Tomato Tuesday: Sideways Starts

I just took a peek at the weather forecast and it looks like next week may be our week here in Seattle.  I'm going to go for it and transplant my tomatoes this weekend. Eek!

I saw my Grandma this weekend and she offered a wonderful tip on planting tomato starts. She also gave me some rhubarb crisp. Jealous? You should be.

My Grandma always plants her tomato starts sideways into her garden to build a sturdier plant. This also creates a larger root system allowing the plant to take in more water and nutrients. Confused? Here is a very scientific drawing of what happens:

As you can see, roots will begin to grow from the buried tomato stem. 

Here is how to do it:

1. Pinch off the bottom stems of your plant.

2. Dig a trench that is 3/4 the length of your plant. One side should be deeper than the other to accommodate the current root structure. You want the root structure to be about 3-4 inches from the surface.

3. You can sprinkle some kelp meal into your trench to give the roots a little boost. You may have some leftover if you followed my tip from this post on creating your own Pacific Northwest organic fertilizer!

4. Add water to the trench if the soil is dry.
5. Remove your plant from its container very gently. The soil that my start was in was very fluffy and light so I did not break up the base at all.

6. Place most of the plant into the trench, with the top quarter of the plant above the ground.

7. Fill in your trench with soil, add mulch to the top to keep the soil warm.
8. Do not worry that the top of your plant is lying on the ground, after a few days the plant will correct itself and grow up (see drawing above).

This technique is ideal for those with "leggy" tomato starts or in shorter growing seasons. If you have a longer growing season this may not be necessary for you as your plant has had enough time in the garden to establish a strong root system. 

I will share pictures of this plant as it switches directions and grows up, I just have to figure out how to keep it warm until next week. Maybe a wool blanket? 

:)

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Raised Beds

Have you heard the word? Raised beds are sooooo in right now. 

You don't have one? Uhh, get with the times.

(A glimpse at my Grandma's garden!)

In all seriousness, there is a lot of hype around raised beds and it's not just because you don't have to bend over as far to garden. Here are the top reasons why you should have raised beds:

• Increased oxygen in your soil which assists with root growth. 
• The soil in your yard is most likely not ideal for growing, it's either too dry, too acidic, too clay like etc.  Using raised beds allows you to have perfect fertile soil. A simple formula to follow if you are adding new soil to your raised bed:  mix 1 part compost,1 part sand or perlite to 2 parts soil.  
• Soil in raised beds usually stays warmer.Warmer soil will increase the growth rate of your plant.
• Raised beds increase drainage. 
• Less weeding!
• You don't have to bend over as far when gardening.

(Yes, he is winking at you)

When building a raised bed here are some things to keep in mind:

• Check out Lasagna Gardening for any EASY way to create a raised bed anywhere. 
• If you are using wood to contain your raised bed, do not use pressure treated wood as the chemicals will seep into your garden. Cedar in my opinion is the best wood you can use as it will last longer. 
• Make sure the bed is south or west facing for the highest sun exposure.
• Your bed should be 8-12 inches off the ground to reap the above rewards. 
• Make sure you can reach all areas of the raised bed without stepping on the bed. Stepping on your garden bed will compact the soil making it difficult for roots to spread. 

Here are a few unique raised beds that I like:

Here you can see Michelle at http://thesagebutterfly.blogspot.com/ used retaining wall blocks.

Don't have room for a raised bed? Try this technique developed by the Urban Garden

Now get with it!

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Grandma's Secret Weapons

Composting is great, we can all agree on that. But turning your compost and aerating it can be a pain. Especially if you are 86 years old!

Wait until you see this secret weapon.

My Grandma purchased some PVC pipe at the local hardware store and had my Uncle drill holes throughout it:

Next, they placed the pipe through the compost cage, so that it sticks out on each side. Air is able to come  through the ends and travel to different layers of the compost!

Why do you need to aerate your compost? Simply put, it speeds up the decomposition process. Tiny organisms (bacteria) live in your compost, and with a healthy supply of oxygen, will multiply and speed up the process of breaking down the matter in your bin!

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Lasagna Gardening

This is a technique to start a new garden bed that I've been dying to try. 

Lasagna Gardening is a concept developed by Patricia Lanza, that focuses on a no digging, no tilling method for creating a garden bed on grass, weeds, or poor soil. The idea is to block the weeds or grass, and then layer organic material on top. It's been said that this method will greatly increase the productivity of your garden!

Here is the recipe

1. Find where you want your new bed to go and try to level the area as much as you can.

2. Cover grass, weeds, or soil with wet newspaper or cardboard. This will kill whatever is underneath.

3. Water it down. 

4. Add about 2 inches of peat moss. Water this down as well. Try using the mist setting on your hose as peat moss tends to repel water if it has dried out.

5. Next, you want to add layers of organic material. Lanza suggests alternating between carbon rich material (brown), nitrogen rich material (green), and peat moss. 

• Carbon Rich: dead leaves, straw or hay, small twigs, wood chips
• Nitrogen Rich: Grass clippings, manure, leftover vegetables, egg shells, coffee grounds (you can get free coffee grounds for your garden at your local coffee shop)

6. Your garden box should be anywhere from 12-24 inches deep.

7. Finish with a layer of compost or mulch

8. If you can place a plastic tarp over your garden for a week to help heat up your layers, this will assist in the composting.

(picture from http://ucanr.org)

I used the "Spring method" which involved using mostly brown material for layering and not as many layers. It's possible to plant the same day with the above method. Being in a cooler climate means my Lasagna Garden will not break down as fast as I would like it to. 

Here's how I did it:

My shiny new garden box contained part old garden dirt and part grass. I covered the dirt and grass with newspaper (I used a thickness of two sheets, see below). You shouldn't stand in your garden bed, by they way, as it compacts the soil. So do as I say, not as I do!

I watered down the newspaper to help keep it in place (below).

I added 2 inches of peat moss and watered it down again.

I added compost from my bin, and more peat moss.  

I added top soil from the garden store. Next, I will add my transplants and mulch to keep the soil warm.

You can also do this in your containers as well to create nice, fluffy, nutrient-rich soil!

Is anyone else craving lasagna now?

Image from this fabulous recipe: http://creampuffsinvenice.ca/2006/08/17/my-mothers-lasagna/

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Preparing Your Soil

 I see sunshine in our future.  7 whole days in a row (I choose to ignore the rain drops). I've begun dreaming about all the things I'm going to do, I've got my sunglasses ready, and my flip flops waiting by the door. I can't wait to crawl out of my cave of gloomy darkness. 

While day dreaming, I had a moment of panic when I realized that on your list may be gardening. I haven't even gotten to the good stuff yet. 

I want to offer my number one tip for a successful garden this summer. If you listen to nothing else, I promise knowing the following information will lead to a successful garden.

It's all about the dirt, baby. 

Crappy soil, a professional umbrella term for; lacking nutrients, too acidic, poor drainage, clay like soil, or sandy soil. And living in Seattle, we all have crappy soil.

With the amount of rain we receive, Seattle is known for having soil that is high in potassium but low in everything else, as the rain washes the nutrients out. Unfortunately, just adding fresh compost does not do the trick since your compost is made up of matter from this region that came from soil that is high in potassium an low in other nutrients.

It's time to fertilize. And don't worry this method of fertilizing is green and healthy. Here is your mix:

.5 part kelp meal
.5 part lime
4 parts seed meal (cottonseed or canola seed)
.5 part phosphate

If you can't find all of the ingredients at your garden store, the two most important ones are seed meal and lime. Although I had no problem finding all four:

I purchase each item separately, as I have not been able to find fertilizer that has everything I mentioned above. Most of them include potassium as well, which our soil does not need more of. Potassium does produce large juicy vegetables and a high yield however it also dramatically decreases the overall nutritional value! If purchasing the above is overwhelming then here is what I recommend buying:

In addition, purchase some agricultural or gardening lime. Follow the directions on the back as to how much to add. 

Here is how I mix my parts and store it, I will be adding this fertilizer throughout the summer, so I make a large batch and store it in a plastic container:

                    

Once you have your mixture work it into the first few inches of your garden with a rake. If you have already planted then you can sprinkle around the plants base. However do not fertilize new seedlings until they are established.

The information above comes from a fantastic gardening book called "Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades" by Steve Solomon. It is my absolute favorite garden book, but only for the true garden nerds. 

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Soil for Seeds

When starting seeds indoors, make sure your soil comes from a sealed bag, or has been sterilized. Do not transport dirt from your outdoor garden, you will bring in all sorts of critters,  possible diseases, and weed seeds!

I suggest buying "seed starter" at your local gardening store:

Thank you Vanna.

You can make your own mix, but I find this time consuming and expensive.

A few tips on dirt and planting your seeds:

• Pack your dirt down in your container, this will give the roots a more firm structure to grab on to, despite the soil being generally light and fluffy.
• Plant your seeds according to the directions on the back of your seed packet.
• Remove the large white "pebbles" from the top of the dirt, this is most likely perlite, which is great for allowing air to circulate underneath the soil, but can be difficult for seeds to sprout past.

• Place your trays in about an inch of water to start. Always water seeds from the bottom up to avoid drowning your seeds.
• Spray the top of your seeds with a water bottle to keep the seeds moist, not soaked. Do not let the soil on top dry out!

• Add heat! 70 degrees is ideal. You can either place the seeds next to a heater, place your container on a heating pad on low (be careful! water and electricity do not mix well), or I have splurged and bought heat mats that I set under my trays and can use each year:  

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