Done with Creeping, Ready for Leaping

According to the old garden adage: first year sleeps, second year creeps & third year leaps, my garden is about to leap. I’m not really sure what to make of this ‘leaping’ prediction but most of my plants survived winter, so, let the leaping begin.

At the beginning of the season there was a wonderful turnout of bulbs, (I just wish I had something like 1,000 more!). The daffodils put on their show and have since wilted away. The large wood hyacinths didn’t last much longer and when the new tulips burst forth they were center stage. I planted some new bulbs last fall that I had never grown before and I was, while not fully disappointed, I felt they could have done better.

Only a few Anemone Lord Lieutenant came up.







Camassia Quamash put on a good show:







Chionodoxa Forbesi Pink Giant did not do hardly anything, therefore I don’t have a
photo.


Iris Reticulata came up two weeks later than usual and didn’t last very long (of course these beauties never seem to last long enough). Here they are popping up behind Salvia East Friesland.



Ornithogalum Umbellatum did really well.






Here are some of the new tulips we planted last fall:
Catherina









Cri de Coeur









Saxatilis









I’m also pretty excited about all the vigorous growth from catmint, caryopteris (blue mist), lilacs, and groundcovers.

The catmint, Nepeta Walker’s Low, was the first to really get going (I love brushing against it when I’m weeding, the fragrance is amazing). Bees love it too.





Caryopteris Sunshine Blue started leafing-out on about the same day as the previous two years.






If I’m not mistaken, Dianthus Agatha and Desmond are a little larger this year, and photos confirm it.















Salvia East Friesland never disappoints.







Monarda Blue Stockings (bee balm) is leafing out, can’t wait to see it bloom again.






Clematis Jackmanii is really leaping this year.







Now, since the plentiful Spring rains have done their part to get everything blooming so beautifully, it’s time for me to do mine.

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Grass Clippings: Toss ‘em or Mulch ‘em?

One perpetual question homeowners deal with is what to do with grass clippings. Of course some people don’t worry about it, they just throw all clipping into the trash which adds to the growing problem of methane gas buildup at our landfills. They either don’t have a garden or don’t want to deal with a compost pile. Or, they just have too many weeds in their lawn.

Now, I have to admit I am one of those guys who actually enjoys mowing my lawn. It only takes me about an hour and it is an opportunity to examine the entire yard to see where there are problems developing. Also, I can see where weeds are becoming a problem around the flower and vegetable beds.

This year the issue hasn’t bothered me too much but its about to. What I have done with grass clippings so far is to spread them over a couple new beds I’m developing. You see it takes about a year before any new bed is ready to be planted in, that is using the method I do. There are quicker ways. Anyway, during that year I pile up the grass clippings on the planned beds and let them break down on their own. Occasionally, I’ll add some garden soil, some vegetable matter from the kitchen and some nitrogen fertilizer. But it is beginning to get to the point where those beds are getting pretty deep. I have been piling clippings along the fence on the west side of my yard to help keep down the amount of trimming I have to do with the string trimmer. It works to a point, and it is beginning to look like maybe I should build a new bed along the fence. It would be a great place to grow some flowering vines and some peas and beans.

I have learned that leaving clippings on the lawn does not create thatch as was once commonly believed and since I regularly aerate the lawn the build up of thatch is not a concern. That whole cycle of returning nitrogen and other nutrients back into the soil appeals to me. Plus, its that many fewer bags I have to haul away from the mower. At one point last year I collected nineteen bags of clippings! Usually early in the season, but OMG, I was amazed. Typically its seven to nine bags because I don’t regularly cut the lawn on a set schedule, anywhere from 8-11 days. The taller grass helps hold moisture in the soil and it seems to be working.

My lawn has plenty of earthworms as illustrated by the activity of Robins and Starlings pulling them up.

A couple of years ago, I learned that you should not place grass clippings on a compost pile if you have fed the grass within the previous two weeks. What I do with these is spread them over a concrete pad near the compost pile for a couple of weeks to dry it and then they can go on the pile.

So, toss ‘em or mulch ‘em? I’m going to start leaving them on the lawn and see what happens. Near the end of the year I’ll see whether or not any thatch has built up and go from there. Now, about starting new beds, I may have to ask some neighbors for their grass clippings.

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CAFOs Are Killing Us (NAIS Sucks)

clipped from kjpermaculture.blogspot.com Susan Blasko is a cancer survivor twice over. She now incorporates local farm fresh foods into her diet in her on-going quest for health. She was selected at random to speak at the USDA Listening Session on NAIS (National Animal Idenification System) that took place in Harrisburg, PA this month. Here is the complete text of her remarks. The fact that I am here at all should be an indication to you that the truth is dawning at last on the general population. For many years your department has been trying to force NAIS on us. What part of “NO” don’t you understand? Yes, the eyes of the public are being pried open by the undeniable, inescapable truth: that the aim of the National Animal Identification Scam is to put small farmers out of business so that big-ag can be the sole provider of the world’s food; that the food your department approves is making us sick and sterile that CAFOs are the origins of foodborne illness that the USDA is fully prepared to use force to implement NAIS

Bravo! Ms Blasko hit them where they cannot ignore her. But they probably will anyway because someone is going to make money from the NAIS.

She speaks for millions when she lists the seven ‘inconvenient truths’. What the USDA and Ag Dept are doing in unconscionable.

I don’t know how many of you understand the dire situation our food system has been put in, but Ms Blasko’s remarks will gone a long way to informing you.

Please read, for a better understanding of how to protect your health and the health of your loved ones.

Ms Blasko says: ‘I am deeply troubled by what I’ve learned about NAIS. Not only is it expensive, intrusive, discriminatory, and deliberately hostile to small farmers; it is downright unconstitutional. Go back to the drawing board. Stand up to big-ag and industrial food processors’.

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Agrichemicals Are Not Needed or Welcomed

I read a commentary posted in Grist entitled “Agrichemical industry steps up pressure on White House organic garden”. The author compared the mafia’s infamous ‘protection scheme’ with an agrichemical company’s letter writing campaign to ‘entice’ Michelle Obama into using chemicals on the White House garden.

Okay, this is a bit of a stretch.

You can’t fault agrichemical companies for pushing their products because that’s what businesses do to stay alive. However, you can fault them for the tactics they use to sell those products: mis-information and the omission of relevant facts.

Despite the amount of data available warning of the toxic side effects of chemicals in the gardens, to humans, pets, soil and wildlife in general, far too many home gardeners are buying into the wrong-headed notion that chemical ‘protection’ is required to have a healthy and productive garden.

If gardeners would concern themselves with maintaining the health of the soil, which in turn promotes the health of the plant, there would be no need for chemicals. Pests don’t attack healthy plants.

In the gardening blogosphere we know the many benefits of using compost to feed the soil. There are tons of sites citing personal experience with its benefits, I am included in that number and urge everyone to participate and leave the chemicals on the store shelf.

Nature has a marvelous answer to harmful pests: beneficial insects. Using chemicals to rid the bad guys also kill off the beneficials.

Most chemical pesticides are petroleum based. Another good reason to avoid them.

Other ways to ensure a healthy garden is to allow for good air circulation. Overcrowding your plants allows them to stay wet longer which makes them more susceptible to fungus and other diseases.

Using natural repellants such as sprays made out of hot peppers, coyote or bobcat urine, rotten eggs, bonemeal, or bloodmeal (even castor oil) can make your garden unappetizing to herbivores. Reapply the repellents frequently, especially after rain.

What we need to do is write to Ms. Obama to congratulate her for her level-headed thinking by not using chemicals and remind her that farmers managed to feed this nation for decades without the ‘protection’ of agrichemicals.

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Vinegar as weedkiller

Here’s something interesting I want to pass along concerning vinegar as a weed killer. Vinegar can kill weeds but it’s not the same vinegar that you find in your kitchen. Kitchen vinegar is 5% acetic acid. To be effective against weeds, vinegar must be distilled to 10 to 20 % acetic acid. Such concentrated vinegar exists as commercial food-prep product—such as that used by pickle manufacturers. However it isn't labeled/bottled for home cooks and it isn't labeled as an herbicide.

There are a few gardening products using "horticultural vinegar" that are labeled for home use as an herbicide, but they aren't available everywhere (they must be registered state by state).

If you look for a vinegar-based herbicide at the garden center, make sure it is registered with the EPA, and follow the instructions carefully. Concentrated acetic acid can burn the skin and damage the eyes. Keep the area closed off until the spray has dried.

Finally, you may have heard that homemade concoctions using kitchen vinegar (5% acetic acid) do kill weeds. It's true to a short extent. 5% acetic acid can kill certain types of weeds when they are young. However it can also damage nearby plants, and it doesn't kill the roots, only the top growth. So perennial weeds will return.

As hard as it can be to accept, the most effective (and safest) weed control is hand pulling.

So, you can save your household vinegar for cleaning around the house and of course for cooking recipes. It seems pulling weeds by hand is still the safest way to go.

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