| Wasn’t that rain wonderful? Even the drizzle starting hours earlier than the 4pm promised starting time was enjoyable despite being so heavy that it hurried my sowing sweet peas and scattering wildflower seeds. It primed the mulch and soil for later downpours, and I relished coming back into the house completely soaked and dripping – and broadly smiling - akin to stomping in puddles and building grass forts in the vacant lot across the street when I was a kid! With all that moisture – perhaps more than the expected half-inch – soaking through the mulch and down into the soil, I won’t walk in the garden or work the beds until tomorrow – and then lightly – so I don’t compress the soil and squish out the air pores. Those air pores are the breathing spaces for plant roots as the moisture held by the organic matter and soil particles drains. So it’s important to have all three - air pores, organic matter, and soil particles - in your growing beds. Repeated additions of organic matter foster this perfect mix of soil particles, water, and air, providing the “wrung-out-sponge” medium that both holds water and drains well so roots are constantly both hydrated and aerated. Possible Frost Thanksgiving marks the average first frost date for our general area. While my Pasadena garden hasn’t had a frost in more than the five years of the drought, you never know what weather will actually occur, so it's best to prepare for all possibilities. With nighttime temperatures beginning to lower down into the low 40s, it’s wise to make sure that soil remains moist so plants are hydrated so they’re more resistant to any frost that does occur. And this rain was a good start! Other preparations for possible frost include:
Add Manure and Mulch One heavy-duty project to accomplish includes laying down manure and compost over the entire garden except pathways. If we get more rain – hope, hope! – and the soil remains saturated, wait until early spring to dig the compost and manure into the soil. The rains will percolate through the organic matter and provide "manure tea" and “compost tea” to enrich the soil underneath so spring plantings will benefit. If we don’t get more rain within the month, check that the soil is well-drained from the rain we just had, and then turn in the manure and compost, gently breaking apart clumps. Use a spading fork instead of a shovel, since the fork's tines enable more work to be accomplished with less labor, and the soil falls apart more easily so less compacting results. After incorporating the manure and compost, water the beds and then let them rest for two or three weeks while the microorganisms begin breaking down the organic matter, which will generate heat. When their processing is finished, the soil will cool down, and you can proceed with seeding or transplanting, assured that the tender roots won't be damaged - burned! |
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What a wonderful reprieve, air temperatures in the mid-70s and low-80s promised for at least the next week! With soil temperatures still very warm, it’s the perfect time to transplant everything – seedlings, plants, shrubs and trees – so they’ll have a good month or two to develop well-established root systems before shutting down for the winter. This is why fall is a better time to garden than spring, when plants must hurry to get established before weather turns hot and they get stressed, and then they must produce their flowers and fruit which stresses them even the more – and we have to fertilize and water them just to keep them going! So, what to do in the garden now during this blissfully mild weather? Let me count the ways. For more extensive details, see October’s Monthly Tips. Edibles – Veggies and Fruits Plant garlic now so it’ll develop a strong root system over the winter, and leaf production can begin early in the spring, resulting in a large head next summer. Planting in the spring, even with rich soil, will produce only medium- or small-sized cloves. Renovate strawberry beds away from where potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers have grown within the last three years. Incorporate rock fertilizers, compost, and cottonseed meal. Water well. Wait two to four weeks so the microorganisms can meld everything together, which will heat up the soil and then cool down again, then transplant strawberries one foot apart so the crown is just above the soil level. Plant asparagus crowns at least six inches deep, and mulch them heavily with manure so winter rains (hope, hope!) can slowly wash the nutrients down into the root zone. Harvest white potatoes now, being careful not to cut or bruise them. You can also leave them in the soil for harvest through the winter, but don’t water them or they’ll sprout again in spring. Harvest winter squash, pumpkins, and decorative gourds when the vines are dry and the rinds are hard and resist easy puncture by a fingernail. Cut the stems rather than breaking or tearing them, and leave two inches of stem attached to the squash to lessen the chance of spoilage. Clear the soil under trees by pulling back the mulch, discarding fruit mummies, and moving leaves to the compost pile as soon as they fall. This will open up the soil surface for rain (hope, hope!) to easily penetrate. Give one last deep watering to grapevines and deciduous trees to make them more cold-hardy. Feed all overwintering plants with a no-nitrogen, high-phosphorus, high-potassium fertilizer to help them become cold-hardy. When you carve your Jack O’Lantern, be sure to toast -- don't toss -- the pumpkin seeds. Separate the seeds from the stringy pulp by washing the seeds well. Spread them on a cookie sheet and sprinkle lightly with salt if desired. Toast them for three or four minutes at 375 degrees, stir to turn them, and toast another two or three minutes until they're evenly golden. Cool them to room temperature, and enjoy! Ornamentals – Flowering Plants and Trees Use a spade or sharp knife to separate large clumps of perennials, or gently pull apart individual plants after loosening the clump from its surrounding soil. Discard the old, unproductive sections. Trim the foliage of young growth to four or six inches. Dig in compost, replant, and water in well. Trim roses after their last flush of blooms, but hold off on severe pruning until they're fully dormant, in January. Feed them with a no-nitrogen, high-phosphorus, high-potassium fertilizer to help them harden off. Fertilize cool-season grass lawns. Lower the blade height on your lawn mower to encourage short, bushy growth. Knock down water basins around trees and shrubs, and turn the soil to loosen it so water can penetrate more easily, and not puddle. General Garden Care Help overwintering plants harden off by changing your irrigation schedule. Cooler weather slows evaporation from the soil and transpiration from plant foliage, so irrigation is needed less often. Decrease the number of times -- but not the length of time -- you water. For example, water once every three weeks instead of once a week, but still water for half an hour each time. This change will still provide water down to the full root zone while allowing for longer periods for the soil to dry in between waterings, and it doesn't encourage new, frost-tender growth. Now’s the time to purchase and plant first-quality bulbs for spring bloom. These include alliums, amaryllis, anemones, brodiaeas, crocuses, daffodils, freesias (so fragrant!), fritillarias, galanthus, baby glads, glory-of-the-snows, grape and Dutch and wood hyacinths, Dutch irises, ixias, leucojums, lycoris, montbretias, narcissus, nerine, paperwhites, peonies, ranunculus, scilla, snowdrops, sparaxis, tigridia, tritonia, triteleia, tulips, dog¬tooth violets, watsonias, and winter aconites. No Bargains Whether purchasing bulbs at a local vendor or through mailorder and online catalogs, there are bargains and then there are ways to waste your money in the name of economy. Waiting to purchase bulbs when they go on sale is a waste for two main reasons: 1. Bulbs that have been sitting in store displays have been slowly losing vitality because they’ve been too warm for too long. 2. Bulbs that have been overlooked by previous buyers are smaller and less vigorous. Even at bargain prices, these will provide less than mediocre results. Better to spend less on premium-quality and get great results! Which to Choose? Choose big, plump bulbs, as these have the most stored food and will produce the largest and most numerous blooms over the longest period of time. They cost a bit more, but they'll provide a great deal more pleasure when they bloom. Especially fragrant freesia cultivars include Athene, Allure, Demeter, Excelsior, Golden Wave, Mirabel, Pink Westlind, Snowdon, and Welkin. If you like having blooms in the lawn, these are good for naturalizing, and the ripening foliage following bloom won't interfere with mowing the lawn: Chionodoxa, eranthis, muscari, ornithogalum, and puschkinia. Don't forget to buy some bulbs just for indoor forcing color from Thanksgiving through January. Good choices include amaryllis, crocus, freesias, lily-of-the-valley, paperwhites, and tulips. To Chill or Not to Chill? Store the bulbs in a cool, well-ventilated area until you're ready to plant them. Chill crocus, daffodil, hyacinth, narcissus, and tulip bulbs in a paper bag on the lowest shelf in the refrigerator -- at about 40 degrees -- for at six to eight weeks. Use a paper -- not plastic -- bag since the bulbs are alive and must breathe. Keep chilling bulbs away from ripening fruit like bananas and apples, since the ethylene gas being released as they ripen will destroy the flower-developing hormones in the bulbs. Planting Enrich the soil where the bulbs are to be planted with compost, bone meal, and granite dust or wood ashes (but not from charcoal briquettes used in the barbecue, which contain harmful chemicals). Also, add some nitrogen, as it is easily washed from the soil by winter rains (hope, hope!), and bulbs need a small but continuous supply all winter long for strong growth of the foliage and the bloomstalk. For a long-lasting spring display, plant some early, mid-season, and late-blooming bulbs every other week through mid-December, and again beginning in late January. Depth of planting also affects when the bulbs will bloom. Shallower plantings will bloom sooner. Deeper plantings will bloom later. If you want everything to bloom for one spectacular display, plant the bulbs at the same time and at the same depth. If you prefer color over several months' time, plant bulbs every several weeks, and vary the planting depths each time you plant. This makes them perfect for planting in containers. Saffron Crocus Plant autumn-blooming saffron crocus now. Each corm produces from one to three flowers, and about six corms should provide sufficient saffron -- just the three tiny red stamens in each bloom -- for each cooking or baking recipe. Two Excellent Online Sources For bulbs that don’t require special cooling attention because their climates of origin are closer to our own, there are two wonderful online resources:
Ah, September’s flip-flopping weather! Two weeks of mildness got me into a mindset of cool weather coming. Then, this week of heat – yesterday’s venture into town registered 103 degrees! I’d just purchased a batch of tiny lettuce, spinach, chard, kale, cilantro, parsley, and artichoke seedlings from my favorite provider, San Gabriel Nursery, a couple of days ago. But by about noon yesterday, they were all drooping, so I had to move them into afternoon shade and water them again. I’ve found plastic storage trays to be ideal for grouping six-packs and 4” pots, keeping them watered and easily moved in bulk between locations as needed. They’re about $4 from Target. After another two weeks of acclimation to my garden and their new home, I’ll transplant them. In the meantime, I’ll prepare the soil in the bed where they’ll mature. I’ll pile on about an inch of manure, another inch of compost, some coffee grounds, and a scattering of Dr. Earth fertilizer with about even numbers of N-P-K. Then, using a hand trowel, I’ll turn it all in with the top inch of original soil in the bed. I don’t want to dig deeper so I don’t disturb the understory soil that’s become full of microorganisms that’ll help the new transplants connect with their established supporting networks. This is done two to three weeks before I’ll sow seeds or transplant seedlings there so the heat-up of the new mix can be accomplished and cooled down back to regular temperature before adding the new plants. If you don’t wait, chances are the new roots will be burned, and seeds sown may not germinate. Why Sow Seeds and Transplant Seedlings Now? Seeds sown now for winter and spring blooms and crops – especially edible peas and flowering sweet peas – and transplanting perennials like artichokes, asparagus, rhubarb, strawberries, and California natives – will encourage strong root and foliar development that will survive most frosts, thrive, and bear food and flowers sooner. Especially during our continuing drought, best establishment practices will assure long productive plant life! Sow or transplant two or three times the amount you would in spring, as these overwintering crops will grow very slowly. For salad greens like lettuce and spinach and bok choy, you’ll harvest only a couple of leaves a week from each plant, so you’ll need many more plants to result in frequent salads. Thanksgiving is my area’s average first frost date, although it’s been several years since my garden has had any frost at all. Plants that have developed deep root systems and mature leaves are more tolerant to the cold. When these plants are three or four inches in size before the first hard frost, they're mature enough to be harvested throughout the fall, winter, and early spring. These will bolt at the first real warmth of early spring, though, so they can't be counted on to provide a crop after that. But, by then, you'll have made the first spring plantings, so the gap between harvests won't be too long. When sowing cover crops for the fall and winter, consider edible ones. Kale and rocket (roquette, arugula) are full-flavored leafy vegetables that withstand freezing. Both germinate in cool weather and are welcome fresh greens for stir-fry and soups all winter long. In the spring, they can be easily turned under as "green manure" when preparing the soil for the main spring and summer crops. I do love starting seeds. The process promises such a bounty of edible veggies and beautiful blooms that’ll last for months and months, especially as cool weather lengthens the harvest. It really is an investment in the future, from short-term to long-term. Short-term lettuce and radishes come up in less than a week, and we’re eating them a month later. However, the many lettuce varieties will produce all through winter and spring into early summer; some even resist bolting beyond that in my hot-summer Pasadena garden. Long-term broccoli keeps sending up bitesize shoots through June and sometimes longer; and cabbage and cauliflower take several months to form their heads, but what a great amount of food! One of the great delights of growing our own veggies and bloomies is the reinforcement we get from checking the prices at the groceries and florists – and feeling so virtuous that we’re eating much greater quantities of healthy produce and enjoying our beautifully blooming gardens at considerably less cost than if we had to purchase them commercially. But this really holds only for the specific items that are easily grown and produce a lot in our individual gardens. For example, years ago, I grew corn and melons and annual flowers, but the amount of space and length of time it took to get a couple of incompletely-set cobs and unsweet fruit and 3-week bloom just wasn’t worth it. Now, I’d also add the cost of water to keep those plants producing! While growing them did provide the experience of knowing what was required, since then, I much rather grow just about any other summer crops because I get so much more food and flower value. And I prefer growing cool-season vegetables because they produce for so many months longer – and don’t take the amount of water needed during hot weather! How I organize my seed packets
How I prepare the packets and labels
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