The Green Beet: Tying Up Loose Plants

The rains are here; the flowers are falling. So are the peas.

This week I spent much of my gardening time with fishing line, twine, and dowels.

Much of the flowers away from the house have lost their fair share of petals. This is unavoidable, I suppose, and a good reason to keep hanging baskets under eves – this way, you always have color, even when Mother Nature sends an abundance of destructive rainwater.

Of those that have kept their petals, many flower stalks became weighed down and fell into the grass, making it easy for the flowers to rot against the wet greenery (at least, I remind myself, there is now green in my lawn). To prevent such rot, and to help keep the flowerbeds looking their best, I used fishing line and tied sections of the flower stalks, mostly columbine, to whatever was handy in order to keep them in a more upright position. Those flowers around my front trees are now staked around tree branches, those nearer the house are held up by posts at the edge of porch.  I chose fish line because of its near-invisibility; when walking on the road past by home one wouldn’t guess that it was more than Mother Nature displaying the pretty red, yellow, purple and pink flowers of one of Alaska’s “hardy” perennial plants.

The peas in the back garden, however, I am less worried about looks and more worried about pure function. Following the advice of the seed packet directions, I decided to forgo staking the peas this year, and instead planted them 6 inches apart so they could grow intertwining together, essentially holding themselves up instead of being held up by string. It worked for a while, but now the intertwined plants are falling over – directly into my beds of broccoli and kohlrabi. Not worried about esthetics, my hubby and I took dowels and twine out to the garden and make our best effort attempt to stake the peas out of the beds of the other vegetables we are growing.  A two person job, we carefully lifted the plants, ran twine between dowels, smaller stakes and the fence itself and then ran more twine above the established peas with hopes that they would continue growing upward. It’s not pretty, but it does allow the kohlrabi to get more sun and the broccoli to have enough room to grow.

After working hard in the garden, we feasted on the vegetables of our labors –the tops of fresh broccoli, now able to grow secondary harvest buds on the side of the plants since the pea stalks no longer brush up against them.

Happy gardening!

The Green Beet: Organic Fertilizer & More on Gathering

My front lawn is still lacking much; the grass doesn’t seem to want to grow much, and the clover is running amok. I found a source of organic fertilizer - Nature’s Intent 9-3-4 from Cad Re in Soldotna- and applied a batch to the front lawn in between the raining spells. At least there is no need to water as of late. While I’d rather use a local fertilizer product, I never found the fish meal locally in small batches. Topdressing with manure is available, but I’d rather wait and use it in the fall. Worse than the smell of fish – hey, I was raised upwind from a fish meal plan, so it doesn’t bother me too much – would be the smell of horse manure on a hot, summer day. Plus, it takes a while to decompose. Maybe I’d feel differently if I grew up on a farm. But I digress.

The lawn actually looks half-way decent when first mowed, but I have to mow the weeds so low that it promotes the growth of the weeds and decreases the ability for the grass to shade out clover, dandelions and birch starts. By making it “look good” for the time being, I’m not helping it grow healthier in the long term. The fertilizer should help the grass grow a little taller and fuller, and I should be able to adjust the front mower to a healthy 2 1/2 to 3 inches. Grass and some weeds are fine with me, I just want the grass there too. At least all the flowers are blooming – the begonias I am especially fond of, though I’ll move them into baskets earlier next year, and just hang them inside until time to set outside.

I regularly remind myself that a healthy organic lawn can take years to establish, especially when it’s use to a good dose of chemical fertilizer and weed spray several times per season. It’s worth the wait, and I’m having fun testing different ways to promote the soil health.

I’m also having fun collecting Yarrow, a flower I look tenderly on from my childhood play with the plant. Regularly you could find my sister and me at the Jessie Lee baseball field picking the white flowers; bunched together in the hands of a Barbie doll they appeared a perfect bouquet for our dolls’ many wedding days. Nowadays, I typically dry a batch or two on an extra windowsill screen set horizontal in the sun, or, when needs be, in the garage.  It makes a great cold remedy tea, especially when mixed with mint. Not to be consumed by pregnant women, I only have used it this year as a foot soak after a long night on my feet at work, and as a facial steam – supposedly it is great for oily skin, though at 31 I am still battling zits, regardless of what I wash or steam with. But it is terribly relaxing all the same. I got the recipe for the steam out of Janice Schofield’s “Discovering Wild Plants” book while in undergrad, and still enjoy using it on a regular basis, when everyone else has gone off to bed and I need to rewind. Grab some fresh yarrow and try it; if it tickles your fancy be sure to harvest a bit more and dry it to last the winter.

Schofield’s Yarrow Facial Steam:
1/3 cup yarrow leaves and flowers (I find you need less if it is dried)
4 cups boiling water
Towel

Steep yarrow in boiling water. Let sit covered for 5 minutes, then carefully remove cover. Form a tent over the pan with towel. Insert your head in the tent, keeping your face about 6 inches from the surface. Bathe your face gently with the steam for about 10 minutes. Then splash your face with cold water to close the pores.

The Green Beet: Dip Netting Frenzy

The red runs on the Kenai and Kasilof Rivers are in full swing, and the Soldotna/Kenai area is flooded with Alaska visitors ready to net their share of fish for the 2010 season. I’ve dip netted for years, sometimes coming home with my limit, other times with only a fraction of what the state says I can take. Personal use is a great gift we have here in Alaska; five years ago while living in Iliamna I had the chance to run a personal use set net, and my husband and I enjoyed salmon all year long (an easy way to get protein in an area where you otherwise had to pay to ship it in).

But in all honesty, red salmon is not my favorite “as is” salmon to feast on. Of course if we had pulled in a king it would have made it to the grill that evening, but as far as reds go my family prefers them either smoked or canned. The idea of smelling salmon canning for any amount of time makes this pregnant lady want to gag, and so we decided on less fish this year – limiting ourselves to only 15 for smoking, though the state limited us at 45 for a household of three (25 per head of household and 10 per additional member). I’d rather fill the freezer with slivers later in the season for things like BBQs and baked fish – or my personal favorite, salmon Pad Thai. Plus, someone has to process all those fish – in my household, that someone inevitably ends up as me.

They do come in cleaned and filleted, as my husband enjoys that part of the process as well as the fishing. Or at least he realizes the need for such. But then the fillets need to be dealt with. Years ago in 1980’s small-town Seward, when ”Al’s” smokehouse was regularly available to our family, we use to smoke everything up at once – we use to get a lot more fish too, as the ease of processing made it easy to consume more of the tasty treat. But my husband and I only have a small smoker, and so we freeze the fillets as is, defrosting as many as we can fit in the smoker at a time when the mood strikes. I use a home vacuum sealer to seal out any air – I suggest this route, and remind you that a green-minded and prudent person would also save the bags from last year’s catch and reuse them. This morning I cut a few new bags and for the rest crossed out 2009 and wrote 2010 on the recycled bag. My freezer now has enough reds to enjoy smoked fish throughout the winter, still leaving room for silvers, halibut and, God-willing, the ever-elusive moose we hope to harvest this fall. (If not, an acquaintance is raising heifers and I’ll purchase meat from him before winter).

A note on harvesting: I realize some families do actually consume 25+ reds per year, but I feel as if many do not – and a lot of freezer-burn fish end up wasted come the following summer. Regardless of what the state law says, planning your own personal limit before stepping foot in the water (or, if you’re lucky, on a boat) helps prevent you from taking more than what your family actually needs. Once you’re in the thick of it, pulling in fish after fish, especially on a hot sunny day, it can be hard to stop. Don’t let the enjoyment of catching the fish mask into an overtaking of our natural resource! Enjoy eating ALL the fish you catch this year, and help make sure we have plenty more to catch in the future.

The Green Beet: Chickweed Spring Rolls

I’ve been enjoying some of my first harvest this week – radishes straight out of the ground, cucumbers out of a friend’s much-coveted greenhouse. This is also a great time to enjoy the wild plants popping up in your yards and along trails. This week my family feasted several times on Thai fresh spring rolls with an Alaskan flair – I used chickweed as part of the veggies, enjoying the diverse greenery that lives in my more-than-grass yard. For this week’s post, I encourage all of you to get out and harvest a bit of the yummy green yourself (early morning, after the dew has dried, or later in the evening is the best time to harvest) and enjoy a taste of wild and garden veggie Thai salad staple, or just saute it up with a little butter for a yummy side dish if Thai food isn’t your thing.

Jen’s Thai chickweed spring rolls and peanut sauce

Sauce ingredients:
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 3/4 cup coconut milk
2 Tbsp red curry paste
¼ cup fish sauce
3 Tbsp sugar

 Roll ingredients:
Cucumber, peeled and sliced into strips
Outer tender leaves from your growing lettuce plant
**Fresh chickweed leaves (flowers are fine too)
Sprouts
Cooked Jasmine rice
Other fresh veggies to your liking
Rice paper sheets

To make sauce:
Combine all ingredients in saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring constantly. 

To make rolls:
Soften rice paper sheets by holding thin kitchen towel or paper towel under warm running water. Squeeze out excess moisture and lay flat on kitchen counter. Run warm water over both sides of a sheet of rice paper and lay flat on top of towel. Layer with another moist towel; repeat. Let sit for five minutes.

To assemble rolls remove top layer of towel. Arrange ingredients in center of paper, laying lettuce leaf first, then rice, chickweed, sprouts, cucumber and other veggies. Fold outer side layers of rice paper in, then roll from the closest end, squeezing gently as you roll. Cut in half; serve with peanut sauce for dipping.

**Use a plant guidebook while harvesting chickweed; be 100 % sure of any plant species before using any wild plants for food or medicinal use.

The Green Beet: Compost and Feeding Plants

Have you turned your compost pile yet? Now is a great time to do it, with plans to turn at least once more in August – every week or so from now if you are so inclined would help even more. A pitch fork and a complete pile flip is ideal, but I’m trying my luck with a straight-edge ice pick to break up the big stuff and a large garden shovel to move as much as I could from the bottom to the top and the outer to the middle. I turned three piles today (I actually have a fourth, but it is so far back at the edge of the property that the bushwhacking required to get to it made me decide to leave it until fall). I was able to harvest a bit of “black gold” from my lone second-year pile and subsequently feed my vegetables with a scoop full per plant for things like broccoli and lettuce, and a light spreading for peas, carrots and other smaller varieties of yumminess. I’ve been talking around the gardening circles and I guess a two-year pile requirement is pretty typical if you don’t have an enclosed container, so it’s best to plan on always having a few piles going at once  and starting a fresh one each year so that you always have some compost available. By the end of this summer I should have a pretty good routine – start planning now and get a second pile going if you only have one from last year.

At the same time as I fed the plants with compost I also hit them with a round of natural plant food from Whitney Farms. You can rely on the already-established dirt alone to provide what your plants needs, but this can be a crapshoot if you lack a particular nutrient.

A little worried that some of my plants aren’t coming along as they should (in particular the lettuce; I lost another plant this past week) and that the peas are just growing like weeds (they thrive in not-so-great soil) I decided to use an at-home soil test kit to see if my garden plot is lacking any particular nutrients this year – and in need of more than just Whitney’s. The results are in: I am lacking nitrogen (which explains why the peas could care less). At-home soil tests typically test for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, also called potash. These three nutrients are generally low in Alaska’s soils.

The compost and organic feed I used will help some: The compost has some nitrogen and the Whitney Farms plant food has 1%. (For comparison, Miracle-Gro has something like 20%). But a bit more organic feeding was needed…

Suspecting the nitrogen all along, I’d already been on the look out for an organic fertilizer source high in nitrogen. In my childhood my mom used the fish meal from Seward Fisheries on our yard each year, but a stop in last weekend answered the question of that being a source: it’s now only sold in 1200 pound shipments. My father-in-law teased that he was having some delivered to the house, but even with the probable lack of nitrogen in the lawn (more on that next week) such a shipment would be far too much, not to mention it would really stink up the neighborhood. Luckily blood meal has a high nitrogen level as well, and is readily available at many greenhouses and feed stores. Careful when you apply this though, too much – especially on the leaves – can kill your plant. Top dress the soil around each plant and then water after; blood meal is known for a quick release of nitrogen and is thus ideal for this kind of fix. It’s not however, a long-term fix for nitrogen-deficient soils. But if you need nitrogen now, this is a way to get it into your soil quick.

The Green Beet: Thinning and Weeding

This week I spent much of my time tending to vegetable plants. I’ve been ignoring them for a while now, with so much time spent in the front attempting to get something – anything – besides weeds to grow as lawn. While daily watering of the garden was a must, weeding and checking on the (still) little starts were a low priority. Not anymore! As we get into full swing of veggie season, I’m enjoying getting into the garden once again.

I credit you, dear readers, for the existence of any garden vegetables on my property this year. Soon after garden plans were drawn up I found out I was pregnant with our second child, and the non-stop nausea commenced shortly after. Much of the indoor planting, transplanting, tilling and all-around garden-readying activities were done in a half-daze, a must-do rather than a usually enjoyed activity. While results of gardening done out of duty, not love, are a bit apparent – I had my first transplants die this year – now that the first trimester and the illness that comes with it are long gone I am so, so enjoying working in the garden again. I’m so thankful to have the soil to till, the plants to water, and even the weeds to pull. So after a little neglect, my garden spot is now looking much more loved.

 

I am happy to report that the straw-covered rows of the garden did remain relatively weed free. I may have to add another layer mid-summer, as it does act as a layered compost pile, the ease of having organic matter that acts as a weed repellant this year that will add great nutrients to the tilled soil next year makes it worth while.

As we come to the end of the month, now is a good time for thinning any vegetables that were planted directly from seed. Instead of rows I planted rectangular sections of my backyard root vegetables, turnips and carrots, and recently thinned both in a way that took advantage of the crisscross pattern associated with wide-row planting.

As for the few transplants that didn’t make it (two broccoli and three kale) I moved some swiss chard that wasn’t doing so hot in another part of the yard into some of the freed up space and left the rest for a mid-July planting of turnips for a fall crop to store for the winter. I’m tempted to run to the local greenhouse this week and purchase a start or two of something fun that I haven’t grown before, like brussel sprouts, but I don’t have any concrete plans other than just to enjoy my garden and eat my vegetables, even if they come in a little later than usual. Happy gardening!

 Next week: Soil testing and feeding your plants.

The Green Beet: Lawn Care Part II

Last week we dealt with bringing an unhealthy lawn back to life. This week let’s talk a little about keeping an otherwise healthy lawn healthy.
My backyard is one such lawn. While there are a few brown spots in need of patching and a few dandelions growing here and there, it is otherwise a green carpet that would be the envy of the front lawn, if anyone actually saw it! Isn’t that the way it always goes? You may have a lawn like this, whether inherited (like myself) or worked for, but it is important to realize that it will not most likely stay healthy and green without a little effort.

First and foremost, pull up the weeds as they crop up – at least some of them. I wish I had pulled dandelions in the front and back last year – both have more this year. The front, as depicted last week, is full of them. The back is doing much better, as there is actual grass there to keep weeds at bay, but there are still more than before. Pull each year as they come up and you won’t be battling with them all summer.
Second, make sure you are cutting, not tearing, your grass when you mow. To accomplish this sharpen your mower blades regularly and make sure do not mow unless the grass is completely dry. Also, when cutting make sure you cut high – at least two and a half inches – in order to keep weeds shaded out. If you can stay committed to mowing regularly, and the weather cooperates, it is best to only cut one third of the grass off at any given time. In our household, we try. Sometimes we succeed. But the goal is there. Cutting more than one third hinders the growth of the grass root system (the grass has to grow up more than down), which is key to a healthy lawn.
Third, make sure you are watering regularly but deeply, not daily and sprinkling. I have to keep the front wet right now, with the seeds germinating, but the back I rarely water this time of year: There is so much rain and the soil stays wet on the dry days that pop up. It’s easy to check – if a screwdriver pushes in easily (at least 6 inches) you know the soil is wet enough. When you do water, make sure you get the water draining down at least to those 6 inches. It typically takes two inches of water to get one inch of soil wet. A few strategically placed empty tin cans (don’t bother purchasing the sprinkler measuring kit) checked at 15 minute intervals will tell you how long you must water to get enough coverage. Water in the morning to deter pest growth and avoid water evaporation. This is another one of those goals our household has. Sometimes the watering takes place much, much later.
Fourth, add nutrients by the way of grass clippings and organic fertilizer. Topdressing with compost isn’t a bad idea either – I’ll go into more detail on this and other organic additions in the fall when I winterize the lawns.
Finally, make sure you aren’t accidentally planting invasive species in your flower beds, especially if you spread wildflower mixes. A friend of mine is still battling orange hawkweed that springs up in her front lawn each summer after unknowingly planting it with other wildflower seeds four years ago. This week (June 20-26) is Alaska Weeds Awareness Week. Cooperative Extension Service has publications available to assist with identifying, preventing their establishment and controlling invasive species. For more information, contact Ashley Grant, Invasive Plants Instructor, at 907-796-6315 or email asgrant@alaska.edu.

Next week: Back into the garden we go!

The Green Beet: Lawns part one – helping a sick lawn

By Jen Ransom

My front yard is a bit of a disaster. Not much grass, a lot of weeds. I pledged this year to help it out a little. First thing this spring, our family rented a dethatcher, which looks kind of like a lawn mower. Instead of cutting the grass at the top it cuts down toward the ground, breaking up the thatch, which is a build up of grass roots and systems that haven’t had time to break down (mine was most likely brought on by an overuse of fertilizers by a previous owner). A small amount of thatch is fine. It helps keep the soil stay moist. But when you have a half-inch or more the grass has trouble growing through it, and, more importantly, the water has trouble getting down into the soil – where the grass root system needs it most. I read that for cool-season lawns (all Alaska lawns are cool) dethatching is best done in the fall, but I wasn’t going to wait another year. This process does create quite a mess, so be ready to rake after. I limed the yard shortly after. This helps with the Ph (over time) and is especially good for keeping the moss and clover down,  two weeds that appear regularly in Alaska lawns.

As previous columns have stated, I have been pulling a lot of dandelions for weeks now. I’m not even close to getting them all. I started with hand pulling at first – great for a few but almost impossible for a yard full – I recently invested in a “Weed Dog” pulling apparatus that you step on, turn and then pull each individual plant out. Each day I try to get outside and, at least, pull any of the dandelions that are showing yellow. Pulling is easiest after watering. But keep up with it! I try not to focus on the whole yard, I get overwhelmed. We went camping this past week and when we returned, this is the yellow that was showing:

I actually chose to mow that field down, before they went to seed, and started pulling again in the morning.

Now that some of the weeds are gone I planted more grass seed, focusing on bare spots. I’ve waited to plant until now as the air and soil have to stay warm enough for the seeds to sprout. They, like garden seeds, also have to stay wet, and so waiting until after the first camping trip of the year seemed like a good idea. We’ve got a couple weeks before heading out for the weekend celebration of the Foldager/Buchanan wedding (congratulations guys!!) and so the spreading of the seed has commenced within the two trips, with plenty of time home to water.

If you choose to help your sick lawn along this year, here are a few helpful hints I’ve found helped me work smarter, not harder:

1. Don’t go purchase a seed spreader. Or a lime spreader for that matter. ASK AROUND. Someone you know already has one. There is no need for every household in Seward to have each of these. My neighbors actually had two hand-held spreaders in their back shed and were happy to share.
2. There are several types of grass seeds. Fescue, which spreads by a root system, grows great in cool-season lawns. But it isn’t that pretty (bright green, thin leaves). The different bluegrass varieties are much thicker, but grow as individual seeds and don’t spread. You want a mixture of both. I also threw down some rye seed, an annual grass that sprouts much quicker than the other two, in order to establish something besides dandelions in the really empty patches. I purchased my seed premixed from a local feed store, check around town, you’ll probably find something similar.
3. Water, water, water. You must keep the seeds wet until sprouted.

Some people swear by rolling the seeds, but I just used a hand-spreader and called it good.

Hopefully the next picture I post of my front lawn has a plusher, greener grass for my family to enjoy playing on. At least it will have less yellow. I wish the same for you. Happy gardening!

The Green Beet:Hints for the less-than-perfect gardener

By Jen Ransom for Seward City News

By now many of you have planted. If you haven’t, it’s not too late. Many greenhouses still have vegetable starts available; many look much healthier than mine. Yet I don’t mind putting the long, leggy starts of broccoli and less-than-tight clusters of lettuce into the ground: My experience has been come harvest time, I’ve got plenty even with meager starts. Plus, I just love the experience of growing directly from seed. (The leggy starts, by the way, are a result of growing seeds in a window instead of direct overhead light or a greenhouse – the plants have to “reach” toward the light more).

This past week I grabbed from my hardening-off porch and started plunking things into the ground. Maybe not that haphazardly, but I do remind myself not to get too serious when planting. After all, this is supposed to be a relaxing hobby for me, as well as a serious summer food source for my family. I suggest viewing your garden in a similar way. Perhaps your starts too are a bit leggy and lopsided; typical of at-home seed starters are plants that grow sideways. Don’t worry – the plant most likely will recover. I’ve had very little die off over the years, especially when hardened for a week. The key to those less-than-perfect starts is to plant them a little deeper in the ground and fill with dirt around some of the leggy-ness. This is especially true if you have a start that takes a 90 degree angle early in the starting season, as all of my broccoli did. Just plant the deep and sideways, so that the start stands upright with the support of the soil.

Once you’ve got your starts and any seeds planted – this year’s newbie seeds for me include green beans and turnips – the most important thing is to keep seeds wet until germinated. But not too wet. You don’t want water soaking the ground so much that it creates runoff or crumbles the edges of your raised beds. Many a June rain can hold a garden over, but it’s worth having an irrigation system set up for those occasional hot, sunny days. This can be as simple as walking around with a hose, but for those gardeners who have less time or energy, a semi-permanent, strategically placed hose and sprinkler will often do the trick. I water the front flowers individually, but for the back I invested in a “hose splitter” so I would have both a fixed watering system in the garden and a movable hose for the lawn, other flower beds and the kiddy pool. On sunny days I just head outside, turn water on and let it do its job for a half hour or so. (Often longer, or twice a day, as it gets hotter in July). I’m constantly checking our dog’s water on days like that, so it takes very little effort to check the garden at the same time.

As you finish planting make sure you set aside a little space for succession planting, if only for radishes throughout the summer. Every few days plant another section for a kid-friendly, easy-growing vegetable. I don’t even bother setting a row aside in the main garden for this veggie anymore; my herb garden, flower beds and, later, open spots that become apparent in the main garden all become filled with the crisp, red treat. You can’t plant enough, as neighbors are always happy to enjoy your extra harvest! So is the local food bank.

Weed Update:Pushky. Uhk. So far here are suggestions I’ve received: First, make sure you wear rain gear when dealing with the pesky plant that likes to leave welts. Goggles aren’t a bad idea if using a weed eater. And if you are going the mechanical route, especially a string weed eater, make sure you run it at a low speed. Otherwise, the plant will shoot out everywhere. Another option is to  wait until it grows big, then whack the bottom of it with an ice chipper. None of these options will eradicate the weed, but they will keep them knocked down and hopefully not such a problem. I’ll keep searching for ideas on how to more permanently remove the plant.

Happy Gardening!

The Green Beet: Remember to Play

By Jen Ransom for Seward City News.

Happy Memorial Day weekend! While I’ve got plenty of plants ready to go in the ground (and plenty of weeds ready to be pulled out), this past week our family tried to play as much as possible – especially with our work weeks happening right during this holiday weekend. I did manage to curate the removal of the winter doggy business amidst the fun – when my hubby needed a haircut to trim up the loose circles, I reminded him of how the right section of the back yard really needed some tidying as well. Isn’t bartering wonderful? And the veggies and flowers are hardening off in the shade, outdoors all night, with no problems and ready for next week’s planting.

But the weeds, oh the weeds. I’ve been pulling and pulling – and they keep coming back. Rumor around the green mill is vinegar poured on weeds, especially chickweed, helps – but I’ve still pulled a lot and gone through a lot of vinegar. I don’t mind a few weeds, though not in my vegetable bed, and I’m beginning to appreciate dandelions more. My mother-in-law, during a visit this week to focus on that fun part of life, told me a story of how Emily Dickinson included dandelions as flowers in her garden; she even wrote poetry for the different flowers. I’ve been rattling off my own bits of rhyme to the flowering weed ever since:

Yellow and fun
Only out in the sun
Wish while you blow
Not toward the neighbors, though!

It’s not anywhere near Dickinson, but it makes me chuckle each time.

And I’m recalling now that when you are a kid, dandelions ARE a flower. My daughter, Amara, is almost two and loves, just loves, picking her “fowers” every day. I love receiving them as gifts and watching the reaction of others as she hands them out. We had dinner at a neighbor’s this Saturday, and on our walk over she insisted on stopping at another neighbor’s “fower yard” (one of those yards really full of dandelions) and picking a bouquet for her Godmother. It reminded me to look at nature from her perspective – she really doesn’t care about mommy’s battle with the weeds. They are all flowers to her.

I hope on this special weekend, you remember that the weeds of life are flowers too, if we only look at them from the proper perspective. Happy Memorial Day.

Here is an NPR story about Dickinson’s flower garden and poetry:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127140791&ft=3&f=1025,1032,1132

The Green Beet: Planting Countdown Begins

By Jen Ransom for Seward City News

This past week I finally made it outside and finished prepping my vegetable garden beds. I wrote earlier in the spring about wide-row planting; I took my own advice and have changed from six single rows with six paths to two four-foot rows with three paths. I also invested in a little straw for the pathways – while you can weed the paths if you desire (or just walk on the weeds all summer) straw can help keep down the weeds and can be tilled into the soil for nutrients in future years.

    

Speaking of weeds, it looks like I’ll be doing a bit more weeding in my bulb flower bed this year. I spent all the time this spring with the newspaper and mulch to keep the weeds down, but once the lily flowers came up I realized it was definitely a year for splitting – huge clumps of flower stalks were coming up in one-foot sections. I ripped out the bark mulch in order to dig up and split. I decided against putting it back for this year (without the newspaper, which acts as a weed guard, I’d just be weeding chickweed through the bark) and have made note in my garden journal that every three years or so forgo the mulch in order to split the bulbs. I don’t mind too much, however, as the spread-out lilies filled in much of the bed. I’ll deal with chickweed for more flowers any day of the week.

And speaking of weeks – this is the one to start hardening off your indoor starts. I’ve already moved some of my new perennials out into the shade; soon the annual flowers and vegetables will be in the same process. In the past I’ve followed the rules of moving them out for an hour or two, moving them back in, moving them out a while longer the next day, and so on and so on. But Jeff Lowenfels’ column in the ADN last week discussed an easier way of hardening plants, and I figure if the host of “The Garden Party” can leave his plants out overnight, so can I. Basically, you move your starts to a protected, shady area for a few days – no need to bring them in at night. Then, a few days later, you move them to a dappling shaded area and let them get accustomed there. A week later, you plant in full sun. I’m moving the hanging basket flowers out this weekend and the veggies will get their head start mid-week for the June 1^st planting date. I work weekends, so planting Memorial Day weekend is out, except for the flower baskets. You may want to move your entire planting day up to enjoy a work-free day of planting and remembering your loved ones – a few days before June 1st shouldn’t hurt.

The Green Beet: Have You Pruned Yet?

By Jen Ransom for Seward City News

Pruning trees and berry shrubs is one of my most feared gardening adventures. The fear is two-fold: One, my husband is a naysayer for pruning – he wants the privacy that overgrown shrubs provide, he says – and two, I’m always fearful I’ll prune away too much and end up with little of that privacy we both crave. However, the privacy he says comes with no pruning I tend to disagree with. I think pruning creates more privacy, as the trees stay lower and thicker, as opposed to growing toward the sky and leaving lots of trunk space at the bottom, opening up the lower vertical to easy neighbor viewing. And this spring I took a set of borrowed loppers and, on a nice sunny day while my husband was at work, I took to the trees. This year I waited for my mother, just for reassurance that I was pruning correctly – sometimes you need that extra attaboy!

Due to the wait I am running a little behind an ideal pruning schedule, but luckily the late winter made for very little budding and so pruning was still an option. If possible you prune just after the snow is melted, with the trees in full winter mode. What you don’t really want to do is prune once the trees or shrubs are in full spring season – you won’t have much luck with new shoots for this year, and you’ll probably keep the plant fuller if you just leave the pruning until next year. But if the climate is cooperating like it is at my house, jump out and prune if you haven’t already. Don’t delay!

When it comes to trees and shrubs, prune with thirds in mind. Take out a third of the old branches (winter does this for you regularly with breakage, and so many times you just need to finish the job), and if you feel the plant is growing too tall or too vertical, lope off a third of the tops of branches. Cut just above where two branches are growing from the main branch you are trimming. This will encourage new shoots to grow from that area, filling in the plant in a denser manner than if left alone. Prune also any branches that are rubbing against one another (to prevent disease).

Not into pruning trees and shrubs? There is still one more plant you may want to take those loppers to while you still can: Raspberries. Raspberries are a biannual plant that produces canes the first summer and berries the next. While canes that have produced berries will produce some if left alone, you’ll yield a far better crop if you prune out the canes that produced last season to make room for new canes. This is a job best done in the fall – when it’s easiest to tell which canes produced fruit – but can still be done this spring if you carefully eye canes and look for clues to last season berries, such as the dried tops of where you picked individual berries. These canes, if left to try living, might make it, but they will provide very little future fruit and use up much water, nutrients and light. Prune flush with ground level to prevent such a waste. Do this now ONLY if you see no spring buds on your raspberries! Done too late and you may take out the parts of the plant you want to save. New canes will grow all this season, and by next year you’ll have a great yield of fruit. Either way, make sure you add a bit of organic mulch (straw or grass clippings works great) on the top of the raspberry beds to keep the weeds down, and look forward to enjoying the fruits of your labors. Happy gardening!

The Green Beet: Lasagna Garden

Last weekend my husband and I had the pleasure of renting a Bobcat to widen our driveway. Excited that we, or any guests, would no longer be park on the lawn, I also knew that if I didn’t have a project to work on, I would end up outside as the “supervisor” wife while Jack did the dirty work. Not my favorite role to play or my husband’s favorite to deal with. Wanting to be outside, I decided to try my hand at lasagna gardening and create a flower bed using the mulch layering method. This experiment is ongoing, and I’ll fill you in as to how well the flowers (and possibly some anti-moose-friendly veggies) do this upcoming season.

Like many of our flower beds need this time of year, I took my handy dandy knife and started by cutting out a section of grass around the outer perimeter of where I wanted the bed to be. We had a large, old, looming-over-the-house birch tree cut down last year but a stump remains, and so I decided to make the area a little prettier with some rocks and flowers. One way to layout a bed, especially if your are including curves, is to take a garden hose and lay it just how you want your bed to sit, then use sand (in a plastic baggie similar to a cake icing baggie) to mark the area. I am personally an eye-ball-it kind of gardener, so I just cut around in a way I thought looked right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After making the initial cut, there is was no need to pull out all the sod and grass – like I have done far too many times before. According to the lasagna gardening method, a thick layering of wet newspaper (sans color or shiny sheets) is all you need to kill off the grass underneath. I hit our local recycling bin for a stack full and got to work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once I set my first layer of newsprint, which is a mulch in itself, I then layered other mulches in a lasagna-style manner to make around 8 or so (12 is ideal) inches of planting material. I used a bit of the dug up dirt from our driveway project to start, then added layers of mulch from a weekend detaching project (Jack used a lot of rented power equipment this weekend!) with layers of peat moss, a great garden starter. Most of my fenced, backyard vegetable garden is peat moss. Lasagna beds uses the same philosophy as sheet composting, where you layer mulched compost material instead of piling it up: A great way to compost quickly, especially in colder weather. While I used the ripped up dead grass and peat moss, other mulch materials good for a project such as this includes dead leaves, horse manure and any compost you have laying around. Since my compost is limited, and the horse manure I’m collecting has a special spot in with the veggies, I chose to just use the dead grass in between the peat moss. For this project I purchased one bag and stole a little from my vegetable garden. I wasn’t too terribly concerned about nutrients this year, as I plan to fill this bed with nasturtiums, a flower that likes not-so-great soil. Since I didn’t originally plan on this much flower space I did have to start several more flats of the flowers – it’s not too late to do so, if you haven’t found the time yet!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the great things about this type of gardening is that you can build a bed and plant it in the same day – though some may choose to cover a bed with black plastic to let it “cook” a while. Either way, by next year I should end up with a large patch of composted, “black gold” material ready to sustain a few pickier flowers. If you want your bed to hold more difficult flowers or veggies now, just add a few more layers of those heavy feeder mulches, such as horse manure.

Come planting time, all I have to do is carefully dig small holes and add in my starts. I’ll have to be careful not to rough up the composting material underneath, as this starts to make things look a little ragged. Add water and mulch as needed and flower garden, wha-lah!

This project only took a couple hours on a great sunny spring day, and I’m sure that if you are looking to build either a vegetable patch or flower bed you too can have it done quick and ready to plant. Happy Gardening!

The Green Beet: Bulbs and Beds

I hope everyone got their indoor spring cleaning done in April, because May is absolutely the time to spruce up your flowerbeds, yards and gardens to prepare for June’s lovely greens.

This week I spent my free time on my backyard bulb flowerbed. I love planting bulbs, specifically lilies. Why? Because lilies come up year after year, with little summer effort: A little spring clean up, bulb fertilizer (organic or not, your choice) and water are all you’ll need to produce an array of color and flowers throughout mid-summer to fall. The best thing is as the bulbs multiply through the years you can dig them up, split them up and plant for more flowers. I like to purchase a few more each year too, just for fun and more color. Gladiolus are another great summer bulb that does well in Alaska, but the bulbs need to be dug up and stored every winter – not my thing, but hey, go for it if you love the look and have the time. If you are looking for a little spring color, tulips (plant in the fall) can give your bulb bed a head start.

When we purchased our house three years ago the previous owner had planted a lily flowerbed on the east side of the home that was full of color. I’ve kept it going and added more varieties of lilies – why mess with a good idea? While the flowers looked great our first summer, the weeds and such surrounding them did not. This is the perfect time to make sure this doesn’t happen to any of your flowerbeds, without spending every summer weekend weeding instead of camping.  It is the time to not only mulch your beds (see last week’s column), but also take advantage of one wonderful tool that will help keep the grass out for another season: The dull bread knife.

I am not advocating purchasing a new knife for this work-saving technique, nor am I suggesting using one of your good knives from the kitchen. If your kitchen knife needs replacing, however, this is a perfect way to make that a priority; everyone else can head to your local thrift store and spend 30 cents or so to purchase an old bread knife with a stiff handle. Armed with that and a small hand shovel, you are ready to prep your grass–surrounded flowerbeds in three easy steps:

1. Cut the grass directly next to your bed straight down in a sawing motion – by this time most grass has overgrown somewhat into your bed from last year.

2. Pull all the grass from the cut area in and discard into your compost pile. Pull as many of the underground runners out as humanly possible.

3. Pull any other unwanted weeds and cover bed with mulch.

Some add a fourth step – plastic pushed down at the edge of the bed to keep it neater and make it harder for the grass to grow in. Personally, I like the excuse to get outside and work in the yard before all my plants are ready to transplant outside, so I just do steps one through three at the beginning of May – earlier could work, but I’m kind of wimpy when it comes to digging in cold soil.

This is not an absolute steadfast rule of gardening, but just like taking the time for indoor spring cleaning, a little work can keep things looking a lot nicer in the long run. So take an hour and a knife, don a pair of work pants and get a flowerbed ready – you’ll love the results when weeding is minimal and wow-factor is high come summer.

The Green Beet: Broccoli

So this week all you need to do is pull out one flat, fill with damp soil and spread an envelope of tiny broccoli seeds on the top. Some spread a light amount of soil on top of the seeds – I don’t bother. Spray with water and keep moist. That’s it! I typically use a plastic cover over the flat for the first few days until I see green – my south facing window can still get a little chilly this time of year. Let these starts grow about a week (the picture below shows broccoli I started one week ago, I’ll transplant later today as they are more than ready). Next weekend transplant the individual plants into pots and save the flat for next year. Keep the broccoli in a warm sunny window or greenhouse until you are ready to harden the plants outside. (This takes place a week or so before the final plant date; I’ll go into more detail next month).

Broccoli loves 18 to 24 inches per plant, so make sure as you work out your garden plans and beds you allocate enough room (remember zigzag planting can increase your yield per square foot of garden space). These plants also enjoy plenty of compost; if you are like me and have a limited supply from last season, make sure the broccoli area gets plenty and let areas like carrots and peas go without. These veggies like a pH around 6.0 to 7.5; if you’ve got ashes left over from your wood stove spread them around your broccoli bed instead of using lime to raise the pH if it tests too low (typical of Alaska). This is also a good time to use up any bark in your wood cutting area, either as a brown addition to your compost pile or as mulch to avoid chickweed and other weeds in your perennial flower beds. Just cover beds with damp newspaper, mulch with the bark and let the flowers grow – the flowers are strong enough to grow through the bark, the weeds are not. This is especially effective in bulb gardens, my mulch from last year is keeping weeds down now, but not spring bulbs – see photo below. I’m on my way outside now to clean out the little amount of weeds that grew, but with such little effort compared to the beds I didn’t mulch. If you’ve got the bark, it’s worth the effort. Newspaper and peat moss will work also, for those who don’t use a wood stove.  Happy gardening!

The Green Beet: Start Your Herb Garden

Most herbs need an early start indoors – check for information specific to each herb on whether to start in light (such as cilantro and dill) or in darkness (such as parsley). Herbs can quickly become a bother to start, transplant, and use up if you plant too many. I use saved egg cartons to start around 12 of each annual herb I want in my garden, then when it’s time to transplant to larger containers I cut out some of the starts and give them out to friends as gifts – one doesn’t need 12 dill plants, no matter how many fish are caught this summer. Another option is to forgo starting the plants yourself and purchase a few starts from a local nursery. If you do start from seed, there are just a few tips to save left over seeds for the following year or two – put in a plastic zip lock baggie or glass jar and store in a cool, dark, dry place, such as a garage or pantry. One seed packet can last you a few years in this manner (not just herbs). The second and third year of planting you may want to add a few more seeds to each pot when starting, as they do not always germinate as well. I started a few lettuce and kale seeds a few days ago just to make sure they were still good – they’ve so far done much better than my self-harvested nasturtium seeds. With a cheerful note to myself to collect seeds this year much earlier (there was a slight smell of mildew while collecting, and that’s all that grew with my attempt at starting the flowers earlier this spring) I purchased a few packages of seeds and started again. Such is the way of an enthusiastic brownish-green gardener.

There are plenty of perennial herbs that make an herb garden full of good smells and flavors year after year. Mint can take over quick; I have mine in a large pot dug into the ground and pull any starts that make it past the plastic. Chives grow great and are best procured by a friend splitting there own plant, though a purchased nursery start will suffice if your neighbors are stingy! They shouldn’t be; this is another plant that grows abundantly. I grabbed some tarragon from a friend’s healthy but overgrown plant last season; if anyone is in need and in the Soldotna area for a visit this June let me know: Mine was huge by the end of last season and I don’t mind sharing.

If you haven’t planted an herb garden before and would like to make a small bed for one this year – or if you are just looking to add ANY beds to your yard this year – run, don’t walk, to the library and request an interlibrary loan for the book Lasagna Gardening by Patricia Lanza (I checked on the internet card catalog, and it is not carried locally). I’m adding a few beds myself using this method, as it requires no tilling – you can build your bed on top of the existing ground, even if it is covered with grass!  My husband may be even moreThe layering of newspaper, mulch, compost and soil creates a lasagna-like bed that can be planted the same day. I’ll use this technique to build a strawberry bed in the back this year. I’m excited to hear if others use the same and how it turns out: I’ll share more information once the ground is ready. Happy gardening!

By Jen Ransom for Seward City News.

The Green Beet: Crop Rotation

For this week, I’d suggest one last push in vegetable garden planning for summer planting ease. Once all is planned out, you’ll know what to start next week, what to wait on, and even what area you should get certain seeds out to as soon as the soil is warmed enough to till: An extra bonus of earlier planning is early radishes and carrots! (You can start veggies earlier than mid-April, but without a greenhouse I start to run out of window space quick if I begin too hastily).

I’m sure by now if you are a new gardener; you’ve been watching for the best sun and have figured out a great location, as discussed in an earlier column. Regardless if you’ve planted in your garden spot before, now is the time to think about crop rotation. (New gardeners could do well to plant with this in mind for next year). What you planted last year, and what plant this year, can make all the difference in the nutrients buildup in your soil.

For the sake of ease, divide up your planned crops into three different categories: legumes, heavy feeders and root crops.

• Legumes: Peas are a great example. These plants are typically light feeders and actually enrich the soil – a great choice to follow a heavy feeder the previous planting season.
• Heavy Feeders: These can range from very heavy, such as onions and celery, to slightly less heavy, such as your greens and radishes. These take a lot of nutrients from the soil, and should not be planted in the same spot year after year.
• Root Crops: Examples are beets and carrots. These vegetables use different nutrients than leafy plants, so they could follow either the legumes or heavy feeders. Potatoes could be in a separate category all together, as they do very well in soil that other plants do not thrive. This is a great vegetable for newly cleared ground.

Rotate your three categories each season – if you are super organized, you could even create a several-season plan. I’m not, but the peas and broccoli are for sure switching places this year.

Many gardens also include perennials such as berries and rhubarb. Remember, these are tough to move once established, so make sure your location is well chosen and not included in a crop rotation plan. I have my perennials in separate beds far from the “main” vegetable garden. I did plant the raspberries just close enough to be watered with my garden irrigation system if turned on full blast – great for those lazier, or just downright busier, summer days.

Most of my spring planning surrounds the question of keeping my conventional rows or trying wide row planting. Conventional rows have a single row of plants with paths in between. Wide-row planting uses fewer paths and wider planting rows; plants are in-row spaced evenly throughout a wider bed in a diamond like pattern and can typically hold more plants per square foot. One drawback: Less area to weed with a rototiller, more hand weeding. Happy gardening!

The Green Beet: Begonias for Easter

So, so many plants can be started indoors at this time (but hold off on the carrots and radishes; these need to be sown directly outdoors). Vegetables will take up most of this month’s columns, but this week I’m focusing on another of my favorite flowers: Begonias.

With the wonderful option of over wintering the tubers of these plants in a cool, dry, dark place, I love these wonderful blooms for their easy-going nature and love of cool, damp summers. If you are purchasing for the first time, get them now, tubers sell out quick.

I start tubers in four-inch pots, though I’ve heard of also starting them in flats and then transplanting mid-spring, then again into hanging pots come summer. Whatever works best for you – and let me know what does! Depression-side up, place the tubers into starting soil just to the rim of the concave area. Keep damp and warm (a south-facing window works great) and watch as little sprouts begin to come up out of the tuber with little fuss on your part.

Not everyone adheres to this, but I like to put two, not one, begonia plants per hanging pot once ready to transplant. The reason is that some begonias grow with two main shoots, one upright with lots of foliage, the other more spread out with lots of flowers. If you start your tubers early enough to tell the difference, you can plant two upright shoots together with the flower shoots facing out and have flowers on all sides of the hanging pot. But like I said, this is not a hard and fast rule, especially if you are including other flowers in the pot. Begonias can also be planted in flowerbeds, though you’ll want to make sure that the tubers you are picking up for that are not specified as a hanging variety. Dig either variety up at the end of the season to use again and again.

Last year I made the mistake of thinking that two easy plants, begonias and nasturtiums, might do well together in hanging baskets. Do this ONLY if you want your begonia flowers to be completely covered up by the prolific greens and flowers of the wonderful nasturtium by mid-summer. This year I’ve decided to pair begonias with cascading lobelia; a quick discussion with a greenhouse-worker extraordinaire and I decided that starting lobelia is far too much work; these suckers are super-cheap and easy to come by in June, so I’ll purchase that part of my hanging pots for sake of ease. Lobelia are a fun one to add more color throughout your flower garden; I’ve even grown them in old work boots outside our front porch, just to view more flowers on my way out the door.

For a great picture of an Alaskan-grown flowering basket that includes begonia and lobelia, check out the bottom left picture at this Valdez bed and breakfast webpage:  http://209.161.169.176/~devens/

Happy Easter – and have a blessed Easter season!

The Green Beet: Nasturtiums, pansies and beer

Nasturtiums are the only seeds I collected from my garden last fall with hopes to replant this spring. An extremely easy annual flower to start and grow, nasturtiums enjoy full sun and not-so-great soil. Last year I tested some in my front yard’s partial shade; they did ok and were full of more foliage than flowers. The ones I planted in the backyard (full sun) however, were fantastic! I love these flowers because they are so maintenance-free and once they start flowering they don’t stop until fall.

I’m a little weary about my own seeds, however, and so I’ve started one batch this week – a few weeks earlier than necessary – to see if they actually sprout. If my own seeds don’t take, I’ll easily have time to purchase seeds, plant and still enjoy the wonderful flowers come summer – the peppery flowers are a great addition to any salad as well as your flower garden.

Beginning gardeners take note, nasturtiums are by far one of the greatest flowers to grow if you a) don’t know what you are doing, or b) don’t think you’ll have tons of time to take care of your plants, for whatever reason – mine is a garden focused on veggies and a one-and-a-half-year-old daughter. Nasturtiums do require darkness to germinate, and so my first round of starts is now in the garage, covered with wet newspaper and sprinkled with lots of love.

The soil I’m using for my pansies (started right on time now, as they take 10 weeks or so before they are ready to transplant outside) is sprinkled with something else: beer. Not yet ready to purchase more seedling soil, I went to my last container of soil from last season and found an empty beer bottle “trashed” efficiently inside. One whiff and yes, I’ve determined that a little bit of the golden delicious made its way into the soil. I’m guessing that the brewer’s yeast might in fact help the little flowers grow – or at least can’t hurt too much –  and so I planted them in with the beer, the bottle finally making its way to the recycling bin first, of course.

Speaking of bins, if you’re not so hip on using tires to make a compost bin but still want an enclosed container, the Anchorage Soil & Water Conservation District still has almost 100 Earth Machine backyard composting bins available for sale. These can be purchased through TOTAL RECLAIM, INC, 1201 Industrial Way, Unit C4 in the Huffman Business Park during regular business hours, 8am to 5pm Monday – Friday. $50 each, no limit. For more information, call 561-0544.

Happy gardening!

In celebration of the gardening season, The Green Beet is now a weekly column in Seward City News. Next week: Begonias!!

The Green Beet: Compost Recycling

Compost happens. Organic materials, green (grass, food scraps, etc.) and brown (dry leaves and woody materials), pile each year throughout the planet and break down into rich organic matter that helps new plants grow. It is nature’s recycling at its finest – and can be recreated a lot easier than one might think.

 For those who want to be more green, composting covers all the four R’s : Composting reduces the amount of trash you generate; you reuse the compost in your garden or yard; you recycle nutrients back into the soil; and plant growth restores the natural beauty of your property and neighborhoods. With a little planning, it can be done with very little effort, and – don’t worry – stench. Compost can be used in gardens or just on your lawn, or donated to a friend’s garden in exchange for yummy produce!

Last year, I had two open compost piles. The first was a smaller pile within my garden parameter, the second was a larger pile held together with a bit of leftover fencing to keep the dog out. The first pile was beginning to look like actual compost by the end of the season (I’m hoping once this new flurry of snow melts I’ll have a bit more) the second I put way too much brown material and, as such, it is taking a lot longer to decompose. I’ve heard that too much green means you’ll find a not-so-pleasant aroma, so I’m actually thankful for all the wood clippings my husband donated to my gardening attempts last year! I’ve learned a lot by trial and error, and I am excited to being composting again this spring.

This year’s compost plan takes the recycling theme another step further: I’m recycling old tires into a contained compost pile. I’ll still use the garden pile, located in a different corner, as it makes weeding and such a lot easier – just pull and toss. But for my larger attempt (including food scrapes) I’ll be creating a bin following a plan outlined in a recent Backwoods Home Magazine article I read:

1. 6 tires collected – possibly at the dump, my husband says, but I’m also watching craigslist and freecycle, which is like craigslist with people posting free items they want to get rid of with hopes of someone else recycling them (instead of just ending up in a landfill). Check out: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KenaiPeninsulaFreecycle/
2. Cut out sidewalls so that I only have the rubber rings.
3. Start with one ring, turn soil (to expose macro-and-microorganisms) and fill with green and brown material.
4. Continue to add new ring and fill/water as needed.
5. Once the compost has sat for a few weeks (I’m going to wait a little longer, since AK is a bit cooler than elsewhere and I plan to start as soon as the ground is exposed), “turn” the pile by placing the top ring next to the pile, forking the compost matter into it, and repeat until the entire pile is flipped. I’ve read a bit about flipping compost in the Alaska Gardening Guide (mentioned last entry) and other gardening articles and books and find there is much indication that it really helps speed composting along. I found this to be true for me as well: I flipped my small pile and not my large one last year.
6. With a little more waiting and regular watering of the heap, I hope to have another pile of compost to add by mid-summer. For my garden this spring I’ll use what I have from last year’s attempt – one can also purchase compost at gardening stores if you are first starting out.

I had considering adding purchased earthworms to help the compost process – I know several gardeners who do – but an ADN article on the possible invasiveness of the little guys has me deciding it’s not worth the risk right now, for me at least. Check it out for yourself at: http://www.adn.com/2008/03/20/350646/earthworms-arent-always-our-friends.html

With the snow back again I was a little discouraged in my garden plans, but I’ve had composting on the backburner for a while and I figured that March is as good as time as any to get ready for the first bit of ground to show and composting to begin – I’m “tiring” of throwing away all my food scraps! For more use on recycling tires for gardening, check out the entire Backwoods article. I’m tempted at trying the potato tires in the fence-free front yard this year, as rumor has it that moose could care less about potato greens, see how to do this and more at: http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/sanders98.html

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