It is not spring yet and don't I know it. I still have seven weeks until my last frost, but I can plant my early spring crops (peas, lettuce, and spinach) next weekend. I've got my indoor seeds going and there are some very positive signs around the yard. In Missouri I am pretty sure tulips and daffodils don't come up until right before Easter, but in Albuquerque it seems spring comes a little earlier. These are some photos of happy surprises in my yard.
I have sprouties! It amazes me everytime that seeds that have been laying dormant in little packages magically come to life with a little dirt and water. Well, not always. There has been plenty of disappointment when starting seeds indoors.
This time I am definitely trying to do it right. I got the right seed starting soil and new, clean containers. So far I have planted everything on schedule and I am trying to keep them warm. Since I am a gardener on a budget I have no heating pads or lights for the seeds. To make up for this I have been keeping the seed trays on top of the refrigerator (it is supposed to be warmer up there), but it doesn't seem to be helping much. Every other day I take them down and cosy them up to an electric radiator heater. I tell myself this helps, but who knows, at least it gets the soil temperature up for a little while. I also do this to prevent mold from forming. The tricky part is keeping my very curious kitten from using it as a litter box.
Last year I was so worried about keeping them warm I left them in my brightest window with the lid still on after the seeds had sprouted. This was a terrible idea. First I got a bright green mold all over and then totally baked my little sprouts. With a little research I learned that you are supposed to poke holes in the tray lids to prevent mold, (you should never have water beading up and running down the inside of the lid), and once the seeds have sprouted you take off the lid and give them some direct light. I may have made a mistake planting my peppers in with onions and catnip, because the two latter sprout much quicker. My lids are off to accomadate the early sprouts, but now I am worried my peppers won't do as well.
Another seed starting method I want to try this year is winter sowing. You can find a lot of great information for this at www.wintersown.org. For this method you take milk jugs or soda bottles and cut them open about halfway leaving a hinge. You cut slits in the bottom for drainage and fill the bottom with dirt and plant some seeds. Then you take the cap off and leave them outside no matter what the temperature and let them sprout when they are ready. The sprouts are somewhat protected in their mini greenhouses and as they get bigger and it gets warmer you cut more and more holes in the top to slowly harden them off. I think I am going to try some of my herb flowers and peas this way.
Gardening is functional, and although it has become a little trendy it is still a lot of hard work. The process is satisfying, but there are some other rewards. The graceful aesthetics of plants has caused me to sit and gaze on them for hours.
The complexity of the plants and flowers got me interested in photography. They have such delicate beauty and their growth and changes are amazing to watch. It is definitely a good idea to record these stages. Most digital cameras are pretty simple to use, and the macro setting will make you feel like a professional photographer.
Above is a picture of ameranthus, one of my favorite flowers. This particular variety is Love Lies Bleeding. The long magenta ropes are striking against the green of the garden. Once they get started they grow really quickly and hold up quite well in wind and hailstorms.
One of my other favorite garden flowers comes from the pumpkin patches. Pumpkin blooms are bright and tender. Once they start flowering it seems they never stop. I love to go out first thing in the morning and see all the new blooms dotting the pumpkin vines.
Dogs, as lovable as they are, can destroy a hardy pumpkin plant in a single bound. For the most part some low fencing and a few words will deter them, but an excited dog in pursuit is hard to reason with. I've found that putting a few short pieces of bamboo randomly amongst the plants keeps the dogs from laying in and running through the garden.
Grasshoppers are another garden pest that New Mexicans have to deal with. My greatest weapon against this is our kitten Marx. She loves to chase them and can eat at least 20 a day. If you don't want a kitten I have heard guinea fowl work well.
All that I've read about keeping out deer and rabbits seems challenging. If you have these pest problems I would recommend building a 10 foot concrete wall around your garden. Birds and many insects can be deterred with a lightweight mesh. If you are very industrious you can build screened cages to keep your most vulnerable plants in.
What do you want buzzing around your garden then? Bats eat a lot of insects and grubs, and ladybugs and preying mantis are great for aphids.
It is difficult to garden when you don't own your own house. You never know how long you will be living at your current residence, so it makes it hard to invest in crops that take a year or two to develop. I would love to plant asparagus, garlic and grapes, but they all take more than a year to yield any crops.
Another challenge is that you never know what condition the soil will be in. This can be an especially difficult challenge in New Mexico where neglected soil can be like concrete. The past three yards I've had at rentals have basically been driveways littered with glass. My current residence at least has some perennials planted and one long bed of dirt that has been worked in the last ten years. Unfortunately this bed runs along the fence-line and my neighbor has some weedy trees along the other side.
Last weekend my boyfriend's son and I painstakingly dug up the bed. It was full of stubborn roots that threatened to suck all the nutrients and water from my plants. Because of this I dug a little deeper than normal, about a foot and a half. You never know what you're going to find when you dig. I found an old Budweiser can, a lot of glass, and a plaid shirt that belonged to either a child or a very small woman.
After the dirt was thoroughly sifted through for any remaining roots I added steer manure and planting compost. The dogs immediately thought it was a nice spot to take a nap. Some fencing might be necessary. This year I want to test the soil to make sure it has all the nutrients it needs for vegetable growing. You can pick up soil testing kits at the hardware store for under $10. It seems I'll be ready to plant lettuce, spinach, and peas by March 4th, which is the earliest planting date in Albuquerque for these early spring crops.
The earliest last frost date for Albuquerque is April 19th. Why is this important when it is only February? It means it is seed sorting time. Some seeds need to be started indoors and some get planted directly in the ground. I can start lettuce, spinach and peas directly in the ground several weeks before last frost, but more tender plants like to start out warm and stable on top of my refrigerator.
Last weekend I started all my peppers, catnip and onions in starter pots. It is important to get this phase right because if you have to start them too late they will be too small to handle the transfer outside after last frost. Also, if you start the tomatoes too early they will need more sunlight than they can get inside, but it will still be too harsh for them outside. I have made the mistake in the past of starting all my seeds indoors at once without bothering to see when they are supposed to be started.
Another thing I didn't know was that after the seeds germinate you are to remove the plastic covering. I burned many sprouts from not doing this and had to start all over again. I am still unclear about when to transplant, but I will do some research and post my findings later.
This year I decided to order my seeds instead of buying them at the local hardware or big box store. All my new seeds came from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, which is a company in Mansfield, Missouri. Other gardeners order from several different companies, but Baker Creek had a great selection and as a native Missourian I was happy to support them with my business.
The amount of seeds I ordered far exceeds the space in the garden. It is important to remember that your garden is half or a quarter of the size you think it is when you consider space between rows and plants. I swore I would never start peppers or tomatoes from seed again after several problems transplanting them after they got their second leaves. In my seed buying fervor these problems were forgotten and I ended up with several varieties of tomato and pepper seeds. My justification is that it is hard to find the tasty and beautiful heirloom varieties for sale as plants.
In the past I have a hard time selecting flowers. Sunflowers and ameranthus are a must because they are fairly successful in arid climates, and marigolds are good because they keep away pests. I want my flowers to be fairly low maintenance or functional. This year my flowers include several flowering herbs that are medicinal or edible such as lavender, echinacea, and chrysanthemum.
In the past lettuce, beets, and pumpkins have been good producers, so they will be the core of the garden. My lettuce did so well last year I collected the seeds and didn't have to buy any this year (red-leaf and a butter variety). I decided to add a few of my favorite veggies this year: brussel sprouts, lima beans, and cabbage (for sauerkraut).
This year I started my first seed spreadsheet to keep track of how the seeds did and where they were ordered from. If you go to "seed list" under Garden 2010 you can see the different varieties I selected and how some of the seeds did last year.
Making this blog has made me very excited about this year's garden. So of course I had to look at my garden photos from years past. This is a picture of one of my tomatoes last year. Everything was going well. I had made it through some early blight and aphids. Then...EARLY FROST! It was so heartbreaking. A whole season's worth of work withered to the ground. I had tried covering them, but to no avail.
Part of the reason for this unfortunate incident is that I forget to plant things on schedule. There are a few good resources you can use to get your seeds going at the right time. I like the Farmer's Almanac online. If you go to http://www.almanac.com/gardening/planting-dates you can enter your location and find a good starting point for when to plant your seeds. This site also will tell you moon-favorable dates for planting. You do need to sign up, but it is free and there is a lot of fun tips and information here. Another great resource for planting information is Skippy's Vegetable Garden. Go to http://bioarray.us/Skippy%27s%20planting%20calendar.html and you will find a handy planting schedule that is in order by date. I like this because I don't have to worry about missing something or becoming overwhelmed. I just do what I am supposed for that day. This season I am looking forward to taking advantage of the longer growing season here in Albuquerque. I will have ripe tomatoes!
