Showing posts with label Winter chores. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Winter chores. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Fig Cuttings. 12.23.14

Botanical - A curious herbal - Fruit - Ficus (The Fig Tree) p125
Image via vintageprintable.com



Today I started a few fig cuttings.  These were from a fig forum member in Marshall TX.  Celeste and LSU Gold.

Soon I will be packaging cuttings for fig forum members as well.

 No energy...

I also planted in the ground, a clump if Chives, and a rosemary plant.  Those I had out a month ago when putting a walk way through the middle of my border.   They've been sitting out of the ground.  They don't look stressed by the experience.

I also planted a red current bush.

 Pulled a few weeds.

Trimmed a few plum branches.

Nothing much.

Gardening in late December.

Still some hard freezes ahead, I'm sure.

Sunday, December 07, 2014

The effect of compost. Kitchen garden winter prep. 12.7.14

Untreated soil vs. soil with 2 1/2 years of compost and TLC.

Garden gold.  Chick house cleanings for the kitchen garden.
 Today I did some cleanup and winter prep for next Spring.  I don't like seeing the raised beds full of dead tomato and pepper plants and weeds and bean stalks.

Several of the raised beds have settled significantly.  I topped the off with soil from this raised bed.  That used 2/3 of the bed's soil.  The other 1/3 is perennial - Chinese chive, which I consolidated from this raised bed and another.

The difference is soil appearance is dramatic.  The native soil, on the left, is what the enriched soil, on the right, looked like 2  1/2 years ago.  The difference is 2 /12 years of adding chicken house compost, leaves, kitchen scrap compost, worm compost, coffee grounds....

I filled partially full with yard soil, then mixed in a wheelbarrow full of chicken house cleanings.  That is a year old, but dry so not composted.  Too rich to use immediately.  This being December, there will be 5 or 6 months to mellow before use.  Plan for this area is bush beans.

I also added a cup of lime based on last year's soil test result showing low pH and low calcium.

Then I topped off with more yard soil, then more chicken house cleanings.  Let the earthworms and bacteria and fungi do their thing now. 

Several of the beds are cleaned up now.  When spring comes, prep for planting will need minimal effort.

The other thing that needs to be done for these beds is better animal fencing.  That is another project for this winter.

For the beds that I topped off, I removed the larger, tougher plant stems to go into the compost heap.  I covered the cardboard/grass clipping mulch with a layer of improved soil.  No major digging, the soil is already well aerated and rich.
Cleanup half done.  12.7.14

My kitchen garden in winter.  12.7.14

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Seed Organizing. Old Seeds.

Organized garden seed collection.
I organized the garden seed collection.  The packets were in boxes and scattered in drawers.  Some are old and may be dead.  There are multiple examples of multiple packets of the same or similar variety.  Wasteful on my part.

Now they are organized.  Each envelope is labeled with a category, such as Okra, Tomatoes, Peppers, Carrots & Radishes & Root vegetables, Squashes & Pumpkins, etc.  That way I can look in the envelope and see what I have.  For some I can do direct comparisons of different varieties this year, and see if there is a difference.

I should plant some of the oldest ones first this year.  Then if I have newer examples of the same variety, it should be good for next year.

Over the years I have germinated some pretty old seeds.  As I recall, some tomato seeds more than 5 years old, and some peppers more than 10 years old.  They are not in ideal seed storage conditions, just the house and some downstairs where it is cooler.

Bottom line is I have some old seeds to try.  I can plant old seeds and new seeds together, and compare the results.

This website "The Garden Bench" gives some expectations:

2 years: Sweet corn, lettuce, parsley, peppers, chard.
3 years: Bush and pole beans, carrots, cucumbers, melons, peas, squashes, tomatoes.
4: Radishes, turnips.
Seeds of annual flowers: 1 – 3 years
Seeds of perennials: 2 – 4 years.

From Gardening Know How
Corn and peppers - 2 years
Beans, peas, tomatos, carrots - 4 years
Cucumber, lettuce - 6 years

Tomatodirt.com-
Tomato seeds, depending on how stored and how germinated, can last 4 to 7 years, up to 10 years, and an expert has germinated 22 year old seeds.

Seedsavers forum discussion on germinating old seeds - they report using an organice nitrogen fertilizer soak, to improve germination.  Beans at 6 years old and cotton at 12 years old.  Tomatoes at 20 years old.

This writer reports seeds that were frozen for a couple of years, then stored in a cool room for about 10 years.  There was germination of at least a few, for most varieties.  That included tomatoes, brassicas, squash, cucumbers, peas, beans, and others.  Probably better than my storage conditions, but also longer.

From the Argonne National Laboratory website -
 "The Garden Dictionary lists corn, dandelion, onion, and parsnip seeds as having an average viability of two years. Beet, carrot, lettuce, squash, turnip, and watermelon seeds remain viable for an average of 5 or 6 years but under ideal conditions may exceed 10 years. Cucumber and endive seeds are good for 10 years at least."

From Iowa State University-



How long will vegetable seeds last if stored properly? -
Seed TypeYearsSeed TypeYears
Asparagus3Muskmelons5
Beans3Onions1
Beets4Peas3
Broccoli5Peppers2
Cabbage5Pumpkins4
Carrots3Radishes5
Cauliflower5Spinach5
Corn2Squash4
Cucumbers5Tomatoes4
Lettuce5Watermelons4

From 'Dirt Happy" website -

Estimated longevity of vegetable seeds, under good storage conditions.
5 years4 years3 years2 years1 year
CollardsBeetsAsparagusCorn, sweetOnion
Corn salad (mache)Brussels SproutsBeansLeekParsley
CressCabbageBroccoliOkraParsnip
CucumberCauliflowerCabbage, ChinesePepperSalsify
EndiveChard, SwissCarrot
Scorzonera
LettuceChicoryCeleriac

Muskmelon (Cantaloupe)EggplantCelery

Spinach *KaleKohlrabi


PumpkinNew Zealand Spinach


RadishPea


Rutabaga



Sorrel



Squash



Tomato



Turnip



Watermelon