The Gardening Saga, Part I

If you’ve read my previous entry, my seeds started on May 23^rd…it’s been three weeks and five days since my seeds were started.

My seeded inventory so far is:  Mammoth Russian Sunflowers, California Wonder Sweet Peppers, Bloomsdale Long-Standing Spinach, Evergreen Long White Bunching Onions, Burpee’s Fordhook Zucchini’s, Connecticut Field Pumpkins, Jack O’ Lantern Pumpkins, Cherokee Purple Tomatoes, Box Car Willie Tomatoes and Romaine Lettuce.  The first batch of romaine lettuce was harvested two days ago.  The zucchini, sunflowers and Jack O’ Lantern pumpkins look awesome!  I can already picture myself roasting the sunflower seeds!  Um mmm!  The bunching onions did not take off well and only a few sprouted (barely).  The Connecticut Field Pumpkins are very slow to start, although the package states I should have seen the emergence of a plant in up to two weeks, my second one (out of eight) just emerged yesterday.  However these were old seeds, from 2011, that may have affected their survival rate.  And for some reason the spinach did not sprout at all.  I’m shocked about the spinach as I have never had a problem in the past.

I had two seedlings too many of the zucchini and so they have been donated to the Free Soil United Methodist Church for their community garden.  The community garden also helps to feed some local families.  I need to thin out my tomato plants which will lead to more donations to the church.

I need spinach in my garden, so in light of the latest lack-of-growth this means I’ll need to purchase seedlings.  I will need to do some research to try to figure out why they did not grow.  Although it could have been a bad batch of seeds, I want to make sure it wasn’t something I did so as to not make that same mistake next year.

I have to mention the romaine lettuce because something very interesting happened with them…I did not purchase or plant any romaine lettuce seeds or seedlings.  Guess where they came from?  Last year’s plants!  I purchased four romaine lettuce plants last year and planted them in a ground pot.  This made it easy for harvesting and weeding and allowed me to keep the rabbits out of the tempting treat.  Apparently some lettuce seeds remained from last year and the lettuce plants grew from those seeds.  The ground pot remained covered with feet upon feet of snow all winter and I did absolutely nothing with the lettuce plants.  They simply grew on they own and already has grown some harvestable leaves two days after the last picking.  I think this is awesome!

For one of the ground pots I purchased oregano, basil and parsley.  I got a wonderful deal, 50₵ per herb plant!  I also purchased a four pack of Oregon Spice tomato seedlings (again at a whopping 50₵ for four) for the Topsy-Turvy®.  I want to can my own spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce and salsa this fall and now I have different types of tomatoes along with the spices to accomplish this.

At this point in the game, Mother Nature has thrown some rather cool days and at times massive down pours.  The cool days are not well received by the tomato plants so they have “growth spurts” and then it stalls a little.  The seedlings that just were not that big undertook some hammering rain.  Our weather report states tomorrow will dry out and then Friday will have thunderstorms.  As long as we are not having any crazy frost or a swarm of locust, I think they will be OK. 

My routine so far has been to fertilize once weekly with an organic fertilizer.  When the plants grow a little more and/or start producing fruit, I’ll increase the fertilizer to twice weekly.  They are too small to prune or otherwise man-handle.  I simply make sure they are receiving the right amount of sunlight, water and fertilizer and correct those three as needed. 

A Gardner’s Itinerary…

For the last three to four years I’ve had a garden at my home.  Not a huge one (especially in the standards of those farms that surround me), a 144 sq. ft., another area approximately half that size, a Topsy-Turvy® and a few ground pots.  This year I planted my seeds in trays to be started indoors on May 23^rd, a little later than I would prefer however we have been staying a little cold.  My concern being when it’s time to plant, a good freeze finishes off the seedlings.  My set-up is a little archaic. I do not have anything fancy…no grow lights…no tiller…just soil, organic fertilizer and a few hand tools.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 



My garden spaces were “hand tilled.”  I used a garden rake and a tool that I’m not sure its name.  I dug up the grass as if it was sod and then placed it in an area of the yard the grass was a little thin.  When I first did this three or four years ago I planned on buying a few more tools at some point.  Not having the average assortment of tools actually has helped me with another goal…something I’ll tell you about in a minute.

So, the exciting part!

My first seedlings, Mammoth Russian Sunflowers, peeped their beautiful heads yesterday, six days after I planted the seeds.   A bunching onion reared its little head yesterday as well, just a little later.  So, this is what I’m planting:  Mammoth Russian Sunflowers, California Wonder Sweet Peppers, Bloomsdale Long-Standing Spinach, Evergreen Long White Bunching Onions, Burpee’s Fordhook Zucchini’s, Connecticut Field Pumpkins, Jack O’ Lantern Pumpkins, Cherokee Purple Tomatoes and Box Car Willie Tomatoes.  I started enough seeds that would more than fill my garden spaces, so whatever I cannot use I am donating to the Free Soil United Methodist Church for their community garden.  I still have many herbs and flowers to plant in ground pots and flower beds, my gardening task for the upcoming week.



The tool with no name.

So I made a mention to how gardening is going to help me with future goals, well it starts with using tools just about anyone would have access to.  I’ll post a few photo’s so you know what I’m speaking of (it’s easier than saying “the tool with the name we shall not speak of”, since I do not know what their name is).  The culture of my country, the USA, tends to look at what we can accomplish by the way of high-tech gear.  If you do not have the best, than don’t even bother.  However, you would be amazed by what you can produce with 144 sq. ft. of soil, a few tools, organic fertilizer, seed trays and some seeds.

My goal has been to eventually work with an international organization (I.e. WHO, UN, etc…) on food securities within third world countries.  Although my expertise is with livestock, keep in mind I’m a Licensed Veterinary Technician (LVT), I knew years ago I needed to gain a better understanding of farming practices too.  I have volunteered and worked at a few farms (Overlook Farm of Heifer International of Rutland, Massachusetts and Pond Hill Farm in Harbor Springs, Michigan).  I learned so much from both places, it’s hard to put into words.  The need for understanding started while I was in the Peace Corp (Niger, West Africa).

If you have read my bio, I mentioned I was in the Peace Corp for a short time and had to return for knee surgery.  The brief time I was in Niger, I was staying in a village called Fandoga Beri and I had an amazing host Mother, Hisa.  I am forever grateful to her for what she has shown me.  Hisa, in her 50’s, showing me how to create a vegetable bed with two tools and she made it look like it was nothing.  This very strong woman was very patient and caring with me as I learned how to walk, taking my first steps on gardening using my bare hands.  Those moments were the foundation for the importance to understand farming in general, not just livestock.  (By the way, this nostalgia of my experiences in Niger with my wonderful host parents, Omarou Abdou and Hisa as well as my amazing host brothers and sisters will be chronicled later.)

So with each growing season in Northern Michigan I take part in, is a learning experience for me, something I hope to use when I am working for stronger food security internationally.  For now, I’ll take you periodically through my gardening odyssey in hopes that you see you do not need many tools or fancy gardening exploits to reap a reward from the earth.  Maybe my little entries were serve as a conduit for backyard gardening at its simplest.