March in the Garden

March is the beginning of the gardening year for many folks. It is time to beginning thinking about where you want to place your new garden or flower beds, do any last minute pruning of roses and perennials, and get ready to start seeds for all the glorious summer flowers and vegetables. One of the hardest things about these beguiling weeks of mild, pre-spring weather is that it can turn freezing cold at the snap of a finger. Fortunately, there are plants that can be planted right now and take a freeze; but first, you might want to prepare new planting beds.

New Beds with Less Work

The easiest technique for starting new beds comes to us from the proponents of no till gardening. All you have to do is mark out where your new beds will be placed, mow, cut, or pull any weeds, smooth any displaced soil, cover with a nice layer of any soil amendment(s) you have handy (compost, composted manure, coffee grounds, decomposing leaves, etc.). Then cover the beds with newspaper or cardboard, and lastly cover with a layer of mulch. Your mulch can be shredded plant material from your garden, from the local tree service, sawdust from a local mill or woodworker, or fluffed up straw from a local feed, garden, or hardware store. Shredded bark or bark chips also work well and can last a long time, but they may cost you a bit more to start with.

When you get ready to plant your home grown or nursery purchased seedlings, simply pull back the mulch, cut through the card board or newspaper, use a trowel to make a small planting hole, tuck in your seedling, and scrunch the mulch back over the newspaper or cardboard.

Reduce Slugs before they Reduce Your Seedlings

Before planting your seedlings, you might want to take a few slug reduction measures. Flat beer, placed in repurposed wide mouth plastic bottles, works wonders. Just pour a few of inches of beer into your bottle and use some mulch to prop them up on their sides. The slugs crawl in and they don’t crawl out. When there is no more room in the tavern, you can pull back your mulch and pour the stale beer and dead slugs out on the ground. Give them a decent burial under your mulch, and get the tavern open for business as soon as possible.

Magazines and slick newspaper inserts make handy slug traps. For each trap you want one or two pages of slick paper. Simply fold the sheets in quarters, make a hole in one corner, and poke a small stick through one corner to hold them in place. Place them strategically around your garden in the afternoon or evening. In the morning check, and collect any slug filled traps. You should find the slimy guys hiding on the bottom or in between the pages. You can toss the traps, slugs and all--in the wood stove, in a bucket of water, or place the traps on something solid and stomp them flat and throw them in the compost pile. Those of you who keep poultry or other birds, or who have pet reptiles and amphibians, may find that your animals will enjoy a slug snack. Ducks and chickens usually love them, but not all birds do. I once gave some slugs to a neighbor’s emu and got them spit right back in my face. You should have seen the look on that bird’s face! Oh well, it’s the thought that counts, right?

Time to Plant Outside:

Cabbage, kale, mustards, collards, lettuce, corn salad, arugula, endive, escarole, and many other tasty and healthful “greens” can be planted right now, either from seeds or starts. Keep in mind, that all plants referred to as greens may not actually be green colored; however, the part most often consumed is the leaves. One of my new favorites has such dark leaves that they are sometimes described as black.

Tuscan Kale is also called dinosaur kale and black kale. It has long narrow crinkly leaves, grows into a large striking plant up to three or four feet tall, and can live for several years. It can be planted along the edges of the vegetable garden or in mixed perennial borders. Check your local nurseries or favorite catalogs for starts and seeds. Once you get some Tuscan Kale going, you will be glad you did. Not only are the leaves attractive and tasty, the immature flower heads are absolutely the best. Snap them off with a couple inches of the thick juicy stem and the small terminal leaves. If you take a bite from the stem end, you are going to have problems getting them into the kitchen, they are that good. Imagine some sweet, tender, and juicy broccoli and you have a pretty good idea what Tuscan kale “bolts” are all about.

Tuscan kale can be started indoors or out--right now. It can take a light frost or even a sprinkling of snow, but if your ground is frozen or covered in deep snow, either wait for spring or get it started inside. If you live above the snow line, you might want to keep one Tuscan kale plant in a large container, so you can shelter it over the winter and hope for those delicious bolting flower heads next spring.

Start Summer Veggies Indoors:

Winter squash, watermelons, edible and ornamental gourds, as well as eggplants and tomatoes can be started indoors this month. They will need a warm bright window, or special lights and a heating mat to thrive. If starting seeds indoors is not your idea of a good time, be reassured that our local nurseries will be stocked with all kinds of vegetable plants in the next few months.

Produce in the Kitchen

Tuscan Kale is the star in my garden right now, the dark green leaves add lots of flavor to soups and stews, and to one of my favorite dishes—Dirty Rice. Any greens that you happen to have growing can be used; red or green cabbage leaves, mustard, collards, and spinach are all likely to be found in the garden this time of year, and they will work just fine. First, put half a cup of black beans in a medium sized sauce pan or a rice cooker with two cups of water. Bring to a boil and then simmer the beans for about two hours, checking frequently and adding more water if necessary. Then add a cup of brown rice, a sliced carrot or two, some diced onion, and one or two large or several small diced leaves from Tuscan kale or other greens. Add two more cups of water, any seasonings you are hankering for, and let it cook for another hour, checking occasionally. If you have a rice cooker of an old fashioned pot with a double decker steamer basket, add some more veggies and/or shrimp to the basket and check frequently. Remove the veggies as they become tender. The dirty rice is ready to serve as soon as the rice is tender.

For Rose Lovers

“Complete Roses” from the Creative Homeowner series might be just the book you have been waiting for. Lavishly illustrated from the front cover through nearly every page of the text, you are sure to find the perfect rose for that certain corner of your landscape. Unlike most rose tomes, this one advocates natural and nontoxic solutions for rose problems. You will find chapters on: types and uses of roses, how to improve your soil, selecting the right rose for your needs, companion plants for roses, caring for roses, controlling pests and disease, propagating your rose plants, as well as a gallery of easy care roses. The gallery includes the history of the various groups of roses, so even if you have plenty and are expert in their care, you might learn some great stories about where they originated and who developed them. “Complete Roses” would make a great coffee table book or a great gift; available from most on-line book sellers or by request from your favorite book stores. “Complete Roses,” by Field Roebuck, published by Creative Homeowner, 2007, ISBN 978-1-58011-372-4.

Published in The Two Rivers Tribune, March 2008, Copyright Harvest McCampbell

Please feel free to share a link to this or any article on my blog. Articles are alsoavailable for reprinting with written permission only. Please contact me at digging_the_dirt@yahoo.com for more information.

February in the Garden

Look closely and you will find flower buds slowly swelling on fruit trees, early spring bulbs, and some very brave perennials. Here in zone eight, February promises that spring is not too far away. It is still cool enough to plant bare root roses, fruit and nut trees, and other flowering ornamentals. Which, by the way, should be going on sale at bargain prices this month; because they need to get in the ground very soon. As the days lengthen, the bare root plants will begin to grow. If they are not able to sink new roots in soil, they will soon expend any stored energy. This will weaken the plants and some may not survive. Act fast and your bargain bare roots will thrive for many years.

It is time to Plant:

Bare Root Plants

When shopping for bare root plants make sure the stems, twigs, and buds look plump and healthy. Any growth of leaf or flower should be minimal, and it should not look wilted or limp. Bare root plants that look dry, are being stored indoors where it is warm, or that have extended much new growth are not really a bargain at any price. Dry or shriveled plants may already be dead. Those actively growing, especially if they are indoors where it is warm, may have already expended any reserves that they would need to adapt to their new environment. Plants that are plump looking but fully dormant or barely showing signs of spring life are the best bets.

Most bare root plants will come with labeling that lets you know what zones they are hardy in, whether they prefer sun, part sun, or shade, if they are drought tolerant or need regular irrigation, and other important information. Be sure to read the labels so you can plant them where they will get the exposure and the care or neglect they need. The labels should also explain how to care for your plants until you get them in the ground and that they need planted right away.

Most importantly, keep your bare root plants outside in a cool or cold spot, until you can get them into the ground, which needs to happen as soon as possible. If you must delay planting them a few days, open the packaging and check the saw dust or other packing material around the roots. It should be moist but not soggy. If it seems soggy, carefully poke some holes in the packaging, without damaging the roots, to allow air circulation. If the packaging material seems dry, poke a few holes in the bottom of the package for drainage, and slowly pour in enough water to moisten everything up.

The first opportunity you get, you will need to dig a hole for your new plant. Take the plant out of the package and carefully inspect the roots. If they are flexible and can be moved without breaking them, gently spread them out so you can get an idea of how wide and deep you should dig. You want the upper-most roots to end up about an inch or so under the surface of the soil, unless the package directs you otherwise. Soak the roots before planting by filling a bucket or other basin with cool to cold water and let them hydrate while you dig your hole.

Finished compost or planting mix can be sprinkled in the bottom of your hole and mixed into the dirt as you fill in around the roots. While many of our vegetables and annual flowers appreciate being planted over buried compost or manure--trees, shrubs, and woody perennials do not.

Careful attention to watering will be necessary for the first year for all bare root plants. They must grow new feeder roots to take up moisture and nutrients. Even drought tolerant varieties need to be watched closely through their first season. After a year or two you can expect them to behave just like any other well established plant in your garden.

Seeds to Start Now

Many seeds can be started indoors this month. Peppers, tomatoes, and gourds, which originated in warm climates benefit from a head start. They all need a warm bright spot to get going, and once they do start growing they may have to be moved up to larger containers before the weather turns warm enough to plant them outside. Those who can’t be bothered with setting up a special indoor germination area can always wait until spring and purchase starts; however, the best selection of varieties is available to those who start seeds.

Many cool season veggies can also be started now. Lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, sugar and snap peas, as well as scallions can be started in six packs—indoors or out, or direct seeded into containers or raised beds.

Don’t forget to plant some flowers! Pansies, violas, larkspur, and sweet peas can all get started right now. They can be planted just like the veggies mentioned above; in six packs, indoors or out, or directly into containers or raised beds.

Spring Planted Bulbs

Catalogs and garden centers are bursting with bulbs that can be planted from now through spring. These bulbs typically bloom from mid-summer through fall, depending on the variety. If you don’t already have gladiolas in your garden, now is the time to think about adding them. Glads are an old fashioned flower prized by gardeners over much of the world. They are available as heirlooms in many colors. There are also modern hybrids which include giant glads up to five feet tall, as well as miniatures and dwarfs that only reach two feet. (Tall varieties should be grown against a fence or wall, unless you are prepared to support them with stakes.) In climates colder than zone eight, Gladiolas must be dug up every fall and stored through the winter. Many people love them so much that they don’t mind this extra work. Unless you live above the snow line or in a particularly cold canyon, we can practically plant our glads and forget them. Our main gladiola worry is hungry gophers. If you have gophers you might want to protect your glads by planting them in buried hardware cloth baskets, in containers, or in raised beds. With nominal care, they will multiply year after year, providing plenty of flowers to attract humming birds and for arrangements.

Straw Bale Garden Report

I have read about straw bale gardens a number of times, and decided to give one a try. Last summer I bought a straw bale for the purpose (I also use them for mulch). I gave up on getting it moist enough to germinate seed after about a week. The straw seemed to resist soaking up water; and what little water it did soak up evaporated right away. I decided I would just let it sit there until fall and try again. (According to what I read, you are supposed to be able to use your straw bale garden for at least two years.) After our rains started in good, I went out to check on the bale. Low and behold, it had self sown parsnips germinating all over the top. I was pretty impressed. That is, until just recently; the middle of the straw bale as completely collapsed. Even though the cords are still in place, it now looks like a sprawled out “U” sprinkled with young parsnip seedlings. The straw in the middle section of the bale is almost completely decomposed. I am so glad I only tried this with one bale and didn’t really expect much from the experiment. Perhaps it works better in other climates, but this is one technique I am not going to recommend for here. (Hoopa, California)

[Note: I wrote this article Feb. '08, and I have since learned that I should have placed the bale so the stalks were perpendicular to the ground, not horizontal to the ground. It would have taken up water much more effectively this way. I am still no expert on straw bale gardening. Even if I had placed the bale more correctly, it may have rotted out in one season. However, this is a very good technique for areas with rocky or unworkable soil--so please don't be dissuade from trying it based on my lack of successful experience.]

Published in the Hoopa People News, 2.2008. Copyright Harvest McCampbell. Please feel free to share short excepts with a link back to the blog post. Written permission is required for any other use.

Tending Other Gardens

I want to tell you a story. It is a true story. It is a very personal story. Before I begin, I want to attract your attention to the subtitle of this blog. When I started this blog, a tad over six years ago, I described it thusly, “Here you will find thoughts, tips, book reviews, gossip, and scandalous secrets related to gardening, cooking, health, nutrition, politics and what ever else crosses my mind . . . Watch out!” (Ok—there is a grammatical error in there, it has been there for the last six years. It is going to stay. I have not changed the description since I first wrote it. I am not going to change it now.)

Now—even though the title of this blog, “Real Food & Scandalous Gardening Secrets,” and its description implies there might be controversial content, I have mostly stuck to fairly non-controversial gardening topics. This is because I get plenty of critical e-mail when I steer away from what my readers think is the straight and narrow. (But nary a word otherwise.) Hello!!??!! This is my blog after all. I am taking back my rights. You don’t have to like it. No amount of complaining e-mails will correct it for you. It is, my blog, after all.

This story is for my Sweet Sister, Lisa; and for all the rest of you who I already know I love, for those of you I am yet to know I love, and for those I am not yet evolved enough to figure out how to love—even though maybe I should.

Those of you who know me well, in real life or simply from my facebook page, are well aware of the accident I was in seven years ago. Since that accident I have suffered from involuntary muscle contractures. They are related to, but not as severe as, what is seen in stroke victims—when their hands and arms draw up in permanent contractures. In my case, these contractures affect small groups of muscle fibers, entire muscles, or small groups of muscles—instead of my entire arm, for instance. They occur, primarily, in my right arm and shoulder, the right side of my back and neck, my right hip, my right foot, and my right calf.

However they can roam around a bit just to keep things interesting. They are painful and disabling. I have learned that I can stretch them out—it takes time and concentration. So far they always reoccur. These muscle contractures are some of the weeds in my personal garden. Weeds are not all bad. Weeds are our teachers.

Now, I want you to know, that after seven years, I am so ready for this to change. So ready. But I had no Idea how to effect that change. I do understand a little something about the power of the mind. And I have slowly been recovering from the brain injury I sustained in the accident. My mind is beginning to remember what it is capable of doing; it is beginning to remember important lessons cultivated by important teachers.

Even though I don’t know how to effect the specific change I want, I know how to effect change. That requires changing thought. So I just started saying “Transformation.” “Transformation, transformation. I am in a transformation. I am transforming.” Maybe 100 times a day. Maybe 1,000 times a day. Over and over. I have been doing this for at least a month. Sometimes we need to persevere.

After the first few days (or maybe the first week) I started catching myself in negative thoughts. Negative thoughts about my speaking ability (the speech center of my brain was affected by the accident). Negative thoughts about how little I can accomplish in a day. Negative thoughts about how much pain I am in.

Negative thoughts about the unconscious awkward positions and movement of my hands or body, of my gait and posture when walking; which would signal any trained observer to the fact that I have neurological injuries. (I was a professionally trained dancer way back in the day. I was capable of grace. I was.) And more negative thoughts about my lack of smooth unconscious social skills. (I used to think the latter was a result of the brain injury; but now that my amnesia is improving, I have come to understand, that at least in part, it is actually a character defect. Sometimes amnesia is a sweet thing.) Transformation. Transformation, transformation. I planted new thought seeds. When I found myself thinking these negative thought weeds, I told myself to STOP. Just stop. I am in a transformation.

And then I caught myself telling a true story. I caught myself saying, “I get these involuntary muscle contractures.” It is a true story—but I started listening to myself say it. I started hearing my thoughts about it as I was trying to ignore the muscle contractures and get on with my day. I started listening to myself on those rare occasions when I told someone else about them. I started remembering all the times in the last seven years I have told this true story, to myself and others—and thinking about how much momentum and power that story has built up. How can anyone one possibly change, possibly heal with power like that standing in opposition. Oh man . . . Transformation, transformation. TRANSFORMATION. I am in a transformation.
Next, when I caught myself telling myself this story, I started changing it. It took me a few dozen versions of the story to come up with something that was still true, but not so stuck. I have been getting these muscle contractures, but it is going to change. . . . but I am in a transformation. . . . but I am going to improve. I changed my story, because I am in a transformation. And being in a transformation I am not going to be stuck. So I must change my story. And that is a choice. It is a choice I choose to make.

I changed my story, still not knowing what the solution is. But form follows thought. And so I changed. I still get the contractures. But now I notice them when they begin. I hit the floor (or wake up from sleep) and stretch. I rock them gently through their range of motion. I sweet talk them. I tell them that I love them and that they are going to heal. I tell them they do not need to be stuck in this painful miserable contractured life they are living. I tell them we are one body, one being, one life (related to that greater One) and I hold a vision of this body and its muscles in grace and dance working smoothly together. And I have started doing more dance stretches, a few dance movements, to turn on the music and in my current not so terribly graceful way, to remember (at least for a few moments) what it is like to let the music animate my body, to remember that physical joy.

I still get muscle contractures, but they are not as bad. I still am in pain, but it is not as bad. I don’t have any more use out of my day, because I am spending a lot of time putting those muscles ( gently and slowly) through their paces—and also lots of time holding a stretch and asking the muscles to let go. But I am getting stronger. In this work, both my body and mind are getting stronger. I am getting stronger and stronger ever day, in every way. In my body and in my mind. I am in a transformation.

But listen Lisa, listen Sisters, listen all of you who are my relatives, those I love and those I am not yet evolved enough to have learned how to love. What good is it if I am the only one getting stronger? What good is that?

We. We are getting stronger and stronger every day, in every way. In our bodies. In our health. In our care of our Mother, the sweet earth that supports us and who we are a part of. Stronger in our understanding and practice of democracy. We. We the people of this Sweet Earth are getting stronger and stronger, every day--in every good and healing way.

Plant the seeds. We have many kinds of gardens to tend.

Please feel free to join me on facebook, where the topics primarily are gardens, democracy, Indigenous rights, healing and health, natural living, and our beloved biosphere. https://www.facebook.com/harvest.mccampbell