A seed starting station gives you advantages
One of the best ways to grow a bigger or better garden is to start with robust, healthy seedlings and transplants. Starting them yourself allows you to select and control the conditions, which often means needing a seed starting station. Gardeners and growers looking to improve their seed germination rates and have stronger, healthier transplants that produce earlier and longer need this tool!
A seed starting station can be almost any size—from a single seedling tray to a full commercial table system. Most gardeners use a moveable wire restaurant rack as the frame, but there are many other ways to set one up.
A major advantage is that placement is not limited to a sunny and warm location because the light and heat are on the station itself. This gives you flexibility in placing it in your house, workshop, or garage—anywhere that remains above 50°F at night.
We’re sharing what we’ve learned from building and using our seed starting station for almost 25 years – what works, what doesn’t, and how to save some money!
Seed starting station with seedling trays on top of heat mats with lights and thermostat.
Grow like a pro with your own seed starting station
A dedicated seed-starting platform isn’t required for a great garden, but it helps! A good seed starting station is self-contained, creates the perfect conditions for seed germination, and adjusts those conditions as the seedlings grow and develop. You easily control the warmth, moisture, and light in just the right amounts.
We invested in our initial seed rack almost 25 years ago; it still has most of its original parts, and we use it every season. A few parts have been replaced or upgraded as needed, but the money spent two decades ago is still paying out – every season – and will for the next couple of decades. That is money well spent!
Here are three more reasons to seriously consider your system –
1- Get a head-start on your season
Starting seeds like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant earlier gives you bigger and stronger transplants than with a seed flat in the window. Instead of having a 4 – 6-inch tall seedling, you can have a 10-inch tall transplant, as you see at the garden center, which is robust and more resilient to weather fluctuations. An added benefit is earlier harvests as they go to work sooner than smaller seedlings – as much as a month earlier! In very short-season climates, a seed starting station is almost required to have vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, and squash that need longer to mature.
A seed starting station has adjustable lighting, so seedlings grow stronger and more compact instead of spindly and weak ones that struggle toward the light in a window. The protected environment keeps your young, tender, and delicious seedlings from becoming snacks for critters and insects looking for an easy meal outdoors.
The station works for spring, fall, or winter gardening—we start our spring seeds in mid-to-late February and the fall crops in August for transplanting in early September.
2- Dramatically improve your seed germination rates
The seed starting station has light and heat, and you provide moisture using germination trays with lids, adjusting as needed. Dial in heat and add moisture after planting your seeds, then add light when they sprout while reducing the moisture and heat to grow stronger, more robust seedlings than ever before.
Starting seeds becomes so easy that you can start transplants for your friends and neighbors with almost no additional effort, becoming the local garden hero.
3- Grow salad greens or microgreens indoors year-round
Lettuce, spinach, baby Swiss chard, and mustard are greens that grow well in little soil and cooler temperatures – making your seed rack the perfect location. Just dial the heat down – or turn it off in warmer climates – and keep the lights on with sufficient moisture. You’ll have fresh salads in January, even in Alaska.
Another view of the grow rack with seedling trays, heat mats, thermostat, and adjustable lighting.
What is a grow rack?
A growing station, grow rack, or seed starting station is any setup that provides light, heat, and moisture in a controlled environment and can be easily changed as needed.
Often made from commercially available wire racks on wheels, they can be as simple as a couple of hoops made from PVC tubing supporting lights over seed starting trays with lids and a heat mat or heating pad underneath.
They are usually very space efficient, only needing a couple to a few square feet, and can be tucked away in little-used areas because they provide their own light and heat. A spare room, unfinished basement, or even a garage will work to start your seeds, as long as the minimum nightly temperature is above 50°F.
Who needs a seed starting station?
A growing station – simply stated -helps you start seeds better and grow stronger transplants.
It really is that simple.
Anyone starting their own seeds gains an immediate advantage using a grow station. You have complete control over the specific conditions that seeds need to germinate – light, water, and heat. This means you provide the perfect environment at the perfect time for faster seed germination, then decrease the moisture and heat while increasing the light to grow stronger seedlings than ever before.
Advantages of a seed starting station
- It is relatively inexpensive and usually pays for itself in a single growing season
- Can be built in stages as budget permits
- Is easy to set up and quickly converts to storage of seed starting equipment in the off-season
- Is made with parts that are easily found locally at Lowes or Home Depot
- Once built, parts are rarely replaced – giving a very long return on your initial investment
- Is adjustable to raise or lower each shelf or each light individually
How to build your seed starting station
The foundation of any seed-starting system is the support structure that holds the lights above the seed trays, allowing them to move up and down over the young seedlings as they grow. Larger stations support the seed trays and heating mats, while simpler systems suspend the lights over any level surface.
If you have space, investing in a restaurant-style wire rack on wheels gives you a lifetime of use—and possibly more! Our rack is almost 25 years old and is still functioning just as well as the first day we assembled it. We’ve moved its location about 8 – 10 times and reconfigured the lighting system a few times as we tried different ways to hang and adjust the lights over the seed trays.
We easily see another 25 years of use from it because there isn’t much stress on the rack. We’ve removed two original shelves to give us more vertical space for growing seedlings and provide light above each shelf.
The five-shelf system that we use (74-in Tallx 48-in Wide x 18-in Deep) is ideal if you’re growing a larger garden or want to start and transplant several dozen seedlings indoors simultaneously. Depending on your needs, you have the flexibility in how many shelves are in use at once – from one to all of them. Here’s a materials list with sample pricing from Home Depot:
Materials List for Five-Shelf Seed Starting System:
- (1) 48″³ Wide Multi-Tier Steel Shelving Unit:
- A 72″ high steel unit with 5 adjustable tiers and wheels – $99.97.
- (3) 6-Outlet Power Strip – $3.97 ea.
- 3 Ft Nylon Cord – $3.92. P
- (16) Small Pulleys – $2.36 ea. P
- (16) Cord Locks (optional)
- Zip Ties or Tie Wire – $7.32.
- (8) 48″³ Fluorescent Shop Light Housing – $13.30 ea.
- (8) 48″³ Plant and Aquarium Fluorescent Bulbs – $10.97 ea.
- OR
- (8) 48″ Daylight Fluorescent Bulbs – $9.97/ 2 pack.
- OR
- (10) 48″Daylight Fluorescent Bulbs- $27.98/ 10 pack.
- *see Choosing the Right Bulbs below
Costs –
- Shelving unit – $99.97
- Power Strips – 3 x $3.97 = $11.91
- Nylon Cord – $3.92
- Small Pulleys – 16 x $2.36 = $37.76
- Zip Ties – $7.32
- Shop Light Housing – 8 x $13.30 = $106.40
- Plant and Aquarium Bulbs – 8 x $10.97 = $87.76
- 10 pack Daylight Bulbs = $27.98
TOTAL COST: $355.04with Plant and Aquarium bulbs from Home Depot
OR
TOTAL COST: $295.26 with Daylight bulbs
Once you see the cost of a professional seedling cart (without heat mats), you’ll see what a difference building it yourself makes!
The consumables—items that are reasonably expected to wear out—are the power strips and bulbs. The power strips should last 3 – 5 years, possibly more, while the bulbs have an average lifespan of 20,000 hours. Using them 14 hours per day gives almost four years of continual use, but normal use is about four months for both spring and fall transplants, giving a potential 12 years. In our experience, we usually see about 8 – 10 years of use.
Building on a budget
The pricing example above is for purchasing brand-new equipment simultaneously, but it doesn’t have to be built this way. Your local Craiglist is an excellent option, and you can set alerts for keywords—”wire shelving,” for example—to avoid having to search every day. Yard or garage sales, used equipment, or restaurant supply companies in your area are other choices. If you get creative, you’ll find several ways to save money over buying new.
Even if you buy new, you can build a shelf or two at a time as needed – nothing says you have to build it all at once!
Spectrum-tuned LED grow light – good idea, but it doesn’t last long enough for the price.
Choosing the right bulbs
You’ll see two different choices in bulbs in the materials list – Plant and Aquarium bulbs vs. Daylight bulbs. Both are fluorescent and will last 20,000 hours, but they emit a different spectrum of light. Red and blue are the two most important colors that plants use, as most of the photosynthetic activity of chlorophyll is in the blue and red frequencies. In simple terms, blue wavelengths encourage vegetative growth, while red is best for flowering and fruiting.
The Plant and Aquarium bulbs are tuned toward the red end of the spectrum, while the Daylight bulbs are more blue. If you are using the grow station exclusively to start seedlings for transplanting, then use the Daylight bulbs. For those using the grow rack for growing greens for harvesting, choose one of each type of bulb for each fixture, giving you better coverage of the spectrum.
LED lights are available, and we are testing some, but we aren’t ready to recommend any particular brands yet. The advertised advantages are a longer-lasting light that uses less power than fluorescent bulbs. The disadvantages are usually higher initial costs and less than optimum real-world lifespan. For example, one light we tested cost $30—which is good—but started to fail in the second year of use, which is bad.
Commercial LED lighting is extremely expensive and has not – yet – lived up to all of its claims. Research is ongoing, and we expect to see a large shift to more affordable and better LEDs soon.
How much light is needed?
Most vegetable seeds don’t require light to germinate, but some herbs and flowers do. When we start vegetable seedlings, we don’t turn the lights on until they have popped up and opened their cotyledon leaves. This is when they switch from living off the stored food and energy in the seed to making their own through photosynthesis. 10 – 12 hours of light is good to start. The lights are lowered to about 3 – 6 inches above the seedlings or moisture domes to give them the strongest light possible.
Monitor the soil moisture levels, as the warmth from the lights can sometimes dry out the soil.
You can’t hurt the seedlings with too much light – they will not use what they don’t need. In photosynthesis, there are two cycles – a “light” and a “dark” cycle. The light cycle depends on light to function because it’s based on photosynthesis, but the dark cycle doesn’t require light. That doesn’t mean it needs to be dark for the “dark” cycle to function – it happens after a certain amount of energy is built up from photosynthesis during the light cycle, which then switches to the dark cycle to store that energy. This switching happens continuously, so don’t worry about giving your plants too much light!
Providing lots of light builds strong plants because they have lots of light energy to capture and store for future growth.
Early season view of our grow rack with two shelves for starting seeds.
Setting up your station
Now that you know what you need, let’s walk through how to set it up and start your first batch of seeds!
Wire Rack
Start with the wire rack – this is the foundation for everything else. Use the instructions and carefully assemble the rack, installing the rollers on the bottom. Moving the rack to install or adjust heating or lighting makes it much easier.
We allow about 18 inches between each shelf, installing the top at the very top and the bottom at the bottom to give us the most room possible. The top rack is used for storage and to support the top level of lights. This gives room to move the light, keeping it 3 – 5 inches above the seedlings.
Lighting and electrical connections, showing pulley and cord on the light fixture.
Electrical
Using the Zip ties, fasten the power strips to one of the wire shelves within easy reach. We use one set for the lights and another set for the heating mats—this way, we can turn all of the lights on with the flip of one switch.
Lighting
Cut two pieces of the nylon cord into 24-inch sections and securely tie one end onto the provided hooks for the shop light housing. Then, install the hooks into the housing. Zip-tie the small pulleys onto the end of the shelves to support the shop lights, run the cord through the pulleys, and tie them off. If you aren’t confident with your knots, the optional cord locks might come in handy. Finally, install the bulbs into the fixtures and plug the cord into the appropriate power strip.
Heat mat and thermostat with temperature probe.
Heating
We use commercial heat mats on two wire shelves, setting the seedling trays directly on top to keep the soil warm. Thermostats with temperature probes keep the soil at a pre-set temperature range and are adjustable according to the needs of the seed or seedling. Both are commercial quality and last many years, but they are an investment as they are somewhat costly. We set them at 80-85°F after sowing, then reduced them to 75°F once the seedlings were up and lowered them to 70°F as they matured. Providing heat to the roots keeps the plants healthier and allows them to tolerate air temperatures as low as 50°F overnight with no adverse effects.
Gardeners in warmer climates may not need heat mats, as the fluorescent bulbs provide heat to the shelf above. If you are in a milder climate, experiment with this before investing in heat mats and thermometers!
Mid-season growing station configuration with larger seedlings on non-heated shelves (click to see larger photo).
Once the seedlings are transplanted into larger cups, they are moved off the heating mats onto lower shelves, allowing them to grow in cooler conditions closer to those they will experience in the garden. We only have two shelves with heat mats for this exact reason.
Get creative
Even if you have little (or no) extra space, you can get creative in setting up your seed starting station. A longtime friend lives in an apartment with little extra space and gardens in a community garden, so she has come up with a remarkably inventive method to start her transplants.
Starting seedlings under a table.
She uses the underside of a table to support the lights for her seed-starting station! Her apartment is naturally warm, so combined with the warmth of the lights, there is enough heat for the seedlings to thrive.
Larger seedlings mature before being transplanted. The heat mat is turned off.
Now it’s your turn
We’ve provided you with lots of information and details on building your own seed starting station. Use this article as a checklist, and you’ll soon see the strongest and healthiest seedlings ready for transplanting into your garden!
As you progress, we’d love to see photos of your creativity and how you solved particular challenges with your climate or situation. We will share them with everyone to help others overcome similar issues!
Plant Your Spring Flowers in the Fall
Get ready for a vibrant spring garden! Learn why fall is the perfect time to plant wildflowers and flower seeds for a blooming display.
Planting a Pollinator Feast
Enhance your garden’s beauty and productivity with pollinator-attracting plants. Learn how attracting bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds can create a thriving and colorful garden.
Indoor Herbs – A Guide to Growing Fresh Flavors Year-Round
Bring the flavors and scents of fresh herbs into your home with an indoor herb garden. Learn how to easily cultivate herbs indoors.
Korean Pickled Garlic (Maneul Jangajji)
Discover a tasty recipe for Korean pickled garlic using fresh hardneck garlic. Sweet undertones and a tangy flavor await!
Why Grow Cover Crops: Easy Soil Improvement
Discover the power of cover crops for easy soil improvement in your garden. Enhance soil health, suppress weeds, and attract beneficial insects with these natural helpers.
Garden Season Extension: Simple Techniques for Longer Harvests
Maximize your gardening season with season extension techniques. Learn how to stretch your harvest and grow a variety of crops earlier and later in the year.
How to Plan for Fall and Winter Gardening
Successful Fall and Winter Gardening depends on summer planning for cool season harvests. We show you an easy way for great fall produce!
Why Grow a Cool Season Garden
Unlock the potential of cool-season gardening. Learn how to grow flavorful crops like kale, carrots, and broccoli during fall and winter.
Edible Flowers: From Garden to Gourmet – Heirloom Varieties for Every Kitchen
Transform your meals with the beauty and flavor of edible flowers. Discover how these easy-to-grow plants can add elegance to your cooking.
Stale Seedbed Technique – Harness Nature’s Cycles for Less Weeding, More Gardening
The counterintuitive gardening technique that gives you cleaner beds with less work. Discover the secret of stale seedbeds.
Homemade Weed Killers – Are Social Media Recipes Safe and Effective?
Discover the truth about homemade weed killers. Are social media recipes safe and effective? Find out before you try them in your garden.
A Systems Approach to Gardening Success
Uncover the power of a systems approach for gardens. Understand the interconnectedness of plants, insects, soil, and more for a thriving ecosystem.
Where Can I Find Quality Compost?
Discover the benefits of using quality compost in your garden. Improve soil health and promote thriving plants with nutrient-rich compost.
Chipotle-Cilantro Coleslaw
Elevate your coleslaw game with Chipotle-Cilantro Coleslaw. This recipe features roasted golden beets for a unique and delicious twist.
Days to Maturity – What Does it Mean?
Growing Tomatoes 101
Growing tomatoes is an enjoyable and rewarding experience that anyone can master. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just starting out, with the right knowledge and techniques, you can easily grow healthy and delicious tomatoes.
Raised Bed Soil Part 2
Raised Bed Soil Fertility
Moroccan Preserved Lemons
Moroccan Preserved Lemons
Lemons have captivated us for millennia with their bright yellow globes and sour juices, yet using the whole fruit is uncommon today. Preserved lemons boast their own virtues – its juice is tart and acidic with bright notes, while its fragrant oil lives in the peel, where the essence of the fruit is. Taken together, juice and peel offer a bright, aromatic, sweet-sour jolt of life and interest to any dish they touch.
Preserving whole lemons is a centuries-old tradition throughout India, North Africa, the Middle East, Turkey, and Iran where salt and extra lemon juice mellow the bitterness and create highly addictive sweet, salty, and sour flavors heavy with savory citrus aromas. Finely diced preserved lemons are ideal ingredients anywhere lemon juice is called for, and they are an excellent accompaniment to everything from grilled meat and fish to salads and marinades.
Once preserved, the lemons take on a completely different aspect, almost as if they were a different fruit with enhanced flavors.
Making Preserved Lemons
It’s much easier than you might think! We’ll share the recipe first, then walk you through the process in photos.
A unique way to keep the flavor and aroma of fresh lemons for up to a year, ready to bring a bright lemony note to any dish.
Slice juicing lemons in half and juice well, discarding any seeds in juice.
Soften the preserving lemons by rolling them back and forth on a wooden cutting board. Quarter the lemons from the bottom down to within 1/4 inch of the top, open them up and sprinkle salt on the exposed pulp, then close back up.
Pack the salted lemon into a quart glass canning jar, pushing each lemon down with a wooden spoon. Sprinkle salt between each layer of lemon.
Top off with fresh-squeezed lemon juice, making sure that the lemons are covered but leaving an air space of about 1/4 to 1/2 inch before closing with lid.
Leave the lid slightly loose and place the jar in an overflow bowl to catch any lemon juice that seeps out during the preserving process.
Let the lemons ripen and preserve in a warm place for 30 days, turning the jar upside down once a day to distribute the salt and juice. Open the jar and add lemon juice if needed to keep lemons covered.
After 30 days, make sure lemons are covered with juice and store in the refrigerator for up to a year. The preserved lemons will be good for a year, and the leftover pickling juice will be good for another year.
Turn the jar upside down from time to time to redistribute the juice. Make sure that the lemons are covered by juice at all times.
If you notice a lemon has become exposed to air in the jar and has a white lacy substance clinging to it, this is a harmless byproduct of preserving and can be removed.
Pull out a lemon with a fork, slice off what is needed for your recipe and rinse under cold running water to reduce the saltiness. Return the unused portion to the jar.
The amount of salt you use is up to you, depending on your level of salty taste preference. The 1/2 cup listed in the ingredients is the minimum to keep the juice brined enough to preserve and protect the lemons, but you can add more if you like a saltier lemony flavor.
We have fallen in love with the beautifully bright hit of lemon scent and flavor these give with the minimum of salt, and we don’t rinse before use but adjust the amount of salt used in the recipe accordingly.
How to Make Preserved Lemons
Start by making the fresh-squeezed lemon juice. Slice 5 lemons in half and juice them, then remove any seeds but keep the pulp.
Juice the lemons, removing any seeds but keeping the pulp. Set juice aside to use later.
Next, prepare the lemons for preserving by slicing from the bottom end to about 1/2 to 1/4 inch from the top or stem end. Do this twice to quarter the fruit.
Open each lemon for salting. The amount of salt depends on your taste preference. We found that we like the flavors especially well when 1/2 cup of salt is used for the recipe. This allows the preserving action to take place but doesn’t impart any extra salt to the flavors. We find that we don’t usually need to rinse the lemons before using them.
Lightly but evenly salt the interior of each lemon.
Pack the lemons into a quart glass canning jar, packing them down to make room for all 5 lemons. Add a light sprinkle of salt on top of each lemon in the jar.
Four normal-sized lemons will almost fill the jar, so you’ll need to pack the fifth lemon pretty well.
Using a combination of fingers and a wooden spoon, make sure the lemons have enough headspace for the juice to completely cover them.
Add the fresh-squeezed lemon juice, making sure that the lemons are completely covered.
Fresh lemons are springy, so you’ll usually need to pack them back down with a wooden spoon after adding the lemon juice.
Make sure the lemons are covered by juice, tighten the ring and cap loosely to allow for any expansion during the preserving process. Put the jar in a bowl to catch any overflow.
Now you wait! Invert the jar once daily to allow the juice and salt to trickle through the lemons, then set it back in the bowl.
After about a week, give the lemons a sniff test. You’ll notice the aroma starting to change from an overall sour lemon smell to overtones of sweet and almost fruity. It brings to mind the smell of a freshly opened Italian lemon soda – sweet, sour, and sparkling.
Let the jar sit out in a warm area for 30 days, then store in the refrigerator. The lemons will be good for up to a year, and the pickling juices will be good for another year. Once you taste them and start using them, they’ll be gone within a couple of months!
The rinds soften during the preserving process, allowing you to use the complete lemon – rind, pulp, and juice – in any recipe that calls for lemon zest or juice. We use a finely diced 1/4 inch slice of lemon when a recipe calls for a tablespoon of lemon juice. The preserved lemon adds a glorious citrus perfume with a very pleasing lemony punch that doesn’t disappear during cooking.
After we made our first batch and cooked our first lemon roasted chicken, we immediately made a second batch!
Cover Crops Beat Garden Weeds
Cover Crops Boost Fertility While Beating Weeds
Historically, our soils were developed through the interaction of diverse plant and biology growth but much of this has been lost through large scale commercial agriculture becoming increasingly dependent on chemicals to feed the plants, instead of the soil and its organisms. This “trickle-down” effect has also affected home gardeners and small scale growers, and now we struggle to find ways to bring that plant diversity back to the garden.
Planting a multi-species cover crop in your garden will greatly stimulate the soil life and biology while suppressing weeds, interrupting disease cycles and even supply nutrients for next season’s crops.
We spend a significant amount of time teaching straightforward ways home gardeners can improve their soil, so we are often asked: “How can I manage pest and disease issues in my garden?” The simplest answer is: “Improve your soil.” Immediately followed by: “Plant a cover crop.”
The next question we hear is usually: “How will that help my pest and disease issues?”
Let’s take a closer look, and remember that a diverse cover crop mix can accomplish several of these at once.
We’ll start with a few of our customers’ gardens and let them tell you about their experiences in their own words! Then, we’ll explain how and why planting a cover crop in your garden this season will boost your soil’s fertility.
Crimson Clover
Tomatoes with Crimson Clover cover crop. A perfect illustration of the “no bare soil” concept.
Garden Cover Up Mix
Soil Builder Mix
How and Why Cover Crops Work
Suppress Weeds
The best way to suppress weeds is with a highly competitive crop that quickly forms a canopy and shades weeds out. Summer annual cover crops like buckwheat and crimson clover form tight, dense canopies and will often outgrow many weeds. A diverse mixture of cover crops like our Garden Cover Up Mix – which includes both buckwheat and crimson clover – is much more weed-competitive than a single species.
Reduce Weeds in Next Year’s Garden
Planted in late summer or early fall as part of our Garden Cover Up mix, cereal rye is one of the best weed-suppressing tools if your next crop in that bed will be a legume like beans, chickpeas, lentils, peas, or soybeans as it aggressively ties up nitrogen – leaving little for weeds to use.
The legumes don’t mind, as they just fix their own nitrogen.
If your next crop is nitrogen demanding like corn or green leafy vegetables, a fall legume like hairy vetch can be used to both produce nitrogen and suppress weeds. Vetch does make nitrogen, but when it is cut or frost-killed the nitrogen is a protein and must decompose before it is available to either crop or weeds.
Both rye and hairy vetch form a thick mulch when cut that helps suppress small-seeded weeds like Palmer amaranth – better known as pigweed – by starving them of sunlight after germination so they run out of energy. Both rye and vetch produce biochemical compounds that stunt weed growth, called allelopathy.
Fix Nitrogen
This is best accomplished with a diverse mix dominated by legumes like our Garden Cover Up Mix. Remember, mixtures are capable of fixing much more nitrogen in a more stable and plant-useable form than single-species cover crops alone.
Build Soil Organic Matter
As gardeners, this should be our very first priority.
As we have learned more about how soil organic matter is formed, we have come to realize the most important contributor to soil organic matter happens in the root zone through what is known as root exudates – biologically active compounds deposited into the soil through the roots – and not simply the aboveground plant growth as previously thought.
Diversity of plant families makes for a more nutritious diet for the soil organisms that build organic matter in the soil, as some species have root exudates high in sugar, others high in protein, others high in lipids, while others are high in minerals; when combined, it makes a more complex and balanced diet than a single cover crop can provide. In general, since the production of root exudates depend on the level of photosynthesis, the more biomass a plant produces, the higher the root exudates and the faster you build soil organic matter.
To Really Build Soil Organic Matter
Inoculate your first planting with our mycorrhizal fungi – MycoGrow. Mycorrhizal fungi form mutually beneficial relationships with plant roots, extending their reach and monitoring nearby soil nutrients, feeding needed nutrients that are otherwise out of reach of the plant roots.
The soil proteins – called glomalin – produced by the mycorrhizal hyphae is the most persistent form of organic matter known and does wonders for the soil.
Now It’s Your Turn
Hopefully, you have a much better understanding of why and how cover crops can make a big positive difference in your garden, no matter if you have a traditional row garden, raised beds, or large containers. If you have soil, cover crops will improve it!
We’ve watched the skepticism on people’s faces when we talk about the multiple benefits of using cover crops in their garden, but then when they try them, the skeptical looks turn to astonishment when they describe how much better their gardens performed.
Help Us Help You
Did this help you understand cover crops better? Do you know a gardening friend who could use this information in their garden?
Please share this with your friends – either with the buttons below or on your social network of choice.
Trap Crops – Organic Pest Management for Gardeners
What Trap Crops Are and How They Work
Trap cropping – also called intercropping – is an older pest control approach used by commercial growers that is not widely known or used in home gardens, but it should! Essentially, a trap crop acts as a decoy or sacrificial plant for invading pest insects and luring them away from your vegetables. Once the destructive insects attack the trap crop, you can deal with them there instead of on your valuable food crops. Techniques include removal or spraying with a soap-based solution or natural recipe, all the way up to using insecticides on the trap crop.
Using trap crops isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” approach, as each crop attracts a specific set of pests. However, it fits perfectly into a home garden, no matter how big or small. Almost everyone can take advantage of trap crops, from traditional in-ground rows to raised beds to container gardens.
Trap cropping is one part of an integrated, organic management approach to gardening. Instead of just managing pests, this approach includes attracting beneficial insects that prey on the destructive ones while helping to pollinate your garden better. Other parts of organic management include planting cover crops and companion planting.
How to Use Trap Crops
There are two main ways to use trap crops: to test for specific pest insects and then to attract those pests to better control and minimize or prevent their damage to your desired food crop.
When testing for specific pests, the most accurate results are obtained by using a border planting approach surrounding the garden. This way, pest insects have to pass through the desirable trap crop to reach your food plants, making it easier to monitor the pests and make better choices about identifying and controlling them.
Destructive pest insects are most attracted to plants in the reproductive stage of growth – flowering, fruiting, or setting seeds. This is why most trap crops are planted before your desired food crop – anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks earlier, depending on how long the trap crop needs to start flowering.
After the insects attack your trap crop, you can be ruthless in controlling them – from spraying aggressive bug solutions and removing leaves up to removing the entire infested plant. Depending on the type of planting, this creates the first line of defense or an added layer of protection for your main vegetable, herb, or flower crop with no chemicals or sprays needed.
Definitions
Just as there are different ways to grow a garden – traditional rows, raised beds, containers, hoop houses, and greenhouses – there are different ways to plant trap crops that increase their effectiveness and benefits.
Border planting – Just as it sounds, planting one or more pest-attracting crops outside of the garden or area where the desired crop is grown. This can be completely surrounding the garden or between the garden and where the pests come from – for example, between the garden and an open field.
Intercropping – Planting the trap crop in alternating rows or areas within the garden or desired crop. For example, planting a row of lovage on either side of your tomato row will attract tomato hornworms before they get to the tomatoes.
Mixed intercropping – Trap crops are planted among the desired crops with no distinction. This looks exactly like companion planting but for the opposite reason – you attract pest insects to the trap crop instead of bringing in beneficials. An example is planting red giant mustard among your cabbages to attract the cabbage caterpillar.
Trap Crops Chart
Now that you understand more about trap crops, how they work, and the different types of planting, it’s time to see exactly which crops can be used and what type of pests they help control.
Initially, you may be surprised to see so many familiar, common garden crops listed. However, remember your gardening experience – how many of these crops seemed to attract the exact pests listed here?
This is simply a different perspective or approach to deciding what to plant in your garden, when, and for what reason.
Remember, your main crops – vegetables, herbs, or flowers – are usually entirely different species than your trap crops, but not always. In long-season climates, an early group of cherry tomatoes is transplanted to attract common tomato pests, protecting the main planting 2 – 3 weeks later.
Concerns and Strategy
To get the most benefits from trap crops, you must be diligent in inspecting them for pest insects and take immediate, decisive action. This often means picking the bugs off, removing leaves, branches, or the entire plant in some cases. Appropriate action can also mean treating the pest insects by spraying, from a mild soapy solution or Garlic Juice Concentrate to our Home Garden Bug Solution.
Improper management of the trap crop can create “pest nurseries” – just the opposite of what you are trying to do!
It can be difficult to manage multiple pests simultaneously, as planting multiple trap crops can be larger than your garden. It’s best to use trap cropping to manage your biggest pest insect infestation, then use companion planting to attract beneficial insects to work on the other pests.
As mentioned above, trap cropping isn’t a silver bullet, a one-size-fits-all solution, but it can be a valuable tool in an integrated organic management approach. A diverse mixture of plants makes it far less likely that the destructive pest insects will settle on your main crops, and when they arrive, they will be followed by beneficial insects that feed on them.
A comprehensive organic pest control plan includes –
How To Get Started
The easiest yet most effective way to get started using trap crops in your garden uses these steps:
The level of your success depends on several factors, but you should see significant improvement in the population of pests, the amount of damage, and the health and amount of harvest in the first season you start using trap cropping.
Keep a notebook with your experiment’s details and results, successes and challenges, weather, and other related factors. After a couple of seasons, you should begin to form a clear picture of which direction is best for you and your garden in your particular climate.
This isn’t a quick-fix approach; it’s about understanding your garden better, more of a Systems Approach than a silver bullet. However, if you commit to an organic pest control approach, you will see a steady decrease in destructive pests and a comparable increase in beneficial insects. You will also see fewer damaged vegetables and increased harvests of healthy food from your home garden.
Help Us Help You
Did this help you better understand trap crops? Do you know a gardening friend who could use this information in their garden?
Please share this with your friends – either with the buttons below or on your social network of choice.
It not only helps them have a better garden, but you help introduce us to more gardeners who can use our unique approach to creating a better garden in partnership with Mother Nature!
How to Grow Citrus Flavors in Your Garden
Citrus Flavors From 8 Easy to Grow Herbs
Fresh, bright and invigorating, the scent and flavor of citrus is most enjoyable for many gardeners, especially where citrus trees are not a possibility. Several different herbs and flowers have a pleasing citrusy scent or flavor – either lemon, lime or orange – either as the main fragrance or as a delicate note that brightens the scent.
Popular for teas, sachets, aromatherapy, and recipes, they bring a bright, cheerful flavor to dishes like pasta, fish, and chicken.
If you are looking to add a lovely citrusy aroma to your garden, here are eight herbs to consider!
Lemon Balm
A proud member of the mint family, lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is native to Europe and the Mediterranean and, if allowed, will spread into unwanted areas of your garden. It’s easy enough to contain in a planter or large container, or simply give it an area that it can fill in and be happy. Hardy to USDA Zone 5, it grows to about 2′ tall with abundant crinkled leaves and tiny white or pale blue flowers that attract a surprising amount of pollinators, given how petite the flowers are.
Rubbing the leaves brings out the lemon scent, and walking by the plant on a warm day repels biting insects. The scent is crisp, clean, and forward – you immediately get the heady fresh lemon-rind aroma that is very refreshing. Grow in part shade with moist soil or sunnier spots in cooler areas.
Harvest the leaves like basil with several cuttings during the season, and dry them to preserve that summer flavor into the winter, or chop the leaves and freeze in ice cubes for a lemony punch in iced teas or other drinks.
Lime Balm
As you might expect, lime balm (Melissa officinalis ‘Lime’) is closely related to lemon balm, except with a flavor tilted towards the lime spectrum. Some gardeners experience it as a lemon-lime, while others comment on it being exceptionally limey, so soil and climate can make a difference in the scent and flavor.
Grow as you would lemon balm to raise the spirit and lift the heart!
Lemon Bee Balm
Completely different than the above two balms, lemon bee balm (Monarda citriodora) is both the perfect name and description of this highly fragrant plant. Being downwind of a thick stand will make you think you’ve come across a hidden lemon grove, then multitudes of hummingbirds and butterflies draw your eye to hundreds of minuscule compound flowers, stacked one on top of the other, marching up the stem. As you draw closer, the bees appear, covering the flowers in an intricate dance from flower to flower.
Both the leaves and flowers are used; making refreshing, calming lemon-scented teas and potpourri. The stalks make excellent additions to flower arrangements, both fresh and dried.
This annual native is fairly cold hardy, rarely killed by winter cold, surviving by underground rhizomes. They can spread in moderate climates, so use planters or pots to keep them contained, or give them an area of their own.
Lemongrass
A favorite in Asian cooking, lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) looks similar to bunchgrass but with a pleasantly strong lemon scent and flavor. It has the same volatile oils as lemon rind, with the same fresh, clean, citrus flavor and scent. Easy to grow in pots and containers for cooler climates, lemongrass loves the heat thanks to its tropical origins.
Harvest by cutting a stalk at the outside of the clump near the base, leaving the rest to continue growing. Lemongrass is best used fresh, as it loses some of its lemony pungency when dried or frozen. This is why many gardeners will grow a pot of lemongrass for fresh use, moving it outside in the spring and summer, then bringing it inside for the fall and winter.
We love to ferment fresh lemongrass with chiles and garlic to make a delicious paste for Asian cooking.
Lemon Basil
All of the flavor that makes basil such a beloved herb with a lemony punch gives lemon basil (Ocimum americanum) an exciting flavor to explore in the kitchen. Lemon and basil go well together, and this combines the best of both.
Heat-loving and repellant to biting insects, it makes a wonderfully different pesto and adds a boost of flavor to soups and stocks. As with other basil varieties, the flavor is at its peak when fresh-picked, but drying will retain some of the citrus aromas. Once it starts flowering, let some of the stalks go to seed to use as a spice and flavoring in salads, on sandwiches, and in summer iced tea.
This is another great candidate for growing in pots or containers that can be brought inside in cold weather to brighten up a winter dish.
Orange Scented Thyme
A cousin to English Thyme with all of the complex flavors that makes it a garden favorite, yet orange scented thyme (Thymus fragrantissimus) packs a refreshing orange-mint fragrance in every leaf. The orange flavor follows the familiar thyme, adding complexity and interest to summer dishes. Use it in almost any recipe calling for traditional thyme where an orange undertone would be appreciated.
Harvest the sprigs before flower set for the highest essential oil content, allowing them to air dry for storage. Use both fresh and dried leaves to make a traditional thyme tea with a twist to soothe sore throats.
Nutmeg Flower/Black Cumin
Rightfully called “The cure for everything but death”, nutmeg flower (Nigella sativa) shows off with blankets of gorgeous tiny blue-tinted flowers that produce the seeds that made them famous. The seeds are used as a spice for flavorings and medicinally for ailments. Also called Four Spice for its lemon-carrot scent followed by strawberry-pepper taste, it has flavored curries, breads, and cakes since ancient times.
Nutmeg flower prefers well-drained soil in full sun, and can often be found growing wild in rocky ground, fallow fields and scrubland. Because of its hardiness, it’s easy to grow and is often recommended for beginning gardeners, children, and low maintenance gardens.
French Sorrel
Known to many Europeans as the lemonade leaf, French sorrel (Rumex scutatus) is prized by chefs and is indispensable in French cuisine. The sour-citrus taste has been prized throughout the world for thousands of years as a wake-up call for taste buds dulled by bland winter foods.
Very hardy and early growing, sorrel was often one of the first fresh greens people ate each spring in the days before refrigeration. It is still a popular ingredient in spring tonics, and ancient Greeks and Romans used the herb to promote digestion.
Each one of these herbs is easy to grow in a container or pot, so no matter where you live the bright, refreshing flavors of citrus can be yours with little work and lots of rewards!
Growing Delicious Carrots from Seed to Harvest
Discover the secrets of growing perfect carrots in your backyard. Our guide covers everything from seed selection to harvest time.
Spring Garden Soil Elixir
Soil Elixir Jump-Starts Your Garden’s Soil
One of the most anticipated times of year for gardeners is Spring, with the attendant planting season. Everything is new and fresh, a chance to start over and improve on last year’s garden. A big subject for gardeners is what to do with the soil to prepare it for planting. If you have been reading our articles over the past several years, you know we advocate building the health and vitality of the soil in a natural, biologically safe manner. Soil becomes healthier, more productive, and disease, weed, and pest resistant. It results in an upward spiral where the garden gets better year after year.
Here is a unique recipe for a spring garden elixir that is easy to mix, completely non-toxic, and hugely beneficial for jump-starting your garden’s soil and getting it ready for planting. It comes courtesy of Crop Services International, which has over 35 years of experience helping growers accomplish their goals. They provide a Non-Toxic/Biological/Sustainable approach to growing food, from a full-scale commercial farm to the home gardener. We have read “The Non-Toxic Farming Handbook,” which they wrote to educate ourselves on improving our knowledge and approach.
This recipe is based on a 20′ x 50′ garden or 1000 sq. ft. Adjust for your garden size.
Before You Start
Preparing your garden beds for the elixir will require a couple of things.
First, evenly spread a 50 lb bag of high calcium lime (for acidic soils) or gypsum (for alkaline soils) across your beds. Your local garden center should have this. If using lime, it should be high calcium lime with as low magnesium as possible. 5% or less is great, up to 10% is acceptable, but nothing over 10%. The higher magnesium percentage releases excess nitrogen into your soil, greatly decreasing its fertility. It also overloads both the chemical and biological processes of your soil. Do not buy Dolomite lime, as it has too much magnesium.
Then, follow with 100 lbs of rich, aged compost, spread evenly across your beds, about 2 full-sized wheelbarrows. This can be purchased or from your own compost pile. Again, the best is made by you, and it is easy – “Compost – Nourishing Your Garden Soil” has all the details.
After doing both of these, make and apply the elixir.
Notes on Ingredients
This recipe is based on a 20′ x 50′ garden or 1000 sq. ft. Adjust for your garden size.
Apply the mix evenly over lime or gypsum and compost base with sprayer. If needed, go back over with second application to use up all of the batch, just make sure to apply evenly.
Broad-fork or lightly rototill garden soil. If using a rototiller, don’t go more than 2 inches deep at the maximum. Most of the biological growth happens at the 2-3 inch mark and the soil is turned over an inch or so beyond what the tines reach. Tilling deeper only destroys microbial life in the soil, setting you back in your efforts to create and build biologically active soil.
It must be noted that the sprayer cannot have been used to spray any chemical treatments like herbicides, pesticides, etc. as this will put those chemicals onto your soil, killing the microbial life in the soil and feeding the chemicals to the plants, where you wind up eating them!
Seed Planting Elixir
Once you have applied the elixir and broad-forked or lightly tilled the soil, prepare your garden planning and seedlings. We have another planting elixir to use just after planting the seeds and transplanting the seedlings into the garden that we’ll share with you: In a gallon milk jug, mix 1/2 cup of fish emulsion, 1 tsp sugar (preferably raw or brown), and 1/2 cup of cola. Fill the jug with water and shake well. Apply the mixture over the seeds and transplants. Each gallon will treat approximately a 50-foot row.
This is a great start towards sustainable, biological agriculture in your own garden. Remember, though, it is just a start, a good step in the right direction. To continue to make progress in knowledge and soil health, you need to find out where you are starting from. Do more reading, ask questions, and get a complete soil analysis, not just the widely offered NPK and pH soil tests. Spend the money to find out exactly where your garden soil is, and then you can make sound decisions on where you want and need to go. Then you won’t be guessing and shooting in the dark, trying to do what is right but not really knowing if you are making positive progress.
Growing Great Eggplant – What You Need to Know
The More You Know – the Better You Grow
Eggplant gets its name from a small white Oriental variety that is rarely grown in the United States. We are used to seeing the large, shiny purple elongated globes, so the original name is somewhat of a mystery to most gardeners. It is known by other names around the world, including aubergine in Europe, brinjal in India, eggfruit, tomato-fruited eggplant,gilos , guinea squash, mad apple, and nasubi .
Fresh-picked, home-grown eggplant is mildly sweet and delicious, taking up other ingredients into itself when cooked. The all-too-familiar bitter, off-putting flavors come from fruits picked slightly unripe, trucked to a store that are almost a week old before appearing on the shelves. Grow your own and taste the differences!
History
A member of the Solanaceae or nightshade family, its cousins are tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes. Southeast Asia – likely India, China, Thailand, or Burma – is considered to be the center of origin where it still grows wild; a spiny, bitter, orange, pea-sized fruit that has been cultivated and refined for over 1,500 years.
The earliest uses seem to be medicinal as some of the earliest written Ayurvedic texts dating to around 100 BC describe the health benefits of using eggplant. The Chinese spent much time domesticating and breeding for desirable traits, as Wang Bao’s writing in 59 BC details the transplanting of seedlings at the Spring equinox. Later Chinese documentation shows the specific changes that growers brought to the fruit, from small, round, green fruit to the recognizable large, long-necked, purple-skinned fruits we know today.
Trade spread the seeds into Europe, where Spanish explorers brought them to the New World and by the early 1800s, both white and purple varieties were common in American gardens.
Site Needs
Eggplant is heat-loving, growing happiest in gardens with five months or more of warm to hot weather. Choose a sunny location where the sun can warm up the soil early. Raised beds and large black containers work wonders in colder climates to warm the soil sooner than in-ground gardens. Cool temperatures below 60°F reduce fruit production. In hot weather climates, afternoon shade can prevent leaf and fruit scalding, as fruit production decreases above 95°F.
Three to four plants will supply a steady stream of fresh delicately sweet fruit for a family, with extra for friends, neighbors, and co-workers.
Soil Needs
Like its tomato cousins, eggplant is a heavy feeder needing a rich, fertile soil to grow well and produce the best fruits. Adding well-aged compost into the bed the fall before planting provides nutrients all season. Fall cover crops improve the soil structure and fertility, as well as feeding the beneficial soil organisms doing the heavy work of transporting specific nutrients to the plant roots.
Planting
Soak the seeds overnight and plant in warm soil – ideally 80° to 85°F, but no less than 70°F – to greatly improve the germination rates. In warm soil, sprouts will appear in 7 to 12 days but can be delayed to three weeks or more in soil less than 70°F.
For almost all of North American gardeners, starting seeds indoors and transplanting them out after the soil warms up is the most successful method. Sow seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last expected frost date. Plant the seeds no deeper than twice their size in loose, moist soil then reduce the soil moisture to barely damp after the seedlings appear to reduce damping off and fungal issues. Transplant seedlings as needed into larger pots or containers to give the roots room to grow. Some gardeners will delay transplanting until a couple of weeks past last frost date to ensure bigger plants and earlier harvests, as well as avoiding early flea beetles.
Harden the young plants off by setting them outside on warmer days and bring them in the late afternoon, helping them become more robust and ready for transplanting into the garden. Transplant after the soil is warming up and not dropping below 60°F at night. Measure the soil temperature first thing in the morning to see what the minimum is.
Give the plants enough room to grow with good air circulation – eggplant doesn’t thrive in an intensively planted setting. 2 to 3 feet between plants is a good distance, allowing the sun to reduce molds and mildew while ripening the fruits faster and more evenly. Adding a bit of well-aged compost into the transplant hole helps feed the plants.
Growing
Eggplant has a shallow root system, so avoid cultivating too closely and pull or clip weeds carefully to not disturb their roots. Better yet, use a 2 to 3-inch layer of mulch for weed suppression that also insulates the roots and soil from excessive moisture loss while keeping them cool in hot weather.
Bigger yields come from starting the plants early and transplanting big, robust, healthy starts into warm soil in a sunny area. Keep them warm with moist roots and pest-free, otherwise, they can be set back and have a difficult time recovering. Producing lots of fruit requires lots of nutrition, so feeding a diluted liquid fish emulsion, milk & molasses snack, or other organic liquid fertilizer once a month will keep the plants in tip-top condition and health.
Companion Planting
Companion planting is an excellent weed and pest control technique. An early season crop of lettuce, French parsley, or spinach followed by herbs like French tarragon, thyme, or Mexican marigolds. Beans and peas provide needed nitrogen and shade in hotter climates. In cooler climates, make sure the beans or peas don’t shade out the sun-loving eggplant.
One word of warning on companion planting beans and Mexican marigold – they are antagonistic, so don’t plant both with eggplant, choose one or the other!
Other nearby companion plants to consider are beneficial insect flower mixes to bring in ladybugs, lacewings, and others to keep aphids under control.
Pests and Diseases
Colorado potato beetles can be a threat, but growing a companion crop of bush beans will help repel them. Inspect the undersides of leaves for the tell-tale yellow egg masses and pick them and any adult bugs off immediately.
Tomato worms can appear, so pick them off as you would on tomato plants. Knock aphids and red spiders off with a blast of water from the garden hose.
Flea beetles are the largest threat and can riddle young plants with tiny holes seemingly overnight. Small round holes in the leaves and tiny insects that jump like fleas are signs of flea beetles. In extreme infestations, the plants can lose their leaves and die. Young transplants are most susceptible and early detection is the key to preventing extensive damage.
From our personal experience, you can have very riddled leaves on your eggplant and still produce fruits. Do not give up hope, try to rid the plant of the beetles and give a little extra nutrition.
Trap crops of mustard planted near the area are helpful, as is interplanting with Daikon radishes to repel the flea beetles. If there is a sudden infestation, floating row covers and yellow sticky traps will help control the adult population.
Harvest
Fully mature fruit has a shiny, smooth skin and firm texture. If the skin is dull, has any wrinkles, or is not firm to the touch – it is over-ripe or old and will be bitter.
When harvesting, cut the stems with a sharp knife or shears, don’t twist or pull them off as that damages both the fruit and plant. Handle carefully as they are delicate and bruise easily.
Harvest can start once the fruit is about one third mature size and still be tasty. This is a saving grace in the fall when frost threatens, just pick the young ones and have one last feast of baby eggplant!
Flavor is at its absolute peak just after harvest, but they can usually be stored a day or two in a cool place before starting to turn bitter.
Sicilian Eggplant and Tomato Sauce is an easy and simple but brilliantly delicious way to showcase your home-grown, fresh-picked garden bounty!
Lime-Mint Freezer Pickles
Fresh Mint Taste All Year
Lime and mint are not usually thought of together (if at all) in combination with pickles, but they should be! The lime-mint flavors work together with the cucumbers to make something much more than the sum of their parts – bright, refreshing, and absolutely addictively delicious.
Similar to our much-beloved Cilantro Freezer Pickles, this is a very simple and fast recipe that doesn’t need canning or heat and will handle any amount of surplus cucumbers – from a few up to way too many!
Each recipe makes about 4 pints, so you can expand accordingly.
Another freezer pickle recipe that keeps the fresh-picked flavors long after the season is gone.
Quick, easy, and addictively delicious, the lime and mint work with the cucumber to create something amazing.
Wash and thinly slice cucumbers – do not peel, then thinly slice onions.
Toss cucumbers and onions in a large bowl with salt, mixing well to evenly distribute the salt. Let stand at room temperature for 2 – 3 hours, then drain excess liquid but do not rinse.
Combine remaining ingredients in a separate bowl, mix well and pour over vegetables, stirring well to mix. Refrigerate for 8 – 10 hours or overnight.
Pack the vegetables and brine in freezer-proof rigid containers and freeze. Make sure to leave about 1 inch of headspace to allow for expansion so the jars don’t break.
When packing the vegetables, make sure the brine completely covers them to prevent freezer burn and ensure the best flavors.
Freeze for a minimum of 2 weeks to allow the flavors to mature and mingle.
To serve, thaw overnight in the refrigerator and enjoy!
We use a Cuisinart or similar kitchen appliance to slice the vegetables – reducing our prep time to a few minutes.
Make the pickles according to the recipe, then experiment and use different ingredients to suit your tastes or the occasion. Try sweet onions, more pepper, lime, or mint for a more intense flavor. Different sugars have a different effect on the final flavor – try palm sugar, turbinado, or even a little brown sugar to the mix. Same with the vinegar – find which one you like best!
Making Lime-Mint Freezer Pickles
Start by slicing the vegetables…
…then salt them and let sit for a couple of hours. Don’t worry if you get busy and they sit all day – they’ll be just as tasty!
The salt draws out the natural juices, creating a brine to preserve the flavors.
After sitting, drain off the brine but do not rinse.
Combine the sweet pepper slices and remaining ingredients into a separate bowl, mix well, then pour over the brined vegetables and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, pack the vegetables into a freezer-proof container or bag. We like to use pint canning jars – just the perfect size for a family picnic or BBQ. If the gathering is larger, we take two.
When packing the jars or containers, just make sure to leave enough room for expansion so they don’t break or split the containers. Cover the vegetables with the pickling solution for the best flavor and to prevent freezer burn of exposed vegetables.
Freeze for at least 2 weeks for the flavors to mingle and mature before serving. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and serve cold.
Grow Great Hardneck Garlic at Home
Homegrown Hardneck Garlic
There are three excellent reasons to grow your own garlic:
Garlic grows from the individual cloves, forming a bulb divided into separate cloves held together and protected by layers of a papery skin. As with most gardening, the key to superior results is in the details, but it isn’t difficult to have impressive looking (and tasting) garlic.
Normal yield is about 6 to 7 times the amount planted, so a bulb with 6 or 7 cloves should grow another 6 bulbs. To determine approximately how much garlic you will harvest, use the average number of clovers per head as a good starting point. Another way to estimate is one ½ lb. order of garlic can produce 3 to 3 ½ lbs. when harvested.
This article is about hardneck garlic – varieties that produce a long flowering stem from the center of the bulb. Hardneck garlic tends to have a more complex flavor profile than the standard supermarket variety, which is almost universally softneck. It is richer, spicier, and more “garlicky”, with larger cloves that are easier to peel.
Hardneck Garlic Plants
Where to Plant
Garlic needs full sun to grow the best bulbs, so choose an area that gets full sun all day. Partial shading results in smaller bulbs.
Soil fertility and quality are key for large bulbs and delicious flavor, as garlic has a shallow root system and needs loose soil to grow and expand properly. Growing a cover crop like our Garden Cover Up mix two or more months before planting garlic prepares the soil beautifully, often needing little to no extra preparation. Adding a layer of compost in late spring to early summer helps feed the soil as well.
Gourmet garlic growers will often spend one to two years preparing the soil in a new section to ensure they plant into the most fertile, loose, and biologically active soil possible to get the biggest and most flavorful garlic around. Don’t skimp on your soil preparation!
Freshly planted garlic needs thorough watering for the first 3 days to start the growing process. Afterward, water like any other root vegetable – don’t let the soil dry out, but make sure it isn’t wet either.
When to Plant
Garlic is traditionally planted in the fall, but the ideal time depends on where you live. A good rule of thumb is to plant garlic in the fall for larger bulbs over a longer time and in spring for smaller bulbs but a shorter harvest time.
Northern gardeners in colder climates should plant 4 – 6 weeks before your usual first hard frost to give the garlic time to get established and put on some green growth. Cover the green leaves with a thick protective layer of mulch for insulation about a week or two before the first frost – a foot thick is not too much. Good mulch materials are lightweight insulation like straw or shredded leaves.
Remove about half of the mulch in the spring as the weather warms up, adding the mulch to your compost pile. The garlic will emerge from dormancy and continue growing, while the mulch decomposes and feeds the growing bulbs.
Those in more moderate climates that don’t see single-digit winter temperatures have more flexibility in their planting schedule. Garlic grows in cooler temperatures than most other root vegetables, so planting can be up to 2 – 3 weeks before the first hard frost. Mulch as above, but only 3 – 4 inches are needed.
Gardeners in warmer climates that rarely see freezing winter temperatures should vernalize – or chill – their garlic for at least 4 – 6 weeks before planting to ensure a good sized bulb is formed. This replicates the freezing winter weather of the colder climates. Planting in fall takes advantage of the cooler weather and gives you more time for the garlic to mature before the late spring heat arrives.
It is interesting to note that serious garlic growers often vernalize their planting stock, no matter where they live. Experience has shown that chilling at around 50°F for even 2 weeks produces larger, denser, better-tasting bulbs, no matter where you are.
Music Hardneck Garlic Bulb and Cloves
How to Plant
Separate the bulbs into individual cloves just before planting to avoid drying out the cloves. Remove the outer skin and pull the bulb apart without breaking the small section of roots – known as the basal plate – at the bottom. Try to keep the skin intact and make sure to keep the basal plate intact on each clove, otherwise, they won’t grow.
In colder climates plant the clove 2 – 4 inches deep and in milder climates about 1 inch deep. Plant the basal plate down with the stem upward. Plant the cloves 4 – 8 inches apart to give them room to mature with sufficient nutrients without competing with their neighbor. Space rows at least 18 inches apart, or what makes sense for your garden set up to allow for mulching, weeding, and adding compost easily.
Garden Cover-Up Mix
How to Control Weeds
Weed management in garlic is especially critical since the crop is often in the ground 8 to 9 months, spanning two normal growing seasons. Some weeds grow best in hot weather, while others prefer the cooler seasons, and your garlic is growing through both. Uncontrolled weeds can reduce garlic harvest by up to 50%!
The best, most effective methods start a couple months before the garlic is planted. There are two methods – cover crops and weed cultivation.
The first method uses cover crops planted 2 – 3 months before the garlic goes in to choke out weeds and improve the soil fertility. Let the flowers bloom, then cut the stalks down to create a green mulch and allow them to decay for a month, then plant your garlic right into the residue. Your garlic grows and matures as the organic materials both above and below the soil decompose, feeding the garlic.
The second method lightly cultivates the top two inches of the soil, bringing weed seeds to the surface and then watering well. The weed seeds germinate in a few days and they are allowed to grow to about 2 – 3 inches tall before they are tilled under. This process repeats itself two to three times which exhausts the readily available weed seed bank in the top of the soil before planting your garlic.
Both methods work, but only the cover crop approach improves the soil fertility while reducing weeds.
When to Harvest
As the plants resume growing in the spring, make sure they don’t flower, which takes energy away from bulb production. Clip the young flower stalk – also known as a scape – just above the plant and enjoy their delicate flavor in light spring dishes.
Once the plants are mature and the topmost leaves start drying out, reduce the moisture to help the bulbs mature and begin drying down. The top couple of inches should be barely moist so there is enough at the root zone to feed the bulb as it finishes growing and maturing.
Harvest the bulbs when there is an average of six green leaves on each plant. This is the optimum time to harvest and start the dry-down process to ensure there are enough wrappers or skins left to protect the bulb. Each leaf represents one wrapper or skin, and the goal is to have 3 – 4 skins left for protection after dry-down.
Harvest in the cool of the morning or late afternoon for the best flavor and quality. Exposure to hot sun or soil for even 10 – 20 minutes immediately after harvesting can effectively cook the garlic and ruin it. Pull by hand or gently dig them up, remove any dirt and spread them out in a shady, well-ventilated area to cure.
Curing Hardneck Garlic
How to Cure
Garlic cures into a better, more flavorful product that stores longer if it’s in a consistent environment without large temperature and humidity fluctuations. Depending on your conditions, curing can take from two to four weeks, but the wait is well worth it!
Trim the tops and roots and clean the bulbs after the curing is mostly finished to protect the bulbs from disease. The exception is if you are in a humid climate, then trim the roots immediately after harvest and monitor the tops to make sure they are drying down to avoid mold. If they remain moist, then trim the tops as well.
Hardneck Garlic in Pesto
How to Use
Hardneck garlic is highly valued for its complex and robust flavors, making it an essential ingredient for gourmet restaurants and innovative chefs. It pairs well with many recipes, from raw in fresh pesto to fermented in chile pastes, as well as in soups, stews, stir-fries, and pan-roasted vegetables.
For an idea of how versatile our garlic is, visit the Recipes section of our website and click on the Garlic ingredient for a list of recipes to try!
Make the Best Sun-Dried Tomatoes at Home
Sun-Dried Tomatoes are Firecrackers of Flavor
Sun-dried tomatoes are amazing. Just cracking open a jar perfumes the room with their unmistakably rich fragrance, making the dead of winter smell like the peak of late summer. They wake up many dishes with their explosion of intensely sweet and tart flavors. Preserving them uses the simplest techniques with only two ingredients, and they last an extremely long time without needing refrigeration. There is no easier way to capture and intensify their flavor and aroma.
You may not have experienced the full flavors if you’ve only tasted the store-bought offerings unless they were imported from Italy.
To understand the rise and fall of sun-dried tomatoes in America, read “What Ever Happened to Sun-Dried Tomatoes?”, then come back here.
Did you catch the part where commercial tomato growers jumped into the game once sun-dried tomatoes were popular? Using commodity tomatoes that were bred for uniform shape and tolerance to shipping (that’s actually one of the breeding characteristics!) simply ruined the market, due to their utter lack of flavor.
That’s not to say there isn’t a place for sun-dried tomatoes in your kitchen today – there is, and they are still just as delicious as you remember – maybe even more so if they come out of your garden!
If you’ve got a lot of tomatoes on the way, preserving them by sun drying or dehydrating and storing in olive oil allows you to put up 50 lbs. of tomatoes into a couple of jars with little work.
Let’s walk through just how easy and simple it really is!
Making Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Sliced Fresh San Marzano Tomatoes
The best tomatoes for sun drying are the best-tasting ones – grown in rich, fertile soil giving them the sweetest, most complex flavors. Paste tomatoes are traditionally used just for this reason – they have a sweeter taste that is intensified by the drying process, giving them their signature complex sweet/tart flavors.
Be careful, though – Italians use San Marzano tomatoes almost exclusively because they are sweet to begin with, unlike the Roma tomatoes used by the American tomato paste market, which are more acidic and take on bitter overtones once dried. The larger San Marzano Redorta tomato works very well also.
Pick fully ripe, almost soft tomatoes then wash, de-stem and slice them, removing any bad spots. Fully ripe fruit have a richer, more fully developed flavor to start with.
Arrange them on a flat surface like a dehydrator sheet or a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. They can be slightly touching but you want to keep good airflow between the tomato halves.
Drying the tomatoes
The original sun-dried tomatoes were just that – dried in the sun on rooftops then threaded on garlands or preserved in olive oil for the next season to add flavor to dishes when there were very few fresh vegetables available.
Most gardeners don’t have the space to spread out dozens of trays to sun-dry their tomatoes, so we improvise. A dehydrator works wonders, drying 30 lbs. or more of fresh tomatoes in a batch. We use an Excalibur that we’ve had for almost 20 years – set the temperature to 80-90°F, turn the fan on and check on the progress every few hours. The low temperature allows for a more even drying and doesn’t cook the fruit, leaving you with funky flavors. It’s a slow process so you don’t have to babysit. A full load usually takes overnight and we stop it when the tomatoes are leathery but still pliable and not crisp.
Sun-dried tomatoes ready for use
This is how much the tomato slices shrink in drying, and how 30 lbs. of fresh paste tomatoes can fit into a few jars.
Once they are dried to your liking, simply gather them up and determine what size and how many jars you need. They make exceptional, incredibly thoughtful gifts for the gourmand or serious cook in your life, so we decided to make up a few half-pint jars for gifts and half-gallons for our own use.
Sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
Pack them tightly into clean jars and add olive oil to fill, making sure to completely submerge the tomatoes, screw the lid on tight and you’re done! Use the best quality olive oil you can source – organic is preferable, as it becomes a component of the flavors you are working to preserve.
Fresh sun-dried tomatoes are beautiful and delicious in their own right, ready to enjoy in a myriad of dishes from bruschetta and simple fresh pasta dishes to brightening hummus and cream cheese spreads to showcasing their delightful flavors in simple scrambled eggs in the morning.
Aged Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Sun-dried tomatoes keep a long time, much longer than you might expect. They go through a process similar to aging balsamic vinegar or wine, becoming richer, deeper, and more complex in their flavor profiles while gaining a surprising aromatic intensity. Being submerged in olive oil seals them off from the air and allows them to mature and age.
We discovered a hidden half-pint recently that was – let’s just say a few years old – in perfectly good shape and delicious. On opening the jar for the first time, the room was immediately filled with the intense, rich scent of aged tomatoes. It’s difficult to describe, but we were immediately hungry for something – anything – with those sun-dried tomatoes in it!
After tasting the aged sun-dried tomatoes, we will be putting up a jar or two strictly for aging each season from now on!
Heirloom Corn – Grow It to Save It
So much more than sweet corn
Heirloom corn is one of our oldest domesticated foods, feeding us for an estimated 7,000 years. Originating in Mexico, this cultivated grass is highly versatile and adaptable, providing so much more than simply food for our lives today.
Corn is ubiquitous, appearing in almost everything we use – from food, to fuel, to fiber, to medicine, to whiskey, and many more items.
When we think of corn today, we usually think of a uniform bright yellow row of kernels on a fat cob of sweet corn, but that’s only the modern face of this ancient and revered food. Tribes in Mexico still grow hundreds of varieties of corn each year and call themselves people of the corn.
Peruvian Heirloom Corn Display
When we shared a photo from a Peruvian corn display on our Facebook page, it had lots of “likes”. It showed a rainbow of shapes, sizes,and colors like these Peruvian varieties and made us wonder how many gardeners who liked the photowere growing some of their own corn this season.
Peru grows more than 55 varieties of corn and indigenous Mexicans identify with around 60 varieties. In the hills to the east of Oaxaca, Mexico the farmers have grown corn for centuries, maintaining the varieties they consider sacred to their people. They have numerous small fields, each growing a single variety, tucked into hills and little pockets that are used only for one special dish during a specific feast day or holiday. This is one of the reasons they consider themselves to be “people of the corn”.
It seems like everyone likes to eat corn but fewerAmerican gardeners are growing it, depending on others to grow, transport, and market it. This creates a problem for all gardeners, but it’s one we can fix. This is a perfect examplewhere one person makes a difference, one garden at a time.
I want to take you on a short tour of a few of the unique and delicious varieties we offer, with a little about each one. Maybe you’ll feel inspired to try something new in your garden this season!
A few examples
Bloody Butcher Heirloom Corn
Bloody Butcher has an unusual name with an equally unusual story. The Meadows family in West Virginia has maintained this variety since the late 1800s, with family history tracing its origins back earlier.
The common description is of a blood-red corn originating in the 1800s by the mixing of Native American corn with white settler’s seed. There is more to the story, however!
The origin of the seed seems to be when Betsey Gibson escaped her captureby Native Americans in the early 1800s, bringing the seeds of what became known as Bloody Butcher with her. That corn kept her grand-daughter Ebby alive through some tough times, as well as Ebby’s son’s and grandson’s families through the Depression. They still grow it every year todayand claim it makes the absolute best cornbread.
Bloody Butcher is now a recognized treasure from the Appalachia region, used to make a regionally celebrated polenta, distinctive cornbread, and even a Kentucky Bourbon.
Bloody Butcher Heirloom Corn Seed
This is a “dent” type, meaning it’s not a sweet, fresh-eating corn. Dent corn gets its name from the distinctive dent that appears in the top of the kernel as it dries. It has higher protein and lower starch and sugars than sweet corn, making amazing cornbread or pancakes.
Hopi Blue Corn
Native American corn grows in many colors, which have special meanings. Each color corresponds to the cardinal directions – blue for north, red for south, yellow for west and white for east. White corn goes into traditional bread or is slow-roasted on coals buried underground or in mud ovens. Young women’s ceremonials use red corn, while yellow corn is for weddings.
Blue corn is sacred and held in high esteem by most of the Southwest Native American tribes. Historians believe the Hopi bred it from the ancestral varieties migrating through trade from Central America some 5,000 years ago. The Hopi language has many words for blue corn, based on the different shades and uses.
Hopi Blue Corn Seed
Blue corn is a key ingredient in many foods, some familiar like chips, pancakes, corn cakes, and cornbread, while others are newer innovations like bourbon.
This is a “flint” type, named for its hard texture once dried. It has less soft starch than dent corn and a hearty nature with a higher nutrient value. Traditional Italian polenta uses flint corn and most popcorn is a flint type. Navajo and Hopi roast the young corn in its “milk” stage when it is still sweet.
What happens when we stop growing corn
Heirloom Corn Herbarium
What happens when corn isn’t grown and kept alive in its natural state? First, it becomes a curiosity or novelty, grown for the colors or decorative qualities. Think about the “Indian corn” you see every fall, beloved by interior decorators for the bright colors and rustic feel it contributes. No one eats that corn anymore.
If it isn’t really popular as a novelty or decoration, then it might wind up stored in a museum as a piece of documentary evidence of how life was lived at a certain time in a certain place. The ears in the photo above are in an herbarium, or documentary storage at the Museum of Northern Arizona, showing how the cobs and kernels of particular varieties of corn looked when they were grown. Some of these cobs date from the early 1900s.
If these varieties haven’t been grown out elsewhere, then they are most likely lost, as these ears of corn are dead and can’t grow after being stored for so long. These are all samples from the Hopi and Navajo reservations – the colors and varieties are intriguing. There are eight varieties of blue corn in just these three drawers.
Hopi Corn Herbarium
A closer look shows the color variations among the ears. The flavors would be just as varied as the colors, and most likely used for different purposes in the life of the tribe.
Hopi Corn Herbarium Closeup
As pretty as these colors are, their only existence shouldn’t be in a specimen box in a museum herbarium as a display of the past. They should be grown, eaten, and enjoyed for the living treasures they are.
It would be a travesty if this only place you could see this variety of corn and not be able to taste it anymore.
Tasty uses for corn
Oaxacan Green Dent Corn
Besides roasting fresh sweet corn, there are many delicious dishes you can make with dent or flint corn. Polenta, cornbread, pancakes, and chips have already been mentioned, but corn that’s been ground into flour or cornmeal is used in many more recipes.
This is Oaxacan green dent corn, from the Oaxaca (wah-HA-ka) area in central Mexico. Drought-resistant and very flavorful, it has been grown by the Zapotec for many centuries and is the key ingredient in green corn tamales, a beloved regional treat.
Grinding Oaxacan Corn
Oaxacan green corn tamales are made from green dent corn that has been lightly dried until the kernels are loose, then ground into masa to make the tamales, giving them a unique earthy, herbaceous flavor. American green corn tamales typically use regular yellow corn masa with green chiles – a much different flavor!
While you can buy instant masa at most supermarkets, fresh masa has an unparalleled sweet richness. Our friend Andy makes an annual fall tamale dinner for the Denver, CO area Slow Food group.
Green Corn Tamales
The tamales are filled and cooked by steaming. The green colors are peeking out from underneath the husk wrappers, waiting to surprise diners with their wonderful flavors!
Now its your turn
We’ve shown you some delicious heirloom corn varieties, a little bit of their history & how to use them, what happens when we stop growing corn and how to prevent that – now it’s your turn!
You don’t need a large plot to grow a little corn – a 5-foot square will do nicely. Corn produces best growing in a block, instead of a row because it is wind-pollinated. As with most gardening, start small and get some experience before trying to grow enough to feed the neighborhood!
For further inspiration and to see how easy it can be to make your own fresh masa, here’s an article from Saveur magazine to get you started.
Build Your Own Seed Starting Station
A seed starting station gives you advantages
One of the best ways to grow a bigger or better garden is to start with robust, healthy seedlings and transplants. Starting them yourself allows you to select and control the conditions, which often means needing a seed starting station. Gardeners and growers looking to improve their seed germination rates and have stronger, healthier transplants that produce earlier and longer need this tool!
A seed starting station can be almost any size—from a single seedling tray to a full commercial table system. Most gardeners use a moveable wire restaurant rack as the frame, but there are many other ways to set one up.
A major advantage is that placement is not limited to a sunny and warm location because the light and heat are on the station itself. This gives you flexibility in placing it in your house, workshop, or garage—anywhere that remains above 50°F at night.
Seed starting station with seedling trays on top of heat mats with lights and thermostat.
Grow like a pro with your own seed starting station
A dedicated seed-starting platform isn’t required for a great garden, but it helps! A good seed starting station is self-contained, creates the perfect conditions for seed germination, and adjusts those conditions as the seedlings grow and develop. You easily control the warmth, moisture, and light in just the right amounts.
We invested in our initial seed rack almost 25 years ago; it still has most of its original parts, and we use it every season. A few parts have been replaced or upgraded as needed, but the money spent two decades ago is still paying out – every season – and will for the next couple of decades. That is money well spent!
Here are three more reasons to seriously consider your system –
1- Get a head-start on your season
Starting seeds like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant earlier gives you bigger and stronger transplants than with a seed flat in the window. Instead of having a 4 – 6-inch tall seedling, you can have a 10-inch tall transplant, as you see at the garden center, which is robust and more resilient to weather fluctuations. An added benefit is earlier harvests as they go to work sooner than smaller seedlings – as much as a month earlier! In very short-season climates, a seed starting station is almost required to have vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, and squash that need longer to mature.
A seed starting station has adjustable lighting, so seedlings grow stronger and more compact instead of spindly and weak ones that struggle toward the light in a window. The protected environment keeps your young, tender, and delicious seedlings from becoming snacks for critters and insects looking for an easy meal outdoors.
The station works for spring, fall, or winter gardening—we start our spring seeds in mid-to-late February and the fall crops in August for transplanting in early September.
2- Dramatically improve your seed germination rates
The seed starting station has light and heat, and you provide moisture using germination trays with lids, adjusting as needed. Dial in heat and add moisture after planting your seeds, then add light when they sprout while reducing the moisture and heat to grow stronger, more robust seedlings than ever before.
Starting seeds becomes so easy that you can start transplants for your friends and neighbors with almost no additional effort, becoming the local garden hero.
3- Grow salad greens or microgreens indoors year-round
Lettuce, spinach, baby Swiss chard, and mustard are greens that grow well in little soil and cooler temperatures – making your seed rack the perfect location. Just dial the heat down – or turn it off in warmer climates – and keep the lights on with sufficient moisture. You’ll have fresh salads in January, even in Alaska.
Another view of the grow rack with seedling trays, heat mats, thermostat, and adjustable lighting.
What is a grow rack?
A growing station, grow rack, or seed starting station is any setup that provides light, heat, and moisture in a controlled environment and can be easily changed as needed.
Often made from commercially available wire racks on wheels, they can be as simple as a couple of hoops made from PVC tubing supporting lights over seed starting trays with lids and a heat mat or heating pad underneath.
They are usually very space efficient, only needing a couple to a few square feet, and can be tucked away in little-used areas because they provide their own light and heat. A spare room, unfinished basement, or even a garage will work to start your seeds, as long as the minimum nightly temperature is above 50°F.
Who needs a seed starting station?
It really is that simple.
Anyone starting their own seeds gains an immediate advantage using a grow station. You have complete control over the specific conditions that seeds need to germinate – light, water, and heat. This means you provide the perfect environment at the perfect time for faster seed germination, then decrease the moisture and heat while increasing the light to grow stronger seedlings than ever before.
Advantages of a seed starting station
How to build your seed starting station
The foundation of any seed-starting system is the support structure that holds the lights above the seed trays, allowing them to move up and down over the young seedlings as they grow. Larger stations support the seed trays and heating mats, while simpler systems suspend the lights over any level surface.
If you have space, investing in a restaurant-style wire rack on wheels gives you a lifetime of use—and possibly more! Our rack is almost 25 years old and is still functioning just as well as the first day we assembled it. We’ve moved its location about 8 – 10 times and reconfigured the lighting system a few times as we tried different ways to hang and adjust the lights over the seed trays.
We easily see another 25 years of use from it because there isn’t much stress on the rack. We’ve removed two original shelves to give us more vertical space for growing seedlings and provide light above each shelf.
The five-shelf system that we use (74-in Tallx 48-in Wide x 18-in Deep) is ideal if you’re growing a larger garden or want to start and transplant several dozen seedlings indoors simultaneously. Depending on your needs, you have the flexibility in how many shelves are in use at once – from one to all of them. Here’s a materials list with sample pricing from Home Depot:
Materials List for Five-Shelf Seed Starting System:
Costs –
TOTAL COST: $355.04with Plant and Aquarium bulbs from Home Depot
OR
TOTAL COST: $295.26 with Daylight bulbs
Once you see the cost of a professional seedling cart (without heat mats), you’ll see what a difference building it yourself makes!
The consumables—items that are reasonably expected to wear out—are the power strips and bulbs. The power strips should last 3 – 5 years, possibly more, while the bulbs have an average lifespan of 20,000 hours. Using them 14 hours per day gives almost four years of continual use, but normal use is about four months for both spring and fall transplants, giving a potential 12 years. In our experience, we usually see about 8 – 10 years of use.
Building on a budget
The pricing example above is for purchasing brand-new equipment simultaneously, but it doesn’t have to be built this way. Your local Craiglist is an excellent option, and you can set alerts for keywords—”wire shelving,” for example—to avoid having to search every day. Yard or garage sales, used equipment, or restaurant supply companies in your area are other choices. If you get creative, you’ll find several ways to save money over buying new.
Even if you buy new, you can build a shelf or two at a time as needed – nothing says you have to build it all at once!
Spectrum-tuned LED grow light – good idea, but it doesn’t last long enough for the price.
Choosing the right bulbs
You’ll see two different choices in bulbs in the materials list – Plant and Aquarium bulbs vs. Daylight bulbs. Both are fluorescent and will last 20,000 hours, but they emit a different spectrum of light. Red and blue are the two most important colors that plants use, as most of the photosynthetic activity of chlorophyll is in the blue and red frequencies. In simple terms, blue wavelengths encourage vegetative growth, while red is best for flowering and fruiting.
The Plant and Aquarium bulbs are tuned toward the red end of the spectrum, while the Daylight bulbs are more blue. If you are using the grow station exclusively to start seedlings for transplanting, then use the Daylight bulbs. For those using the grow rack for growing greens for harvesting, choose one of each type of bulb for each fixture, giving you better coverage of the spectrum.
LED lights are available, and we are testing some, but we aren’t ready to recommend any particular brands yet. The advertised advantages are a longer-lasting light that uses less power than fluorescent bulbs. The disadvantages are usually higher initial costs and less than optimum real-world lifespan. For example, one light we tested cost $30—which is good—but started to fail in the second year of use, which is bad.
Commercial LED lighting is extremely expensive and has not – yet – lived up to all of its claims. Research is ongoing, and we expect to see a large shift to more affordable and better LEDs soon.
How much light is needed?
Most vegetable seeds don’t require light to germinate, but some herbs and flowers do. When we start vegetable seedlings, we don’t turn the lights on until they have popped up and opened their cotyledon leaves. This is when they switch from living off the stored food and energy in the seed to making their own through photosynthesis. 10 – 12 hours of light is good to start. The lights are lowered to about 3 – 6 inches above the seedlings or moisture domes to give them the strongest light possible.
You can’t hurt the seedlings with too much light – they will not use what they don’t need. In photosynthesis, there are two cycles – a “light” and a “dark” cycle. The light cycle depends on light to function because it’s based on photosynthesis, but the dark cycle doesn’t require light. That doesn’t mean it needs to be dark for the “dark” cycle to function – it happens after a certain amount of energy is built up from photosynthesis during the light cycle, which then switches to the dark cycle to store that energy. This switching happens continuously, so don’t worry about giving your plants too much light!
Providing lots of light builds strong plants because they have lots of light energy to capture and store for future growth.
Early season view of our grow rack with two shelves for starting seeds.
Setting up your station
Now that you know what you need, let’s walk through how to set it up and start your first batch of seeds!
Wire Rack
Start with the wire rack – this is the foundation for everything else. Use the instructions and carefully assemble the rack, installing the rollers on the bottom. Moving the rack to install or adjust heating or lighting makes it much easier.
We allow about 18 inches between each shelf, installing the top at the very top and the bottom at the bottom to give us the most room possible. The top rack is used for storage and to support the top level of lights. This gives room to move the light, keeping it 3 – 5 inches above the seedlings.
Lighting and electrical connections, showing pulley and cord on the light fixture.
Electrical
Using the Zip ties, fasten the power strips to one of the wire shelves within easy reach. We use one set for the lights and another set for the heating mats—this way, we can turn all of the lights on with the flip of one switch.
Lighting
Cut two pieces of the nylon cord into 24-inch sections and securely tie one end onto the provided hooks for the shop light housing. Then, install the hooks into the housing. Zip-tie the small pulleys onto the end of the shelves to support the shop lights, run the cord through the pulleys, and tie them off. If you aren’t confident with your knots, the optional cord locks might come in handy. Finally, install the bulbs into the fixtures and plug the cord into the appropriate power strip.
Heat mat and thermostat with temperature probe.
Heating
We use commercial heat mats on two wire shelves, setting the seedling trays directly on top to keep the soil warm. Thermostats with temperature probes keep the soil at a pre-set temperature range and are adjustable according to the needs of the seed or seedling. Both are commercial quality and last many years, but they are an investment as they are somewhat costly. We set them at 80-85°F after sowing, then reduced them to 75°F once the seedlings were up and lowered them to 70°F as they matured. Providing heat to the roots keeps the plants healthier and allows them to tolerate air temperatures as low as 50°F overnight with no adverse effects.
Gardeners in warmer climates may not need heat mats, as the fluorescent bulbs provide heat to the shelf above. If you are in a milder climate, experiment with this before investing in heat mats and thermometers!
Mid-season growing station configuration with larger seedlings on non-heated shelves (click to see larger photo).
Once the seedlings are transplanted into larger cups, they are moved off the heating mats onto lower shelves, allowing them to grow in cooler conditions closer to those they will experience in the garden. We only have two shelves with heat mats for this exact reason.
Get creative
Even if you have little (or no) extra space, you can get creative in setting up your seed starting station. A longtime friend lives in an apartment with little extra space and gardens in a community garden, so she has come up with a remarkably inventive method to start her transplants.
Starting seedlings under a table.
She uses the underside of a table to support the lights for her seed-starting station! Her apartment is naturally warm, so combined with the warmth of the lights, there is enough heat for the seedlings to thrive.
Larger seedlings mature before being transplanted. The heat mat is turned off.
Now it’s your turn
We’ve provided you with lots of information and details on building your own seed starting station. Use this article as a checklist, and you’ll soon see the strongest and healthiest seedlings ready for transplanting into your garden!
As you progress, we’d love to see photos of your creativity and how you solved particular challenges with your climate or situation. We will share them with everyone to help others overcome similar issues!
Shade Your Garden for Better Vegetables
Peppers and Tomatoes Love a Little Shade
Shade for a garden is a polarizing subject – it seems like we’ve either got too much or too little. Today we’re focusing on gardens that need some shelter – the ones with perpetual sun-scaldon tomatoes and peppers or cilantro that bolts almost immediately after sprouting.
Shading a garden often seems overwhelming, especially if you live in the very sunny zones of the US, Canada, Australia, or in other bright parts of the world, but it shouldn’t be complicated or expensive. Today we focus on simple and easy methods for giving your garden some relief – exactly where and when it is needed.
Vegetables like tomatoes, peppers – both sweet and hot, eggplant, lettuce, spinach, along with herbs like cilantro, all benefit from a little shade, especially in the sunny, hotter afternoons of mid to late spring through late summer or even early fall.
Full sun in the early to late morning gives plants plenty of energy through photosynthesis without excess heat stress, allowing them to grow and produce to their full potential. Providing afternoon shelter relieves a lot of the heat buildup, lowering the amount of moisture lost through leaves and the need for extra water to keep the plant healthy. This allows the plant to spend its energy on growing delicious fruits and vegetables, not in transporting water from the soil just trying to stay alive. We talk more about this specifically for peppers in Grow Better Peppers with Shade.
Oak tree shade
Defining Shade
Now that you know why shade is beneficial for a sunny garden, what – exactly – is shade? Let’s look at the different types of shade through commonly used terms.
Deep Shade – there is no direct sunlight at all and only a small amount of reflected light, such as from the wall of a light-colored house, garage or fences. This would be under the canopy of several large, fully mature trees.
Light Shade– gets only one to two hours of direct sunlight a day, but has quite a bit of reflected light from nearby walls and fences. Most likely underneath large trees, but has either morning or afternoon sun reaching the ground.
Partial Shade– sees direct sunlight for two to six hours per day with dappled shade the rest of the day. This would be from less mature trees, a fewer number of trees close together or those without an extensive leaf structure.
Full Sun – receives at least six hours of sunlight per day but more likely eight to ten hours. This could be shorter or younger trees, wider spaced plantings, or species with smaller leaves and less shade structure, such as elms as compared to oaks.
Use this information as you plan on what varieties to plant where.
Morning vs Afternoon Shade
When do your plants need some shelter? Typically during the hottest parts of the day – afternoons – during the hottest parts of the year – May or June through August or September. The exceptions are the areas routinely above 110°F like Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, and Palm Springs – they grow better with mid to late morning shading lasting all afternoon. For the rest of us, if our plants start seeing some shadows by about 1 pm, they are comfortable and produce nicely.
What this means is that permanent overhead shade structures are usually not needed. They can be a nice addition if part of the structure is over a picnic table or BBQ area next to your garden, but the garden doesn’t always need that much cover for that long.
The upside to temporary shade for part of the day is it can be removed for cool weather crops needing as much sun as possible to capture the warmth on the soil to grow earlier or later in the season.
East vs West Shade
Where is the best place for your shade? Most plants need some afternoon protection, meaning the shadows should come from the west side of your plants, or that you plant on the east side of the protection. Confused? Don’t be – think of it this way. As the sun moves to the west, it casts shadows to the east and that’s where you want your plants to be – in the shadows!
Achocha vine on west wall
In the photo above, the Achocha is growing on the west wall of this courtyard and has afternoon protection – this photo was taken about 11 am, with full morning sun. After about 1 pm, the shadows arrive and the area cools down, even though it reaches 100°F or more each afternoon during the summer. When we first tried growing it on the east wall, it received morning protection but was baked in the afternoon’s direct sun, struggling to grow and not producing any fruits. The fruit production exploded and it was much happier once we moved it!
Southern Shade
Beyond east/west shade, you might consider giving your garden protection to the south. Shading a section of your garden along the south fence with each row having its own screening on the west side gives more sensitive plants extra protection from the sun.
Wind moderation is another advantage of shading, as each successive row slows down the prevailing breeze, making the growing conditions more favorable. Plant hardier plants upwind and less wind tolerant ones downwind.
Commercial shade structure
Adding Shade to Your Garden
Giving your plants some much-needed sun shelter can be easier than you might think. Here are some examples to get you thinking about your garden and how it is set up.
High tunnel with shade cloth
Permanent structures
This is what everyone seems to think about first when talking about shading a garden. The commercial type shade structure, supported by big square steel poles with the whole garden shaded is one approach.
Another is simply planting in containers on the east side of your house or garage. This is exactly how our container garden is set up, starting right next to the east wall and stretching out for about 10 feet. It gets full morning sun and starts seeing shade in the early afternoon, and by the hottest part of the day it’s in light shade – no direct sun and only reflected light. We’ve grown cilantro in the container closest to the house almost all summer without it bolting.
Yet another is a chain-link fence with privacy strips woven into it, either 6 or 8 feet tall. Some houses already have these as a border fence and all you need to do is add the privacy weave. A tall wooden fence gives you built-in shading.
Cattle panel hoop house
Temporary structures
These are the most common types of non-living sun screen, easily put up and taken down as needed. One example is shade cloth zip-tied to the south fence of a garden, providing both shade and wind filtering. The amount of shade depends on the height of the fence.
Another is the T-post and shade cloth approach. 8-foot tall T-posts are pounded in on the west edge of the row or bed at 4 to 6-foot intervals, then shade cloth is zip-tied to them. This gives about a 7-foot tall shade wall, as the T-posts are driven in about a foot deep, giving a good shade and windbreak for vegetables. Removal is easy when fall approaches and the sun is needed all day.
Another example is a hoop house made from semi-rigid 20-foot long cattle panels arched over a bed or couple of rows and covered in shade cloth or clear plastic as needed. The plastic makes the hoop house into a large cold frame early in the season for lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, and other cold-season greens, then is switched for shade cloth when tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant are transplanted in early spring. The plastic is re-installed in the fall for another season of cold-season crops before winter.
Okra as living shade
Living structures
These can be either temporary – as in a wall of Russian sunflowers on the south fence, or more permanent – like a large trellis or hoop house made from cattle fencing panels as above and planted with a vining, leafy vegetable that crawls up and shades the entire area. The trellis is permanently installed, while the vines are replanted. A planting of okra along a fence, as the photo above shows.
Now it’s your turn
You’ve increased your knowledge and added another set of tools to your gardening toolbox, helping you be that much more successful this coming season! Use this article to plan where and when you need shade the most to boost your garden production and impress your family, friends, and neighbors.
3 Ways to Grow Great Onions from Seed
Why Grow Onions from Seed?
Many gardeners begin growing their onions from transplants or bulbs bought at their local garden center. They are convenient, easy to grow and a great way to learn about growing delicious onions in your garden, but they have some drawbacks. Like tomatoes and peppers, the selection is limited to what the grower chooses and freshness isn’t always a given.
Growing onions from seed opens up a world of diversity in shapes, sizes, flavors, and colors to grow. Starting from seed typically rewards you with bigger and better quality onions, with larger harvests being a bonus from the abundance of seed in a packet.
Onions grown from seed almost always perform better than those grown from sets. They are less prone to disease, store better, and bulb up faster, especially if you have some knowledge and tips to do it right. Growing onions isn’t quite like growing other vegetables, so here’s how you can grow better this season!
Types of Onions – Long Day vs Short Day vs Intermediate Day
Long vs Short Day Onion Zones
Which onion varieties are best for you depends on where your garden is located. There are three different types of onions and picking the right type is key to growing a great crop.
Short-day onions need 10 – 12 hours of daylight to form bulbs. They’re perfect for gardeners in the southern US where summer days are not as long throughout the growing season. Growing short-day onions in the north results in tiny bulbs that go to flower early because the bulbs stop growing once the days lengthen.
Long-day onions need at least 14 hours of daylight to form bulbs. They’re best for gardeners in the northern tier of the U.S. and Canada. Just like growing short-day onions in the north, long-day onions won’t form bulbs in the south because the days aren’t long enough to trigger bulb formation and you wind up with small bulbs or bunching onions.
Intermediate Day Onion Zone
Intermediate-day onions form bulbs when the daylight ranges from 12 – 14 hours long. If you live somewhere across the mid-section of the US, day-neutral or intermediate onion varieties are the best fit.
Three Ways to Grow Onions From Seed
There are three distinct ways to grow your onions from seed and the best way for you depends on your particular gardening style, equipment and available time. Onions grow best in loose, fertile soil that drains well.
1- Direct Sowing in the Garden
The simplest method is direct to sow your onion seeds directly into the garden soil. Before sowing, refer to the garden bed preparation section below. Draw a line down the middle of the bed about 1/8 – 1/4 inch deep and sow the onion seeds with about 3-inch spacing to avoid crowding. Lightly cover the seeds and dampen well. Onion seeds will tolerate a light frost.
The pros of this method are its simplicity – sow your onions once, then harvest when ready. No transplanting for you!
The cons are making sure you plant the seeds early enough for the bulbs to develop by mid to late fall. You also have to deal with weather events and being able to possibly protect the seedlings if there is hail or heavy rains. Most northern states don’t have a long enough season to support direct seeding.
The good news is experimenting is inexpensive – a packet of onion seeds will set you back a grand total of anywhere from $3.15 to $3.35, and you get about 500 seeds to work with. You’ll also invest a little bit of your time in learning what works best for your garden.
Onion seedlings in tray
2- Starting in Trays
Starting your onion seeds in trays requires a small amount of equipment or conditions and some time on your part. You’ll need a tray to catch the excess moisture and either a flat with cells or individual pots such as peat pots, paper pots, or similar filled with a high-quality pre-moistened seed starting mix. If you aren’t sure which mix works well, read our Seed Starting Mix article. You can also use a container about 3 – 4 inches deep and fill it almost to the top instead of pots or flats. Used berry or take-out containers work well with holes poked in the bottom and lid. Start your seeds about 10-12 weeks before transplanting date, which is about 2-4 weeks before your last frost date.
Plant the seeds by placing 2 seeds per cell or pot and covering with about 1/8 inch of soil. If you are using the container method, scatter the seeds on top of well-moistened potting soil then cover with the 1/8 inch of additional soil. Label the containers or flats, place in the catch tray and cover with a humidity dome or lid. Place on a heat mat, heating pad, or warm area where it’s a constant 70-75°F. Once the seeds start sprouting – about a week – remove the humidity dome and move to a cooler area, about 60-65°F. Give them plenty of supplemental light with a grow light or other fixture for about 12 hours per day. Trim the tops back when they are about 5 inches tall to encourage stronger root and stalk growth.
Onions will tolerate cool spring temperatures but must be acclimated first – a process called hardening off. Start about 6 weeks before your last expected frost date (look yours up here) by giving them exposure to natural sunlight, cooler temperatures, and a less moist soil environment. Begin by placing the tray in a sheltered location outside during the day for an hour or two, increasing a little each day until they are outside from morning until night time. Onion seedlings will tolerate a light frost, so don’t worry if you get a late-season cold snap!
They are now ready for transplanting, and you should be about 2 weeks before your last expected frost date. Before transplanting, refer to the garden bed preparation section below. To transplant, remove the soil blocks or gently dump the tray out, then tease the seedlings out of the potting soil into clumps of no more than 2, placing them 3-4 inches apart next to the furrow. Stage or pre-place all of the transplants before planting them to save time and your back!
Using a dibber or other similar tool, poke a hole into the furrow about 3-4 inches deep and drop each clump in – don’t worry, this isn’t too deep! Gently firm the soil around the transplant and keep the beds well watered and weeded until the onions are well established.
The pros for this approach is you know exactly where your onions are, as you can see the green tops sticking out. You can also select the strongest seedlings to transplant, creating a better chance of a good harvest.
The cons are that seedlings will have some transplant shock and you’ll lose some – grow extra transplants to fill in the gaps. Young, tender greens are snacks for all sorts of critters in early spring, so you may need to provide some protective cover until they are more established.
3- Winter Sowing
This is perhaps the second easiest option as it takes little time on your part and almost no equipment. Winter sowing is basically cold-stratifying your onion seeds to the outside temperatures, then they sprout when conditions are right in the spring. You can plant your seeds this way anytime from early December to mid-February in most locations.
Seed sowing is similar to starting seeds in a container, except you skip the heat mats, grow lights and all of the other equipment. Start with a container that has some holes in the bottom for drainage, fill to within an inch of the top with good quality dry potting soil and sow your onion seeds across the top with a sprinkling motion, giving them about 1/4 to 1/2 inch spacing. Poke 1/4 inch holes in the lid for ventilation and put it on the container after labeling it with the date and type of onion you planted.
Now place the container in a shady, protected spot outside. It doesn’t matter if it freezes or snows – the onion seeds are acclimating to the changing conditions and will remain dormant until the conditions are right. This is why you use dry potting soil!
When the temperatures and day length are right, your onion seeds will start sprouting inside the container. As the weather starts to warm up during the day, check your seed container every couple of days for signs of sprouting. Once you see the tiny bits of green peeking out, then you’ll need to water the potting soil, keeping it slightly moist but not wet. As they grow, open the lid on warm days and close it at night, still keeping it out of direct sun. If you get a hard freeze once the seedlings have germinated, cover the container with a blanket or towel at night to protect them, but remove it next morning.
As soon as you can work your garden soil in early spring, transplant your seedlings just like if you had started them indoors. Before transplanting, refer to the garden bed preparation section below.You don’t need to harden them off because they’ve been outside all winter and are acclimated to the temperatures.
The pros to this method are the plants are used to the natural temperature and light cycles and are primed to germinate at the right time. They usually form larger bulbs more consistently as well.
The cons are remembering to check on the container that might be out of sight outside, especially when the temperatures warm up.
Growing Bed Preparation Before Sowing or Transplanting
Prepare your garden bed for either sowing or transplanting before you need it to save time, back strain and headache. The basics are the same -dig a furrow about 4 inches wide and deep, then fill it with rich, well-aged compost. It’s best to do this in the fall before the ground is too hard, but it can be done in early spring as soon as the ground can be worked.
Mulched Onions
Onion Growing Tips
Start with fresh seed and seed starting or potting soil mix each year. Onion seed germination decreases after the first year, so why chance it? Fresh mix minimizes the chance of diseases during the long germination and seedling periods.
If starting inside, bottom heat really speeds seed germination up. 70-75°F soil temperature can create sprouts in about a week, versus 2 or 3 weeks at cooler temperatures.
Feed only the onion roots – just underneath the onion itself. They have short, shallow roots and can’t reach far, so provide the rich, well-aged compost where they can use it best.
Onions don’t compete with weeds very well because of their slow growth and small root structures. Weeds will significantly reduce your onion harvest, but there are better ways to fight weeds than weeding.Minimize weeding by mulching heavily between seedlings after transplanting.
Water onions efficiently with a drip system or soaker hose placed right next to the plants – remember their short roots. Doing this minimizes the amount of water they need, as well as reducing available water to potential weeds.
Get Started
Congratulations! You now know a lot more about how to grow delicious onions from seed and why you would want to. You’ve got several tools to use in planning your garden for onions and how to set yourself up for success this season.
As always, please let us know your thoughts, experiences, or questions in the comments below. If you like this, sharing with your circle of friends helps us help them!
Growing Peppers 101
The More You Know – the Better You Grow
Growing peppers seems to come naturally for some gardeners, while others always seem to struggle. Sometimes this stems from easily-avoided mistakes or accepting certain myths or misinformation as correct.
Today we’re looking at the basics of growing peppers in your home garden and some mistakes and myths to be aware of and avoid. You might look at this as a how-not-to guide because occasionally it’s just easier showing what not to do than describing and explaining the right way. Plus, seeing other’s mistakes sometimes sinks in faster.
These are our observations from our 20+ years of gardening combined with the past 10 years of gardening questions we’ve answered.
Conditions
The initial conditions you choose are critical to sprouting, transplanting and growing success, no matter what seed you are planting. Here are some things to consider as you grow your peppers this season.
Chocolate Mini Bell Peppers
Starting Seeds
Alma Paprika Pepper
Transplanting
Serrano Peppers
Growing
Line of Capsaicin
Harvesting and Handling
Red and Yellow Bell Peppers
Myths
One of the biggest myths we’ve seen is the one that the different number of lobes on a bell pepper determines it’s sex – such as “3 lobes means it’s female and sweeter, 4 lobes is male and hotter”…
Another myth is that all red peppers are hot, while green peppers are sweet.
Your Tips?
What are your proven, never-fail tips for growing the best peppers? Share your experiences below so we can all grow better peppers!
Resources to learn more
Bierocks – Savory Hand-held Working Lunches
The Original Working Lunch
All over the world, working folks have eaten hand-held lunches of meat or vegetables wrapped in dough. Not sandwiches, but delicious and filling sealed, portable, savory pies – bringing energy for the afternoon work they faced.
Many of these international specialties have found a welcome home in this country, and this example comes from the 18th-century Russian Mennonite farms by way of south-central Kansas, where they emigrated to. Traditionally tucked into a basket or hamper and brought to the farmers at their mid-day lunch break, they are a hearty and delicious way to enjoy a good meal on the go today.
They are great fresh, but also keep in the refrigerator and freeze well. Let them thaw before reheating to get a taste of fresh, homemade goodness anytime!
Danish Ballhead cabbage before chopping.
Bierocks perfectly showcase fresh, home-grown cabbage as a foil for the richness of seasoned ground meat or other roasted, savory vegetables like mushrooms or beets. We used a freshly harvested head of Danish Ballhead cabbage that was sweet, tangy and crunchy!
Bierock dough, risen and proportioned out
It starts with the dough, which has been mixed, kneaded and risen twice. These balls are rolled out…
Filling the bierock.
…and filled with the savory filling. Equal parts ground beef mixed with cabbage is traditional, but any seasoned ground meat is just as tasty, or use portobello mushrooms sauteed in Worcestershire sauce for a meatless variation.
Sealing the bierock.
Seal the bierock by folding the edges together around the filling and pinch tightly to seal the dough together. To make a nicer, easier to handle pastry…
Bierock with the ends folded underneath.
…fold the “tails” or ends underneath and seal them with a strong pinch.
Bierocks rising before baking.
Arrange them onto a baking sheet – we used parchment paper instead of oiling the pan. Let them rise for 20 – 25 minutes…
Freshly baked bierocks.
…then pop them into a hot oven for 15 – 20 minutes, or until golden or golden-brown on top.
They are ready to serve after sitting for a few minutes, or you can make them ahead of time for a party or trip. Bierocks re-heat well and make a satisfying field lunch when spending the day outdoors.
Here’s the recipe –
Dissolve yeast in 2tbs warm water in a small bowl. Mix together flour, sugar, and 1/2 tsp salt in a large bowl. Add milk, 8 tbs butter and eggs to yeast, mix well then stir into flour. If the flour is too dry and crumbly, add water 1tbs at a time until a dough ball is formed. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until elastic - about 5 minutes. If using a stand mixer, use the dough hook to knead, then turn out and test elasticity by hand kneading. Put dough into an oiled bowl, turn it to coat with oil, cover with a cloth and set aside in a warm place to rise for about 30 minutes. Once the dough has doubled in size, punch down, cover and let rise for additional 30 minutes. While dough is rising, make the filling.
Heat 2tbs oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add onions and cook until soft and starting to brown - about 15 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high, add beef, and brown for 8 minutes. Stir in cabbage, cook for 10 minutes, then add cheese and mustard and season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes more, then set aside to cool.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Return dough to a floured surface and divide into 12 equal balls. Roll out into 6" rounds and spoon about 1/3 cup of filling into the center, then fold edges together and pinch closed. Fold tips together and pinch to seal, then place seam side down on an oiled or parchment-lined baking sheet. Let rise for 20 minutes after all bierocks are made, then bake until tops are golden, about 15 - 20 minutes.
Let us know how you like them, and what fillings you use in yours!
Beneficial Soil Organisms – the Team Players
A Universe in Your Hand
In a handful of soil from your garden, you hold potentially billions of different living organisms hard at work making your soil a better place for your plants to live. Most of these team players are microscopic – too small to see with the eye, but a few are large enough to observe. Bacteria, fungi, mycorrhizae, protozoa and possibly algae are on the microscopic side while earthworms, pillbugs, arthropods and some nematodes are big enough to see in your hand.
We pay lots of attention to improving soil, for good reason. Healthy, fertile soil grows stronger, healthier, more productive plants while reducing insect and disease damages. You see and taste the difference in richer, brighter colors and sweeter or more flavorful vegetables and fruits.
Most attention focuses on the structure and chemistry of the soil – is the soil made up of sand, loam, clay or some mixture? The chemistry shows what nutrients are present and in what amounts. This is the common approach but leaves out one of the biggest components of soil improvement – the biological community.
It’s easy to overlook them because they can’t easily be measured – like determining soil structure or reading a soil analysis for nutrient deficiency.
There’s a saying among soil consultants that,”You must build a house for the biology.” That means that soil structure and chemistry must be aligned before the beneficial organisms can fully go to work. It also recognizes the critical but often overlooked role they play. Beneficial soil organisms release tied up nutrients in the soil and move them into the reach of plant roots, improve soil structure and increase nutrient retention, among many other things.
Now that you understand a bit more about them, let’s introduce you to your team!
The Big Boys
Starting with the larger, more visible players-
Earthworms – An acre of good garden soil can have between 2 and 3 million of these black gold producing workers, constantly processing organic matter into readily available nutrients your plants absolutely love.
That means each square foot of good soil in your garden can have up to 45 – 70 earthworms. You won’t be able to see all of them, as they can range a few feet deep.
Arthropods – are ants, mites, and springtails who voracious shred decomposing plant leaves, stems, and mulch. They do the heavy lifting, getting the plant organic matter into bite-sized pieces for the smaller team members.
Pillbugs– are land-based crustaceans, distant cousins to lobsters, crabs, and shrimp. They are scavengers, mainly feeding on moist, decaying plant materials – very useful in shredding dead plant matter so it can be fully decomposed.
If you see these guys in your handful of soil or in your garden, you are doing several things right. They won’t stick around in dead soil with little or no organic matter, or in soils that are heavily contaminated with pesticides.
The Little Guys
Now, on to the smaller and less visible players that are no less important –
Fungi – More common in woodland soils or in areas where woodchips have been laid down. They can appear as mushrooms with stems and caps – especially after a rain – but are more often seen as a whitish growth on moist and decomposing parts of the woody material. They send out hyphae or long, thin strands to decompose organic materials, transport nutrients, and improve soil structure while stabilizing it.
Protozoa – Single-celled animals that are always busily feeding on bacteria, soluble organic matter, and sometimes fungi. As the feed, they release nitrogen that is used by plant roots and other players on the team.
Actinomycetes – (pronounced act-in-o-my-seetees), are special beneficial bacteria that are responsible for the rich, earthy smell of freshly turned soil. Their specialty is digesting the high carbon cellulose in wood and the chitin of shed pillbug shells and insect bodies.
Beneficial bacteria – These microorganisms are more common in the nutrient-rich garden soils, forming associations with annual vegetables and grasses.
Beneficial nematodes – Not all nematodes are destructive, and these guys search out, infect, and kill targeted destructive insects. Different nematode species attack different pests.
Mycorrhizae – A very specialized fungi that bond with the tiny, hair-like roots of plants in a mutually beneficial relationship. The fungi send out hyphae into the soil to bring back specific nutrients needed by the plant, in return for a sugar-based plant sap that feeds the mycorrhizae. In essence, they feed each other what they can’t get for themselves. Mycorrhizae can only survive on living plant roots, and about 95% of our garden plants depend on their fungi friends to thrive.
Help Your Team Out
Now that you’ve met the team working tirelessly for you in the garden, help them out with making sure they’ve got food, water, and shelter – which compost provides almost everything for them!
When you hear someone talk about “beneficial soil organisms“, you will know exactly what they mean!
A Garden’s Beauty
If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can blossom like a flower, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace.
Life is filled with suffering, but it is also filled with many wonders, like the blue sky, the sunshine, the eyes of a baby.
To suffer is not enough.
We must also be in touch with the wonders of life. They are within us and around us, everywhere, any time.
– Thich Nhat Hanh
The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature.
To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.
– Alfred Austin
Gardening simply does not allow one to be mentally old, because too many hopes and dreams are yet to be realized.
– Allan Armitage
A garden is a grand teacher.
It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust.
– Gertrude Jekyll
Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help.
Gardening is an instrument of grace.
– May Sarton
Eden is that old-fashioned house
we dwell in everyday
without suspecting our abode
until we drive away.
– Emily Dickinson
He who plants a garden plants happiness.
If you want to be happy for a lifetime, plant a garden.
Chinese proverb
We have the world to live in on the condition that we will take good care of it.
And to take good care of it, we have to know it.
And to know it and to be willing to take care of it, we have to love it.
– Wendell Berry
The single greatest lesson the garden teaches is that our relationship to the planet need not be zero-sum,
and that as long as the sun still shines and people still can plan and plant, think and do,
we can, if we bother to try, find ways to provide for ourselves without diminishing the world.
– Michael Pollan
A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.
– Greek proverb
The greatest fine art of the future will be the making of a comfortable living from a small piece of land.
– Abraham Lincoln
I like gardening – it’s a place where I find myself when I need to lose myself.
– Alice Sebold
But always, to her, red and green cabbages were to be jade and burgundy, chrysoprase and prophyry.
Life has no weapons against a woman like that.
– Edna Ferber
We are exploring together.
We are cultivating a garden together, backs to the sun.
The question is a hoe in our hands and we are digging beneath the hard and crusty surface to the rich humus of our lives.
– Parker J. Palmer
Plants want to grow; they are on your side as long as you are reasonably sensible.
– Anne Wareham
You can spend your whole life traveling around the world searching for the Garden of Eden, or you can create it in your backyard.
– Khang Kijarro Nguyen
I don’t want to return to the world outside these Gardens.
All I want is to notice the dew on a leaf.
The holy busyness of worms in the soil.
– Tor Udall
The garden is a kind of sanctuary.
– John Berger
I’d love to see a new form of social security … everyone taught how to grow their own; fruit and nut trees planted along every street, parks planted out to edibles, every high rise with a roof garden, every school with at least one fruit tree for every kid enrolled.
– Jackie French
These photos are the result of a leisurely, late afternoon spent wandering through the Denver Botanical Garden in early September.
Handmade Organic Soap
How We Clean Up After a Hard Day’s Work
Many of you know we are avid gardeners and own an heirloom seed company, but you may not know we also have a small farm. Gardening or working with our horses, ducks, and pigs always leaves our hands and body dirty.
We’ve searched for a good, all around soap, but it didn’t seem to exist. All of the bars we tried – and we tried a bunch – either cleaned well while stripping all of the moisture from our hands or left an unsettling film after rinsing. Almost none lasted very long and we had just about given up hope of a non-chemical, non-commercial soap we could use and really enjoy.
Researching what goes into soap opened our eyes – especially commonly used ingredients and processes used to make it. We began to understand why most soaps irritated our skin, didn’t clean well or melted too quickly.
The more we learned, the more we knew we wanted a natural and organic soap – something made entirely from plant-based, unrefined ingredients.
When we found and tried this particular soap, we knew our search was a success. We use and love this soap daily, so it made sense to offer it to our customers!
Just like our seeds, we contract with a small family company to produce the absolute best soap possible. Join us as we explore what goes into a great bar of soap!
Unscented Soap
What Makes a Great Bar of Soap?
A bar of soap appears simple sitting in your hand, but it must balance and maximize its best qualities – creamy fluffy lather that cleans while moisturizing, feels good and lasts well – all in one bar.
This takes work – research, experimenting, and testing – to accomplish. A perfect bar soap is a result of carefully choosing and balancing the various ingredients to boost the bar’s hardness, lather quality, cleaning, and moisturizing ability. For example – moisturizing ingredients don’t contribute much to lather quality, and what makes great lather often dries our skin out.
All soap is made through a chemical reaction where part of an oil molecule attaches to a sodium ion from sodium hydroxide, commonly called lye. This is called saponification.
A properly produced soap consumes all of the lye during the saponification process, eliminating any chance of skin irritation. Superfatting assures that all lye is consumed. This process retains extra skin-nourishing oils in the finished soap. Superfatting won’t make your skin oily, it helps it to maintain natural moisture levels.
Lemongrass Tea Soap
Can Soap be Certified Organic?
The USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP) sets the standard for organic production. Soap falls under the “Made with Organic” section – Products made from a minimum of 70% organic content up to 95%. The USDA has set 70% as the minimum percentage a product can have and still use “organic” in its labels and marketing.
So, what does this mean for you?
Organic certification guarantees there are no synthetic fragrances, colors, or preservatives in the soap, as well as that all the oils and herbs were grown and processed according to organic standards (no pesticides, no radiation, and environmentally friendly methods).
To us, this means a soap whose ingredients are plant-based with no artificial substances such as synthetic fragrances, dyes, and preservatives. Our pure herbal soap is scented with essential oils and colored exclusively with organic herbs and plant extracts. 100% certified organic oils make up the soap base recipe.
We feel it’s worth the extra time and effort to meet organic standards and make truly organic products. Your skin will know the difference!
Gardener’s Hand Soap
Why Essential Oils are Better
Essential oils are concentrated plant extracts from the roots, bark, and plant leaves.
Fragrance oils are always synthetic, even though they have perfectly natural names and might contain natural ingredients.
Fragrances smell great initially but quickly overwhelm your nose once you get it home, then it’s not so nice or enjoyable.
Essential oils are less “pushy” up front but retain their appealing qualities throughout the life of the bar, never overwhelming your nose.
Peppermint Soap
How Organic Soaps Get Their Colors
Natural colors can be bright and lively, creating a beautiful bar of soap.
Some essential oils, like citrus oils, have their own color that can be just what certain soaps need.
The easiest way to add or control soap color is with herbs or clays. The desired colors are created near the end of the mixing process by adding herbs, clays or a combination.
Steeping herbs in oil create richer and more vivid colors.
Citrus Lavender Soap
Why Exotic Ingredients Aren’t Included
Don’t be fooled by trendy or exotic ingredients on a label. If you don’t start with a well-formulated base, exotic ingredients won’t produce the soap you’re looking for. For example – palm kernel oil can be a great enhancement, but it can’t fix a poor formulation. Specialty ingredients are most commonly used as advertising hooks or as recipe magic in the hopes of creating a great soap from a poor-quality base. Glamorous ingredients or celebrity endorsements don’t produce extraordinary soap.
Lavender Soap
Try the Most Natural Soap Available
There’s virtue in products as natural as your skin. There are also practical benefits to using essential oils in skincare products.
Read labels carefully. If you see any variation or combination of the words fragrance, fragrance oil, or natural fragrance, don’t be fooled. There’s nothing natural about them.
Purchasing our handmade, organic soap gives you much more than just a great soap that leaves your skin clean. You support our small company and our soapmaker.
They, in turn, support growers for the ingredients of your bar of soap – ethical, sustainable and environmentally friendly methods that increase the soils over time and improves the communities where they are grown.
It turns out that a simple bar of soap can do some real good for many people!
Shea Butter Heals Hands While Healing Lives
A Short history of Shea Butter
The Shea tree – botanical name Butyrospermum parkii or Vitellaria paradoxa – grows in the dry Savannah belt of West Africa, stretching from Senegal in the west to Sudan in the east.
It has been an irreplaceable natural cosmetic pharmaceutical for people in Western Africa for millennia. Over the past few decades, it has become increasingly important in the skincare industries.
Most Americans know Shea butter as a highly touted skin care ingredient in a variety of soaps, lotions, balms, and butters.
Few realize the Shea advertised in the majority of cosmetic products in the US is nothing more than another highly refined food grade oil churned out of an industrial plant, regarded as just another commodity.
Pure hand-crafted Grade A Shea butter is a world apart from this!
Real Shea butter is wild-crafted, hand harvested and handmade
Shea butter has been known as “women’s gold”for centuries for its light golden color but also because it’s historically been the work of women to harvest and produce Shea butter.
Millions of women across Western Africamake their own incomes and are improving their lives producing traditional Shea butter.
Women-owned and organized cooperatives harvest the ripe Shea fruits from wild growing Shea tree forests. Fermentation removes the fruit, then the nuts are sun-dried, crushed and lightly roasted, concentrating the Shea butter.
Finely ground Shea nut powder is mixed with warm water and constantly stirred until it thickens. Warm, liquid Shea oil is collected from the surface, then strained and slowly cooled to form Shea butter. After packaging it is sold at the local markets or exported.
It takes approximately 44 pounds of fresh Shea fruit to produce 3.3 pounds of pure Shea butter.
Shea Tree Flowers
What is Fair Trade?
Fair Trade certification is awarded after meeting certain standards, similar to organic certification. There are benefits and challenges, just like with the Certified Organic label.
This adds to the overall cost, but there are benefits most consumers never know about.
Beyond Fair Trade – Partnering with the Producers
We – our supplier and ourselves – work as closely as possible with women’s cooperatives to keep the quality high, and also to pay them fairly.
Working directly with the cooperative and the Fair Trade organization, we eliminate as many profit-taking intermediate layers as possible while having a larger positive impact than we could by ourselves.
For example – currently, Shea nut harvesters earn 15 cents per pound and the women’s cooperative we work with want to pay the harvesters 25 cents per pound, only 10 cents more but a whopping 66% pay raise.
However, it isn’t as simple as just paying them more.
Regional and local politics, combined with existing laws, are making it difficult to simply give the harvesters a raise, so the Fair Trade organization is working with our women’s cooperative to change this.
A Shea nut harvester might earn $60/month, which allows her to live in a straw-thatched hut with no power in a communal village and walk up to a half mile for water at a common, communal well.
A 10 cent per pound pay raise will give her and her family a solid walled, roofed apartment with running water and a community generator for electricity.
Shea processors – who actually turn the nuts into Shea butter – make about $175/month, and the women’s cooperative is working to raise that to $225/month.
The additional income almost always paysfor schooling, whether it is getting all of their children into schools, or enrolling them in full-time private charter schools with a full curriculum.
The Virtuous Cycle
Buying your Shea butter from a company engaged in direct, positive impact on the local producers gives your purchases a much larger effect simply because much more of each dollar makes it to those producers. This is exactly how one person makes a difference!
The standard commodity approach to Shea butter has so many layers – traders, intermediaries, transportation expenses, and investors – between the Shea butter producers and the US consumer that not even one penny of each dollar spent on a commercial Shea-labeled product reaches those in Africa.
According to The New York Times, a survey of a Burkina Faso village by USAID in 2010 found that every $1,000 of Shea nuts sold generated an additional $1,580 in economic benefits, such as reinvestments in other trades for the village. Shea butter exports from West Africa bring in between $90 million and $200 million a year, according to the article.
Much like the disproportionately large positive effects of spending your money at a Farmer’s Market instead of the grocery store, purchasing pure, unrefined Grade A Shea butter from a dedicated company partnering with a small producer ensures a better life for those making it.
Ethically sourced Shea butter heals our hands and skin while healing the lives and villages who make it.
Ethel M Botanical Cactus Garden
Chocolates with a Side of Cactus Garden?
Las Vegas is often thought of for its glittering lights and heady atmosphere of the Strip. That’s exactly what lost me about its appeal, even though Cindy and I had visited numerous times for gardening trade shows along with a few personal trips.
A few times down the Strip and we started looking for something other than the glitz and glam.
We found Ethel M and its unique botanical garden that focuses on cacti and species from the Southwest US and other countries with a similar climate. Cindy searched for something interesting and relaxing after the bustle and noise of a garden trade show and came across this treasure.
Ethel M chocolate factory – as in Ethel Mars – is part of the Mars family with the factory store housing the botanic garden in Henderson, NV just a few minutes south of Las Vegas. The self-paced tour runs along the dedicated viewing aisle next to the factory floor, then we sampled some excellent chocolates and had an unexpectedly good cup of espresso. Afterwards, we were ready for some botanic garden exploration.
We visited during an afternoon in early May with temperatures hovering around 100°F – not the best light for photos and I had left my usual camera at home, not anticipating a photo opportunity. Armed with my trusty cell phone and a couple of bottles of water, we ventured out into the garden, not quite knowing what to expect.
Impressive beauty and peace
Bee in Prickly Pear Flower – Ethel M Botanic Garden
Over 300 species of cactus, desert-adapted ornamentals and succulents are spread over 10 acres. Artfully arranged in intriguing and enticing groupings, the pull from flowers to cactus to trees made us feel something like the numerous bees and hummingbirds we saw.
Prickly Pear Detail – Ethel M Botanic Garden
The peace and quiet after the noise and crush of crowds was a very welcome respite. Plantings are slightly elevated, inviting an easy look into the details of the life growing there.
These early prickly pear cactus buds are mathematically gorgeous in their symmetry, blushing with an indication of their rich colors to come.
Flower Closeup – Ethel M Botanic Garden
Abundantly blooming flowers were generously spread across the entire garden, with some reaching out with colors and others beckoning with aromas from 20 or 30 feet away.
We weren’t paying attention to the nameplates or descriptions of the flowers or plants but focused instead on the experiences of colors, textures, and aromas drawing us in.
Blooms – Ethel M Botanic Garden
Some plants and their flowers seemed as though they would be right at home as an attraction on the Strip, such as this one!
Given how close the I-515 freeway is the quiet and peace were impressive. The garden had a number of people in it but it never felt crowded.
Flower Blooms – Ethel M Botanic Garden
This flower group had a sweet, perfumed aroma drawing us in from two plantings over. The trumpet-shaped flowers had dozens of small flying insects and bees attending them.
Flower Blooms – Ethel M Botanic Garden
Colors ranged from white to purple with a lot of orange and reds represented. It was high season for blooms as very few plants lacked flowers.
Ethel M Botanic Garden
The surrounding city disappeared from certain viewpoints, giving the illusion of a private estate garden or an undiscovered, undeveloped patch of exotic forest somehow forgotten.
We came away relaxed and refreshed, completely surprised by how wonderfully juxtaposed the experience was from the busy city just down the street. The rest of the day was just as enjoyable, and we realized that this was the best trip to Las Vegas we remembered, simply because of a visit to a garden.
We’ve learned to search a bit deeper for those unexpected garden treats like this!
Arugula – the Wild, Ancient, Hip and Versatile Green
About Arugula
Arugula might just be the perfect aromatic cool-season salad green for the home gardener – beginner or advanced. Usually seen in the specialty greens section of the supermarket in small cellophane bundles with prices to match the “specialty” label. Sometimes sold as baby arugula, its always found in the salad greens mix called mesclun.
If you are looking to spice up your salad or add a tangy, peppery zest to dishes from soup to pizza and sandwiches, you might just be searching for arugula and don’t know it. Young leaves are tender, sweet-and-tangy with just a hint of the spice they will have once mature. Chefs have depended on its adaptability and flavor punch for the past two decades, but it is even more popular again with the rise of fresh greens.
Wasabi Arugula
History
Arugula has ancient roots even though it’s modern and popular today. Romans called it Eruca – the root of its scientific name – and Greek medical texts from the first century mention its restorative properties. The Romans used both seeds and leaves. The leaves in a green salad with romaine, chicory, mallow, and lavender, while the seed was used to make flavorful oils.
Costly to buy in the store with a bland, washed-out flavor, arugula is easy and fast to grow from inexpensive seed. Sowing seed to the first harvest takes about 3 – 4 weeks, which is about as close to instant greens as possible, making it a perfect choice for fall and winter gardening as well as early spring.
Wild Italian Arugula
Growing
Growing arugula is incredibly easy and is one of the most complex and delicious greens known. An unknown but huge bonus is the flowers are stunningly beautiful while being one of the tastiest edible flowers available. The younger leaves are more tender and sweet-tangy, so start picking them at about 2 inches long. As the plant matures and flavors sharpen, you can use it as a cut-and-come-again, or simply pull the entire plant out and re-sow seed once it becomes too spicy.
Wild Italian Arugula Flower
Using
Arugula is very versatile in the kitchen as an herb, salad green, and a leafy green vegetable. Use it both raw and cooked; the lightly cooked leaves have a milder flavor afterward. Showcase grilled seafood on a leafy bed of arugula, or chop and sprinkle on top of pizza and pasta just before serving, or mix into a salad to liven it up. Adding a couple of whole leaves to grilled cheese sandwiches or a BLT will give it a completely new dimension of flavor.
The sharp, spicy flavor contrasts well with the rich flavors of roasted beets, pears, olives, tomatoes and robust cheeses such as goat, blue and Parmigiano-Reggiano.
The flowers are the best-kept secret – they aren’t as spicy while being a little sweet. Flowers appear after the plant has matured and the leaves are too bitter to eat. Harvest by clipping them off the stem, then scatter on top of a salad, a plate of appetizers or an open-faced sandwich for an unexpectedly beautiful, delicious treat.
Now you know more about this versatile ancient yet hip herb-vegetable, plant some and invigorate your fall, winter, and early spring dinner table!
Cool Season Vegetables to Love
Cool Season Vegetables for Your Garden
Gardeners are sometimes baffled when thinking about a cool season garden – either Fall and Winter or early Spring. We’ve put together this quick checklist to help you see the abundance that can be grown both before and after the traditional Summer garden.
Spend some time browsing these and making notes on what you like to eat and what varieties do well in what dishes you like to cook – pretty soon you’ll have a mouth-watering list to plant!
Which cover crop mix is best for me?
Soil Builder vs Garden Cover Up Mix – which is best for your garden?
Both of our cover crop mixes give you multiple benefits in the soil and above it. You can’t go wrong with either one. The Garden Cover Up mix is a general use cover crop, while the Soil Builder mix is more specific toward improving the overall condition of your soil.
Cover crops improve soil in a number of ways. They protect against erosion while increasing organic matter and catch nutrients before they can leach out of the soil. Legumes add nitrogen to the soil. Their roots help unlock nutrients, converting them to more available forms. Cover crops provide habitat or food source for important soil organisms, break up compacted soil layers, help dry out wet soils and maintain soil moisture in arid climates.
Let’s look at how cover crops work overall, then we’ll see the differences of each mix.
Most cover crop mixes are legumes and grains or grasses. Each one has a different benefit to the soil. Legumes include alfalfa, clover, peas, beans, lentils, soybeans and peanuts. Well-known grains are wheat, rye, barley and oats which are used as grasses for animal forage.
Crimson Clover
Legumes
Legumes help reduce or prevent erosion, produce biomass, suppress weeds and add organic matter to the soil. They also attract beneficial insects, but are most well-known for fixing nitrogen from the air into the soil in a plant-friendly form. They are generally lower in carbon and higher in nitrogen than grasses, so they break down faster releasing their nutrients sooner. Weed control may not last as long as an equivalent amount of grass residue. Legumes do not increase soil organic matter as much as grains or grasses. Their ground cover makes for good weed control, as well as benefiting other cover crops.
Rye Cover Crop
Grains or grasses
Grain or grass cover crops help retain nutrients–especially nitrogen–left over from a previous crop, reduce or prevent erosion and suppress weeds. They produce large amounts of mulch residue and add organic matter above and below the soil, reducing erosion and suppressing weeds. They are higher in carbon than legumes, breaking down slower resulting in longer-lasting mulch residue. This releases the nutrients over a longer time, complementing the faster-acting release of the legumes.
This pretty well describes what our Garden Cover Up mix does, as it is made up of 70% legumes and 30% grasses.
Our Soil Builder mix takes this approach a couple of steps further in the soil improvement direction with the addition of several varieties known for their benefits to the soil structure, micro-organisms or overall fertility.
For example, the mung bean is a legume used for nitrogen fixation and improving the mycorrhizal populations, which increase the amount of nutrients available to each plant through its roots.
Spring Sunflower
Sunflowers are renowned for their prolific root systems and ability to soak up residual nutrients out of reach for other commonly used covers or crops. The bright colors attract pollinators and beneficials such as bees, damsel bugs, lacewings, hoverflies, minute pirate bugs, and non-stinging parasitic wasps.
Safflower has an exceptionally deep taproot reaching down 8-10 feet, breaking up hard pans, encouraging water and air movement into the soil and scavenging nutrients from depths unreachable to most crops. It does all of this while being resistant to all root lesion nematodes. Gardeners growing safflower usually see low pest pressure and an increase in beneficials such as spiders, ladybugs and lacewings.
Now you see why you can’t go wrong in choosing one of our cover crop mixes! Both greatly increase the health and fertility of the soil, along with above-ground improvements in a short time. Even if you only have a month, the Garden Cover Up mix will impress you for the next planting season.
For a general approach with soils that need a boost but are still producing well, the Garden Cover Up mix is the best choice. Our Soil Builder mix is for rejuvenating a dormant bed or giving some intensive care to a soil that has struggled lately. Both will give you a serious head start in establishing a new growing area, whether it is for trees, shrubs, flowers, herbs or vegetables.
Grow Lettuce in Summer
Grow Your Lettuce Longer in Warm Weather
With a little knowledge and a tiny bit of preparation, you can grow lettuce throughout the summer without bolting. Imagine serving your own fresh-harvested, garden-grown lettuce throughout the summer!
First, some knowledge
Lettuce is a cool-season vegetable, meaning it grows best in temperatures around 60 – 65°F. Once temperatures rise above 80°F, lettuce will normally start to “bolt” or stop leaf production and send up a stalk to flower and produce seed. The leaves become bitter at this stage.
This is because the mainstay of our beloved salads is not a North American native, but an ancient part of our dinner table. Belonging to the daisy family, lettuce was first grown by Egyptians around 4,700 years ago. They cultivated lettuce from a weed used only for its oil-rich seeds to a valued food with succulent leaves that nourished both the mind and libido. Images in tombs of lettuce being used in religious ceremonies show its prominent place in Egyptian culture.
The earliest domesticated form resembled a large head of Romaine lettuce, which was passed to the Greeks and then the Romans. Around 50 AD, Roman agriculturalist Columella described several lettuce cultivars, some of which are recognizable as ancestors to our current favorites. Even today, Romaine types and loose-leaf lettuces tolerate heat better than tighter heading lettuces like Iceberg.
Three factors to growing lettuce in summer
The temperatures you are concerned about are both air and soil, as a lettuce plant (or any garden plant for that matter) tolerates a higher air temperature if the soil around its roots is cool and moist. Ensuring a cool and damp soil gives you more air temperature leeway. Because lettuce has wide and shallow roots, a drip system on a timer teamed up with a thick mulch keeps it happier in warm weather.
Shade is the third part to keeping lettuce growing vigorously later into warm weather. Reducing sun exposure lowers the heat to the leaves, but also to the soil and roots – creating a combined benefit. Deep shade isn’t good, but a systemallowing sun during the morning while sheltering the plants in the afternoon keeps your salad machines going much longer than you thought possible.
One last bit of knowledge. Most lettuce seeds become dormant (won’t germinate) as temperatures rise above 80°F, a condition called”thermo-inhibition”. This trait is a carryover from wild lettuce in the Mediterranean Middle East, where summers are hot with little moisture. If the lettuce seeds sprouted under these conditions, they would soon die out and the species would go extinct.
Thanks to research, there are some easy techniques to germinate lettuce seeds in warm weather – our article Improve Lettuce Seed Germination shows you how. Now you’ll be able to start lettuce when no one else can!
Here’s how to grow lettuce in summer
The three most effective elements in keeping your lettuce producing during warm weather are a drip system on a timer, a good bed of mulch and shade. Let’s look at each one and how they help.
Lettuce growing with mulch, shade & drip system
A drip system on a timer maintains moisture levels much more evenly than hand watering, and the timer can be set for how much and how often water is needed. Checking the soil moisture levels is easy – just push your finger into the soil up to the second knuckle. If the soil feels moist and spongy the moisture is perfect for lettuce. Adjust the number and length of watering each time up or down to maintain this level. From experience, we usually start the timer once a day for 10 minutes in the spring and go to 2 and sometimes 3 times a day for 10 minutes during the heat of the summer. As the weather cools down, we decrease the amount of water accordingly.
A thick bed of mulch reduces moisture loss at the surface of the soil from heat and breezes. Here in central Arizona, it’s not uncommon to have a 15-mph breeze with 90°F+ with 5 – 10% humidity levels. Basically, we garden in a giant hair-dryer!
We use two inches of wood chip mulch, but straw also works well and some gardeners have good success with well-aged compost. With mulch, the soil moisture levels are at the top of the soil where it meets the mulch. Without it, the moisture doesn’t appear until you’ve dug down at least two inches, with three inches having the same amount of moisture as the surface does with mulch. Another benefit of wood chip mulch is it provides needed nutrients to the soil and encourages earthworms and other beneficial soil life as it decomposes. The beds where we’ve put wood chips down have three times the amount of earthworm activity as those that have only compost or nothing at all.
The third element is shade, which might seem daunting but is surprisingly simple to provide. Shade can be from various sources – a living trellis of cucamelon, vine peach or Malabar spinach; a row of tall sunflowers on thewest side of the bed; a container garden on the east side of the house or garage to capture afternoon shade, or a shade cloth structure on the west side of the bed or over a container or raised bed. Trees can also give partial shade – grow on the east side to take advantage of shade during the hotter, more stressful afternoons.
Real world examples
Here are two examples showing that it does:
The first example is a study conducted by Kansas City area growers in cooperation with Kansas State University and the Organic Farming Research Foundation.
The second example is a two-season grow-out test by the Sacramento County Master Gardeners at their Fair Oaks Horticulture Center during the summers of 2015 and 2016.
Easy shade for your garden beds
Here’s a quick and easy way to shade any container, raised bed or row in your garden:
Simple lettuce shade structure
Use 1/2 inch PVC pipe from any hardware store. 1/2 inch is the least expensive and easiest to work with for this use.
Shade structure detail
Using PVC elbows, simply insert the tubing into the elbow and push the uprights into the soil at the edge of the planter or raised bed. No glue needed, so they can be taken down and re-used next season.
Planter with shade system
We used some leftover shade cloth from another project and cable ties to secure the shade cloth to the PVC tubing.
Shade cloth canopy
The front of the shade canopy is left loose so we can harvest easily.
Lettuce shade detail
The right half of the lettuce is shaded, with the left half getting shade as the day progresses.
Now you have the tools and knowledge, so plan on successfully growing lettuce after everyone else has given up this season! As your accomplishments are recognized and compliments roll your way – make sure to share your tools and spread the success.
Update – Three Weeks Later
Lettuce after 3 weeks of heat
Our lettuce looks amazing, considering we’ve had continuous temperatures above 95°F for the past 13 days and above 100°F for the past 9 days. The Sweet & Spicy Mix hasn’t slowed down and is robust, crunchy, and still sweet with no bitter flavors. The growth is easy to see, comparing to the above photos.
Lettuce after 3 weeks of heat – detail of leaves
Looking closer, it isn’t perfect. There are some small holes and some of the leaf edges are a little toasty, but these conditions are so far outside of lettuce comfort zone, it’s like growing on Mars!
References
Homegrown Sprouts Safety
Are homegrown sprouts safe?
We’ve greatly enjoyed our own homegrown sprouts for the past several years. There’s just something about their fresh taste and crispy crunch that can be enjoyed any time of year, no matter the weather.
As with all our seeds, we make sure we know who our growers are and where our seeds come from. This is even more important with seeds used for sprouting as they are eaten directly as a food.
We chose our sprouting seeds supplier because of their commitment to the safest and healthiest seeds possible. They showed us their safety standards and testing protocols and we want to share them with you.
Growing your own sprouts at home is much safer than buying them off the shelf at a supermarket, and we’ll show you why.
Sprouts are healthy, nutritious and are rich in vitamins, minerals, proteins, enzymes, bioflavonoids, antioxidants, phytoestrogens, glucosinolates and other phytochemicals. They are an excellent alternative to meat, especially for vegetarians and vegans.
Fresh Homegrown Sprouts
Hazards of sprouts
There are two main hazards associated with sprouts – E. coli and Salmonella. Both of these terms are used a lot, but what do they really mean? What are they and where do they come from?
From the CDC website:
“Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria normally live in the intestines of people and animals. Most E. coli are harmless and actually are an important part of a healthy human intestinal tract. However, some E. coli are pathogenic, meaning they can cause illness, either diarrhea or illness outside of the intestinal tract. The types of E. coli that can cause diarrhea can be transmitted through contaminated water or food, or through contact with animals or persons.”
From the USDA website:
“Salmonella is an enteric bacterium, which means that it lives in the intestinal tracts of humans and other animals, including birds. Salmonella bacteria are usually transmitted to humans by eating foods contaminated with animal feces or foods that have been handled by infected food service workers who have practiced poor personal hygiene.”
How to be safe
The best and surest method of reducing the risk of sprout seeds carrying bacteria is making sure the seeds are never contaminated. This starts with an ethical grower using good agricultural practices and organic standards. The next step is conducting rigorous testing, both in-house and independently.
Mung Bean Sprouts
Sprouts seed testing
The testing done on our sprout seeds is different than any other testing protocols for food. There is no acceptable “percentage of contamination”, as is often the case with other foods. If any bacterial contamination is detected, testing is stopped and the entire lot is rejected – sometimes 40,000 pounds or more.
To ensure the sprouting seeds we offer are as safe as possible, our supplier extensively tests both the sprouting water and the seeds to verify if any bacteria is detectable after harvest. Our supplier and an independent lab both do multiple tests to safeguard our health safety.
As of early 2017, our supplier is the only company doing these extensive screening and testing protocols. The FDA is studying this protocol and has begun advocating its adoption by sprout companies for testing.
Initial Sprouts Screening Results
Screening includes inspecting the bags for any urine or feces contamination, any holes in the bags, insect larva or other contamination. Afterwards, the seed is carefully inspected with both a magnifying glass and microscope.
Each and every bag is screened – this particular lot had 860 bags, each one weighing 50 lbs. for a total of 43,000 lbs.
In-House Lab Spent Irrigation Water Contamination Test
A small sample of seed is taken from each bag and added to the overall lot sample. The entire sample is sprouted for 48 hours, increasing any potential bacteria level approximately 1,000,000 times over the starting amount, substantially increasing the probability of detection.
Next, the sprout runoff water is sampled and tested by the in-house lab. This is called “spent irrigation water”. A sample of the sprouts is crushed and tested for contamination also. These tests are done in accordance with government food safety and industry accepted protocols.
The lab tests for both Salmonella and E. coli 0157:H7 after 48 hours and again after 96 hours of culturing the irrigation water.
Both bacteria do most of their growth in the first 2 days or 48 hours. This is when the first test is performed, with the second test at 4 days or 96 hours. The second test catches any late developments that might be missed on the first.
Independent Lab Spent Irrigation Water Contamination Test
A separate, larger sample of spent irrigation water is sent to an independent lab for more extensive testing. The independent lab performs a more in-depth analysis on a wider range of pathogens than the in-house lab because of their higher level of equipment.
Notice that the independent lab tests for the top seven strains of E. coli, where the in-house lab tests for the most common one. The lab uses a food microbiology genetic detection system.
This is possible because the specific genes or DNA of the different strains of E. coli have been mapped, so they are specifically targeted during this testing. This gives better accuracy, repeatability, and confidence in the testing than any previous methods.
Independent Lab Sprouting Test
Next, the independent lab tests four pounds of randomly obtained sprouting seed from the shipment. Having an independent, third-party lab analyze the sprouting seeds gives an additional measure of confidence.
Storage Confirmation
Finally, the storage facility is inspected and documented. This ensures the cleanliness and food safety of how the seed is stored to avoid insect or rodent infestation or damage.
Homegrown sprout safety
In a home environment with only one person in contact with the sprouting seeds, cleanliness and food safety is much easier. Here are a few tips for sprouting safely:
Now you know the steps taken to ensure the highest quality sprouting seeds are available so you can enjoy the taste and nutrition of sprouts with peace of mind.
Spring Onions – When and How to Plant
Great Onions in Spring
Spring onions have been grown for a long time – Egyptians grew them along the Nile during the time of the Pharaohs. One of the easiest vegetables to grow, onions sometimes confuse home gardeners as to the best type for their garden.
Three forms of spring onions can be planted: seeds, transplants and bulbs (or sets):
We recommend using onion bulbs, which can be planted without worry of frost damage and have a higher success rate than transplants. Bulbs are perfect for the home gardener as they guarantee onions for use or storage within a few weeks after planting.
As a member of the allium family they are a natural pest repellant to most foraging animals in the home garden.
Red Wethersfield Onions
Day Length for Spring Growing
Spring onions are usually sorted by the amount of daylight hours they need to grow bulbs; these are known as day-neutral and long day onions. Day-neutral onions form good size bulbs with 12 – 14 hours of daylight, while long-day onions need 14 – 16 hours.
The map above shows the approximate latitudes where long-day onions need to be grown. Day-neutral onions will also grow well in the more northern states in spring and summer.
Day-neutral onions are usually sweeter and juicier than their long-day counterparts. Their higher sugar and water content make them best suited for cooking and immediate use instead of storage. They are best planted from early spring to mid-summer in northern states and early spring to late fall in southern ones.
Candy is our day-neutral onion, being adapted to a wide range of day-lengths from north Texas to Maine. 12 to 14 hours of daylight will produce a good bulb. These can be grown in Zones 5 to 9.
Long-day onions are just the opposite with lower sugar and water content but higher sulphur, making them best for storage and cooking. These are planted in early spring in mid to northern states for fall harvest.
Our long-day selections include Yellow Stuttgarter (in the header photo), White Ebenezer and Red Wethersfield onions. They do best with 14 to 16 hours of daylight to form a good-sized bulb and are typically grown in colder winter areas. Zone 6 and colder is a good rule.
Sweet Candy Onions
Planting and Growing Spring Onions
Spring onions prefer abundant sun and well-prepared, healthy soil with good drainage.
While onions will grow in nutrient poor soil, they won’t form good bulbs or taste as good. If possible, till in aged manure the fall before planting. Onions are heavy feeders and need constant nourishment to produce big bulbs. If needed, add a natural nitrogen source when planting, such as fish emulsion or aged compost.
Feed every few weeks with nitrogen rich fish emulsion to get good sized bulbs. Synthetic nitrogen fertilizer will grow larger bulbs at the expense of flavor. Stop fertilizing when the onion starts pushing the soil away and the bulbing process begins. Do not put the soil back around the onions; the bulb needs to emerge above the soil.
Onions have short roots and need about an inch of water per week, including rain water to avoid stress from lack of moisture. Mature bulb sizes will be smaller if they do not receive enough water. Raised beds and rows are good growing locations.
It is important to keep onion rows weed-free until they become well established. Mulching helps protect them from weeds competing for water, as well as preventing moisture loss from sun and wind.
Stuttgarter Onions
Harvesting Your Onions
Spring onions are ready for harvest when the bulb has grown large and the green tops begins to brown and fall off. The plant should be pulled at this point, but handle them carefully as they bruise easily, and bruised onions will rot in storage.
Onions need to be cured before storing. Cure them with their tops still attached, in a dry location with good air circulation – they can hang on a fence or over the railing on a porch to cure if there is no rain in the forecast. During curing the roots will shrivel and the tops will dry back sealing the onion and protect it from rot. After 7 – 10 days clip the tops and roots with shears, then store them in a cool, dry environment or use for cooking.
With a little experimenting and succession planting, you will find it easy enough to grow most of your own onions throughout the year. After tasting home-grown onions, you won’t want “store-bought” anymore!
Salsify – the Vegetable Oyster
An Ancient Vegetable
Salsify, also known as Oyster plant or vegetable oyster, was popular with the ancient Greeks who called it “the billy goat’s beard” for the silky filaments adorning the seed. The Romans increased it’s status, depicting it in frescoes in Pompeii. The famous Roman gourmet Apicius developed several recipes dedicated to Salsify and Pliny the Elder mentions it several times in his writings.
Europeans know the more common and darker scorzonera, meaning “black bark” in Italian. Salsify is regaining popularity with market and home gardeners for the delicately tasty roots and chicory flavored leaves.
Salsify Plant
This cold hardy biennial herb has a moderately thick taproot covered by a light brown skin. It has a purple flower, distinguishing itself from scorzonera by its black root and yellow flowers.
Edible Parts of the Plant
Salsify Root
The entire plant is edible when young and the root is eaten after maturing.
Young roots are eaten raw in salads, or are boiled, baked, and sautéed once mature. They are added to soups or are grated and made into cakes. The flower buds and flowers are added to salads or preserved by pickling. Young flower stalks are picked, cooked, dressed and eaten like asparagus. The seeds are sprouted and eaten like alfalfa sprouts for a refreshing and unique flavor addition.
Salsify Fritter
Cooked and puréed roots coated in egg batter and flour then pan or deep-fried to a crispy golden brown make Salsify fritters.
The Salsify root stores its carbohydrates as inulin instead of starch, which turns to fructose instead of glucose during digestion. This is ideal for diabetics as it reduces their glucose load. Most enjoy the flavor of the cooked roots over the raw.
Salsify Seedhead
Planting Seeds
Seeds are direct sown in early March to April then harvested in October. The slender, grass-like leaves normally grow to about 3 feet tall and one purple petalled flower per stalk. As the seeds mature, the flower heads turn into fluffy white puff-balls like dandelion heads and scatter on the wind.
Young Salsify Root
The root is ready for harvest in the fall when the leaves begin to die back. Flavor improves after a few frosts. Dig the roots out whole with a garden spade or fork to avoid breaking them. Only dig what you need at one time, because the roots are best fresh. Salsify will overwinter, tolerating hard frosts and even freezes.
Seed Testing and Preservation: A Behind the Scenes Look at Seed Testing Labs and the USDA
Stephen was invited to provide an article on seed quality for Acres USA’s January 2017 issue that focuses on seeds. This is the article that was published in that issue.
Better Seed for Everyone
Everyone wants higher quality seed – from the seed company, seed grower, breeder and home gardener to the production grower. Even people who do not garden or grow anything want better seed, though they may not realize it.
Education and quality seed is the focus of our company – Terroir Seeds. We make constant efforts to continue learning and educating our customers about how seeds get from the packet to their garden. We recently had the opportunity to visit several cutting-edge seed testing laboratories and the USDA National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation to learn even more about seed testing and preservation. We want to share an insider’s look into a side of the seed world that the average person may not know exists.
Let’s look at this need for higher quality seed from a different perspective.
Anyone who eats depends on seed of some sort for their daily food – from fruits and vegetables to grains, beans, rice and grasses for dairy and meat production. Seed is intimately tied into all these foods and their continued production. Without a continued, dedicated supply of consistently high quality seed there would be catastrophic consequences to our food supply.
Cotton, cotton blends, wool, linen, hemp and silk fabrics all come from seed. Cotton comes from a cotton seed, wool from a sheep eating grass and forage from seed, linen from plant stalks grown from seed, hemp from seed and silk from silkworms eating leaves that originated as a seed.
Even those who grow and cook nothing need better seed! They still eat and wear clothes.
Pepper with Purpose
Chile de Agua for sale at market
The Chile de Agua pepper from Oaxaca, Mexico is a prime example of how seed preservation works. A well-known chef specializing in the unique Mexican cuisine of Oaxaca needed this particular chile for several new dishes. This chile wasn’t available in the US, so we were contacted through friends to work on sourcing the seed.
We found two sources in the US of supposedly authentic Chile de Agua seed and another in Oaxaca, Mexico. After the Oaxacan seed arrived, and those from Seed Saver’s Exchange network and the USDA GRIN station in Griffin, GA we sent them to our grower for trials and observation. All three seed varieties were planted in isolation to prevent cross pollination.
Authentic Chile de Agua has unique visual characteristics, the most obvious being it grows upright or erect on the plants, not hanging down or pendant. Both seed samples from the US were pendant with an incorrect shape. Only the Oaxacan seed from Mexico was correct. We then pulled all the incorrect plants, keeping only the seed from the correct and proper chiles.
The next 3 seasons were spent replanting all the harvested seed from the year prior to build up our seed stock and grow a commercial amount sufficient to sell. This process took a total of four years to complete.
Creating High-Quality Seed
There are two major approaches to improving seed quality – seed testing and seed preservation. One verifies the current condition of the seed, while the other works to preserve previous generations for future study and use.
There are several different methods of seed testing, from genetic verification and identifying DNA variations to diseases to the more traditional germination and vigor testing.
Likewise, approaches to preserving the genetic resources of seed are varied – from a simple cool room to climate and humidity controls for extended storage to cryogenic freezing with liquid nitrogen.
Seed Testing
At its most basic, testing of seed simply verifies the seed’s characteristics right now. Whether testing for germination, vigor, disease screening, genetic markers or seed health, the results show what is present or absent today. Changing trends in important characteristics are identified by comparing with previous results.
Seed germination testing
This trend analysis is a perfect example of seed testing and preservation working together, as previous generations of seed can be pulled for further testing or grown out and bred to restore lost traits.
Modern seed testing labs perform a staggering array of tests and verifications on seed samples.
These three tests are critical for determining a seed’s performance in the field, and satisfy the US seed labeling law showing germination, physical purity and noxious weed percentages.
Seed health testing screens for seed-borne pathogens like bacteria, fungi, viruses and destructive nematodes. Seed for commercial agriculture and home gardens are often grown in foreign countries and shipped into the US, and vice versa. Seed health testing verifies the incoming or outgoing seed is free of pathogens that could wreak havoc.
Seed vigor test
Plant breeders use the healthiest seed stock possible that is free of any pathogens which would compromise breeding efforts. Agricultural researchers use tested pathogen-free seed to avoid skewing results or giving false indications from unforeseen disease interactions.
Hybrid seeds need to be tested for genetic purity, confirming their trueness to type and that the hybrid crossing is present in the majority of the seed sample. Traditional open pollinated breeders will use genetic purity testing to confirm there is no inadvertent mixing of genetic variations, verifying the purity of the parental lines.
It is common to test heirloom corn for GMO contamination – called adventitious presence testing. This test identifies any unwanted biotech traits in seed or grain lots. This is an extremely sensitive DNA based test, capable of detecting very low levels of unwanted traits in a sample – down to hundredths of a percent. This relatively expensive test demonstrates the absence of GMO contamination, an important quality aspect in the heirloom seed market.
Genetic fingerprinting, also called genotyping, identifies the genetic make-up of the seed genome, or full DNA sequence. Testing with two unique types of DNA markers gives more precision and information about the genetic diversity, relatedness and variability of the seed stock.
Computer graph of DNA testing
Fingerprinting verifies the seed variety and quality, while identifying desirable traits for seed breeders. This testing identifies 95% of the recurrent parent genetic makeup in only two generations of growing instead of five to seven with classic breeding, saving time and effort in grow-outs to verify the seed breeding. Genotyping also accelerates the discovery of superior traits by their unique markers in potential parent breeding seed stock.
The difference is how the breeding is verified, both before and after the exchange of pollen from one plant to another. The genetic markers identify positive traits that can be crossed and stabilized, and those markers show up after the cross and initial grow-outs to verify if the cross was successful. If it was successful, the grow-outs continue to stabilize and further refine the desired characteristics through selection and further testing. If it wasn’t successful, the seed breeder can try again without spending several years in grow-outs before being able to determine the breeding didn’t work like expected.
Seed Preservation
There are several different types of seed preservation, just as with seed testing. The foundational level is the home gardener, grower or gardening club selecting the best performing, best tasting open pollinated varieties to save seed from. Replanting these carefully selected seeds year upon year results in hyper-local adaptations to the micro-climates of soil, fertility, water, pH and multiple other conditions.
Many countries around the world have their own dedicated seed and genetic material preservation networks, such as Russia’s N.I.Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry. It is named for Nikolai Vavilov, a prominent Russian botanist and geneticist credited with identifying the genetic centers of origin for many of our cultivated food plants.
The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership is coordinated by the Kew Royal Botanic Garden near London, England and is the largest seed bank in the world, storing billions of seed samples and conduct research on different species. Australia has the PlantBank, a seed bank and research institute in Mount Annan, New South Wales, Australia.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault on the Norwegian island of Spitzbergen is a non-governmental approach with donations from several countries and organizations. AVRDC – the World Vegetable Center in Taiwan has almost 60,000 seed samples from over 150 countries and focuses on food production throughout Asia, Africa and Central America. The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (ICIAT) in Colombia focuses on improving agriculture for small farmers, with 65,000 crop samples. Navdanya in Northern India has about 5,000 crop varieties of staples like rice, wheat, millet, kidney beans and medicinal plants native to India. They have established 111 seed banks in 17 Indian states.
Seed banks aren’t the only ways to preserve a seed. Botanical gardens could be called “living seed banks” where live plants and seeds are planted, studied, documented and preserved for future enjoyment and knowledge. Botanical gardens range from established and well-supported large city gardens to specialized and smaller scale efforts to preserve a single species or group of plants.
100 year old Native American corn in herbarium
An herbarium is another form of seed bank with a single purpose of documenting how a plant looked at a specific location at a specific time. Herbaria are like plant and seed archeological libraries with collections of dried, pressed and carefully preserved plant specimens mounted and systematically cataloged for future reference.
An herbarium can show what corn grown by the Hopi tribe a century ago looked like, or how large the seeds and leaves of amaranth were 50 years ago. Different herbaria focus on certain aspects such as regional native plants or traditional foods grown by native peoples during a specific time.
50 year old Amaranth in herbarium
The first is the Germplasm Resources Information Network or GRIN for short. It is also known as the National Plant Germplasm System. This collaborative system works to safeguard the genetic diversity of agriculturally important plants. Congress funds the program but it partners with both public and private participants. Many of the seed banks are on state university campuses with private sector breeders and researchers using the available seed resources.
USDA National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation cold vault
There are 30 collection sites that maintain specific seed stock and conduct research on them. Some are dedicated to a single crop like the Maize Genetic Stock center in Urbana, IL which collects, maintains, distributes and studies the genetics of corn. Potatoes are maintained and studied in Sturgeon Bay, WI and rice is kept in Stuttgart, AR. Others maintain regional varieties like the UC Davis location that focuses on tree fruit and nut crops along with grapes that are agriculturally important in the central valley of California.
The second role is the USDA National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation (NCGRP) in Fort Collins, CO. This is the “back-stop” for the GRIN system as well as other private, public institutions and government programs around the world. They store the foundational collections of all the GRIN locations while also working with organizations such as the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico, the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines and the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute in Rome.
Founded in 1958, the NCGRP maintains, monitors and distributes seed and genetic material samples from their long-term backup storage. After receiving seed samples, they test, clean and condition the seed for the proper long-term storage environment.
USDA NCGRP’s liquid nitrogen vault
Two long-term storage methods are used. One is a traditional low temperature/low humidity storage and the other is liquid nitrogen storage. The traditional storage is kept at 0°F and 23% relative humidity. Seeds are kept in heat sealed, moisture proof foil laminated bags.
Before seeds are stored in liquid nitrogen a sample is given a liquid nitrogen test to ensure the extreme cold won’t damage the seeds. The sample is exposed to liquid nitrogen for 24 hours, then germinated after coming back to room temperature and evaluated for any germination issues.
If the test results are normal the seeds are stored in clear polyolefin plastic tubes that are barcoded and sealed. The filled tubes are arranged in metal boxes, labeled and stored in liquid nitrogen tanks.
USDA NCGRP’s liquid nitrogen vault sample straw
The vault housing both storage areas is completely self-contained and separate from the adjoining buildings. It has its own backup generator, can withstand up to 16 feet of flooding, tornadoes and the impact of a 2,500-pound object moving at 125 miles per hour. It also has a full suite of electronic security.
Outcome
If these approaches and techniques seem extravagant, it is with good reason. Our food availability and security increasingly relies on intensive production of fewer variety of crops that are very similar genetically. Along with increased production is increased vulnerability on a larger scale to pests, diseases and other stresses.
By collecting, preserving, testing, studying and distributing seeds and genetic materials immediate food system challenges can be met along with solutions and adaptations for future needs. Changes in growing conditions due to population growth, weather variability, transitions in land use and economic development all make the need for quality seed more important.
All the players in the seed economy support and advance the knowledge and quality of our seed used today. Just as the home gardeners and garden clubs preserve local seed varieties, seed companies are a “back-stop” for them. Seed banks and research facilities back up the seed companies and provide material for seed research.
How to Grow Sprouts at Home
Growing Sprouts at Home
Would you like a fresh food that grows in any climate, at any time of year and needs no soil or sunshine? One that you only spend 5 minutes a day with, matures in about a week and has more nutrients per calorie than any other type of food?
How about one that has no waste in preparation for eating and is tasty?
Whether it is well known leafy sprouts like Alfalfa and Red Clover, or the loved Mung bean sprouts used extensively throughout Asian cooking, sprouts are tender, crisp tiny plants that have flavors from mild and nutty to sweet, tangy and peppery. Their crunchiness and texture vary as well from the delicate Alfalfa and Clover to the thick and hearty Mung bean sprouts that hold up well to the heat of stir-frying.
Six Rules for Sprouts
Sprouts don’t require any sort of “Green Thumb”, just pay attention to the rules above.
Rinse a couple of times a day to keep the seeds/sprouts moist. This also flushes away carbon dioxide and metabolic wastes that could cause spoiling. Use cool water when rinsing to ventilate and cool the sprouts to prevent overheating. Sprouts generate warmth as they grow. The optimum room temperatures are between 70 – 85°F.
Using the sprouting lid helps maintain proper drainage, preventing excess moisture that can cause mold. Young sprouts are very tender, so keep the sprouting container away from cold drafts, direct heat or light.
Sprouts expand 6 – 10 times their initial volume in just a few days, so give them plenty of room to grow. The 1 1/2 tablespoon volume of seeds grows to almost fill the quart jar!
Sprouts are very light sensitive and should be covered until the final day or two of the sprouting cycle.
Growing Sprouts
Now you know the rules, here’s how easy it is to grow your own sprouts! It only takes about 5 minutes each day.
The tools and ingredients are super simple! You need a sprouting lid, a tablespoon measure, a glass quart jar and a towel to cover the jar.
What you sprout is up to you – we offer several different sprouts and mixtures to suit different taste buds.
Start by measuring out 1 1/2 tablespoons of sprouting seeds into a glass quart jar.
Fill the jar with warm water – not hot! This is the only time you will not use cool water in the sprouting process. The warm water helps start the sprouting process and speeds up the softening of the seed coat.
After the jar is full of warm water, screw the sprouting lid on, swirl the seeds well for several seconds and pour out the water through the lid.
Refill with warm water to cover the seeds about 3 times their depth. Let soak overnight and keep away from light.
The easiest way to keep the sprouting seeds away from light is covering them with a towel. The sprouting process does not need light.
Let the jar and seeds sit overnight.
The next morning, this is what you should see once the towel is removed. The water will be slightly darker than yesterday and the seeds will be noticeably larger from absorbing water.
Dump the water out,
rinse with cool water, fill to about 3/4 full and swirl to separate any seeds stuck together,
then pour the water out again.
The sprouts look like this on the first day – still seeds! The sprouting process has started, and you’ll see the results on the second day.
After rinsing and draining, cover the jar with a towel and put in a convenient place where it is in a steady temperature with no cold drafts where it can drain without causing problems.
This place is often the kitchen dish drainer. We like to tip the jar lid downward to drain excess moisture off easily. Our duck eggs comfortably share the space!
This is the process you will repeat a couple of times each day. Rinse with cool water, pour out, cover with a towel and tip the jar lid downward to drain excess moisture.
At two days, the sprouts were just beginning to split their seed coats, with a few showing a small sprout tip peeking out here and there.
This is the third day. We rinsed and drained the sprouts and inspected them.
Sprouts at three days. Most of the sprouts have split the seed coats and have started growing.
A closer view shows how dramatic the change is from seeds to sprouts in just three days. Most of the sprouts have long “tails” or roots, long enough to make the seeds look small in comparison. There are only a few seeds that have not sprouted at this point.
The growth continues over the next few days.
Sprouts at five days. There has been lots of growth in the past two days, compared to the day three photos above. The jar is almost filled now.
Each day we rinse, drain and cover the jar with the lid pointed downward to encourage good drainage.
The close-up view shows the difference in growth and volume over the past two days. At three days, they had filled almost 1/3 of the jar opening, while today they almost fill the jar opening.
The growing phase is finished, the sprouts need some ambient light to green up and boost their nutrition. You can eat them now – this is what is sold in the stores, but a couple of days with the towel off starts the production of chlorophyll and seriously increases the nutrition content!
Sprouts at seven days. The growth has slowed down, but the sprouts are much greener now. We’ve left the towel off after day five. We continue the rinse and drain routine each day.
The young, tender cotyledons have turned from a pale light green to a richer, deeper green. This color indicates nutrition – amino acids, protein and carotene, among others.
The close-up view shows how the sprouts have expanded a little more, but the colors are much greener.
The sprouts are almost ready to eat!
After the sprouts have greened up a bit, they are ready for harvesting. This just means a good wash in a colander or large bowl of water to remove the seed hulls.
There are two methods of doing the harvest wash – in a colander and in a large bowl of water.
If you use the bowl of water method, make sure to start with a bowl about twice the size of the sprouts so you have enough space to work. Gently dump the sprouts into the bowl and add cool water to almost fill the bowl.
Work your fingers into the sprouts, opening them up and releasing the spent seed hulls. Some will float to the top, while others will sink to the bottom. Skim the floating hulls, then remove the sprouts and drain the water and hulls.
Replace the sprouts and repeat the process until there are very few hulls left.
We show the colander method in our photos.
Gently dump the jar full of sprouts into a colander. It may take some gentle shaking or a chopstick to loosen the sprouts if they’ve grown to fill the jar.
Gently but thoroughly wash the sprouts with a running stream of water. We alternate between a solid stream and a spray and use our fingers to work the sprouts around to release the hulls. Some are visible at the bottom of the colander.
It usually takes a couple of cycles of wash/rinse with finger agitation, then lifting the sprouts out and washing the hulls out of the colander. Once you have very few hulls left the sprouts are ready to eat or store in the fridge.
Store sprouts in the refrigerator using the glass jar and sprouting lid as they still need to breathe and be rinsed once a day. Just make sure to set the jar lid down to drain for about 15 minutes before putting back in the refrigerator. They will last about a week, but usually will be eaten in just a couple of days!
Once the sprouts are cleaned they are ready to eat! We love our fresh sprouts on sandwiches of any kind – or on a fresh burger of locally raised heritage beef with homemade mayonnaise! Sprouts bring a fresh crunch and taste of fresh growth no matter what time of year it is.
If you find sprouts as delicious as we do, try succession sprouting. This is the same concept as succession planting in your garden but with sprouts.
Depending on how much you and your family eat, start a batch every third or fourth day to keep a fresh supply of sprouts on hand. You will need a sprouting lid for each batch, so you might need 2, 3 or 4 lids. With simple care the lids will last several years.
Start Your Own Sprouts
Now you see how simple it is to grow your own home-grown sprouts, saving you time and money while having delicious fresh greens any time of year! If you have a spare 5 minutes a day and enough room for a quart jar, you can grow sprouts.
Once you’ve sprouted a couple of times and have the timing down it will feel second nature to always have fresh sprouts on hand.
Increasing Your Garden Knowledge
One sure way to improve your garden next year is to increase your garden knowledge during the slower season. This is easier than you might think.
First – review how your garden did this season.
Do a high-level flyover of the season either in memory or with notes.
If you took them, look at the notes in your garden journal and see what did well and what didn’t.
Second – If you didn’t keep a garden journal this season, now you might see why it is highly useful.
It helps in keeping track of what happened, what went well and what didn’t.
You don’t need to document everything, and some notes are much better than none. You will see this especially a few years down the line when you can’t remember what you did that worked that one year!
Now is the perfect time to start learning, sharpening your skills and expanding your knowledge for next season. We are talking about this early, as it is much too easy to think that there is enough time left to do it later. Ask us why we know this…
There are two ways to gain experience – directly and indirectly.
Direct experience is your mistakes and missed opportunities that you learn from. Indirect experience is learning from other’s mistakes and knowledge.
Everyone learns directly, but smart people focus on learning from other’s lessons. This greatly shortens the time needed to gain that knowledge.
We hope this will boost your learning curve!
Grow Great Pumpkins from Seed to Harvest
How to Grow Delicious Pumpkins
Pumpkins are an important fall mascot, from jack-o’-lanterns to home decorations to delicious foods. After all, what says Fall more than pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin cookies, pies, soups and pancakes?
We love our pumpkin – farmers grew about 1.3 billion pounds in 2014, a 17% increase from the year prior. They aren’t the largest grown crop commercially, but pumpkins are still an important crop. Illinois grew over half of all commercial pumpkins with 745.8 million pounds, far outpacing California at 192.2 million pounds. Most are “processing pumpkins” going into pie fillings or other canned pumpkin uses.
Pumpkins are part of the gourd family along with summer and winter squash, cucumbers, melons, cantaloupes, watermelons, and zucchini. They originated in Central America and southern Mexico. Now they are grown in almost all parts of the world.
We’ll share tips to be more successful in areas with insect or disease pressures.
Planting – Starting Right
This takes a little bit of planning but isn’t difficult. Pumpkins like a loose, fertile loamy soil with a pH range of about 6.0 – 7.5 as an ideal condition. Well-aged compost added to the soil will improve flavor and production. They will grow in less than ideal conditions but may need extra nutrition or care to produce well. A drip system on a timer provides consistent soil moisture, important for good production and flavor. A good layer of surface mulch helps.
Planting two or more seeds then thinning the smaller seedlings used to be standard practice with growers and gardeners. High-quality seed makes that unnecessary now, saving time, effort and energy when planting. You normally only need to plant one seed per hill.
Get the most out of your seed by planting flat or with the pointed end down. This saves energy for the roots and shoots, giving them a head start in the right direction.
Aurora inspects a Connecticut Field Pumpkin
Pumpkin is a warm-weather crop – the seed is sensitive to soil temperature and won’t germinate in cold soils. Young seedlings are also easily frost damaged, making a later planting often more successful. The seed won’t start germinating until the soil temperature reaches 60°F and can rot in cold and moist conditions.
Traditional planting times are mid-June to early July in the Northeast. The Midwest sows mid-May to late June, depending on the weather. A June 15 planting date gives enough time for most pumpkins to mature for a mid-October harvest.
Read soil temperature with a simple digital thermometer accurate from 50°F to 90°F. Insert the probe just slightly deeper than how deep the seed will be planted – about an inch – and get the reading.
Most pumpkins need 90 to 120 days to maturity. This means they take 3 – 4 months of warm weather to grow, flower and produce pumpkins before a hard frost.
Here are a few tools to help boost your success:
The first is knowing when the first hard frost arrives in your area. This makes sure you’ve got enough time to get a good crop. Use the First and Last Frost Dates tool discussed in our How to Plan for Fall and Winter Gardening article.
The second is choosing a variety better suited to your growing season. Choose a smaller pumpkin or a faster-growing one when limited on time.
A third option is using pumpkin transplants you’ve started indoors – much like tomato transplants. This gives you more time in a shorter season as you’ve started the “clock” on a 90-day pumpkin 14 days earlier by starting it inside.
Australian Butter Squash
Controlling Weeds
The large shade canopy from the leaves controls weed growth, but some weeds will still get a foothold.
It is more important to keep on top of weeds early in the season than worrying about them later. Weeds steal nutrients and stunt growth with young pumpkin seedlings than with more mature plants.
Manual weeding with a hoe or by hand is the most effective but also most labor intensive. Early cultivation with a weeding tool when the weeds have just emerged is very beneficial. Slide your hoe just below the surface of the soil to slice the weed stems.
Harness this time delay by cutting the weeds before they grow their second set of true leaves. This gives your pumpkins time to get up and running.
Black plastic mulch limits weed growth around the pumpkins. It needs to be put down just after the seedlings emerge and removed at the end of the season. Commercial growers commonly use this method, and some home gardeners have found it to be worth the effort in high weed areas.
Planting into cover crop residue also works well. Especially spring planted cereal rye that has been mowed or weed whacked and let dry down for 2 weeks. Open up a small space around the seed mound or transplant when planting.
Insects and Diseases
Pumpkins need well-drained soil, good airflow and room to soak up the sun. Wet and humid climates contribute to disease attacks. Space plantings 5 – 6 feet between hills and at least 10 feet between rows of pumpkins. This ensures good ventilation and sun exposure to control humidity under the leaf canopy, decreasing disease potential.
Use a 20% solution of milk and water to fight them while boosting the soil biology. Milk and Molasses – Magic for Your Garden has the full details!
The same insects that love squash also love pumpkins – including squash bugs, squash vine borers, cucumber beetles and aphids. Squash bugs are a major pest problem with any squash. We’ve shared a recipe that seems to help in Squash Bugs and Ways to Deal with Them. Recent research shows inter-planting buckwheat supplies food for the tachinid fly. This fly is a parasite of the squash bugs.
One technique the home grower has is growing pumpkins or squash in large containers. Move them to a new area each season away from insects and disease. Use a planter witha good soil volume and keep plastic mulch under the vines to reduce insect pressures.
Galeux d’Eysines Pumpkins
Harvesting and Storing
Pumpkin and squash need to fully ripen on the vine to avoid tasting bland and watery. The leaves and vines will start dying back and the shells will become harder as the squash ripens. They will resist indentation when you press your thumbnail in.
Pick all the ripe fruits before the first frost, otherwise, the storage life is shorter. Mulch unripe fruit heavily with straw or a tarp in the garden as the first frost approaches. Pick when ripened.
Harvest in dry weather, using pruning shears or a sharp knife to cut the vine. Leave two to three inches of stem attached. Do not pull the vine off of the squash when harvesting, as this will damage the stem or fruit and lead to early rotting.
If you have had any diseases or insects – mildew, mold, blight or squash bugs – clean the shears or knife between each cut to prevent spreading diseases between fruit. A dishcloth soaked in a 10% bleach solution works well.
Dry or cure pumpkins in the sun until their stems shrivel and harden. If you harvest in rainy weather, cure them out of the rain in a well-ventilated area. Move them into the sun when it returns.
Handle the fruit carefully to avoid bruising the flesh, even though the pumpkin may look and feel tough. Bruised flesh leads to shorter storage and can ruin other squash stored nearby.
Store in a cool, dry area. Ideal temperatures are between 45 – 50°F with 65 – 70% humidity if possible. The temperature is more important than the humidity, so if you have a cool but drier location, that will work.
Check the fruit regularly, as one bad pumpkin can ruin several others or possibly the whole lot!
See how to make the most from your home-grown pumpkin with our Roasted Pumpkin Puree and Pumpkin-Orange Cheesecake!