December -- The Garden Way

Organic Gardening by Linda
(December 2007)
With the onset of cold weather you might think that gardens and gardeners would be on vacation (or at least in rest mode). Not so, for this is the time of year to plan your garden for next spring. You may pour over seed catalogs to decide what new plants you would like to grow. One year I did just that and ended up with many more types of plants and seeds than I could ever plant. Or you may already have seeds you bought or saved from last year or earlier. Some seeds (like carrots) do best if they are very fresh, but many seeds keep more than a year, especially if you store them in a cool dry place or even in your freezer. To test if your seeds are viable before you spend money or time planting them: 1. Place 10 seeds on one half of a used damp double layer of paper towel. 2. Fold the other half of the towel over the seeds. 3. Place the towel in a used plastic bag and seal the top three-quarters of the way across. 4. Label the bag (especially if you are sprouting several kinds of seeds). 5. Check daily to make sure the towel stays damp; moisten if necessary. After 7 to 10 days, count the number of seeds that have germinated. If only 60 to 70 percent of seeds sprout, use extra seeds when planting. If less than 50% germinate you may want to buy new seeds.

If you want to get an early start on gardening, you will want to plant your seeds in containers. Stuck inside their containers, vegetables and flowers need a growing medium that provides them with air, nutrients, moisture retention and drainage. Making your own mixture allows you to customize it. Here is one recipe for starting seeds. Use: 2 gallons peat moss, 2 cups perlite, 3 or 4 quarts aged (6 months) compost and 1/8 cup of limestone. You can also add vermiculite (which contains potassium, calcium and magnesium). Mix in a tub with a trowel or by hand. Test your mix, before you use it, for: 1. Porosity. Pour 2 cups of water into 1 quart of the mix. In a few minutes you should be able to drain off about 1 cup of water, leaving 1 behind. The result will be ½ media, ¼ water, and ¼ air. 2. Drainage. Fill a small pot with the mixture and tap lightly on the sides to make sure it is loose. Pour 1 quart of water through the pot. If it filters out in less than a minute, your mix has proper drainage. 3. Sprouting. Plant a few fast-growing seeds like marigolds in your mix. If these grow and look healthy than you have a good mixture. Feel free to create your own blend using compost, peat, perlite, worm casting, vermiculite, bone meal, etc.

One you have planted your seeds, place them in an extra warm place until they sprout. Then move them to a sunny place (or you may use grow lights). Seeds that do not get enough light will tend to be tall and spindly. It also helps seeds if they have some “wind” or movement; this makes them hardier. Don’t let your plants be couch potatoes. You can place them outside on warm days for periods of time before you plant them. And as you transplant them to the garden, you may touch their leaves, but do not touch and try not to disturb the root. Hold them by their arms and not their feet.

And as the weather warms you may want to start early seeds or plants using cold frames. Or if you are one of those Arkansas winter gardeners, you may already have wintered over greens, which will begin to produce, as the days get longer.

The Women’s Action Group (WAG) will be meeting at Linda’s garden on Sunday, January 6. The focus will be on the benefits of organic gardening for the environment and our health.