Tool of the Trade

I was sitting and flipping through a gardening magazine the other day and realized that I never did a blog on tool and equipment! One of the nice things about container gardening is that you really, honestly do not need a lot of tools.

When I started container gardening the book I had purchased said, “All you need is a trowel and a cultivator.” I was so naive to believe that was all I really needed as far as tools and equipment went, but you don’t need too much more than that.

I think you can do just fine with just eight items:

1.       Gloves

2.       Trowel aka Hand Shovel, Soil Scoop

3.       Cultivator aka a garden fork

4.       Floral Scissors

5.       Serrated knife

6.       Pruning Shears

7.       Watering can

8.       String

Most people could care less about using gloves, but for me it’s a must. I have very sensitive finger tips and I need the little added protection. Not only do they protect you from those few times that you might touch a plant that bites back, but it also protects your fingers and nails from getting stained. There are 100’s of different kinds of gardening gloves from very thin to very thick. I use a light weight glove that doesn’t keep out water and doesn’t keep out all dirt either, but I like them because my hands don’t get sweaty. A lot of gloves can be purchased for less than $10 and most for under $5!

A trowel is needed to mix, scoop and dig dirt. Some sites and books recommend that you have a trowel and a soil scoop, but I am cheap and if I don’t have to buy it I’m not going too! I purchased a trowel that was long and wide so that I didn’t need a scoop. Later when I started planting larger containers I realized that a scoop would be easier than the trowel, but I still didn’t purchase one. I took an old milk jug and cut myself a scoop.

A cultivator is used to aerate the soil and loosen it. I do use it a lot and didn’t think I would. I use mine in my square and rectangle containers to make rows to plant seeds in. Most stores sell trowels and cultivators together, so you might as well get it.

I am going to lump floral scissors, serrated knife and pruning shears all together because I personally don’t use all three. I have all three, but I don’t use all three. Floral scissors are used to snip off a spare plant as most of the time you are going to plant two seeds per whole and then cut off one plant if they both grow. It’s also used for plants like tomatoes that grow off shoots at the crook of a branch that will need to be removed. Again I am cheap, so I didn’t go out and purchase floral scissors. I had a two pairs of cuticle scissors and so I use one of them, but most of the time I used my finger nail pressed against my thumb to remove the extra seedling and the extra shoot on plants. I don’t have a special serrated knife in which to harvest with either. When something needs cut or harvested I grab my knife from my butcher block and use it. I do however have a pair of pruning shears. I have them because they came in a pre-packaged kit that I bought. I do use them, but only if my nail doesn’t work or if I don’t feel like walking back into the house to get a knife. Did I mention I am lazy as well? J

The last two items I think are the ones that I would say you cannot do without. A good watering can that had a nice flow of water, but not too fast that it will damage a young plant is essential because really who wants to drag around a hose? Plus, the stream from a hose can be harsh at times and you can over water quickly with a hose.

Finally, the string; if I put in order how much I used each one of these items string would be my number one. I use it to divide space, I use it to restrain plants and I use it to support plants. You will need it more than you can imagine, so don’t go cheap on this and make sure you buy some.

The nice thing about having a garden plot is that it is much like container gardening and I don’t really need any additional tool. The community garden association had compost and soil already in the plot when I rented it, I did add some additional items to the soil but I was able to mix all that in with my trowel and my milk carton scoop.

As a matter of fact there are only three things I added to my tools and equipment after getting my garden plots and those are a basket, garden labels, and a tool organizer. The basket was needed to put my harvested food or my non-compostable material in to take home.

Garden labels so that I knew what I planted and where. Now I didn’t spend any money on garden labels and simply stapled an index card to the end of a bamboo stick and wrote what the plant was on that. Many people in the community garden use paint sticks or painted rocks.

The last item I purchased was a tool organizer. I did this because I found myself putting my tools in my harvest basket, then not having room for my food items and my tools. The organizer that I purchased Velcro’s around a tall pickle bucket. Choose one that meets your needs.

Happy Gardening!

Dianna

Is Crop Rotation Making You Dizzy?

I know I have posted about this subject already, but I have been doing some good reading and wanted to share a few things about rotating crops. This can apply to container gardening as well as garden plots.

Planning, planting and growing vegetable garden does not require that you know everything there is to know about veggies, but it does help to know the plant families and groups of veggies as there are some general rules which apply.

Crop rotation is something that dates back centuries and unfortunately has not been kept up with this ancient practice. Once you know the veggie families it’s much like knowing how to ride a bicycle or at least that’s what everyone keeps saying as I keep reading.

There are three reasons to rotate vegetable crops:

1     .       Reduction of harmful insects and plant diseases by rotating the location of plants from the same families on a piece of ground.

2   .      Better plant nutrition by rotating location of plants that make the same nutritional demands on the soil on a piece of ground.

3    .      Improvement of soil structure by rotating plants that have roots at various depths and that are cultivated with different techniques.

Vegetables fit into eight family groups and one miscellaneous group for a total of nine groups. There are some sites and books that I have read that have nine families with a miscellaneous group for a total of ten groups. In the ten family grouping grass is its own category, but most of what I have read has grasses lumped with miscellaneous. I am going with the majority and doing eight families and one miscellaneous.

The vegetable family groups are: 1. Beetroot family; 2. Cabbage family; 3. Carrot family; 4. Daisy family; 5. Marrow family; 6. Onion family; 7. Pea and Bean family; 8. Potato family and 9. Miscellaneous.

Some examples of each family:

1   .       Beetroot family: amaranth, beet, beetroot, chard, good king henry, goosefoot, lamb’s quarters, pigweed, quinoa, spinach, sugar beet, Swiss chard (spinach beet).

2   .      Cabbage family: bok choi, broccoli, broccoli raab, brussels sprouts, cabbage, calabrese, cauliflower, chinese cabbage, collards, cress, daikon, horseradish, kale, kohlrabi, mustard, radish, rutabaga, swede, tatsoi, turnip, wasabi, watercress.

3   .      Carrot family: caraway, carrot, celery, celeriac, chervil, coriander/cilantro, cumin, dill, fennel, parsley, parsnip, root parsley.

4   .      Daisy family: artemisia, cardoon, chamomile, chicory, chrysanthemums dandelion, endive, escarole, globe artichoke, jerusalem artichoke, lettuce, marigolds, safflower, salsify, scorzonera, shungiku (edible chrysanthemum), sunflower, tarragon.

5   .      Marrow family: cucumber, gourds (angled luffa, bitter gourd (balsam pear, bitter melon), hardshelled gourd, smooth luffa, snake gourd), melons (cantaloupe/muskmelon, casaba, honeydew melon, water melon), squash/marrow (acorn, banana, buttercup, butternut, cheese, crookneck, delicata, golden cushaw, hubbard, kabocha, pumpkin, scallop, spaghetti, zucchini/courgette), west indian gherkin.

6   .      Onion family: chives, garlic, garlic chives, elephant garlic, leeks, onion, scallions, shallot.

7   .      Pea and Bean family: alfalfa, beans (adzuki bean, broad bean, chickpea/garbanzo bean, fava bean, french bean, hyacinth bean, lima bean, mung bean, rice bean, runner bean, soybean, vigna mungo), clover, cowpea, fenugreek, lentil, lupin, peas, peanuts, tares/vetches, trefoil.

8  .     Potato family: eggplant (aubergine), garden huckleberry, peppers (caribbean red hot peppers, chili pepper, habanero, hot paper lantern, sweet pepper), paprika, potato, tobacco, tomato, tomatillo/husk cherry.

9   .      Miscellaneous: barley, corn/maize, mallet, oats, rice, rye, sorghum, sugarcane, wheat, lambs lettuce (Valerianaceae); new zealand spinach (Aizoaceae); purslane, portulaca, miners lettuce (Portulacaceae); rhubarb, buckwheat (Polgonaceae); Okra (Mallow family, Malvaceae, cacao is also in this family); phacelia; grazing rye.

Now that we know the families we need to know how to rotate. This seems to be the simple part of it. Most sources say it is ideal to allow three years between the planting of same families in the same garden area. If a family likes to plant (A) tomatoes (B) beans and (C) squash, the garden is divided up into three equal parts. The following shows the three year rotation:

Year One:

A

B

C

Year Two:

C

A

B

Year Three:

B

C

A

Year four would return back to the first years plan and go on and on and on. Since I have two garden plots that are 4’ X 8’ each and I want to plant from 8 of the family groups I need to divide each plot into 4 even sections and plant as follows:

Year One:

1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8

Year Two:

2	3	4	1
6	7	8	5

Year three:

3	4	1	2
7	8	5	6

So on and so forth as the years move on and on. Now if you are a container gardener you would apply this method the same way. If you have eight containers and plant a vegetable from each family group, then you would rotate them as explained above.

The question that I got from a friend who I was discussing this topic with was does this mean that the soil doesn't need anything other than the rotation. The answer is no, all soil regardless of it being in a container or in a garden plot needs to be fortified. You should always add the appropriate plant feeds to the soil and you need to always add additional compost as it will wash and blow away.

I hope this topic has been interesting and helpful. I am going to sit down tomorrow and plan out what I am planting where in my community garden plots as well as my containers for the next three years!

Happy Gardening,

Dianna

The Friend or Foe Woes!

It takes more than good soil, sun and nutrients to ensure success in your garden. Just like children learning to get along and play well together, so must the gardener learn how to help their plants grow well together. Some are plants are “friends” and some plants are “foes” to one another. Gardeners call this friend and foe planting, “companion planting.”

If you are a container gardener, you don’t really have to worry about companion gardening. That’s if you are only planting one plant at a time in a pot. Some container gardeners want function and fashion; so why not?

I mean why have this …

When you can have that …

Those who have a garden plot need to consider what they are planting next to what and after what as well. I didn’t think anything about what I was planting and where until I planted my squash next to onions and sunflowers in the same spot where I had planted and harvested peppers. No matter what I did, I couldn’t keep those squash plants alive. I was frustrated and disappointed until I saw a book title that read, “Carrots love Tomatoes, Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening,” this of course peaked my interest.

Did I rush out and purchase this book? No, I am cheap; I googled companion gardening and started reading everything I could. Then after doing that I decided to order the book and see if it helped me more. I have not read the book from cover-to-cover, but I have read sections of it that I needed to read at times that I needed it.

What I have learned is it is important to:

       1.       Know what you are planting next to each other.

       2.       Know what you planted in that same spot the previous harvest or season.

       3.       Make sure that you plant foes at least 4 feet from other foes.

       4.       Planning ahead of time is not a terrible thing.

So how do you know what to plant next to each other? Google it! Seriously, that’s what I did. I found simple lists like this done by the Farmer’s Almanac:

Plant Companions: List for Ten Common Vegetables

FRIEND	FOE		FRIEND	FOE		FRIEND	FOE
BEANS			CORN			ONIONS
Beets Broccoli Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Celery Corn Cucumbers Eggplant Peas Potatoes Radishes Squash Strawberries Summer  savory Tomatoes	Garlic Onions Peppers Sunflowers		Beans Cucumbers Lettuce Melons Peas Potatoes Squash Sunflowers	Tomatoes		Beets Broccoli Cabbage Carrots Lettuce Peppers Potatoes Spinach Tomatoes	Beans Peas Sage
			CUCUMBERS			PEPPERS
			Beans Cabbage Cauliflower Corn Lettuce Peas Radishes Sunflowers	Aromatic   herbs Melons Potatoes		Basil Coriander Onions Spinach Tomatoes	Beans Kohlrabi
CABBAGE			LETTUCE			RADISHES
Beans Celery Cucumbers Dill Kale Lettuce Onions Potatoes Sage Spinach Thyme	Broccoli Cauliflower Strawberries Tomatoes		Asparagus Beets Brussels   sprouts Cabbage Carrots Corn Cucumbers Eggplant Onions Peas Potatoes Radishes Spinach Strawberries Sunflowers Tomatoes	Broccoli		Basil Coriander Onions Spinach Tomatoes	Beans Kohlrabi
CARROTS						TOMATOES
Beans Lettuce Onions Peas Radishes Rosemary Sage Tomatoes	Anise Dill Parsley					Asparagus Basil Beans Borage Carrots Celery Dill Lettuce Melons Onions Parsley Peppers Radishes Spinach Thyme	Broccoli Brussels   sprouts Cabbage Cauliflower Corn Kale Potatoes

And ones like this that frankly you have to study and study hard to understand them (at least for me):

Vegetables
Common name	Scientific name	Helps	Helped by	Attracts	Repels/Distracts	Avoid	Comments
Alliums	Allium	fruit trees,nightshades(tomatoes, capsicum peppers, potatoes), brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, kohlrabi, etc.) carrots	carrots		slugs, aphids,carrot fly, cabbage worms[1]	beans, peas, parsley	Alliums include onions, garlic, leeks, shallots, chives, and others
Asparagus	Asparagus officinalis	Tomatoes[2]	Aster Family flowers, Dill, Coriander, Tomatoes, Parsley, Basil, Comfrey, Marigolds	coupled with Basil seems to encourage lady bugs	Onion, Garlic, Potatoes
Brassicas	Brassica	potatoes, cereals (e.g. corn, wheat)	geraniums, dill, alliums (onions, shallots, garlic, etc.), rosemary, nasturtium, borage		wireworms	mustards, nightshades (tomatoes, peppers, etc.)	Brassicas are a family of species which include broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, and cauliflower.
Beans	Phaseolus	Corn (see Three Sisters), Spinach, lettuce, rosemary, summer savory, dill, carrots, brassicas, beets, radish, strawberry and cucumbers	Eggplant, Summer savoury		California beetles	Tomatoes, chili peppers, alliums (onions, garlic, etc.), brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, etc.)	Hosts nitrogen-fixing bacteria, a good fertiliser for some plants, too much for others

(For the complete list see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companion_plants)

Why is it so important to remember what you planted last harvest or last season in that spot that you are getting ready to plant in? Well, different plants need different mineral  and if you plant two plants back to back that need the same minerals they will fail. If you plant two plants back to back where the first plant stripped the soil of nitrogen, but left plenty of phosphorus behind and the second plant doesn’t need plenty of phosphorus they will fail.

To make sure that you are not planting foes too close to each other you need to make up a plan of what you are going to plant and where. Sit down with a tablet, pencil and your googled companion list and map out your garden.  You will be glad that you did when you have a great harvest!

I am just now starting to get the hang of companion gardening and still have room to grow when it comes to harvest-to-harvest planning. I am getting there though. Like I have said before gardening is really a trial and error kind of hobby.

Happy Gardening!

Dianna