 Chosen as one of the Top 30 Organic Gardening Blogs – March 2018
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I wrote a post in January of 2011 that is even more relevant today than it was then, since it tells of how the basics of human existence have escaped most in our society. (And I don’t think “most” is an exaggeration.)
The majority seem clueless about where food comes from and don’t really see a need to know.
The very sustenance of life (our food) has been entrusted by most to that “unseen” someone. And the belief that “they (whoever they might be) would not sell it if it were bad for you” is very widespread.
This lack of education in the basics has been going on for decades and as you might imagine, it’s not uncommon for kids to know nothing about gardening or growing food.
Who Makes the Most Difference?
Bill and I worked with and loved more than 50 kids over a 30 year period. Those kids now range in ages from 20 to 50! Unbelievable!
In spite of the love, time spent, and our best efforts we were able to influence only for that short time. Hopefully, they still carry with them some of what we said and did that will make a positive difference as they go through life.
But the bottom line is: parents have the most influence. And that’s just the way it is.
I’d guess that grandparents are next in line after parents and then aunts and uncles.
Including your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, etc. in the processes of growing food and fixing food is the kind of teaching that will enable them to make better choices as adults.
Jack’s Story Proves the Point
A Teacher’s 1/2 Hour Lesson on Gardening from a 6 Year Old
Through the years, Bill and I enjoyed many wonderful stories and pictures from friend and reader, Jack, telling various stories about his granddaughters. Some I’ve shared with you. Long time readers will recall the delightful 24 second video of then 18 month old, Ellie, checking over the broccoli in Jack’s garden. A priceless video!
Ellie, now about 6 years old, and her younger sister (2 years old) spend as much time as possible with Jack. Both girls are right at home in Grandpop ’s garden.
Recently Jack shared another great Ellie-story.
He wrote:
“At school, as her class was going out for morning recess, her teacher asked for 2 volunteers to plant some flowers in raised beds along the sidewalk to the front door. Of course Ellie stuck her hand up.
They took the plants out and as the teacher was giving instructions how to plant them Ellie listened, then advised the teacher that they first needed to get all of the weeds out first. (He wasn’t going to bother).
As they were getting ready to plant she explained how she and Grandpop plant things and told him of ALL of the different vegetables and fruits I grow here.
She went on to explain that the weeds, if left, would fight for the nutrients in the ground and the plants might not do so good because they wouldn’t get as much energy from the soil.
She asked him how big the plants would get when they were full grown, but he didn’t know so she gave him the spacing speech, explaining that they need space to grow right and couldn’t be planted too close together.
She had his full attention and was on a roll from there when she figured he didn’t have a clue what he was doing…..
And (went on to explain) how I never ever use chemicals, how I mulch the top of the soil with shredded leaves to keep the soil from drying out and to feed the worms etc…
The teacher was so impressed he sent a note home to her parents explaining how knowledgeable she is and about his 1/2 hour lesson on gardening😁😁😁
Does my heart good to see that she has such a grasp on how real food is grown at such a young age. She knows more as a kindergartner than I did when I was 50 years old when I first started learning how to garden organically!”
Final Thoughts
Thanks to Jack for letting me share such a delightful and encouraging story!
If you have a great story about engaging your kids in the garden, please share it with us.
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Related Posts:
The Basic Knowledge of Feeding Yourself Well
Gardening with Kids – Workin’ Over the Brocolli
Consider Variables When Determining Spacing Between Plants
Information to Think on Before You Purchase Food, Hydroponics, Afocafo Meats, Vitamins and Grain for Your Animals You Might Think is Organic
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All content including photos is copyrighted by TendingMyGarden.com. All rights reserved.
Potatoes are in more than a dozen spots throughout my garden. The plants are beautiful and looking at them is enjoyable as I check everything each day.
I grow several varieties: Chieftan, Norland, Butte, Yukon Gold, Rose Gold, Kennebec and another russet whose name has been long forgotten.
When Bill was alive more potatoes were needed. Now it’s no longer necessary for me to buy seed potatoes. But I still want (and have) an abundance for eating fresh and also making soup. (For more on how I grow potatoes you might want to check out this post.)
Potato Beetles
Do any of you remember being driven crazy by potatoes beetles? I certainly do. Having to kill hundreds of larvae and/or adult beetles each day is not a fun task.
Or maybe that’s your situation right now. Be encouraged by the fact that as you continue to improve your garden AND if you take a proactive approach, potato beetles will decrease over time and become “comfortably controllable”.
Things in my garden have improved to the point where I have very few potatoes beetles. Found only two adults in mid May. Found several larvae each day for the past few days. A very insignificant amount considering the number of plants I have all around the garden.
Helping Me with “Search and Destroy”
I see a variety of wasps checking the potato plants each day, although their main focus this year seems to be on my broccoli and cabbage. (Yeh!)
It’s fascinating to stop and watch these wasp take away cabbage worms and/or potato beetle larvae. They take them back to their nest and feed them to the wasp larvae.
Of the many varieties of wasps in the garden, the ones I’m most familiar with are the ones that commonly build their nest under eaves or between my storm window and regular window in the bathroom upstairs. (Not convenient for me at all.)
Will they Sting?
For almost 40 years, hundreds of bees and wasps have patrolled my garden with me. I’ve brushed against them as I move through the plants. My hands and arms are right next to them on a daily basis.
I’ve never been stung inside the garden. Although I did back into the tiniest bee I’ve ever seen many years ago. That was enough to bring a loud “Ouch!” and the kids that were there at the time thought it was hilarious.
Last year, in pulling up a dead lavender plant in a border that had not had timely attention, what a surprise to have a dozen wasps let me know that I was invading nest-territory. I was stung on the face twice, but it was nothing compared to what they’re capable of. I’d like to think they knew it was me. 🙂 It certainly seemed that way.
The Biggest Mistake Made With “Pest” Insects
I think probably about the biggest mistake gardeners can make with “pest” insects is to ignore them.
If you’re proactive and address the problem when you first notice it and are diligent about “search and destroy” you can keep them under control.
(I made the mistake of ignoring harlequin beetles and the various cabbage worms back in 2012. I swore off growing brassicas for a while after that. Full story here.)
Even though I have next to no problem with potato beetles, I pay attention to the plants as I pass each day — or at least every other day. A few larvae gone unattended can turn into a much greater number within a month.
Do the math:
Each female potato beetle can lay up to 350 eggs over 3 to 5 weeks. Eggs begin to hatch about two weeks or sooner. Larvae can complete development in as little as 10 days; then drop from the plant, burrow into soil and pupate and emerge as an adult in 5 to 10 days.
Handpicking as a Control
As unpleasant a task as handpicking is, it might be the best method of control. Before deciding that you have too many potatoes for hand control, you might want to review what Jim Gerritsen, one of the foremost potato growers in the United States, had to say about it.
Final Thoughts
 Potatoes in bloom. Some of the early varieties are in bloom. That means new potatoes on my menu soon!
If you’re not growing potatoes, I hope you’ll consider it for next year. You’ve never really tasted potatoes until you grow your own in great garden soil. Nothing can compare.
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Related Posts:
Organic Pest Control – Is It Just About the Soil?
Oil Seed Radish/Brassicas/ And A Bug Story
Potatoes/ Green Sprouting / Advice from A Leading U.S. Grower
Growing Potatoes – Is the Natural Way the Best?
Potato Beetles – Organic Pest Control – Programmed Responses
Growing Potatoes – It’s Hard to Mess Up
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All content including photos is copyright by TendingMyGarden.com. All Rights Reserved.
One of the things that you don’t see talked about much is the variables involved in determining how much distance you need between your vegetable plants.
I think it’s a safe bet to say that seed packs give spacing based on what’s done (or necessary) in conventional gardening.
Those of us who work with nature have a few more things to consider before we make that final decision.
While it’s true that plants need space to grow, they might not need as much space as you think under the right conditions.
It the soil has been properly loosened to a depth of about 2 feet and the soil life has been provided with compost or other organic materials to feed on, your garden can easily thrive with intensive (closer) planting.
Deeply prepared soil allows roots to go down rather than having to spread out to the side where neighboring plants reside.
And the great news is — deep preparation need only be done once: when you establish your permanent beds. Soil compaction won’t be an issue anymore since you’ll walk on the permanent pathways rather than the beds. And covering the soil will prevent compaction from rain and keep the soil workable.
The result is not only space saving, but time saving.
Take tomatoes for example. The general recommendation for indeterminate tomatoes is 3 to 4 feet apart. I plant them about 1 to 1 1/2 feet apart.
If you think your soil is not quite ready to support close planting, but almost, lay down a layer of compost over the bed before you plant.
Keep in mind as you experiment with intensive planting that some seedlings will be smaller than others and end up not growing as large. If you’ve started enough seed you can just plant the biggest and strongest. If not, go ahead and plant them all if you want, but just keep in mind that there’s always the stronger and the weaker. That’s the seed, not your soil.
If you already have the 3 keys working in your garden, you might want to give closer planting a try.
Here are some pictures from my May garden.
 Broccoli plants
 New spring lettuces on May 15th. Two weeks later (today) and these plants are huge! More than doubled in that short time in spite of my harvesting daily.
 Young cabbages
 Young cabbage plants. Three rows show in this picture. To the left are peas and a stray potato. The bed to the right is potatoes. The pink with the cabbage is oenothera. The little white flower at the top with the cabbage is cilantro blooming. ________
Related Posts:
A Read Writes: Everyone is Amazed at my Garden
3 Books that Can Change Your Garden, Your Health, and The Way You Look at Life
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All content including photos is copyrighted by TendingMyGarden.com. All Rights Reserved.
Since I first started TendingMyGarden.com in 2010, one of the things that I’ve found to be strong within gardeners is the urge to water.
The urge is so strong that unless someone literally has no way of watering (other than maybe hauling an occasional watering can to a plant – like my situation) they never really know what the plants will or can do.
In this age of marketing, we’ve been programmed to think we have to water in order to garden.
And it’s easy to make wrong assumptions based on what you see taking place, but not really knowing all the variables involved.
Here’s an example of what I mean:
A friend who lives about a mile from me visited yesterday. We walked through the garden and talked about how the almanac called for more dry weather in this area.
A few days ago, even though she uses mulch, my friend felt it necessary to water her onions and some other vegetables in the garden. They really perked up and seemed to “grow” a bit over night. Of course she attributed that to the watering.
As we continued our conversation, it turns out that the same time her onions perked up overnight, was exactly the same time mine perked up and also seemed to grow some. Except mine were not watered. (I’ve not watered onions EVER in the almost 40 years I’ve been growing them.)
Nothing Wrong with Watering especially if –
- you have good water,
- the means to water at ground level and water deeply,
- and water only when needed.
The “when needed” part is probably where most gardeners miss the mark.
If you’re gardening with nature and using the 3 keys (deep soil preparation, adding organic matter/materials, covering the soil) in almost all cases it will be very seldom, if ever, that you need to water.
I’m living proof that’s true. But there’s plenty of documented proof as well.
Here are a few facts that I covered in a previous post:
- Working with nature (using the 3 keys) will allow you to garden with 67% to 88% LESS water.
- Only 20 inches of rain per year can produce the “best yields in the world” when working with nature.
- Soil that has been deeply prepared will have the capacity to hold 25% of its volume in water. For example: 24 inches of deeply prepared soil can hold 6 inches of water.
- Covering your soil (shading your soil) reduces evaporation by 13 to 63%.
- Once your soil is improved to have the right nutrients, plants transpire (give off) 10 to 75% LESS water.
- Having only 2% organic matter will reduce the water needs of plants by 75%!
For example: if the soil has 1/2% organic matter a plant may use 200 gallons of water. At 1% organic matter it would need 150 gallons of water. But at 2% organic matter the plant would need about 50 gallons, which is 75% less than the 200 gallons.
Final Thought
If we’re working in harmony with nature, the water needed to grow a pound of food is reduced to about 3% of what is normally required (in conventional gardening/farming). That being the case, the vast majority would never really need to water.
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Suggested Reading:
3 Keys to Successful Gardening – More Proof They Work
Needs One Inch of Rain a Week. Oh Yeah?
Watering. It’s Overrated.
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All content including photos is copyrighted by TendingMyGarden.com. All Rights Reserved.
About everything you can think of tastes better when you grow it yourself; especially from an organic garden that works with nature . The only exception I can think of is if you grow varieties that have little or no taste.
Grow the Right Variety
Sometime back a reader told me her husband didn’t like garden lettuce. He preferred store bought. I’d almost be willing to bet it’s the variety that’s the problem there.
Here’s an example that comes to mind:
Black Seeded Simpson is a popular variety of lettuce. By popular I mean grown by many. I can almost bet that it got to be that way because it will endure in the garden when a lot of other varieties have run their course and are no more.
I’ve grown it for many years for that very reason. When I’m without all others, I can probably come up with a few leaves of Black Seeded Simpson if I’m desperate for lettuce.
But that’s just about the only way it gets into the salad bowl.
When prime varieties that are crisp and flavorful, like Sierra Batavia and Winter Density, are available I don’t even consider Black Seeded Simpson. It’s neither crisp nor flavorful. Enjoyable only when you’re a lettuce lover like me and have none of the greats to choose from.
Another example:
A visitor to my garden last July asked to sample my lettuces. He liked them all, but when he put a piece of Sierra Batavia in his mouth it brought a “wow!” reponse. He said it was the highest quality and best tasting lettuce he’d ever had.
Then he tasted Winter Density and it brought close to the same response. But he said if he had to choose one, he’d choose Sierra Batavia.
My visitor also sampled Black Seeded Simpson. No response. We moved on to the next.
Why Not Give It Another Try
If you “hate garden lettuce”, why not give it another try and grow the two favorites I mentioned. You might just change your mind about garden lettuce.
(And by the way, both are open pollinated which will be important if you want to save seed.)
Quality of Commercial Seed Seems to Be on The Decline
Several friends and/or readers have mentioned having problems with germination (and growth) of some of their purchased seed.
Over the past 3 years, that’s my experience as well.
Even though you might be able to get a replacement or your money back, you may have missed the window to plant by the time you realize the problem and contact the seller.
With everything that’s going on in the seed and food industry, this might just be the hand writing on the wall for what the future holds.
Culling Takes Away Some Profit from Commercial Growers
I would imagine that most farmers growing for the seed market would not find it profitable to cull out inferior plants from the field. Each added step takes time and money (for helpers) which takes away from profit.
In our own garden we have much more control and it’s easy to save just the largest and most robust plants to obtain the best seed.
Overall, Better Germination and Stronger Seedlings Result from Saving Your Own Seed
Last fall I planted several varieties including my favorite, Winter Denisty, for going into winter.
Commercial seed that I had on hand germinated much more slowly than saved seed from my garden.
When I shared some of the seedlings with a friend, she told me they were the strongest little lettuce seedlings she had seen. This confirmed what I’ve found to be true as well.
Once You Have an Open-pollinated Variety You Love – Your Next Step to Superior Seed Is Saving Seed
To get superior seed, you have to save your own.
Important Tip
If you’re new to seed saving and you read something that you consider complicated or confusing (either in the this article or somewhere else), don’t pay much attention to it at this time.
Just let a plant go to seed and save the seed. This will teach you more than you realize and eventually when you revisit the seemingly complicated information, you’ll understand it easily.
Even if you make mistakes, you can’t go too far wrong.
How Many Plants Do You Need?
Although one lettuce plant will produce an abundance of seed, it’s better to save seed from 3 plants to get the best lettuce in the long run.
Using at least 3 will give you genetic diversity. That’s what allows future seed/seedlings to slowly adapt to your climate and growing conditions.
And yes, it’s fine to mix the seed together. Nature will automatically sort for you when you plant again. Then when the time comes again to save seed and you choose the biggest and best plants, those are the ones nature has sorted for you as being the best.
If for some reason you only have one plant available for seed saving, proceed anyway. Never let imperfect conditions, or not being able to do everything, stop you from doing what you CAN do.
 Fall planted lettuce in upper left of photo was planted in the fall and is setting seed in June. The row on the right of the picture was spring planted. Four varieties. Just starting to stalk.
 Closer view of lettuce planted in the fall and wintered over. Stalked soonerthan lettuce planted in the spring. Should You Save Seed from a Hybrid or an Open Pollinated Variety?
Seed that will remain true to that variety will come from an open pollinated variety of lettuce.
Understanding the Difference in a Hybrid and an Open Pollinated Plant
Hybrid
If you’ve gardened for a while, you already know that hybrid varieties of any vegetable have two different varieties as parents. In other words, the pollen of one variety is used to pollinate the other variety. Most hybrids on the market have been created with traits that are in the interest of “making a profit” rather than taste or other traits that you might desire from your plants.
When you plant seed produced by a hybrid, you can’t be sure of what you’ll get. In most cases the resulting plants will be less vigorous than the hybrid from which the seed was produced.
The good news is that — over a number of seasons — if you grow and save seed from resulting plants that you consider the best, you might come up with something very nice. AND it can be eventually stabilized by the resulting open-pollination over time.
Open Pollinated
In open pollinated plants there is a free (open) exchange of pollen among like plants. It’s not necessarily limited to one plant pollinating another; the flow of pollen is “open”. So it might be pollinated by more than one plant.
As long as only pollen from the same variety is shared, the seed resulting will produce true to its type (or variety) every year. If pollen from other varieties are shared, the result will be a hybrid.
Determining if a Lettuce is a Hybrid or Open Pollinated Variety.
Not all seed sources tell whether or not the lettuce is an open pollinated or hybrid variety. It can sometimes be difficult to get that information even when you Google it.
Occasionally, I’ll go to the Baker Creek website to see if they carry the variety. If they do, you know it’s open pollinated (since they carry heirlooms only and all heirlooms are open-pollinated). On the downside, there are many great varieties they don’t carry.
If you can’t find the information on the variety of choice, I would assume it’s a hybrid.
Lettuce is Self-Pollinating. So What Does That Mean?
Those dozens of tiny little dandelion-like flowers contain both male and female components. Thus, lettuce is considered self pollinating.
It does not need pollen from another flower to pollinate.
The plant grown from the saved seed will render an almost identical plant.
Cross pollination by other varieties that are close by and blooming at the same time, is not as much of a worry with lettuce, but it is possible.
For example if you have two varieties that stalk up (grow a tall stalk and flower) and intertwine with each other, some of the seed will more than likely cross pollinate.
If this happens some of the seed from each plant may not grow true to type.
Is Cross Pollinating Worth the Worry? And If It Is, Here’s What to Do
Most sources recommend keeping varieties at least 25 feet apart to be sure they don’t cross pollinate.
That would not be practical in my garden. When I plant lettuce I plant 2 to 4 varieties in the same bed or at least within 5 feet of each other.
My seed always seems to produce true to the variety grown in spite of that.
If a few seeds (of the many I saved from one plant) happened to have been “hybrids” (a result of cross pollination), I would more than likely be able to see the difference as the plants of the next generation matured. I would cull out those plants and not allow them to seed.
How to Know When Seed is Ready
When temperatures start to rise, lettuce starts to bolt. It’ll send up a seed stalk that will produce dozens of tiny little dandelion like flowers.
Each plant seems to have it’s own time schedule maturing. So you’ll have plants stalking, producing flowers, and setting seed at different times over a period of several weeks.
As this happens, cull out the shorter and less robust plants. Allow the biggest and the best to seed.
Be sure to mark the variety of the seeding plant. Once lettuce matures to the point of flowering and setting seed, much of it looks identical.
After the flowers bloom, it can take 2 to 4 weeks for the seed to be produced.
When I see a lot of the flower heads turning “fluffy” (again, like a dandelion), I can start collecting seed.
 The flowers are gone and the “fluff” is coming. I’ll wait till a bit more comes and then start harvesting the seed. Several Ways to Collect Seed
- You could make a bag of row cover fabric and tie it over the flowering/seed producing part. Seeds will fall into the bag.
Other than making the bag, this requires less effort and no other attention from you until you remove the bag when seeding is finished.
This is also an excellent and easy way to prevent possible cross pollination.
I’ve also done this with large thin paper bags. The fabric bag is much better, especially for air circulation; but in a pinch this works.
 You’ll notice I had written the variety on the bag with a sharpie. It rained. The bag dried in the sun the next day. I just had to extra careful about making sure the contents of the bag dried. Not the best idea, but it worked.
- Another way is to shake the plants each day or every other day and let the seed fall into a paper bag. (If you have more than one variety be sure and mark the variety on the bag.)
(Be aware that all kinds of little insects usually end up in the bag. Once you put the contents of the bag into a shallow container they’ll leave.)
If for some reason you’ve missed most of the seed producing time and the plant is about finished, you can
- cut the stalk and shake what’s left of the seed into a bag, a tub, or bucket.
 This lettuce is about finished seeding. It was planted in the fall. As summer progressed I planted tomatoes in the bed and culled out the lettuce I didn’t want to seed. Cleaning the Seed (or not)
When I’m collecting seed, there’s so much chaff and fluff that I have to scoop up a hand full and look closely to see if I really do have lettuce seed.
(Some lettuce seed is dark and some is white. )
According to most sources, it’s easy to remove the chaff and fluff before storing.
Supposedly when you pour the collected seed, chaff , and fluff into a shallow tray and run a fan at low speed near the tray, the chaff and fluff will leave and the seed will stay.
The first time I tried this, all the chaff and fluff left, but so did the seed.
I’m sure you’ll do much better than I did. In case you don’t, feel free to store the seed with chaff and fluff. Just make sure it all air drys completely before storing. I’ve done that for years with no problem.
How Long Will Lettuce Seed Keep?
Most sources state that lettuce seed keeps for 6 years when stored properly.
I’ve had it remain viable even longer.
Final Thought
It’s pretty miraculous when you think about being able to create seed that is better adapted to your soil, climate and unique growing conditions.
Nothing special needed, other than the desire to do it.
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Related Posts:
Seed Saving/Seed Storage
Focus on What You Can Do
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All content including photos are copyright by TendingMyGarden.com. All Rights Reserved.
Once we’re no longer a kid, time seems to move more quickly.
That can awaken us to the fact that even the seemingly minor decisions we make from day to day and what we do with life’s precious minutes, can make a huge difference in our future well being.
Knowing even the basic facts about what’s happening in the seed industry, can be powerful enough to determine our behavior regarding whether or not we save seed from vegetables we grow.
Loss of Diversity
There use to be hundreds of varieties of each vegetable. For example, in 1903 there were 497 varieties of lettuce. By 1983 there were only 36 (according to Rural Advancement Foundation International).
Of the 5,000 varieties of vegetables offered for sale in 1981, only 500 were offered in U.S. seed catalogs by 2005.
This great diversity was nature hedging her bets against failure of any one crop in crisis conditions like climate swings, etc. Diversity is a back up plan to insure survival.
As I mentioned in a previous post, profit controls what seeds are commercially grown and saved. Minor crops like those specifically adapted for special regions, taste, nutrition and other specialized corners of the seed market are in danger of being lost forever.
And there goes diversity which would literally insure survival in times of vulnerability.
Chemical and Biotech Companies Buying Up Seed Companies
It was estimated that 20,000 (yes, 20,000!) seed companies were bought by corporations since 1970. And these chemical/biotech companies continue to buy those that will sell to them.
When Monsanto bought the largest vegetable and fruit seed company in the world (Seminis) back in 2005, 43% of the world’s commercial seed supply was then owned by just 4 agrichemical companies (chemical companies involved with agriculture).
As you may have heard, the merger of Bayer and Monsanto seems imminent; as does that of Syngenta and ChemChina.
This will put an even larger part of the world’s commercial seed market under the control of just a few giant multi-national corporations.
Creating Seed for Your Own Unique Growing Conditions
When you save seed from plants grown in your garden, that variety over a period of time adapts to YOUR unique growing conditions.
By taking out inferior or less robust plants and saving only the strongest and best you’ll continually improve the performance of whatever vegetable that seed produces.
Seed suppliers who grow fields of plants for seed, seldom (if ever) take out inferior plants. They save everything. You get the worst with the best.
Knowing that, it’s easy to understand why in a couple or 3 years, your seed is going to out perform any seed of the same variety you could purchase.
Fortunately, saving seed is not complicated and all it takes is a bit of forethought.
Tip: Note the How, What, and When
Until the how, what, and when becomes part you, it’s helpful to make a few notes and tack ‘em to the frig or someplace readily visible for the growing season. (You’ll be amazed at how much this small act can help you get the job done more easily. The more you take a look at your simple notes, the more comfortable you’ll be with taking the necessary actions.)
Final Thoughts
If you don’t already, consider saving seed this year.
With many varieties becoming extinct and giant corporations in control of what remains, having your own seed could make a big difference in how well you can feed yourself and your family in the not too distant future.
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Suggested Reading:
Garden Seed/Heirloom or Hybrid/Information to Help Make the Choice
Monsanto -Don’t Entrust Your Life to Them
Principle of Diversity – Assuring Your Success
Information to Think on Before You Purchase Food, Hydroponics, Cafo-Meats, Vitamins and Grain for Your Animals That You Might Think is Organic
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All content including photos is copyrighted by TendingMyGarden.com. All Rights Reserved.
For those of us who love animals and have had a special pet, we know how much love and laughter they add to our lives.
As you’ve probably guessed, this story is not about gardening, but it’s such a good one that I had to share it with you.
Steve, a long-time friend and reader from Missouri, and his wife were living in Mexico 11 years ago. They bought a little long-haired Chihuahua. Because his coloring forms a mask around his eyes they named him Zorro.
This 8 pound ball of fluff started living up to “hero-status” while they were still in Mexico by alerting his family to a poisonous snake that had accessed the house through the garage. Steve was able to kill it before anyone was bitten.
 Zorro – 8 pounds of heart. On two other occasions Zorro alerted his family to something going on downstairs. Upstairs, they were ready for bed, but this little canine was persistent about getting them up.
When Kathie, Steve’s wife, went downstairs into the kitchen, she immediately smelled gas. The stove knob had been somehow turned on even though it has a safety turn.
Steve said, “Had we gone to bed we would have been gased to death not to mention one time was in the winter, we could have been blown up.”
Final Thoughts
The love for a special animal adds another dimension to our lives.
I think it safe to say that Zorro has added even more than most.
 Zorro __________
All content including photos is copyright by TendingMyGarden.com. All rights reserved.
If you’ve grown Cilantro, you already know it doesn’t like warm temperatures. Often when seed is started in the spring and temperatures turn warm, even small young plants stalk and set seed.
Some years ago when I started growing this herb, this happened to me.
As it turns out, it was the best thing. Here’s why.
I had planted a dozen seedlings in a small area about 3′ x 3′ at the end of a bed. It turned very warm and all 12 plants shot up and set seed. I left them undisturbed.
The following fall the seed germinated. I had gorgeous cilantro plants that gave me all the cilantro I could use. Then they made it through the winter unprotected.
Wintered over plants give you a lot more herb to use for a longer period of time than those just started in the spring. (At least that’s what happened in my garden.)
And plants from seed dropped in the garden don’t seem to stalk-up as quickly as the ones started from purchased seed. When they do, I let them drop their seed and start again.
Best soil temperature for germination is 55ºF to 68ºF; so now is the time. If your soil is already too warm, germinate the seed indoors where it’s cooler.
You don’t need anything fancy to check your soil temperature. This is the soil thermometer I use.
If you haven’t already tried growing cilantro this way, you might want to give it a go.
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All content including photos is copyrighted by TendingMyGarden.com. All Rights Reserved.
As I brought out in the last post, we’re not required to know every detail to be successful in gardening. With the few essential facts (a/k/a fundamentals) we can achieve success. Nature will do all the complicated stuff for us if we give her a chance.
The Seed
Although it’s been more than 56 years since I was in high school, I still remember studying “seed “in botany class.
Here’s what I learned:
A seed contains all the nutrients needed to get seedlings off to a good start.
To germinate put seed in moist soil (or grow mix) when temperatures are warm enough.
That’s it. Knowing these 4 essential facts allows anyone to start seed without additional information.
What’s Promoted
There’s an extremely popular fellow who does videos. He’s organic and I think sincere.
In spite of that, he promotes (and I think he believes it ) the use of a lot of things that are not needed if a gardener is following along with nature.
He and numerous others recommend adding various fertilizers, composts, and such to grow mix before starting seed. In most cases this is NOT necessary, as the seed has everything the seedling will need for some time.
Below are seedlings I started in jug bottoms. Three to a container growing in plain grow mix which has no nutrients. As you can see they’re just fine after being in the same container for 6 weeks or more.
 Seedlings in plain grow mix for 6 weeks or more. Your Growing Strategy May Indicate Doing it Differently
For example: maybe you want to grow your plants much larger before transplanting and not have to pot -up as they grow.
You could start with a container large enough to accommodate the size plant you’re hoping for. Let’s say a 12” plant.
Add nutrient dense soil to the grow mix, or shredded leaves, or compost. Plant 3 seeds. Keep the strongest.
As the seedling outgrows the seed (its nutrient source), the rich soil, shredded leaves, or compost will provide for the growing plant until it’s transplanted to the garden.
To me it seems obvious, that in most cases, all these advertised additions to grow mix are about selling products, rather than what you need to get the desired results.
Nitrogen – Statistics Show It’s the Most Over Used “Amendment”
It’s easy to understand why the average gardener thinks it necessary to use additional nitrogen. Almost everything you read about many vegetables (and especially onions) say that nitrogen should be applied before and during growth.
The chemical companies have done a good job of “selling” the need for “added” nitrogen.
I can’t over emphasis the fact that if you’re working with nature and replenishing organic materials which will turn to organic matter, you do NOT need to concern yourself with having enough nitrogen.
Nature is efficient and precise. She will release the nitrogen needed by plants at just the right time when temperatures and growing conditions are right.
You need do nothing but watch.
Onions and Nitrogen
Much of what you read about growing onions, especially from commercial sources, recommends adding nitrogen as many as 3 to 4 times after planting.
In most cases when nitrogen is recommended it’s for more and faster growth. In the case of onions it’s said to produce larger onions.
In the almost 40 years that I’ve grown onions, I’ve NEVER added nitrogen. I can tell you first hand, that you can get large onions without added nitrogen.
In spite of the fact that I don’t even want large onions, because the medium sized onions better fit my everyday use of them, I STILL get a lot of very large onions. Even with planting closer than most folks to try to size them down some, many get softball size.
 These have almost finished curing. I like medium size onions, but I still get a lot of huge ones even though I take steps to keep them smaller. (Such as planting closer together.) Onions – Storage and Nitrogen
In spite of their recommendation to add nitrogen, a newsletter from one supplier mentioned growing onions with a low nitrogen supply as one way to prolong natural dormancy (for longer storage).
Allowing nature to decide the perfect amount of nitrogen needed, you’ll get good sized onions and onions that store better.
Another Statement I’ve Found to Be Incorrect
Another thing that is commonly said and believed is that all plants should get off to a fast start and keep growing quickly. Often the recommendation is to add nitrogen to force growth to make that a reality.
Had I taken that conventional advice years ago, I would never have known that statement is incorrect. But I didn’t take it, and my warm weather crops, especially my peppers, proved to me it was wrong.
Here’s how:
As you may recall, I germinate my seed inside and the next day they go outside; under protection of course when the weather warrants it – and it does in late winter and early spring.
Most warm weather crops are not going to grow a lot until the weather warms. Peppers especially.
If I plant peppers in mid March – they germinate, grow to about 2 inches, look nice and green and healthy and then proceed to do absolutely nothing until it warms to suite them in mid June. Then they grow to 4 to 6 feet (depending on variety) so quickly it’s amazing.
And they produce dozens (and depending on variety it can be hundreds) of peppers.
 It took 7 stakes to hold this one plant. I counted at least 100 peppers when the picture was taken last October. Plant is over 5 feet tall.
 Peppers ripening in abundance. Plant is an inch or so taller than I am (5’6″) Another Fundamental Concept – There’s Always a Price
One of the basics to keep in mind is that when you force growth you’re going to pay some type of price for that, even if you can’t “see” it.
One of the most common “prices” that many gardeners pay for added nitrogen is lush growth and no fruit.
Hybrids Are a Great Example of Exchanging One Thing for Another.
Most hybrids are created for their fast growth and lots of fruit. (Appealing to market growers, and to basic human nature of wanting more as quickly as possible.)
An open pollinated version might be a lot slower to produce and gives less fruit, but it has more nutrition. Good stuff takes time.
It’s fun to play, but just keep in mind that nature keeps track of everything. When you change one thing, something else changes as well, even if you don’t know about it.
Philosopher and writer Alan Watts worded it well:
“—every act of interference with the course of nature changes it in unpredictable ways.
—The more one interferes, the more one must analyze an ever growing volume of detailed information about the results of interference on a world whose infinite details are inextricably interwoven.”
Is It Really Necessary?
As I mentioned in the last post, many products and even growing methods are deemed necessary ONLY as a result of exchanging nature’s simple (but efficient) way for something complicated.
By knowing the few fundamentals, you’ll be able to discern the difference.
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Suggested Reading:
Peppers – It Ain’t Necessarily So
Answering the Question: Do You Need to Add Fertilizers to Your Garden to Feed This Year’s Crops?
Organic Residues – the Needed Energy for Soil Fertility
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All content including photos are copyrighted by TendingMyGarden.com. All Rights Reserved.
When I first started gardening almost 40 years ago, I was always trying to figure out why this, that, or the other was wrong. Much of what I perceived as being wrong was just the way nature does things.
Over the years I came to realize that success in gardening involves knowing only a few fundamental things.
And yes, of course, there is always something else we can learn, but fortunately for us, knowing everything is not a requirement for success in the garden.
Fundamentals like proper soil preparation, keeping the soil covered, replenishing the organic materials/matter in the soil, good air circulation, and paying attention to what’s happening are basics that allow you to be successful without knowing a lot of details.
Once you understand the fundamentals, which are always few in number, you don’t have to be too concerned about anything else. No need to look for some exotic answer to solve what you perceive to be a problem.
More than likely if you’re working with nature, all will be well. All you have to do is watch, tend, and continue to learn.
Through The Ages Others Have Come To The Same Conclusion
One of the most profound quotes I’ve come across that supports the concept was from Mortimer J. Adler, author of How to Read a Book.
Published in 1940 it was an immediate best seller. And remained a nationwide best seller for more than a year.
The book was revised in 1972 to accommodate various changes in technology that effected literacy. For example, radio and tv.
Understanding the Purpose of the Book Gives More Meaning to the Quote
What had not changed since 1940 in the author’s opinion – (which I find accurate if based on my own schooling experience) – was the the lack of instruction in reading skills beyond the elementary level.
Thus, for “all intents and purposes” a “student remained a 6th grade reader till well along in college.”
That is probably more emphatically true today than in 1972.
The purpose of the book was to change that condition for the reader.
The Adler Quote
In talking about mankind knowing more (having more details) about the world now than in the past years, Adler states,
“— knowledge is NOT as much a prerequisite to understanding as is commonly supposed.
We do not have to know everything about something in order to understand it; too many facts are often as much an obstacle to understanding as too few.”
Continuing to Learn Once We Understand The Fundamentals
Facts or Marketing?
One of the reasons that it’s important to understand fundamentals before we tackle all the details, is because of the difficulty (especially for beginners) in separating what’s actual fact from what’s marketing to sell a product.
Many products and even growing methods are deemed necessary only as a result of nature’s simple way being exchanged for something complicated.
As a result what is often stated as a fact is not necessarily “truth” and is only a “fact” as it applies to conventional agriculture.
Final Thoughts
I’ll give you some examples in the next post.
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Suggested Reading
3 Books That Can Change Your Garden, Your Health, and The Way You Look at Life.
3 Keys to Successful Gardening – More Proof They Work
Organic Residues – The Needed Energy for Soil Fertility
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All content including photos are copyrighted by TendingMyGarden.com. All Rights Reserved.
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