The Compost Bin

Well I didn't time my seedlings perfectly but I'm not that far off. If I started the seeds for the cold tolerant greens about two or three weeks earlier then I would have spent my weekend transplanting them to the hoop house.

So since the seedlings aren't quite ready to go outside yet I spent the weekend cleaning up the garden and prepping the hoop house. Here's a photo of the inside of the hoop house and it's totally weed free. The soil has been amended and I'm ready to start planting. Now I just need some plants that are ready to go into the ground.

Looks like it's time to start thinning the seedlings.

There’s six inches of snow in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow. Even though the local woodchuck came out of his hole it, seems New Jersey hasn’t seen the end of winter yet.

That’s fine with me because or the first time in years, my seed starting efforts are actually organized and going pretty well. I love starting my plants from seeds and have been doing it for years. But truthfully it's never been a smooth operation.

The act of putting soil and a seed into the seed starting tray is the easy part. For me, the hard part is getting the shelves, the lights and the trays ready for that act. I’ve mentioned it quick a few times on this blog that my garage is a giant pile of crap. I have tons of tools, ladders, gardening equipment, all of the kids summer toys (bikes, skates, scooters, bubble makers, hoola hoops, etc) overwintering plants (9 musa basjoo and a fig tree) all in a one car garage. During the winter, you really can’t walk in there.

Digging out the shelves and finding everything I need to start seeds is a big hassle that I usually put off until the last minute. And when you don't have a lot of time you focus on the essentials. For me that's mostly tomatoes and peppers.

This year I managed to get started in February. As you can see, it’s March 1st and I’ve already got three trays of seeds started. Yesterday I added some Simpson Lettuce, Swiss Chard, Spinach and Pak Choi to the already started arugula and mesclun.

Since I’m on a roll, I’m actually going to start flowers for once. I’ve always wanted to start my annuals from seed to save some money and this might be my chance. And conveniently sitting in my seed vault are just the seeds that I need.

• Marigold – Boy O Boy Mixed
• Gloriosa Daisy – Double Gold
• Shasta Daisy – Alaska
• Gaillardia – Amber Wheels
• Zinnia – Cut & Come Again Mixed
• Zinnia – Zowie! Yellow Flame Hybrid
• Chinese Lanterns
  

I always wind up buying seeds that I never start and for once I’m happy that I did. So let it snow. I’m doing just fine inside.

My 4 year old daughter, who at this point is a lot more interested in gardening than my 6 year old son, came to me during breakfast with big news the other day. "Your Rogoogula is growing."

And since then, I've been calling it Rogoogula too. I like the name better than regular old Arugula. Even Rocket Arugula (the seed variety) doesn't have that same ring to it like Rogoogula does.

But regardless of what I'm going to call it, it did sprout pretty quickly under the light setup that I have in my basement. I'm going to wait until some true leaves appear before I thin out the seedlings. This way I can put the cuttings to good use on a sandwich or something. These first leaves don't really taste anything but once the true leaves start growing, the plants actually taste like arugula.

I'm still a long way from having arugula pesto but since it's still February, I'm just happy that I'm doing any gardening.

Seed starting season has finally begun. Despite wanting to start seeds for the past two or three weeks, I didn't get around to actually doing it until this weekend.

Now that I've cleared an area in my basement, dug the shelves out from under a pile of junk in my garage, set up the lights, the extension cords, the timer and cleaned the APS-24 Self Watering Seed Starting Trays that I love to start seeds with, the rest of this process should be a cake walk. Really it's no big deal to stick a seed in some soil and water it. For me the hard part is organizing all of my junk.

Right now I've got one tray worth of seeds under the lights and soon more will follow. That one tray is full of mesclun greens and arugula. And surprisingly enough, they've already started to sprout even though I only planted them on Sunday.

The next garden project on my to do list is to build a mini hoop house over one of my raised beds. Then in a few weeks when these seedlings are strong I'm going to transplant them outside. By March it should be warm enough, with the aid of the hoop house for these green to grow.

Have you ever worried that you're spending too much time browsing through seed catalogs?

No, me neither.

All through the fall, I was hoping to build a mini hoop house or a cold frame and extend my harvest and try to grow vegetables in the winter.

As you can see in this picture of Swiss Chard covered in snow, I never did get around to building anything. It would have been great to pop open the hoop house on a sunny winter day and cut a nice fresh salad for the family but unfortunately I didn’t have enough free time to get it done.

Well even though it’s February, I’m not ready to give up yet and I’m about to try something new. In March, I usually start seeds in my basement under grow lights. Mostly I start tomatoes, peppers and a few other seeds. Well my idea is to start some very hardy greens this month and then transfer them outside to a hoop house. Having a fresh salad in March is almost as good as in the middle of winter.

The greens I’m thinking about are Spinach, Arugala and Lettuce. According to Four-Season Harvest, those crops should be able to withstand the cold as long as they’re out of the wind. They’d never germinate in those conditions so I figured why not start them in my basement.

And if I’m feeling lucky, I’ll probably add some Swiss Chard, Bok Choy and Broccoli Rabe to the mix as well. I think they’re a little less hardy so we’ll see. I’d love to try some root vegetables like beets, carrots and parsnips too but anything with a tap root usually doesn’t transplant too well.

Once the plants have gotten a good start under the lights, I’ll move them outside and see what happens.

I really want to grow a lot of food this season so I figured I might as well start ASAP. And besides, I really don’t think I can wait any longer to start gardening this year. I’m ready to start now, even if it means trying to grow vegetables in the winter.

Image by cafemama via FlickrWith the temperature at around 10 degrees all week, there’s not a lot of gardening that can be done. Thankfully, I can still spend some time pouring through the many seed catalogs that started showing up right around Christmas. Thanks Santa, they’re exactly what I wanted.

In the past I have mostly bought my seeds from Burpee and some from Seeds of Change or Johnnys. This year I made the decision to try someone new and get the majority of my seeds from Baker Creek. Why? Well for one thing, they’re a lot cheaper. Buying seed packets at $3.95 each, adds up. My usual Burpee invoice winds up costing about a $100. Most of the vegetables that I want are only $2.00 per packet at Baker Creek.

Another reason is the fact that they sell open pollinated heirloom seeds. Most of the seeds I usually buy are hybrids. And because of that, I’ve never done any seed saving. What a waste. So I figured it was definitely time to change that. Maybe I’ll even get to participate is one of those seed swaps that I’m always reading about.

And the last reason is because they have some very unique offerings. Last year, gardening was a bit of chore. I really didn’t have much fun in the garden. Growing new and exciting vegetables will hopefully change that in 2009. Have you seen some of the melons in that catalog? They look like they came from Mars or the bottom of the ocean or something.

Spring is a long way off and it’s still another month or so until I start some seeds indoors under grow lights. Until then, it’s back to the catalogs.

Hey feel free to offer up your favorite seed catalog in the comments section if you like. When it comes to seeds sources, you can never have enough.

Go, Tomatoes go! If you're going to start tomato seeds indoors, I really can't recommend the APS-24 Self Watering seed trays enough.

This year I didn't buy any new tomato seeds and just used leftovers from previous years which I keep in a box in the garage. And look at the germination that I get with these trays. 23 out of 24 have sprouted and I still have hope for that last guy.

You may think these sprouts are pretty small for April and you're right. I like to plant outside when all possible chances of frost are gone and that usually means June 1st. Our last frost date is mid May but I give it an extra two weeks just to be safe. I don't trust myself to get my plants covered in case of a late frost so that's why I like to wait until my rhododendrons flower before I move my tomatoes outside. So according to that schedule, these tiny seedlings are right on track.

This year's tomato selection:

• San Marzano


• Black Krim


• Brandywine


• Brandy Boy


• Little Mama


• Big Mama


• Supersteak


• Mortgage Lifter

I usually get my first tomatoes (and first tomato sandwich) sometime around the end of July and that's fine with me. Good luck with your tomatoes this year.

Do you love to eat peas but don't live near a supermarket? Have you wished you could grow peas in your own garden but never tried because it was just too complicated?

Well wish no more because with the Planting Peas instructional video, you'll be planting peas in no time.

Have you heard about the Doomsday Seed Vault? They're stockpiling seeds inside of a frozen mountain on a remote Norwegian island just in case the end of the world comes. They're also doing it to ensure biodiversity of the world's food crops but the end of the world scenario is much more attention grabbing.



Since New Jersey is pretty far away from the artic, I think I may start digging my own Doomsday Seed Vault. I've got a nice supply of seeds for one family but if I'm going to start the New Jersey Seeds of the Apocalypse Vault (my name is a little more catchy) I'm going to need a lot more seeds. Where are my seed catalogs?

Kermit knew what he was talking about when he said that it's not easy being green. Sometimes the most environmentally friendly choice isn't always obvious. Everyday when I get a cup of coffee at my 9-5 job I'm reminded of this. We have Styrofoam cups at the office and you'd think that would be the worst environmental choice for a coffee cup that you could make, right? Well not always.

Making a Styrofoam cup consumes less resources than when you make a paper cup. And what about bringing in a ceramic mug and washing it everyday. Well according to this study, it would take about 1000 uses of a ceramic cup before it becomes more environmentally friendly than Styrofoam cups when you factor in the hot water used to wash it. And then there's all the variables that these types of studies don't take into account. What if I rinse out the ceramic mug and have a second cup of coffee without washing it. What if I rinse out the Styrofoam cup and do the same. How about if I make a few cups of coffee and put them in a thermos at my desk and then pour them into a ceramic mug with a picture of my kids on it. What if the picture of my kids was taken at a nuclear power plant. And why am I drinking so much coffee anyway?

These are the kinds of questions that people are asking about Seeds of Change new plastic seed packages. I've included a snapshot from their newsletter where they announce the reasons why they're switching to the new seed packages (click to enlarge). They're obviously a very green company and I'm sure they've done lots of research into what the best solution for them.



The paper or plastic question isn't as cut and dry as you'd think anymore. My advice is to weigh your options and do what's best for you as well as what's best for the environment. And if I wind up making some of the wrong choices, well I'll make up for it by composting.

I'm cutting way back on my seed orders this year. There I said it. No, I'm not quitting gardening or anything, but I have a bunch of seeds leftover from previous years and I decided to use them before I buy more seeds.

I order way too many seeds every year. In the winter it's easy to over estimate the amount of free time that I'll have to start all of these seeds and I just order away.

My usual order fills my basement with seedlings in late winter and I barely manage to start half of the seeds that I buy. So this year I figured I should check out my seed stockpile to see what I already have. And I found out that I already have everything that I need. Tomatoes, check, peppers, check, root crops, check, annuals, check, perennials, check. Why I even have 5 pounds of blue potatoes leftover from last year's harvest that are full of sprouting eyes. I don't need to buy anything.

Now, you're probably saying what about those new seeds from Seeds of Change that I've been blogging about lately. Well I bought them with a gift card that my sister gave me so they don't count.

And the best part of not buying new seeds this year is that I can spend the money on something that the whole family will enjoy. A few more hydrangeas for underneath the dogwood would be nice and some ornamental grass would look good around the pool and ...

Yesterday, I said some good things about Seeds of Change and how they're using these cool new environmentally friendly seed packages. Well now today, I'm going to bad mouth them.

Take a look at this picture. One of these seed packages doesn't belong. I'm sure they're all great seeds and I'm going to enjoy eating the Spinach that I grow but come on. Don't send a shipment of those new fangled seed packs that have all of their cool features printed right there on the front of the pack and also send me this old leftover spinach in the same shipment.

Yeah, sure I know that they have to use up all of the old packages somehow but I just feel a little cheated. Maybe next time I order, I'll send them a really old dollar bill or something to get even.

Hey the other day when I posted about The Growing Challenge did you notice those funkey seed packages?

At first I thought to myself, what's with these plastic baggies? I couldn't imagine a company that was very into heirloom seeds and organic gardening sending out plastic seeds packages.

But then I read the fine print.



I like the part about being hermetically sealed and that the seeds will stay fresh for two years if unopened. Sometimes I'm guilty of ordering seeds and then not planting them due to lack of time. I may have stockpiled a seed package or two over the years. And it's nice to know that my stockpile will remain viable if all the seed companies start using seed packs like these.

After my Aero Garden post, I decided to hit the search engines and see what I could learn about this thing. Well I don't know how much I learned because it looks like two of the three videos that I found on YouTube are actually from the Aero Garden people. I guess that's what you have to do now a day to market a new product. And I still think the Aero Garden looks like a cool gadget.

Has anyone seen the Aero Garden? The ads call it the "World's First Indoor Smart Garden." For those of you who haven't seen it, it's an appliance that makes it easy to grow herbs and vegetables right on your kitchen counter. You take a grow pod that has seed in it and drop it into the Aero Garden where it's treated to a "near perfect rainforest growing environment." It has it own lights that are on a timer and it'll tell you when it needs more water or nutrients. These nutrients come in tablet form and you just drop them in. So it's really a hydroponic setup with no dirt involved what so ever. And the Aero Garden people claim that you'll get maximum growth from your plants in a lot less time.

Now, my fondness of compost should be apparent to my regular readers. Getting my hands full of dirt and working in my yard makes for a good day in my book. Not only do I make my own compost but I do my best to keep my yard totally organic. So you'd think that I'd be appalled at growing seeds without dirt in a bath of water and nutrients, right? Well I am, but I still totally want one.

I tried to hate this thing because the idea of growing plants without dirt sounds kind of test tube babyish to me but my love of gadgets won out on this issue. And the idea of having fresh salads and herbs right there in your kitchen, even in the winter sounds great too.

If anyone has any experience with the Aero Garden, I'd be really interested to hear from you. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think. There's a good chance that I may find one under the Christmas Tree this year. It'll probably be marked, To: Anthony, From: Anthony but there's still a good chance that it'll be there.

With spring arriving almost instantly this year, I had better get my seeds ready to begin hardening off. That means it's time for me to decide which seedlings live and which seedlings are headed for the compost bin.

Thinning seedlings is never fun and it can actually be depressing.

Here lie the fallen. They gave their lives so that their brothers could someday become part of a delicious tomato sandwich. Yummy, a little olive oil, salt and pepper, some basil, mmmmm...

What was I talking about again?

Vegetable Gardening can help you travel through time. Don't believe me? I'll prove it. As soon as I received my 2007 Burpee Catalog in the mail, I caught a glimpse of what was in store for me this summer. Just by looking at the Porterhouse Beefsteak Tomatoes that were right there on the cover, I knew that I would be eating them in the future.

The Burpee Catalog says:

Plump fruits from 2 to 4 lbs each - sure to beat any record in the neighborhood. The luscious flesh is deep red all the way through with just the right balance of meaty solids and succulent juice. Smooth texture and rich, old-fashioned flavor make this the greatest extra-large beefsteak we've ever bred.

But it seems like the future isn't written in stone. My germination rates were terrible for these porterhouse tomatoes. When I use my APS-24 Self Watering Seed Trays, I usually get close to 100% germination in each and every single tray. The 50% germination rate of these porterhouse tomatoes is just really poor.

Well, I'll just have to wait and see if they're worth it. I can be very forgiving if they taste good.

I wonder if Nostradamus was able to see the tomatoes of the future. Maybe he could have warned me about these Porterhouses.

When I bought that ugly looking asparagus the other day, it was a total impulse purchase. I was at Lowes and those bright and shiny packages called out to me.

If you like to garden, then I'm sure you know all about how hard it is to resist the cries of an unpurchased plant. Buy meee, buuuy meeee, Anthony you must bring us home with you.

Besides these asparagus, I was also called by a package of purple potatoes but they're already in the ground so they weren't available for photos.