Seven more projects to do in a few minutes :
Winterize: Get your perennials and fall crops ready for winter with seaweed. Besides potassium, seaweed contains plant hormones and sugars that increase hardiness. You can use dried kelp meal or soluble seaweed powder. These are easy and fast to apply—kelp meal can just be sprinkled around your plants. (To me, that means run by and throw some around.) Soluble seaweed powder is mixed into water (1 teaspoon to 4 gallons) and dumped around your plants. Both will help harden new growth and thicken the sap so that they don't freeze. Don't give nitrogen fertilizers from now on—they promote the kind of sappy growth that freezes easily. Save some Seeds: I just timed myself, and it took 3 minutes to locate a bucket, cut some dead cilantro plants, and stuff them in. It took 6 minutes to strip off the seeds, shake the chaff to the bottom, and pour the round seeds out into a bowl. It took one minute to use a kitchen strainer to get out the dust and little leaf crumbles. See what I'm getting at? Saving seed sounds more daunting than it is. Sure, some seeds are rare and difficult. Most aren't. Plant Some Glory: Pacific wildflowers are spectacular, and most are winter annuals. They sprout with the fall rains, make a rosette of leaves over the winter, then bloom in spring. That means two things: One, you need to plant them in fall, unless you live where the ground freezes solid. Two, they will act like a cover crop and hold your soil over the winter. Seeds can be hard to find, but I've just listed several kinds here at Quail Seeds. One, phacelia, is even used by farmers as a cover crop. It's also the bees' favorite flower. Full disclosure: This is one time when you do need to take the time to prepare a weed-free planting bed. Wildflowers don't need rich soil, but they have a hard time competing with weeds. So it's not quite ninja, but its so worth it. Bug of the Year: Suddenly everyone seems to have aphids. I find that the beneficial insects can keep the aphids under control IF you have a lot of small nectary flowers like alyssum, IF you don't spray poisons, and IF you prevent ants from carrying new aphids up your plants. So, aphid control is really ant control. Use diatom dust. For larger plants, paint a mixture of coconut oil and mint essential oil in a band on the trunk. Ants won't cross it. A Semi-Wild Garden: A few edibles can be planted haphazardly, left unthinned, compete with weeds, and (usually) survive. They overwinter in my garden, and bloom very early with edible flowers that attract aphid-eating beneficials. I plant them together as a “meadow garden.” Mizuna, Cilantro, Arugula, Turnip, Miner's Lettuce, Texel Greens (Ethiopian Kale), Italian Dandelion, Mustard Greens, and Escarole. (This was the subject of my very first blog post in December 2018.) Anyhow, if you are really pressed for time, it is quick, and better than nothing. Mildew Prevention: September is mildew month, when the air gets cooler and moister. You can't change the weather, but you can change the pH of your plants. You can also coat the leaves with mildew-eating microbes. Do both at once by spraying with compost tea or LAB (lactic acid bacteria--yogurt for plants.) You can find information on these probiotic brews in our How-To section here. Undersow: Most of us know that cover crops do good stuff, and most of us put planting off too long. This year, do it fast and early. It doesn't matter that your tomatoes or whatever are still in the ground. Throw seed for clover, vetch, or rye all around and under those tomatoes. Rake it in or cover with a light layer of straw. If you can rough up the ground and pull some weeds before you start, works even better. It's called undersowing, and it allows you to get those cover crops going while your summer crops are still in place. Takes about 8 minutes to do 100 sq ft. A real ninja move.
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Everyone loves the summer garden and its produce--tomatoes, corn, squash, green beans, basil... the flavors we wait for all year. But most of us also have regrets. The summer garden can be a demanding taskmaster; things get out of hand in a hurry if you are gone, the weather is wrong, or life intervenes. Well, it's time to lay aside the inevitable failures and lapses. As Eliot Coleman says, Fall is the season of forgiveness.
Fall is a fresh start. The weeds won't grow so fast in winter, and the season of harvest goes for months and months. (Many plants you put in now will still be producing next May.) A few plants by the back door, or a bed of roots and greens for stews and roasting, will go a long way. Fall gardens are leisurely gardens, and Fall foods are comfort food. Now is the time to pull out the plants that are no longer yielding well or never worked out. Till or hoe out the weeds, and start over. If weeds are really severe, wet them down and cover with cardboard. By time your new transplants are ready to go in, the weeds will be dead. Nights are longer, which gives plants more time for repair and recovery from the heat. Plants that you neglected to feed or water enough in summer are giving you a second chance now. Many perennials that bloomed in May are blooming a second time. Plants whose flowering is triggered by short days are budding now. Scarlet runner beans and chia are examples of tropical plants that flower when days are short. Trees and other woody plants are ripening their wood—turning it from green growth to permanent wood. You can help this process, and give them more winter hardiness, by giving them kelp meal or liquid seaweed now. Most weeds are well into flowering and setting seed. If you pull or hoe them out now, they will often stay gone for the rest of the season. (If you don't you'll have a lot of seedlings to contend with next spring.) Your best strategy is to get rid of the weeds you have now, and mulch well around existing plants to prevent new weeds next spring. In empty spots or beds that are finishing up, plant a cover crop like rye or vetch that will smother them and get the ground in shape for easy planting next spring. With the longer nights, watering can often be cut down a bit. Plants don't get so stressed. You may want to adjust the time when you water, too. Mildew often strikes in September, so adjust your schedule now to make sure the soil surface gets dry before nightfall. Finally, and deliciously, now is the time to plant fall crops. As Coleman says, it doesn't matter now what failed or was overrun by weeds in summer—you can hoe out your mistakes and start with a clean slate. Fall and winter gardens are so much easier in many ways. They grow during the period when there are fewer weeds. They won't need irrigation after the rains start. Instead of a short window when you have to either use or preserve them, winter crops wait in the ground until you want them. And on a cold rainy night it is pretty special to come home to your own vegetables instead of having to run to the store. The photo shows a garlic plant on April 1. As you can see, it is like a leek with a single bulb, and not very big. In the next few weeks, it should divide into cloves and get 10 times bigger. Now is the moment when its growth has to speed up and switch from making roots and leaves to making bulbs.
To fuel that growth, your garlic plants--and all overwintered vegetables--need a boost right now. You can top-dress with compost, earthworm castings, manure, or any organic nitrogen source. New young seedlings also need nutrients to fuel spring growth. And while the soil is cold, nutrients are in short supply--the soil bacteria that make them are sluggish. Essentially, they are hibernating. This is a good moment for probiotic nutrient teas, either in the soil on sprayed on the plant. We have found that probiotic brews like compost tea are easily absorbed and give a very quick result, even in cold weather. Fermented plant juice, made from fast-growing local weeds, gives a visible boost to growth and health. These are just what your garlic needs to finish and your seedlings need to start. These organic nutrients, ferments, and probiotics are easy and cheap to make from local ingredients. For recipes, click here: HOW-TO In my garden, April starts the new year. I feel like an April Fool often enough that is is not a bad start to the season. What really makes me think of new year's, though, is how much April tells about the previous year. All my mistakes are in front of me. I can make resolutions and plans before I forget what I did and why it worked--or didn't. The cover crops I didn't plant in time, the beans I ran out of in March, the greens I'm tired of or the salads I love. That fantastic squash that has kept since October. I'm learning that no, I actually won't remember it all later. Got to take a long look and write it down. Spring has come to our riverbank. The river still roars, but it's going down. Shooting-Stars and Baby-Blue-Eyes are blooming in the woods and meadows. We'll collect their seeds, for planting with the fall rains. Greens bring their wild flavors to the table: miner's lettuce, chicory, corn salad, cress, sorrel, sylvetta, dandelions. The rain makes them lush. Rain is something we've had lots of. Actually, rain is pretty much all we have had. The garden is ankle-deep in places, and squelches everywhere. In high spots, my peas--planted in February--are finally 6 inches tall. Little lettuce seedlings are just big enough to recognize in the garden beds. (No problem recognizing the weeds, which are at least 10 times bigger.) In the greenhouse, tomatoes and peppers sit in their pots, reaching for the sun and hoping for a lot more warmth than they are getting right now. We are still eating the overwintered brassicas in the garden. Rapini (green flower stalks) from overwintered turnips and kale are an easy, prolific, and zesty alternative to broccoli. We love them steamed and served cold with olive oil and lemon, or added to pasta. Mustard greens, dragon's tongue. Green onions, chives, sorrel, lettuce, arugula, cilantro. It is good to stop and think right now, during the "Hunger Gap" before this year's garden has produced new food. What should I have done differently? Why did the gophers get all the potatoes? Why didn't I plant endive as a change from kale? April is the test of the homestead garden. Is there food? What don't you have to eat that you could have? Myself, I am wishing I'd planted more parsnips, carrots and beets--those sweet comforting roots. Next year, I promise myself. Next year I need to start more things in July and August. Since I seldom actually do, I'm thinking I'll start more perennial vegetables now. This is when perennials shine; they send up sprouts and make food before this year's sowings can get to edible size. I've been eating sorrel, green onions, and sylvetta since February. Miner's lettuce and Erba Stella too. Did you know that hops send up edible shoots in spring? Why don't I have those? I'm planting Caucasus Spinach, rhubarb and asparagus, more sorrel, more green onions, and perpetual leeks. Perpetual Spinach is one of my favorites, so versatile, and resistant to both heat and cold. I have set aside a new bed for perennials. All they need is an new layer of mulch every year. At least I'll have spring greens covered. Just sowing some root crops for fall will be easy. Once the last frost is past, a different kind of magic is in play. The three sisters transform the garden--dignified corn; beans racing skyward in spirals, boisterous squash sprawling and romping over the ground. Suddenly things happen overnight. Sunflowers! Tomatoes! Zinnias! It's all primary colors and bold strokes. Watercolors give way to crayons. Delicacy gives way to exuberance. I love both. At this point in the year, I can get in the car and drive to summer. Just a little further south, a little lower elevation. (find your last frost date here.) If that's where you live, you can start summer planting with sunflowers and quinoa, the early birds. Then beans and squash. Leave things like melons and okra (and setting out peppers) til it gets hot. Here, where it's still pea-planting time, I'll be waiting for the river to go down. After a few decades in the garden, I've noticed that roots are the key to many of the plant's needs and much of its behavior. While plant family and temperature preferences both are important, I find that root type tells a lot about when and how to plant. The photo shows a planting combination that works well because the squash and the lettuce have different kinds of roots and don't compete much in the soil.
Thinking in terms of root type has hugely reduced my time spent in decision-making, taking care of potted starts, and transplant. In my experience, there are four types: Movers. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant. (Plant outside after frost) Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, collards, kale. (Plant outside when trees begin to leaf) Start these late winter/early spring, in pots or flats indoors. Movers have a fibrous, dense root system that is stimulated by transplanting. In studies at Cornell, the cabbages with the largest root systems at maturity had been transplanted not once but twice! I start tomatoes, peppers, etc. in April, then into the garden in May. Don't let these get potbound. If they are sending roots out the bottom of the pot or growth is slowing, either plant outdoors, or if it's too soon for that, plant into a larger pot. While transplanting doesn't bother them, crowding does. Move them if needed to give them adequate spacing. Most are heavy feeders, needing fertility to maintain growth. Divers. Beets, carrots, chard, cilantro, dill, fennel, parsnips, poppies, and radishes. I direct-sow these. Or you can start in pots 2 weeks before expected transplant, and transplant extra-carefully (during cool moist weather or in the evening.) Divers make a few, large, succulent roots that are brittle, like a carrot or a bean sprout. They break when a tomato root would bend. Transplanting can send them into shock. On the other hand, they are not worried by crowding. You can shoehorn them in among earlier crops. They find nutrients on their own, and do not need as much fertility as the rest. Sprinters. Lettuce, spinach, Asian greens, arugula, cima di rapa, and mustard. Keep in pots only 2-3 weeks. Plant every few weeks starting as soon as the ground can be worked. Sprinters have been bred for crisp juicy leaves, mild flavor, and fast growth. They can be sown in place or transplanted once--but then they need to get down to business and finish up. You won't get a second chance with these. Give them the water and fertility they need at planting time. They bolt quickly when under stress—such as getting pot-bound--so don't leave them in pots after they have about 6 pairs of leaves. And never buy old transplants. Sprawlers. Sunflowers, okra, corn, squash, melons, cucumbers, pumpkins, gourds, peas, beans. Start these 2-3 weeks before last frost. For me that is in late April. Or direct-sow after frost, which has become my preferred method. Sprawlers are large plants but have fragile, root systems. Give them a sunny position after your last frost date. You can cut an opening in your winter cover crop, or plant the young starts among your spring peas and lettuce, but don't keep them waiting in the pot! They love organic matter, and want a lot of it. The edge of a compost pile, or the area where one was, is a favorite situation for them. Mulch or cultivate shallowly to prevent root competition. Large squashes pumpkins and gourds will shade out weeds after they get big, but the rest will remain vulnerable to competition and should have mulch or good weed control. Runners. These are plants that make runners or rhizomes--shallow roots or stems that shoot out horizontally, establishing new plants as they go. Mints, strawberries, milkweeds, yarrows, and some grasses are runners. The weeds that are hardest to deal with are often runners, like couch grass, buttercups, mare's tail, and sheeps' sorrel. Because of their ability to spread quickly in every direction, they are usually confined to pots, tubs, or their own bed apart from the normal vegetables. Bamboo (a large grass) spreads so aggressively that it is often suggested that it be confined inside concrete barriers. Runners that are not grasses, like mint, can be controlled by mowing, so placing a mint bed beside a lawn or surrounded by lawn is a time-honored strategy. Aridity and cold are also controls: Most mints need irrigation in arid climates, so can be confined to an irrigated island amid drier soil. Tropical runners, like ginger and turmeric, do not survive winter in most parts of the US, so they can be grown in fields and beds like annual vegetables. Disturbance helps these plants to grow and spread, like movers, so transplanting is easy and foolproof. Onions. One of the great frustrations of gardening. You plant seeds and they turn out puny. You plant sets and they bolt to flower or rot or something. Not worth it, people say.
But really, it's not rocket science, or magic. It's just knowing two things:
So, Tip #1: You always hear that rich soil, manure, nitrogen, etc isn't good for root crops like carrots or beets. Remember that onions aren't roots. The bulb is made from the bases of the leaves. The roots grow out of the base of the bulb. So, think of them as a leafy green and fertilize accordingly. I've seen even very experienced gardeners starve their onions (and potatoes, too) because of the word "root". Bulbs and tubers LOVE nitrogen. and, Tip #2: An onion grows and makes leaves until the day length reaches a certain number of hours. Then, it stops making leaves. The existing leaves start to swell up. The bottom of each leaf eventually swells so much it becomes a ring of the onion. Each onion variety has a specific number of daylight hours that will cue this process. So, if you sow onion seed now, it has time to make a big plant before the days get long. It can make lots of leaves. Lots of leaves = lots of onion rings. If you start them later, they will be still small when the magic date arrives. And, if the soil gets really warm before they get those long days, they will forget bulbing entirely and make a flower instead. Short-day varieties, start to bulb when they get 10-12 hours of sunlight. For intermediates it's 12-15, for long-day varieties it's 14-16 hours of light per day. The line between short and long day varieties runs from Washington DC to San Francisco, with intermediate areas being close to that line. Grains like Wheat and Barley are day-length-sensitive too. The plants will grow bigger and make more leaves and stems while the days are short. As the days lengthen, the plants get ready to bloom and then to mature seeds (grain). Harvest is just after the longest days of the year. Do you have to understand all this? No. Just understand that you need to start onions now. They can be indoors or in a greenhouse, but they need soil that is 60 degrees or so. They are little bitty things for the first couple of months, so if you sow a couple of pots with onion seed, about 1/2" apart in the pots, you can add them to your tomato and pepper starts without much trouble. Grains should be started directly in the garden--they love cold mud--as soon as the soil can be worked and planted. |
AuthorJamie Chevalier lives and gardens on a river in the Coast Range of Northern California. She has gardened professionally in Alaska and California, as well as living in a remote cabin, commercial fishing, and working with seeds. She is the proprietor of Quail Seeds. Archives
April 2024
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