Early April Gardening Fever Leads to Death

It is early spring and Oaks Gardens is gone. It died and will be born again as Oaks Shopping Center. But fear not for lack of garden plants and supplies for Lowe's Home Improvements is just a hop, skip and a jump away. They seem to be ready to fill your gardening needs.

On the last day of March, there were already flowers, 

vegetables, 

herbs 

and plenty of garden supplies out in front of the store.

There were mostly cold hardy plants but be aware of each plant's hardiness.

I remember one year, a long time ago, I got gardening fever. It was just after moving into my first home in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia. We had never had a garden in my parent's home in South Philly. So I wasn't savvy when it came to planting times.

It was very early April and I visited the nearby garden supply store in Glenside, PA. There before me were trays and trays of beautiful blooming plants. Plants that I just had to have. I was driven by desire and purchased quite a few impatiens and begonias. I spent a whole day spacing the pink, white and red plants perfectly in the front of my house. I stepped back and admired my labor and the beauty of the flowering plants.

Sometime around the sixth or seventh of the very same month a sudden snow materialized. Those tender plants were blanketed in pure fresh frozen whiteness.

All were lost.

I learned a lesson that year that I remember vividly to this day. Gardening fever may cloud your judgement and lead to death.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Garden Prep - Cleanup

There are less than 30 days before my first planting of the square foot garden plot.  It is time to clean up the garden and flower beds in preparation for spring growing.


I started by turning over the shredded leaves that sit atop my 4' x 4' square foot garden plot.  I also added some coffee grinds and egg shells. [see 2:27 time stamp of video below]  Both will add nutrients to the composting leaves.  Some of the leaves were soggy from recent rains, others were bone dry.  Mixing the pile serves two purposes.

1. Aerate - the leaves become compacted over the winter from their own weight, snow and rain, turning them over, mixing, the pile brings oxygen to the bacteria that break down the leaves
2. Homogenize - mixing brings bacteria into contact with more food sources, water and oxygen

I would really like to get the compost pile to a high temperature so the leaves will be compost before I turn them into the garden plot.  

I then move on to clean out dead plant stalks, weeds, dried tree leaves and other debris from the beds and from the patio.  In that process I noticed some new life already sprouting green leaves.  Leaves pushing up from my perennials like asters, lilies, hyacinths, Mascari.  My common sage, oregano are also sending out new leaves as was the Swiss Chard I seeded last spring.  My climbing rose has new green leaves as do my Butterfly bush (Buddleia) and Burning Bush (Euonymous alatus).  I also noticed a few dandelions in the lawn.  

While working I heard and saw a robin on a tree branch high above my head.  These are all signs that Spring is not so far away.


©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Kronos and My Spring Garden

I get great satisfaction from growing plants, whether ornamental flowers, vegetables or fruit.  The satisfaction is like that of a proud parent, bringing an infant into the world and nurturing it to fruition.  Then someone who loves them, devours them, Kronos-like.  I think of Kronos every time I hear someone say, "That baby is so cute, I could just eat it up."


I began planning my 2012 square foot garden the minute my Johnny's Select Seed catalog appeared in my mailbox.  To get the most out of a 4' x 4' garden plot, I planned three plantings for the year.  As the first planting is harvested, the second planting will go into the square in its place.  The same for the third planting.  The crops will be rotated reducing the possibility of passing along disease and viruses.  Additional soil amendments will be dug in with each new planting.



My first planting will look like the graphic below.

The rough schedule for planting is as follows:
• Late winter -  approximately 17 March, St. Patrick's Day
• Late spring - Mid May to Mid June, after the last frost
• Late Summer - Mid August to Early September, several months   
                           before the first hard frost

Brandywine Pink
Source:BonniePlants

Cherokee Purple
Source:BonniePlants

Sweet and Thai Basil in my garden 2011

Thai Pepper
Source:BonniePlants

Bitter Melon
Source:Bonnie Plants

Over the last few decades, if I wanted good tasting produce, I had to start my own seeds.  The plants I wanted were not offered in garden centers.  Garden centers offered the same plants the commercial growers planted.  I found places like Johnny's Select Seeds, Seeds of Change, Seed Savers Exchange, Totally Tomatoes where heirloom seeds could be purchased.  Heirloom tomatoes taste like the tomatoes I remember from my yout' ("Excuse me, did you say yout'?").  Starting seeds is a difficult chore and a big commitment but until recently it was the only way to get good tasting tomatoes.  


While shopping in Lowe's garden center over the last few years, I noticed they sold Bonnie Plants, individual plants in 3"- 4" peat pots.  Amongst the usual garden center plants, Bonnie offered some heirlooms and unusual plants like Brandywine Tomato, Cherokee Purple Tomato, Thai Peppers, Thai Basil, Stevia and Bitter Melon.  Curious to see if Bonnie would be adding new varieties to their line this year, I went to the Bonnie Plant website.  There I saw a few new plants that I am eager to purchase, such as Black Krim and Black Cherry tomatoes and Epazote.


Inside my local Lowe's, last week, was a display of Burpee seeds.  I think I picked up each and every packet of seeds on the display.  I read each label.  I read when to plant, the expected height and spread of the plant and the number of days to harvest.  I spent a long time reading packets.  Lowe's employees frequently asked if I needed any help.  I think they thought I couldn't get up or fell asleep, or worse.  Having finished a preliminary plan for the garden plot, I knew which seeds I needed.  I purchased over $15.00 of seeds packets including a packet of inoculant for the peas and beans.  Later, if I change my mind about the seeds I purchased, I can always return the seeds.  Something I don't think I can do if I purchase via a website.  Nonetheless, I will probably purchase some seeds on the web to fulfill my plan.  Even though the cost of shipping seems to be quite high for the weight being shipped.  But you know what Kronos always said, "You gotta do, what you gotta do to get a good tasting kid."


©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Square Foot Garden 2011 II

View of my backyard from my sliding glass door

Closer view of my 4' x 4' garden

Square foot gardening gets the name from the fact that you stake out the garden in 1 foot squares.  So in my case a 4' x 4' garden has 16-1 foot squares.  Each tomato plant is placed in the center of its own square.  I planted four Delicious, one Mr Stripy, two Cherokee Purple and two Sweet Millions grape type tomato plants.  I also planted a few Thai pepper plants.  These little Christmas tree light bulb shaped fruits pack a punch of spicy heat and they are prolific producers.  I also planted one Sweet basil, one Rosemary, one square of sweet corn and one square of Stevia rebaudiana or sweet leaf or just Stevia.

There were two elements to this bed that I overlooked but became apparent quickly.  The first to become a problem was drainage.  This loose sandy soil with all its amendments was placed into a bed I cut in the rocky clay of the lawn creating a bowl that holds water.  This May, soon after planting my young plants, heavy rains came to my backyard.  In four days 1.6" of rain fell.  My bed was wet, really wet.  My tomatoes began to die.  I lost the Cherokee Black and several Delicious.  I should have put in some kind of drainage or put up the money to raise the beds.  I did neither and had to deal with the wet soil.  I purchased replacements tomatoes but not the same variety.

View of the North facing side

The other problem I encountered with the placement of plants in the grid.  I placed three of the tall indeterminate tomatoes in the rear(north from east to west) row, leaving open one square for sweet corn seeds that were not purchased at the time of tomato planting.  I placed three additional indeterminate tomatoes in the row to the south of the first row on the east end.  The third row starting in the east, I planted the two Sweet millions, the Rosemary and the Sweet Basil.  The last row(southern most from east to west) I planted the two Thai peppers, an empty square and the Stevia.  This arrangement ended up shading the Rosemary completely.  The foliage produced by the indeterminate tomatoes is massive.  With my red/green color blindness I really need to search for the tomatoes in the jungle of foliage.  I have found some fruit so ripe that most of the fruit needs to be trimmed to get to something edible.  The corn square is shaded also, that combined with the square being planted with too many corn seeds has stunted the stalk growth plus limited the pollen to get to the corn silk.  The result are spotty kernels on the small ears.  Lessons learned this year not to repeat next year.

Northwestern most square planted with corn

View of corn square from the West

View of West side of 4' x 4' garden
corn on right basil third sq from left Stevia on right

View of South facing side
Stevia on left, two Thai Peppers on right
Rosemary hidden beneath the vegetation second row back second column from left

View of South facing side with indeterminate tomatoes in rear

Closer view of Thai Peppers on right

Harvest 2011 Has Begun

Sweet Basil, Thai Basil and Sage

I am never able to find a good tomato at the supermarket or produce store.  They are all hard and lack good taste.  Except for the grape tomatoes.  I love them and eat them like candy.  In order to get a good ripe tomato, you must grow them yourself.

For years I have been without a vegetable garden.  I didn't seem to have time for it.  I was working a 40 hour week plus our family owned and operated a seasonal snack bar at a driving range/miniature golf/executive golf course from 2000 through 2007. You know, just when planting season rolled around the business needed to be opened.  Go figure,  Now that I am old, (just turned 60 in June) and only working 39 hours a week, I have plenty of time for a vegetable patch.

Over the 18 years we have been at this present house in the suburbs, I have moved my beds from place to place around my property.  The last few locations were not successful.  The vegetable beds were neglected because of their location, which was out of sight from my windows nor did I have the soaker hose system.  This year I located a 4'  x 4' square foot garden just past my patio in plain sight from my 8' sliding glass door.

Here is some of my bounty.  They ripened on the vine, too.  Did I say I love tomatoes?

Tomatoes(Sweet Millions, Mr. Stripey and Delicious) and Thai Chiles