A Good Support System

One thing caught my eye during a recent assignment at the Bellevue Demo Garden..... the amazing variety of ways to create a support structure for your growing vegetables.  Take a look at these ideas.... all of which can be done with just odd bits and pieces you have around your home.
Here's a simple one that just uses some odd poles and string.....

Here's another idea...... a bit of scrap wire fencing bent over and given a little support on each end with some PVC piping and a "spine" of wood along the top......

Or how about this one?  Four poles in the corners and two layers of old fencing set up like layers of a cake (not my best photo, sorry..... look for the little blue ribbons to spot the layered mesh)....

Here's another variation on the layered cake idea..... this time with an old crate..... and a little plastic turns it into a snug little greenhouse/cloche for the emerging seedlings.  Also notice the little metal frame in front of it..... looks like an old shelving unit with the glass removed.

If you're into Dahlias, they require a more robust support system.  Umpteen old handles from worn out tools will do......

Into teepees and wig wams?  How about this one?

Got an old headboard from a bed?  Great way to keep stuff out of a landfill and add some whimsy to your garden....

In to camping?  The next two photos show examples of the "tent" approach.  Lean two segments of old wire fencing together and secure at the top..... voila!

Finally, if you're in to woodworking and want to go a little more up scale and "formal" you could build something like this..... very spiffy.

So, there you have it.  Umpteen ideas for your consideration.  Hope your veggies grow strong and tall!

What support set-ups do you have in your garden?  Using any interesting materials?  Got any you'd like to share?

Get Your Booties On!

Last weekend I paid a visit to the Bellevue Demo Garden to learn how to thin apple trees and protect them from Apple Maggot Flies and Coddling Moth.

Larry Davis was my tutor..... a member of the Fruit Tree Society he really knows his stuff and quickly got me up and running on how it's all done.  There are a number of apple trees at the demonstration garden, two of them espaliers, two columnar and one in the traditional form.
First thing to do is find a cluster of set fruit.  Ideally the fruit should be about the size of the top of your finger, but you can do the thinning and put the booties on if the fruit are a little smaller, like the ones shown below.

With your cluster identified, take a look at each fruit and identify the most vigorous fruit of the bunch (this is called the King fruit).  It'll be the one with the thickest stem.  When you find it, trim off all the others.  Yes, that seems like a total waste doesn't it?  I thought the same thing, but Larry assured me that it's better to do this than the alternative.  The fruit that remains after your thinning won't have to compete for resources, so will have every opportunity to attain its full potential.  Studies have shown a domesticated tree's productive yield is higher for trees that are thinned than from those that are not, and trees that are not thinned will, year-over-year, set less fruit as it weakens from the extended demands..... so don't chicken out.... prune them out!

Now it's time to put the booties on.  Larry handed me a plastic bag full of what looked like tiny panty hose!  Hilarious!

Actually, these Maggot Barriers are specifically made for the task - you can buy them online from any reputable gardening resource, like Territorial Seed for example. 
The barriers are small, tube-like lengths of hose, sewn closed at one end.   Each one, when stretched out lengthwise is about 8"-10" long.......

.........and when stretched out wide can cover an object about the size of a tennis ball.  If you have old panty hose lying around you can recycle them - just cut them up into lengths and tie a knot in one end - one less thing going into a landfill (thank you, thank you!), but I doubt you'll have enough old panty-hose to support the task, so be prepared to go buy a bag of the booties.

With a bootie in hand, stretch it lengthwise and widthwise to open it up, and then place it over the singled out fruit, leaving about half of the tube extending out past the fruit (to accommodate the fruit as it grows).  With the fruit covered, pinch your fingers around the base of the fruit and with your other hand, twist the remaining end of hose into a rope-like strand and carefully wrap it around the stem of the branch without mangling any leaves in the process.  This will hopefully keep it secure if it gets windy, or a bird or other critter comes along and tries to investigate.

That's it!  Rinse and repeat for however many clusters of fruit you have on your tree. 

Ideally your bootied fruit should be about 6" apart or greater, so each fruit gets maximum exposure.  If you have a few clusters growing close really together you'll need to decide which one to sacrifice (which in this case means pruning off ALL the fruit in the cluster).  Take into consideration the size of the mature fruit.... you may be able to cut that 6" distance down a little bit if you've got a species of Apple that's small.

Keep in mind you may not be able to complete your thinning/booting all in one day because:

a) it's a time consuming task and you may have a heavily laden tree, or multiple trees to manage

b) some fruit clusters may not be ready (big enough) to thin, so you'll have to come back each week for a few weeks and repeat the process until all the clusters have set.

Here's an idea...... if you've got a gardening friend who also has Apple trees, maybe you can offer to help them do theirs if they come and help you do yours.  Having a friend to natter with while you get the job done will make it more fun, and the job will get done more quickly.

Larry said booties aren't necessary for Pear trees so just go at it for your Apples, then sit back and look forward to your bounteous harvest next Fall.

Now you could abandon the idea of doing the bootie bit and once you've done your thinning go the chemical route to protect your crop, but I strongly recommend you avoid that.  You'll miss a golden opportunity to brag about how you're implementing an Integrated Pest Management plan in your garden, and you'll be able to go to sleep at night proudly knowing you were a little kinder to our planet.  Thank you! 

CUH: Tomatoes - Part 2

Went back to the CUH last Saturday to transplant the tomato seedlings to bigger pots.  Was curious to see how things would pan out having done a transplanting exercise at Salt Box Farm using seedlings grown in individual plugs, and we were now up against doing the transplanting from trays containing 100 of the little guys all nestled together.

First of all..... after just two weeks the seedlings were a good 2" - 2 1/2" high and looking vigorous.  Tells you what good germination conditions can produce!  Consistent 85F and moisture and voila! 

I found the best way to get a seedling safely out of the tray and into the bigger pot was to use a spoon and pretty much scoop it out.

I could see that if we hadn't been diligent in seeding in careful rows, this step would be a real pain.  Instead, they went into the pots pretty easily, so with a bunch of us cranking away at it......

...... we were able to transplant a whole lot of seedlings in about 4 hours - about 1900 to be exact.  Had to leave about 600 for the Bellevue Demo Garden to take care of..... all of us were worn out!

These 4" pots will be sold for $2.00 each at the upcoming Master Gardener Plant Sale, to be held at the Center for Urban Horticulture on May 7th and 8th.   Mark your calendars!  With three more weeks of ideal growing conditions and tender loving care from diligent Master Gardeners, they'll be good and ready for anyone's kitchen garden.  Umpteen varieties to choose from.... oh my!

That concludes my seeding/transplanting activities.  Time to move on and seek out other interesting topics for my remaining garden assignments.  Would like to learn more about managing fruit trees/canes .....

April Clinic at the BDG

On Saturday, April 9th I headed off to the Bellevue Demo Garden (BDG) for my 2nd year internship's first clinic.   Daffies were busting out all over...... spring is definitely springing at the BDG!

As you know from an earlier post I requested a transfer to the Bellevue Demonstration Garden for my clinic rotations.  Right off the bat I noticed the difference....... so much more my thing!  I was able to get up and walk around.  When things were slow I hung out in the garden with the other Master Gardeners and got to watch them in action/ask questions, and when it got even quieter (from a clinic perspective) I was invited to go and sit in on the Saturday workshop up at the Ranger Station.   They were discussing how to design/build cold frames - got to see recycling in action big time.... amazing what you can use to build a cold frame with..... old windows and sliding glass doors, decking, electrical conduit, PVC piping, used rebar, basement window well covers.... the list goes on!

Back at the clinic, we had a visitor with an interesting question..... "where can I buy burlap socks and organic straw - I want to make a raised bed?"  Here's an example of what she's trying to do...... obviously this photo shows it being done on a big scale, but you get the idea....

Well I've heard of burlap SACKS, but not burlap SOCKS.  I suggested she save her $$$ and get her sacks for free (told her about my recent Starbucks adventure), then cut them in half and sew up the side and voila... SOCKS galore!  Organic straw?  Mmmmmm, I'm thinking organic farms would have plenty of the stuff. 

Luckily it didn't rain, even though it looked like the skies would open up and dump on us at any minute.   Got to spend some of the quiet time reading bits of this book from the clinic library cart.........

.....suffice to say..... I think it's a real winner!  The price on the back showed $18.95, and based on the small amount of the book I got to read on Saturday I could already tell it was good money well spent!   Even though the title appears to be very focused on vegetable gardening, the contents looked applicable to a more broad audience.  Soil preparation/recipes for making your own to save $$$, seeding tips the average gardener doesn't know, how to be a smart buyer when purchasing potted starts/plants (how the nurseries make a potted plant look good for sale, when in fact it might not be a healthy choice).... all kinds of good stuff.  Detailed explanations that tell me the whys of things, and not just what to go and do...... I like that in a book.  I highly recommend you go find a copy and check it out for yourself. 

On one particular walkabout I learned how to speed up the composting process and get quicker benefit from the results.  As you know, compost piles need good doses of air to do their thing.  So, when you rotate the pile, why not sift some of it out and take the bits that are ready for your garden, and put the remainder back to keep breaking down?  Sifting adds plenty of air (ask any baker!) so you're really doing your compost pile a good service.  I've always sat and waited for the entire pile to get good and ready, not realizing it's already there for the taking if I need it.  The sieve you see here is just a simple wooden frame with some fine wire mesh tacked on the bottom.... worked like a charm.

So, it looks like I made the right decision to switch clinics.  If you're an up-and-about type person like me who doesn't sit well, the BDG clinic will give you what you need, and make your clinic rotations a much more enjoyable experience.  Now I'm looking forward to the next one rather than dreading it.  :)