Last week was a very busy one for me but I managed to get a bit done in spite of having limited free time. Bought tomato plants, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and brussels sprouts on Saturday. I noticed the bunching onions that I seeded last week are beginning to emerge. Snap peas are up ~4" tall. I sowed some dill, cilantro, radishes, and tatsoi yesterday. Salad in the cold frame is rocking. We've been eating on it for the past week.
Re-potted the tomatoes yesterday. I'm only putting out 32 this year.
Cabbages, etc. are in the dirt. Garlic and potatoes in the background. I'm hoping the feed sacks reduce the need for weeding. I was hoping to go no-till, tried it last year, couldn't keep up with the crabgrass so I will continue to experiment until I find something that works.
Little patch of volunteer cilantro. I'm going to let it grow. It will be ready to harvest long before time to make salsa so I'll dry it and then grind it up for later use.
Dear Garden FRiends,
Sneaking in here into the back of the class...
We had a unit on turf grasses on Thursday. I confess, Darlin and I were sort of snoozin’ on this one. However there were a few take-aways.
The presenter is an authority on Bermuda grass, and has actually developed some new varieties. He takes care of the KC Royals park among other locations such as golf courses, parks, medians, municiple lawns, etc.
We learned what grasses are suited for lawns in our particular area, how to keep them healthy (good soil prep, proper soil testing, pH, etc). Benefits of various types suited for our area, versus the drawbacks of those same types.
A client needs to be apprised that there is actually NO PERFECT GRASS! If you want green 360 per year, you will have some work to do in this area. If you are satisfied with 9 months of green and a 3 month dormancy period, there are a number of grasses that can work well. Other requirements modify what type of grass to select based on the client’s expectations. But first of all help the client understand what is involved in his/her lawn expectation. And what can be done, or even should be done regarding those expectations. A client might start out expecting green 12 months per year, but when learning of the costs and effort involved in achieving it, they may modify their expectation. A golf grounds keeper has certain expectations that a home owner may share, but his may not be modified, while the home owner’s might be.
Since Texokie and Darlin are not caring if they have a few bare spots in their yard, dandelions, henbit, etc., despite the copious notes Texokie made, it is not our area of rapt interest. We are, however, glad to have met the person who would be willing to help us identify weeds, as we are researching the various edible weeds in our area.
We also participated this last week in a special event for Master Gardeners in our area. It was on Yard Art (ornaments made from re-purposed junk, stone marker painting, etc.) Darlin and I BOTH actually each won a door prize!
The other part of the event was on Herbs Growing in Oklahoma. Our presenter was faced with very limited time, and she would place a slide up on the screen chock full of info, and be speaking a mile a minute. *sigh* Texokie was sorrowful to not be able to capture nor retain very much of this information.
However, a few nuggets DID fall out:
*The extension agents are working on a new fact sheet on herbs in Oklahoma, so perhaps some of this info in detail may be made available in the future.
*When planting herbs:
~Can use them in borders often
~REmember medicinal herbs CAN BE POTENT! Can interact with meds. Be careful, and consult your doc/health care professional
~Herbs can be used in different sized spaces and do well in containers.
*GENERAL RULE ABOUT HERBS:
If you grow it for root or for fruit- it needs FULL SUN!
If you grow it for the leaves - partial shade is all you need!
She noted that while this is a general rule, there of course may be exceptions. But she did not go into that.
For those on facebook, she has a facebook page and is willing to answer questions, especially for people from Oklahoma. However, if you are in a similar growing zone, she may be willing to answer people from other states as well. She said do a search on “My Raggedy Herbs” Her name is Lori Coats. She especially is into growing Lavendar.
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I thought that I would continue my soil notes from last week, as I think they are of particular interest to all of us on this thread.
SOIL NOTES INSTALLMENT 3
SOIL STRUCTURE
In discussing structures, he introduced the word “peds.” This is basically the unit structure you are seeking to identify. If you are holding a loose handful of soil, and it is granular, each grain clump is a ped. If you are holding a large clump of clay, that unit which is all stuck in one piece is a ped.
*GRANULAR
Soil is made of horizons or layers. He mentioned that the Minnesota pic was about 5% org matter and is granular. It is ideal. It can hold water and won’t break roots.
*BLOCKY
This is soil in which the peds are of a squarish/rectangularish blocky form.
*PRISMATIC
Soil peds take on a columnar shape
He noted that drying of BLOCKY and PRISMATIC soils until they crack will break the roots.
Blocky can indeed move from blocky to granular by adding organic matter.
OTHER FORMS:
*PLATY – flat sheety structure
*SINGLE GRAIN – sand is an example.
* MASSIVE – He showed a picture of a large clod of dirt (ped) which was about 7x5” thick. [There was a pencil shown next to it for scale – this looked like he went to part of TEXOKIE’s yard to obtain it! LOL!]
IDEAL SOIL FOR CROP PRODUCTION
* Medium texture for air and water movement
* Sufficient clay to hold soil moisture reserves
* Deep, permeable sub soil with adequate fertility levels
* Good environment for roots to go deep for moisture and nutrients.
TIP ON TREE PLANTING IN POOR SOIL
To plant a tree in poor soil be sure to dig a much larger hole so you can put in good soil to let the roots breath through in growth.
Good news on the bird front…..
Three years ago I built three bird houses in an attempt to entice either chickadees or tree swallows to them with no success.
Two summers ago I finally saw a pair of chickadees nesting in one of the houses in the tree behind my neighbor’s house. That was short lived. On two separate occasions, I spotted a starling perched on the front of the house trying to get in the nest hole and that was the end. The chickadees left their almost completed nest and moved on………..
In my attempt to make the bird house easily accessible, I had put grooves in the front panel thinking that the chickadees could latch on to that then hop into the house.
Well, that theory proved wrong and it allowed the starlings to grab on and try to get into the nest. I have subsequently replaced the front of that and my other bird houses with a smooth front and a smaller entrance hole designed specifically for chickadees or similar small birds.
A second bird house I placed on the side of my house next to the garden window and it was forever being taken over by house sparrows until I finally figured out that the entrance hole was large enough to let them in. So, I replaced the front panel with a smaller hole and that has kept the sparrows out.
So here’s the good news: I just checked that house on the side of my house and it’s starting to be filled with moss which is the primary nesting material of chickadees………..YAY!
Hopefully they will continue their nest building and I will finally have a family of chickadees in one of my bird houses………….
With the silk moth coccoon in the butterfly cage, the black swallowtail coccon in another cage and the potential of a family of chickadees in one of my bird houses, it doesn't get any better than that!
Nature is filled with wonderful things but only visible to those with eyes open and who know what to look for............
