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( 9alz of 11)
1. Peas don't care what we think, you cannot force most of them to germinate in summer conditions in full sun.
2. Even if it takes an hour or more or several days to prepare a spot for planting, do it. This time spent preparing the foundation for growth will be made up by the plant when you place it in more optimal growing conditions. Human days in a garden are counted as days even though we spend less than 24 hours in the garden each day. On the other hand, plant days are always 24 hours. Spend the time it takes to prepare the spot and mulch the seeds and plants. If you plant one thing per day, you could plant 30 in one month, which is a lot of veggies and probably more than the average gardener plants. Thus starting in March, April or May, you'll be finished long before July 1st. Then comes planting for Autumn, Winter and next Spring.
3. Start preparing spots in Autumn and then simply cover them with decomposing material, then when it's time to use that spot, you'll only have to do some light soil loosening.
4. June Bugs (Japanese beetles) do not prefer the garden plants we want to eat. They prefer naturally growing plants. On two occasions now I have seen these beetles skip my garden plants and choose milkweed. To solve or minimize Japanese beetle problems, plant milkweed near or in and among your garden. Also plants roses.
5. Greens will still grow in full sun and will not bolt if you continuously harvest the outer few layers of leaves on some plants and harvest the entire plant for other species, while leaving the roots.
6. You might as well dedicate 30 to 45 days to Squash Bug and Vine Borer Season. Check plants at least every other day. Spray the soil and mulch around the plants with a heavy dose of water and look for bugs moving to higher ground. Pick them off and put them in a bowl of soapy water. Then use a spray bottle with slightly soapy water and spray the stems and look for bugs, then check the front and back of each leaf. I found maybe a dozen bugs but no eggs. I wonder if either the male or female arrives first and the other partner comes later when the signal is sent out? Last time I checked I found none, so now I'm checking every three to four days.
7. Avoid powdery mildew problems by making sure there is sufficient air flow at all levels of the garden. Do not water in the evening or at night.
8. It is my contention that a garden that has to be watered a lot by humans is a garden that has not been setup for success in the long-term nor in the most efficient optimal way. Manual water should only be necessary in limited circumstances, but not as a general rule year after year after year. Re-solve the water problem. Likewise we must solve the nutrient problem and not make it complicated or turn it into some kind of precise mix of nutrients we must add. Add natural sources of nutrients that must decompose, thus require other creatures. RE-solve the nutrient problem overall and not on a plant by plant basis.
9. There are many seeds when directly sown in the garden that will have early germinators, average germinators and late bloomers that will germinate several days or weeks after all the rest. Thus, don't assume all is lost too soon.
10. Onion sets always get me excited and going early in the season, then they worry me to death because they all start going to seed before I can eat them. Divide onion sets in groups that will be planted weekly over several weeks or monthly over several months and keep them in the refrigerator. These sets can be planted spring through autumn. Try not to plant onion sets as a separate garden bed but rather in between other plants. Same for radishes. Same for fast growing greens that can be frequently harvested. Use them as fillers between larger plants.
Someone said onion sets will not grow into big bulbs. I have found this to not be true if the onions are thickly mulched and grown in an area where it does not get full sun or the full number of direct sunlight hours. This keeps the soil cool, moist and delays the plant going to seed, thus energy must be directed to the bulb. The onions might not grow massive but they will grow several times their original size. When the tops fall over and begin to yellow, the onion has grown as big as it's going to. If the onion goes to seed, it has received too much sun; therefore do plant some onions in full sun in order to get some seeds; however, usually, some are going to go to seed even in partially shaded areas.
11. Don't worry or stress about having trellises for every climbing plant or even for tomatoes. The plants will still grow and produce. You just have to take your time when harvesting especially if you have to lift the plant as in the case of peas and beans.
12. Tomato plants were designed to sprawl across the ground, not grow straight up.
13. Resist the urge to place seeds and plants too close to obstructions such as fences or perennials that are going to have a rapid growth spurt and overwhelm the younger plant. Give them several inches so they can spread out, as they always do rapidly and take up all the space we thought was wasted. In the meantime, plant fast growing plants in those in between space or plants that can tolerate being shaded. This little bit of planning will save a lot of time, troubles and allow for greater abundance through more optimal use of space.
14. Plant more than you think you want because for various reason some will not make it to the finish line. This then will allow you to relax when a plant underperforms or succumbs.
15. If your ego wants you to look like a pro, plant lots of things in the squash, zucchini, pumpkin, gourd family and directly sow the seeds. Plant mostly perennials.
16. As mentioned above, when planting plants or seeds and you've finished, think about something else you can plant in the same space. Sprinkle some seeds of cool season crops in the same space and see what happens. Mulch lightly until the seeds sprout.
17. Always plant two or more things in the same space. This will help keep you in an ecosystem mindset.
18. Don't worry about plant spacing too much in relation to each other, but do give more consideration to how the plants will grow and the space they need to expand, thus consider fences, nearby plants that might not like the company, encroachment into walkways and into areas where you, yikes, cut the grass. Otherwise for instance, as long as the soil is healthy, thus full of nutrients, plants will still grow and produce when planted closely. Consider what we see in nature in fields and around bushes and trees and when two or more trees grow closely with little to no spacing.
19. It's all good. Consider planting more by scattering and broadcasting seeds rather than placing them one by one in row or some other configuration. You will continue to learn about the relative importance of a lot of stuff we do.
20. The more naturally growing plants you allow to grow in your yard and garden and reach maturity, the more prosperous your garden will be. This is guaranteed via diversity.
21. Gardening is not an intellectual head game designed for the arrogant to strut their tailfeathers of knowledge. Instead gardening is for those who seek to live in harmony and remain humble.
22. Recycle as much as possible, because if not, you are missing the fundamental truth of what gardening is about.
23. A neat trick of gardening is to try not to be so neat. It is both a freak of nature and a contradiction to want a yard that looks city or suburbanly acceptable and also want a garden that does not mimic a natural setting, yet want a healthy organic garden and produce from it.
24. Although it might not be possible immediately, depending on our situation, plants and seeds are at their optimal best when they live in the ground. This will greatly reduce the work of us gardeners because we have connected the plant with the ecosystem at the fundamental level in the fundamental way.
25. There has never been a year where give and take doesn't occur. Things I plant don't grow and things I didn't plant do grow. Gardens will guide and teach you when you commune with them spiritually. Even by using the things we think are on the most hated nemesis list.
26. Follow your spirit and do things that seem right to you. The worst that can happen is you don't learn anything. This will never occur if your intention is to learn.
27. Keep planting, making adjustments and trying again all year long. If you have seeds already or when you get seeds in foods from the grocery store, put those seeds in the ground at any time of the year, including winter. You'll be surprised and greatly rewarded as to what happens when we give seeds a chance and then get out of the way and let nature do its thing, including deciding when to awaken the seeds.
28. Continuously move towards planting more edible perennials and learning how to allow plants to self-seed.
29. Don't ignore the space under trees. Don't hesitate to trim off the lower branches of non-edible bushes and plant something shade tolerant.
30. As you move about and feel like you've got garden clout or feel the need to shout, pout, doubt or act out, never forget what the garden is really about.
Let me help you out. We are the least in the kingdom as is every individual thing not functioning harmoniously. Thus we must remain humble in order to access the fullness of greatness of self and all else.
31. There is no way to garden without getting a lot of help from the ecosystem; therefore ask for help through the intentions of your spirit. Ask for help from family, friends, neighbors and craigslist. Ask for things they might throw away or no longer use. Be specific instead of always running out to buy something. In fact, purchasing things should be the last option. And if necessary to do so, look for cheap purchase options and places. Understand clearly that the ecosystem gardens on its own without purchasing a damn thing. If you got out of the way in your yard and garden, the ecosystem would grow a lot of plants in the same space year after year. To really be highly attuned as gardeners we must move towards the same understandings of how to more optimally use what we have and what others have, human and non-human.You must ask yourself. "Is what I'm doing sustainable?" What if I can no longer get this item from a store? Will my garden suffer greatly?
32. The soil is an interconnected networks of brains and minds that form one large brain and mind. I see the actions of creatures above and below the soil. I see pollinators behaving as mixologists. I see seeds and plants emerging to fill spaces as soon as conditions change. I see nature doing gardening all around me as I fumble around trying to force things into and out of the ground. I am more productive when I don't make a sound, stand down and sit down in the garden in various locations at different times of the day and slowly look around. This is where many lessons can be found.
33. Simplify. Don't make it complicated as to when to plant and what to plant and how to start seeds and how to transplant seeds and how to propagate plants and how to mulch, water, fertilize, weed, care for the plant, harvest, remember all the exact names of plants and how to trellis and build mounds and what techniques to use for what plants and a whole bunch of stuff that people do that might work for them but fundamentally nature does not do. Every little extra unnecessary we do adds up. Simplify, such as directly compost by throwing kitchen scraps on the ground in garden beds or under trees and bushes. You will have to make adjustments for your situation but simplify as much as possible and don't worry about making all these special concoction fertilizer teas and dry mixes. If you like doing a lot, go for it. But if you don't you don't have to if you learn to start with your current situation and learn to work with it doing the least necessary to accomplish the goals you have set, which hopefully are healthy spiritually based ecosystem goals.
34. Regarding watering, it's not simply a matter of humans watering gardens. When it rains the atmospheric conditions are different than when humans water. Therefore, rain contains different elements, thus plants and soil organisms respond differently. The goal is to optimize rain, humidity, condensation and water table. This is re-solving the water problem. See UC#2187 for a fuller explanation and search water this weblog.
35. To be updated as more lessons emerge.
