Grow Your Own

2020-03-10T18:40:00.000-04:00

Homegrown Harvest Photo Challenges

We love sharing our photos of our garden. Who doesn’t?

The plants we seed, plant, tend and take care of deserve to have a forum of appreciation. We decided to create photo challenges because we would love to see your prized, and possibly not so prized plants – whether they be simple greens and herbs or colorful vegetables and flowers. There are no prizes, just a forum to be able to share your beautiful garden.

Here’s How It Works

Each month, we’ll publish upcoming challenges so you can start either looking through your old photos or take a new photo of something growing in your garden right now! We’d all love to see it.

Each week, we’ll have a new theme where the challenges run from Wednesday to Tuesday.

Create a HGHPC post and tag HGHPC or Homegrown Harvest Photo Challenge so it’s easy for people to find.
Add a link to your blog in my comment box.
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Homegrown Harvest Photo Challenge Themes

March 11- 17 – Lettuce
March 18- 24 – Peas
March 25- 31 – Snapdragons
April 1-7 – Strawberries
April 8-14 – Spinach
April 15-21 – Pansies
April 22-28 – Cabbage
April 29- May 5 – Thyme
May 6-12 – Broccoli
May 13-19 – Kale
May 20-26 – Oregano
May 27- June 2 – Marigolds

Look for more themes as we get closer to June!

Marigold Mondays

2020-03-09T16:11:00.000-04:00

A bumblebee on a Bonanza Deep Orange marigold

I love marigolds. I think they are some of the most underrated flowers in the garden. I've actually had customers ask me not to put marigolds in the garden.
"But why?!" I'll ask.
"I prefer pastel colors in the garden" is usually the answer.
"What if I add ones that are white or a soft yellow?" knowing all the while that even if I do start espousing all the valuable reasons why marigolds should always be included in part of your vegetable garden, they won't care. They just want it to look pretty and fit in with their landscaping.
I don't maintain other people's gardens for them anymore, opting to help people online and focus on my own garden which suffered all the years I took care of other people's garden's. What is it they say about the cobbler's children? They have no shoes?
Marigolds are hardy flowers which will bloom throughout the summer and well into fall. I find they do better when simply seeded into the garden. Their fragrances attract pollinators into the garden and their root systems emit an enzyme which protect again root eating nematodes. Deadheading helps them to continue to thrive but if you don't do it, it isn't the end of the world. You can even eat them too adding a citrusy flavor to your drink meal!
I personally have never had a problem with mites or any other bugs on my marigolds. I put them in around my root vegetables: carrots, radishes and onions. I feel their roots are well protected with the marigolds around their rows or in between them. The enzyme they emit doing it's job to protect the precious roots.

I love all the colors marigolds come in from white, yellow, orange and red! To me they make the fall garden a truly spectacular place!

January is the time to plan and dream

2019-01-16T15:40:00.000-05:00

It’s mid-January already and the seed catalogs have begun to trickle in, promising beautiful, delicious fruits and vegetables to satiate anyone’s palette. It’s been two years and three months since we moved up to New Hampshire. Since we moved up in the fall of 2016, this is our third winter though that we’re experiencing, and the learning curve has been huge! We are so much better at dealing with the snow and ice than we were the first winter. Which is comforting when facing a weather forecast which promises 3 feet of snow over a two-day period such as we are this weekend, if we are to get the high end of the forecast. As a gardener, we have always been a little bit more in tune with the weather forecasts; however, living up here on the mountain – we are so much more in tune with it than ever before. First off, to be fair when we moved up here, we also bought a weather station that works with our phones so we can see the exact conditions of things at our house at 1500ft which can be vastly different than what’s going on down at the lake at 500ft.

Our view from 1500ft up overlooking Newfound Lake

Last summer was our first full growing season in our new garden since it took basically a whole growing season to demolish, prep and rebuild the new garden space. The old garden consisted of old beds had been a combination of old rock beds that were incorrectly built that had caved or crumbled and some rotted out birch logs with old brick paths that had heaved from all the harsh New Hampshire winters. Everything had to go! We removed everything and leveled the area best we could with our tractor.

the original garden

Initially we placed flattened cardboard boxes down in the area to suppress any and all weeds until we were ready for the gravel. That was all we did that first summer other than getting the fencing up around the garden. At the time, we were still running down to Connecticut to take care of our client’s gardens – a part of the business we no longer offer – and I had no time to set up, let alone take care of our own garden. I had some spare starts from over ordering for our client gardens and planted them in some Smart Pots in the new garden area. We had a few tomato plants, some potatoes, some peppers and squash. We hadn’t run the hose from the house to the garden area yet and I had to run a hose from the garage which barely wet everything the way it needed to be. This was a far cry from my beautiful raised beds in Connecticut that were suited with soaker hoses that was on a timer. Mother Nature thankfully helped me out quite a bit and watered the garden for me quite nicely for the most part. At the end of the season we had harvested a surprising amount of squash, a smattering of tomatoes and a few pounds of potatoes. Considering our situation, we faired pretty well – we are used to so much more but were thankful for what we did manage to grow that first season.

By the summer, we managed to have the gravel put in which would be the base for our garden and two raised beds put in. It was important to me to get some of the raised beds in before winter so that we could plant our garlic, onions and shallots to overwinter. It always feels good to me to be able to stare into the garden in the dead of winter when there is snow covering everything to know that deep down there is life just waiting to spring forth during the spring thaws. Seeing the new grow in early spring as your working outside to ready the rest of the garden is also encouraging to me – a promise of things to come.

the first 4' x 8' to go in the new garden

Early last spring, there was still tons of snow on the ground around St. Patrick’s Day, when I am accustomed to planting my peas in my Connecticut garden, even down there by April 1^st if we had a harsh winter that lingered. I was finding New Hampshire to be a different sort of experience particularly where we are located up on Peaked Hill – the snows weren’t melting, they were increasing! Three feet of snow made it impossible to even get into the garden unless I climbed the 6 ft fence which surrounds it on all side – granted all the snow would make it half as difficult but still. I had decided sometime during the winter, probably as a way of trying to keep all my seed ordering straight, that I would keep a garden journal. I’d thought about that idea for years before never doing anything about it since I journal on a daily basis every morning in my personal life. But I wanted to keep things separate so that it would be easier for me to go back and use for reference and not have to sift through my daily ramblings about my life. I find journaling to be incredibly therapeutic – a download of my thoughts to clear my mind so I can proceed with my day. In the six years of managing other people’s gardens I had notes on their gardens but not my own. Who has time for that sort of stuff when you’re taking care of 20 other people’s gardens?

Last summer was the first time in 6 years that I took care of no one else’s garden but our own. It was a treat to be able to focus on just our own garden, particularly since all those years our garden became more of an afterthought. Part of me missed going into each different space, most we had installed the raised beds in the first place. It was always fun visiting with our clients and year after year helping to start and maintain their gardens. I would sometimes get garden envy and then Mark would remind me that I shouldn’t be envious but proud of our work in our clients’ gardens. I would be proud but sometimes envious too since some just had the exact right light and of course soil since we put it there and amended and made sure it was properly watered that sometimes we’d get there and find specimen Brussel sprouts that looked like they should be photographed and splashed across the cover of Vegetable Weekly. I don’t think there really is a Vegetable Weekly but if there was those Brussel Sprouts – I remember them so well – should definitely been on the cover. We managed to install all the raised beds before it was time for spring planting. The extended winter season actually helped us out, in that it gave us the extra time need for us to put the raised beds in and fill them before planting up our tender crops. In zone 6, usually I would have been able to plant the tender vegetables like tomatoes and peppers shortly after Mother’s Day weekend – no way that was happening up here last Mother’s Day.

The first things I recorded in the garden journal were my seed orders which is helpful, so you have an idea of what your ordered three months earlier and what you still are expecting to arrive as the spring seed orders are mailed out. During the winter months I also take a look at my garden beds and figure out what is going to be planted where in the coming season – practicing good crop rotation to prevent soil borne diseases from building up.

According to my garden journal, I was able to plant seeds in our 3’ x 6’ Maine Kitchen Garden bed on April 14^th. I love this garden bed with its 20 “deep beds and the side trellis area which the peas grip onto so well. The soil was cleared of snow despite snow being all over the ground around the bed still and since I was able to easily work the soil with my hands gently, I knew it was ready to be seeded. I had set the bed up in the fall but didn’t plant in it just so that I could seed immediately upon the thaw– so it was already filled with fresh compost but I’m sure I sprinkled a fresh bag of compost to help warm things along. As a result, I had a beautiful bed of three types of lettuce and four types of peas growing nicely as we continued to build and set up the other raised beds throughout the month of May. By June 1^st we had installed four more raised beds giving us 126 square feet of growing space to enjoy. By mid-June the last of the raised beds were installed and planted.

Now that I’m looking back over my notes from last season, I’ve very glad that I have these dates and notes about the garden – it will help us plan for the upcoming season better and manage expectations. As I said having these specific notes with the dates help out quite a bit since one of the other things that I am still working out about the new garden is its microclimate. Understanding microclimates can be game changing particularly if your garden is subject to them like my garden. But figuring out exactly what you’re dealing with can take a little time and some observation. Again, this where taking garden notes can be helpful since again who can remember all the little detail in life sometimes – no one. First off, we may live in zone 5b but seeing how we are 1500ft above sea level, the altitude along puts us closer to actually being 5a since there is an average of 3.3º decrease in temperature as you go up every 1000ft. Each zone covers only a 10º range to begin with, so we certainly probably knocked to a 5a zone with the altitude alone. Then there are the winds which we contend with at times. The location of our house and garden is on the side of a mountain where the highest consistent winds we have recorded are 46mph with the highest gust being 58mph. That’s a lot of wind to have to contend with and it can be brutal on your garden plants, but it most definitely effects the microclimate of a garden especially when they are that dramatic.

Tower Garden before the windbreak

At first, I thought maybe the positioning of the house would protect the garden a bit more from the winds. But I quickly realized that this was unfortunately not the case and had Mark search for a solution ASAP! Early in the season it wasn’t so much of a problem with the seeds and the small plant starts but as things started to grow, I knew it would become more of an issue. The Tower Garden plants were having the roughest time of all the plants since those little plant starts are lifted into the air 3’-5’ – there was no escaping the brunt force of the winds being that high up. Luckily, Mark had found a solution and had ordered two 6' x 15'’ panels of windscreen, similar to what you see on the side of fences at beaches and tennis courts to cut down on the wind. We put up the two panels up on the north east side to block winds where we had the two Tower Gardens set up. I discovered within a short time the effectiveness of having the windbreak and also that it helps to keep the temperature up in that area of the garden as well. This totally makes sense since wind chills can lose temperatures by an entire zone range of 10º very easily, particularly up here. Given that fact, before the garden can be considered closer to a zone 4b garden with temperatures as low as -25 °F to -20 °F. I’ve seen those temperatures on our weather station thermometer on more than one occasion in our relatively short tie here. The plan going into this season is to get more of the windbreak material to put up on the remaining north side of the garden fence. We predominantly get northwesterly winds, but southerly winds come in from time to time, but they tend to be warmer and less violent. Hopefully we will be able to have everything in place going into this season with the new windbreaks in place early on. Snow build up can always delay things and New England weather can be so unpredictable at times, giving you all four seasons in one day.

two of our 4'x 8' raised beds, one is 16" deep the other 11"

This fall it snowed early starting in October we had 8” of snow by the time I left for Connecticut in the middle of November. I had left for Connecticut to visit with my parents and siblings leading into the holiday, Mark had stayed up in New Hampshire to take care of a few odds and ends before he was planning on coming down to join us. In the ten days between when I left for Connecticut and Thanksgiving Day we received 18.5” of snow on top of the original 8” we had on the ground. The weather stayed cold, it was frigid with below zero temperatures, let alone wind chill. Needless to say, Mark stayed up at the New Hampshire house to keep the home fire burning and enjoyed Thanksgiving with two of the kids who were able to easily divert there to join him. They deep-fried a turkey while the sitting in the garage all bundled up watching the deep fryer which they placed in the driveway, protected from the wind on the coldest day of the year. By the time I drove home on the Saturday after Thanksgiving I drove back into full on winter. Two days later we received another storm which delivered another 14.5” on top of what we already had and by the end of the year we had 51” of snow total! Welcome to New England.

November 27, 2018

We eventually did have a thaw, a week before Christmas of course – taking away the blanket of white snow that had been covering everything for a month. Shattering peoples’ dreams of a white Christmas. For me it gave me the opportunity to do some of the things I had been planning to do in late November but never had the chance thanks to the early snowfall that stuck around. My plan had originally been to cut back my asparagus ferns when I returned from Connecticut, but that didn’t quite work out. A few days after Christmas, I went out to the garden with my garden shears and the dogs and a trug. We had received a couple of inches of fresh snow which is what probably forced me out in the first place – I didn’t want to miss the chance to trim back the asparagus before we got more snow making it impossible. It’s the first year of this asparagus bed and it seemed like it was getting off to a rough start.

We have a bed of asparagus down in Connecticut which I started 5 years ago. I love growing asparagus – it’s one of the few perennials in the vegetable garden and it teaches you patience since you have to wait 3 years before you can enjoy a full harvest. But once you do – OMG! It’s so worth the wait. It’s also a very pretty addition to the vegetable garden with its soft ferns and pretty red berries.

Asparagus ferns with one corn stalk thanks to the chipmunks

Looking out the window I see the clouds gathering over the mountains – we had enjoyed a nice sunny dry period but that’s all about to change with a big storm promising to engulf the New England states this weekend and deliver us possibly as much as 3 feet of fresh powder. I can’t help but think I should take some of the homegrown-homemade potato soup out of the freezer to enjoy this weekend. That’s another vegetable I love to grow – potatoes even if it is a little bit ore labor intensive initially than most to get started. If you have ever grown your own potatoes, you know what I mean. If you haven’t you should give a go because you are in for a real treat. First there is so much more variety to choose from, just like with other homegrown vegetables – and nothing like what you can buy at the grocery store, even Farmer’s market. Some of my favorite varieties include German Butterball and Nicolas. I swear you cut these open and it’s like it’s been pre-buttered and oh, so creamy! Perfect for the potato soup I like to make which is actually from the Pioneer Woman.

a multitude of Smart Pots for potatoes

Which reminds me I need to order my seed potatoes for this upcoming season. I tend to go nuts when I order seed potatoes since they all look and sound so good. Last season we grew 21 grow bags of potatoes of Desiree, Kennebec, Nicola, Yukon Gold, Yukon Gem, Viking Purple, Mountain Rose, and Red Gold. By the end of the summer, we harvested 20lbs of potatoes averaging almost a pound per bag. We made potato soup with a lot of the potatoes so that we can continue to enjoy our harvests throughout the cold winter months and enjoyed plenty of fresh prepared potatoes through the fall. I like to order my seed potatoes from The Maine Potato Lady, Park Seed and Territorial Seed Company.

Gardening, particularly growing some of our own food has really changed life for us. We feel better and each year that feeling is verified with what our physician sees when we have our annual check-ups. The combination of working outside in the garden and what we are actually consuming which is fresher, tastier, organically grown and highly nutritious food, has helped to make all the difference. Plus, we have not had to worry about some of the food recalls on vegetables that some. The recent scares regarding romaine lettuce have us trying to figure out where we can set up one of our Tower Gardens inside so that we can enjoy growing fresh lettuce and spinach all throughout the year. Growing your own lettuce and spinach can be so easy it makes a lot of sense to try to, particularly a food safety become more of a concern.

So as the winter weather promises to deliver a one-two punch to us this weekend – it will be the perfect time to sit down with my notes, seed catalogs and dreams and plan out this year’s garden.

Happy gardening!

p.s.

If you are interested in starting your own garden, please check out our Homegrown Harvest website where we sell a variety of raised bed garden kits which are very easy to put together. I do not receive any compensation for any of the other recommendations that I have provided in this blog post.

Seeding our July Garden Bed

2018-07-12T14:36:00.000-04:00

It's mid-July and we recently experienced a heat wave they referred to on the news as a "heat dome" that was stuck above most of the United States during Fourth of July week. The week before, I was down in Connecticut visiting my family for my father's 85th birthday celebration. When you're away from your garden for a week, you can really see the difference in growth when you return; it seems to me everything has more than doubled in size. The plants love the heat and thankfully Mother Nature took care of watering in my absence.

Since returning to New Hampshire just in time for the temperature to be peaking in the middle of this week, I have been going out to the garden very early (around 5:30am) in the morning with the dogs. I spent time wandering the garden as I water the beds and the smart sacks - hose in one hand, coffee in the other. The dogs are usually also in the garden smelling the fragrant odors that waft from the plants and flowers. I'm fortunately to have a wonder space for our garden - it's basically flat, fenced-in and faces southwest. So it's able to soak up more than 8 hours of sunshine usually. It's also at 1500ft so there is no any obstructions such as trees which cast shade upon it and it sees the sun until about a half hour before sunset.

While we were away, our 3'x6' garden was attacked by a ravenous chipmunk who dined on our lettuce and peas, which I had forgotten to harvest and take with me down to Connecticut. Now I must clean out the remaining bolted lettuce and dried peas, add some fresh compost and reseed.
Succession planting is the practice of planting something new in place of a crop that's been harvested. Seeing how it's early July, there is plenty of time to seed some new crops in the place whre we had the peas and lettuce.

Here in Zone 5, there are plenty of time to enjoy growing beans, beets, Brussels sprouts, sweet corn, cucumbers and radishes, just to name a few. There are varieties of broccoli and cauliflower which could also be seeded now. Once thing to consider is what was growing in the space before and how it may have effected the soil. Remember no matter what you sow, you need to replace the nutrients with some fresh compost.

The 3'x6' originally started the season off with lettuce, peas, and carrots. The lettuce and peas are done but there are some remaining carrots to take in to consideration when choosing what I will seed next. Bush beans grow quickly in the hot summer soil, so they would be a good option. Bush beans are also good companions to carrots; other thing to consider veggies that complement each other, instead of possibly hindering growth. Not everyone plays nicely in the ~~sandbox~~ garden together. If you want more information about companion planting check out my post

Brussels sprouts is another consideration and would do fine with the carrots but would be better suited to be coupled with beets and onions. Cabbage and Kale could also be on the list; however we don't eat a lot of it so I'd rather use the space for the veggies we do enjoy more often.

Sweet corn is another possibility. Corn likes beans and also gets along with cucumbers too if I choose to include those in the bed. Corn would be fun - I've grown it successfully once before and know there are few things in life as sweet as the taste of an ear of corn you have grown in your own garden. Mark usually gives me a hard time about growing corn since it usually invites critters to the garden. Growing corn isn't difficult, but keeping the harvest can be since it's trust that critters love corn. Whether its the crows or squirrels- they find it as tasty as we do. The other reason Mark balks against growing corn is that it generally needs a lot of space. However, you can grow corn in a small garden. By sowing the seeds 12' apart We should be able to grow 18 cornstalks in our 3'x6 raised bed.

A quick trip to our seed storage tells me I have a few varieties to choose from. I've picked Sweet Country Gentlemen corn, Golden Bantam 12 Row corn and Glass Gem Corn which I will couple with Alibi Hybrid Pickling cucumbers since cucumbers and corn make for good companions in the garden.

Gentlemen Sweet Corn - introduced in 1890 by S.D.Woodruf & Sons which is described by Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds as "sweet, delicious and milky...with tender white kernels."

Golden Bantam Sweet Corn - introduced in 1922 by the Clark Seed Company in Milford, CT. This golden yellow corn is suitable for freezing and fresh eating.

Glass Gem Corn - introduced by the Native varieties of Carl "White Eagle" Barnes, the famous Cherokee corn collector. This corn has amazing color that looks like strands of glass beads.

It's Never Too Late to Start to a Vegetable Garden!

2018-06-15T15:32:00.001-04:00

How did it get to be mid-June already? Father’s Day is just days away - many people, gardeners in particular may be feeling where did the summer go? Time flies by our busy lives as we juggle taking care of family, work and ourselves - making us feel like we never have enough time. The good news is, summer has not even officially started yet, so we can all take a collective deep breath.

Over the years of installing gardens, one of the most repeated reasons we heard why people hadn’t started the garden was that they felt they ran out of time. “Before I knew it was the end of June or July 4th.“ We would hear over and over again. “Why bother at that point, by the time I get anything going, summer will be over.” I find more and more how instant gratification is permeates so many aspects of our society‘s lives. We want things done yesterday, once we’ve decided to actually make the decision to do something.

Gardening can’t be rushed, you may be able to nudge Mother Nature along little, but that’s all you will really be able to get away with with her. Many people find the months of May and June rush by and the blow off any thoughts of starting a garden in July or August because to them what’s the point? They miss the growing season didn’t they? It would be too late to start a garden, would it?

No! It’s never too late to put in a garden bed and depending upon what zone you’re in, you may be able to start a garden 12 months throughout the year, while others may have to wait for snow so far.

If you goal is vegetable gardening yes there are certain plants that can be seeded throughout the year. If you’re just starting your garden and it’s July or August , we suggest you begin with planting some herbs in the bed first. Herbs starts can be found your round at a local nursery or farmers market. Flowers too, such as marigolds are geraniums will give you a raise bed instant color which will spread out and last into the fall. But what about the vegetables? By this time they’re usually are no more starts to be found at the farmers market or nurseries so you will have to start from seed.

There are plenty of delicious fresh vegetables which can be seeded in July and August delivering to you a delicious fresh harvest in September and October. By midsummer, the sun is strong and it will heat the soil in your new raise garden bed quickly. Raised bed gardens warm up faster than in ground garden beds and depending upon the material used can be a few degrees warmer too.

There are a multitude of quick growing vegetables that enjoy summer heat. We look for slow-bolting and heat tolerant seed varieties that work better in the hot summer. When starting a garden “late” in the season, we look for quick-growers that will give us a harvest before the growing season is through. These vegetables don’t take too long to reach full maturity and most of the specific ones listed, we have used successfully in our clients’ gardens, as well as our own.[The links I include are for your convenience, I do not get any profits from any of the sales from the seeds, but I do recommend these companies]. Some vegetables are generally known to be quick growers such as radishes and lettuce. Many times we will use this quick growers when we do succession plantings in our garden. These quick growers generally take less than a month to reach full maturity on average. Cherry bell radishes ( 22 days) or French breakfast radishes (25 to 30 days) or Viola radishes (24 days) - all can be enjoyed in a salad that’s all homegrown in a little over a month from the time a garden is started.

A few years ago we added a second garden bed for a client - it was around mid-summer when the decision was finalized, so when we planted the new garden bed we planted a fall garden, meaning that everything would be harvested in late September- early October. We seeded summer squash, turnips, lettuce, beans, carrots. Summer squash loves hot summer soil and we picked a variety that matured in around 60 days, yielding multiple, bountiful fall harvests. Certain varieties can take even less time such Yellowfin and Sunburst squash which mature in 50 and 55 days, respectively. Or look for a super quick grower like Fortune squash which which matures in as little as 39 days! Tokyo Cross turnips mature in a quick 35 to 60 days and Golden Ball Turnips 45 to 65 days.

Seeding the new raised bed

Beans love the summer heat and there are plenty of varieties they can be enjoyed into the fall months like Speedy beans (50 days) or Wyatt beans (54 days). Other varieties include Calima, Mascotte and Golden Butter Wax.

Beets are also quick growers and there are plenty of variety that are heat tolerant. Early Wonder Tall Top beets mature in 45 days and are adaptable to all seasons. Touchstone Gold only take 53 days and Pablo beets 45 days. Bulls Blood and Golden beets also only take 50 days to mature.

Kale is another quick grower which should be sown in July to enjoy your fall crop. Nero di Toscana for instance matures in 50 days as does Redbor kale.

It’s also not too late to enjoy carrots. There are a variety of carrots which one seeded in late July to early August can be enjoyed by the end of fall, early winter. Mini Adelaide carrot take 50 days, Mokum carrots take only 56 days, , CandySnax 65 days, Napa 63 days and Yaya carrots only 60 days.

There are even some cucumber varieties which can be started in late July which will allow you a harvest by summer’s end such as Chicago Pickling, 55 days to maturity but can be harvested smaller. Or Double Yield cucumbers 55 days or Excelsior and Straight 8 at 50 days.

It’s important to remember to think about the days needed to germinate as well which can range from 5 to 12 days on the average. This adds time to the overall time before your harvest comes in.

Fall garden favorites include a return to some of the cold crops of spring. The days maybe getting shorter and the nights cooler but that doesn’t mean an end to the growing season necessarily. There is plenty of arugula, lettuce, spinach and Swiss chard do you continue to enjoy in the fall if you didn’t have a chance to start your raised bed garden until late summer.

Fall, of coarse, is the only time to plant garlic bulbs which will overwinter and produce healthy harvests the following summer. We love cooking with garlic, onions and shallots so we always include these in our garden. These ingredients can add up if you use them a lot at the grocery store so growing them in our own garden is much more economical in the long run. Adding these bulbs couldn’t be any easier to plant too and it always makes us feel good to know that something is going on underneath all that snow in the winter time. There is also a wide variety of overwintering vegetables which can be seeded in the fall which will produce an early spring harvest; these include peas onions shallots and spinach. Spring onion seeds that are sown in August will be ready to harvest in early spring, White Lisbon is a winter hardy variety that we have with had success with in the past.

Autumn is also a good time to start an asparagus bed but choose autumn planting varieties like Pacific Purple. You can add another variety in the springtime to the raised bed.

Extend the season with a cold cover

cabbage and pak choi

Finally there are a few more veggies that can be started late in the season but require a little protection like a cold frame or cold cover. With a little protection you can enjoy winter salads, carrots , cabbages and pak choi through out the entire winter, particularly if you are lucky enough to have a greenhouse!

Life gets busy and there is no perfect time sometimes to do things, we just do them when we can get to them. So if you find you’re interested in growing your own food and you think it’s too late - know that it’s not. Remember even starting late in the season you will be able to enjoy healthy harvests and will be ready to go come the following spring.

Tower Garden

If you want to push things along a little and don’t want to spend time setting up a raised bed gardens but you’re interested in growing your own food you can start a Tower Garden. Tower Gardens grow food three times faster and produces 30% greater yields on average than traditional methods.

Chipmunks in the Garden

2018-05-19T11:35:00.000-04:00

Over the last six years that we have been helping people with their gardens, one of the most repeated complaints is about small critters like chipmunks. Dealing with these crafty creatures can be difficult but not possible. Our new home in New Hampshire has rock walls in the front and back walls on the side raised beds against foundation. Pretty, but it's a chipmunk paradise playground. Chipmunks are everywhere around here. Normally I wouldn’t be concerned however chipmunks can cause tremendous damage to your foundation as well as the staircases and rock wall retaining walls that we have around the property, not to mention our garden. Last year Mark's hot pepper plants never stood a chance to fruit before the chippies ate the starts.

Chipmunks indigenous to North America with one exception of Siberian chipmunk. Otherwise there 24 types of chipmunks running around the woodlands, forests, deserts and suburbia as well as urban parks from Canada all the way down to Mexico. These cute little creatures seem to be everywhere, particularly in our gardens. Perhaps between learned more about chipmunks, we would understand them better and possibly be able to keep them from our garden.

Only weighing in around one ounce to 5 ounces tops, these little critters are a nimble bunch. They need to be since they could be eaten anytime by any larger carnivore that maybe around. Our property is filled with Chipmunks but it is also filled with all the its predators including owls, foxes, bobcats, coyotes, dogs, snakes and red squirrels. Chipmunks belong in this world family but that doesn’t keep red squirrels from making them a tasty lunch if the opportunity presents itself. All these predators are one reason chipmunks don’t travel very far, generally only roaming about a third of a mile preferring to stick closer to their main burrow. Chipmunks burrows are about 2 to 3 feet underground, but their tunnels can be as long as 20 to 30 feet. Their tunnels are quite intricate, they actually utilize two systems. Shallow burrows are used for refuge while they are foraging during that period they have deeper channels which they use for nesting in food storage although they have separate chambers for each of these areas. Their tunnels are quite neat, no dirties around the entrances since they carried away in the cheeks.

Disney's Chip & Dale

Chipmunks move soil and store food in their cheeks which can hold three times the size of their head making them look cartoon-like. This is probably why Walt Disney created Chip and Dale backing 1943. Walt Disney artists would go out into the woods and study woodland creatures they were tasked to draw for their movies. They would draw sketch after sketch until they understood how these critters moved and what their expressions were like. Anyone who is familiar with the antics of Chip and Dale who also has a vegetable garden would probably agree that Disney pretty much nailed it.

Picky Eaters? No, not at all!

Chipmunks are omnivores and will eat pretty much everything. They love seeds, berries, bulbs, nuts, insects and mushrooms; not to mention bird eggs and baby birds. As chipmunks forage for their food to store they perform one of their most ecologically important tasks they are spread seeds and important mycorrhizal fungi, playing an important role in forest health and regeneration.

Interestingly, chipmunks need to sleep 15 hours a day meaning we see them only during the remaining 9 hours. There is much to be done during this time which is they always seem to be out when we are out. During the wintertime, chipmunks don’t hibernate completely, but they are so inactive that their heart rate and body temperatures drop. When they get hungry they rely on their food storage is accessible but is in a separate chamber than they’re sleeping area.

Alvin & The Chipmunks

Contrary to Ross Badgdasarian’s famous family animated trio, Alvin, Theodore and Simon, chipmunks are solitary creatures– unless it’s breeding season of course. Chipmunks mate in the spring and late summer and have litters of that 2 to 6 pups. Male chipmunks, known has bucks, have one role and that it to mate. The female, known as the doe, carries and cares for the litter until the pups leave the nest.

If you’ve ever had the chance to simply watch a chipmunk in action undoubtedly then heard one as well. They use a bunch of different vocalizations including chips, chucks and chilling alarm calls. Some of these high-pitched sounds can easily be mistaken for a birdcall. The other day at we are out on the deck with the dogs and there was a chipmunk who was very talkative, confidently chattering away from the other side of the dog fencing we have surrounding out deck. I thought the dogs were going to lose their minds, but they just stared at the talkative little chippie who undoubtedly was giving them an earful. Chipmunks are very territorial and protect then areas around their main burrows.

Now that we have a better understanding of chipmunks, is there any way to keep them out of our gardens? After all, isn't our garden a buffet of tasty treats to the chipmunk? Are there ways we can still enjoy tulips and another bulbs chipmunks continually eat the bulbs, seeds, starts and anything else that we might to plant?

Yes, there are things that we can do to try to deter chipmunks from coming into the garden and wreaking little less havoc. First of all, try to keep rock walls out of the garden since love to nest in rock walls unless of course you have to a retaining wall put in for landscaping purposes just know that chipmunks love to build their tunnels near structures like retainment walls and foundations. These burrows can compromise these structures, as well as plantings that may be above them – destroying their root systems. They also love old logs, trees, stumps and areas that have plenty of ground cover – so take that into consideration if you have a chipmunk problem in your garden. We removed some of the old stone walls that were in the old garden

Use hardware cloth over a freshly planted area covered with mulch can help mitigate damage to bold that you hope overwinter to bloom come springtime. Simply remove the hardware cloth in the early spring once the winter snow so thawed. There are also some plants you can introduce into your garden which chipmunks do not like at all– particularly due to their fragrance. Chipmunks are sensitive to smell and don’t like fragrant perennials like monarda (Bee Balm), hyssop (agastache) or lavender. Generally, chipmunks are sensitive to texture as well, staying clear of thorny and hairy leaves and plants.

Perennials Chipmunks Don't Like

Bee balm (Monarda)

Black-eyed Susan

Butterfly bush (Buddleia)

Catmint (Nepeta)

Chives

Delphinium

Daffodil (narcissus)

Hyssop (Agastache)

Irises

Joe pyeweed (Eutrochium)

Lavender

Lupine

Milkweed

Ornamental garlic (allium)

Ornamental Primrose/ sundrops (Oenothera)

Phlox

Purple coneflower (echinacea)

Sedum

Sneezeweed (Helenium)

Yarrow

There are a number of annuals which holds no interest for the chipmunk– all of which would be happy in the garden making a wonderful companion plants bringing in beneficial as well.

Annuals Chipmunks Don’t Like

Ageratum

Zinnia

Alyssum

Calendula

Celosia/Cockscomb

Dianthus

Heliotrope

Lantana

Marigolds (tagetes)

Petunia

Annual Salvia/Sage

Snapdragons

Zinnia

Other helpful ways to keep the Chipmunks away from the garden is to be sure to deadhead your flowers that form seed heads like marigolds and zinnias. Chipmunks loveseat heads, so deadheading flowers is always a good idea. How many times have we all found half eaten or slightly eaten tomatoes in the garden? Any time is too many times. The reason for this is not that chipmunks are necessarily hungry, but rather that they are thirsty and seeking sources for water. A couple of strategically placed birdbaths should help keep the chippies and birds from taking a bite out of your prize tomatoes.

Be careful not to include flowers that will attract chipmunks. There are plenty of flowers that chipmunks consider tasty treats. The best way to include some of these flowers in your garden plan is to surround them with plants and flowers they hate and hope for the best.

Flowers That Chipmunks Love

Chrysanthemums

Lemon Queen Sunflower

Columbine (aquilegia)

Coreopsis/Tickseed

Daisies

Lilies

Pansies

Seedlings of any type

Sunflowers

Tulips

Violas

Other natural ways to determine chipmunks in the garden include the use of cayenne pepper sprinkled around the plants. Remember they don’t like fragrant or spice and capsaicin is a powerful deterrent. It’ easy enough to also make a homemade pepper spray which is safe to spray on your bulbs and plants’ leaves and stems to keep the chipmunks from going to town.

Homemade Pepper Spray

1 quart of boiling water

2 tbs. ground cayenne pepper

2 tbs. oil

Drain the cooled down water and ground cayenne pepper through a cheese cloth and add 2 tbs of oil – shake mixing well.
Put liquid into an unused or clean spray bottle and use on whatever it is you wish the chippies to stay away from. Reapply after rain or once a week.

There is no surefire way to keep chipmunks from coming into the garden, their size and acrobatic abilities make fencing impossible; however, sheer netting can be effective in extreme cases. The best way to deal with chipmunks is to understand what they like and dislike and try to work to live in harmony with each other in our gardens. Good luck to us all.

Perennial Vegetables

2018-05-11T18:04:00.002-04:00

Perennial Vegetables

Gardeners are usually passionate people. Looking after their plants morning after morning, observing the daily changes. I like to go out early in the morning with the dogs with my coffee in hand and walk the garden, inspecting plants like a general would his troops, searching for things right or wrong with each and every individual cadet. We invest so much time, generally enjoying the work in preparing, planting and caring for our little babies. There are some plants though that we can add to our gardens which don’t require as much work as our annual vegetables and they will give back to use year after year.

The last six years we’ve been installing and planting and caring for other people’s gardens and a number of years ago we were renovating an old garden space for a client who was interested in putting in a raised bed for asparagus and strawberries. We always like to plant exactly what our clients are growing, so we can to be cognizant of how well the plantings work. We loved asparagus, so we decided to add a new raised bed to our own garden and started to grow our own. We had already been growing strawberries in whisky half-barrels but after reading that the two make for very good companion plants in the garden, we added some strawberries to the bed.

Asparagus in our CT garden

What you need to know about growing perennial vegetables

There are a bunch of perennial vegetables which can be grown in your garden. The most popular and well-known and of course include asparagus, rhubarb and globe artichokes as well as berries (strawberries, raspberries, etc.) The beautiful thing about using perennial vegetables in your garden, besides their physical appearance, is that you plant once, and you’re basically done. Perennials are overall low maintenance additions to the garden which will give your harvest, year after year. Plus, there seems like there is a perennial vegetable for every type of soil and light you might have. They also are found to be more nutritious compared to most annual vegetables, so it was a great way to introduce more nutritional food into your diet. The addition of perennial vegetables to your garden also increases your harvest season which will help to provide steadier source of food for your family throughout the year. For some people who’ve decided to take on providing for themselves either through homesteading, permaculture gardening, perennial vegetables provide a very important role for these gardeners. They not only enhance the landscape with their beauty and provide nutritious flavorful foods, they play a crucial role in maintaining a healthy soil web.

Perennial vegetables are the ecological smart choice.

Overall, perennial vegetables require less water to care for than annuals, saving on this valuable natural resource. Plus, they don’t require tilling, saving on the release of soil organic carbon (SOC) into the atmosphere, important since it’s the foundation of soil fertility. The use of tilling has been shown to be very destructive to the soil web, in particular to mycorrihizae, a beneficial fungus that shares nutrients with plants. They also make for efficient weed suppressors since their leaves come out before annuals.

Properly designed and planned out, you can create moderate microclimates within your garden with the use of certain perennials which will help improve your soil’s organic matter, porosity and its water retention abilities. Their deep roots catch and store water and nutrients that would otherwise be washed away. The use of perennials not only provides much needed habitats for some animals and fungi, but they also attract other beneficial insects into the garden. They also tend to be more past and disease resistant than annuals, which is nice since you don’t crop rotate perennials. Lastly, but equally importantly is the role perennial vegetables play in the garden to help moderate climate change by capturing atmospheric carbon dioxide and sequestering it in its long-term oil hummus and perennial plant parts.

Our new asparagus crowns arrived yesterday along with the strawberry starts. The plan is to create a new raise bed for New Hampshire Garden. These two perennials make for good companions together in the garden: the strawberry spreading out to create a nice groundcover keeping weeds away from the tall shoots of the asparagus which developed beautiful showy ferns as the season progresses. The first asparagus bed we started in Connecticut is now four years old, it is now ready to be harvested annually. Too that we don’t live there full-time anymore to be able to enjoy the delicious asparagus. Luckily one of us will be heading down there and hopefully can bring home some fresh cut homegrown asparagus for us to enjoy. One thing we learned in all of our years of gardening is that you must have patience. There is no rushing mother nature, pushing her a little- maybe, rushing her – not a chance. The same thing goes when introducing perennial vegetables into your garden, patience is a must. Many required time to be properly established, asparagus is a prime example since it takes a full three years to establish before being able to enjoy a full harvest.

Rhubarb in our CT garden

Some perennials can be so maintenance free that they can never take your garden if you’re not paying attention. I was just recently reading about a gardener who had a Little Shop of Horrors-sized rhubarb plants that removed from their grandmother’s garden as a medium-sized transplant. The plant needs little care and gives them bountiful harvest year after year. However, the plant has sprouted off into other plants all over the place which the gardener referred to as her runaway babies that she hopes to be able to give to others who want to start growing rhubarb. So low maintenance doesn’t mean no maintenance. It’s best to pay attention, harvest repeatedly and keeping control of your perennials just in case your perennials do too well.

Popular Perennial Vegetables
Asparagus	Groundnut
Berries – strawberriesblueberries, raspberries, elderberries…	Lovage
Globe Artichoke	Jerusalem artichoke
Bunching or Egyptian Onions	Scarlet Runner Beans
Daylilies	Sea Kale
Horseradish	Sorrel
Good King Henry	Watercress

Garlic (grown as annual)	Radicchio (grown as annual)
Kale (grown as annual)

Patience Grasshopper!

2018-05-04T10:00:00.000-04:00

About a year ago, I was talking with a friend and he was telling me about how most of his seedling he had worked so hard to start, didn’t make it in his garden. I asked him if he had hardened them off and received a blank stare followed by, “Not really.”

There is a fine art to making the transition from the protected interiors of the house where seeds are started under controlled conditions some including grow lights and warming mats. No winds or outside predators to harm our little ones – yet. Some people introduce a small oscillating fan inside to mimic a small breeze. This isn’t necessary to do. If you have been doing your job raising your seedlings, you know you have been controlling the light, temperature and water very consistently. Then comes the time when the weather has warmed enough for you to start thinking it’s time to make the transfer to the garden.

But hold on there! If you walk those little babies straight out to the garden and plant them right away - they won’t make it. The transition will be too much on their young developing little systems to be able to withstand the transfer, so they go into shock and die.

You need to slow down and gradually get your seedlings acclimated to their new environment. You need to ease them into things, much like the way you do when you get a new fish. You don’t through it right into the fish tank right away. You ease it in by allowing the bag with the fish in it to sit in the existing tank water so that the temperature of the bag water will slowly adjust to the temperature of the tank water. During this process the fish is being acclimated to his new temperature environment, so that when he is released into the tank he doesn’t do into shock and die.

So, the plants that have been sitting under these ideal conditions are about to be introduced to new temperature, wind and soil conditions that you don’t control but Mother Nature does for the most part. I don’t mean to insinuate that we don’t control some of the outdoor elements. We are firm practitioners of raised bed gardening, so we do our best to control the soil environment in which we grow our plants; however, we don’t control the soil temperature in those outdoor beds.

I like to look at hardening off our seedlings much like the way my father would get into the ocean when he would take us on vacations when I was growing up. He would dip a toe or two in, then back up back to dry land. Then he would take a few more steps in up to his ankles with hands were up above his heads this whole time. He would stand there and then lower his arms to splash some water onto his arms. The entire time trying to slowly adjust to the cool temperature of the ocean, so it wouldn’t shock his system. Once he did this he would take a few more steps in before diving in.

The first days you decide to take your plants out, are like my Dad dipping his feet into the water initially and then backing back to the dry sand. The first days outside are simply field trips – no overnights yet. I suggest that even before venturing outside with your seedlings, that if you have been using warming mats that these have been turned off a few days before hand if you haven’t turned them off already. This helps to ease the soil temperature from 75 degrees down to 66-70 degrees, depending on what your home interior temperature is set to.

The first day outside, protect your seedlings by placing them in a box which will help protect them from some of the elements, but you should look to place them in an area protected from the wind and is not in direct sunlight. The seedlings are not ready for direct wind or sunshine yet. I have a screened in porch I use to in CT where I have started thousands of seeds. I put my tray on a table I know will receive indirect sunlight and is protected from the winds. Wind is an important consideration as the seedlings are still strengthening their stems and this is a new strong element being introduced. By the third, the trays will spend the night outside on the deck. [Dad walking in up to his ankles] The fourth day the trays make their way closer to the garden and are placed outside, still somewhat protected from winds but are receiving more and more direct sunlight. [Dad walking in further…] By day 5 I have placed the trays to sit directly on top of the soil in their respecting raised beds. [Dad splashing water on his arms to acclimate to the temperature of the water.] They will sit there for another couple of days and by the 7 days I can’t resist the urge to plant [Dad plunging into the water].

Gardening teaches patience, and this is one of those things that you just can’t rush. When you don’t rush the process, you are rewarded with a selection of healthy seedlings that are ready to take up the challenge and become strong healthy plants bearing us delicious produce all season long. I have sown thousands of seeds, many of which didn’t succeed in the early years when I was a little less patient. Seed germination rate can also play a part in your success, as can the soil starter you use, the consistency in watering and other controlled environmental conditions like light and temperature. Which is why every time I do start seedlings and they germinate and I am privileged enough to watch this miracle of life I am in awe. Awed and honor to be a steward of these tiny little everyday miracles, that many people unfortunately overlook or never even consider. I don’t care that science can explain it – it’s still one of the miracles of life.

There is something that’s even more miraculous to me then when you directly have sown seeds outdoors and that when you have started your seedling indoors, nurtured it, hardened it properly and watch your seedling make the transfer successfully into the garden and thrives bearing your wonderful bounties to harvest. This to me is a real sense of accomplishment to it, since making that transfer from indoors to outdoors can be the bump in the road for a lot of gardeners, including myself.

Hardening Process

Don’t rush things! Moving is stressful!

1. Day 1-2 should be a day that is mild outside, not extremely hot. Take your seedlings to a protected area from the wind; place your tray in a box for added protect from potential wind and will help provide some shade from sunlight. No direct sunlight, look for a semi-shaded area with indirect sunlight. Bring plants in before sunset for the night.

2. Days 3-5 remove trays from box and increase their exposure to sunlight and wind gradually, rotating the trays so that different sides of the plants are exposed to the sun helps them not become leggy. Plants should spend the nights outside from now on.

3. Days 6-7 place your trays in the garden beds where you plan to plant them, sitting the trays directly on top of the soil.

4. After day 7, have fun transplanting your seedlings

Earth Day: Yesterday, Today - All to Preserve Our Futures

2018-04-20T10:53:00.000-04:00

On April 22 the world will be celebrating the 48^th anniversary of Earth Day. Earth day is a day the world turns its’ attention to the importance of our environment and the challenges it faces. It’s a day where organizers all over the world coordinate events which shine a light on certain environmental issues and propose ways how we can make the necessary changes to make the Earth a cleaner and healthier place for all living creatures including the earth, herself.

As far back as the late 1800s, conservationists celebrated Arbor Day (April 27^th) and Bird Day (May 4^th) which support forestation conservation and nature appreciation, respectively. They were the first efforts to help educate the general public about the need for environmental conservation. A watershed moment came in the early 1960’s with the success of Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring which was the first book to shine the light on the use of pesticides and the effects they had on nature. By the late sixties, there was a groundswell of activists and environmentalists who realized our environment was being trashed and official policy changes would be needed. In 1969, an oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara killed 10,000 seabirds, dolphins, seals and sea lions – further catalyzing the need for governmental change and regulation.

The seeds were planted in 1969

The National UNESCO Conference met in October 1969 and environmentalist/activist John McConnell proposed a holiday focusing on the Earth's life and beauty as well as to advance peace. He also wanted it to be a day of educating people about the need for preserving and renewing the threatened ecological balances upon which all life on Earth depends. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin agreed saying, “We have but one earth, so we need to take care of her”; declaring April 22, 1970 as the first Earth Day ever. There were smaller celebrations before there was an official proclaimed date. Many choosing to celebrate Earth Day on the first day of spring. They would gather to ring the Japanese Peace Bell at the United Nations at the first moment of the vernal equinox. Bells would ring at this time all over the world.

But organizers of Earth Day wanted to be able to make the biggest impact and maximize participation on college campuses and March 12st was too close to spring break, mid-terms, and the religious holidays of Passover and Easter. So they opted to choose April 22^nd which was close to the birthday the “Father of the National Parks” naturalist, environmentalist, John Muir who birthday is April 21 which the National Parks Department had been celebrating for years already.

Interestingly, there were some citizens and government officials believed the event to be some sort of communist act of sorts since the event coincidentally coincided with the 100^th anniversary of Vladmir Lenin’s birthday. The FBI reportedly conducted surveillance at the first Earth Day event send agents to various demonstrations being held that day. A woman from the Daughters of the American Revolution was quoted in a New York Times articles as saying, “subversive elements plan to make American children live in an environment that’s good for them.” God forbid anybody to that! Geez. You see, it wasn’t just that it was Lenin’s birthday but also the fact that Lenin would institute subbotnik which were mandatory days of unpaid work on weekends where citizens cleaned up neighborhoods. As Lenin’s power grew he employed subbotnicks throughout the USSR and other countries under Soviet control.

The first Earth Day celebration was focused in New York City where with the blessing of Mayor Lindsey Fifth Avenue closed down to traffic. Organizers knew this was the best place to start since the big 3 networks, the New York Times and Newsweek were also all located in New York which was important to organizers to have easy access to media and vice versa. Remember this way before the days of the internet and getting the word out to the public not as easy as a Tweet or Facebook post these days. There were estimated to have over 20,000 people at this first event at any given time and a total over 100,000 over the course of the day. It marked the first time in history that environmentalists had the nationwide platform to get their message out of public and government officials to do more to protect our planet. It was a national day of education for Americans about our environmental issues the country was facing at the time.

As a result of Earth Day, policy changes lead to the passing of the Clean Air Act of 1970 which marked a major shift in the government’s role in controlling air pollution and by December 2, 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was started. The single agency would encompass responsibilities covering federal research and monitoring, standard setting and enforcement of policies set to ensure the protection of our environment. Major changes to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948, through sweeping amendments were also passed in 1972 making the law better known as the Clean Water Act (CWA), all as a direct result of the formation of Earth Day.

By 1990, the celebration had blossomed, growing to 200 million people and went international for the first time with events held in 41 countries. There were two separate groups formed that sponsored the Earth Day events that year: the Earth Day 20 Foundation and Earth Day 1990. Disagreements between the organizers lead to the why two separate groups were formed. Earth Day 20 organized a climb of Mount Everest that year. Jim Whittaker, the first American to ever summit Everest years earlier, climbed roped together with climbers from the Soviet Union and China – a first in climbing history. With the help of multitude of support teams, they cleaned up 2 tons of garbage that have been left behind by previous climbers over the years. Two tons of garbage on Everest – even the highest mountain in the world is not safe from human litterers.

Earth Day 2000 marked the first time organizers used the internet and featured a drum chain that travel to villages in Gabon, Africa. The focus that year was global warming and clean energy and hundreds of thousands gathered in Washington sending a loud and clear message that we want and need change.

Earth Day 2010 faced similar challenges as were faced in 1970. A divided environmental community didn’t help matters but the Earth Day Network managed to bring 250,000 people to a rally at the National Mall. They also launched – A Billion Acts of Green, the world’s largest service project which is a global tree planting initiative, known today at The Canopy Project.

Celebrated by a billion people all over the world, Earth Day has truly become a celebration of our planet. A day mankind takes action that changes policy and behavior. 2018, we will focus our attention on Earth Day on Ending Plastic Pollution. In a nutshell here’s the problem and if you look around your house, you’ll quickly realized why; there is way too much plastic in our world and it’s not a good thing.

Do you know your plastic footprint?

You can figure it out by clicking this link to the Earth Day 2018 Plastic Footprint Calculator. Do you understand why too much plastic is harmful to our environment? Let’s start there, why it’s so harmful. First off, plastic is made from refined oil and natural gas, so that right there is doing destructive things to our environment. When it was first invented in 1907 by Belgian-born American, Leo Hendrik Baekeland it was a game changer. So useful, it was used and still is in everything from sealing up and preserving food in great little containers to being used in cars, furniture, building materials and electronics. Initially everyone just saw the benefits and didn’t take into consideration its un-biodegradable nature. Diamonds may be forever, but so is plastic.

Plastics are the most littered item in the world. It’s the hope of organizers this Earth Day 2018 to shed a light on this environmental worldwide issue in hopes of reducing the use of plastics. There are 9.1 billion tons of plastic produced to date. 6.9 billion tons becomes waste which left in dumps and landfills – That waste isn’t going anywhere folks! They estimate it will be 13.2 billion tons by 2020 if we continue at current rates. Product packaging is the number cause for the dramatic increases accounting for 42% of non-fiber plastic products in 2015 alone. Making up of 59% of the plastics discarded that year.

What can we do to celebrate and acknowledge Earth Day in our lives? Well for one thing simply learning a little about the problem can help a lot. When people understand what the problem is and why it’s happening, they are usually readier to make the changes needed and are more willing participants in that change. Change is difficult and breaking old habits is hard. Since plastic is the one the main focuses this year on Earth Day, I plead to make a more conscious effort to lower and minimize our plastic footprint. Hopefully, new legislation on the Hill will open up new avenues for more sustainable alternatives, such as the use of hemp-based products which could replace a lot of plastics and is much more environmentally friendly.

Lunar Gardening - Fact or Fiction?

2018-04-13T10:00:00.000-04:00

Living in New Hampshire for the last year and half, I find we are much more in tune with the natural world around us. We watch the weather daily, not only the forecasts, but from our house at 1500ft overlooking Newfound Lake we can see weather systems come and go. We monitor the various conditions with our weather station recording rain mounts, wind speeds, barometric pressures and temperatures but the flag still provides the quickest signal for which way the winds are blowing. Technology has the tendency to remove us from the nature.

Centuries ago, mankind listened much more to the natural world and the signals it was giving them. We know the ancient mariners figured out how to navigate via the stars. In prehistoric times, the moon ruled everything. Observing the natural world around him, first century historian, Pliny, the Elder wrote volumes about the natural world around him in the History of Nature in which he discusses the relationship of nature and the heavens and how they should be observed.

Pliny, The Elder

The sun, the moon and the stars have been a source of mystery to the ancients who first recorded their observations, trying to understand the world they lived in. Some gardeners of this time listened and observed the world around them and let that dictate the timing of when to do certain things on the farm or in the garden, while others paid no heed to the signs that nature and the cosmos were delivering.

“The person who do not take notice, consequently of the phenomena of Nature, while others lay too much stress upon them and hence these refined subtleties and distinctions only add to their blindness.”

Pliny, goes on to say,

“…the observation of the heavens plays a very important part of operations of agriculture; and Virgil, we find gives it as his advice, that no less the mariner, should regulate his movements thereby.”

He recognizes the importance the heavens can play to the gardener much like the mariner and backs his argument by saying Virgil makes the same comparison between the two as well. But Pliny also believes people can go overboard, placing too much emphasis, perhaps getting too caught up in the heavens, making them as blind as those who pay no attention at all.

Blue Moon

Lunar gardening is not a way of planting on the moon or late at night by moonlight. Lunar gardening or gardening by the moon has been practiced by many different cultures for centuries. A controversial method which uses the cycles of the moon as a tool in helping decide when to plant and seed. There are a couple of different methods of lunar gardening, one more complex than the other which I believe was part of what Pliny warned about – getting too complex. The basic method of lunar gardening simply focuses on the moon and what stage it’s in. The moon’s gravitational pull changes with the various cycles affecting ocean tides. But what about groundwater?

Groundwater makes up a very small percentage of the overall water on the Earth, only 1.69% compared to oceans and seas at 96.54%, but is much closer to the 1.74% of rivers and lakes. Bodies of water like rivers and lakes, unless it’s one of the Great Lakes, are too small to feel the effects of the moon’s gravitational pull. In 1991, NASA Goddard scientist, Frank Abramopoulous said, “tidal force – the gravitational pull of the moon would be there, but at a level smaller than would affect any biochemical processes.”

Many scientists have found it difficult to discount the other factors involved in the environment and the effects the moon many have on them, such as bug activity during the different phases and how that may play a part. It’s impossible to isolate, and that’s what science likes for the most part, being at to look at things in a vacuum.

“It’s mythology….There has to be a physical reason why the moon’s different phases would affect soil properties, soil temperature, moisture content, precipitation which are physical factors that make seeds germinate. And that’s not documentable.”
– Cynthia Rosenzweig, Agronomist at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (1991)

However, by 1997, there was good evidence that moonlight affects plants directly via stomatal activity and indirectly via insect activity. The stomata are the tiny little openings on plants that allow them to exchange gases needed for cellular processes like photosynthesis.

Klaus-Peter Endres and Wolfgang Schad in Biologie des Mondes: Mondperiodik undLebensrhythmen (1997) said they found some plants to show a small connection in their growth and reproductive behavior, although it wasn’t consistent as to which phase. While other plants were not at all affected. Some reacted to the full moon, others the new moon and still others, to the waxing or waning quarter moons.The inconsistencies is what

Many subscribers to the practice of lunar gardening point to the research of Dr. Frank Brown, at Northwestern University in the 1950’s. Reports of his studies of plants for over a decade found that overall plants absorb more water during a full moon and least during the new moon phases. It was around this same time in 1956, when scientists, Frau Dr. Kolisko and Maria Thunfound maximum germination of seeds occurs on the days preceding a full moon. As the new moon grows, seeds swell with water and burst into life more quickly. Thun’s experiments with planting of seed potatoes supports Dr. Brown’s theory that plants absorb more water during a full moon, as her seed potatoes planted at the full moon did overwhelmingly better than those planted during the new moon.

To understand lunar planting, it helps to know the different cycles of the moon. Focusing on the moon phase is one of the systems of lunar gardening which focuses on the increase or decrease in the moonlight and gravitational pull at each cycle.

[the moon] “replenishes the earth when she approaches it, she fills all bodies; while when she recedes, she empties them.”

-Pliny, the Elder

Pliny, may not have known about the concept of gravity, but he describes the moon’s effect on the natural world vividly.

The 8 Phases of the Moon

1. New Moon – “dark moon” when the moon is nearest to the sun

2. Waxing crescent

3. First quarter

4. Waxing gibbous

5. Full moon – the moon is closest to the earth

6. Waning gibbous

7. Last quarter

8. Waning crescent

Lunar gardening believes that the closer the moon is to the Earth’s surface, the more nourishment it possesses and delivers to the Earth. The ancients were much more in tune with nature and sought a harmonious relationship with it than man does in today’s modern times. They also believed that understanding the cycles of the moon could help them to determine when to plant in order to improve their yields.

“The old-time gardeners say ‘with the waxing moon, the earth exhales.’ When the sap in the plants rise, the force first goes into the growth above ground. Thus, you should do all activities with plants that bear fruit above ground during the waxing moon. With the waning moon, the earth inhales. Then the sap primarily goes down towards the roots. Thus the waning moon is a good time for pruning, multiplying, fertilizing, watering, harvesting, and controlling parasites and weeds.”
_Ute York, Living By The Moon

The old-time farmers also say a full moon makes corn grow tall and pulls vining beans right up their poles – perhaps reaching for the brightest light of the moon. But these sound like tall-tales, folk-lore that's been passed down from generation to generation. But if they didn't work, would they have survived through the centuries as they have?

Science knows that the same gravitational force that affectsthe tides are the same cosmic rhythms that draw horseshoe crabs ashore to mate. Geotropism is the effect of gravity on plants which science has proven to be greater during the full moon, in that plants will absorb the most water at this time, as do seeds. The moon is a powerful force of nature leading lunar gardeners to naturally see the connection of the moon’s gravitational force, swelling the water content in the soil, causing moisture levels to increase, thereby, encouraging growth and germination It’s understandable that planting seeds during the phases of increasing light and gravitational pull (the cycles between the new moon and full moon) would increase the success rate of germination and overall health; ‘sap flow is drawn up’. During the waxing phase there is an increase in the speed of water spreading throughout the plant’s bodies; activating and facilitating the delivery of nutrients and phytochemicals throughout the plant; all factors of health, development and growth.

As mentioned earlier, the days preceding the full moon, science has agreed presents the most optimum conditions for successful germination, upping the odds for success of seeds of vegetables that fruit above ground – leafy vegetables, tomatoes, cucumbers etc… During the waxing phases, lunar gardeners focus seeding these vegetables as well as transplanting annuals and biennials, harvesting leafy vegetables, use liquid fertilizers, pruning and grafting with the understanding that increased sap flow can equate to new quick growth.

Ridiculed by the mainstream scientific world, the study of lunisolar impact on biological systems has struggled to overcome the unjustified skeptics. However, scientists continue to explore the field with recent discoveries by Catarina Rydin of Stockholm University in Sweden who discovered a rare plant, Ephedra foeminea, whose pollination is dictated by the full moon. Peter Barlow of the University of Bristol looked at data from the 1920s onward and found that leaf movement in beans and other plants turned when lunar tides turn at the time and location of the experiments. [New Scientist, August 17, 2015]

The period of time from the full moon to the last quarter, the earth begins to “inhale drawing down the sap” into herself. It’s best to focus now on sowing root crops and planting perennials. The moonlight is decreasing, and more energy is now drawn down into the roots. The 1991 Farmer's Almanac recommended to plant flowering bulbs and veggies that bear crops below ground during the this time from the day after the full moon to the day before its new again. But many believe from the last quarter to the new moon when the moon furthest away from earth and soil moisture levels drop, it’s best not to do any planting or seeding during this final quarter to the new moon. This quarter is best to simply focus more on soil maintenance by weeding, mulching, making compost and manure teas. This also the best time to turn a garden is when the soil is drier and the water tables low. If there is fruit to harvest ding so at this time lessens the likelihood of rotting, however, I find this to be true basically anytime.

(l. to r.) Fire, Earth, Water, Air

The other system of lunar gardening takes into the consideration of the moon’s location within the zodiac. Within this system, the most optimal time to plant is during the time of a water sign (Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces). Earth signs are recommended for root crops (Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn). No planting is to be done during the Fire signs of Aries, Leo and Sagittarius, whereas the Air signs were seen as neutral. So considering that the moon passes through each zodiac sign for about 2 to 2-1/2 days and a water sign occurs every 7 days, you can see why Pliny was saying people perhaps can get too caught up in the details, “while others lay too much stress upon them…” Mainstream science doesn’t give credence to the science of Astrology, and it’s this method of lunar gardening which scientists understandably have the most difficult time with.

Biodynamics is a holistic, ecological and ethical approach to farming, gardening, food and nutrition originally popularized in the mid-sixties by master horticulturalist, Alan Chadwick. Chadwick rose to the challenge to demonstrate biodynamics, also known as then as french intensive gardening on a 4 acre barren lot in Santa Cruz, Ca. His garden proved to be a tremendous success. The major principles of a biodynamic farm or garden is that its integrated, whole, living organism made up of interdependent systems. Farmers and gardeners work to harmonize these elements, supporting the health and vitality of the whole through managing them in a holistic and dynamic way. Today we hear biodynamics referred to more often as permaculture. Although there are many methods employed in creating a permaculture, biodynamic farmers carry on the ancients’ traditions of working in rhythm with the Earth and Cosmos. They, too, observe the rhythms and cycles of the earth, sun, moon, starts and planets in hopes to seek further understanding of the subtle ways the environment and wider cosmos influence the growth and development of plants and animals.

For myself, I will listen to Pliny, the Elder to take notice but not so close. In a 1991article in the New York Times, Goddard agronomist, Dr. Rosenzweig admitted to believing a little, but not from the scientific standpoint at the time, saying “the ancient traditions are wonderful. And who knows: there are more things out there than are known by science.” At the very least lunar gardening provides farmers and gardeners with an organizational time line to follow which is how author, Linda Woodrow of Permaculture Home Garden initially got onboard. Initially in the skeptics’ camp, she adopted the practice to for organizational purposes and became a true believer when witnessing firsthand the difference in the increased germination rate and overall plant vitality.

Super Moon January 2, 2018

So with that, I am planning on adopting the practice of lunar gardening this season where my focus will be on the ebb and flow of sap in tune with the phases of the moon. We will see how it goes. It certainly does no harm to practice and at the very least it provides me which a guideline to follow to keep me organized in the garden. Who knows, perhaps I will find what others have found that my seeds germinate better and crops are more bountiful from healthier plants.

Citizen Science

2018-04-04T06:29:00.000-04:00

Have you ever heard of the term citizen science? How about community science? No? Volunteer monitoring? Crowd-sourced science? If you are like I was, you may be unfamiliar with these terms. In essence, citizen science is when scientific researchers use non-scientist, a.k.a. ordinary, everyday people, to help with their studies collecting data in quantities they could not do on their own.

It was in the most recent issue of Horticulture Magazine which introduced me and probably many others to the term 'citizen scientist' as part of their cover article, The Great Sunflower Project. This project focuses on pollinators by asking interested people to grow the same variety, specifically Lemon Queen. Once the flower has bloomed, scientist ask their citizen volunteers to simply sit for 5 minutes on three separate occasions and count the number of visiting pollinators to that one flower. 5 minutes, 3 separate times - a total of 15 minutes of your undivided attention towards a flower can tell researchers so much. The volunteer data comes from all over the country, helping scientists understand the number of pollinators that visits per hour, per flower, the same flower, all across the country. Scientists and researchers would not have the money, time, or ability, let alone the manpower to record this type of data without the help of citizen scientists.

A Little History
Citizen science has been around actually for centuries. Before the late 19th century most scientists made a living some other way than science. Collaborations between researchers and scientists across the world has always been the norm way before the age of technology, as early as 17th century. It just took a lot longer for the things to happen. Carl Linnaeus, the Swedish botanist who standardized the naming of organisms (binomial nomenclature) wouldn't have been possible if he hadn't collaborated with other amateur researchers helping him collect specimens. Wine makers for centuries have kept records on grape harvests. Hunters and fisherman have equally recorded specific, valuable data about animals for generations. All very important data to modern day scientists and researchers.

How Can I Get Involved?
Today, anyone still can be a citizen scientist. If you're interested in gardening and nature, there are projects similar to the Great Sunflower Project, like the Hummingbirds At Home Project where people track, report and follow the spring hummingbird migration to better understand how climate change may be impacting hummingbirds.

What I've discovered about citizen science projects so far, is that whether it's a project being organized by the Appalachian Mountain Club, Smithsonian, SciStarter.com, Scientific America, Zooniverse, Crowd & Cloud or National Geographic, there is an opportunity to get involved in a project that directly relates to your world. Projects vary in disciplines including the arts, biology, climate, history, language, literature, medicine, nature, physics, and more...

While checking out the Scientific America's citizen science website, I stumbled across a project called Small World of Words. The goal of the project is to help researchers discover how the meaning of words is stored in memory. All I had to do was take a 5 minute quiz where they give you a word and all you have to do is type the first two or three words that word makes you think of. No need to even leave the house to become a citizen scientist. Another project that caught my eye is the Folger Shakespeare Library, Zooniverse.org, Oxford English Dictionary collaborating on the project called Shakespeare's World which asks participants to "transcribe handwritten documents by Shakespeare’s contemporaries to help researchers understand his life and times". A fascinating study, you can pick from either transcribing letters or recipes depending on your own interests.

Lemon Queen

However, the projects which most interest me are the ones that require you to go outside and simply watch what's going on in the world around you. In today's world, disconnecting from technology can be impossible, so I welcome the chance to take a few moments to tune out the technology and focus on nature. Sure, I'll be reporting back my finding using technology but a pad and pen will do fine for counting the amount of bees that visit my Lemon Queen sunflower or how many hummingbirds visit my feeder. I wish I had known about citizen science programs when my kids were little. What a great way to encourage children to be observant and perhaps gain a better understanding, interest and love of science.

There are projects for people of all ages, so anyone can be a citizen scientist, if they are interested. Technology and the internet have bridged the gap between university researchers and scientists stuck in labs - linking them with ordinary people who have similar interests in their research.

For gardeners, there are plenty of projects to get involved with from the Great Sunflower Project to the Citizen Science Soil Collection Project , aimed to help scientists at the University of Oklahoma study microscopic life in soil samples in search of new drug compounds. Or the Lost Ladybug project aimed to help entomologists better understand ladybug distribution across North America. Another project involving sunflowers is Turing's Sunflower project where volunteers are asked to grow sunflowers and put mathematical theories of Alan Turing and other researchers to the test. As a gardener, I always include sunflowers in our garden since I love the majestic beauty sunflowers bring to the garden and can't think of a better way to help contribute in some small way than helping researchers compile some data from something I was doing anyway.

Technology has allowed us the ability to easily record our observations with the use of our cell phone cameras and apps. Whether it's Project Noah or Nature's Notebook, there are more and more platforms like these that allow ordinary people to join the citizen scientist movement and get involved. In a few weeks on April 18th we celebrate Citizen Science Day #citsciday, hopefully making more and more people aware of how they can get involved with citizen science and perhaps attend a scheduled event near them. Check out this PSA

I believe in order for us to live a sustainable life, we need to make these seemingly small contributions of data to the scientific world. The more data collected will help researchers further their understanding of the world we live in and help us to take batter care of it and ourselves for generations to come.

In the Zone

2018-03-24T18:09:00.000-04:00

In 1996, I was a young mother of two toddlers and a freelance graphic designer working from my house. There were times when I would have my 10 yr old niece, Lauren come take care of them while I worked in the den. This usually only worked when the kids thought Mommy left the house - which I would pretend to do and then sneak in the side door and hope one of the dogs didn't give me away. Otherwise, they would come banging on the door - MOMMY!!! Most of the time, once they had been read to and tucked into bed, I would then "go to work" down in the den from 7pm to 2am. These were some of my most sleep deprived years of my life.

I was fortunate enough to work on a couple of projects with my sister-in-law who had a small publishing company called High Tide Press. One in particular was the work I did on the book series The Zone Garden: A Surefire Guide to Gardening in Your Zone by Charlotte M. Frieze. I'm credited with "keeping the hard drives spinning" since I was in charge of laying out all the books on my computer.

At the time, I didn't realize how much I would learn simply by laying out and editing information about gardening. Through all my work, I was learning all about "Knowing your Site", "Raised Beds", "Pests and Intruders" and so much more. My sister-in-law was insistent on making a book that would be a comprehensive resource for gardeners. Remember, this was before the internet and Google. Separating out the zones into three books, the publishers were giving gardeners a resource book that was directly related to gardening in their specific zone that wasn't a huge over-weighted volume with more information that actually needed. I find that many times, I will be reading a gardening article and find it's written for a different zone than my zone. We now are getting familiar with gardening in zone 5b, a change from my CT zone 6b.

Who knew at the time that my graphic design career working on a gardening book would one day come full circle to my career today in helping people learn about growing their own healthy nutritious food and living a more sustainable lifestyle. All my jobs throughout my life, although very different from one another, had something to do with the other, but not in the traditional sense. My first job in radio gave me valuable design experience since our stations' never had a budget, I was the in-house one person ~~ad agency~~ promotions director. I designed ads, promotions, logos, bumper stickers, bus stop signs -I even had a billboard on I95 in Norwalk, CT, a high traffic area outside NYC. I developed my portfolio and networked like crazy, eventually allowing me enough clients to leave the radio business and freelance and be a stay at home mom. My time as a freelance graphic designer eventually turned into a full-time job when the kids were in full time school. At first,I was simply designing the corporate material for my brother's start-up company, but then I ended up working there and for him, as a research analyst for the next 15 years. Initially I covered media stocks and the food and beverage sector which grew into researching water and agribusiness sectors. After years of reading about the state of our country's water and agriculture coupled with a mid-life epiphany, thanks to Dennis Hopper (a story for another time), I decided to help others learn how to grow their own food and live more sustainable lifestyles. That's when Mark and I started Homegrown Harvest. We wanted to show people that starting your own garden and growing some of your own food could be simple and rewarding nutritionally, as well as in so many other ways including financially, physically and psychologically.

As I look back through the pages of the books that I helped come to fruition, I see where I subconsciously learned about organic gardening back in 1996. I used the book as a reference guide in my own garden as my children grew and I juggled a full time career and single parenting. Eventually I became an accredited organic land care manager through CT NOFA in 2011 when I had made the decision to help others learn how to grow their own.

I have always told my kids that they will most likely have more than one career in their lifetime. I've worked in sales and promotion in the radio business. I was a freelance graphic designer. I was a research analyst for a hedge fund. I am an organic land care professional. I am a woodworker who manufactures cedar raised garden bed kits. I am an entrepreneur. I am an artist and a writer. I am a creator.

Just looking at this map makes me think cold! Brrr!

We're in zone 5b but at the top and surrounded by zone 5a!

Wish us luck!

Although The Zone Garden Series was an important part of my salad days of garden training --sorry, I couldn't resist -- the first book which I truly learned most about gardening initially was from the book, The Contained Garden: A complete illustrated guide to growing plants, flowers, fruits and vegetables outdoors in pots. This book spoke to me since back in mid-eighties when I first bought the book, I was a young twenty-something living in a small New York City apartment trying to bring as much greenery in my concrete jungle life. Growing up in the city, my mother would fill the few sunny windows we had in our apartment with tons of plants. It didn't matter that we were only on the third floor at least we faced southwest corner-facing apartment would fill with enough light to grow plenty of greenery. So I, too followed in her footsteps, eventually filling my own windows and patios with plants, flowers and herbs when I could.

My mother has always also been into researching. It didn't matter what she was researching -- although her bible was The Merck Manual - the hardback 10 pound leather bound version of WedMd.com before the internet. A book only registered nurses and doctors could have at one point. My mother only had hers because of her mother, a registered nurse. Hmm...I became a research analyst - weird how things work out sometimes.

Anyway, in that vein, and since I have always loved to own books, I have amassed quite the library over the years. I've listed the copyright dates where I could find them, I thought it interesting that they span the years from 1979, when I was a freshman in high school to 2014, just around the time I started to switch to reading my Kindle more often and started to buy less and less physical books. Here a list of books about gardening that are physically in my library. In a future blog post I will give a list of gardening/homesteading related books that are on my Kindle or a list of books I have on canning, but that's for another day. Until then, enjoy spring and get out there and garden!

Christine's Gardening Library

in no particular order

links to Amazon where available

no I don't get anything from Amazon

I wish.

Out Like a Lion

2018-03-20T08:02:00.002-04:00

Yay!
Spring is here!
We made it though winter once again!
Wait, what? There's a nor'easter threatening to dump snow on the East coast tomorrow? What's this? There is as much snow outside my door here in central New Hampshire as any other time this winter! Wait a minute - the calendar says today is the vernal equinox, spring is scheduled to start at 12:15pm Eastern time. Yet outside the temperature is 15 degrees and the winds have it feeling well below zero! Happy Spring.

Yes, it is a happy spring. Today, we experience an equal amount of daylight as we do darkness and the days will just get filled with even more and more sunlight, warming the earth in the northern hemisphere.

Wikipedia

March has always been a month of tremendous weather and copious amounts of snow. The beginning of this month came in like a lamb up here. Another thaw took all the snows back to bare ground, even up here on the mountainside. I was even thinking about toying around in the garden threatening to lay down two new raised beds we still have to place and get started. However, there is a good 2-1/2 feet of compacted snow covering everything up once again. So much for that thought.

I love winter and all it has to offer. I find that it is as beautiful in its own unique way and has it's fair share of crystal clear blue sky days and spectacular sunsets not often written about. We tend to hear more about the grey days of winter - but I find there as many gray days in any other season. Winter's beauty is unique and if you don't like the cold at all - you will never see it. I made friends with the cold a long time ago - finding it better to get outside in the cold from time to time either skiing, sledding, ice skating, snowmobiling, snow-shoeing - and you find soon enough you aren't cold for long once you begin to have some fun in it.

Newfound Lake, New Hampshire

Once you are out there enjoying winter and take the moment to gaze around on whatever trail you may be on, it's hard not to be overwhelmed by the unique beauty winter has to offer. Its colors not as rich perhaps as other seasons. The trees black outlines mixed with muted browns, grays amid the dark evergreens. Shades of white with hues of blue at times depending on the cold, paint the landscape. Mother Nature takes care of painting the morning and evening sky with her full spectrum of colors never skimping on the reds, oranges and pinks. She reminds up that the earth is alive even when it seems not to be.

Every fall I plant garlic to overwinter. It's a reminder to me that despite the blankets of snow, insulating snow - that dormant doesn't mean dead and that life will spring forth. The last few lines in Bette Midler song, The Rose written by Gordon Mills that illustrates this beautifully.

"Just remember in the winter, beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed, that with the sun's love in the spring becomes the rose."

Now despite the official start to spring later today doesn't mean we won't see more snow this month or even in April. It snowed 3 inches up here last Mother's Day. Even at my Connecticut house, we would get snow in April, you just knew it wouldn't last the day usually. New Hampshire where we are now in the Lakes Region is a bit different, we live at 1500ft versus the CT house which is at 300ft above sea-level. We've had a couple of thaws this winter, one in January another in February. An early mud season was starting since the February thaw had temperatures up into the 50s and 60s even up here. All the snow on the mountainside was basically back down to bare ground. Then we had the third nor-easter, I think the weather station named it Quinn. Mark said that we've had a total of 116 inches about 9-1/2 ft of snow so far this winter season - thank god for those thaws!

Ragged Mountain, New Hampshire

To celebrate the end of the winter season, we will be out enjoying what is supposed to be another beautiful blue sky day on the ski slopes. The trails are in fantastic condition and what better way to finish out the last hours of winter and bring in spring?! This afternoon apres-ski, I'll start some seeds in the kitchen window to celebrate and commemorate the start of such a promising new season.

Healthy Soil and It's Importance in the Garden

2018-03-16T16:48:00.000-04:00

What Makes Food Nutritious?

Did you ever stop and wonder what exactly makes our food nutritious? Not delicious, but nutrient-rich. Some people may believe that what makes food nutritious comes from the seed when in fact it comes from the soil.

There are 17 elements that all plants need in order to go through to have a successful life cycle. Hydrogen (H), carbon (C) and oxygen (O), plants get through the air and water; leaving 14 elements that are critical for plants to obtain through soil¹. However, soil alone may not be enough and there is usually a need for added fertilizers, manures and other amendments to make sure plants receive the right nutritional elements.

Since soil is a key element when growing plants and particularly vegetables, building a raised garden bed can help gardeners start off right by beginning with a pristine soil mixture. Starting a raised garden bed allows gardeners the ability to establish a foundation with a well-balanced, nutrient-rich, weed-seed free growing medium without having to go through the backbreaking work involved with starting and maintained an in-ground garden. In-ground gardening requires plenty of soil testing, tilling and hoeing – all very laborious and time-consuming work. Versus starting a raised bed garden where you are able to control the growing environment from the very beginning by creating a blend of composts, fertilizers, manures and amendments.

For many years, when Mark and I first began Homegrown Harvest, we started many raised

garden beds for our clients with a mixture of composts, peat moss and vermiculite. The composts are the key ingredient, delivering the nutrients to your plants. Some composts can be nitrogen rich having come solely from dried grass clippings and leaves from the yard. Compost ideally should be a well-balanced. Some local towns and municipalities offer their residents free compost, or there are services in certain areas where they will come pick up your compostables and in exchange will give you bags of compost for your garden or to donate to others. Compost pick up services make it so easy for people to compost by taking all the messy and time-consuming work out of the equation. All the client needs to do is sort their garbage properly. A quick Google search should help you locate one in your area. Consider yourself lucky if you do live in an area that has pick up compost service; thankfully there is more and more demand out with more people understanding we need to live more sustainable lifestyles. What I love about compost pick up services is that it makes it possible for many people who may not have the space to compost to be able to cut down their carbon footprint and live more sustainable lifestyles.

If you don’t have a source for local compost there are plenty of options at either the big retail stores like Home Depot or Lowe, as well as your local garden center. One of our favorites products to use along with bagged composts or our homemade compost is Master’s Choice Bumper Crop:

“Bumper Crop Organic Soil Amendment is a soil building blend of manure and high organic nutrient content of shellfish compost, dark, rich earthworm castings (adds minerals and biology), kelp, peat, aged bark, and lobster - inoculated with endo and ecto michorrizal fungi to improve root function. The lobster body provides a lot of Nitrogen, and the shells breakdown to release a lot of Calcium, the #1 ingredients that plants need. Bumper Crop Organic Soil Amendment is an all-purpose, pre-fertilized planting and garden soil amendment. This product excels as a nutrient rich top dressing and mulch.”

Each time a plant grows, blossoms and fruits, the nutrients from the compost is delivered to the plant and the subsequent fruit. Plenty of times we will do succession planting where we will plant something else into a space that had been used previously. For instance, once early crops of lettuces, broccoli and the like have been harvested an empty space will be left. Usually we will plant in that same space something else to follow it up but before we do so we always add back in some fresh compost. Remember the used area has been depleted of its nutrients from the harvest plants, so it must be replaced in order to deliver the needed elements for the next plants to complete their life cycle.

Understanding soil is important not only for being able to grow your own fresh, nutrient rich fruits and vegetables but also vital to understanding more about the fruits and vegetables we buy in our grocery stores from mass-produced farms. I have written about soil before many years ago on this blog in a post called The Importance of soil - our lives depend on it! where I go into more in depth detail about soil. Our country has been in a crisis of ongoing soil degradation for decades. Perhaps the words “dust bowl” conjures up images from a John Steinbeck novel; however, in present day America, our farmlands have taken a beating from mono-cropping and the addition of synthetic fertilizers in efforts to replace the depleted nutrients. Unfortunately, these synthetic additives have made more of a problem for farmers. Fortunately, there are things that farmers can and have started to do to help rebuild our soil. Check out the PSA from Astronomer Laura Danly

Source:

1Singh B. + Schulze D.G. (2015) Soil Minerals + Plant Nutrition: NatureEducation Knowledge 6(1):1

It's February! What Should I do in My Garden?

2018-02-20T12:52:00.000-05:00

Is it too soon to start?

It’s about this time of year when people in cold snowy areas begin to start to yearn for warmer winds of spring. Depending upon what zone you live in you could still have inches of snow and ice on the ground like we do here in central New Hampshire, Zone 5b. The weather here has been sort of wacky, this morning we sat out on our deck with the gas fire on since it was 42 degrees up here, whereas the other morning, here at 1500 ft where we live on the side of a mountain is 24 degrees but down in town apparently its much colder prompting a wintry mix precipitation according to Accuweather. They just sent me an alarm telling me is 4 degrees. Not according to my weather station which is mounted on our garden fence. An atmospheric inversion or temperature inversion is when there is a reversal of normal behavior of temperature in the troposphere. That’s the region of the atmosphere closest to the earth’s surface. So, when there is an inversion the cool air closer to the earth’s surface is trapped by a layer of warmer air. Usually the air temp decreases with height. One night in the fall we were invited to our neighbor’s house for dinner. We drove over in our John Deere gator since their house is only a mile away and it was a nice evening. Upon leaving we could feel the chilly night air which got much colder upon speeding our way home in the windshield-less gator. However, once we began to ascend our very steep driveway, we were hit with a wall of warm air – at least 10 degrees difference. It was a similar sensation to when you enter a building in the city with hot air blowers blasting towards the door after coming in from the cold.

Revamp Your Garden

The groundhog has been out and told us the news of 6 more weeks of winter though – dashing some hopes of an early spring. The occasional thaws are welcomed teases. I’ve noticed the bird activity outside has picked up- hoping that is also a sign that we are getting closer. The daylight is lasting longer which always helps brighten anyone’s day. But right now, as I still stare out my kitchen window at my garden, there is still snow piled up a foot deep in most areas. This week's promised warm temperatures should melt most if not all of the snow.

Thank god for John Deere

stone wall and bricks removed

Our garden this year is brand new for us. We spent a good portion of last year taking out the previous owner’s garden since the beds were made from rotting out birch logs that must have looked beautiful the first years but were crumbling and inviting unwanted pests. I decided to start from scratch – rip out everything and begin with a blank slate. The old garden had old brick paths that were uneven and crumbling, so we took those out. Thank goodness for our John Deere tractor which made some of the heavier work possible without breaking anyone’s back. We had to take out small rock walls here and there that had to come out for a number of reasons, one of which was they were constructed incorrectly and had plywood for the backsides. Don’t ask. I was shocked to discover this as anyone.

bricks and old beds removed

So it’s mid-February and you are yearning to get started with your garden. If you are lucky enough to live somewhere that’s not snow covered then it's time to get outside and clean up old beds – or take them apart like I did this time last year. Look around – do any of your raised garden beds need any repair work? Is there any bowing? Late winter/early spring is a great time to do this work since weeds haven't popped up and you really get to see the bare bones of things during this time of year. Plus you don't sweat as much since it's cooler out.

If you are thinking about starting a new garden – walk around the area you are thinking about – take measurements. Remember to consider the sunlight when picking an area for your garden. This is very important when planning a vegetable garden. You need an area that gets at least 6 to 8 hours of full, unobstructed sunlight to grow successful tomatoes or peppers. Take advantage of warmer days that come your way by getting outside – cleaning up and organizing the garden shed. Winter’s leaves have a way of sneaking their way into nooks and crannies in and around the shed or garden beds. Get the rake or blower out and start tidying up – add the leaves to your compost pile.

Seeds

February is the time to order the seeds you may need. Don’t wait to order your seed potatoes

Seed tape and packets

or strawberries as well as a few other popular veggies, as these have a way of selling out. I have been guilty of waiting and then not getting my first choice. If you have never grown potatoes, I highly recommend it! Once you have grown your own potatoes, buying a grocery store potato is just not the same. I like to get my seeds from Territorial Seed Company and Park Seed Company. Park Seed is known for having a great germination rate!

Seed Viability

February is also a good time to look at your seeds you may have collected from previous years. Seeds are alive, so they don’t last forever. Luckily there is an easy way to test your seeds to see if they will germinate our not. It’s simple and easy to do, just follow these steps.

Step 1: Dampen a paper towel. Soggy but not dripping wet.

Step 2: Take seeds you want to test [10 of each] and arrange separately on the damp paper towel.

Step 3: Label your seeds with a Sharpie marker so you don’t mix up your different varieties.

Step 4: Roll up the towel or place a second paper towel on top of the seeds to create a damp environment around the seed.

Step 5: Put the towel with the seeds in a plastic bag, seal and set aside in a warm place.

Germination depends on the seed variety you are testing and can range from 2 to 14 days. You should spritz the paper towel with water for seeds that take longer, keeping it damp. Drying out will stop the germination process.

Step 6: When the seeds sprout count how many sprouted from each seed variety. Compare this number to the number of seeds that did not sprout and you have the germination rate.

1 seed sprouts = 10% germination rate

5 seeds sprout = 50% germination rate

10 seeds sprout = 100% germination rate

The higher the germination rate, the better!

Once your seeds have sprouted you can either plant them in a small container to transplant later when the time is right or if it is the right time of the season to directly seed into the ground – go for it! Or you can always compost them. Seeds when properly stored can be kept viable for years. So try to always keep them in a cool, dry place.

Seed starting

February is a great time to start some of your seeds indoors. Back in our old home I used to have a room I could set up with a couple of grow lights and have trays and trays and trays of seeds started. The new house isn’t set up for me to do that but I can still start a few seeds on the south facing windowsill. I love seeing a seed go through the process of growth from sprout to strong fruit bearing plant that yields delicious treats such as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. It amazes me each and every time.

Spring will be here sooner than you think when it comes to your garden. One day it’s February, the next it’s Mother's Day and then it's June and the kids are out of school. I remember what it was like when the kids were younger; they are all grown adults now, so life is much different now. Now I have more time to focus on my garden; then, I was running around from practice to practice, appointment to appointment. Life revolved around them. They were in high school when we turned our backyard into a vegetable growing oasis, gone were the swing set and lacrosse nets and backboards. Soon we had over 300 sq feet of growing area and used every raised bed that Homegrown Harvest sells. We wanted to be able to say we had tested everything for ourselves. Mark and I have not only installed dozens of raised garden beds over the last 5 years but cared and maintained scores of them and other gardens. So we know what can and will go wrong in a garden over time.

Involving the kids in gardening is not only helpful for you but teaches them a valuable skill that they can develop as they grow and have their own families. It can be time well spent away from the electronics that children and adults find suck up most of their time. I’m thankful for the time I spent outside with my kids in the garden. I am happy that they had a chance to learn about growing your own food and all the wonderful delicious vegetables there are in this world that can be grown right out your own back door. Lord knows how fast and precious time is spent with our children.

Enjoy your garden and remember:

“A little consideration, a little thought for others, makes all the difference.” A. A. Milne

Mistaken identity: Sweet Potatoes and Yams

2016-02-09T13:04:00.001-05:00

Sweet potato vines trailing out of the raised bed

Is it a Yam or a Sweet Potato?

For decades people have been made to think they're eating yams, when most likely they are eating sweet potatoes. So where did all the confusion start? well to understand that, it helps to understand something about sweet potatoes. There are two basic varieties of sweet potatoes; firm and soft. Their description tell us about how the particular variety holds up to heat, for instance firm sweet potatoes remain firm when cooked; whereas soft variety get soft and moist. It's possible the mix-up all began when the Guinean word "nyami" which means "to eat" was chosen by European shippers, since African slaves already been referring to the soft sweet potatoes that way since it resembled a similar tuber they ate in Africa .

Yams

However there is no relationship between the yam and the sweet potato. The yam is a member of the family Discorea spp. family, related to lilies and is native to Southeast Asia the Pacific Islands South America and Africa. However, 95% of true yams come from Africa and has been a historically important food staple to 100 million people in a harsh humid and subhumid tropic. True yams come in as many as 600 species and can vary in size ranging from a small potato of a few inches to 8 feet long. To recognize a true yam, it must have a thick, rough, bark-like exterior with the raw flesh that's moist, soft and sticky. When cooked they are not as sweet as sweet potatoes, or what Americans mistake as yams. True yams have a high starch content, very little protein and is somewhat bland. They're rich in carbohydrates various minerals and vitamins however. Raw yams contain a toxic substance dioscorine which is destroyed when cooked. Some variety of yams are so toxic they were once used to poison the tips of arrows.

Sweet Potatoes

The sweet potato on the other hand is from the Ipomena batatas family which is related to morning glory flower. To recognize a sweet potato look for an exterior skin color of red purple yellow brown or white and is then an edible. The interior raw flesh comes in range of colors from white, yellow, orange or purple!

Nutritionally, the two are pretty on par with one another:

So why are we still confused about what were eating here in the US?! The USDA continues to label the orange flash sweet potatoes as yams to distinguish between their brown counterparts. Yet the Department of Agriculture requires any potatoes labeled as yams be accompanied by the word sweet potato. So unless you shop at an international grocer, those yams you think you're buying may actually be sweet potatoes. Be aware that even if you local grocer uses the label "yam", there are probably mislabeling it. It helps to know exactly what you are looking for.

Okinawan Purple
New Jersey Yellow
Sweet Potatoes

To know for certain what you're eating, they always recommend grow your own particularly since it gives you more options. We were so successful last summer going sweet potatoes we have already does. We definitely plan to grow the delicious New Jersey Yellow again. These made for a scrumptious whipped sweet potatoes at our Thanksgiving dinner. This year will add varieties like Centennial, Georgia Jets and White Yam.

Sweet potatoes are easy to grow, particularly in a warmer climate. However, last summer we were able to enjoy a nice healthy harvest despite a relatively cool summer where temperature is reached over 90 for only a handful of days. We grew two varieties of sweet potatoes in one 3X6 bed and part of another 3 x 6 bed, here in our Connecticut backyard (Zone 6). The nice things about sweet potatoes to is that they will continue to grow until you have a frost. We dug ours up last season sometime after we had our first light frost. This year we will plant them in two different larger beds than last year, employing crop rotation, so that soil borne illnesses don't build up.

If you want to add sweet potatoes into the garden, we highly recommend starting with slips otherwise known as little plants in a raised bed. Look for slips from reliable plant source such as your local garden center or a seed catalog, such as Park Seed. Be sure the raised bed is a good 8 inches deep and is well drained. The drought tolerant plants only need consistent watering while establishing young plants. Sweet potatoes need full sun and prefers a lot of warmth. A good way to preheat the soil, we recommend placing some black plastic mulch down a few weeks previous just planting to help warm up the raised bed. Sweet potatoes don't have any pest problems with the exception of deer who will devour the foliage.

Okinawan Purple Sweet Potatoes

So now you don't have to be a victim of yam mistaken identity. Know what to look for when your in the market or as we always recommend grow your own.

*Source material includes:

Northeast: fruit and vegetable gardening plant, grow up and eat the best edibles for north east gardens by Charles Nardozzi

50 Plants that Changed the Course of History by Bill laws

Library of Congress.gov

Dreams of Fresh Vegetables

2016-01-26T12:38:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! The New year always brings with it the thoughts of fresh starts and new beginnings, dreams of fresh vegetables...

It’s January 26th and we just had our first snowstorm of the 2016 season over the weekend The National Weather Service had been touting it a ‘historic’ storm making me skeptical that we would even get any snow. As it turns out, we had about 16 inches dumped in our backyard and NYC broke historic records but Snowstorm Jonas only ranked #2 in that area overall. Officials were worried about the potential for flooding as Saturday was also a full moon event and thankfully the winds switched from coming from the northeast to north alleviating much of the well-founded concerns. They predicted the worse of the storm would by in the Washington, DC area, which certain did get hit but the storm cruised up the coast and targeted New York City before heading out to sea. Queens hit the hardest had upwards of 30”+. As it turns out Snowstorm Jonas took 30 lives from start to finish, putting states as far south as Georgia and Tennessee on state of emergency. As of last night news, many people in the outer boroughs of New York were still trapped in because of snow-clogged streets.

Marley checking out the garden

Everything looks okay here

Looks like it could use more hay

The aftermath of #snowstormjonas

A thick blanket of snow

The day before the storm I took a walk in our backyard to survey everything before the fresh white blanket would cover everything. I put some hay down on a few beds and containers I had neglected earlier this winter or looked a little thin, particularly for what was heading out way. I enjoyed the quiet before the storm and started to think about last year’s garden as it pertains to this year’s garden. Remembering the beds filled with vines of cucumbers, squashes and cherry tomatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers and heirloom tomatoes. Right now it’s a blank canvas.

Since Christmas there as been an influx of seed catalogs being delivered to our mailbox. I love sitting with a stack of these catalogs on dreary winter days and dream about the delicious and beautiful possibilities we can have in our garden. It’s difficult not to want to fill up the garden with delectable varieties of heirloom tomatoes. My eyes widen as I glance through the beautiful and enticing photos, wanting to plant more and more every year. We had a client this year who bought so many plants for her garden that we had to make the garden grow space bigger with grow bags since she didn’t have enough room in the raised beds. This year I purposely didn’t open any catalogs up until I drew out my detailed plan for year’s garden first. We use crop rotation as a method of organic gardening. Crop rotations lessen the chances of soil borne diseases from building up. We always amend our soil before growing but planting things in the same place year in and year out leads to trouble. Things may continue to grow but not as prolifically and may even die off once they have started depending upon how severe the soil situation has gotten. Same place year in year out leads to nothing but trouble and more work for the home gardener, which can be easily avoided by implementing a simple crop rotation.

I printed out a copy of last year’s garden to remind myself of things – it’s difficult keeping 20+ clients gardens straight and I tend to forget about my own record keeping at times. There is a fabulous garden planner online called Mother Earth News Vegetable Garden Planner - we highly recommend it!

We love growing things that we can preserve and can– allowing us to enjoy our harvests well after the season has passed. Last year we made a lot soups, as well as our traditional sauces. Some of the new things we tried were huge hits with the family and will be added to this year’s roster of things to grow. I highly recommend growing something new and different each season – even if you think you are not fond of something try growing it first before you make up your mind completely. I say this because for most of my adult life I thought I hated summer squash that is until I grew it myself. Perhaps its because I was a city-kid and didn’t always get the freshest of vegetables or perhaps the variety of squash available to me in the mass market of grocery stores offered a bland variety which traveled well and looked good but had little flavor. I tend to think it is more the latter since studies show that the produce we purchase at the grocery store has traveled on average 1500 miles before reaching our hands!

Some of the repeated favorites that had a second or third go round in our garden included growing our own potatoes. After a few years of growing potatoes and last year doing it both in grow sacks and in the raised bed – I will always grow our potatoes in grow sacks – we harvested many more in the sacks than we did in the garden. Plus it was a royal pain in the ass to harvest the potatoes from the raised beds – having to carefully hand dig them up so as not to harm the potato. The grow bags I simply dump the bags out over our sifter we made for sifting compost and collect the used soil to spread somewhere else for reuse. Again the flavors from the different varieties are unmatched by anything available in the grocery store – plus growing potatoes has got to be one of the easiest vegetables to grow, particularly in grow bags where you can eliminate some of the pest problems that can plague in ground grown potatoes. We also grew corn last year – our third year growing corn. Last year’s harvest was pretty good but I think this summer I will go back to the Three Sisters bed and couple corn up with beans and squashes. The 3 Sisters is an ancient Indian organic farming method that employs the usage of companion plants to benefit one another. The beads provide nitrogen for the squash and corn while the corn provides support for the beans to grow and the squash protects the soil from weeds and protects the crops from critters with their thorny vines.

Last summer we tried a whole bunch of new things including spaghetti squash and sweet potatoes. Loved, loved, Loved – the sweet potatoes! Yes we grew our own sweet potatoes – two different varieties New Jersey Yellow and Okinawan Purple. Many people confuse sweet potatoes with yams and I will address the differences and confusion in another blog post very soon. We also grew Brussels sprouts – these delicious treats took a while to mature but it was well worth the wait. I even cut down the last of the stalks right before the storm and harvest a number of baby sized Brussels sprouts; what they lack in size, I am sure they will make up in flavor. I have definitely noticed that the flavor in homegrown food is so much tastier than anything bought at the store. When I first started growing carrots and these little things came out of the ground as opposed to a 6 inch long carrot – it didn’t make much of a difference when it came to taste – it was like concentrated carrot!

New things this season I would like to include would be melon – although we’ve grown watermelon before, the sugar box small ones in containers in the past quite successfully – I would like to try growing a cantaloupe. Varieties like a Golden Jenny catch my eye; described by the Rare Seeds catalog as “an outstanding golden meated version …short vines go wild with succulent sweet 2 lbs beauties… Early and productive.” Who wouldn’t want to grow those?! Or another variety called “Collective Farm Woman” described as an heirloom from the Ukraine that the “melons ripens to a yellowish gold and the white flesh has a very high sugar content. Ripens early even in Russia and tolerates comparatively cool summers.” We had cool summers for the last two seasons, so this perks my interest. I get lost in descriptions of some of the possibilities – words like succulent, sweet and prolific pull me in. I love the stories associated with some of the varieties and the names like Drunken Woman Frizzy Headed Lettuce, Paul Robeson and Mortgage Lifter catch my eye as I peruse the pages of food porn. Learning the history behind the fruits and vegetables adds to my enjoyment of planning out the gardens.

One thing I plan on including in the garden this summer is a sunflower garden. I love to include sunflowers since they add a certain majestic beauty to the garden. I’m looking to include many varieties with colors ranging from the pale yellows of a Giant Primrose to the bold reds seen in a Red Sun. Along with the sunflowers we’ll include pole beans that will happily run up the strong stalks and help them stand tall throughout the season.

Flowers are an important part of the garden and including edible flowers such as sunflowers, nasturtiums, pansies and many other varieties can do double duty in the garden providing nectar for pollinating bees and color to the garden as well as delicious treats to add to your own meals.

There are 6 weeks until spring officially starts, I know they will whizz by in the blink of an eye despite being cold and snowy. Time waits for no one and it’s the perfect time to dream and plan.

"A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it. It just blooms. - Zen Shin

A look back at weather 2015

2015-12-30T14:14:00.000-05:00

The end of 2015 causes me pause to reflect on the season of 2015. The weather more than anything else dominated my thoughts much of the season and provided us with plenty of challenges. For Homegrown Harvest it was our third growing season as a business and as professional growers. The year began with cold but dry air with the snows holding off until mid January. I remember vividly since we picked up our riding mower/ snowthrower on January 6th from Sears. It took Mark a week of working on it to put the snow thrower attachment on it; he finished right before the first of what turned out to be thirteen snowfalls that were big enough to plow. I believe it snowed around 60"+ where we are in zone 6b; parts of New England saw much more such as Boston at 109"+ where Mark's son lives.

The springtime came in cold and wet; the snows gave way to rain and it was a soggy season. We were able to seed early crops of peas and greens without any problem in the raised beds by March 6th just about the same time as our last big plowable snowfall. The top two inches of soil at that point were workable and I started throwing in seeds I could beginning from that point on.

Summer continued to be cool but the rain stopped altogether for months. Clients who didn't water their gardens regularly didn't get the yields that others who had some sort of irrigation in place did. The cooler temperatures stalled and delayed the ripening of many tomatoes and other warm weather crops. But in time and with patience we got fantastic yields overall that just took a while to ripen. For instance, some of our hot pepper plants, we had at least 3 - had so many peppers on them - one plant per variety was plenty. Thankfully Mother Nature finally turned up the heat for a few days with degrees of 90+ then summer and remained comfortably warm for the fall season allowing for an early winter harvest of broccoli, peas, carrots, greens and other fall crops. The parsley, sage, thyme and mints continued to thrive throughout autumn. Kale pops up in the path prolifically where I let last winter's crop to go to seed.

Winter has started slowly easing in with the same temperatures we enjoyed during the fall. No snow, but the rains returned finally. Christmas Eve and days surrounding it were warm reaching the 60s. We were able to sit comfortably around the firepit the night before Christmas sharing stories , drinking wine while opening a few gifts with our children. The moon was full, the first time since 1977, the next will be 2035 or something - we watched it as it travelled across the night sky.

As we come to end of 2015, the temperatures have dipped to where they should be. I take solace in knowing I was given the extra nice weather to prepare everything for winter. Fall had been personally tough for my family. A personal tragedy touched our family, forcing many things to have to take a back seat. The extra nice days served me well as I was able to tend to closing up our own garden and not freeze my hands off in the process. We had spent time in October and November closing up our clients' gardens. - many of them pleasantly surprised at the elongated season and the growing potential they had harnessed.

Currently our 11 raised beds and 20+ containers, we are growing in 7 beds and probably about 10 containers a variety of lettuces, radishes, carrots, garlic, onions, shallots, spinach, broccoli and last of last season's Brussels sprouts. Some beds are covered with a variety of cold frames, cloches or low hoops; the others simply have a thick layer of hay on top.

We just pulled in our Tower Garden a few days before the new year- two broccoli plants have started, so once we put the grow lights on it, we should be able to add other seed starts to it and enjoy more fresh veggies during winter 2016. The winter of 2016 will be here and we are ready for whatever it brings. The early stages will be filled with seed catalogs and dreams. Happy dreaming.

A Bittersweet Time in the Garden

2015-10-29T16:20:00.000-04:00

I came to love my rows, my beans, though so many more than I wanted. They attached me to the earth, and so I got strength like Antaeus.~ Henry David Thoreau

Just as the Farmer’s Almanac called it, this autumn has been on the milder side. It’s not to say we haven’t experienced our first light frost – that happened the weekend of October 17^th and 18^th and again the other night. Having Mother Nature remind you of the impending change of the season during a warm autumn can shock crops – depending upon what’s still in the garden and what you have done to prepare for extending the season and fighting a little frost.

Peppers ripening on the counter

The beautiful autumnal colors of reds, oranges and yellows sprinkled through the beds in the form of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and marigolds up until mid-October. At that point we decided to harvest the tomatoes and let them ripen indoors. We always choose to do this at the end of the season for 2 reasons: 1. Tomatoes will continue to ripen off the vine and 2. Too many people, including us have left them out too long and Jack Frost has nipped them and that’s that. This year due to the cool temperatures throughout the summer we still had tons of hot peppers fully developed but had not yet changed from their green color. It’s not as well known, as there is some debate depending on what you read, as to whether you can finish ripening green peppers to their colorful counterparts once it has been picked. I had always thought that you could not do this; however, I have discovered that peppers that have started to change colors can be picked and they will continue to ripen of But I have also read that as long as they are mature in size, given time, green peppers will finish ripening off the plant, according to Big Stone Bounty.
f the plant.

tomatoes ripening in bins

We’ve known this about tomatoes but not peppers – this good info. Of course, pulling any fruit off the plant before fully ripened results in lower nutritional content and they aren’t as sweet as their fully ripened counterparts, but I think anything from your own garden is way better than from anywhere else. Plus I usually only do this at the end of the season when I am worried about impending frost.

Peppers ripening in a bag with tomatoes

I’ve also read a lot of conflicting data about whether or not peppers react to ethylene gas or not. Ethylene gas helps stimulate the ripening process in many fruits including tomatoes. I’m currently conducting my own experiment to see if the peppers I put in the paper bag with the ripe tomato and ripening tomatoes accelerates the process of ripening the green peppers vs the ones one the counter on a dish. We have so many green tomatoes that I have been using unused earthworm bins that have holes on the bottom to layer the green tomatoes so they can ripen. The aeration helps the process. All the cherry tomatoes are in three bins and then I have a platter full of standard-sized heirloom tomatoes stacked up.

Cold frame is up

There can be so much to do to get ready for winter, particularly if we get a winter as snowy as last year. Once again the Farmer's Almanac Winter Forecast confirms our fears that we could be in for a doozy. To finish readying the garden beds for winter, we need to be sure any remaining tender crops have all been weeded out and pull any weeds that may have crept in over the summer. By doing so we remove any possibility of leaving behind vegetation which may add to the promotion of disease. We put a cold frame over part of one bed where we are currently growing some broccoli - our broccoli in the past has been attached so I tend to cover it up to provide a little added TLC to give it more of a chance. We put another cold frame upon a bed of lettuce, carrots and arugula. The hay/straw mulch still needs to be put down and I need to gather some pine needles for the asparagus bed.

Yesterday during a break from the computer, I went out and pulled the entire bed of remaining bean, cucumber and morning glory vines. All of which will be dumped in the woods since I worry about the morning glory seeds taking over. In a few days I’ll harvest some more herbs – the mint, rosemary, sage and thyme should be trimmed back – as should the oregano. I will leave some long and wild for the birds and bees to continue to enjoy. There won't be too many days left where the weather will allow me to be outside and to me there is nothing better than working out in the garden.

3.5 inches of much needed rain

Asparagus ferns

It rained 3.5 inches yesterday and last night – we desperately need it. It’s why I ran outside the day before to deal with the vines since I knew I’d be stuck inside to deal with computer work and filing if the weather reports were right. There is nothing I rather do less than file, which is apparent since I am finding statements from 2011 in the pile. The spare garlic, shallots and onions I managed to plant in some containers and the remainder of the two beds I had planted some in last week. We use a ton of all three when we cook and buying them – particularly shallots – can be expensive; so there is nothing better than growing your own. At this point the garden is ready for it hay/straw mulch in some beds. I'm still waiting a little while longer before cutting the asparagus shoots down to 2- 3" and mulching; their ferns are just turning a yellowish brown but most remain green still. Once we cut them down we'll mulch with as many pine needles as we can rake up from under our own trees and top off with the hay/straw mulch we use to protect the freshly cut tops from the wind and frost.

Our Brussels sprouts are still coming along - its our first year growing them so there is a learning curve. We had some pests eat away at the leaves at one point during the summer but we planted enough that we only really only lost one to the pests - the rest now have started to sprout their little sprouts which it fun to see. The end of the season list continues with dumping the new compost into the the 12 foot bed we had to empty thanks to the morning glory infestation. We need to throw down some new compost in a few containers as well before putting the straw/hay mulch down.

It's a bittersweet time of year for us. We have worked in our garden as well as in our clients' gardens all season. Preparing soil, seeding, planting, staking and supporting, watering, feeding, weeding, waiting, watching nature do what she does so well - grow, thrive, produce, feed. It's the most satisfying feeling in the world, helping people grow their own food. But alas, all seasons must come to an end and our business, Homegrown Harvest is coming to the end of our third growing season. We were thrilled the other day to receive photos from one of client's boasting about their garden. It's the best feeling in the world when you have one of your clients send you pictures of her garden thriving or her standing there with a Cheshire cat grin holding a huge platter of homegrown vegetables. We are truly blessed!

As the season winds down we can take solace knowing that the garden may be still but underneath the soil, wonderful things are taking shape to fill our palates next season.

The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul. ~Alfred Austin

If the day and the night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs, is more elastic, more starry, more immortal - that is your success. All nature is your congratulations, and you have cause momentarily to bless yourself. ~ Henry David Thoreau

A Bountiful Summer leads to Several Seeds to Save

2015-09-25T11:38:00.000-04:00

"I have often thought that if heaven had given me choice of my position and calling, it should have been on a rich spot of earth, well watered and near a good market for the production of the garden. No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden. Such a variety of subjects someone always coming to perfection. The failure of one thing repaired by the success of another, and instead of one harvest a continued one throughout the year. Under a total want of demand except for our family table, I am still devoted to the garden. But though an old man, I am but a young gardener."

~Thomas Jefferson to Charles William peel Poplar Forest, August 20, 1811.

It's hard to believe that we ushered in the fall of 2015 this week. Our business celebrated its third growing season and the busy season of that!

Mark working at a client's garden we revamped this season

One of the best things that I love about gardening is that each season brings something new and different. We began seeding early in March as the snow ebbed and as soon as we were able to work the top few inches of soil. The peas are always the first things we get into the raised beds. Temperatures remained cool throughout spring and into early summer. It took a while for things to finally heat up which is why I still have plenty of tomatoes, beans and peppers ripening in the garden right now.

I reviewed the data on AccuWeather the actual temperatures that we experience this growing season I wasn't too surprised to confirm what I thought was a cooler than normal season here in zone 6. This may seem contrary to report this being the "warmest summer on record" or the "summer of 2015 was earth hottest on record ". But explains why we still have plenty of green tomatoes and peppers growing in our garden right now couple that with less than average rainfall and you have a recipe for a slower than average season.

Highs and lows temperatures
March	0	57
April	23	75
May	37	84
June	41	84
July	51	91
August	51	90
September *	49	94

Number of days about 90 degrees
July	3
August	1
September*	2

Number of days temperature was above 80 degrees in New Canaan, CT
May	13
June	10
July	24
August	26
September *	14

Number of days temperature was 75 degrees or below
March	31
April	29
May	12
June	13
July	2
August	0
September *	4

*up until the 24th

The slower season doesn't necessarily mean less productive however. We have had a tremendously productive season bringing pounds of tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and beans.

The cucumbers keep coming in, we have had such a good season I was able to put a platter full to share with our neighbors.

The Barnside sweet runner beans and Blauhilde beans, a beautiful purple being that turns green when cooked coming in so fast I have to freeze them since we can eat them fast enough.

September 23rd harvest

As the growing season winds down it's the time of year to start collecting seeds for next year. Ultimately one of the best seeds to use in our garden are the seeds harvested from your own plants. It’s an age-old tradition that’s extremely rewarding on many levels. Preserving your heirloom, open-pollinated varieties, you help plants adapt to your local conditions thus increasing yields

Heirloom tomatoes

Understanding the difference between Heirloom and F1 Hybrid seeds

Heirlooms have naturally evolved over the years and have been passed down over the generations from gardener to gardener.

F1 hybrid plants are not genetically modified but have been developed by gardeners and farmers for centuries. By cross pollinating two related varieties, breeders strive to take the best of both worlds from most plants characteristics such as disease and pest resistance, high-yielding and greater taste.

For the seed collector, the drawback to F1 seeds is that they don't reproduce a true second generation. What this means is that the second-generation may not have the same characteristics as the first generation.

It is for that reason that we do not collect seeds from F1 hybrid plants. F1 seeds have their place in the garden but when it comes to collecting seeds turn to your heirlooms.

By collecting and preserving heirloom varieties, we help pass along to future generations delicious varieties that gardeners of shared with one another for over 50 years. Heirloom vegetables are open pollinated and remain stable in their characteristics from year-to-year.

A few do’s and don’t to remember when seed-saving

Don’t save seeds from f1 hybrid plants.

These seeds can be infertile or produce different traits from the original parent, which are less favorable

Don’t save seeds from the squash family and sweet corn

They can cross pollinate and hybridize, difficult to keep variety pure

Tomatoes, peppers, beans and peas are the best seeds to start with

They are easiest to harvest and require little attention before storage.

Save your seeds from your strongest plants with the most delicious fruit

To collect seeds from the vegetables simply look to take the seeds from a beautifully developed plant that is fully mature. Look for plants that have grown vigorously and have shown resistance to pests and diseases.

Store seeds in airtight containers or individual envelopes kept in a dry place

Label clearly with name, variety, date collected

I prefer the airtight container since envelopes get wet and dirty in practice ultimately – hard to reseal – seeds fall out end up at the bottom of my purse…

When we save our seeds, it helps to preserve and promote genetic diversity. In turn this helps to strengthen and make more pest-resistant future generations that will thrive.

How-to collect seeds

1. Slice open your vegetable to carefully remove the seeds with a spoon or a knife.

2. Then place the seeds on cardboard or a piece of paper towel to dry out

a. Tomato seeds are covered in the mucous membrane and it can be easier to use a cheesecloth

b. Rinse the seeds out with water to release the membrane

c. spread seeds out on a piece of cardboard to dry.

3. place seeds in dry place

Have fun saving your seeds!

Kids are back in school - time to seed the garden for fall!

2015-08-29T11:15:00.003-04:00

A recent August harvest of potatoes, cucumbers, squash and beans

It's August and the garden is abundant with tomatoes ripening; beans dangling off their vines and peppers appearing in various shades. It's been a summer season so far filled with cool wet days and nights followed by beautiful dry days that were so comfortable to work outside. Only in the last few weeks did the heat and humidity start setting, now finally the hot peppers are red! But we still are experiencing the cooler nights, open your windows weather.

Some things in the garden have run their course and I need to start cleaning out those beds to ready them for seeding; there is still so many quick crops that can be enjoyed even this late into the season. However, I plan on using more low hoops this winter to protect the overwintering vegetables. If the Farmer's Almanac is correct and we have the snows like we had last winter, we need to prepare ahead of time. This morning at 7:30a.m., the air temp is 60 degrees and soil temperature is at 70 degrees. When we prepare a bed for receding or replanting, we remove as much debris as we can without disturbing other plants that may still be around producing vegetables. Right before replanting or seeding we will add more compost to the bed to replenish the depleted nutrients.

Currently I have a 10 to 12 foot-long acorn squash that needs to be removed from its garden bed. It's late 8 foot long bed but acorn squash need to take plenty of space up in the garden. It's leaves are gigantic in comparison to other leads in the standard garden. We only recommend growing acorn squash if you have space for this plant to spread out. Pumpkins are the same way - gorgeous giant plants with huge huge leaves. The family which contains squash, cucumbers and pumpkins have that some of the biggest leaves and produce, for that matter, of any vegetable family. A topic to explore further in the future. Right now I'd like to focus on the fresh start that seeding and planting can provide families this time of year.

Carrots just beginning to sprout

August is a time when families look at the new fresh slate before them, the new school year. A new start for many, you can view your garden bed much the same way. If you don't have a garden yet now is a great time to start one; as a matter fact we just planted and installed a new fall garden this past week. We planted the garden with broccoli and spinach starts and some marigolds. We also seeded the garden with lettuce, carrots and peas for our client's enjoyment through the fall. If you already have a garden going, there is plenty of time to add to it. If you're not rotating the plant families in your existing garden, now is as good a time as any to start. Perhaps you're still enjoying a delicious tomato plants and are thinking there's no way I can add anything more to this craziness. We keep the craziness that bag this time year by pruning back the leaves that are dying or simply unproductng they don't produce any fruit. By doing this the plants are nicely trimmed, the energy of the plant is directed to the fruit and air is able to go through allowing the plant to breathe. We use companion plantings in our garden, so there are some marigolds below and a basil plant but there is still plenty of room to seed for cooler crops like lettuce or spinach in the spaces below.

before the snow

There are plenty of different vegetables you can continue to enjoy this time of year by doing a late summer seeding. Carrots are wonderful to seed this time of year either to enjoy as baby carrots in the fall or to overwinter. Frost helps increase the natural sugars making them even sweeter. Radishes arugula and Asian greens are all quick growing crops that can be soon this time of year. There are 25 days until the first day of autumn and 63 days until Halloween plenty of time to keep growing wonderful, delicious, fresh vegetables. In the past we have had plenty of years where we don't get a frost until mid-November, and working and I have been able to enjoy fresh greens growing in containers around our patio until mid January when this is finally fell. Last year we used a small low hoop on one of our beds and nothing on another that we had planted. We planted brassicas which like the cooler temps in the low hoop; the other bed which we left exposed had onions and garlic carrots and some lettuce. If you remember the winter 2015 was incredibly snowy here in the Northeast; our area of Connecticut we had 60+ inches of snow. This new began to fall around the second week of January I remember clearly his we just picked up a new tractor on January 6 and it took Mark a good week and a half to put the snow-thrower on it. The snow and finally melted by the middle of March definitely most of what was gone in the raise beds were set free by the third week of March. My notes show I was seeding snap pea on March 6.

Fall is also the time to plant bulbs- most people associate this with planting tulips and daffodils hyacinths and the like; however, this is also the time to put garlic which is in the alliums family. It's also a great time to put shallots and onions starts. Super easy to grow and it's psychologically nice knowing that when you stare out the blanket of snow that you know some sort of tasty magic is going on underneath. Cooking with homegrown shallots and garlic - yum.

I was reminded this week, after visiting two clients gardens the other day, of the importance of water to life. Both of these clients have had watering issues this season; the first having forgotten to hook up their hose earlier in the spring the other thinking their irrigation spray head near the garden is watering at sufficiently. It's not. The former finally got their soaker hose hooked up and the garden is looking so much healthier, seeds germinating, plants growing stronger and healthy. The latter garden has been doing well but more seeds belts germinate and areas of the bed that I believe is not receiving sufficient enough water. We recommend the spray head be switched to a drip irrigation line for the garden. It's a much more efficient and effective way to water your garden. I look forward to the next few months we have left of our garden. We see so many people close up their garden once the tomato plants are done producing. We close up the beds as the vegetables end their course and keep some of the beds going throughout the fall and winter months. This way we can enjoy fresh homegrown vegetables throughout the fall and even into the start of the winter season.
Why not? If you can grow your own, it's worth it.

Suggested varieties for fall quick growing cooler crop:

Carrots

Yaya, 60 day

Mokum, 56 day

Paris market – 50 today

Sugarsnax 68 day

Peas

Dwarf gray sugar snow

Oregon sugar pod two

Mammoth melting snow

Spinach

Palco 38 day – reliable quick crops seed to plate

Regiment 37 Day – speedy crops of flavorful greens

Tyee 45 day – great Four seasons spinach

Arugula 30 day

Lettuce

Sylvesta 50 day

Bibb 43 day

Merlot 55 day

Radish

Sora 26 day

Cherry bell – 20 day top-quality

Onion

Ramrod 55 day

Evergreen hearty white bunching

Beets

Golden Burpee 56 day

Boldor 51 day

Albino 50 day

Succession Planting - a great way to extend your season

2015-07-15T20:03:00.001-04:00

It is that time in the season when temperatures begin to rise, produce starts ripening and parts of our garden have emptying spaces. The previous soil tenants of lettuce, kale and cabbage have been harvested; and soon we will be pulling the garlic we planted last fall and other onions that overwintered as well. We are just finishing collecting all that can be harvested from the spring peas. At the start of the season, I planted a variety of Sugar Ann, Oregon Sugar Pod II and Mammoth Melting Snow Peas. We've enjoyed snacking on these yummy treats for a couple months now and I just gave a quart sized bag filled to the brim to the kids who will enjoy snacking on them during their camping trip this week.

As I look out upon the garden from my desk, the garden looks quiet right now. The rain a few minutes ago made all the birds head for cover. We’ve had more than a few birds feed on the kale and cabbage that I let go to seed. There are also a few heads of lettuce that I let go to seed as well. I decided to let some stuff go to seed for two reasons: curiosity and laziness. I'll address the latter reason first. At the time the kale and cabbage started to go to seed we were very busy installing and planting our clients' gardens. I was too tired and basically lazy to pull it out when it started to bolt. Curiosity got the better of me once I had watched a video about collecting seed from kale plants and thought it I should try it. Collecting seeds from produce that you grew can be incredibly satisfying however depending upon the variety will determine how easy or difficult it can be. Collecting seeds from tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant tends to be easier than collecting from green leafy vegetables. It is a little bit more involved and a topic for another blog.

It’s hard to believe that it could be July 15th already; but there is still plenty of time to be able to seed quick growing crops in most zones. I don't think many people realize that there is even plenty of time to sow seeds for certain vegetables that will give you a late-summer or an early autumn harvest. Here in Zone 6 by mid-July you can transplant your June started seedlings or starts bought from a local nursery for brassicas like broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. However, if you were going to direct seed right into the garden bed there's plenty more options available. Certain varieties work better than others when seeding this time of year. Varieties of spinach like Avon, Tyee and Indian Summer are all quick growers that are vigorous, high-yielding and have superb flavor all four seasons of the year. When looking for varieties, I look for quick growers that take under 50 days. As of today with 15 weeks left until November 1, that's 105 days - it's important to remember when you are seeding directly into your garden bed to add two weeks to the time to allow for germination and slower growth in fall.

After seeding it may be a good idea use a row cover to protect the freshly seeded area from the hot summer sun and wind.

: Newly seeded carrots that germinated

Here in Zone 6, I still have time in from now until the end of the month to sow bush beans, carrots, radishes, beets, kohlrabi, turnips, kale, peas as well nasturtiums to add more color to the garden since they only take a quick 10 days to germinate.

One of the most important and sometime overlooked thing to remember when sowing seeds during the mid-summer is always add compost to the area that you're about to sow your seeds. By adding compost you are replenishing the nutrients that were depleted from the crop that you previously harvested. Food gets their nutrients from the soil and it's very important to understand that once the crop is been harvested that compost needs to be introduced back to the soil to replenish the depleted nutrients.

The more food we grow, the more flavors we are exposed to, and the more vitamins and minerals are actually in our food. Win-win-win!

“Pulling weeds and pickin’ stones
Man is made from dreams and bones.
Feel the need to grow my own
‘Cause the time is close at hand.
Grain for grain, sun and rain
Find my way in nature’s chain.
To my body and my brain
To the music from the land.”

- The Garden Song written by David Mallett

The Importance of soil - Our lives depend on it!

2015-06-11T04:00:00.000-04:00

It's the first time in a long while since I have had the opportunity to sit at my computer to do something other than check my email, pay bills and write up invoices. It doesn't seem like it was too long ago I felt tethered to my computer as I was preparing presentation after presentation for our Spring Gardening Series at the New Canaan Library. I'm not complaining at all - I have been blessed with nine weeks of solid gardening after a winter of 60+ inches of snow. Our time following the thaw started off in April amending and seeding our raised beds and those of our clients. Amending the soil on an annual basis is what we consider one of the most important steps in the process.

“Essentially, all life depends upon the soil ... There can be no life without soil and no soil without life; they have evolved together.”
Charles E. Kellogg, USDA Yearbook of Agriculture, 1938

Before becoming a full-time professional gardener and an accredited organic land care professional three years ago - I used to research food, water, and agribusiness companies for my brother's investment company. Over the course of a decade or more of reading about companies directly involved with our food production, my understanding of the importance soil plays in growing healthy fruits and vegetables has grown exponentially.

Today we find ourselves in a situation where the US and much of the world’s inventory of arable topsoil has been lost due to erosion, overuse of inorganic nitrogen fertilizers and other farming practices that leave the soil depleted. Our planet is losing its usable topsoil at a considerable rate [75 to 100 GT per year]. What does that mean - basically it means it's estimated that there will only be about 48 years of topsoil left, if we keep up the pace.

“The soil is the great connector of our lives, the source and destination of all.”
Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America, 1977

Fact: Food grown in nutrient deficient soil lacks the nutrients necessary to keep people healthy and declines in the nutritional values in food have been attributed to mineral depletion of the soil, loss of soil microorganisms along with changes in plant varieties.
Our food system is rapidly losing the ability to produce food with nutrient levels adequate to maintain the health of families because over the extreme levels of soil degradation we experience in the US.

“The alarming fact is that food – fruits and vegetables and grains – now being raised on millions of acres of land that no longer contains enough needed nutrients, are starving no matter how much we eat from them.” US Senate Document 264 (1936)

This is not a new problem, as the quote from the US Senate Document 264 stated back in 1936! Soil degradation has been talked about and debated for decades and is a problem that is not solely in the United States but is a global issue.

Deforestation, overgrazing and over cultivation have resulted in the degradation of soils in every region of the world. The 68th UN General Assembly considered it worthy enough to turn their attentions to soil importance by declaring 2015 the International Year of Soils.

The fact of the matter is that soils have been transformed by human activity. Whether it's been through physical degradation by removing natural vegetation, leaving surfaces exposed to the elements or biological degradation where soil has been exhausted of nutrients.

With erosion comes desertification in some areas - I'm sure many who live in the west probably have noticed the increasing number of dust storms. National Geographic recently covered a story, American West Increasingly Dusty comparing dust emissions to be reminiscent of the Dust Bowl Days. In other areas, we see increased flooding or mudflows. In the end, all culminating in a loss of soil and biological diversity which directly threatens our overall food security.

Today, the nutritional value of harvested food is a major issue. Over the course of a half a century of the over use of petroleum-based synthetic fertilizers - the commercial farming industry has brought about the destruction of the natural balance of carbon reserves in our soil.

Why is carbon so important in our soil?

The role of carbon is two-fold holding valuable nutrients as well as moisture for plants. The destruction of carbon has caused our soils to lose the ability to grow healthy food since plants get their nutrients, important minerals from the soil.

Recent studies including one by the University of Texas at Austin's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry showed that there have been substantial declines in the amount of protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin B2 and vitamin C over the last century. The study goes as far as to point the finger at the multitude of agricultural practices used to improve traits like size, growth rate and pest resistance.

“Be it deep or shallow, red or black, sand or clay, the soil is the link between the rock core of the earth and the living things on its surface. It is the foothold for the plants we grow. Therein lies the main reason for our interest in soils.”
Roy W. Simonson, USDA Yearbook of Agriculture, 1957

Many other studies conclude similar and startling findings considering that they say an adult woman eating two peaches in 1951 would have to eat 53 in 2002 to get the same nutritional value! If that doesn't make the point clear, I don't know what will.

It's no wonder that our food has scarcely any nutritional content - in today's global food system, consumers are guaranteed to find a ripe tomato any day of the year, in most any store across our country. The average produce travels 1500-2500 miles to reach the grocery store; being harvested well before the fruit is properly ripened.[Pirog et al 2001] Most fruits and vegetables contain 70% - 90% water and once it is separated from its source of nutrients - the tree, the vine or the plant - they undergo higher rates of respiration, moisture loss, quality and nutrient degradation and potential microbial spoilage.

Chemical preservatives are used to make produce look better to consumers, despite the loss of nutritional value. While full color may be achieved after harvest, nutritional quality can not. Tomatoes harvested green have 31% less vitamin C than those allowed to ripen on the vine. (Lee and Kader, 2000) Plus commercial produce producers selects seed varieties for transportability, shelf life, not nutrient content or flavor.

So what can you do about this global problem?

The answer is as simple as looking in your own backyard or perhaps you get better sun in the front yard. Grow Your Own Food. It doesn't take a lot of space and the time you put into it is so rewarding and healthy for your body, mind and soul.

Food gets their nutrients from healthy soil and healthy soil leads to higher nutrients in crops. A growing body of research supports Sir Albert Howard and J.I. Rodale, the founders of the organic movement who first hypothesized that soils rich in organic matter produce more nutritious food higher in antioxidants, flavonoids, vitamins and minerals.

Healthy soil is biologically alive and balanced in minerals and carbon content. Soil organisms play an essential role in the breakdown of organic matter and other complex molecules. These activities are also linked to processes that lead to the aggregation of soil particles into a friable soil structure that is beneficial for the growth of plants. The inter-connected activities of soil organisms improve soil stability and underpin nutrient cycling on a global scale.
It’s a fact that healthy soils are responsible for the production of food borne antibiotics, vitamins, phyto-chemicals and amino acids – all of which are crucial the the health of humans. The right soil will yield the most nutritious and flavorful food possible. Old techniques which many still prescribe to today: things like roto-tilling and hoeing on soil can be very disruptive to soil organisms. That's just one of the reasons we like to use raised beds since they help avoid soil compaction which also effects soils organisms and the soil can be worked more easily without disrupting soil organisms too much.

Decomposition of organic matter is the organic content of soil, as decomposing organic material increase carbon content into the soil . This is also one of the many reasons people should compost. I'd get more into composting but I can go on and on and I will leave that for a soon-to-be-coming blog post.
But composting and compost play a vital role in having healthy nutrient-rich soil year after year. The soil we use when we install new raised garden beds is a combination of ingredients we mix together. The compost is the food, the nutrient source that will feed the growth of the plants coupled with peat which holds water and help keep the soil loose. We also include some vermiculite, a rock which is mined and heated into little pieces that have nooks and crannies that hold water and nutrients in the soil. It also helps keep the soil friable and less dense. Vermiculite also adds a touch of potassium and magnesium but not enough to disrupt pH levels. When we start with this mixture we have created a weed free environment that is organically balanced for growing food. The only thing on an annual basis which is replaced each spring is the compost, since it holds the nutrients. This is why Mark and I went around to all our clients' gardens this spring and replenished the beds with fresh new compost.

By growing even a small amount of vegetables you can boost your vitamin and mineral intake significantly. There is no travel time involved and you have controlled the environment in which it has grown. You save water as well, since home gardening is much more efficient than commercial farming systems.
When veggies are grown in your own garden soil enrich with compost, you pick them when you need your veggies minutes before a meal. They are ripe and ready when they are highest in nutritional content. Vine ripened red peppers have 30% more vitamin C than green peppers. (Howard et al. 1994) and vine ripened tomatoes have more vitamin C as well as more antioxidants and lycopene than those harvested prematurely, which is what happens daily in commercial agriculture. (Arias et al 2000).
Soil is a non-renewable resource; its preservation is essential for food security and our sustainable future.

“We are part of the earth and it is part of us ...
What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth.”
Chief Seattle, 1852

We love helping others learn the joys of edible gardening and discovering for themselves the nutritional benefits from even growing just a little of their fresh produce. If they need our guidance - we are always there to help. We have often said we consider ourselves to be gardening coaches to our clients. We love helping people discover their green thumb.

Photo credit: Daphne Sampson 2015

Spring - ah how we welcome thee

2015-03-21T20:27:00.000-04:00

How does Connecticut greet the spring of 2015 but with 6 1/2 inches of fresh powder! The vernal equinox ushers in promises of warmer, more colorful days ahead: a difficult thought when literally everything is freshly recovered in a blanket of 6+ inches of snow.
Yesterday parts of the world were treated to a total eclipse of the sun - a site to experience for sure. I believe it was around 1994,when I was living in Michigan when I witnessed this incredibly humbling experience. A true reminder to us all that we are not the ones in control of our planet and space, there are much greater forces at work here. We may have a better understanding of what's occurring but in no means are we the ones in the driver's seat.

Since coming home from a much needed vacation the snows which had been piling up even 24 hours before our departure had melted quite a bit in a weeks time. The snows around the patio were continuing to recede slowly but surely which each passing day this last week. I was even able to open the door to the Maine Kitchen Garden and walk in and look at the progress of what's going on in the beds. A few greens could be see underneath the garden cloches. The straw mulch remains down protecting the soil , although the stems from onions and garlic also could be seen poking through. Yesterdays signs of spring today are again wrapped in winter's thick blanket of freshly falling snow.

Springtime is a time for new beginnings, a fresh slate to start a new. In the garden, despite the looks of the lunar scape which continues above ground; beneath the surface - life continues to happen. The ground is alive with microbial activity - the recent thaws have begun below the surface and once winter wraps up its finale - life will spring forth.
As I mentioned we recently were away in the lush tropical paradise of Barbados. It's sunny and warm and gorgeous every day. If it rains, it does so overnight or early in the morning. Beautiful and sunny all the time...hmmm.... it makes me wonder if one could truly appreciate the beauty of those conditions day in and day out, particularly if that's all you ever experienced. The contrasts of colors these last few weeks for us going from brown, black, white and evergreen to an explosion of greens, blues, yellows, reds - the sea alone was at least 5 different shades of turquoise! However, even paradise has it's gardening challenges. The place we stayed had this great area for a garden but it wasn't being used! We couldn't understand how that could be that is until we met the monkeys! Monkeys are to Barbados as deer, raccoon and squirrels are to Connecticut.
It's been snowing for two hours this morning - not a single forecast called for snow at all today. Funny how all the weather apps and services finally changed the forecast to reflect what's actually going on now. I find it best to take this time and take refuge in my garden and those of our clients, albeit on paper but with planning each vegetable, herb and flower a landscape of colors appears in my head.
I always take photos along the way each year of each garden. The early pictures of promise are generally stark since capturing a planted seed is fairly boring. It's a lot to ask the viewer to look beyond the soil and imagine the seed nestled into the earth waiting for the right combination of events to occur in order for the miracle of life to happen. Unless you are a gardener, then of course, you get it, you see the potential.
Knowing what has been planted in the past and where allows us to successfully plan for the future. Succession planting is the practice of rotating plants from season to season. For instance, one year you would plant members of the solanaceae family (tomatoes, peppers...) in one part of the garden or in a particular garden bed and then the next year you would move it to another part of the garden or different garden bed. Plotting the garden out, we use an intensive planting method setting up a polyculture, similar to square foot gardening but without the grid and a bit more free form.
Submersing myself into the symphony of delicious color, I paint the gardens with the green peas that emerge from purple and white flowers. Smatterings of Red Sail lettuce mixed with purple petunias lay beneath a canopy of emeralds touched with Sun Gold Cherry, Cherokee Purple and Lemon Boy tomatoes. Monet's garden couldn't be more beautiful or colorful. Since everything doesn't all come up at once - the garden colors in spring differ than what emerges in the middle of summer which eventually gives way to an entirely new palette in fall.
The changes in the seasons is like watching Mother Nature flipping channels and I'm not sure I'd like to be stuck on any one given channel. Would you?

Time to Dream and Plan

2015-02-06T20:31:00.000-05:00

It's 5 degrees out this morning here in our neck of the woods. It's even colder where some of the kids are up at college like Burlington where it's -18 right now and 4 degrees in Ithaca feeling like minus 4. In Boston where our other one is at it's 5 degrees but the winds up there are making it feel more like 10 below. Brrrr...it is cold out there today. It's around this time of year that we start to jones for one of our homegrown heirloom tomatoes. Thank god we made sauce at least. The garden is covered with a thick quilt of hard-packed snow about 20 inches deep burying our overwintering vegetables and Charlie the gnome.
The new year has brought us a new Sears Craftsman riding lawn tractor. We decided to get the snow blower attachment so we could us the things year round - mowing and mulching during the summer, snow blowing now. We've already had the pleasure of clearing the driveway 6 times in the last month - quickly making back some money on our investment. Making me think we should have done this a long time ago.
Getting to know the ins and outs of snow blowing our own driveway has had it's ups and downs but nothing that hasn't been resolved quickly. Day one, Mark threw a pin trying to clear a path to the garbage shed - not to self watch the natural rock wall on the left hand side of the path. Day two I'm clearing the front of the driveway by the mailbox when Ruby - yes we've named her - decides to stop throwing snow and emit a slight burnt rubber smell. Thankfully, that too was fixable although not sure exactly why it happened - the belt to the auger seemed to have stretched or the cable did...regardless Mark was able to trouble shoot and we were back to throwing more snow in no time. According to the groundhog, we have 6 more weeks of winter so it will be a while before we get to take the snow thrower attachment off and put the lawn mower deck on the bottom.
On frigid cold days like these where Jack Frost is nipping more than just the nose; it's best to stay inside and grab one of the many seed catalogs that have been pouring into the mailbox last month. I've been really busy preparing for a number of lectures on the schedule for February, just finishing the first one this past Wednesday.
I gave a Garden to Table presentation to the members of the New Canaan Beautification League at the New Canaan Nature Center. There is a lot of material to cover when you want to paint a picture for an audience of why and how they can grown some of their own delicious food. So much material that the next programs I have coming up is actually a 4 part spring garden series where I can go more in depth to areas like composting, setting up polycultures, and container gardening. The spring garden series will be hosted by the New Canaan Library which I am really excited to being working with. Our library has recently set up a new Seed Bank - so I am excited at the possibilities going forward that there is an increasing interest in edible gardening locally.
I've lived in my town for the last twenty years, raising my kids and working for my brother most of that time, but volunteering in my community is ways like coaching girls lacrosse. My fiance and business partner, Mark has been an EMT at our volunteer ambulance corp - NCVAC for past two years. The members of the Beautification League volunteer to their time to helping keep our pretty little village looking it's best via working with nature. Volunteering has always been a big part of my life. When I was a teenager. my mother was at one point the President of the YWCA of New York City. She had started at the Y as a volunteer coordinator and her work ethic and passion for the place propelled her to president at lightening speed. The woman knew how to make things happen.
Volunteering is a wonderful way to give back to a community or organization you feel passionate about. It's a great way to get out and meet like minded people who enjoy similar passions. I purposely use the word 'volunteering' as opposed to 'community service' because at some point in today's world, the legal system has dished out 'community service' to many making it sound more like a penalty than something that can be very rewarding for the volunteer, them-self. It's a shame that to a generation of children the words 'community service' doesn't sound like something you would want to do but have to do.
In the gardening world, 'volunteers' means something different than people giving of their time to do something for free. Instead when you hear a gardener refer to a 'volunteer' they are referring to a specific plant that wasn't purposely seeded but successfully growing where ever its seed lay. Last summer we had a number of 'volunteers' come up in our backyard and not all in our raised beds. We had a couple tomato plants come up over in wood chipped area and two more in the raised beds - one in my designated 3 Sister beds and the other in my cabbage bed. The ones in the raised beds fared better than the wood chipped areas - most likely since we had composted the beds and perhaps the wood chips reduced the ph too much for the tomato plants to fruit. The two plants in the wood chip grew pretty big - one just flowered but didn't fruit, the other fruited but very late in the season and we only were able to take some of the cherry tomatoes off before they had a chance to ripen on the vine. Conversely, the volunteers in the raised beds gave off a lot of fruit - both of those were also cherry tomato plants.

: A beautiful snap pea begins to bloom

I'm reminded of all this when I was preparing my presentation and was scanning my hundreds of photos of our garden and our client's gardens. The pictures get me thinking about the possibilities for this season. What varieties should we plant this year? Peas for certain will be among the first things, along with a variety of lettuce...The seed catalogs have sat untouched by me until just the other day. I was afraid if I opened even one I would be too distracted to work on my Garden To Table presentation. Later in the night, the day of the presentation, I finally cracked open my first bit of what we fondly refer to as garden porn. Beautiful photographs of the most delicious looking fruits and vegetables are coupled with mouth-watering descriptions which causes you to have eyes bigger than your garden beds.
I was proud of myself, I didn't go seed crazy and deliberately focused on edible flowers in as I checked out Annie's Heirloom Seeds catalog and then also the strawberry starts - had to get those before they sell out like last year. Oh, then there is the potatoes - had to get some of Binje potatoes to try this year...Luckily I was exhausted form my day and that was all my tired eyes could handle at the time.
A few days have past since my seed binge and now we have these wicked cold temperatures outside, I think it's the perfect time to start breaking out the paper and pen and start listing what we want grow this season. I'll need to check the cupboard where I keep our seed supply in neatly labeled plastic containers with pop-tops for one handed handling when out in the garden. It took me a while to figure out the best way to save and keep seeds organized. I like the plastic containers because they keep seeds dry and safe, whereas envelopes don't reseal always and get wet and then compromise the seeds. Or land up at the bottom of your pockets, purse, garden bag, truck...
February is the best time to plan your garden - remember to consider crop rotations into your plan. Crop rotation is the practice of growing related vegetable families in different areas in consecutive years. There are four plant families that benefit from crop rotation: the cabbage family, the carrot family, the cucumber & squash family and lastly, the tomato & eggplant family. Rotating these vegetable families will help prevent soil borne disease from building up and help keep and provides a principle mechanism for building healthy soils and organically controls pests.
When you plan things out on paper first it makes it a lot easier for to take into account things like crop rotations and companion planting. This way you can also makes sure that the proper companion plants are not only coupled together but the plants which should be kept away from one another will always stay away from one another.
So grab your hot beverage of choice and that stack of seed catalogs and enjoy dreaming about what can be. Fresh delicious harvests that will inspire most every meal!
If you are just starting a new garden and would like some ideas, I highly suggest looking at organic seed websites perhaps with your laptop or iPad or other mobile device to see the different types of delicious food you possibly could be growing in your backyard, porch or balcony. If you are in the Fairfield County, Connecticut area and need help you getting your garden started, please reach out for us to help at info@homegrownharvest.com - that's what we do. Elsewhere, check your local listing for organic land care professionals that may help get you started. Here is the northeast we have NOFA - the Northeast Organic Farming Association but I am sure there are many regional organizations like NOFA which are committed to promoting and supporting organic land care practices.

Grow Your Own

Here’s How It Works

Homegrown Harvest Photo Challenge Themes

Marigold Mondays

January is the time to plan and dream

Seeding our July Garden Bed

It's Never Too Late to Start to a Vegetable Garden!

Chipmunks in the Garden

Picky Eaters? No, not at all!

Perennial Vegetables

Perennial Vegetables

What you need to know about growing perennial vegetables

Perennial vegetables are the ecological smart choice.

Popular Perennial Vegetables

Patience Grasshopper!

Hardening Process

Don’t rush things! Moving is stressful!

Earth Day: Yesterday, Today - All to Preserve Our Futures

The seeds were planted in 1969

Do you know your plastic footprint?

Lunar Gardening - Fact or Fiction?

Citizen Science

In the Zone

Just looking at this map makes me think cold! Brrr!

Out Like a Lion

Healthy Soil and It's Importance in the Garden

What Makes Food Nutritious?

It's February! What Should I do in My Garden?

Is it too soon to start?

Mistaken identity: Sweet Potatoes and Yams

Dreams of Fresh Vegetables

A look back at weather 2015

A Bittersweet Time in the Garden

A Bountiful Summer leads to Several Seeds to Save

Kids are back in school - time to seed the garden for fall!

Succession Planting - a great way to extend your season

The Importance of soil - Our lives depend on it!

Why is carbon so important in our soil?

So what can you do about this global problem?

Spring - ah how we welcome thee

Time to Dream and Plan