Susiej

Looking back, I can say that my greatest memory of last summer was not developing goose bumps waiting behind a boat, but rather, feeding friends and family directly from the garden. Now’s the time to start this summer’s crop.

The Farmer’s Almanac has a handy-dandy calendar available for free that has already calculated the phases of the moon to tell you exactly when you should be clearing ground, and actually planting seeds. Pay attention — some days actually say “seeds planted today tend to rot.” (Why wouldn’t we plant by the moon? Just check the hospital birth rates during full moons!) Today and tomorrow are good seed starting dates, and so I prepared in advance by making these gorgeous, recyclable origami newspaper seedling pots. Like peat pots, you simply plant the entire pot in the ground when you’re ready to transplant to the garden.

It’s getting difficult to find a newspaper made of entirely black ink — but that’s OK, because all the inks tend to be made with soy now. The one thing you must try to avoid is the glossy pages.

There are quite a few video tutorials available to show you how to make these origami newspaper seedling pots– but this one below is the only one that has the camera positioned at just the right angle to actually let you see how to make the “flip.” The only adjustment I made was to use a double sheet of newspaper, folded in half. Makes a sturdier pot.

Unfortunately, my newspaper is a bit shorter than hers, so I could not make the fold over flap. Instead, I had to use tape to seal off the pot.

These are great pots, they’re free, and they hold lots of water, and then dry out. The nicest thing is that they are quite large, making it less likely that your seedlings will grow out of your pots.

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Peas love cold weather, and I would have planted them by now if not for the icy mass of snow covering my garden spot. At the same time, I was thinking about all that money I can’t resist spending on that first pack of cool-season annuals – petunias and violas for my flower pots. (Which are edible, too, by the way) So, instead of planting those pea seeds in the garden, I decided to spend just a few dollars and plant those pea seeds in the flowerpots that sit at my front and back doors — the only snow-free spots around. Here’s a photo from a Container Garden Book that inspired me.

Those pretty flowers are actually sweet peas (seed packs available everywhere for under $2) that are mixed with the snow peas, which we’ll soon be eating for dinner.  Growing this is just as simple as it sounds. (Can I just tell you how great that dirt smelled?! Almost free winter therapy!) My containers were already empty from last fall, sitting in the garage, just waiting for spring. I filled the containers with potting mix, planted the seeds, and watered. I did not skimp on the seeds — they’re cheap, I want a full, lush basket, and I can always give away the extra seedlings if I have to.

Photo of nurturing gift to myself for the week.

This may not be necessary, but because it’s still very cold, just to be safe, and to give the seeds a head start, I covered the pots with plastic just to get them going. (See the snow in the background!)

There are actually quite a few cold-season varieties you can start planting in your pots — broccoli, spinach, lettuce, arugula. More photos from the book for inspiration:

Tulips, lettuce

Onion sets and spinach

When the weather warms up, and as the peas are done, I can begin planting the next crop of food:

Nasturtiums and Peppers. (Pepper plants will either be bought, or started from seeds indoors.)

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Fifty million plastic bottles were consumed in the U.S. alone last year. Thirty eight billion didn’t quite make it to the recycling bin — and ended up in landfills. We have until the next millennium before they decompose — but how exactly does plastic decompose?  Does it give off fumes? Do toxins leach out into the soil during bio-degradation?

Flowers here made from plastic milk bottles, from Anthropoligie’s Flickr Pool.

I hope those scientists are wrong. A 16-year old Ontario student figured out how to decompose plastic in just three months. He makes my heart sing. An enormous island of trash twice the size of Texas is floating in the Pacific Ocean somewhere between San Francisco and Hawaii. It’s been growing since the 1950s.

Some of the plastic slivers end up along the beach, where they look like sand. Little fishes and crabs confuse plastic slivers for food, putting plastic into our food supply.  Someday we might just have a beach made out of broken plastic slivers. I find this horrifying.

The Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Calendar tells me that today and tomorrow are not good days for planting, according to the moon. But come Saturday, I’m starting some seedlings indoors.  It may be early, but I never do have melons in time for July 4th. Gardening gives me a way to create more soil; to create more earth; to create something green in this oh, so plastic world we live in. I can hardly wait.

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Last summer, my salads never had quite enough radishes, basil, parsley or arugula. The cucumbers and zucchini vines always spread their wings just enough to pipe down the shoots of my salad seedlings so that the little veggies could never take off and spread out and stand up like proper vegetable soldiers.

Photo, my future garden, courtesy of Sunset Magazine: For the names of plants, click here:

So, that exciting day when I planted my garlic last fall, I spread out more newspaper and leaves and expanded my garden. Still, I wanted more space, but I didn’t want the place to look like a farm. Since then, I’ve learned that the problem with garden space lies in the rows. Straight vegetable beds, with rows for walking, take valuable space away from the plants. For example, a traditional row garden of 13 square feet only provides 3 feet of plantable area (when factoring walkways) – a waste of 75 percent of the garden space.

A keyhole garden, is a circular garden, with a walkway up the middle, and has no rows. This consolidated garden allows you to harvest your plants from one spot, as you work your way around from the circle in the middle. If a keyhole garden takes up over 29 square feet, (size is up to you – this is for an example) it has a plantable area of more than 19 feet – 75 percent productive land, versus only 25% plantable land with a row garden.

In addition, the keyhole garden design lends itself to planting your seedlings densely, which does minimize weeds, allowing you to plant more, and encourages the roots to go down deep to the water, rather than spreading out. In short, it’s for the lazy gardener.

I was worried about having enough stones and rocks to build up the walls. Then, I found this simple efficient design from the Urban Oasis Project.

I can certainly find enough rocks for this garden. Besides, the rocks are an excellent way to help build up heat in the garden for the vegetables.

It’s not that I am a lazy gardener – far from it – because working the soil is relaxing for me. But, I am unable to be there to tend to my garden as often as I like. This brings me to the next feature that I love about the keyhole garden. It’s self-sufficient.

The key (no pun) to this keyhole garden is its inner fuel tank – a constant source of water and fertilizer is the compost bin that sits in the inner basket of the garden. This is where you put kitchen scraps, grass clippings, and leaves, and organic material (no meat or dairy). As this material decomposes, it provides water and fertilizer as the material turns into compost. The compact design of the keyhole makes the turnover from potato peel to dirt happen very quickly.

The central basket means the garden survives with no to low watering and no fertilizing. In fact, this is a method specifically designed for those in parts of the world who suffer from low rainfall. The keyhole garden takes all of the effort of watering and when-to-fertilize out of the equation for me – perfect for those who say they can’t grow anything. I might be able to grow two gardens. One for the lake, and one for home.

Traditionally, the keyhole garden is a circle, with a path cut into the middle in one place to give you access to the garden. But, mowing around circles is a problem. My solution will be to keep the garden bed in its rectangular shape, and to fill those triangular pockets around the corners of the circle with something else. Such as bean fort teepees, or tomatoes in cages, or dry herbs, such as rosemary. The possibilities are simply endless.

Instructions for this keyhole garden are coming.

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A. Snap peas, pole-type ‘Sugar Snap’, 1 seed packet

B. Edible flowers (calendulas, pansies, violas)

C. Cabbage, ‘Ruby Perfection’, 6 plants

D. Cauliflower, ‘Amazing’, 9 plants

E. Spinach, ‘Tyee’, 6 plants

F. Garlic, ‘Chesnok Red’ and ‘Spanish Roja’

G. Broccoli, ‘Premium Crop’, 8 plants, and Romanesco, 12 plants

H. Mustard, ‘Giant Red’, 6 plants, and ‘Green Wave’, 3 plants

I. Carrots, ‘Babette’ and ‘Bolero’, 1 seed packet each

J. Onions, ‘Walla Walla Sweet’

K. Radishes, ‘Cherry Belle’ and ‘Crimson Giant’, 1 seed packet each

L. Swiss chard, ‘Rainbow’, 9 plants, and ‘Ruby’, 2 plants

M. Kale, ‘Winterbor’, 6 plants

N. Lettuce, curly endive, ‘Dark Lollo Rossa’, ‘Lollo Rossa’, ‘Sierra’, and ‘Tom Thumb’, 6 plants each

O. Ornamental kale, 26 plants

P. Herbs (assorted)

Photo is from Sunset Magazine.

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Last weekend I cleaned up the garden, folded in some leaves to mulch the soil for next spring. Then, I pulled out the shovel and started planting my garlic – yes I know – should have been planted weeks ago, but life happens. While raking in the leaves, I noticed big white seeds – about the size of the Jack in the Beanstalk seeds.

This is exactly what they looked like — taken earlier.

As I dug, I noticed more seeds, so I picked one up. These white things were not seeds. They were eggs. One egg had fallen under the blade of my shovel, and was opened. (I will not elaborate on this point — but just ask my kids — they’d love to tell you all about it.) Then, I realized that these were turtle eggs. I was standing in the midst of a huge turtle bed.

I quickly buried the baby turtle. “The garden is far, and uphill from the lake. Far from the lake,” is all I could think to myself as I worked. “Why did she climb all the way up here to plant her babies?”

The man who trimmed our trees two years ago said a large turtle snuck up on him. “That turtle could have taken the leg off on of your sons,” he said. He caught the turtle and threw her back into the lake.

Here’s a picture of the turtle. Yes, you can say it — she’s ugly, and she is armed and dangerous.

You can see her size by looking at my husband’s wrist. (Which is still attached to his arm.)

Now, her babies are buried throughout my garden — along with the garlic.

I’ll admit — I’m a bit nervous about planting next spring’s garden.

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