It’s June 2022 and the gardens are filling in just the way I dreamed they would. When we moved onto this patch of sand, I was surprised how new plants would get swallowed up, despite the mulch that should have protected and nourished them. I realized over time that wood chip mulch, even simply layered on top of the ground and not tilled in, was protective and encouraging to the perennials, trees and shrubs at my previous property… but was something to be overcome by my plants here.

Yes, wood chips help retain moisture in this well drained soil – but since the soil is so nutrient poor to start with, wood chips have inhibited the growth of some delicate species and I’ve found that using a mulch that is easier for microbes to break down was been important to allow things to flourish the way I would like.

Compost has always been an important part of tending my plants and gardens, but in the past 3 years I’ve found that using shredded leaves as mulch has been helpful, while using wood chips in paths and between planting areas suppresses weeds while SLOWLY building the soil in those areas.

Nothing is fast when it comes to gardening in sand.

As I said earlier, things are filling in and though I put in the keystone shrubs and trees based on spacing of the mature plants, I have been tucking in new things and adding plants every season. Beds have expanded beyond the original plan and I still have my eye on the empty lot behind me as a significant addition of real estate to the property. We are closer to making another offer to the current owners and hope our terms are acceptable.

I have MANY plants already set aside to live in that space and we all know the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is today.

So, how are things growing out there?

The good news – after cutting down both Nanking cherry bushes last spring, and treating the area with fresh living compost a few times, I believe the blight/rust that attacked them is under control. I will continue to monitor the plants, but they have come back beautifully and I’m looking forward to fruit again from them next year.

Grapes are on the grape vines covering this arbor this year! I can’t wait to taste my first grapes from the garden. It’s so delightful to grow something new and watch how the plant matures and fruit develops. I didn’t realize that grapes flowered the way they do. Unfortunately, the invasive spotted lanternfly have found my yard in Ocean County, New Jersey and I have killed quite a few nymphs that are attracted to the grape vines and fig trees. Thankfully – I can reach every part of these plants at this point to deal with whatever I find – but I am concerned about what will happen when these insects mature and start laying egg masses around the yard.

The goumi berries are ripening now and they produce so much fruit it’s incredible! The berries are delicious and I’m so glad I added these to the yard. The Arctic Beauty hardy kiwi flowered this year, but only one of the 2 plants flowered – so I don’t think I’ll be harvesting kiwi yet. 5 of the American ginseng also came back so they seem to like where they are planted in a shady corner under the oak tree. Will they flourish and spread to form a colony? I hope so!

The new Olympian and Brown Turkey (or Mission, not sure which variety) fig came back this year (1st spring returning since I planted them in the ground last summer) and I recently read that if you pinch the growing tips of your fig branches around July 4th it should encourage fruit production. I’m going to give it a try.

I’ve added a few new plants this year including 2 golden raspberries, a moiga hardy ginger, 3 black cohosh. I ordered 2 Chickasaw plum trees from an Ebay seller and this was the first time in quite a while I’ve been disappointed in the plants that were shipped to me. The person sent poorly packaged, very small knobs from roots with a green shoot coming out of each one. In shipping, the green part broke off of one of the roots. Rather than putting them in the ground, I’ve potted them up and I’m keeping a close eye on them, hoping for some new growth to tell me they recovered from the shock. I doubt it will work – but I’m trying to be positive.

Garden challenges this year

There have been some bumps in the road for the garden in 2022. The voles are in rare form. Maybe because the plants have been doing so well and filling in… the voles have decided mynjgarden is the place to be! Thankfully, we have some neighborhood felines that are helping patrol the property and hunt these critters. I’ve seen one, just one, chipmunk this year during strawberry season, which seems outrageous… so I know these kitties are serious hunters. The voles have destroyed a lungwort, my horseradish, a joe pye, a bleeding heart, half the ramps I planted last spring and I think they are nibbling some of the tomato roots because one will look fine and the one right next to it will look stressed and wilted. They also seem to love the spice bush – but that is hanging on and trying really hard to withstand the attack.

I moved the joe pye and the pulmonaria (lung wort) to other areas of the yard and they seem to be recovering. I’ll need to get my hands on another horseradish root to start again with that. I WISH it would spread like wildfire the way so many other gardeners warn me about… I just can’t seem to make that plant happy here.

These apple trees had their last chance this year (I threaten this every season) but I probably won’t cut them down. I want to just get lovely apples from them, is that too much to ask? Apparently so, because the polyculture that surrounds these trees is not enough to protect them from the pests that love to pierce them and deposit who-knows-what inside the fruit.

The peppers are struggling this year, but I already see green tomatoes on the vine so I need to do more than my typical stroll around the garden to visit my plants and get my butt in gear. Those tomatoes aren’t going to tie themselves up, are they?

The work and struggle is worth every drop of sweat because the garden is my personal paradise that I love to share and continue to develop. I put my heart into the soil, here. This is where I belong.

The post Maturing Gardens, Expansion Plans, Pests and New Additions appeared first on Permaculture Gardener, Soil Health Grower and Light Farmer.

Originally written for and published in the Winter 2022 Master Naturalist Newsletter for Ocean County, NJ Master Naturalists.

When it comes to gardening for wildlife and being good stewards of the land, we generally advise those who will listen, to “leave the leaves”. Leaves are a wonderful natural mulch, decompose into a rich food source for the soil food web and help well draining soils to retain water and nutrients. While performing these herculean tasks, leaves also provide shelter and habitat for over-wintering moths and other insects. To prevent pest problems. It’s important to Keep your lawn healthy and vibrant with the help of Drake Lawn & Pest Control.

In the suburban landscapes of Ocean County, even the most Jersey-friendly, native plant filled properties often retain some areas of lawn. Depending on the number of large shade trees you harbor, homeowners who would like to have some grass in the yard will find themselves clearing at least a portion of their fallen leaves. . 

Rather than bagging them up and turning them over to the municipality, I would encourage you to make homemade compost to fertilize your gardens and infuse your soil with healthy biology in the coming year. 

What’s compost? 

Compost is a soil amendment made from an aerobic combination of about 60% brown (carbon rich) and 40% green (nitrogen rich) materials. Try to assemble your pile all at once in alternating layers. This is not always possible as a kitchen will produce small amounts of scraps and compostable waste over time, so inevitably, these scraps will be added throughout the process. 

A static pile is left alone to decompose like the leaves and other organic materials that collect on a forest floor. This will happen over time without much intervention on the part of the homeowner – as they say, “Compost happens”.  

Thermal compost is better than static because the biomass will heat up more quickly thanks to rapidly reproducing bacteria and fungi and decomposing organic matter. You may add a small amount of high nitrogen material to encourage a cool, static pile to heat up and become thermal compost. The high nitrogen material can be something like animal manure or spent brewery grain. The mix should be consistently damp, but not soaking wet and should be turned about every 3 days. 

A hot pile must be turned because microbes use up oxygen rapidly as they grow and the hot pile can easily shift to anaerobic conditions. Anaerobic compost invites pathogens that can harm plants and does not have the beneficial attributes of aerobic compost. You’ll know your pile is shifting to anaerobic when it starts to smell like ammonia or have a rotten odor. Turning your compost every 3-5 days also helps to distribute the biology evenly throughout the pile. 

The temperature of the pile, assessed with a long stemmed compost thermometer, should be 131* F (minimum) for no fewer than 15 days.  

In our area, fallen leaves are generally an abundantly available ingredient to use as bulky brown carbon rich material in your compost operation. 

What kind of enclosure should I use? 

When you assemble your compost materials in the correct ratios to create a thermal compost, you have to bundle them together in a large mass between 3 feet and 5 feet high and wide. This mass allows the biology to multiply and heat up. It’s manageable to turn a pile this size and most gardeners have space on their property to devote this much area to compost generation. It may come as a surprise to some that composting consumes large quantities of water and to manage the water system you will have to ask a professional and learn from this Questions to Ask Every Local Plumber. In our experience, the average composting site can end up consuming nearly half its weight in gallons of water per year. As an example, a site that processes 50,000 tons of compost annually may require as many as 25,000 gallons of water in a single year.

There are many different kinds of compost bins and methods. Here are some of the most popular ways to compost. 

The open pile

An enclosure isn’t mandatory to make compost. If you have the space, a pile of compost ingredients in the right proportion and mass will suffice. This is obviously the least costly but there are some drawbacks to an open pile. 

Consistent mass – you want to try to keep your ingredients in at least a 3’x3’x3’ bundle…. In an open pile with no walls, this becomes a challenge as the compost on the edges can spread out. The materials can get blown around by wind or spread around by critters. A flat pile is not likely to be a hot pile. 

Consistent moisture – many composters will choose to cover their pile so they control the moisture content. On rainy days, an open pile can get soaked which increases the likelihood of the pile going anaerobic. A stretch of hot, dry days can dry the open pile out and stall decomposition. When the pile is covered, it’s protected from excessive rain and drying wind. 

Space – an successful open pile will need to be large enough to maintain that steady mass in the center and will likely take up more space than other compost methods. 

The 2 or 3 bay system

The bay system can be constructed of whatever you have available – some are built out of wood, wire, pallets or cinderblocks. Individual bays are at least 4’x4’ squares with one side open which allows for easy loading and turning of your compost. The front may have a removable door or wall to keep the compost contained when it’s not being actively managed. 

In a 2 bay system, the compost is basically moved from one bay to the other with each turn using a pitchfork. In a 3 bay system, one bay can be used for a newer compost mix while another can be used for a compost mix that is further along. 

When assembling your compost pile you need to make the decision at some point to stop adding fresh material and allow your mixture to decompose and mature into a finished product. The three bay system allows you to continue to generate compost in a new batch while allowing an older mix to finish and cure. 

Bays can also be adapted to be a more portable wire or plastic cylinder. Rather than accessing the compost from an open side, the cylinder can be lifted off the compost pile, moved adjacent to it, and refilled in the turning process. This is an inexpensive and efficient way to keep the ingredients bunched together while also allowing you to move the compost generating station anywhere you want on your property. 

The Tumbler

The tumbler is an attractive option for many suburban homeowners. Personally, I have the least success using this method. The compost ingredients are placed in a commercially made plastic drum or container that can be spun around to mix the pile. The container has an opening to add ingredients and to empty the finished compost into a wheel barrow or bucket when it’s done. 

In my experience, it’s difficult to maintain and develop finished compost using a tumbler. My mix always ends up dry and yet smelly and though turning is set up to be easy, I don’t bother to tumble it as often as I should. I suppose out of sight is out of mind in my case. 

If you choose this method, here are some ideas that may improve your outcome when using a tumbler. When it comes to worms in a compost pile, “if you build it, they will come.” In this case, however, you’ll have to add worms to the tumbler yourself if you want their help to break down the materials in your compost pile. It’s also important to inoculate this mix with high quality finished compost or a small amount of soil from your local native forest to introduce biology into the batch. Watch the tumbler closely to maintain adequate moisture levels and experiment with placement in the sun and shade. The tumbler looks alright in the yard, but if you can’t get finished compost out of it, what’s the point of having it at all? 

In Situ

Composting in situ, means composting in the place where the finished compost will be used. This is usually a passive and not a thermal compost. The ingredients are added to the hole or container and left to decompose. An example of this would be the center basket of a keyhole garden. 

A keyhole garden is a circular raised garden bed about 6 feet in diameter. It’s built with a compost basket in the center and a pie slice cut out of the garden to give the gardener access to tend the entire circle without having to step into the garden bed. The soil is mounded up toward the center of the circle to increase the planting surface area. Compost materials are added to the center basket and as the garden is watered, the compost is watered and the nutrients leach out to feed the garden. The basket can be covered with a lid to better control moisture and keep out pests. 

Similarly, composting in situ can be done in honey holes, trenches or with sheet mulching. A honey hole is created by burying kitchen scraps and other compostable materials directly into the garden. This will create pockets of fertility and nutrition in the garden while keeping the remaining soil structure intact. Trench composting works the same way but covers larger areas and requires more materials. These methods are best done in the fall where you intend to plant things the following spring. By installing compost in honey holes and trenches in the fall, you afford the time and conditions for the ingredients to decompose before planting. 

Sheet mulching is a method of no-dig gardening where organic, compostable material is spread out over a planting area in layers. In the fall, the gardener must decide where the garden will be situated. The sheet mulch garden is built by layering a combination of brown and green materials like cardboard, leaves, manure, hay or straw, kitchen scraps, garden waste, etc. until the bed is around 10-16” inches deep. The layers compress and decompose over the winter to be almost flush with the original soil level in the spring. The ground will be softened and ready to plant while the rich mulch will help suppress unwanted weed growth and reduce the need for irrigation throughout the growing season.

It’s also worth mentioning that this method is closest to our original recommendation to “leave the leaves”. Since this is closer to passive, cold composting – many of the benefits of leaving the leaves would survive this method while also helping to prepare your soil for planting a new garden in the spring. 

Is compost dangerous? Can it catch fire from getting too hot?   

Honestly, the risk of a home compost pile catching fire is very, very low. Remember that in order for a compost pile to generate meaningful heat, it would need to be at least 3’x3’x3′ in size. Most beneficial bacteria die at temperatures over 140 degrees which doesn’t even come close to combustion at 400 degrees. Any stories of spontaneous combustion usually originate from sources beyond just a compost pile. Don’t let the fear of a fire prevent you from generating tons of free fertilizer and soil amendments for your garden!

Compost can be made in almost every yard

It’s easy to see that by using the methods described in this article, almost anyone can make and use compost. There are many benefits to using a high quality, homemade compost in your gardens to amend your soil. When deciding what to do with an abundance of fallen leaves on your property, look no further than to put them back into the soil and close the loop of nutrient cycling in your backyard’s ecosystem by turning them into compost!

The post Composting: A Guide for the Home Garden appeared first on Permaculture Gardener, Soil Health Grower and Light Farmer.

People also get bent out of shape because praying mantis are ferocious hunters and they don’t discriminate. They are predators and, like lions, who will eat many different species of prey… so will the praying mantis. 

So yes, along with some fruit tree loving moths and other crop damaging insects, praying mantis will also chow down on bees, butterflies and the occasional hummingbird (so I’ve heard). 

Again, I don’t destroy these nests because by the time the weather warms up in the spring, most of the ones I’ve been watching on my plants through the winter have been taken before the babies get a chance to hatch…

Happy gardening!

The post Chinese Praying Mantis Nests and Why I Keep Them in My Yard appeared first on Permaculture Gardener, Soil Health Grower and Light Farmer.

The soil is pure sand here and I’ve been dealing with some persistent sorrel-like weeds throughout this bed. As I pull them out, the wood chip mulch gets mixed into the sand and I suspect it’s taking up a lot of the nitrogen that the raspberries need to be happy. I decided to cut all the raspberries down. I pulled up all the weeds I could to clear the bed. Then I gave it a good layer of my best compost ever and planted a few tomato seedlings that I had left in the greenhouse. As everything regrows, I’m hoping the compost helps to correct whatever was going on with the raspberries. I feel like I’m hitting the reset button here.

What are those little funnel shaped holes in the sand?

When I learned about how these insects catch and eat the ants, I couldn’t help but think about Return of the Jedi when Luke arrived to rescue Princess Leah and Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt. They were forced to “walk the plank” which would have ended in a steep sand pit with some kind of hungry predator waiting for them at the bottom. In Star Wars, that creature was called a Sarlacc and had tentacles and teeth… but it’s hunting style is pretty similar to this earthling I just learned about today. I guess George Lucas knew about Doodlebugs!

This was fascinating to me because in our sandy soil, Mom always wondered why we didn’t have many fleas in the yard. Ants eat flea larva. And now, it seems, Ant Lions eat Ants!

The mosquitos and ticks I find periodically in the yard are upsetting, but it’s important to watch and observe the way NATURE handles things before we step in to eradicate and kill whole populations of insects for our own comfort.

What’s Blooming Now?

I planted this passionfruit, or Maypop, in this pot last year from a cutting my friend Phyllis gave me. The pot stayed outside all winter and now it’s blooming for the first time!

I’m looking forward to tasting this native edible fruit. My daughter can’t wait to make something tasty like ice cream or sorbet when the fruit turns ripe.

I think these are just about the coolest looking flowers I’ve ever seen.

The post The Summer of YouTube and Learning About Ant Lions appeared first on Permaculture Gardener, Soil Health Grower and Light Farmer.

First thing to do was to clean up the still standing perennial seed stalks and brush that was left from last fall. I leave most of the perrenials standing through the winter to let the birds feast on and spread the seeds about. Now that it’s warming up again and most of the seeds are gone, I gathered up all the sticks and branches left standing from the asters, hyssop (cut these stalks carefully as not to disturb the shallow roots), mountain mint, pineapple sage, sunchokes, hibiscus and cone flower.

I also cut back the plants that are still a bit green, but are already starting to put on new growth. This encourages them to start over and have a bushier habit without getting too long and leggy, which puts the in danger of falling over during the growing season. I cut down the living stems to just a few inches above ground level and once it gets growing in the spring, this stubby base is quickly covered by new growth. This includes Montauk daisies, beauty berries, flax, sage, thyme and butterfly bush.

I pruned with the best cordless pruning shears damaged or yucky looking branches from shrubs like red twig dogwood, and roses. I chose to cut back the red aronia berry in the rain garden hard this year to ensure a pretty size progression from the taller pear tree, to the mid sized aronia shrub, to the smaller beauty berry and finally the herbaceous perennials of balloon flower, solomon’s seal, cone flower, butterfly weed and strawberries underneath. Those who do not have the equipment or skills for this task may hire a tree service company instead.

The elderberry had some older canes that are standing tall now that they are naked, but when they were heavy with flowers and fruit last year, they hung into the path which forced me to duck beneath it on my daily wanderings. I cut back two of the large old branches and then cut foot long pieces off of each of the growing tips. I put them in water with a few peices of dappled willow (willows have natural rooting hormone). If I change the water every other day they should start to root in a couple of weeks. I’ll have lots of new elderberry plants!

This week I received a few plants I ordered in the mail. I got my arbequina olive! This will remain potted in the greenhouse through the winter, but I’ll move the pot outside when the weather gets warm. I also got 6 more American ginseng roots. This will be the third time I’ve tried to plant ginseng in this yard. If I can’t get these to come up, I won’t try again on this property. I put three in a pot and three in the ground. Let’s see what happens.

I also got a paddle from a purple prickly pear! I’ve got green ones but what a GREAT aliteration! I needed a purple one, obviously. I put it in a pot and will plant it out when it’s warmer. As the ground thaws, I’ll plant the new things that will be going in the ground this spring. A new Olympian fig I’ve had in a pot since the fall. 2 new haskap that will be shipped to me shortly. Now, if only we could shake off these freezing temps! Let’s go, sunshine!

The post Spring Cleanup and Garden To-Dos appeared first on Permaculture Gardener, Soil Health Grower and Light Farmer.

With three + inches of snow melting into a slushy and icy mess all over the yard, I had to pull the trigger and get it started.

This Smart Garden 3 is a counter-top hydroponics contraption. I think it’s primarily intended to have fresh herbs growing in your kitchen so you can snip them and add super fresh produce to your meals whenever you like.

When it comes to turnkey, beginner hydroponics kits, this isn’t my first rodeo. They are fun to set up and I usually get roped into working on these in the winter when I can’t walk around and stare at my outdoor plants. I have had (and used) an Aerogarden hydroponics (uses nutrient formula solutions) system for years and then graduated to the Back To The Roots Water Garden 3 gallon fish tank aquaponics (uses fish) system. I actually had two of these, a couple of years apart.

This Click & Grow is different than both of these and so far, I like the product very much. Here’s why.

Shape, Style and Design

The design is contemporary. It’s got rounded edges which softens the profile and gives it more of an organic feel. The color is grey and white, so it looks clean and bright. It looks easy to clean and wipe down, if needed. A design improvement from the other aquaponics systems I’ve tried, is the U shaped plastic piece that partly covers the seed pod/growing material. This was included to block the light and reduce the mold/algea growth on/in the system. This is brilliant because this was definitely a problem with the Areogarden and the fish tank was a mess as the pump would cause icky water to splash up onto the top of the system and make a mess. There is no pump in this smart garden, so splashing won’t be an issue here.

The Size

The size of the unit is about the size of a toaster, so it’s a comfortable fit on most counter tops. The Aerogarden I had was from around 2009 and the design has changed quite a lot since then. It does come in different sizes, but the one I had was very big. That footprint was about the size of a toaster oven or microwave, so that was much more of a real estate commitment on my counter top. In fact, the only spot I could comfortably make room was on top of the dresser in my bedroom.

This Smart Garden 3 looks sharp on the bookshelf in my living room office, between my printer and a large house plant. Even with 3 inches on either side, it doesn’t need more than about a square foot of space on any shelf or surface in your home.

The Simple Setup and Convenient Operation

In the video above, I unboxed, read the instructions and set up my basil to start growing in less than 15 minutes. You don’t even need to set up the app on your phone in order to operate the garden. Just assemble your plant pods, fill the container with water and plug it in! It seems that all you need to do is keep the tank full and harvest when the plants have grown up. You can also extend the lamp with an arm that will raise the lights higher as your plants grow. This tells me that they system needs very little intervention from me to be successful. I do love to garden, but the less I have to do for the system, the better.

The Smart Phone App

Speaking of the app for your phone… it’s an optional tool to help you keep track of your plants and garden progress. Install the app and then select the device you are using (Smart Garden 3 or 9). Select the plants you are growing in each of the available slots of your garden. The app names your plants and counts down until they are ready to harvest, allowing space for notes along the way.

As a permaculture enthusiast and soil health junky, the only caveat I see is that the Click and Grow system comes with “smart soil” pods. They use natural materials to create what appears to be the standard sphagnum peat grow sponges that look very similar to what’s used in the Aerogarden system. Click and Grow infuses these pods with slow release, plant specific nutrients so that you don’t need to provide liquid nutrients to your hydroponic garden. They claim the formulas are very safe, clean, convenient and beneficial.

In light of this point, I would have preferred to use the aquaponics Back to the Roots fish tank setup to grow indoors using soilless pods. The fish provided natural nutrients to feed the plants and the plants use of the nutrients kept the fish environment clean (or should have). Truthfully, the system was messy. The top of the tank never looked clean, there was always crud in there. The light needed for good plant growth promoted algae in the tank. It was too much maintenance for me and I felt bad about having a dirty tank and not being a good fish mom.

In my opinion, synthetic fertilizers are not a preferred addition to anything I grow. I look forward to starting seeds in this system and then moving them out into my landscape to mature and benefit from healthy, biodynamic soil in the yard.

For future use, I’ll buy refill sphagnum peat grow sponges and use them instead of the pre-planted, fertilizer infused, Click & Grow refills.

What’s Your Experience with Click & Grow?

Have you used a Click & Grow Smart Garden? What was your experience with it? Do you prefer a different countertop hydroponics system?

If you would like to try to the Click & Grow system to grow herbs or vegetables in your home, please use the affiliate link below. I will receive a portion of the sale. I did not receive my garden from this company in exchange for a review of the product. My husband bought me this garden and I hope someone will benefit from the information I have provided in my unsolicited review.

Happy Gardening!

The post Winter Indoor Hydroponic Garden Project! Click & Grow Smart Garden 3 appeared first on Permaculture Gardener, Soil Health Grower and Light Farmer.

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The earliest European settlers in what would become Ocean County were drawn by the ocean rather than the land. They came to engage in whaling, fishing and harvesting oysters. Historically, Ocean County’s dry, sandy soils have not encouraged farming on a large scale. As a result, much of the land in the county remained sparsely inhabited forest until late in the 20th century. The area’s first farmers depended on crops that could be grown successfully in poor soils, such as corn and rye. Raising livestock and poultry, forest products such as cordwood and cedar fence rails and shingles were also important sources of income. In fact, in the 1700s, farming in this area was often a part-time job, supplemented by hunting, trapping and gathering and less important that harvesting timber for shipbuilding and as fuel for iron production. Many farmers cultivated their land without the benefit of horses which were a luxury here at the time.

In the first half of the 1800s, the population grew slowly. The difficulty in transporting goods from coastal New Jersey to the markets of New York and Philadelphia was one reason for the slow growth. Farmers here relied on river transport, which could only carry their products a limited distance. However, with improvements to the road system and the opening of railroads serving the coast in the second half of the 1800s, the county began to grow and develop at a faster pace. Ocean County’s farmers also found new crops, such as cranberries, that could flourish in the coastal environment.

With the beginning of the 20th century, farming in Ocean County decreased in scale. Farms became fewer in number and smaller in size, and traditional crops and livestock were raised in lesser quantities. Instead, a new type of specialty farming developed in which poultry and egg farming figured prominently. Farmers took advantage of the new markets for fresh vegetables, fruits, poultry, eggs and milk created by the popularity of new costal resorts. Better transportation and fertilization allowed greater profits on fewer acres. After World War II, however, increases in the population of the metropolitan area created great demand for land, and by 1974 more than two thirds of the county’s farmland had been converted to other uses.

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Good Luck Farm, which formerly stood in this location, was a good example of a small Ocean County farm. Founded in 1760, it is likely that the farm produced goods mostly for its owners’ own use during parts of it’s early history. For 85 years, beginning in 1871, the farm remained in the Van Arsdale family, who raised traditional grain and seed crops, a typical range of livestock and poultry as a moderate but successful business. In the mid-20th century the property ceased to be used as a commercial farm, but provided vegetables, fruits, meat, eggs and wool to its owners while serving as a comfortable rural residence.

The post Farming in Ocean County, New Jersey – Agricultural history of the Good Luck Farm in Lacey NJ appeared first on Permaculture Gardener, Soil Health Grower and Light Farmer.

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I made my first jam this year! Jostaberry/Gooseberry jam based on this recipe. I had half the berries it called for and knew I didn’t want to actually go through the canning process. We ended up with one large quart mason jar and we’ve already eaten half of it. Gooseberries are high in pectin so there’s no need to add it. The flavor and texture are excellent – delicious on fresh corn muffins.

I tour the property daily and prune, pot up baby plants, mulch and take photos. I wander around and dream of future projects and ways to improve the soil and my harvest. Sometimes I take videos to post to the mynjgarden.com YouTube channel because seeing those moments in time is fascinating as I review which plants thrived and which ones never made it past their first season… Today I moved some canna lilly tubers I had tossed into the compost pile back out into the garden because they would not be denied as they reached up out of the compost to find the sun. Even if the tubers don’t survive the rest of the summer in their new garden spots, the fleshy tubers will feed the microbes as they decompose.

The weather will challenge new plantings this week. Over the next 7 days, NJ will see actual temperatures in the 90s and a heat index of over 100 for many days in a row. The garden state withers in extended heat as our residents are not used to it and urban areas will likely see power outages as residents pump up the AC (if they have it). I pray for elderly and disadvantaged people during this time – as if concern over the pandemic weren’t enough…

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Most of the posts in this blog were created in reference to our old house and the property where I planted my first vegetable garden, fruit tree and ground cover and discovered the subject of permaculture and gardening with nature instead of fighting to control it. The house in Beachwood is sold and we close on the deal at the end of the month. I’ve created a video playlist of the process of renovating that yard before the sale is final.
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As that chapter closes a new one begins. We are in early talks with the owners of the wooded lot behind our current home to lease that property and expand to create new gardens and growing space. I’ve also collected a dozen windows and a French door to create a new, recycled window greenhouse. There are so many beautiful examples of other gardeners successfully creating these structures online and a few step by step tutorials on how they completed the project.

It’s SO exciting to look forward to a more permanent structure and I’ll be adding a gutter and another rainbarrel to water that side of the property. I’d like to incorporate electric for a light and heater as well as a ventilation fan.

It’s a good thing the property expansion has become a real possibility because this season I’ve been planting more in the space I usually reserve for wood chips. I also made sure to install downspout extensions to move water away from the flower beds and you can check this content to know more about it. At least once a year, I solicit local tree services to bring me a load of wood chips for free instead of having to pay to dump them elsewhere. They happily bring me a truckload of at least 15 yards at a time… but this delivery takes up a lot of real estate. I’ve convinced myself that I’ll just need to pay for deliveries of shredded bark mulch moving forward. Now that plantings are filling in, I’m second guessing my decision… how will I possibly have enough mulch without arborist chips? When I expand to the next lot, I’ll be able to have them dumped there. Problem solved.
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The figs have had a tough 5th year. I didn’t bother to wrap them this year and mulched them heavily instead hoping they would have less pest damage and a substantial enough root system to carry them through the winter. One of the two fig trees that were in the ground died just after the late March freezes. The other seemed like it was in good shape, but since I decided to wrap it again this coming winter, I wanted to limit the amount of main branches it produced and pruned new growth down to 3 substantial stems.

Earlier this month we had a severe storm with hail and 2 of the 3 branches fell. The last one laid down a couple of days ago and the leaves shriveled, though it was still attached to the plant. Maybe by pruning the new growth the way I did, I attracted insects or voles to the sweet smelling sap. There are a few small leaves sprouting from the base so I’ll leave it alone and wrap it for the winter to see if it recovers next year.
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The potted fig is producing for the first time!! I ordered a new, cold hardy fig tree “Olympian”. I’m looking forward to receiving it. Should it go in the ground or in a pot?! I haven’t decided yet.

The rain garden looks great all through the growing season, I am really happy with the way the plants are maturing – but July? July is when the blooms are really having a party.

The post Summer 2020 Corona Gardening, Selling the House & Future Garden Plans appeared first on Permaculture Gardener, Soil Health Grower and Light Farmer.

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blooming beach plum in the middle. highbush cranberry behind it on the right. iris in front on the left.
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left to right: honey crisp apple, lupine, red leafed sand cherry, black aronia berry.
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As I put them in the gardens, I told myself, “Don’t get to attached. You are planting dead plants.” Nevertheless, I check on these babies every day and nod in appreciation when I notice that their little leaves haven’t fallen off or they haven’t been dug up by the curious squirrels who must be wondering why the ground is disturbed in that spot.

The rest of the seedlings, the more successful starts, are still waiting in the greenhouse for their debut, the day they get planted into the garden beds and between the perennial flowers, bushes and trees which you can fix with the work from tree surgeon. As the weather warms, they seem to be shaking off the chill and are starting to look more sturdy than they did just a week ago.

And now I see a night time low temperature in the 30’s this weekend. Blast! Every year! But, fear not… this year I have multiple stacks of black nursery pots of all different sizes that I picked up on marketplace last summer. So before the temperature drops this weekend, I’ll be putting an overturned pot on top of each tender plant like a little shield, weighted down with a rock or brick, to protect them from the cold. 40 wouldn’t have me worried, but when they say 37…. that’s inching too close to freezing in my opinion and it’s time to take precautions.

Daughter and I were taking a walk yesterday when we noticed some naturalized flowers coming up in an empty wooded lot that’s for sale 2 lots away from the house. If the lot sells to a developer, they will likely clear everything before they build. This is also an area where our neighbor, who is a contractor, dumps yard waste, grass clippings, and autumn leaves in a gigantic pile (which creates the most wonderful leaf mould to add to my gardens. I assume these lilies and delphinium came from that yard waste at some point and have begun to spread and naturalize.

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Today, I took a bucket and a shovel and dug up a few plants from around the outside of the patches of each kind of flower and transplanted them in to my yard. I’m excited to see the colors of the lilies as I haven’t noticed them blooming in the shady woods in previous summers.

Today, when I walk around the yard I notice what’s blooming now – apples and aronia berries. The lupines and wild geranium are just getting started. The iris are sending up flower buds and the quince buds have turned pink, but neither have opened yet. The nanking cherries are starting to swell, those flowers fell a couple of weeks ago. One of the 3 beach plums is COVERED with flowers, but the other two have barely any flowers on them at all. I’m wondering, if I graft a few branches from each plum onto the other… will the root stock determine the bloom, or the scion? Will I be more likely to get better pollination for the shrubs that have fewer flowers blooming that year?

Our renters at our old property will be moving out this weekend. I’ll have to go to that property next week and start cleaning it up, inside and outside, to get ready to sell the house. The last year with our renters has been very financially challenging and we simply can’t afford to keep the expense of that home. I plan to do a LOT of grafting of any plants, trees and shrubs that I can’t move over to this property. I’m a little nervous but very excited about assessing the plants over in that yard and cleaning up the landscape for the masses. I will be making identification signs for the perennial food crops that will be staying there and hopefully that will be an attractive landscape feature for a potential home buyer.

The post Still cold in May, naturalized flowers in the woods, and what’s blooming now appeared first on Permaculture Gardener, Soil Health Grower and Light Farmer.

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On March 1st I read an article online about Elderberry cuttings and how to get them to root in water. This inspired me to run outside to take some cuttings. I poked a few down into the soil in the cold frame and brought a few inside. I was excited to root some new elderberry shrubs and spread them around this spring.

Elderberries are native to New Jersey and can be found on the forest’s edge. They will do well in part shade and full sun and enjoy moist conditions. They will let you know if things have gotten too dry for them in mid summer because the leaves will look wilty when they get thirsty. Give them some water and they perk right up again. Elderberry are super fast to mature. If you start with a plant that’s just a foot or 2 high in spring, it will likely be chest high by the fall. By the season after that you’ll have a 12′ high shrub and you’ll probably be harvesting your first berries that summer. The shrubs are big, fountain shaped and get to be about 10′ – 12′ tall and wide. Give them room. I love growing elderberry – they have my favorite smelling flowers.
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cuttings taken on March 1, 2020
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same cuttings on March 25, 2020
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The day after I took the cuttings, I added a few willow branches to the jar of water. Willow has a lot of natural rooting hormone and I know that if you steep willow in water, you can make a natural liquid rooting hormone. This may have contributed to the success of this experiment. I don’t have experience starting cuttings this way. I did not add any rooting hormone to the cuttings that I put into the cold frame, but I have kept it watered and closed – only opening it up when it’s raining out… so everything stays nice and humid and warm in there.

I did change the water in the jar every few days, just dumped it out in the sink and filled it back up again with room temperature tap water. I rinsed off the whole bunch of cuttings too…. including the top parts because I don’t have a bag over them to keep the tops damp at all.
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Now that the rooted cuttings have been potted, I think they will be particularly fragile for a little while until they get used to the new conditions. I’m going to make sure to keep them watered and comfortable. I’ll likely bring them inside at night for the next week so they don’t get too cold while they are getting used to the pots. Then I’ll start leaving in the greenhouse overnight and eventually I’ll move them outside in a couple of weeks. If they survive, they will probably be developed enough to plant out into the garden by the fall.

This was the original article I read about propagating elderberry from cuttings.

The post Elderberry Cuttings Grow New Plants in Less Than 1 Month appeared first on Permaculture Gardener, Soil Health Grower and Light Farmer.