By using clear plastic and wire wickets you can create a tube that will give you a jump-start on your season. Bend the wire in a semicircle that will give 24 inches of width on the ground and the same height. Plant your row, insert the wires firmly into the ground and cover with plastic. Tape the plastic to the wickets inside of the tube and bury the lengthwise edges of the plastic with an inch or two of soil. Leave a couple of feet of excess plastic on either end, to be tied off on cold days or thrown wide-open on hot ones. Keep in mind that the temperatures inside can soar on sunny days, so it’s usually better to err on the side of more ventilation — both ends open — on a day that may be cloudy but is likely to become sunny later.
Archive for the ‘Gardening’ Category
Guide to Avant Gardening: Part 14 ~ Gardening Under Plastic
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010The Tomato Plant That Swallowed Boulder - 29 Feet and Growing
Saturday, February 6th, 2010Taking a cue from the gardeners at the Epcot Center in Florida,who grew a single tomato plant that covered a quarter-acre and produced 32,000 fruit, we’re trying our hand at it. In the back of the main greenhouse we’ve got a Sun Gold tomato plant that has currently hit 29 feet and still growing. Stop by and take a gander and pick a tomato in winter, if you can reach them.
Beware the Checkered Dealth Lily!
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
The only plaid flower you’ll ever see is that of the Fritillaria meleagris a.k.a. The Guinea Hen Flower or the Checkered Death Lily. While other members of the family can grow three feet tall and sport impressive clusters of blossoms, the Death Lily is rather unassuming. At least until you look closely. Their inverted, tulip-shaped blooms are, by God, finely checkered in red and white. Only six to eight inches tall, they like lightly shaded areas with rich soil. Now’s the time to plant their bulbs for a show next May.
Winter Veggies
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009Once a good hard frost has nuked your cukes, it’s time to get out there and clean house. There’s no greather pleasure than to walk out in spring and find a well-fertilized, perfectly raked and shaped bed in which to plant.
So now’s the time to rip out all the dead vegetation, add manure and compost, till,rake smooth and await the spring. Wtih cold frames and row cover you can extend your current season and get a jump on your next.
It’s always a good idea to sow some spinach, chard, kale, peas and even brococoli in the fall and cover them with row cover or a light mulch of straw. They’ll come up in their own sweet time, often much earlier than you’d expect. A good resource is Elliot Coleman’s The Four-Season Garden. Even he’s reduced to blanching endive in late winter, but there are a lot of good tips on extending your growing season.
Bulbs On The Brain
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
If you love daffodils, tulips, crocouses and hyacinths, now’s the time to plant them. It has gotten cool enough to be sure that they”ll be properly chilled to put on a great show in the spring. Select bulbs that are firm and blemish-free, with no sign of growth. It’s important to plant them at the proper depth. Plant some that will bloom at the first breath of spring, like crocuses, and others that will bloom later. There are spectacular parrot tulips, gorgeous Rembrandt tulips and quaint little species of tulips. Daffodils range from the tiny Tete-aTe to the hulking Dutch Masters. They come in yellow, white orange and pink, not to mention combinations thereof.
One of the best things to remember is that they look best in large groups - massed plantings. Find a variety you really adore and plant a lot of them.
If you’re going to plant a lot of bulbs, we’ve discovered a terrific way to do it. You’ll need an electric drill, a bulb auger, a shop vac and a piece of 1″ PVC pipe. With the auger in the drill, take a marker and mark on the shaft of the auger the depth you want to plant. Pick an area a few feet in either direction. Start drilling holds to the right depth and spacing, but don’t worry about dirt that may slide back into the holes. Duct tape the foot-long piece of PVC pipe to the end of the shop vac hose. Once you’ve finished a section, insert the pipe into the bottom of the holes and drop in the bulbs, pointy end up. They are all now at5 the same correct depth. Dump the topsoil out of the shop vac and rake the soil back into the holes. You8 can cover a lot of ground with this method and save yourself the agony of planting them one at a time. You also ensure that they’ll all come up and bloom at about the same time.
Though bulbs may seem expensive, keep in mind that you’re paying for a garden show that has potential to go on a decade or more. Once the blooms are gone give them a good feeding and let the leaves stand. This will give you an even better show the next year.
Pansies
Friday, October 16th, 2009
One of the delights of Colorado gardening is how well pansies grow here. They like cool weather, will tolerate heavy frosts and pop right back up after a snowstorm. It’s wonderful to see their cheery little faces nodding in the breeze. While you’d plant them in a semi-shady spot in the spring and summer they’ll thrive in a protected, preferably sunny and south-facing location in the winter. They like rich, humusy soil and a good watering when the weather warms up. If the temperature is headed for a big drop for a longer period of time - say below zero for more tan a few days - protecting them with straw, leaves, row cover or even limbs off your discarded Christmas tree is a good idea. No other flowering plant comes in such a dizzying array of colors and patterns. And they drop seeds everywhere. Plant pansies for a few years and you’ll have pansies in places you didn’t plant them. The colors may change, the blooms may get smaller and ultimately they seem to lose some of their intensive breeding. They revert to what can be assumed to be thier parent plant, the sweet little purple and yellow Johnny Jump-Up.
Once the spring arrives pansies put on their best show of all, witha burst of vigorous color. It’s still not too late to add some winter color to your garden!
Fall Clean-Up -
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009Although you may be weary from a long summer of gardening, once the frost takes out your vegetable garden it’s time to clean up. Toss or compost wilted greens, till in some manure and compost. Rake your beds smooth. If you just suck it up in the fall you’ll be able to stroll out to your garden in thh spring and plant away. It really is a pleasure having done the hard work in the fall.
Garden Row Cover -
Monday, September 7th, 2009One of the best ways to extend your vegetable season is to use row cover. Row cover is lightweight, breathable polyester fabric which will protect your garden from light frosts. Drape it over your plants and hold in place with clods of earth. You can plant spinach seeds in late fall and even early winter if you then cover them with row cover. They’ll sprout the minute things warm up and you can harvest a spinach crop as early as February. Row cover tunnels can also extend your salad green season in the summer. It protects the plants from the hot sun and can even air-condition them if misted with water twice a day.
Garlic Planting -
Saturday, September 5th, 2009Fall is the time to plant garlic. Break a head of garlic into individual cloves and plant them with just the tip of the clove showing, 6 to 8 inches apart. It will help to incorporate some compost and manure into the soil. Water the cloves in and when frost has killed the growing shoot, bend the shoot over and mulch lightly. Once the weather warms up growth will begin again. There are hundreds of types of garlic that fall into tow categories — hard-neck and soft-neck. Hard-neck varieties are best for Colorado because they are hardier and store longer. For a great selection of garlic take a look at the Seeds of Change website. Tehy have dozens of types from around the world.
Cold Frames -
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009If you want to extend your vegetable season consider a cold frame. Cold frames are mini-greenhouses that cover part of your garden bed, keeping the soil and air warmer and fighting off frost. They can be as simple as an A-frame using storm windows and fabricated end caps. Keep in mind that on sunny days they can overheat quickly, so build them so that they can be easily opened and closed. If you maintain a uniform bed size you can leapfrog the cold frame sequentially in the spring, first to jump start salad greens, then to get a head start on tomatoes and peppers.