not learn from your mistakes and change what you're doing so you can see results.   

    As I mentioned in my "6 Rules of Gardening" Post, (click to read) Mulch is a key factor to a successful garden.  It also reduces the workload of the typical gardener after time.  Much of the information I will be sharing here is taken directly from "Back to Eden" so if you don't want to watch the film, you can learn some of the key principles here.

    "Everywhere in nature where man has not been, the ground is covered.  The ground is meant to be covered, it is a living organism. [It can be compared to skin for animals, feathers for birds, scales for fish, etc.  When you take the cover off, it becomes vulnerable]"

    I had never thought of dirt or soil before as a living organism.  But when you think about it scientifically, it most definitely is.  When we change our thinking to reflect that it is a living thing, it then makes complete sense to "protect it."  As soon as I understood this concept, I pictured in my mind all of the dead, non-fertile soil I have seen various places throughout my lifetime.  Most farms and large gardens that are cleared and tilled at the start of each season are empty, light colored, dull plots of land until the seeds are added and the soil amendments and fertilizers to make them grow.   Crops have to be rotated each growing season to avoid over-depleting the soil of nutrients.  But sadly, much of our soil is already grossly depleted.  This photo is a bit of an exaggeration since this particular land is also suffering from drought, but the compaction and lack of color are consistent with depleted soil.  

     Farmers spend thousands of dollars on soil amendments, fertilizer, and even pesticides, and year after year are facing the same problems again with each new growing season.

     Paul in the “Back to Eden” film, takes us on a journey, that leads our thoughts back to the Creator.  He talks about how God gardens the earth, and what we can learn to both improve our yields, and simplify our process when we mimic what nature is already doing.

     The next time you have the opportunity to walk through a forest, or field or any areas that are mostly untouched by man, kneel down and dig into the dirt, and explore what you find.   For example, in a forest you find leaves, pine needles, pine cones, twigs, seeds, etc. in various stages of decay laying atop the rich black composted floor.  This is because in nature all of these things drop to the ground and are left untouched to be broken down by the microorganisms in the organic materials as well as the soil.   Animals come through and crunch up the leaves and twigs, the wind blows and mixes things around, and the rain comes and wets everything.  All of this creates a natural covering for the ground.  Its what helps to keep weeds down, and give nutrients to young growing trees and plants.   In a field you will find the dead fallen grasses and rocks and other things covering the ground.  

     “The ground is meant to be covered.”  What can we learn from that statement when we apply it to our own corner of ground that we have the privilege of caring for?  The answer is Mulch.  Lots of Mulch.

According to Paul (Eden Film) the best mulch is wood chips.  But he also says that he has tried other things successfully as well.  Wood Shavings, Compost, and even Rocks, just so long as the ground is covered.   

     The reason wood chips work so well is because they act as a sponge, absorbing as much moisture as possible when it rains and holding it until the ground beneath needs it.  They also, amazingly don’t blow away in the wind, they stay put.  They never compact, are always soft, and always allow for air to be present.  You could even drive a truck on it and it wouldn’t compact.

     Mulching is not a new concept.  People have been using this idea for years and years.  What makes it so amazing to me, is understanding how it works, and then putting it into practice correctly and seeing the results.  

    I have an excess of Goat manure available at all times, as I’ve mentioned before.  So when I was at a loss for composted material, often I would dump loads of the fresh manure mixed with hay in many areas of my yard just to help keep the weeds down.   A few years ago we tore out the grass in one end of our yard to create a large garden area.   I covered the whole thing with the manure/hay mix to help mulch the area.  I was amazed the next spring at how few weeds I had to pull before planting my first garden in that area.   Plus having the nutrients from all that compost sitting on top of the ground proved to be another benefit.

    Paul explains that as it rains and these materials absorb the moisture, and then release it.  It actually releases a type of “compost tea” down into the soil below, carrying with it the nutrients contained in the organic matter sitting on top of the soil.   This is exactly what happens with wood chips.  They absorb all the rain like a sponge, and when the ground below and the roots of the plants call for water, they are getting the modified, improved water that is being release WITH nutrients from the wood chips, and decomposed organic materials above.  

    So last year we decided to put the mulching into practice properly in a couple of our garden areas.  We prepared the garden the way Paul showed to prepare a NEW garden area, just to be sure we kept the majority of the weeds down.   We lined our entire garden bed with 3-4 layers of newspaper, and then sprinkled a layer of topsoil over it.  Literally sprinkled.  Not much at all.  You could still see quite a bit of newspaper.  Secondly we did a thin layer of compost over that, and then finished with about 4 inches of wood chips.  The garden looked fantastic!   Then we proceeded to plant directly on top of the newspaper, by pushing the mulch out of the way with our hands, making a hole, and putting in the started plants I had grown in the greenhouse.  After planting, we put the mulch back carefully around the plant, and because of the season, we used the green Wall of Water Protectors to ad additional warmth and frost protection to our plants.

The kids helping prep the the garden area with compost and mulch.

     We had a beautiful garden, and most of it did quite well.  We had a few areas where an overgrown tree prevented enough sunlight from getting through, stunting the growth of some of those plants.  but everything else did really well.  

     So far I see almost no weeds, and because we had a very cold winter with lots of snow on the ground, the wood chips are holding the moisture in the ground, and composting the under layers.  I am excited as we come into year two to be able to continue to enjoy the effort we exerted last year. 

This is in July when the garden was in full force.  We had no weeds all Summer, and as you can see everything grew and produced beautifully!  I love having what I call a "mixed use" garden, so that there are attractive flowers as well as productive plants.

Composting, Let's Keep it Simple!

         There's actually a lot of science and good information behind composting, but I want to start out simple.  I wan't you to read this and think to yourself, "I can do this!"  And really, it IS simple, and can continue to be until you find yourself having a greater need an purpose for your compost.  I remember the huge round composting cages my great grandfather had on his property in California.  I think he must’ve truly been the master gardener in the family.  The garden was massive, and there were fruit trees everywhere, and don’t forget my Grandma’s fresh Strawberry Rhubarb pie, straight from the garden.  I only wish I had been old enough to really learn from them.  Gardens were a necessary way of life in their day.  You gardened because you wanted to eat.  

     When I first tried composting, I bought one of those Stationary black bins with a lid and just started throwing all of my kitchen scraps in it.  While in theory I wasn't doing anything wrong, Compost needs air, and water to properly break down and heat up.  And it was pretty hard to “stir” anything in such a narrow space.   So on my second attempt, I decided to do “open composting” where my pile was out in the open and somewhat contained.   I purchased some 4 ft. T-posts from Home Depot along with some 2 ft. wire fencing.  I basically made an “E” shape with two sections so I could keep track of older and newer compost and be able to get a pitch fork in there and mix it around good.

I am by no means, an artist, but I thought it would be helpful for you do have a sketch of what I’m talking about.   I can’t even take a picture of mine, because its piled so high, you  wouldn’t be able to see the stakes anymore.  So basically there are 6 T-Posts, and I’ve wrapped and attached the wire grid all the way around.  You want to keep it nice and tight so it can help support your pile as it grows and as you mix it.  I have found that the easiest way to mix well is to use a pitch fork.  You basically throw everything out of your pile, and make a new pile on the ground beside it, effectively mixing as you go.  Then pitch it all back in.  I only have to do this maybe every month or so.  But for me, this was still a lot of work so I wanted a better solution.

A few years ago I found a Rotating Compost Bin that would hold 80 gallons!  (Thats over 10 Cubic feet!)

And finally it was something I could handle!  It is made by “Lifetime Products” so it is very good quality.  I purchased 3 and had my teenage boys assemble them, so we could put them to use immediately.   I still use my old compost “frame” as a holding tank for fresh manure, leaves and lawn clippings to start decomposing before adding them to my composter.  The reason this works so well is because it makes it so easy to give compost the 3 things it needs most.  Heat, Air, and water.   I simply open the latched lid on my composter and wet it down with a hose once a week, as well as dump in my kitchen scraps whenever I have them.  And then turn the barrel a few times and I’m done.   The black barrel absorbs the heat from the sun, so even if we only turn it once a week, we get compost in about 2 months.  I think if we were out there turning it daily it might result in compost much quicker.

I know you guys are probably starting to think I am just selling you something here, but truthfully, I USE everything I recommend to you.  I  am a big fan of technology in all departments of life.  I love gadgets and things that make life easier.  And without alot of these “tools” and “gadgets” I wouldn’t have the time or energy to accomplish much of what i do.  I also realize as a prepper, that it will be a sad day around here if the power goes out and I have to do things the old fashioned way.  :-)

Back to compost.  Theres a few other things to be aware of if wanting to create good compost rapidly. 

1.) Size matters - If you start throwing in big orange peels and banana peels and Pineapple greens, you are going to be able to recognize them for the next 6 months in your bin, likely.  It is much better to break things down to a smaller size.  This allows more surface contact with other decomposing materials, water, and heat, allowing these items to decompose more quickly.  There are a few easy ways to  break these things down.  If you juice with a masticating juicer, when you’re done, simply run your citrus peels through the juicer, it breaks them into bits, effortlessly, and you can just add it with the pulp from your juicer, into your composter.  Also throwing items like egg shells and banana peels into your food processor for a quick whiz can help as well.  I’ve even just snipped them up with a pair of kitchen scissors as I’m holding them over the bin.  

      If your not interested in the additional effort.  Use those items differently.  For example, Banana peels are said to have a highly positive effect on Rose bushes and other Acid Craving plants.   Rake away some of the mulch around those things and bury a few banana peels underneath.  

   2.) You need to make sure you have a good ration of Brown waste compared to Green waste.  What does this mean?  Different waste contains different nutrients, and decomposes at different rates.  Remember the science I was talking about?  Things that decompose faster, produce heat and help to decompose items that may rot more slowly.  I will create a list at the bottom of the post to help guide you. 

   3.)Use an existing compost mix to get a head start.  You could almost compare compost to yogurt here.  It is loaded with microorganisms (ie: good bacteria)  that work together to break down the raw materials (ie: milk)  So if you start with compost that has already gone through the process and contains the nutrients and composition you are hoping for, this can speed up the process.  Be sure to save some of your newly made rich compost to start your next batch.

Brown (Carbon)	Green (Nitrogen)	DONT USE AT ALL
Dry Leaves Pine Needles Newspaper (shredded) Sawdust Wood chips/ shavings Twigs Hay/Straw Peanut Shells Cold Ashes from wood Dryer lint Cereal boxes (shredded)	Fruit & Veggie Scraps Grass Clippings Coffee Grounds Manure from horse, cow, Goat, Chicken, Bat, etc. Egg Shells Tea Bags/leaves Plant trimmings Moldy Bread Banana peels pulp from juicer	Milk Fat Meat Domestic Pet Waste Bones Oils Diseased Plants (Can spread disease) Inorganic materials

     Basically you need about a 50/50 ratio of Green and Brown.  So to make it easy, I like to keep a bag of last years leaves next to the composter and every time I dump a bin of kitchen scraps, I add about the same volume of dry leaves to the composter and spin it.  

      If you are filling up your composter little by little, you want to make sure that when its relatively full, you stop adding new waste to it for 6-8 weeks until you have developed your compost.  Because otherwise you will always have bitts of un-composted materials in there.  This is why I have 3 bins.  I only actively ad to one or two at a time.  That way I have a sort of rotation of Compost in progress, Compost ready to use, and a  bin for adding to.   And truthfully, in the winter, I don’t add scraps to my bins.  I give them to the geese and chickens because there is nothing for them to forage on when there is so much snow, so I dump my juice pulp and other scraps, including the crumbs from the bottom of cereal boxes (Healthy cereals) old bread, etc. to help supplement their diets in the winter.  

     Also, I am rather lucky to have a natural Brown/green mix occuring daily in my backyard.  What? No fair, you say?  It is the combination of goat poo mixed in with the discarded hay from the feeder.   We pull out at least a wagon load each week and ad to the “holding compost pile” before putting into the composter.   I have to say this combination along with twigs, leaves, and kitchen scraps have made an amazing compost for my garden each year. 

    Goat berries are not as hot as Chicken manure so they can even be put straight into the garden non-composted.  The mix works as a mulch to begin with, and then with watering and decomposition the nutrients are released into the soil. Please feel free to ask your questions, and share your thoughts below!

A Whole New OLD Way to Look at Gardening

     I recently came across an amazing film that changed everything I thought I knew about gardening, and plants.  It is well done, professionally filmed, and it has the potential to change your life.  There are several key concepts introduced here that when applied even to the simplest backyard gardens, have immediate and long lasting results.
    This is a full length film so plan sufficient time to watch it, or you can watch it in sections as it is easily set up to do it that way.

Click on photo, then scroll down to find video

     Even in my own backyard garden, I have been able to start applying some of these principles, and in the first year that I have used them, I can see some HUGE improvements and positive changes in my yard, my dirt, my plants and my crop. This years gardening should be even easier because of what I have put in place last year.

     I love the main idea of the film which is that God is the great Master Gardener, and by observing what we see in nature and learning from it, we can assist him in creating something beautiful in our own yards.  Each concept is laid out and explained in such a way that it makes amazing sense.
     I would also recommend purchasing the DVD if nothing else, just to support this great effort.
   

Time to start planting your SEEDS!

     Its almost that time!   One of my Favorite times of the year!  (OK, so I have a lot of favorite times, spring chicks, fall harvest, etc. etc.)  I just ordered a few seeds to supplement my already overgrown stockpile of Organic Garden Seeds!  I started growing Organic, non-GMO or non-hybrid seeds several years ago as I began to learn the importance not only of eating non genetically modified foods, but also protecting the earth, environment, and even our future seed stock.
     As a prepper, its important to grow plants that seed can be harvested from, dried, stored properly and used again.   Most of the seeds available in stores are what is called "HYBRID."  Hybrid means that when you plant a seed harvested from the fruit of your hybrid crop, you will not get a plant that produces true to type.   Many of these seeds produce either weak plants with growing issues, and subject to diseases, or the plant is beautiful but won't produce a healthy fruit, if any fruit at all.
     You do have to know a few things to become a successful seed saver, but with a little trial and error most people can use their own garden seeds season after season.  We will get into seed saving later on, but today I want to talk to you about planning your garden, and getting your seeds ready.

Shelley's 6 rules of Gardening:
          1 - Plant what you will eat.
          2 - Choose non-hybrid, non-GMO seeds.
          3 - Start your seeds as naturally as possible
          4-  Compost your beds, learn to use a compost pile
          5 - Mulch, Mulch, Mulch!
          6 - Experiment with different Methods, and HAVE FUN!

We are going to go over the first several points today, and then I will address the other ones individually with detailed posts and information.

Plant what you will eat.

     This is more important than some of you may realize if you are a new gardener.  It is so easy to get excited and want to plant your whole yard, and do 50 of everything just so you can feel like you've accomplished something.   But at harvest time when you are bringing in buckets of food, 1/2 of which you don't even like, it can get stressful trying to use/ give away so much food.   If eggplants gross you out, or you don't' like hot peppers, DON'T GROW THEM!
     Think about what your family eats and uses on a regular basis and start with that.   For us it is Tomatoes, Peppers, Cucumbers, Lettuce, Melons, and a few other odds and ends.  And yes, we do like Eggplant.   I'll post my Ratatouille recipe later on in the year closer to harvest time.   I also have a space for what I call my Green Smoothie Garden.   I grow Red Russian Kale, Lacinto Kale, blue Kale, and 2 varieties of Swiss Chard.   Then I go out with my Scissors every morning and chop a bunch of leaves for my smoothie!   I am soooo missing that right now!   My GS Garden was producing right up until about  a month ago when all these heavy snows hit!

Choose non-hybrid, non GMO seeds
     We talked about this a little bit already, but your probably wondering how to tell the difference between hybrid and non hybrid seeds if its not obvious.   Some of the tell tale signs of a hybrid seed, are that usually they will have a # in the title next to the item.   ie: F1 tomato, or FL0504 Hot Pepper seeds, etc.   Not always, but if it does, its definitely a hybrid.   Also if they say they are resistant to some disease or high heat, they are usually hybrid.   The verbage is critical.  Because the word "tolerant" for example is not generally used for hybrids.   So if something is drought tolerant, or tolerates drought, that is likely an indication of the plants natural properties.

Ok, so where do I find non-Gmo seeds?
     There are several online seed companies that offer quality seeds.   I will list a few of my favorites here:
               BAKER CREEK HEIRLOOM SEEDS

               VICTORY SEEDS

And there is also several options on Etsy.com, but this one is my favorite:

                CUBITS

And for PREPPERS, you'll like these storeable "Garden in a Can" options:

              GARDEN IN A CAN

              HEIRLOOM ORGANICS - SEED VAULT

 I planted Sunflowers in front of the Chicken coop to help block out the mess.

Start your seeds as naturally as possible
     So what exactly do I mean by that?   Learn about each type of seed, and figure out how it grows best and in what conditions.   If those conditions exist naturally where you live, there is no need to go to extra trouble getting your seed to grow.   Many nurseries sell some of the most ridiculous seedlings I've ever seen, and i have to admit early in my gardening career, I fell prey.   For example, why would somebody buy started corn plants?   In most parts of the country, you can practically drop corn seed on the ground, and it will grow.   Just know when its safe to drop it, and your all good.   With corn, you have to  make sure the ground is warm enough (about 70) and it will germinate no problem.
     Cucumbers and Melons are often started indoors, but if you live in an area that has nice hot summers, you can drop seed in the ground in July and have a bigger cucumber than the nursery plant you bought and planted in May.   So when I say start as naturally as possible, I mean KNOW your seeds, and your weather, and plant accordingly so you don't waste seeds.
     I start most of my plants indoors (except corn, ha ha), OR I use those green "Wall of Water" cones to start some directly in the garden much sooner than I normally could.  We have long winters, and a good chance of at least one late freeze every spring, so its generally not safe to set plants out into the garden until mid-may, and this year I'm thinking more like first of june.   But alot of expert gardeners around here do start seeds directly in the garden and try to protect them.  
     Depending on the type of seed, I have few methods.  For any of my "greens" that i want to start ahead, I usually get a foil tin from the dollar store with a lid, fill with organic seed starter (That I have pre-moistened) from the nursery or hardware store,  and try to systematically sprinkle the seeds over the top.  Not too many, but quite a few.  Then I get some more seed starter, and lightly sprinkle just a bit over the seeds.   If your doing it in your house in a sunny window, Use the lid.  However in a greenhouse, I learned the hard way, it gets way too hot in that little container when the sun comes out in the afternoon, and I fried my seeds.  So if starting in a greenhouse that is somewhat climate controlled, I wouldn't recommend using the lid.

I like to do a more of a mixed use garden so that its pretty as well as edible.  Too bad I hadn't removed the old supports for the winter garden extender we put up in the fall.  It obviously did not hold up well.

     For Tomatoes and other Vegetables, I like to use Coconut Fiber Pellets.  Really, just because I am somewhat lazy.   Its a heck of a lot of work to fill seed trays with dirt, and tap down each little section.  I prefer to just add water, and let the "pot" or in this case pellet, prep itself.  Then I just use the handle of a plastic spoon to make my little holes to deposit seeds in.   I will do another post with pictures and details as soon as I get MY seeds planted here in the next week or two.   I don't have a specific date I do it, it just goes on the to-do list for February, and when I feel ready to do it, I go for it!   I need to tidy up my greenhouse first and make a place for all these seed flats.  

Also as a resource, I want to point you to a site about winter sowing seeds.  Its not too late to start your seeds this way, and when I tried it, it worked out great.   Especially for flowers.
The idea is to sow your seeds inside mini greenhouses made of milk jugs or other plastic containers.  You water them, and seal them, with the exception of a few small holes for ventilation, and then set them outside.   The seeds are more protected than they would be in the garden, but they also are in the natural temperature so you don't have to harden them off when they sprout.   Go check out this site for a great description with photos:

WINTER SOWING

Stay tuned for posts on each one of my other 3 rules individually!  Composting, Mulching, & Garden Methods.  Please be sure to subscribe via email, rss, or facebook, up on the right hand corner.  

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