Jackie Clay-Atkinson - Ask Jackie: Gardening

Table of Contents

Ask Jackie

Gardening

Copyright 1999-2012

ISBN: 978-0-9860152-3-6

Backwoods Home Magazine

PO Box 712

Gold Beach, Oregon 97444

www.backwoodshome.com

Edited by Jessie Denning, Julia Denning, Haley Kessel, Connie Sayler, Lisa Nourse, Rhoda Denning, and Ilene Duffy

Cover art by Don Childers

Illustrations by Don Childers, Jessie Denning, and John Dean

Introduction

Gardening is another of those basic life skills that is oh-so-important to our daily well-being. Ive recently read that the microbes in healthy soil are actually good for us and help prevent many health problems some microbes even alleviate depression. Not to mention that you can raise tons of super-tasty, gourmet-quality food, organically grown right in your own back yard!

Our own garden is about of an acre, with a berry patch and orchard about the same size. We raise warm season crops such as melons and peppers in our three basic hoop houses here in northern Minnesota where we only have about 90 days of growing season. But we also raise a bounty of sweet corn, tons of tomatoes, potatoes by the truckload, along with cucumbers, beans, squash, pumpkins, onions, Jerusalem artichokes, garlic, and herbs. In our orchard are about 30 different apple varieties, pie cherries, plums, and even pears. Along the fences are bush cherries. And up in the berry patch, we have two kinds of red raspberries, black raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, currants, and asparagus. Were also trying to establish a blackberry row with varying success.

Even a gardener with a small homestead can grow a lot of food by planting fruit trees in the yard instead of purely decorative shade trees, growing bush cherries, raspberries, and blueberries, then planting vegetables in either raised beds or even containers on the patio, driveway, or along the sidewalk.

In this handbook I answer questions on developing a garden, planting fruit trees and vegetables, harvesting, saving, and storing your own seed, mulching, composting, container gardening, growing a small grain plot, harvesting grain, and getting rid of weeds and bugs that threaten to overwhelm your garden. Have fun reading. I hope I answer a lot of your own questions along the way.

Jackie Clay

Gardening

Wannabe gardener

I am an avid reader of BHM and your articles. In particular I enjoy reading about your gardening.

Im a town house city-dweller and after 9/11 I dedicated myself to learning more self-reliant living skills. Thus far I have purchased guns and learned to use them responsibly, learned to knit and weave, took an advanced medical emergency first-aid course with CPR training, and I have prepared my family for bugging out during an emergency to our safe place in Josephine County.

My current project is my balcony garden, and Im sorry to say, growing vegetables is not my fort. In particular, my tomato plants look positively droopy. I have read about how much to water them, but the scorching 90 degree weather weve been having lately isnt helping. I moved them to a slightly more shady area of my balcony, but the heat is causing the soil to dry out faster. I am afraid of over-watering in this kind of weather. Any hints on what to do about this for a wannabe gardener?

Pam Graves, Oregon

In such extreme heat, it is sometimes necessary to water every day, or even twice a day. Container plants even need more, as the sides of the container absorb even more heat than if the plants were in the ground. You were right to move them to a somewhat more shaded place. Your best bet is to water the plants very well each evening that they need it. How can you tell if they need it? Dig your finger down into the soil. If it is dry down an inch, the plants can use a drink. Youll also notice that theyll wilt when theyre dry. In periods of extreme heat and drought, you may need to water them again in the early morning to keep them happy until the heat breaks.

One tip for you: If youre gone much of the day; take a two liter soda bottle and bury it in the pot up to the neck, upside down. Cut the top (which used to be the bottom) out. You now have a watering funnel for a large tomato plant. Fill this with water and it will slowly drain out, keeping the plant happy. When the weather cools down, slack off on the watering. You do not want a soggy plant.

Cover crop

I am not going to be using about half of my garden (75 ft x 50 ft.) this year and would like to plant a cover crop (and prevent soil erosion) so as to add some sort of green manure to the ground to be tilled in the fall. What would you recommend that would not put me in the poor house? I was thinking about peas but they are quite pricey and then rye grass but a neighbor said that she did that and regretted it as it went to seed and rye is everywhere now. Help!

Michelle Chapin, Ohio

I really like using peas, bought in bulk from a seed catalog such as Shumways. They smother out most everything and you can also eat the peas and save seed, plus they fix nitrogen in the soil and the vines turn nicely to organic material to your garden. Annual alfalfa is also nice, but you dont get to eat the crop and till it under too!

New garden space

Weve decided to convert our backyard (50x75 feet) into a vegetable garden. How do I get rid of all that grass? Some people tell me to douse it with Round Up but that just goes against my instincts. Plus, I know if I till the grass most of it will come back in spots and be a lot of trouble. I just dont know how to prepare the area without having all kinds of trouble with the grass growing back.

Mark Fannin, Colorado

What I would do is to water the area as soon as freezing weather stops. Then put a layer of black plastic over the grass and weigh the edges down to keep the wind from blowing it away. In six weeks time, the grass should be pretty much dead and you can then till up your new garden. There could still be grass seeds in the soil, which might or might not germinate. So be prepared to either weed frequently or mulch as your crops are planted and growing. Congratulations on your new garden. Youll love it. Know that gardens are a work in progress for the first two or three years as your soil improves and you get the hang of growing in a new area.

Gardening without power

I dont want to use a tiller so I plan on digging a small trench and planting my corn in the trench. Do you see any problems with this method? Can you give me some methods of cultivating a garden without using gas engines?

Billy Stuart, Missouri

Sure, you can cultivate a garden without power tools. Its just hard work. Our ancestors did for centuries. For encouragement, get a copy of Buffalo Bird Womans Garden from Pinetree Garden Seeds, P.O. Box 300, New Gloucester, ME 04260. This tells how the Hidatsa Indians cultivated their gardens in the old ways.

What has worked for me, however, is to initially till the garden with power equipment, working in organic material when I till. That accomplishes most of the hard work. Then I switch to deep mulching to keep down the need to use equipment again. Weeds are few and far between and easy to hand-pull. To plant, simply pull back the straw in a row, make your furrow with a hoe, then plant. As the seedlings grow, draw the mulch back next to the plants.

Growing in raised beds eliminates the need for power equipment, also. If the soil must be tilled, it is easily done with a garden fork or a spade. Mulching is also a huge help in the raised beds. Not only does it keep out weeds but also provides rotting organic matter for the bed and holds in moisture during dry spells.