Gardening: berries, root veggies, flowers, trees - 2019!

[alanjh595]

The growing medium (dirt) is the problem. You need to have a soil analysis done and fertilize accordingly.
Cherry tomatoes are easy to grow, they are a great "beginners" fruit to start out with.

[alanjh595]

Peppers–sweet peppers and hot peppers–share nearly all of the cultural and growing requirements of tomatoes.
If you can grow tomatoes, you can grow peppers.

Choose a site with full sun where the soil is moisture retentive but well-draining. If you are planting sweet peppers and hot peppers in the garden, give them some distance they can cross pollinate.

The larger the fruit, the larger the attention required. Growing peppers and the larger varieties of tomatoes requires a great deal of attention to the conditions in which they are grown.

Peppers and tomatoes do best in full sun and more water/fertilizer to the roots. They also need room to grow. They don't do nearly as well in small gardens or containers. Cherry tomatoes do okay in containers, so long as they are fertilized properly, over a longer time. Whereas, lettuce needs a cooler location with partial sun. I have found that a Western exposure that is void of reflective heat is best.

[Catsumi]

I normally purchase red, green and yellow peppers from a grower here in Vernon. In a few days will know how his crops (normally high yield, cheap) performed this year. (Vernon, center of Universe). I have found these plants very finicky so gave up growing them myself.

Cleaned and chopped up, they freeze just fine for winter use in steak stew.

My toms did just fine but zuc faltered in last 2 weeks or so. All are in full sun. Watering was iffy.

[Iamsomeone]

Does anyone have tips for making leaf mold?

I'm giving it a try this year by mixing my shredded leaves and grass clippings into an organized pile. I also add my coffee grounds.

I just turned my pile and feel like it's decomposing nicely but would love to hear from others who have tried it.

[Queen K]

You have to make sure it stays wet but not sopping wet. Add worms. Keep turning to make sure the edges get in the center for further composition.

[Iamsomeone]

Thanks Queen K. I've been keeping it moist but haven't added worms. We seem to have lots in our garden and I figure they will eventually make their way there for a party!

One thing I've tried to google without much success is how often to turn it. Some sites say it's good to add air and other sites say it's good to let it sit and heat up.

I have it between 3 pallets and would be happy to fluff it every day (it's a good work out for the abs!) but some sites I'm reading suggest that turning it every couple days doesn't give it a chance to get the heat up. Any thoughts?

[Queen K]

I stopped turning mine every day but I'm so busy these days it's lucky to get turned at all right now. Heat is good to germinate unwanted seeds which always manage to make it into composts. You want pathogens to be burned out too.

[Iamsomeone]

Ya I think tossing it every day is probably too much. Maybe once a week would be enough.

On the plus side, if I'm able to shred my leaves this fall, I'll save at least 20 plastic bags of leaves going to the landfill. My impetus for finally trying leaf mold this year was a promise to myself to be kinder to the earth and use less plastic. Every little bits helps I hope.

[alanjh595]

"Shredding" leaves, before composting is not healthy for the "heap".

A compost heap needs aeration, ergo, the need to "toss" it over. If you layer the compost heap with layers that will provide air movement with layers that don't, it will be a much healthier heap, with much less physical work.

For example:
Putting in too much grass clippings will create heat and will not allow air flow.

Adding an alternating layer of course in between layers of fines will be better, much less work and much better reusable compost. There is no harm in adding small tree branches in between layers of leaves and clippings. They are easy to remove and reuse for the next batch.

There is no harm in adding crumpled newspaper, coffee grounds and the filters, (paper, after all, is just trees), avoid using the glossy printed junk mail.

Corn husks are GREAT, all the vines and stalks from the gourds, and the tops of the spuds and tomatoes work great too. Don't shred them, just use them as is. Fruit cores, apples, peaches, cherries, etc, also work great.

NO MEATS of any kind.

[Queen K]

I am completely restying my front yard and look this year so may be forced to take things out early for the new fencing and gate I want installed.

Having said that, I am headed out to remove more plants and bulbs from around what will be the new deck area.

[Iamsomeone]

"Shredding" leaves, before composting is not healthy for the "heap".

A compost heap needs aeration, ergo, the need to "toss" it over. If you layer the compost heap with layers that will provide air movement with layers that don't, it will be a much healthier heap, with much less physical work.

For example:
Putting in too much grass clippings will create heat and will not allow air flow.

Adding an alternating layer of course in between layers of fines will be better, much less work and much better reusable compost. There is no harm in adding small tree branches in between layers of leaves and clippings. They are easy to remove and reuse for the next batch.

There is no harm in adding crumpled newspaper, coffee grounds and the filters, (paper, after all, is just trees), avoid using the glossy printed junk mail.

Corn husks are GREAT, all the vines and stalks from the gourds, and the tops of the spuds and tomatoes work great too. Don't shred them, just use them as is. Fruit cores, apples, peaches, cherries, etc, also work great.

NO MEATS of any kind.

Thanks for that alan. Lots of useful info in your post.

I'm not actually making compost yet but that might be next. I'm just making leaf mold which is limited to leaves, some grass, coffee and newspaper.

I'm also trying to have my leaf mold be ready for use in one year hence why the need to shred the leaves. (We just mow them up to shred.) If I was to add stems, etc., it wouldn't break down in a year.

I found a small corner of my yard to make a coral from 3 pallets ziptied together (free and not permanent just in case my leaf mold experiment doesn't work). I figure this year's leaves will make it 1/2 full so that's why I need the leaves to break down fast.

If it works like I'm hoping, I'll never have to bag leaves and take them to the dump again. And I'll get some great soil additive too.

[alanjh595]

Why not put the leaves directly back on top of your gardens at the end of the year? Leaves are good for gardens, not so good for lawns.

[Iamsomeone]

^^From what I've read, if you were to just dig the whole leaves into the soil, it may block the water from getting into the soil. It takes a couple years for the whole leaves to break down so whole leaves in the soil aren't great. Shredded leaves, after they break down a bit, will add good nutrients to the soil without blocking water. At least that's what I understand from all the youtube vids I've seen and what I've read.

[alanjh595]

Put the leaves on at the end of this season and turn them under at the start of next.

[Iamsomeone]

Ya depending how well they break down this year I may just shred them next year and do just what you said - pile them on the garden over winter and dig them in in spring. They need to be fairly decomposed though before digging into the flower bed otherwise they'll do more harm than good.

I'm keeping them in a separate pile this year because I'm not sure how long it will take to break down. I guess I'll find out next spring!