Yesss. It’s on your mind, too, isn’t it?! A new season: its fun, creativity, beauty, bounty, and Life buzzing, bursting, sprouting, singing. Can’t wait! And, so, I’m not; that is to say, now is the time to:
- Think about seed starting and NO Peat potting mix. Below is all things no peat and why. So important.
- If any seeds have to be ordered, do it now from organic growers. Some of the most popular flowers or delicious veggies are already selling out. I use Annies Heirloom Seeds or Renees Garden for new varieties or fun experiments. High Mowing Seeds is my go-to for larger quantity (1/4 lb. for example) for cover crop.
- Review what seeds to start when, which seeds are slow germinators (21 days or so), which are direct seed to soil and therefore which seeds and plants are best begun indoors if possible and which don’t need that or would be adversely affected. I’m trying seed snails this season. See below.
- Think about color, height, full sun and partial sun or shade for the plants -veggie, herb, and flower. Reviewing this allows one to paint your garden into being.
- Reflect on how irrigation went last season. Climate disruption is changing everything. Are adjustments needed for this season?
NO PEAT and why, plus your options
Peat is unfortunately the primary ingredient in almost all potting soils, organic and non, and has been since plastic bags of these have been commercialized. I was ignorant for too long on this issue, and each season I ask the Peat Bog Mother for forgiveness for my past sins.
A peat bog, also known as a moor or moorland, is a specific, wondrous, and extremely fragile ecosystem that literally has taken many hundreds of years to form. The peat in a bag of potting soil -almost any brand- could be 1000 years old, not mere hundreds. This means that extracting peat, now done with bulldozers and front-loaders, is akin to burning down the Amazon or Indonesian rainforest; and you wouldn’t knowingly participate in that, right? No, not as a lover of Mother Nature. Here are a couple of videos on the wonders of a moorland or peat bog, like the sundew plant.
For the last decade or so the only alternative for peat-based potting soil was coconut coir. These ingredients are used because potting soil is best if fluffier or lighter in texture than compost or soil. Even if one makes a home mix, you will need something to lighten it along with vermiculite. A small business in Taos had such items, but sadly they seem not to be opening this year. Bummer for them and everyone.
So, I am super excited to try a line of products from Home Depot: Back to the Roots. In my area, they are online purchase only and delivered. I ordered four bags of potting soil and four of raised bed -for topping here and there. They arrived unscathed, each bag packed in its fitted cardboard box (compost material). Kept in the shed, that’s two years of potting soil.
Now, before you click to Home Depot, pause and think of how priceless and irreplaceable a peat ecosystem is. This no-peat alternative, or a coconut coir one, will be more expensive than Miracle Grow or such. But, expense to a human being and expense to an entire critically endangered habitat -endangered only because of uninformed gardeners and nurseries- are not equal. Personally, my choice is clear regarding peat use as well as organic or other choices that one can make in harmony and in support of Life and Mother Earth.
Seed snails
Somebody sent me a video last week on seed snails. Thank you!!! I had not heard of this way of starting seeds. But, in watching a few videos on the matter, it seems ingenious! Less potting soil is used. Less space is required. All the while, more seeds per less-ness are germinated and establish healthy and vibrant root systems. At least, that’s what several master gardeners have found and showed in their videos. Here’s a few.
- (watch this one first): Seed Snails Ultimate Guide
- (then I went to this one, since she was highlighted in the first): Seed Snails: Everything you Need to Know
- (then to this one which shows multiple crops seeded in a snail. I will do this with a snail per bed in mind, veggies and flowers. Note: the cilantro starts in this video are smaller than all others in the roll because they are slow germinators [21 days].) Transplanting Your Seed Snail
Paint Your Garden into Being
Below is possibly TMI, but might provide assistance with visioning a garden rather than row planting which leaves as much space unused as used. Remember to mulch everything! This woman uses her space really well. This man does, too.
- Flowers and herbs are the best natural deterrents to common garden pests plus they offer pizzaz, beauty, delightful smells and tastes. Each bed or pot is a blank canvas. Arrange it!
- tall goes in the back: tallest are pole beans or climbing cucumbers, a stand of corn, and most tomatoes except determinate/container varieties, like Husky Cherry
- tall varieties of marigolds or cosmos will get about 3 ft. tall
- kales will grow to about 2 ft.
- So, you envision that in one bed pole beans are at the back end, in another bed tomatoes are, in another amaranth or corn, with tall flowers such as cosmos or tall marigold varieties nearby for superb pollination, beauty and pest mitigation.
- bush growing, or trailing, or drooping go around the edges: bush or trailing cukes, bush beans -so many varieties, nasturtiums, chamomile, and some peas trail over the side of a bed also. A tomato will if trained to do so in a raised bed with a tall enough side.
- now envision the entire middle:
- lettuces need shade; put them between other plants
- greens, like dwarf bok choy or hon tsai tai, need some shade too. Same treatment.
- small marigolds, like Lemon Gem or Red Gem (6-10″) sprinkle in just behind the edging plants. They prefer dappled sun to partial. The smell is amazing and the color quite vibrant.
- medium marigolds, red, yellow, or orange, are 12″. I will put these at the base of a tomato cage along with a basil or two.
- cabbage will need space but only gets about 20″ tall; whereas zucchini will get almost 3 ft. wide plus almost 2 ft. tall. Where to put it is always the question. Mine usually goes in a ground bed, not a raised one.
- Winter squashes also need a lot of room. Corn need quantity of plants due to being wind-pollinated from each other, plus need adequate space for each plant. So, this is where methods like Three Sister planting are invaluable in ground beds.
- One more consideration is harvest-time. Example, garlic. It is planted in November and harvested mid-July (in my zone). Replanting that bed will be with crops that will grow into October, which is mostly brassicas like broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, chard and kale. Lettuces, Japanese greens, dward bok choy, and cilantro, too.
Lastly, when to start
If using a seed packet’s information, take note that Days to Maturity refers to after planting out a start or after a direct seeded seedling is established with mature leaves. Organize your seed starting accordingly. Add the fact that some plants are slow germinators, like parsley, chard, and cilantro.
Here is a great video on Do’s and Don’ts for seed starting. Seed Starting Mistakes Pros Never Make
Happy Visioning!
