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Used to be anybody could farm.

All you needed was a strong back. . .

however nowadays you need a good education to understand all the advice
you get so you can pick out what’ll do you the least harm.
Vermont saying, mid-1900s

Although we focus on the critical role soils play in growing crops, it’s important to keep in mind that soils also serve other important purposes. Soils govern what percent of the rainfall runs off the field, as compared to the percent that enters the soil and eventually helps recharge underground aquifers. When a soil is denuded of vegetation and it starts to degrade, excessive runoff and flooding are more common.

Soils also absorb, release, and transform many different chemical compounds. For example, they help to purify wastes flowing from the septic system drain in your back yard. Soils also provide habitats for a diverse group of organisms, some of which are very important such as with those bacteria that produce antibiotics.

Soil organic matter stores a huge amount of atmospheric carbon. Carbon, in the form of carbon dioxide, is a greenhouse gas associated with global warming. We also build roads and buildings on soils; some are definitely better than others for this purpose.

The organisms living in the soil, both large and small, play a significant role in maintaining a healthy soil system and healthy plants.Some soil organisms can harm plants either by causing disease or by being parasites.

In other words, there are “good” as well as “bad” bacteria, fungi, nematodes, and insects. One of the goals of agricultural production systems should be to create conditions that enhance the growth of beneficial organisms, which are the vast majority, while decreasing populations of those few that are potentially harmful.

Human beings have been harvesting plants for food, medicines, and other purposes for over 9,000 years. This has resulted in extensive depletion of carbon and essential plant nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium from the soil.

Begin by Feeding the Soil with Organic Matter

To enhance the soil and its surrounding landscape, cover crops create numerous synergistic and beneficial effects. Mostly because they produce carbohydrates from sunlight, water and CO2 (photosynthesis), and their residues are largely returned to the field, they will feed and energize a living, breathing soil containing everything from one-celled bacteria, to foot-long nightcrawlers.

Initially, it is primarily the soil micro-organisms (bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes) that devour easily digestible simple sugars and proteins from freshly incorporated plant residues. These materials, which contain high levels of nitrogen, as well as some phosphorus, potassium, and other essential nutrients, are then immediately available for subsequent crop plants.

The results will contribute to a more stable, humus portion of soil organic matter, and remain a part of the soil for a much longer time.

As soil microbes digest organic matter, they produce complex sugars known as polysaccharides, which are glue-like substances that cement soil particles into aggregates or “crumbs.” This crumb structure, along with the build-up of stable organic matter, leads to improved water and nutrient-holding capacity and to water infiltration. The soil begins to take on a spongy quality and is less prone to compaction.

Nitrogen can also be replenished in the soil by growing legumes such as vetch, peas, or clover; all of which support specialized bacteria known as rhizobia on their roots. The legumes provide the rhizobia with carbohydrates, and in return the rhizobia provide the legumes and the surrounding soil with nitrogen from the air.

Many other nutrients may be deficient because they are unavailable to most crops in their current form in the soil. Deep-rooted cover crops such as sweetclover and alfalfa can mine calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and other nutrients from deeper depths and transport them to the surface for future crops.

Cover Crop References:
Managing Cover Crops Profitably, 2nd edition.
USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Program (1998)

Do you remember when you were a child when a couple of seeds, a scoopful of soil, and the use of a Dixie Cup were the raw materials that were used in the introduction to the delights of growing plants.

Container Gardening- So many ideas!!!
We tend to think of a garden as something only set into the ground, however gardening in containers — pots, boxes, baskets, etc—provides a host of new pleasures, from the creative to the practical.

In today’s world the gardener, using containers provides as many opportunities for creativity and experimentation as the ground-level garden. It comes with many important advantages. no land is required, container gardening is ideally suited for apartment, townhouse and condo living and anyone else without a lot of space—there’s always room for a pot or two on a patio, roof or balcony.

Containers are portable: they can be moved easily from one part of your space to another, and from one home to another whenever you move. Containers are flexible; they can be arranged to for easy reach, making them accessible for young children, or the elderly and especially those with physical challenges—a wheelchair. or for climatic conditions they can be nurtured right in the pots.

And finally, container gardening makes it possible for dedicated gardeners to feed their passion all year round, in every season and climatic zone.

What Grows in a Container Garden?
OR What doesn’t?” A huge variety of flowers, herbs and vegetables can be grown in containers. You can grow your own salad by planting lettuce, herbs, tomatoes, and carrots in a single large pot; or try a “pizza or salsa garden” of tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, oregano and basil!

Choosing a Container: Materials and Size
The spectrum of potential containers is nearly as wide as the choice of plants. Terracotta pots, wicker baskets, wooden boxes whiskey barrels, , wheelbarrows.

Whatever you use, just make sure the container has at least one drainage hole. If your container does not have one, just drill one yourself.

When choosing a container for a particular plant, the prime consideration is height: the container must be deep enough to allow for proper root development. Depths of 8 to 10 inches are essential if you’re planting beets, short carrots, onions, lettuce, leeks, turnips, kohlrabi, corn and zucchini, and 10 to 12 inches for broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and sweet potatoes.

With flowers and herbs, let the plant’s size at maturity be your guide for size of container needed. Keep in mind that bulbs need at least 2 inches of soil below them for the roots to grow.

Starting Your Herb Garden
How to Grow Herbs
First decide on the size; this will depend on the number of varieties you choose to grow. A kitchen garden can be planted into individual 12×18″ pots, or into windowboxes where you can easily snip them with abandon when you fire up the stove or dress a salad. You will find that herbs yield abundant harvests all season if you tend to thier basic need for good fertile soil and adequate moisture.An important factor in growing successful herbs is good drainage. A light well drained soil is best for starting seeds indoors, be careful not to cover the seeds to deeply with soil. Keep the seeds moist during germination and water with a fine spray to prevent washing away of the soil.Select a south or west window when growing herbs indoors. You can use grow lamps or fluorescent lamps to supplement the light. When planting, mix 2 parts potting soil and 1 part coarse perlite, there should be an inch of gravel on the bottom of each container to ensure good drainage. Highly fertile soil will produce excessive amounts of foliage with poor flavor.

Harvesting Herbs
Drying and Storage of Herbs
Most herbs are at their peak flavor just before flowering, so this is a good time to collect them for drying and storage. Cut off leaves at the stems, with cold water rinse off any soil and dust, wash herbs thoroughly, then place them on absorbent towels or hang plants upside down in sunlight until all water evaporates. Strip leaves off the stalks once plants have drained and dried, remove all blossoms. Herbs MUST be completely dried before storage. Herbs with high moisture, such as mints and basils need rapid drying or they will mold. To retain some green leaf coloring, dry in the dark by hanging plants upside down in bunches in paper bags. Hanging leaves down allows essential oils to flow from stems to leaves. Tie whole stems very tightly in small bunches, individual stems will shrink and fall. Hang in a dark, warm, 70 to 80 degree F well-ventilated area. Leaves are ready when they feel dry and crumbly in 1-2 weeks. Once you are sure that the herbs are completely dry, place them in the airtight containers, and store them in a cool, dry place away from light. Never use paper or cardboard containers for storage as they will absorb the herbs aromatic oils.

Slugs have been the bane of gardeners since gardening began. They thrive in cool moist soil, the very same soil that the seedlings and young tender plants they eat thrive in. Unfortunately there is not really anything out that will eliminate slugs altogether. There is hope with several techniques that can be employed to protect your garden from these pests, and minimize the damage these beasts can wreak on your garden. First try Snail tape, it serves as a barrier. It is tape of elemental copper backing mat holds a natural mild electrical charge that slugs and snails will not cross. This tape only works well on a raised bed or container garden. Lay this tape on the outside edges of your garden. Another option for those who like to organic garden, and recycle, are a barrier of various organic materials: crushed eggshells, ash, soot. Smooth a line a few inches wide around the area you want to protect. Apply a two-inch wide line of this around it. Another way is to use these next hints together. Tapping slugs as the first thing I ever learned about gardening from my grandfather. Place beer containers all around your garden, then gather up a few tubs, like margarine or yogurt containers. Bury these between your rows, so that the edges are about an inch up off the soil. This will keep beetles out, since beetles eat slugs, we want these beetles safe. When the slugs climb in they get stuck and die without any food. Baiting is broken down into several categories. There are many commercially available with baits and poisons, most contain aluminum sulfate, they might be worth looking into but are not the only option. Slugs like to eat where it is dark and moist, try placing lettuce leaves between your rows, then each morning go out with tongs and a bucket of salt water and flip over the lettuce and gather the pests up, or use a few squares of wet cardboard or old wet carpet strips, same thing each morning go out and turn over and collect the slugs. Collection will not eliminate the slugs, but combined with baiting it will help a lot. Also, slugs do have natural enemies. Frogs and toads love slugs. 

What techniques have you used to minimize these awful pests? 

The question is which Vegetable or Herb do I want to eat or enjoy, now and for the winter months? This sounds pretty simple, and yet it’s not. If you are planting a vegetable garden, will you be eating them all now, or will you be freezing or canning? 

Have you ever known anyone that has zucchini –lot’s and lot’s of zucchini that they are giving away, at the end of the season?  We try to grow what we know we will enjoy in the season and can be frozen for winter good eating, as well as trying a few new items. 

Corn, Green Beans, Beats, Peas, Onions are just a few to mention that you can enjoy all year. Tomatoes are great for salsas, freezing (stewed or sauce). From this you can make great stews, spaghetti sauce, and so many tasty treats in the winter. Pumpkin and or Squash can be blended for freezing as well. If you have onion and peppers left from your plants, dice each of them up and freeze in freezer zip lock bags until you need them. You can blanch peppers for later, then make stuffed peppers, or chili or? We enjoy so much all the flavors of our summer garden all year long. We find that when the winter months are upon us and the market just does not have the greatest produce, we can just go our freezer and make great items for our meals. For the Herbs, now that is another story to be told. You can grow any of our herbs, dry them and place them in an airtight container. 

Let us know what you have done with your vegetables after the season. 

Greetings!

Allow us to present to you 2B Seeds’ Ask the Gardener blog. Here, we’re going to be giving out top notch, professional gardening advice, matched to the changing growing seasons, and perfect for the improvement of your home garden.

2B Seeds Founders, Dan and Linda Busch, have been working in the professional gardening world nearly all of their adult lives, and this is where they will be reaching out to their customers who need to ask the advice of a professional gardener. Got a question about sowing seeds, zonal conditions, pest control, harvesting your vegetables? Simply comment to us on any of the informative gardening posts you’ll find here to ask your question and we’ll get back to you with a prompt, professional answer.

We’re so looking forward to hearing from you!

*As an aside, we’re transferring over some questions from our old Ask the Gardener web page for incoporation into this blog. We feel that our blog will be such a fantastic way for folks to have a conversation with us, and wanted to get the ball rolling this way!