Geeks in the Garden

After a late visit to the garden Sunday night, I noticed something strange on the bottom leaves of my precious, precious tomato plants. The leaves had yellow dots with brown centers and I worried something wasn't write. Earlier in that week, I had read in the local paper that early tomato blight was spotted in Southern Indiana and that's where I began my research. Turns out I was right...unfortunately.

A quick breakdown for those of you don't know what a tomato blight is. First off, there are two kinds: early and late. Those are pretty self explanatory: early blight happens early in the tomato's growing season (May-June) and late happens later in the summer (July-August). A blight is a fungal infection and is spread through spores that can show up either via wind or soil. Fungus lives in soil so when it rains or you water your plants, if water hits the soil and bounces up touching your leaves, that's when infection occurs.

So what can you do? First, remove all infected leaves and be careful not to touch either the infected leaves or your hands (which now have fungal spores on them) to non-infected leaves. This stuff spreads so be careful! Second, completely remove the infected leaves from your garden. This is not something you leave on the ground of your garden or in your compost bin. As stated above, this stuff lives in your soil and will come back. Third, put mulch down around your plants. Mulch is great for two reasons: 1) provides a layer between the fungus infected soil so when that rain comes down, the fungus doesn't go back up and 2) keeps moisture in the soil so your plants don't dry out. Fourth comes the fungicide spray. You can find organic fungicide - look for a sign on the bottle that says, "Safe for the organic garden." In Menards last night, I found some scary looking bottles of fungicide so read before you buy. If you don't feel comfortable with it - don't buy it. One quick note about fungicide: do not spray your plants if it's over 80 degrees. This can cause a burning effect on the plants and will just do more damage than good.

To combat my own blight, I did all of these things but added a step. I bought kelp meal (yup, seaweed!) a while ago to use as an organic fertilizer. Before putting mulch down, I spread the kelp throughout the garden then put the mulch on top of that. Right as I was doing that,  a huge rainstorm passed through and, not only soaked me through and through, helped integrate the kelp into the soil. I'm anxious to go out tonight after work and see how the garden looks. It was a race to the finish last night for sure.

I must admit: kelp meal is the only fertilizer that doesn't terrify me. The rest just seem to have too many risks with burning and over doing it. I'll stick with seaweed and be happy with it.

Two weekends ago we added another layer of wood to the shortest bed we had as it was just too short and we could not really plant anything of substance in it. Also, it was right at bunny eye level so they would eat their way through the bird netting and feast upon our veggies. But no more! Last weekend we filled it up with lots of soil and composted cow manure then planted some plants and seeds. We already have sprouts! It's so exciting!

As for the other beds, we have planted some baby corn and added more tomatoes to the big bed. Our cherry tomato plants are going crazy as you can see in the picture. I am looking forward to being overwhelmed with those.

Plans for this weekend may be complicated by more rain. If not, we'll be raising the poles that support the bird netting in the recently upgraded bed so we can have beans and peas poles in the bed. Also, now is the time for mulch! We'll be putting lots of mulch around the plants to help deter weeds and keep moisture in the beds. We're also planning on mulching the areas around the beds so we don't have to fight weeds there. Our weed whacker isn't working quite right so looking forward to not having to worry about that.

Also, I'm very excited - I just ordered some powdered kelp! That should be here by midweek and that'll get our plants some yummy nutrients. Yes - I have turned in to a gardening geek. I'm fine with it.

Our apologies for the lack of updates. It has been a busy and very rainy few days so not much gardening has been going on. We have transplanted the rest of our little seedlings to larger pots: some are thriving, some not. About two weekends ago, we did plant in the big bed some sweet peppers (bought), tomatoes (that we had started), and some basil. During that time, we have had two frosts so around 9 pm the night before Dan and I run out with a stack of boxes and placed those on top of plants. It seems to have worked, that extra bit of protection.
The same weekend we planted, we also spent a lot of time cleaning out the other beds. Right now, they're filled with those maple helicopter/spinner seeds - I've never wanted to cut down a tree so bad in my life. The beds look like little spinner graveyards.
Whenever the sun comes out again, the plans for the garden are building up the small bed with another level of wood to add depth. We will also be building up the netting. Right now, we have rather short bottom pipe (about two feet tall) and we want to bring that up to the same height as the big bed, about 4-5 feet.

There's a time before we plant in the garden and since we've started seeds in the seed starter, that I start to panic that we haven't bought enough seeds. Then I look at my stack of seeds, remind myself that I don't need to buy more then look at them online anyway.

Bad gardener.

Yesterday was our first day in the garden - oh how I've missed it! We have prepped the small bed and half of the big guy. In the latter, we've planted lettuce, spinach, kale, cabbage and carrots - all of those are cold hardy so that if we have a last rush of cold air, they'll be fine. Whilst prepping the small bed, I rediscovered some horseradish that I planted last year. I transferred that to a pot where it won't be disturbed by the corn that we're going to plant in that bed.

I also did quite a bit of repotting yesterday. Boris the Badass beanstalk now has his own pot and doesn't look happy about it. He's become very saggy so I worry that he isn't happy and will die soon. Alas. I also repotted about 15 little tomato plants and did some thinning in the seed starter. I'm very worried about the seeds that haven't sprouted yet and shall assume that they just aren't going to grow. Damnit.

Yesterday was also my first trip to Menards in months. A small secret: I have a dirty obsession with Menards. I love that store. I could spend all my time and money in there and never have regrets. I can't explain it. It's probably linked to taking trips there with my dad as a kid and I hated it. I would be so bored and he wouldn't let me bring a book (I was book obsessed as a child) - I hated it. Now, that place calls to me like a siren. And! We have to go back next weekend for more soil! Yahoo!

We planted our seeds in their little seed starters about a month ago and how much we've already learned!

Lesson the first: Do Not Plant Corn!

Corn has a very long tap root which I completely forgot when I got all excited laying out seeds to start back in late February. Now we have tap roots going everywhere and I look forward to cutting out the plants from their plastic containers - there's no way we're going to be able to salvage the containers. Thank heavens, they're recyclable.

Lesson the second: Do Not Plant Soy!

As you can see from Dan's posts about Boris, his kind do not need encouragement. Right now, we have two huge soy seedlings that are dominating the plants around them. They are the bullies on the garden playground.

Lesson the third: Plant Slow Emergers Together!

Such as tomatoes and peppers. Some peppers have only emerged this week. The pear tomatoes I started are doing phenomenal. The heirloom varieties, on the other hand, are taking their damn sweet, sweet time. My tomatilloes on my other, other hand are non-existent. I keep insisting that tomatilloes can be planted and harvested really well in Zone 5 and all my internet research has agreed. So far, I've been proved wrong.

The Solution?

This weekend we're going to do some re-potting, starting with Boris. I have some larger containers that I think Boris and his bully buddy will love to grow into. If it survives, I may replant his little container with some more tomatoes - I've got a fever and the only prescription is more tomato seeds! As for the corn, I'm thinking of sacrificing them to the gods of spring and planting them in their little raised bed early this year. I'm about two weeks early to plant according to the Farmer's Almanac but trust me when I say I think the corn is about ready to burst its little containers.

Last weekend, I posted about Boris, a plant with wanton disregard for its peers. The next day, Boris gave me the finger. Of course, he’s a much, much bigger plant now; but for one day, he really looked like he was flipping me off.

Gardeners are like Cylons: we have a plan.

Honestly, you have to. Last summer we bought and planted without thinking too much about it. It turned out well but it could have been better. And that's what I've been obsessed thinking about for the past few months as winter raged outside.

My major concern were bugs. Last year, our vine plants (cucumber and melon, mainly) barely made it a month of being full grown before these weird gray bugs invaded and drained the life out of them. We harvested less than five cucumber and no melons due to the little bastards. Thank god I forgot to plant the zucchini. My goal this year is to try and control them without resorting to pesticides. My first thought is companion planting. This page has been a great help to me and I'm going to try as much of it as I can. There are no guarantees with companion planting but we're going to try. This year, we're planting cucumbers with radishes in hopes of deterring those nasty little beetles. The same page suggests growing yarrow in your garden as it's a natural fertilizer. We're trying to be organic (as much as we can!) so natural fertilizers are welcome.

I am also trying to persuade Dan that we need at least two more beds, if not four. We still have some weird spots around the house that a raised bed could improve the looks of. Besides, I want a bed for just herbs and a separate tea bed to plant mint, bee balm, chamomile, etc. At least this year we know how to build them!

Another item that we're going to add to the garden is more rain barrels around the house. We currently have the one and every time it rained last year, it would overflow. This year we're going to add a barrel to that barrel (piggy back!) and at least one more to the other side of the house. Rain barrels are the one thing every gardener must have - must! Using tap water to keep those plants happy is too expensive. Use what's out there! If you buy one pre-made, it is expensive but it's a one-time cost that will last for years. If you don't mind ugly, you can convert a round trash can into a rain barrel by cutting a hole in the lid.

The next idea I want to try is 2 liter watering. What that is taking clean 2 liter soda bottles and punching holes in the bottom 2-3 inches. You then bury them halfway down in the garden and fill them up. The soil will hydrate as it needs and it will also get deeper soil wet - that's what the roots want, that's what the roots get! It's also good for when you're on vacations or just forgetful.

Dan and I started our garden last year mainly because I forced him to do so. I grew up all over the Midwest and my fondest memories of our house in Wisconsin that had a huge garden in the back. My family only did this two or three summers but I remember being so excited when we had fresh corn out of the garden and remembering how much better it tasted than something store bought. Beyond that, I also thought this was the better way to get more veggies into our diet (Dan's a dedicated carnivore so I had to do something to make him eat better!) but without spending hundreds of dollars in the grocery store every month on produce. Why buy it when you can grow it?

When we bought our current house, there was a long strip of gravel (on top of many, *many* layers of decaying plastic) that used to be a dog run. At first, we thought that eventually we'd dig it up and plant grass on it. After trying to do so, we realized that it would take a backhoe and that would be too expensive. We then decided it would be a perfect place for raised beds. The gravel would provide not only good drainage but an informal walk way around the beds.

Our final design involved building three beds. Two that are 6 X 10 feet and one that is 4 X 4. The variety of pots you see at the bottom are mainly to cover up a rather uneven patch of gravel (I'm trying to convince Dan to build yet another bed on top of that - we'll see if that happens). Eventually (not seen in the picture), we added PVC piping arches over the beds and