Companion Planting
Garden plans for the coming season will definitely involve companion planting. I did a little of it last year, planting parsley in the asparagus and basil in the tomatoes and locating the tomatoes next to the asparagus. It worked out pretty well. This year it will be the cornerstone of my garden plans.
I found a treatise on companion planting on the internet http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/complant.html#chart . This chart has the plants that go well together. Many years ago the Organic Gardening magazine suggested planting things together that you eat together. That could work; but the chart says not to plant peas & onions together. I always like them cooked together.
Companion planting is nothing new. The indigenous Americans made what they called a “milpa”. This was squash, beans and corn planted in a circle. I tried that year before last and it worked pretty well except the deer ate the corn. I can’t wait to start gardening and quit talking about it.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Back to the Garden/Greenhouse
Back to the Garden/Greenhouse
The weather and my work schedule have been so evil that my greenhouse has received water and heat and little else. I did plant one more flat of the things that did not do well on Sunday. When things start germinating I always think they will be too big too soon to plant. As they grow (slowly), I think they will not be big enough in time to plant outside.
The temperature is a little higher now than it was last week. Plants don’t like cold water; so I have been filling jugs from the rain barrel and setting them on the heating pads to let the water warm up. It still seems like things are growing really slow. I put a pillow case full of compost in one of the rain barrels to make manure tea. I wonder if the plants would like a different flavor.
Today I have several projects. I was able to find some more leaves and pick them up. I think there is enough to finish mulching the garden. Now I have to lay it out, test the soil and make the plan. I have a lot of new weird ideas. I will share them with you as I put them into practice. Maybe at least one will work. Some of last years great ideas have to be refined a little. Spring will be here some day.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
The weather and my work schedule have been so evil that my greenhouse has received water and heat and little else. I did plant one more flat of the things that did not do well on Sunday. When things start germinating I always think they will be too big too soon to plant. As they grow (slowly), I think they will not be big enough in time to plant outside.
The temperature is a little higher now than it was last week. Plants don’t like cold water; so I have been filling jugs from the rain barrel and setting them on the heating pads to let the water warm up. It still seems like things are growing really slow. I put a pillow case full of compost in one of the rain barrels to make manure tea. I wonder if the plants would like a different flavor.
Today I have several projects. I was able to find some more leaves and pick them up. I think there is enough to finish mulching the garden. Now I have to lay it out, test the soil and make the plan. I have a lot of new weird ideas. I will share them with you as I put them into practice. Maybe at least one will work. Some of last years great ideas have to be refined a little. Spring will be here some day.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
Back to the Garden/Greenhouse
Back to the Garden/Greenhouse
The weather and my work schedule have been so evil that my greenhouse has received water and heat and little else. I did plant one more flat of the things that did not do well on Sunday. When things start germinating I always think they will be too big too soon to plant. As they grow (slowly), I think they will not be big enough in time to plant outside.
The temperature is a little higher now than it was last week. Plants don’t like cold water; so I have been filling jugs from the rain barrel and setting them on the heating pads to let the water warm up. It still seems like things are growing really slow. I put a pillow case full of compost in one of the rain barrels to make manure tea. I wonder if the plants would like a different flavor.
Today I have several projects. I was able to find some more leaves and pick them up. I think there is enough to finish mulching the garden. Now I have to lay it out, test the soil and make the plan. I have a lot of new weird ideas. I will share them with you as I put them into practice. Maybe at least one will work. Some of last years great ideas have to be refined a little. Spring will be here some day.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
The weather and my work schedule have been so evil that my greenhouse has received water and heat and little else. I did plant one more flat of the things that did not do well on Sunday. When things start germinating I always think they will be too big too soon to plant. As they grow (slowly), I think they will not be big enough in time to plant outside.
The temperature is a little higher now than it was last week. Plants don’t like cold water; so I have been filling jugs from the rain barrel and setting them on the heating pads to let the water warm up. It still seems like things are growing really slow. I put a pillow case full of compost in one of the rain barrels to make manure tea. I wonder if the plants would like a different flavor.
Today I have several projects. I was able to find some more leaves and pick them up. I think there is enough to finish mulching the garden. Now I have to lay it out, test the soil and make the plan. I have a lot of new weird ideas. I will share them with you as I put them into practice. Maybe at least one will work. Some of last years great ideas have to be refined a little. Spring will be here some day.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
New Seed Catalogs
New Seed Catalogs
Friday’s mail brought 2 new seed catalogs. Saturday’s brought 4 more, including my favorite: Burpees. I can’t believe I don’t even have my garden planned and laid out yet. It is time to order seeds. Ordering seeds for an unplanned garden is like going to the grocery store when you are hungry. Have you every had seeds with no place to plant them? The greenhouse already has too much of some things and not enough of others.
The herbs I planted in the greenhouse last year, except for basil and parsley, did not germinate well; so I really overdid it this year thinking I would not have enough. I have asked my friends and my wife to start saving the little trays from the rotisserie chickens. I will put about 5 small pots of herbs in each one and give them to people for kitchen herb gardens.
Yesterday the fig trees got a haircut. It is unbelievable how much wood they produce in one year. Everything above eye level comes off. The older fig tree also gave up the central trunk from about waist high; because I can’t get in to pick the stuff on it anyway and that will let more light into the tree. From the pile of wood on the street, I would say the trees lost 1/3 of their mass. They are still larger than they were last year.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com/ , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
Friday’s mail brought 2 new seed catalogs. Saturday’s brought 4 more, including my favorite: Burpees. I can’t believe I don’t even have my garden planned and laid out yet. It is time to order seeds. Ordering seeds for an unplanned garden is like going to the grocery store when you are hungry. Have you every had seeds with no place to plant them? The greenhouse already has too much of some things and not enough of others.
The herbs I planted in the greenhouse last year, except for basil and parsley, did not germinate well; so I really overdid it this year thinking I would not have enough. I have asked my friends and my wife to start saving the little trays from the rotisserie chickens. I will put about 5 small pots of herbs in each one and give them to people for kitchen herb gardens.
Yesterday the fig trees got a haircut. It is unbelievable how much wood they produce in one year. Everything above eye level comes off. The older fig tree also gave up the central trunk from about waist high; because I can’t get in to pick the stuff on it anyway and that will let more light into the tree. From the pile of wood on the street, I would say the trees lost 1/3 of their mass. They are still larger than they were last year.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com/ , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Lots of Growies Greening
Lots of Growies Greening
The heat pads kept the greenhouse alive during the new years cold. I tried to use the electric block heater; but with the lights and the pads there was not enough juice. I had to leave the block heater off. No problem. I did not even put the cloches back on because they seem to make a pressure cooker for the green plants. Everything thrived.
Many plants will need to be repotted. Nothing came up in the rockwool. I put it in the trash. Almost everything came up in the dirt. Everything that was planted in wax paper cups will need to be repotted because the bottom of the cups is falling out. Many of the other plants are outgrowing their containers. Styrofoam cups seem to be the best containers. They can be written on to label the plants. They don’t dissolve in the warm water. They fit well into the flats.
The garden is still not laid out for spring planting. I need one more pickup truck load of leaves to finish mulching. The design in my head keeps changing. Changing the direction of the rows is making new challenges. Companion planting worked really well last year. I had way too much basil; but it was fun to give it away. The squash plants survived longer than they have before. We did not have enough zucchini or tomatoes. Do I need to plant more or do something to make them more productive?
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com/ , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
The heat pads kept the greenhouse alive during the new years cold. I tried to use the electric block heater; but with the lights and the pads there was not enough juice. I had to leave the block heater off. No problem. I did not even put the cloches back on because they seem to make a pressure cooker for the green plants. Everything thrived.
Many plants will need to be repotted. Nothing came up in the rockwool. I put it in the trash. Almost everything came up in the dirt. Everything that was planted in wax paper cups will need to be repotted because the bottom of the cups is falling out. Many of the other plants are outgrowing their containers. Styrofoam cups seem to be the best containers. They can be written on to label the plants. They don’t dissolve in the warm water. They fit well into the flats.
The garden is still not laid out for spring planting. I need one more pickup truck load of leaves to finish mulching. The design in my head keeps changing. Changing the direction of the rows is making new challenges. Companion planting worked really well last year. I had way too much basil; but it was fun to give it away. The squash plants survived longer than they have before. We did not have enough zucchini or tomatoes. Do I need to plant more or do something to make them more productive?
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com/ , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Fast Germination
written 12/30/08
Fast Germination
Saturday morning I planted some seeds to replace the ones in rockwool that had not sprouted. Yesterday (Monday) afternoon many of them had already come up. The ones in rockwool have still not poked their little green heads out of the rockwool. The ones that really surprised me are the sunflowers. I had thought they would take a long time.
I have learned (from experience) that it is best to take the cloche off of the flats after the plants sprout. The plants don’t seem to like the really high humidity of the heated flat and the cloche. I am going out of town for New Years and I am concerned about the greenhouse plants. New Years eve the temperature is supposed to drop to 25 degrees Fahrenheit. I will not be here to light the propane heater and a tank of propane will not last that long. I will leave an electric block heater on; but it may not keep the greenhouse warm enough if the temperature stays down. Will the cloches damage the plants?
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
Fast Germination
Saturday morning I planted some seeds to replace the ones in rockwool that had not sprouted. Yesterday (Monday) afternoon many of them had already come up. The ones in rockwool have still not poked their little green heads out of the rockwool. The ones that really surprised me are the sunflowers. I had thought they would take a long time.
I have learned (from experience) that it is best to take the cloche off of the flats after the plants sprout. The plants don’t seem to like the really high humidity of the heated flat and the cloche. I am going out of town for New Years and I am concerned about the greenhouse plants. New Years eve the temperature is supposed to drop to 25 degrees Fahrenheit. I will not be here to light the propane heater and a tank of propane will not last that long. I will leave an electric block heater on; but it may not keep the greenhouse warm enough if the temperature stays down. Will the cloches damage the plants?
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
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