Thursday, April 30, 2009
Snappy Garden Blog Has Moved!
I've given Snappy Garden Blog a bit of a face-lift including a new name and a new URL. CLICK HERE to go to my new Dig-It-Yourself Garden blog. I'll be posting all my garden blogs to this new URL in the future. Make sure to update your RSS feeds. See you over there!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Soil Blocks 3 Weeks Later
So its been three weeks since I used my patented (ok, not really) home made soil blocker (for more info, see previous post) and planted my first flat of seeds this year. Here's how things looked today:
I can't even begin to tell you (but I probably don't have to tell you, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about) how exciting it was to see these little babies poke up through the soil! They germinated within about a week from sowing. Germination rate was very good and I only have a couple of soil blocks with no seedlings. The soil blocks themselves seem to be doing well, except for two in the middle of the right most rows which feel apart the day I made them.
However, I can't help but worry. Having never started onions or leeks from seed, I have no idea what they're supposed to look like tat this stage. To my unaccustomed eyes, they look a bit wimpy... all flopped over and not very rigid. Is this how they're supposed to be or am I doing something wrong?
In other seed starting news, last week I made another tray of soil blocks and started one seed packet worth (40 blocks) of Snapdragon seeds. Today I started another packet of Snapdragons as well as two packets of Impatients, which I must say are the smallest seeds I've EVER tried to sow. I ended up sowing them by scattering them in a small container of soil, instead of trying to separate them into individual soil blocks. My plan is, when they germinate and get their first set of true leaves I'll separate them into individual cells at that point. If anyone out there has stories / hints about successful Impatient propagation, I'd love to her about it. Thus far I feel like I'm totally making it up.
But then again, I guess making things up is half the fun of gardening, right?
Thanks for reading!
I can't even begin to tell you (but I probably don't have to tell you, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about) how exciting it was to see these little babies poke up through the soil! They germinated within about a week from sowing. Germination rate was very good and I only have a couple of soil blocks with no seedlings. The soil blocks themselves seem to be doing well, except for two in the middle of the right most rows which feel apart the day I made them.However, I can't help but worry. Having never started onions or leeks from seed, I have no idea what they're supposed to look like tat this stage. To my unaccustomed eyes, they look a bit wimpy... all flopped over and not very rigid. Is this how they're supposed to be or am I doing something wrong?
In other seed starting news, last week I made another tray of soil blocks and started one seed packet worth (40 blocks) of Snapdragon seeds. Today I started another packet of Snapdragons as well as two packets of Impatients, which I must say are the smallest seeds I've EVER tried to sow. I ended up sowing them by scattering them in a small container of soil, instead of trying to separate them into individual soil blocks. My plan is, when they germinate and get their first set of true leaves I'll separate them into individual cells at that point. If anyone out there has stories / hints about successful Impatient propagation, I'd love to her about it. Thus far I feel like I'm totally making it up.
But then again, I guess making things up is half the fun of gardening, right?
Thanks for reading!
Friday, February 20, 2009
Home Made Soil Blocker
Last weekend I went through all my seed packets and organized them based on how early I needed to start them indoors. I was excited to notice that the time to start my onions and leeks was NOW if not a month ago. These are the first seeds I'll be starting this year (and the first onion or leek seeds I've started, ever.) Here they are!
I made up my mind that for my seed starting this year I wanted to try using a soil blocker instead of using cell packs or those dehydrated pellets wrapped in coconut fiber. I don't like the waste created by using the plastic cell packs, and I've not had much luck with the just-add-water pellets b/c I find them too small and they tend to dry out really easily. n case this is a new idea to you, the basic idea with a soil blocker is it takes regular potting soil and squishes it into small lumps appropriate for starting seeds. There's no plastic pot or cell pack to throw away when the seedlings are mature and theoretically its a money savings since you're not having to buy cell packs or pellets every year. I say "theoretically" because most soil blockers start at around $40, which isn't a lot I guess but also seemed kind of silly since all its doing is squishing soil, right? It was this logic that lead me to spend two hours at the hardware store looking for materials I could use to make my own blocker. I've seen some impressive tutorials on the web for making soil blockers that work similarly to the ones you buy, with springs and mechanical leverage action and such. However, I wanted to go old school, ie: I didn't want to get that sophisticated. Sure, the fancy seed blockers you can buy are tough durable pieces of equipment that can crank out thousands and thousands of soil blocks relatively quickly. But, my seed starting isn't quite at the commercial grower scale. I decided to bet that I could use a bit more time and elbow grease and end up with the same results. Another reported benefit of using soil blocks is it prevents your plants from getting root bound and lessens transplant shock. As your seedlings grow their roots will poke out the surface of the soil and will self prune themselves (stop growing) when they hit air.
After my tour through the hardware store I decided to go with a 1 and 1/2 inch diameter piece of PVC pipe (this will be the cylinder in which the soil is placed) and a 1 and 1/2 wooden dowel (which would be the plunger or "squisher" that would turn the loosely packed soil into dense little soil blobs that will hopefully hold their shape while the seedlings grow. I also found a chop stick which I used to make small holes in the top of the blocks in which I placed the seeds. Here's what my home soil blocker looked like. I had my hubby cut the PVC pipe to approximately 4 inches tall. He also cut the wooden dowel to approximately 12 inches tall. I wanted to make sure that I'd have plenty of dowel to hold onto even when it was fully inserted into the PVC.
The technique is as follows: Start with potting or seed starting soil mix. Google can help you find several "recipes" for making potting soil and even for making soil that's block making specific. I chose to use some organic potting soil I already had. I also added some coconut fiber "eco peat-moss" to the potting soil which should help it hold moisture. When you're talking about making a block of soil and having it hold its shape for a few weeks while the plant grows, apparently one of the most important factors in success is moisture level. You have to add water to the soil before you "block" it. When you're making the blocks, the soil should be somewhere between just dirt and mud. I found that a little experimentation is all it takes to figure out how much water you need to make nice solid sturdy blocks. Once the blocks are made you must keep them evenly moist throughout the growing process, otherwise they will dry out and crumble. This is why I added the eco-"peat moss" (coconut fiber) because its job is to retain moisture.
Once I got going on making the blocks I realized that my PVC pipe was probably a bit too tall. The idea is that you loosely pack the soil into the pipe then you squish it to between 1/2 and 1/3 of its original size. I found out that if I filled up my 4'' tube to the top and then squished it, the block I'd end up with was too tall and would often crack in half. I'll probably have hubby trim about a half an inch from the PVC pipe. I also adopted a three-squishes per block method where I'd loosely pack the soil, squish it with the dowel once, then remove the dowel, turn over the pipe, and squish it again from the opposite side. On the third squish you can lift the pipe off the surface you have it sitting on so that the block can pop out the bottom. This is what I ended up with:
The next thing you need to do is decide where you want to store your soil blocks which will soon be sprouting seedlings. The most important thing is that you choose a non-porous container.. . ie: one without any wholes in it. The blocks should be kept moist from the bottom up at all times. This means there should be a small puddle of water in the pan at all times. You can also purchase capillary mats that help the blocks stay evenlly moist without getting washed away by too much water. The blocks should not be watered directly or they will probably fall apart. Instead of watering each block, you just pour a bit of water into the bottom of your pan or onto a corner of the capillary mat. In most cases you will probably have to add water every day. Also, it is highly advised to keep your trays covered with those clear tray domes or plastic warp.
I ordered several solid bottom flats and some capillary mats, but they haven't arrived yet. So, when I made my first set of blocks, I placed them in a container I had left over from last year that was designed to hold those pellets-wrapped-in-coconut-fiber things that I didn't like so much. To my surprise, the 1 and 1/2 inch blocks I produced fit perfectly into the indentions in the tray. I left the center row of indentions empty so that I could use this space to pour my water. This is what my tray looked like:
As you can see, the soil I used had a fair amount of larger fibrous material in it (almost like little twigs). In most of the literature that I read regarding soil blocking its usually recommended that you use very fine textured soil, however since this is the soil I had already I went ahead and used it and it seems to have worked fine despite all the little twigs and pieces you can see hanging off each block.
After I made all the blocks I then had to make indentions in each one of them where I could place the seeds. While the first few blocks I tried fell apart as soon as I tried to poke a whole in them (using a chop stick) I soon discovered that if I held each block in a tightly closed fist, then I could poke the seed hole without the block falling apart. Just give it a few tries and you'll get the hang of it.
Finally, I placed the seeds in the holes I'd made in each block then covered up the hole with a bit of extra potting soil. I added water and covered with some plastic wrap (I'm still waiting on my domed lids to arrive in the mail so the plastic should keep the moisture in well enough for right now.) I took the pan downstairs to my seed starting greenhouse and placed it on top of heated germination mat (which I used last year and highly recommend) Finally, I placed a plant light above the flat. I know in the picture below that the plant light is placed too far above the flat. Plant lights should actually be placed within a couple of inches of the foliage of your seedlings. However, seeing as I'll have a week or two before my seedlings germinate, I can take some time another day to figure out how I want to hang my lights. Here's what the set up looks like:
I also used post-it notes taped to the underside of the flat and sticking out so that I could read them as my latest idea for marking my seeds. I'm SO bad about planting seeds, marking them poorly or not marking them at all, and forgetting what they are. I'll let you know how this latest seed labeling venture turns out.
So there you have it. My home made seed blocker. Like I said, my simple version of the blocker does take more elbow grease and time to make each block than would the professional ones. However, I "built" this one for about... $4, and I still have plenty of dowel and pipe left over to make three or four more blockers if I want to. It took me about an hour from start to finish to mix the soil, make the blocks, make the holes, and plant the seeds into this tray of 40 blocks. That's not very fast, but I didn't find it to be prohibitively slow. It also takes a fare amount of strength to sqiush the blocks, so if that is a problem for you this may not be the best idea.
Here are some links to some of the other seed blocking resources that helped me learn about blocking:
Places to buy the professional soil blocking machines: JohnnySeed , Peddler's Wagon
Where I've ordered my flats, capillary mats, and domes: Charley's Greenhouse
A really in-depth PDF about how to make, use, and care for soil blocks: JohnnySeeds Soil Blocker PDF
Although I didn't use this method, I found this great tutorial about how to make a pretty sophisticated soil blocker: here and another one here
UPDATE: Its a week later and I'm glad to report that my soil blocks are holding together very nicely! I only had one sort of fall over and I think the cat may have been involved in that. Also, my onions and leeks are starting to sprout, so its good moods and good times over here at the snappy garden. Spring is on its way!
I made up my mind that for my seed starting this year I wanted to try using a soil blocker instead of using cell packs or those dehydrated pellets wrapped in coconut fiber. I don't like the waste created by using the plastic cell packs, and I've not had much luck with the just-add-water pellets b/c I find them too small and they tend to dry out really easily. n case this is a new idea to you, the basic idea with a soil blocker is it takes regular potting soil and squishes it into small lumps appropriate for starting seeds. There's no plastic pot or cell pack to throw away when the seedlings are mature and theoretically its a money savings since you're not having to buy cell packs or pellets every year. I say "theoretically" because most soil blockers start at around $40, which isn't a lot I guess but also seemed kind of silly since all its doing is squishing soil, right? It was this logic that lead me to spend two hours at the hardware store looking for materials I could use to make my own blocker. I've seen some impressive tutorials on the web for making soil blockers that work similarly to the ones you buy, with springs and mechanical leverage action and such. However, I wanted to go old school, ie: I didn't want to get that sophisticated. Sure, the fancy seed blockers you can buy are tough durable pieces of equipment that can crank out thousands and thousands of soil blocks relatively quickly. But, my seed starting isn't quite at the commercial grower scale. I decided to bet that I could use a bit more time and elbow grease and end up with the same results. Another reported benefit of using soil blocks is it prevents your plants from getting root bound and lessens transplant shock. As your seedlings grow their roots will poke out the surface of the soil and will self prune themselves (stop growing) when they hit air.
After my tour through the hardware store I decided to go with a 1 and 1/2 inch diameter piece of PVC pipe (this will be the cylinder in which the soil is placed) and a 1 and 1/2 wooden dowel (which would be the plunger or "squisher" that would turn the loosely packed soil into dense little soil blobs that will hopefully hold their shape while the seedlings grow. I also found a chop stick which I used to make small holes in the top of the blocks in which I placed the seeds. Here's what my home soil blocker looked like. I had my hubby cut the PVC pipe to approximately 4 inches tall. He also cut the wooden dowel to approximately 12 inches tall. I wanted to make sure that I'd have plenty of dowel to hold onto even when it was fully inserted into the PVC.
The technique is as follows: Start with potting or seed starting soil mix. Google can help you find several "recipes" for making potting soil and even for making soil that's block making specific. I chose to use some organic potting soil I already had. I also added some coconut fiber "eco peat-moss" to the potting soil which should help it hold moisture. When you're talking about making a block of soil and having it hold its shape for a few weeks while the plant grows, apparently one of the most important factors in success is moisture level. You have to add water to the soil before you "block" it. When you're making the blocks, the soil should be somewhere between just dirt and mud. I found that a little experimentation is all it takes to figure out how much water you need to make nice solid sturdy blocks. Once the blocks are made you must keep them evenly moist throughout the growing process, otherwise they will dry out and crumble. This is why I added the eco-"peat moss" (coconut fiber) because its job is to retain moisture.
Once I got going on making the blocks I realized that my PVC pipe was probably a bit too tall. The idea is that you loosely pack the soil into the pipe then you squish it to between 1/2 and 1/3 of its original size. I found out that if I filled up my 4'' tube to the top and then squished it, the block I'd end up with was too tall and would often crack in half. I'll probably have hubby trim about a half an inch from the PVC pipe. I also adopted a three-squishes per block method where I'd loosely pack the soil, squish it with the dowel once, then remove the dowel, turn over the pipe, and squish it again from the opposite side. On the third squish you can lift the pipe off the surface you have it sitting on so that the block can pop out the bottom. This is what I ended up with:
The next thing you need to do is decide where you want to store your soil blocks which will soon be sprouting seedlings. The most important thing is that you choose a non-porous container.. . ie: one without any wholes in it. The blocks should be kept moist from the bottom up at all times. This means there should be a small puddle of water in the pan at all times. You can also purchase capillary mats that help the blocks stay evenlly moist without getting washed away by too much water. The blocks should not be watered directly or they will probably fall apart. Instead of watering each block, you just pour a bit of water into the bottom of your pan or onto a corner of the capillary mat. In most cases you will probably have to add water every day. Also, it is highly advised to keep your trays covered with those clear tray domes or plastic warp.
I ordered several solid bottom flats and some capillary mats, but they haven't arrived yet. So, when I made my first set of blocks, I placed them in a container I had left over from last year that was designed to hold those pellets-wrapped-in-coconut-fiber things that I didn't like so much. To my surprise, the 1 and 1/2 inch blocks I produced fit perfectly into the indentions in the tray. I left the center row of indentions empty so that I could use this space to pour my water. This is what my tray looked like:
As you can see, the soil I used had a fair amount of larger fibrous material in it (almost like little twigs). In most of the literature that I read regarding soil blocking its usually recommended that you use very fine textured soil, however since this is the soil I had already I went ahead and used it and it seems to have worked fine despite all the little twigs and pieces you can see hanging off each block.
After I made all the blocks I then had to make indentions in each one of them where I could place the seeds. While the first few blocks I tried fell apart as soon as I tried to poke a whole in them (using a chop stick) I soon discovered that if I held each block in a tightly closed fist, then I could poke the seed hole without the block falling apart. Just give it a few tries and you'll get the hang of it.
Finally, I placed the seeds in the holes I'd made in each block then covered up the hole with a bit of extra potting soil. I added water and covered with some plastic wrap (I'm still waiting on my domed lids to arrive in the mail so the plastic should keep the moisture in well enough for right now.) I took the pan downstairs to my seed starting greenhouse and placed it on top of heated germination mat (which I used last year and highly recommend) Finally, I placed a plant light above the flat. I know in the picture below that the plant light is placed too far above the flat. Plant lights should actually be placed within a couple of inches of the foliage of your seedlings. However, seeing as I'll have a week or two before my seedlings germinate, I can take some time another day to figure out how I want to hang my lights. Here's what the set up looks like:
I also used post-it notes taped to the underside of the flat and sticking out so that I could read them as my latest idea for marking my seeds. I'm SO bad about planting seeds, marking them poorly or not marking them at all, and forgetting what they are. I'll let you know how this latest seed labeling venture turns out.
So there you have it. My home made seed blocker. Like I said, my simple version of the blocker does take more elbow grease and time to make each block than would the professional ones. However, I "built" this one for about... $4, and I still have plenty of dowel and pipe left over to make three or four more blockers if I want to. It took me about an hour from start to finish to mix the soil, make the blocks, make the holes, and plant the seeds into this tray of 40 blocks. That's not very fast, but I didn't find it to be prohibitively slow. It also takes a fare amount of strength to sqiush the blocks, so if that is a problem for you this may not be the best idea.
Here are some links to some of the other seed blocking resources that helped me learn about blocking:
Places to buy the professional soil blocking machines: JohnnySeed , Peddler's Wagon
Where I've ordered my flats, capillary mats, and domes: Charley's Greenhouse
A really in-depth PDF about how to make, use, and care for soil blocks: JohnnySeeds Soil Blocker PDF
Although I didn't use this method, I found this great tutorial about how to make a pretty sophisticated soil blocker: here and another one here
UPDATE: Its a week later and I'm glad to report that my soil blocks are holding together very nicely! I only had one sort of fall over and I think the cat may have been involved in that. Also, my onions and leeks are starting to sprout, so its good moods and good times over here at the snappy garden. Spring is on its way!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Seed Shopping - Edibles
Last night I made the biggest one-time seed purchase of my life, thus far. I'm so excited about it, that I had to tell someone and that someone is YOU. So, here's a list of all the stuff I just ordered from Seeds of Change (my current favorite seed company). There are other things I will be growing there are not on this list. I've got some other seeds saved from last year and I'm also going in on a seed order with a fellow gardener. In other words, this isn't the full list of what I'm planting. Before you freak out, I should also mention that, yes, I have done careful planning and know exactly where in my not-so-big garden area that everything on all my lists will go. When I get some time I'll convert my chicken scratch notes into something legible and will share with you the full plan.
Ok without further adue, here's the list (with a bit of commentary added in parenthesis). lol
Mint – Korean Licorice
Stevia (herb that's used as a sweatener in South America)
Cilantro – Slow Bolt (Santo Cilantro)
Chives – Garden Chives
Basil – Red Rubin
Bergamont – Lavender (possibly for tea or flavoring of other stuff, not sure yet)
Chamomile – German (for tea yay!)
Carrot – Red Core Chantenay
Corn – Dakota Black Popcorn
Watermelon – Sugar Baby
Pepper – Sweet Sunrise Orange Bell
Pepper – Peruvian Purple Chile
Winter Squash - Gold Nugget (the only bush style winter squash I've come across, good for smaller gardens)
Beet - Detroit Dark Red
Chard – Orange Fantasia (freak'n cool looking)
Brocoli - Eartly Green
Onion – Texas Early Grano
Onion Siskiyou Sweet
Cabbage – January King
Cabbage – Red Express (quick and compact grower for small gardens)
Chinese Cabbage – Nikko F-1
Eggplant – Vittoria
Tomato – San Marzano (for sauce)
Tomato - Oregon Spring Bush (early maturing for slicing)
Leek – Falltime
Bean – Royalty Purple Bush Bean
Potato – Cranberry Red (early to mid season, orange inside, I like colorful foods!)
Ok without further adue, here's the list (with a bit of commentary added in parenthesis). lol
Mint – Korean Licorice
Stevia (herb that's used as a sweatener in South America)
Cilantro – Slow Bolt (Santo Cilantro)
Chives – Garden Chives
Basil – Red Rubin
Bergamont – Lavender (possibly for tea or flavoring of other stuff, not sure yet)
Chamomile – German (for tea yay!)
Carrot – Red Core Chantenay
Corn – Dakota Black Popcorn
Watermelon – Sugar Baby
Pepper – Sweet Sunrise Orange Bell
Pepper – Peruvian Purple Chile
Winter Squash - Gold Nugget (the only bush style winter squash I've come across, good for smaller gardens)
Beet - Detroit Dark Red
Chard – Orange Fantasia (freak'n cool looking)
Brocoli - Eartly Green
Onion – Texas Early Grano
Onion Siskiyou Sweet
Cabbage – January King
Cabbage – Red Express (quick and compact grower for small gardens)
Chinese Cabbage – Nikko F-1
Eggplant – Vittoria
Tomato – San Marzano (for sauce)
Tomato - Oregon Spring Bush (early maturing for slicing)
Leek – Falltime
Bean – Royalty Purple Bush Bean
Potato – Cranberry Red (early to mid season, orange inside, I like colorful foods!)
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Garden Gift Wrap Up
Apparently I've gained quite the reputation for gardening, at least that's what I'm deducing from the fact that three separate family members gave Nick and I some awesome garden related gifts for x-mas. I wanted to share with you my new garden toys and also express my thanks to those who sent them my way. Also, thanks to The Internets from which I stole the pictures below. Here goes:
1) The Garden Tool Utility Cart from Improvements.com.
While I haven't assembled this bad boy yet, I'm super excited about the tool organizational opportunities it will offer. I've got some serious organizational challenges... aka: I'm a slob and my garden tool area in the garage is constantly in a state of disarray. I know that one little garden cart can't fully compensate for a lifetime of slothenliness, but I"m sure it will be a big improvement.
2) Apparently the "Jessica needs some help with being organized" memo got around this year because the second garden related gift I received was this awesome super heavy duty hand tool tote from Smith and Hawken.
3) And in the could-be-a-murder-weapon-but-actually-is-an-awesome-gardening-tool category, I received this:
I can't tell you what store its from, because the entire label is written in Japanese. However, Google tells me that its called a "Japanese Pick and Hoe" and it looks like it will be great for getting into small spaces in my raised beds. I can't wait to start digging!
4) I consider birds to be part of my garden (sometimes a pain-in-the-butt part but that's beside the point... haha) so I also want to include these two awesome bird feeders we received.
The first is a recycled plastic bird feeder from Gardener's Supply. It looks great, is eco-friendly, and should last forever. The other feeder (I can't find a picture of this one) is a hummingbird feeder. So far in past seasons I haven't had eny luck attracting hummingbirds to my garden, but maybe the addition of a second feeder will increase my chances.
So there it is: my x-mas garden goodness. (I hope I haven't forgotten anything). Those of you from whom this wonderful gifts came, you know who you are and THANK YOU!
Thanks for reading.
1) The Garden Tool Utility Cart from Improvements.com.
While I haven't assembled this bad boy yet, I'm super excited about the tool organizational opportunities it will offer. I've got some serious organizational challenges... aka: I'm a slob and my garden tool area in the garage is constantly in a state of disarray. I know that one little garden cart can't fully compensate for a lifetime of slothenliness, but I"m sure it will be a big improvement.
2) Apparently the "Jessica needs some help with being organized" memo got around this year because the second garden related gift I received was this awesome super heavy duty hand tool tote from Smith and Hawken.
3) And in the could-be-a-murder-weapon-but-actually-is-an-awesome-gardening-tool category, I received this:
I can't tell you what store its from, because the entire label is written in Japanese. However, Google tells me that its called a "Japanese Pick and Hoe" and it looks like it will be great for getting into small spaces in my raised beds. I can't wait to start digging!
4) I consider birds to be part of my garden (sometimes a pain-in-the-butt part but that's beside the point... haha) so I also want to include these two awesome bird feeders we received.
The first is a recycled plastic bird feeder from Gardener's Supply. It looks great, is eco-friendly, and should last forever. The other feeder (I can't find a picture of this one) is a hummingbird feeder. So far in past seasons I haven't had eny luck attracting hummingbirds to my garden, but maybe the addition of a second feeder will increase my chances.
So there it is: my x-mas garden goodness. (I hope I haven't forgotten anything). Those of you from whom this wonderful gifts came, you know who you are and THANK YOU!
Thanks for reading.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Planning a Shade Garden in Illinois
As has become my custom recently, I spent my lunch break at work doing garden planning. Today my topic of interest was what to plant in all the deep shade areas of my yard. Our neighbor has a HUGE tree that provides all day shade to about 2/3rds of my yard. Even though I've been through a full growing season at my house by now, this shade gardening thing is still new to me, so I decided to do a little research regarding what plants I should look for. I went to the Chicago Botanic Gardens Plant Finder website and searched for anything that can grow in full to partial shade. The CBG Plant Finder is a great tool. It lists plants that are well adapted for Illinois gardens, and you can search by plant type, flower color, and sun exposure. I ran the search and found that there are 24 plants that can survive in the dark damp areas of my yard. I eliminated one that was a full grown tree--the last thing my yard needs is more trees--and one that requires straigt up marshy conditions. I took the 22 plants that were left and organized them based on when they bloom and how tall they are so that I could more easily figure out which plants should be planted near each other. I want varying heights and textures and I want to make sure that there's always something blooming. The idea is, for each planting cluster I can choose one plant from each column to insure that I always have blooms and one plant from each height group to make sure I have visual interst. I also included general soil moisture info so that I can hopefully keep plants with similar soil moisture needs near each other.
So, here's the chart I ended up with. When I made this I didn't proof read it for publication purposes, so please forgive any typos. But, I thought this chart might be useful for other Illinois shade gardeners out there, so I thought I'd share it here.
As you can see, there are a LOT more early blooming plants for shade than summer or fall bloomers. I'll probably supplement any shade perinatal plantings with some shade loving annuals; I've had good luck with Impatients in the past. I hope to make a more specific plan regarding which plants I'm going to plant where. When I have all that ready I'll hopefully post more details here. I know my garden plants are keeping you on the edge of your seats. tee hee. Anyway, I hope this is useful. For more info on these plants, visit the CBG Plant Finder page here. (Click the chart to make it bigger)
So, here's the chart I ended up with. When I made this I didn't proof read it for publication purposes, so please forgive any typos. But, I thought this chart might be useful for other Illinois shade gardeners out there, so I thought I'd share it here.
As you can see, there are a LOT more early blooming plants for shade than summer or fall bloomers. I'll probably supplement any shade perinatal plantings with some shade loving annuals; I've had good luck with Impatients in the past. I hope to make a more specific plan regarding which plants I'm going to plant where. When I have all that ready I'll hopefully post more details here. I know my garden plants are keeping you on the edge of your seats. tee hee. Anyway, I hope this is useful. For more info on these plants, visit the CBG Plant Finder page here. (Click the chart to make it bigger)
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The Gardening "Way-Back" Machine: Dateline August 5th - 18th, 2008
According to my awesome digital camera that keeps track of when I take all my pictures (I know this isn't an extremely advanced or uncommon function, its just that I find it so incredibly useful since I'm terrible at documenting things and / or remembering what I did) I can sit here on probably the coldest day we've had this winter in Chicago and reflect on what a haul of harvest the garden was producing just five scant months ago.
Tomato awesomeness (just looking at this picture makes my mouth water). I think this is one of the many awesome big meaty Mortgage Lifter heirlooms I harvested last year.
More sweet snap peas. I'd never grown these before last year and I must say that they were pretty and tasty. I'm devinitely doing these again next year.
Tomatoes (I think these are Early Boys, which I think I'll probably use again this year. They're not heirloom, but they are fast and consistant producers weeks before any other tomato shows the slightest hint of pink.
Squash (probably one of the last I got before the Borer got to them), Cucumbers (I think Streight 8; they're all stumpy due to some unkown mold / blight diseas my plants had all season... but still tasty), Tomatoes (Early Boys and a Mortgage Lifter), and a smattering of Bush Beans.
My picture archieve also reminded me that my complete lack of seed organization finally got to me around mid-August so one Saturday I decided to organize things a bit. I sorted things into three categories: Veg, Herb, or Flower. I'm not sure if that's the best way to do it, but it seems to work. I filed empty seed packets in a fourth section so that I could refer back to them if needed. All this stuff is sorted in a shoe box right now and while its probably not the best organization method ever, its definitely better than it was before.
Tomato awesomeness (just looking at this picture makes my mouth water). I think this is one of the many awesome big meaty Mortgage Lifter heirlooms I harvested last year.
More sweet snap peas. I'd never grown these before last year and I must say that they were pretty and tasty. I'm devinitely doing these again next year.
Tomatoes (I think these are Early Boys, which I think I'll probably use again this year. They're not heirloom, but they are fast and consistant producers weeks before any other tomato shows the slightest hint of pink.
Squash (probably one of the last I got before the Borer got to them), Cucumbers (I think Streight 8; they're all stumpy due to some unkown mold / blight diseas my plants had all season... but still tasty), Tomatoes (Early Boys and a Mortgage Lifter), and a smattering of Bush Beans.
My picture archieve also reminded me that my complete lack of seed organization finally got to me around mid-August so one Saturday I decided to organize things a bit. I sorted things into three categories: Veg, Herb, or Flower. I'm not sure if that's the best way to do it, but it seems to work. I filed empty seed packets in a fourth section so that I could refer back to them if needed. All this stuff is sorted in a shoe box right now and while its probably not the best organization method ever, its definitely better than it was before.
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