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Gardening ideas for Boulder, Colorado |
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Archive for the ‘Gardening’ Category
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010
 Most seeds can be direct-sown into the garden when the time is right. But many folks like to get a jump on the season by growing vegetable starts. These are usually warm weather plants - tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, melons, cucumbers, etc. While you can grow them in a container with drainage - i.e. a Dixie cup with a whole hole in the bottom - most folks use seed trays and cell packs.
There are two trays, one with performations in the bottom and one without - you’ll want one of each. Cell packs are sheets of small cells that nestle snugly inside the seed trays. You’ll want one sheet of cells for each tray you intend to plant.
Clear plastic covers are also a good idea. You’ll need at least one, which can be rotated to other trays as the seedlings sprout.
For most seeds you don’t need starting mix - any good quality potting soil will work as well.
Put your unperforated tray on the bottom, insert the performated tray into it, followed by the cell pack. Dump an appropriate amount of potting soil into the center of the cell packs and spread it equally into the cells. Use your thumb to lightly tamp down the soil in each cell.
Put two seeds in each cell, cover with additional potting soil (1/4″ for tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, 1/2 inch for melons and cucumbers) and firm the soil lightly.
Lift the perforated tray and cell pack together out of the bottom tray. Fill that tray with an inch of warm water and float the perforated tray with the cell pack on it. Watering from the bottom up will give you even watering and minimize seed displacement, something that can happen when you top-water.
When the cells are dark and evenly moist, put the perforated tray with the cell pack over the sink to drain, dump the excess water out of the bottom tray and then place them back in the bottom tray. Snap on the plastic cover.
Put the assembled trays in a sunny, warm spot during the day and the warmest place possible at night. Most warm-weather seeds germinate best from 70 to 85 degrees, going slightly cooler once they develop leaves. If you’re growing different kinds of seeds in one flat, try to keep the estimated germination times as close as possible.
Seedling heat mats can be pricey, but are a good long-term investment, espeically for tomato and pepper starts. Another good, warm place to put your trays at night is on top of the your refrigerator, toward the back. Since the tray is higher in the room it will stay warmer and get additional warmth from the coils releasing heat in the back of fridge.
Once you’ve achieved 50% germination, take the plastic cover off for good. Keep the first seed to germinate in each cell and pluck out the other.
If your seedlings are tall and pale they aren’t getting enough light. Use a flourescent light to boost light levels and length of day (see below).
If they rot at the base - called “damping off” - they’re too wet and too cold. Toss the contents, sterilize your fresh potting soil by putting it into a 250-degree oven for an hour and start again.
Seedlings that seem spindly can be toughened up by putting them in the path of an oscilliating table fan set on low. The movement of the air will make them more robust, but also more likely to dry out.
Keep the cell packs evenly moist. With the cover on, they won’t need much water.
You can use fluorescent light to start your seeds or extend the length of the growing day. If hung by a fine chain, they can be precisely raised and kept 2″ to 4″ above your seedlings. You don’t have to use more expensive daylight spectrum bulbs. For most purposes a regular white bulb works just fine. Sow your seeds 6 to 8 weeks before you intend to plant them. which in our case will be around Memorial Day.
Posted in Gardening, Tomatoes, Vegetables |
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010
While you’ll pay a premium for oranic seeds, what’s more important than how organic a seed is, is how organically it’s grown. Being smaller than the period at the end of this sentence, there’s not much room for any potential contamination of a lettuce seed. But there’s a big difference in how it will be grown. The truth is that while some seed companies pride themselves on strictly organic seeds, most commercial seed companies buy their seeds from seed producers in bulk, provenance unknown.
So rather than concentrate on expensive seeds, concentrate on growing them the right way.
Posted in Gardening, Uncategorized |
Monday, March 15th, 2010
One of our customers had a dilemma - he wanted to grow tomatoes but he had only four hours of sun on one side of his house and four on the other. Tomatoes need at least six hours of direct sun to produce. So we took an old shopping cart, set two five gallon buckets (with drainage holes drilled in the bottom) inside it, hung two from each side and one from the front. Filled with good quality potting soil and planted with tomato starts, he could now grow seven tomato plants by moving the cart from one side in the morning to the other side in the afternoon.
Putting your container garden on wheels - on a wagon or a cart - means that in the mountains you can wheel your plants out during the day and inside at night. The threats of hail or a sudden freeze? Run ‘em inside. Nice spring day? Run ‘em out.
Posted in Gardening, Tomatoes |
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
 For all the uproar about Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), it’s probably time to sort things out. Since agriculture is at least 4,000 years old, it’s safe to say that we have been tampering with the genetics of our plants and animals for a long time. We’ve selected strains of plants that matured earlier, tasted better and lasted longer through selective breeding — that is, we saved the seeds from the plants that performed better and planted more of them every year.
Was this a form of genetic modification? Absolutely. But it enables us to live better lives and feed more people. We tampered with but didn’t break the rules that were millions of years old. With the advent of modern science we were able to break those rules and inject genes from different species into one another. We were able to inject fish genes into tomatoes and strawberries. We could make corn and wheat herbicide tolerant. But what happens when those genes are set loose in the environment or in our stomachs? The honest answer is … we don’t yet know.
So keep in mind that there is good genetic modification and , well, let’s just call it questionable genetic modification. In the first case we know it’s good and what we’re getting. The jury is still out on the latter.
Posted in Gardening, Vegetables |
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
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.
Posted in Avant Gardening Series, Gardening |
Saturday, February 6th, 2010
Taking 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.
Posted in Avant Gardening Series, Gardening, Tomatoes |
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.
Posted in Avant Gardening Series, Flowers, Gardening, Uncategorized |
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
Once 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.
Posted in Avant Gardening Series, Fertilizer and Compost, Gardening, Vegetables |
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.
Posted in Avant Gardening Series, Flowers, Gardening |
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!
Posted in Flowers, Gardening |
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