Spring 2017 cont’d

I was really excited when I received my two favorite seed catalogs; Baker’s Creek and Seed Saver’s. It’s like porn for the garden addict.  Then I heard my conscience nagging me. I got out my box of seeds from last year’s order, along with the seeds I saved from my own harvest. Sigh. I’m going to have to think twice and unless there is something really special, I can’t order more seeds. Sad.

That brings me to the point of this blog. Whether you are new to gardening, live in a place without much yard, or maybe even live in an apartment, I still highly recommend planting something. There are so many choices. You can use beds, raised beds, containers, pots, grow indoors or out. But there isn’t anything quite like watching things grow, and even more, eating what you grow.

• The end of winter is the time time to clean up the winter mess. For a change, in Los Angeles, it rained a lot this year. I live on a relatively steep slope, and between the mud and the weeds, I had to wait until the rain fully abated.
• Look up the last frost date in the almanac and the next new moon for your area, take micro zones into consideration. Here is Los Angeles, we supposedly never get frost. Start deciding which plants you will start from seed indoors, which might go directly in the garden, or see what sales are going on for young plants at a reputable location. I recommend firmly that you try to find flowers that are NOT treated with nicotinoids. The chemicals are negatively impacting bee populations.
• For those that use containers, time to take stock clean them out. Any of the pots that had diseased plants, I dump the whole thing dirt and all. No point in infecting the garden again. For those that were basic die off, I dump the pot to a compost heap, and use a bleach wash for the pot. It’s a good time to recall which pots were too small, or didn’t weather well etc. I’m considering trying grow bags this year. I may add my research on that later.
• If you have a worm compost bin, check in on them. Did they make it through the winter? Is it time to harvest the compost and set them up with a clean bin? If using a standard compost bin, check on it, turn, follow up etc.
• Seed Inventory – what do you have in stock, and what do you need.
• Adding any trees to the garden this year?
• Are there any plants or trees that need transplanting? Have you identified and prepped the location?
• For each of your plants you will need to determine the best locations by sun, water and other special needs.
• Water – how will you be watering? I use a drip system, and I need to make some updates. I also hand water some of the containers. I need to expand the drip system and do some more reviewing.
• Adding Compost, fertilizers etc. I try to use organic matter as much as possible. I accept that I live on a lot with a lot of construction debris. So in some areas I supplement and amend, in other areas, I use containers. This year I am also going to try using some chemical free hay bales to build up some beds.

Whatever you do, don’t let any of this intimidate you. If you are new, start small. I started with house plants, then went to sprouts. If you are brand new, maybe starting from seedlings will work for you. Support local, organic sources when you can. I visited FigEarth yesterday for the big Tomato Blow out and got several tomatoes and some culinary herbs. If interested you can follow them on Instagram #figearthsupply, great folks and they have harvest swaps periodically.

You might still have time to get into the seed giving away from Baker Creek, subscribe to the new YouTube channel https://youtu.be/vIgcKN7UClk

I’m still learning and practicing. I gain so much joy from my garden, that the work is part of the pleasure.

As in all things, I am a work in progress, and an ongoing experiment. Keep an eye out.. I will write more on the garden soon.

#UrbanGardenLove #ReconnectToTheEarth #GrowthTakesExperimentation