Eight

Harden off your seedlings before planting. Black Gold Part 5.

Greetings fellow gardeners,

It is a sunshine world and so tempting to plant everything!! I know I sound repetitive but be sure to harden off your seedlings until you start introducing tender vegetables to the world. I brought several of my seedlings outside and put them on a stand that I can cover with heavy plastic at night. They are gradually getting used to the light and the temperature. Remember that things in pots are farther ahead. The ground is still quite cold and will be a shock to new vegetables.

I had a chance to take a peek at nursery stock and grocery store stock this week. You can tell that the stock at the nursery is covered at night while the grocery store stock has a fair bit of frost damage. The plants these stores have on offer are usually shipped from Southern Ontario and are often fresh from the greenhouse. They are not happy with the direct sun or the cool nights. I purchased some frosted marigolds today and they will be fine. I will snip off the blooms and buds, be sure they are well watered and put them on the stand with my other plants. While I grow most of my marigolds from seeds, I do like to have a few plants around when the tomatoes first go into the garden. I will admit that I love to wander through plants at the stores and nurseries and not buying anything is usually not possible. As you continue to garden you will find this applies to visiting friends’ gardens and having friends visit you. Sharing is amazing and you get a lot of information about the plants. One year I visited a friend and came home with a red orach. This is a really interesting vegetable and is also known as mountain spinach. It grows red and lovely and I harvest the leaves to eat like spinach. This has started me down the road to growing weird and wonderful vegetables.

Red Orach

The peas and lettuce are growing like weeds (I have lots of those) and watering is the most important chore in the garden right now. Keep the birdbaths filled and the trees watered as well. I was able to plant my pole beans yesterday and now is the time to start bush beans. I grow scarlet runner beans and a purple-podded pole bean which is a heritage vegetable. The colour is gorgeous and the bean is delicious. Runner beans do like to be soaked before they are planted; this helps to break down their tough outer coating. They grow like vines, so I have them on my fence and beside an archway. Some people like to build structures with bamboo poles and allow the beans to climb that. If you have kids, you could build a bean hideaway!

Our vegetable garden now begins in earnest. Be sure your vegetables are not crowding each other and that they are well watered. While a lot of people insist on weeding every weed, I leave a few to fool the bugs and help with soil erosion. As your vegetables start to grow you can start feeding them once a week with a weak organic fertilizer. If you do use chemical fertilizers be careful as they can easily burn your tender seedlings. Have a wonderful week and enjoy the sunshine.

Judith (Email; lapisdragonarts@gmail.com)

Arlene Rowe’s composting article follows.

Compost: Black Gold

(Part 5)

Problems?

Now that you have started your compost, let's talk about problems you might encounter.

Decomposition is SOOO slow:

The most common complaint about home composts is that the decomposition process is pokey. This is usually the result of a few of conditions:

• not patient enough - especially in the spring, it takes a while for the bacteria in the pile to multiple and produce the temperatures that promotes the dominance of the thermophiles (race cars of decomposition). This is where a thermometer comes in handy. You can see if the temperature is increasing. If so, you are golden and just need more patience.

• not enough green food - make certain that you add all your household vegetable scraps and plants from the garden and reserve the extra brown food for the bottom of the pile or for aeration layers between green layers. A good rule of thumb is 2 parts green to 1-part brown.

• not enough bacteria - again this can be a problem in the spring, add manure, garden soil or some reserved compost to the pile. This will inoculate your pile.

• not enough aeration - common problem, especially if you have lots of grass clippings and not many branches to introduce air for the aerobic bacteria. Turning or fluffing the pile will help or add a perforated plastic pipe or two.

• not enough moisture - the bacteria need some moisture, or they will die. If the pile feels dry to the touch, add water or more green organic material that has lots of moisture (e.g. grass clippings). Remember the pile should be damp to the touch not wet.

It SMELLS:

If the pile has a sickly sweet/sour smell, rather than an earthy smell, anaerobic bacteria predominant. This happens when there is not enough air in the pile to sustain aerobic bacteria. Aerate the pile by turning and breaking the clumps of green organic matter. Grass clipping are notorious for creating large moist matts that are home to anaerobic bacteria. To prevent this, mix the clippings with soil, dried leaves, or other brown organic material, when you first add them to the pile.

Wildlife Visitors:

If you have a compost pile that is open to the air, you will occasionally get animal visitors, some okay, others not.

Let's start with the okay:

· Raccoons

· Squirrels & chipmunks

· Mice & voles

· Crows

These animals, by and large, are polite eaters. They are content to rummage in the pile and eat any goodies in situ.

The Not okay:

· Dogs!!

· Fruit flies

Compost piles are dog magnets. They are not content to rummage in the pile but are quite determined to strew the contents all over your yard and deck. I am speaking from experience; I have had 4 dogs and every one of them did the same thing. If you have dogs that are going to be out in the yard, forgo using the trenching method and make certain that your pile can't be climbed into or can have the contents pull through the boards. Otherwise, you will wake up to a nasty shock. In addition, sometimes interesting mushrooms/fungi can grow in your pile and your dog can poison itself; I have experience that too.

Fruit flies are inevitable. To keep them from being a problem, locate your pile away from place that you will be eating. In addition, whenever you add fruit/vegetable matter, add a layer of soil or brown organic material on top. Try to keep the pile operating as hot as possible; this seems to discourage the flies from multiplying.

With these tips in mind, you will be able to compost successfully. Remember, organic material will decompose regardless of what you do. All you are doing is giving a natural process a helping hand.