An End that is just before a Beginning

Somewhere in the early part of January the winter blahs are beyond acceptably BLAH ... it is just miserable. Although the folks who ski and snow-board enjoy all the cold ... it is not the best time of year for those of us who love to be in the garden. Thank goodness the end of winter is near and the beginning of spring is looking promising.

We finished our final Community Education class on Sustainable Gardening on January 19th and the folks seemed to have gotten a good experience. We've been asked to consider putting together a level two class and we are thinking through what exactly could be of level two content and value. Time will tell and given the state of the economy, we might do well to offer folks a chance to really figure out how to grow enough food to put into storage if things get any worse.

So here is a portion of a short article we read through some time back and kept it in our database of good stuff. It is from http://www.helpguides.co.uk/ about things to do in preparation of the spring season.

Hope you enjoy it.

Sowing Seeds Indoors

Successful indoor propagation requires the gardener to provide the seeds with a healthy growing environment until they have developed sufficiently to survive in the outside soil. This includes using sterilized equipment and hygienic materials to reduce the risk of fungal diseases; the right amount of water and light; and a constant evaluation of their conditions, thinning the seedlings out and hardening them off when they are more fully grown.

Let’s look at just two items on the list for how to grow seeds indoors.

Hygiene

Seeds germinate and grow most successfully in warm, moist conditions; unfortunately, these are precisely the same conditions that encourage the development of fungal diseases.

To reduce the risk of exposing young plants to infection, it is vital to ensure that all propagating equipment is kept clean and sterilized. Tools and benches should be wiped down periodically with a mild disinfectant and all fallen leaves or other debris removed immediately. Seed trays and propagators should be sterilized before use, and compost should always be fresh and sterile.

Fungicidal solutions such as Chesnutt compound may also be applied to protect seedlings further. Make sure that you follow the manufacturer's directions closely.

Seedlings may also be at risk from fungal diseases if they become too moist or overcrowded. This is known as 'damping off', where the roots darken and die and the seedling collapses. This can be avoided by pricking out the seedlings to stop them from becoming overcrowded, maintaining the correct moisture levels and ensuring that there is an adequate air flow above and around the plants.

Sowing the Seeds

Fill a container (pot, seed pan, seed trays or pack) to the rim with standard seed compost and press in lightly around the edges with your fingertips or a presser board to ensure that there are no air pockets. Tap the container against a hard surface to settle the compost and then gently firm the compost again so that the top of the compost is just below the rim of the container. Water and allow it to drain for an hour.

Sprinkle the seeds thinly on the surface of the compost to achieve an even covering. This may be done by rolling them between your thumb and forefinger so that they fall singly, or by making a channel of the seed packet so that they can drop out slowly and evenly. You may find that very small seeds are easier to sow if you mix them with the same quantity of fine sand; this will give a more even distribution. Avoid sowing the seeds too densely, as this will result in thin, spindly plants that are prone to damping off. If you are using large seeds, you can sow them individually in compartmented packs or spaced out in trays.

Cover the seeds with a layer of sieved, moist compost to about the same thickness as the seeds themselves, then water lightly, so as not to disturb the seeds or the surface of the compost. If you are sowing dust-like seeds (such as begonia), you will need to leave them uncovered and water them from underneath: place the container in water up to its rim and leave soaking until the surface of the compost is moist. However, take care to ensure that you do not leave them soaking for too long as they will become waterlogged, which may encourage seedling diseases or make the seeds rot before germination.

Place a piece of glass or clear plastic sheeting over the container to maintain even humidity: do not let it touch the compost surface as this may disturb the seeds. Place the container somewhere warm and bright such as a greenhouse bench or in a propagator, shading it with newspaper or fine netting if it is in direct sunlight. Check frequently to see how the seeds are progressing.

Remove the cover as soon as the first seedlings germinate; keep the compost moist and the seedlings in good light until they are ready for pricking out.

Using Biodegradable Pots

You might also consider sowing in a biodegradable pot. In this situation, fill the pot to within 1 cm of the rim, sow three seeds on the surface, cover thinly with compost and then water. The three seedlings may be thinned to two once they have germinated, and the whole pot planted out when the young plants are well developed. This technique is very useful for seedlings that do not transplant well as the pot may be planted out without disturbing the roots.

Maybe the saying 'A picture is worth 1000 words'

During our Sustainable Gardening Class this topic came up: What is No Till gardening?

Lasagna Gardening

No-Till, No-Dig Gardening

Lasagna gardening is a no-dig, no-till organic gardening method that results in rich, fluffy soil with very little work from the gardener. The name "lasagna gardening" has nothing to do with what you'll be growing in this garden. It refers to the method of building the garden, which is, essentially, adding layers of organic materials that will “cook down” over time, resulting in rich, fluffy soil that will help your plants thrive. Also known as “sheet composting,” lasagna gardening is great for the environment, because you're using your yard and kitchen waste and essentially composting it in place to make a new garden.

No Digging Required

(Sandy soil is the worst, in my opinion, because it has few nutrients, and those applied are apt to leach away. The best you can do for sandy soil is lay large amounts of organic matter atop the bed whenever possible, and hope.)

One of the best things about lasagna gardening is how easy it is. You don't have to remove existing sod and weeds. You don't have to double dig. In fact, you don't have to work the soil at all. The first layer of your lasagna garden consists of either brown corrugated cardboard or three layers of newspaper laid directly on top of the grass or weeds in the area you've selected for your garden. Wet this layer down to keep everything in place and start the decomposition process. The grass or weeds will break down fairly quickly because they will be smothered by the newspaper or cardboard, as well as by the materials you're going to layer on top of them. This layer also provides a dark, moist area to attract earthworms that will loosen up the soil as they tunnel through it.

Ingredients For A Lasagna Garden

Anything you'd put in a compost pile, you can put into a lasagna garden. The materials you put into the garden will break down, providing nutrient-rich, crumbly soil in which to plant. The following materials are all perfect for lasagna gardens:

• Grass Clippings

• Leaves

• Fruit and Vegetable Scraps

• Coffee Grounds

• Tea leaves and tea bags

• Weeds (if they haven't gone to seed)

• Manure

• Compost

• Seaweed

• Shredded newspaper or junk mail

• Pine needles

• Spent blooms, trimmings from the garden

• Peat moss

Just as with an edible lasagna, there is some importance to the methods you use to build your lasagna garden. You'll want to alternate layers of “browns” such as fall leaves, shredded newspaper, peat, and pine needles with layers of “greens” such as vegetable scraps, garden trimmings, and grass clippings. In general, you want your "brown” layers to be about twice as deep as your “green” layers, but there's no need to get finicky about this. Just layer browns and greens, and a lasagna garden will result. What you want at the end of your layering process is a two-foot tall layered bed. You'll be amazed at how much this will shrink down in a few short weeks.

When To Make A Lasagna Garden

You can make a lasagna garden at any time of year. Fall is an optimum time for many gardeners because of the amount of organic materials you can get for free thanks to fallen leaves and general yard waste from cleaning up the rest of the yard and garden. You can let the lasagna garden sit and break down all winter. By spring, it will be ready to plant in with a minimum of effort. Also, fall rains and winter snow will keep the materials in your lasagna garden moist, which will help them break down faster.

If you choose to make a lasagna garden in spring or summer, you will need to consider adding more "soil-like" amendments to the bed, such as peat or topsoil, so that you can plant in the garden right away. If you make the bed in spring, layer as many greens and browns as you can, with layers of finished compost, peat, or topsoil interspersed in them. Finish off the entire bed with three or four inches of finished compost or topsoil, and plant. The bed will settle some over the season as the layers underneath decompose.

Planting and Maintaining a Lasagna Garden

When it's time to plant, just dig down into the bed as you would with any other garden. If you used newspaper as your bottom layer, the shovel will most likely go right through, exposing nice, loose soil underneath. If you used cardboard, you may have to cut a hole in it at each spot where you want to plant something.

To maintain the garden, simply add mulch to the top of the bed in the form of straw, grass clippings, bark mulch, or chopped leaves. Once it's established, you will care for a lasagna garden just as you would any other: weed and water when necessary, and plant to your heart's content.

Advantages Of A Lasagna Garden

While you will be maintaining a lasagna garden the same way you would care for any other garden, you will find that caring for a lasagna garden is less work-intensive. You can expect:

• Few weeds, thanks to the newspaper suppressing them from below and the mulch covering the soil from above.

• Better water retention, due to the fact that compost (which is what you made by layering all of those materials) holds water better than regular garden soil, especially if your native soil is sandy or deficient in organic matter.

• Less need for fertilizer, because you planted your garden in almost pure compost, which is very nutrient-rich.

• Soil that is easy to work: crumbly, loose, and fluffy.

Lasagna gardening is fun, easy, and allows you to make new gardens at a much faster rate than the old double-digging method. Now your only problem will be finding plants to fill all of those new gardens!