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Spring GrowGuide

Your Last Spring Frost Date: March 24
Your First Fall Frost Date: November 24
Tasks calculated for week of March 24, 2010 (week of last spring frost)

TASK	NEW THIS WEEK. . .	ONGOING. . .	LAST CHANCE. . .
SOW INDOORS		leaf lettuce
SOW OUTDOORS	bush beans lima beans pole beans sweet corn cucumbers melons pumpkins summer squash winter squash	beets carrots radishes swiss chard
HARDEN OFF		cucumbers (3/3 - 3/9) eggplant (1/20 - 1/26) leaf lettuce (3/3 - 3/9) melons (3/3 - 3/9) okra (2/24 - 3/2) peppers (1/20 - 1/26) pumpkins (3/3 - 3/9) summer squash (3/3 - 3/9) winter squash (3/3 - 3/9) early tomatoes (2/3 - 2/9) late tomatoes (2/3 - 2/9)
TRANSPLANT	cucumbers (2/24 - 3/2) eggplant (1/13 - 1/19) melons (2/24 - 3/2) okra (2/17 - 2/23) peppers (1/13 - 1/19) pumpkins (2/24 - 3/2) summer squash (2/24 - 3/2) winter squash (2/24 - 3/2) early tomatoes (1/27 - 2/2) late tomatoes (1/27 - 2/2)	leaf lettuce (2/24 - 3/2)

Spring GrowGuide

Your Last Spring Frost Date: May 24
Your First Fall Frost Date: October 24
Tasks calculated for week of May 17, 2010 (1 week before last spring frost)

TASK	NEW THIS WEEK. . .	ONGOING. . .	LAST CHANCE. . .
SOW INDOORS		leaf lettuce	cucumbers melons pumpkins summer squash winter squash
SOW OUTDOORS		beets carrots radishes swiss chard	peas
HARDEN OFF	cucumbers (4/26 - 5/2) eggplant (3/15 - 3/21) melons (4/26 - 5/2) okra (4/19 - 4/25) peppers (3/15 - 3/21) pumpkins (4/26 - 5/2) summer squash (4/26 - 5/2) winter squash (4/26 - 5/2) early tomatoes (3/29 - 4/4) late tomatoes (3/29 - 4/4)	leaf lettuce (4/26 - 5/2)
TRANSPLANT	leaf lettuce (4/19 - 4/25)		brussles sprouts (3/29 - 4/4)

Total Blog Directory

Worm Castings | Your Kitchen Gardener

 Strumelia's blog

Worm composting....it's vegetable Reincarnation!

Written by Strumelia

Sun, 05/16/2010 - 8:20pm

I keep a bin of red wriggler (Eisenia fetida) composting worms in my basement.  All the very choicest discarded tidbits from the kitchen such as fruit and vegetable peelings and scraps, egg shells, tea bags, banana peels, and used coffee grounds with filters, and shredded brown paper, all go to the worms, and the rest of the kitchen and garden scraps just go into our regular outdoor compost bins. In return, every few months I get a nice big 10 or 15 pound tray full of pure black earthworm castings for my garden.  For free.
I hadn't harvested from my worm bin since the Fall, and today I refreshed their bedding and rotated out about 25 lbs. of wonderful rich castings.
I purposely harvested today because today I prepared the tomato patch.  After deep digging the whole bed, I pounded in the stakes.  Into the ground around each tomato stake, I hoed in about 12 cups of earthworm castings.  Tomorrow I am going to buy the 16 tomato plants at my favorite local growers' stand.  Tomatos are the one vegetable I buy already potted as plants....everthing else I direct seed into the ground in my veggie garden.  I just don't want to get involved with starting seed indoors under lights, and our short growing season doesn't really give enough time to start tomatos from seed outdoors. I've already put in the stakes and planted my cucumber seeds. So now the tomato bed is ready as well.
I like to think about how so much of what we used to throw into the garbage to eventually wind up in landfills now instead gets re-cycled back through our two simple home composting systems and helps us grow our vegetables. And how amazing to think that some of the scraps from those vegetables will yet again go back to the worms to travel another cycle.  It's vegetable reincarnation!

Preserving Water for Your Kitchen Gardener 2

   For the past 10 years Gwen Steele has been teaching ways to garden using less water. This method is called xeriscaping and consists of seven sensible principles to guide you to garden with the environment you live in rather than fighting the natural Nature. A natural for the efficient kitchen gardener. These are:

1. Planning
2. Design
3. Soil Preparation
4. Practical Turf Areas
5. Efficient Irrigation
6. Appropriate Plant Selection
7. Mulching

   You will have the added bonus of reducing maintenance time and costs as well as pest and disease problems.
   Irrigating lawns is where the majority of domestic outdoor water is used. Watering less often for a longer period of time promotes deep roots that are more drought resistant. On clay soil it is possible to keep a lawn green with only seven inches of water added in a whole season. This can be done in one inch applications.  Eg: One inch in May, June and September and one inch two weeks apart in both July and August. This illustrates how little water is needed on clay or water retentive soils. The good gardener understands this.
   Growing lawn on sand is a major waste of water. A minimum of six inches of good topsoil is needed before planting a lawn in this situation.
   There are several drought resistant grass seed mixes available such as Enviro-Turf and Enviro-Lawn that look like a regular lawn but are low/water low/grow  mow. Another option is to remove lawn from areas where it is not needed for activities and replace it with drought tolerant ground covers, shrubs, ornamental grasses, etc. A kitchen gardener needs to pay attention to new or established recommendations.

Kitchen Gardener Mistakes (7)

7. Don't plant more than you can care for. If you don't have the time to pick your vegetables, water the garden, and fertilize the garden, don't get carried away. Start small and only grow what you need. Vegetables that aren't picked when they are ripe will rot and be a magnet for insects and disease. This goes back to the saying "one bad apple spoils the whole bunch".

 From My Garden

Kitchen Gardener Mistakes (6)

6. Over fertilizing. While fertilizer is a good thing, too much of it can be a bad thing. Over fertilizing will lead to foliage growth but at the same time not increase produce output. So you will have tall stringy plants that can't support the vegetables that are growing on them. A well composted garden at the beginning of the season will surely reduce your need for fertilizers during the season.

From My Garden

Kitchen Gardener Mistakes (5)

5. Planting varieties of vegetables or fruits that aren't a good match for your climate. Not all vegetables and plants grow vigorously in all climates. The best way to select the varieties that will thrive in your area is to contact your local extension agency. They will have a listing of recommended varieties. Most reputable nurseries will also only sell varieties that will thrive in the local climate. While I would love to grow citrus plants, our cool climate will not allow for this.

From My Garden

Kitchen Gardener Mistakes (4)

4. Not watering properly. Both over watering and under watering are a problem. If you let the plants get too wet it is a recipe for disease. If they get too dry they will wilt. The key is frequent consistent watering. In the beginning of the season a light watering will due. But as the season progresses, deep watering is required to encourage deep root growth. Plants with deep roots will survive a dry spell much easier than plants with a shallow root system.

From My Garden  

Kitchen Gardener Mistakes (3)

3. Purchasing cheap transplants. While you might save a few pennies buying transplants at a discount store, you are better off buying at a reputable nursery. Sick plants will struggle all season. It is best to get started on the right foot.

From My Garden     

Kitchen Gardener Mistakes (2)

2. Planting your crops too close together. When seeds are sown, or transplants are planted everything is small, and there is a lot of open space. It is common to try to plant closer than the recommended spacing to get more output per a limited space. In fact you may decrease your output, as plants that can't get proper air circulation are more susceptible to disease. Additionally larger plants will grow taller than smaller plants and shade them out.

From   My Garden              

Kitchen Gardener Mistakes (1)

1. The most common mistake made is planting a garden in an area that doesn't receive sufficient sunlight. Most vegetable plants need at least 8 hours of direct sunlight every day. Therefore you need to choose an area that gets both morning and afternoon sun. If you have trees nearby, it may be a good idea to remove them or prune them back if they are blocking your garden.

From    My Garden