Garden Update – March 26, 2012
Is this early, extremely warm Spring the country is experiencing a blessing or a curse? This time last year we were all still comfortably in hoodies, embracing the midday sunshine, and closing up the house at night against the early spring chill.
As of this posting, I am nursing my first sunburn of the year. This weekend – full of hiking and biking and time in the garden – was as fabulous as it was exhausting.
It was also the weekend of the transplanting. For the first time this year I had the thought: we might have started too many seeds.
The long process, about 200 seedlings in all
Everything that had been living in the inch-wide Jiffy pellets for the past few weeks got an upgrade yesterday into an either 2 or 4 inch pot. Each pot required soil, labeling, watering and real estate. What conveniently fit into four small trays now has to jockey for space among 9 enormous trays that are continually circulated around the house and outside for sunlight.
Currently our home smells like earth. The winds have kept the plants indoors today and me trading out the pallets every few hours. If it weren’t for the unpredictable nighttime chills the plants would have gone straight into the ground.
Keeping things labeled
When transplanting:
Use a good garden soil. Pack the soil around the plant firmly, but not tightly. Gotta give those roots some room to spreadout.
Tomatoes have likely developed a long stem. When transplanting tomatoes, do your best to cover as much of the stem with soil. The plant will create new roots from the stem, allowing the plant to grow taller and stronger.
A buried stem in a 4 inch pot
Immediately after transplanting your seedling may look a little weak (dare I say, pitiful?) .Fret not, this is just a symptom of transplant shock. Water, warmth, and light will allow your plant to continue growing strong.
Keep everything watered, but not necessarily saturated. This is prime time for rotting roots and fungus attacks. Allow the soil to dry out from time to time.
And, of course, make sure your plants get plenty of time outside to harden off and acclimate to their eventual home!
Eyes bigger than stomach
We have a few seed-trading events coming up. Hopefully we’ll be able to share this wealth among those we know!
How is your garden progressing? What are some challenges you are dealing with?
Get the best from Not Quite Hippie delivered to your inbox every week. Sign up here!
read moreChallenges of winter sustainability
Our preserve shelf. Half empty.
Potato growing box (click image for full directions)
Greening your resolutions
Think not only of how this year’s resolutions can better yourself, but how you can use them to better the world around you.
Taking resolutions one step further gives us options
What would happen if you took your resolutions one step further? You’d be surprised. Not only would you be doing your community a favor, but the resolutions stand a chance of surviving past January.Common resolutions look like the following:
- lose weight/ get fit
- save money
- more time with family/friends
- travel more.
- Curb your meat consumption. Ideally, all of the way down to zero. The word is out that meat isn’t great for you, is anything but awesome for the environment, and the meat that eventually makes its way to your plate is loaded with antibiotics. By moving meat from the center of your plate to an occasional side dish you’ll be taking about 1/3 off the top of your grocery bill. Those 10 pounds you resolved to lose? Dropping meat will definitely drop those. You’ll also find yourself with more energy to do things like, say, exercise! Or be active. Or, ultimately, sleep better.
- Consider the energy. From moving your car to heating your home, we spend a surprising amount of money on fuels. Everything we consume requires energy of some capacity to be produced. Keep this in mind when changing your consumption habits. Take shorter showers, modify your home so it is better insulated, ride your bike to work or consider working remotely a few days a week. I anticipate a lot more remote workers and telecommuting this year, its up to you to convince your employer that it is an option worth exploring.
- Cook at home. Sure, you’re saving money. But you’re also preparing foods that are better for you and you can cook extra to save for another meal. You also have the option of sourcing locally grown and organic foods – supporting your farmers and smarter growing practices. When planning menus and shopping for food, try to think beyond of “what do I want to eat” and more into “what is available?” Eat within reason by eating within season.
- Cultivate communities. Either through participation or facilitation, by just starting conversations about green and sustainable lifestyles works to change people’s minds and habits. This past year I’ve enjoyed hosting a few parties with food-based themes, showing off my garden, and working through this site to show both friends and strangers that living a more sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle is well within everyone’s reach.
This year, think one step further.
Taking action against the Secret Farm Bill (which shouldn’t be a secret at all)
Why are we still surprised that politics comes in secret? Yes, we are a “Democratic Republic”, which means we elect representatives to handle most of the decision making, to do most of the research, and to craft bills and laws that will benefit the people they represent. When something can’t be decided on in Washington, it goes to the people in the form of elections.As a result, a lot of what goes on happens in relative secrecy. Bills end up being encyclopedic in length and no one actually wants to review them. Not surprisingly, what the bill is supposed to do and what it actually does end up being two different things.
The farm bill is one of those things that happens under the radar because 1) most citizens wouldn’t be able to make heads or tails of it and 2) it has become super-greasy with the hundreds of lobbyist, corporate, and special interest paws that are all over it.
The Farm Bill is, for the most part, pretty important and well-intended. It does, after all, determine what crops and practices will be subsidized. However, in recent decades the bill has become more and more of a machine to allow for the greatest profits in BigAgriculture and the huge food corporations. The Farm Bill is more or less the reason corn and soy is in absolutely everything.
Food authority and writer Michael Pollan (author of In Defense of Food and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, both great reads) speaks his mind in this short video.
What can you do? Well, take a few moments to educate yourself. This does, after all, concern your food – the very thing you eat every day. Why not do it right?
Why we save seed
Seed to Seed is a great resource for those looking to get serious about saving seeds
Since the advent of agriculture we have saved seed for one reason or another. It’s simple economy: one seed in the ground usally grows into dozens or hundreds of seeds. Some fruit is eaten, some of it stored, traded and sold, or saved for the next season. In short the seed is what promises us food for the next season.
It is more important now than ever that seeds are saved from season to season. With each passing generation of farmers seed varieties are dwindling thanks to factory farming methods. Biogenetically altered seeds are infiltrating our supply. Entire batches off seeds are being burned and destroyed due to contamination.
Many of us get our gardening seeds from hardware stores. Usually your Ace Hardware or Home Depot will have a good selection of responsibly acquired seeds. However, I would recommend researching seed companies, ordering catalogs, and acquiring your safe, sustainable seeds from a smaller, local company.
When we pick most vegetables, the seeds within them are present but immature. Most plants will continue to grow fruits until it has created a package of fully mature seeds, or until it dies. We had a zuchinni over the summer which grew to about the size of my forearm, after we picked it the plant didn’t produce too many other zukes.
Every type of seed ha a different process of how they are saved. Some plants need to mature fully to the point of flowering (such as basil, mint) in order to harvest seeds. Beans need to be left on the vine until they have grown past the point of being edible. Tomatoes require a degree of fermentation (it’s kinda gross).
Consistent things to keep in mind when saving seeds:
1) Only save seeds from plants you have grown on your own soil. I wouldn’t recommend attempting to save seeds out of store-bought produce.
2) Seeds saved should come from plants that were grown from heirloom seeds and openly pollinated.
3) Save seeds in paper envelopes (to keep dry) and clearly label the envelope.
Seeds are one of those collectable items that don’t take a lot of space (all of the seeds we’ve saved and collected fit in a tin lunch box) and can be traded, gifted, or sold to your friends and neighbors (community building!). It may take an extra effort. Then again, what sustainable practice doesn’t take another step or two?
read more
