Greenhouse Labor
The process of replanting the things that have sprouted has started. For the things in rockwool that germinated, the little square was removed and broken to leave the root exposed and the remaining sliver of rockwool and the plant were placed in a paper cup full of dirt. For the things that were already in cups of dirt all I had to do was label them and move them into another flat.
For seeds that have not germinated pure rainwater is used. Once the seeds germinate they get rainwater with compost tea. The compost tea was made by filling an old pillow case with compost and putting it into a 30 gal trashcan full of rainwater. The rain barrels each have a mosquito dunk in them. The mosquito dunks are powered by bacillus thuringiensis. This is a natural pathogen for mosquitoes. I understand that it also affects many other harmful insects. I hope it isn’t too hard on the beneficials.
Outside the greenhouse, the cooking greens and salad greens are doing great. The garden is almost mulched and the camillias are blooming. The purple cabbages are growing very very slowly.
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/.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
Green in the Greenhouse
Green in the Greenhouse
Lots of stuff is coming up in the greenhouse already. I’m getting a few early lessons as well. I planted the basil way too thickly. Most of it is planted several to a pot or in egg cartons. Now it has to be separated. This is very tedious and time consuming. I really love basil though. Almost everything planted in dirt has come up. Very little of the stuff planted in rockwool has. Part of the reason may be that I planted larger seeds in rockwool. They may take longer to germinate.
The fallow part of the garden is getting a 6” layer of leaves. The soil was worked very deeply earlier as the dead and finished plants were pulled off. I think of mulching as making an earthworm heaven. Earthworms are the real heroes of organic gardens. As they move through the soil, they wiggle through the soft earth making tunnels that aerate the ground. When they come to a harder spot, they munch their way through. When they find something organic they eat it. An earthworm produces its weight in “castings” every day. Earthworm castings are some of the richest fertilizer known.
Compost and organic matter are really tasty and attractive to earthworms. Artificial chemical fertilizers are not only yucky tasting. They irritate their soft skin. Make an earthworm heaven in your garden.
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/.
Lots of stuff is coming up in the greenhouse already. I’m getting a few early lessons as well. I planted the basil way too thickly. Most of it is planted several to a pot or in egg cartons. Now it has to be separated. This is very tedious and time consuming. I really love basil though. Almost everything planted in dirt has come up. Very little of the stuff planted in rockwool has. Part of the reason may be that I planted larger seeds in rockwool. They may take longer to germinate.
The fallow part of the garden is getting a 6” layer of leaves. The soil was worked very deeply earlier as the dead and finished plants were pulled off. I think of mulching as making an earthworm heaven. Earthworms are the real heroes of organic gardens. As they move through the soil, they wiggle through the soft earth making tunnels that aerate the ground. When they come to a harder spot, they munch their way through. When they find something organic they eat it. An earthworm produces its weight in “castings” every day. Earthworm castings are some of the richest fertilizer known.
Compost and organic matter are really tasty and attractive to earthworms. Artificial chemical fertilizers are not only yucky tasting. They irritate their soft skin. Make an earthworm heaven in your garden.
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, December 9, 2008
Getting the Greenhouse Started
Getting the Greenhouse Started
Yesterday morning saw the official beginning of the greenhouse season for this year. There were two flats of rockwool left over from last year. They were used for some of the larger seeds. I made two big mistakes with the rockwool last year. The first was not keeping it wet enough. The second was leaving the plants in it after they sprouted. The plants should be potted in dirt as soon as they sprout and the rock wool needs to be broken open so the roots can grow into the soil.
There will be no Porterhouse Beefsteak tomatoes this year. They make hardy plants with big tomatoes; but they have almost no flavor. I planted: Bloody Butcher and Better Boy tomatoes and I have some seeds from a volunteer from last years garden. I only planted about a dozen each of the seeds; so I can plant a few every 2 weeks. Broccoli, Brussels sprouts and lots of herbs were started as well. I still need to plant some hot peppers and cabbage.
The temperature dropped to 23 degrees Fahrenheit last night so the gas heater had to be fired up. The flats are sitting on heat pads; but why take a chance of stunting the seeds or the plants. I can just taste those tomatoes.
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/.
Yesterday morning saw the official beginning of the greenhouse season for this year. There were two flats of rockwool left over from last year. They were used for some of the larger seeds. I made two big mistakes with the rockwool last year. The first was not keeping it wet enough. The second was leaving the plants in it after they sprouted. The plants should be potted in dirt as soon as they sprout and the rock wool needs to be broken open so the roots can grow into the soil.
There will be no Porterhouse Beefsteak tomatoes this year. They make hardy plants with big tomatoes; but they have almost no flavor. I planted: Bloody Butcher and Better Boy tomatoes and I have some seeds from a volunteer from last years garden. I only planted about a dozen each of the seeds; so I can plant a few every 2 weeks. Broccoli, Brussels sprouts and lots of herbs were started as well. I still need to plant some hot peppers and cabbage.
The temperature dropped to 23 degrees Fahrenheit last night so the gas heater had to be fired up. The flats are sitting on heat pads; but why take a chance of stunting the seeds or the plants. I can just taste those tomatoes.
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, December 2, 2008
Great Weather for Gardening (in my bed)
Great Weather for Gardening (in my bed)
Reading garden books, ordering seeds for the greenhouse, planning next spring’s perfect garden and searching for new plants and varieties are all great gardening activities for a cold rainy weekend. For the last two years I have planted Burpee’s Porterhouse Beefsteak tomatoes. They are early, huge and prolific. Unfortunately they don’t have much flavor. This year I ordered an heirloom tomato called “Bloody Butcher”. They have a very short maturity time and produce tomatoes that are about 2” in diameter. That is a little bigger than grape or patio tomatoes; but smaller than a Marglobe. Marglobes and some seed from last years best volunteers will provide regular tomatoes for canning and salads. Better Boys will be for sandwiches.
I did get to play in the yard all day on Thursday (Thanksgiving). I managed to break almost all of my toys. Neither lawn more, nor by leaf blower would start. I burned up the motor on my electric chain saw. I did get a lot done though. The leaf blower is fixed and the lawn mowers are in the shop. I got a new electric chain saw. The garden grew by about 200 square feet. The grapes, asparagus and strawberries have weedless beds and a nice top-dressing of about 2” of compost. If the rain stops today I will lay off the rows, test the soil and mulch the nice wet ground.
It is amazing how much the grapevines and figs have grown this year. They have gone dormant and should be pruned pretty soon. The grapevines will be cut back pretty severely since this is their first year. The figs, of course, will go back to the same height as last year. That is about eye level. They will be a lot wider than last year however.
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/.
Reading garden books, ordering seeds for the greenhouse, planning next spring’s perfect garden and searching for new plants and varieties are all great gardening activities for a cold rainy weekend. For the last two years I have planted Burpee’s Porterhouse Beefsteak tomatoes. They are early, huge and prolific. Unfortunately they don’t have much flavor. This year I ordered an heirloom tomato called “Bloody Butcher”. They have a very short maturity time and produce tomatoes that are about 2” in diameter. That is a little bigger than grape or patio tomatoes; but smaller than a Marglobe. Marglobes and some seed from last years best volunteers will provide regular tomatoes for canning and salads. Better Boys will be for sandwiches.
I did get to play in the yard all day on Thursday (Thanksgiving). I managed to break almost all of my toys. Neither lawn more, nor by leaf blower would start. I burned up the motor on my electric chain saw. I did get a lot done though. The leaf blower is fixed and the lawn mowers are in the shop. I got a new electric chain saw. The garden grew by about 200 square feet. The grapes, asparagus and strawberries have weedless beds and a nice top-dressing of about 2” of compost. If the rain stops today I will lay off the rows, test the soil and mulch the nice wet ground.
It is amazing how much the grapevines and figs have grown this year. They have gone dormant and should be pruned pretty soon. The grapevines will be cut back pretty severely since this is their first year. The figs, of course, will go back to the same height as last year. That is about eye level. They will be a lot wider than last year however.
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, November 21, 2008
Pokeberries
Pokeberries
Despite the cold morning yesterday, the afternoon was not too bad. I cleared the fence line beside the garden so that I can prune the grapes. The neighbor has a jungle at the back of his yard and it sends fox grapevines, honeysuckle and poke salad my way. He doesn’t even eat the poke salad. We don’t let ours grow anymore, we just poach his. The freeze had turned the plants to mush so it was easy to just pull them off. My gloves, my sweater and even my hands inside the gloves turned purple. The juice on my hands washed off. Who knows what will happen with the clothes?
The grapevines really grew a lot for their first year. They will need to be pruned way back. A little research will be in order before the clippers go to work. The asparagus did extremely well for a first year too. It was difficult not to harvest a few. Deep compost and mulch should make them even stronger next year. The strawberries filled in pretty good. Hopefully they will do more next year. They will get deep compost and heavy mulch as well. A little rock phosphate will go in the compost.
The eggplants and the castor oil bean plants finally bit the dust. I was able to harvest seeds from one of the castor oil bean plants. The other is so big, I will have to chop it down with an axe.
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/.
Despite the cold morning yesterday, the afternoon was not too bad. I cleared the fence line beside the garden so that I can prune the grapes. The neighbor has a jungle at the back of his yard and it sends fox grapevines, honeysuckle and poke salad my way. He doesn’t even eat the poke salad. We don’t let ours grow anymore, we just poach his. The freeze had turned the plants to mush so it was easy to just pull them off. My gloves, my sweater and even my hands inside the gloves turned purple. The juice on my hands washed off. Who knows what will happen with the clothes?
The grapevines really grew a lot for their first year. They will need to be pruned way back. A little research will be in order before the clippers go to work. The asparagus did extremely well for a first year too. It was difficult not to harvest a few. Deep compost and mulch should make them even stronger next year. The strawberries filled in pretty good. Hopefully they will do more next year. They will get deep compost and heavy mulch as well. A little rock phosphate will go in the compost.
The eggplants and the castor oil bean plants finally bit the dust. I was able to harvest seeds from one of the castor oil bean plants. The other is so big, I will have to chop it down with an axe.
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, November 19, 2008
Gardening in 20 Degree Weather
Gardening in 20 Degree Weather
It is 20 degrees Fahrenheit now. Yesterday when I went home it was 40 degrees; but the wind was blowing hard, sending its icy knives into my tender body. I did not work in the garden long. Today I will garden in the comfort of my warm office. I will layout next years perfect garden and order seeds for the greenhouse. My favorite source for seeds is Renfrow’s hardware in Matthews. Unfortunately they don’t have their seeds in for the next season. I will order from Burpee’s.
Some seeds of course are saved from the garden. I only do the easy ones. Beans, peppers, tomatoes and squash are easy. The problem with squash and other cucurbits is that they interbreed and you may not get a seed that duplicates the vegetable it came from. It can be fun to plant a few and see what you get. I have had more luck with cucurbits planting them in the garden directly. Transplanting seems to stunt them. Seeds from hybrid plants either do nothing or revert to one of the parents. The results may be unsatisfactory.
It is best not to skimp on seeds. Think about what even an expensive seed costs compared to the time and other costs of raising the plants. I have only had a problem with Burpee seeds one time. I planted some tomatoes that did not germinate. After 2 weeks it was obvious. I called and they sent new seeds that arrived the next day. I lost almost no time at all.
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/.
It is 20 degrees Fahrenheit now. Yesterday when I went home it was 40 degrees; but the wind was blowing hard, sending its icy knives into my tender body. I did not work in the garden long. Today I will garden in the comfort of my warm office. I will layout next years perfect garden and order seeds for the greenhouse. My favorite source for seeds is Renfrow’s hardware in Matthews. Unfortunately they don’t have their seeds in for the next season. I will order from Burpee’s.
Some seeds of course are saved from the garden. I only do the easy ones. Beans, peppers, tomatoes and squash are easy. The problem with squash and other cucurbits is that they interbreed and you may not get a seed that duplicates the vegetable it came from. It can be fun to plant a few and see what you get. I have had more luck with cucurbits planting them in the garden directly. Transplanting seems to stunt them. Seeds from hybrid plants either do nothing or revert to one of the parents. The results may be unsatisfactory.
It is best not to skimp on seeds. Think about what even an expensive seed costs compared to the time and other costs of raising the plants. I have only had a problem with Burpee seeds one time. I planted some tomatoes that did not germinate. After 2 weeks it was obvious. I called and they sent new seeds that arrived the next day. I lost almost no time at all.
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/.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Freezing Nights, Falling Leaves, Fig Trees
Freezing Nights, Falling Leaves, Fig Trees
We finally had our first freeze while I was in Orlando. I think it was the morning of November 10. It did not hurt the eggplants or the peppers or the winter crops. It did kill the baby figs and knock the leaves off of the fig trees. It seems that the leaves are falling off of a lot of other trees too. I have been picking up a pickup truck load of bagged leaves from the side of the road every day since returning to Charlotte.
We are getting a lot of greens, eggplants and salad greens; but there has been no rain to speak of. I had to set up the irrigation system again. There is a light rain falling this morning. Tonight I hope to lay in bed and plant my perfect garden for next year. I have some really great new ideas. Tonight the garden will be planned. Tomorrow seeds will be ordered for the greenhouse.
The neighbor’s fence is so grown up with vines and junk that I cannot get to my grape vines to prune them. Clearing that fence will be this weekend’s project. Maybe I will have time to prune the grapevines and fig trees. The fig trees are even bigger this year than they were last year. There is a lot of pruning to do. The castor oil bean trees are still living. One of them has seeds this year. They are over 20’ in the air. I won’t be able to harvest the seeds until the tree dies and I cut it down.
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/.
We finally had our first freeze while I was in Orlando. I think it was the morning of November 10. It did not hurt the eggplants or the peppers or the winter crops. It did kill the baby figs and knock the leaves off of the fig trees. It seems that the leaves are falling off of a lot of other trees too. I have been picking up a pickup truck load of bagged leaves from the side of the road every day since returning to Charlotte.
We are getting a lot of greens, eggplants and salad greens; but there has been no rain to speak of. I had to set up the irrigation system again. There is a light rain falling this morning. Tonight I hope to lay in bed and plant my perfect garden for next year. I have some really great new ideas. Tonight the garden will be planned. Tomorrow seeds will be ordered for the greenhouse.
The neighbor’s fence is so grown up with vines and junk that I cannot get to my grape vines to prune them. Clearing that fence will be this weekend’s project. Maybe I will have time to prune the grapevines and fig trees. The fig trees are even bigger this year than they were last year. There is a lot of pruning to do. The castor oil bean trees are still living. One of them has seeds this year. They are over 20’ in the air. I won’t be able to harvest the seeds until the tree dies and I cut it down.
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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