PlanterTomato Vegetable Gardening

Identifying Honey Bee Flower Sources By Pollen Color

Honey bees forage for both nectar and pollen.  The nectar is the bees source of energy while the pollen is consumed because it is a source of protein and other nutrients. 

Honey bees gather pollen and in "pollen baskets" on their hind legs that are actually small concave areas surrounded by hair-like bristles called setae.  As the bee forages, pollen grains collect on its head.  The bee then uses its front legs to transfer the pollen to the pollen baskets.  A pollen basket filled with yellow pollen can clearly be seen on the hind leg of the photo shown below.

You may have noticed that the color of the pollen basket varies.  I've seen colors including light yellow, dark yellow, orange and red.  However, depending on the specie of plant from which the bees are collecting the pollen, the pollen basket can appear white or even dark blue. 

If you're curious about the plant species from which your bees are collecting nectar and pollen, its possible to identify them by checking the color of the pollen basket and knowing what species might be in bloom at the time. For example, pollen from pear trees is reddish yellow, while that from borage is blueish grey and pollen from buckwheat is light green. Fortunately, there is such a resource to help you identify pollen color; check out this link to a series of tables organized by plant type and season that's on the Wikipedia.

While we are on the subject, I want to encourage you to be nice to the bees in your area -- plant some flower and trees in your garden that produce lots of pollen and nectar.  For a list of excellent plants for bees, check out my prior posting Best Flowers for Honey Bees.

Free Range Chicken Gardens: An Interview with Jessi Bloom

Last week, I attended the 2012 San Francisco Garden and Flower Show. While at the show, I had the opportunity to interview Jessi Bloom about her new book, Free Range Chicken Gardens, How to Create A Beautiful Chicken-Friendly Yard. Jessi is a talented garden designer whose work emphasizes ecological systems, sustainability and self-sufficiency. Recognition of her work includes awards from the American Horticultural Society, Washington State Department of Ecology and Sunset Magazine.

PlanterTomato (PT): Thank you for meeting with me today and for sharing your knowledge with readers of the PlanterTomato web site.

Jessi Bloom (JB): Thank you for inviting me.

PT: You were a landscape designer and gardener before you began keeping chickens.  How and why did you decide to add chickens to your garden?

JB: Actually, I started both together. I had an interest in gardening and was in school studying horticulture at the time.  I had just purchased my first property and I realized that I didn't have great soil. I thought chickens would be a great source of manure for the garden, so I started my gardening with my chickens simultaneously.

PT: So you came to chickens because you wanted the manure and got eggs as bonus, versus wanting the eggs and getting the manure as bonus.

JB: Yes.  I don't look at eggs as the primary benefit of keeping chickens. It's definitely a nice benefit, but it's not the only reason I have them.

PT: Another thing that's different about the way you keep chickens is that you free range your birds versus keeping them isolated in a coop and run. What are the benefits of free ranging?

JB: First and foremost, you can take advantage of the chicken's manure. That's true whether they are in a coop or free ranged.  However, if you have them locked up all the time, they can't help you with pest control in your garden. One of a chicken's favorite activities is to run around looking for insects and grubs to eat.  If your chickens are cooped up, they can't help you with that chore. 

PT: Ok, so those are great benefits to the gardener.  What are the benefits to the chickens?

JB: If you think about how a chicken would live naturally, they're not cooped up.  They live in jungles and forested lands.  We've put them in cages and made them into egg laying machines. One of the reasons that I let my chickens free range is because I believe in giving them their freedom and allowing them to roam around as they would naturally.

Chickens acclimate very well to a gardens if the garden is designed for that purpose. If your garden is just a lawn with a few shrubs here and there, or just a little patch of perennials or veggies, it's not habitat for chickens, so they are going to eat those plants and cause a lot of problems. One of the reasons my book has done so well is that people didn't realize that you could create chicken habitat. 

PT: As a landscape designer, I assume you have some distinct opinions about the placement of structures and plants in a garden.  Can you share some basic principles about how to construct a good landscape garden and chicken habitat?

JB: Many of the same principles of traditional gardening come into play when designing a chicken garden. You should design your garden with a tree layer, a grass layer, a ground cover layer, etc. etc.  Having all that diversity allows the chickens to have many foraging and shelter options.  

PT: How do you balance between the aesthetics of the garden and the practical considerations required to keep free range chickens?

JB: I always look at aesthetics, but function comes first. When I design a garden for aesthetics, I always start the plan by thinking about the season that has the least amount of interest. I then make sure the garden design includes elements that add interest during that season and then work backwards through the seasons to create a complete design.  For my garden, it's the Winter season because I have six months of bare branches. My garden designs make use of ornamental plants that are very showy. I also try to add plants that have different attributes that create interest throughout the course of the year.

PT: Are there some plants that you think work particularly well, or less well, in a free range environment?

JB: I have a detailed list of plants in my book, but there are some general principles at work.  Certain plants have textures that chickens don't like, so you should avoid them for that reason.  A plant like juniper falls into this group.  Then there are really delicate herbaceous plants such as bleeding heart (dicentra formosa).  This is a perennial ground cover that comes up early in the season and it can be very damaged by chickens scratching  Other categories of plants that I would not recommend adding to the garden would be any plant that is irreplaceable because of its rarity or perhaps because it's special because it was received as a gift. 

PT: Readers of this web site have a strong interest in vegetable gardening. Some of the more popular crops grown include tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and beans.  Is there any particular advice you would give vegetable gardeners who want to free range their birds?

JB: Gardeners have two options.  They can fence chickens out of food gardens entirely, or they can take protective measures for those types of plants.  Let's take tomatoes as an example... Chickens aren't interested in that plant until it's fruiting, so I wait till they are about to ripen and then wrap the plants in bird netting. It takes a little extra time to do this, but if you are going to have free range chickens, it's worth spending the time to protect your crops.

PT: What is your favorite tip for those that keep chickens?

JB: Don't be a chicken hoarder. You don't need thirty chickens in your small backyard. It's critical to balance the number of animals you have versus the space you have. 

PT: You just published a book called Free Range Chicken Gardens. Can you tell us a little about that book?

JB: The heart of the book is about creating chicken habitat. When writing the book, I asked myself what a gardener would want to know about chickens and garden design and focused on that rather than on medical information or information on butchering that can appear in many chicken books.  My book is about plants, design, and ensuring that the garden is created in a way that chickens don't destroy it.

PT: How do you see your book being different than other chicken books on the market?

JB: As far as I know, there aren't many landscape design books out there that cover chickens and most of the chicken books on the market tell readers that chickens and gardens don't mix. My book is just the opposite. I try to encourage and inspire my readers by showing them free range chicken habitats that are also very beautiful gardens. 

PT: If PlanterTomato readers would like to purchase your book, where can they buy it?

JB: It's widely available at on-line bookstores like Amazon and people can buy it directly from me at my blog, GardenFowl.com.  I'll even sign it for them.

PT: Jessi, thanks for joining us today.

JB: Thanks for having me. It's been fun.

Photos shown above are by Kate Baldwin.

Free-Range Chicken Gardens is published by Timber Press.

Best Containers for Starting Seeds

In this last of a series of three postings, I describe the pros and cons of various seed starting containers and make my recommendations.

Clay Pots - In my opinion there really aren't many "pros" to using clay pots. Their heavy, break easily, and are hard to clean at the end of the season.  All hard sided pots, including clay ones can also cause seedlings to become root bound.  Root growth is stopped by the sides of the pot and the roots respond by creating a circular root mass along the pot walls. Gardeners need to tease out the roots from the root ball prior to planting to prevent the seedling from becoming stunted. This is not a big deal, but its a disadvantage of using hard sided pots. On the plus side, clay pots can be re-used each year, but they also need to be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized.  As I mentioned in my prior posting, it's best to plant seedlings in a growing medium that does not contain any micro-organisms that might kill the delicate seedlings.  To ensure that a clay pot is free of such nasties, you need to clean the pot and then dip it in a dilute solution of water and bleach (10% bleach + 90% water) for ten minutes.  Not fun and not very ec0-friendly due to the bleach. For these reasons, I don't recommend clay pots.

Individual Plastic Pots - small plastic pots are light, durable, and are not porous to the air so they retain water well for the seedlings planted in them.  Plastic pots are re-usable so you can get many seasons out of them before having to purchase new ones.  Like clay pots, they need to be cleaned and sanitized at the end of the season to prevent spreading disease and also like clay pots, plants can get root bound if allowed to grow too long in these pots. That said, I think plastic pots are are still one of the best choices available to gardeners. Recommended highly.

Multi-Cell Plug Trays - these are thin-walled plastic containers like the ones that plants are sold in at the garden center.  They are inexpensive and retain water well.  However, they are not particularly durable and don't lend themselves well to re-use in my opinion.  I think many people end up throwing these in the garbage at the end of each year so they make for lots of landfill. Additionally, I sometimes find it difficult to get plants out of these trays, particularly if the plants are young and have not developed very vigorous root systems to hold the soil within the cell.  These are an "OK" choice in my opinion, but I think it's easier to handle individual plastic pots than these multi-cell containers.

Complete Seed Starting Systems  - I used a system sold by Burpee a few years ago called the Ultimate Seed Starting System.  The system includes a bottom tray that acts as a water reservoir, a mat that wicks water upward from the reservoir, a series of multi-cell trays for planting seeds in soilless mix, and a dome to cover the seeds and keep them moist.  I found this system to be incredibly easy to use and did an awesome job of keeping the seeds at just the right level of humidity.  They can be re-used in theory, but I found that in practice that I ended up destroying the containers when attempting to remove seedlings from the little cells (see below photo).  In my opinion, the flimsiness of the plastic is the Achilles heel of the product.  If you use this type of system, you probably need to buy a new one each year (I believe they cost about $20)  However, the system worked so well as a seed starting product that I still would recommend them to others.  You just need to decide how bad you feel about tossing the plastic in the garbage each year. If this doesn't bother you, I would place containers like the Ultimate Seed Starter kit at the top of the recommended list.

Biodegradable Pots - these products are generally made of peat moss that is pressed into a the shape of a pot.  Jiffy pellets are similar but are both pot and soilless mix in one.  These types of containers are lightweight, relatively cheap, and easy to use. In theory the main benefit of these products is that they can be planted directly in the ground - no pot to worry about cleaning the following year and no having to remove the seedling from the container and its attendant inconveniences. Sounds good, but in practice many gardeners have had problems with peat pots. Specifically, the wall of the pot does not degrade quickly enough after transplanting, and the plant becomes root bound and stunted.  Peat pots can be purchased for around $.10-$.20 each so they are not that expensive.  I find the price, convenience and biodegradable nature of these products compelling, so here's what I'd recommend; if you want to use peat pots, tear away the pot walls entirely before transplanting the seedlings into the ground.  That way your plant wont become root bound. Then throw the pot itself into your compost bin.  No pots to wash, no bleach, no plastic in the landfill. Recommended, but only if your remove the walls of the pot prior to planting.

Wooden Seed Boxes - These are generally made of a natural rot resistant type of wood such as redwood or cedar. This type of container is not very common.  You'll need to either build it yourself or buy it from a specialty garden retailer. They are very eco-friendly and reusable, but they are also heavy, expensive, and not really cleanable.  These boxes don't have individual compartments for the seeds so, you need to tease the seedlings apart when removing them from the container. I made some of these last year to give them a try. I wasn't happy with the results and won't be using them this year. Not recommended.

Soil Blocks - I'm going to try these for the first time this year.  A soil block is a pot-less container made only from soil.  You purchase a soil block maker and then make the blocks yourself using your own soil mix.  The soil block maker looks and operates like a cookie cutter. You mix up a batch of potting soil and then push the block maker into the soil.  You then push down on a release mechanism and the block maker pushes out perfectly formed cubes of soil into which you plant seeds.  When you are ready to transplant, you just place the soil block in the ground. Soil block makers seem to have many advantages.  There are no pots to clean or store, no plastic to throw in the garbage, and unlike hard sided pots, plants in plant blocks won't become root bound because when the root of the seedling reach the outer edge of the seed block, they responds by suspending growth, rather than circling the walls of the container. Another advantage of soil block makers is that they are claimed to make it easy to "pot up" the seedlings --  In other words, you can start the seedlings in tiny soil blocks and then transfer the tiny block into the top of a larger soil block if the plant gets too large for the original block.  This is made easy by the fact that larger sized soil block makers are designed with pegs that create an indentation in the top of the soil block into which a smaller block will fit perfectly.  You just pop the smaller block into the larger one (see below) I purchased a set of soil block makers and will be giving them a try this year.  One thing worth mentioning is that soil block makers use a totally different potting medium than any of the containers previously mentioned.  Specifically, the medium needs to be much heaveier than soilless mix in order for the soil block to hold its shape. Online retailers who sell soil block makers also sell soil mixes for these devices, but I think most people will want to mix their own soil rather than pay the shipping cost on a heavy bad of soil.  To make your own soil block mix, you'll need to buy peat moss, vermiculite, garden soil and compost. And there's the rub...the garden soil and compost can harbor some of the nasty micro-organisms that can kill seedlings, so the one potential disadvantage of soil blocks is a greater risk of killing the seedlings due to fungal or other infections.  That said, I'm going to give them a try this year and see what happens.

Ten Steps To Successfully Starting Vegetable Seeds

In my last posting in this series, I shared a free seed starting calculator with you to help you determine when to plant based on the last frost date for your area.  In this posting, I cover the ten steps you should follow to successfully start seeds.

Ten Steps to A Successful Seed Starting Program:

1. Containers - First select a container system for your seedlings. You can buy a variety of commercial products or even start seeds in used egg cartons or yogurt cups.  I've tried a number of systems over the years and would recommend either individual plastic pots filled with soilless potting mix or complete seed starting kits like Burpee's Ultimate Seed Starter.  These containers are relatively cheap, extremely convenient, and almost fool proof. (I'll cover the pros and cons of various seed starting containers in my next posting for those interested.) When you buy your containers, also purchase some plastic trays to set your pots into as well as some clear plastic tray covers. (Below: a photo of a plastic tray and clear cover and also Burpee's Ultimate Growing System that includes a tray, plastic cover, water wicking mat, peat pellets and plastic cell containers)
    
    
2. Potting Medium - Fill the pots about 75% full with a soilless potting mix.  These soilless mixes are made from sphagnum moss, perlite, vermiculite and as the name implies contain no soil.  Soilless mixes are easy to work with an are also sterile.  Yup, sterile.... Don't plant seedlings in either garden soil, or dirt from your back yard.  Traditional soil contains micro-organisms, some of which are good and some of which are bad.  The bad ones can kill delicate seedlings so go with growing mediums that are sterile and free of any such nasties. 
3. Add the seeds - Place a seed into the center of your container.  The general rule of thumb is to plant seeds at a depth that is three times thicker than the seeds. That means that tomato seeds will planted relatively shallow in the container because the seeds are small, but squash seeds will be planted deeper because the seeds are much larger. Place a seed in the center of the pot, tamp it down to ensure good contact, and then cover with more soilless mix to the appropriate depth. 
4. Set Containers Into Trays & Label Them - once the seed is in it's container, place the container into the plastic tray and label it with a wooden or plastic stake. Do this right away so you don't forget what is in each pot.
5. Water- Add some water to the base of the tray and allow it to wick upward into the pots until your potting medium is thoroughly moist. You want to add enough water to soak the pots, but not so much that they are swimming in water. Watering is tricky and depends on your indoor temperature and humidity.  Try to adjust the daily watering amount so that by day's end the soil is still moist but there no visible water left in the bottom of the tray. Seedlings have enough food stored in the seed for the first few days of life, but after that, they need additional nutrients. Soilless mixes may, or may not, include added fertilizer.  If your mix does not contain fertilizer, you'll need to add some to the water that you give your seedlings.  Use a 50% dilution of the normal strength fertilizer until you transplant the seeds.
6. Temperature & Light - To germinate, your seeds need to be kept warm.  Start your seeds indoors in a relatively warm place in your house.  I highly recommend purchasing a seed starting mat.  This mat looks and functions a lot like a heating pad.  You place the mat under the seed trays and plug it into an electric outlet.  The mat keeps  your containers at a temperature that is approximately 70 degrees Fahrenheit - the perfect temperature for germination of a wide range of vegetable seeds. During the first few days of germination, you don't need light. However, once the seedlings emerge they will need to be placed near a window or under a grow light.  Seedlings to get +6 hours of light each day. 
7. Post Germination - At the same time as the seeds emerge from the soil, you should also remove the clear plastic tray cover. This cover is great during germination, but can create too much humidity for the young seedlings and cause them to become infected by fungi. Removing the cover allows air to circulate around the seedlings so they stay healthy.
8. Transitioning to the Garden -  Seedlings emerge with a set of oblong shaped leaves called cotyledon.  All subsequent leaves will be shaped like that of the mature plant.  These latter leaves are called "true" leaves.  You should not attempt to transplant seedlings into the garden until they have 3-4 true leaves, and not before you have taken the next step to "harden" them.  
9. Hardening - This is the process of acclimating the seedlings to an outdoor environment.    Hardening allows seedlings to accommodate themselves more variable conditions of light, humidity and temperature than those inside your house.   To accomplish this, take your seedling trays outside in the morning and let them stay outside for a 3-4 hours on the first day, 4-5 hours on the second day, and 5-6 hours the third day. On day 4, you can transplant the seedling into the garden.
10. Transplanting - Remove the plant from the pot by first tapping the sides and bottom of the pot to loosen the soil. Press on the bottom of the pot and until the plant slides out.  Then gently tease some of the roots from the root ball prior to placing in the ground. 

Starting seeds isn't that hard, but occasionally things don't work out. Don't blame yourself or get frustrated. Even experienced gardeners lose some seedlings each year.  The fix for a partial or total loss is to go to the garden center and buy seedlings that are ready for transplant. 

In my next posting, I'll go into more detail on the pros and cons of various container systems.

San Francisco Flower & Garden Show

If your in the San Francisco Bay Area you can get a jump on Spring by attending the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show.  

The show features a number of ornamental garden exhibits that are sure to inspire you (see some photos below) as well as a full program of interesting seminars that cover all aspects of gardening.  While at the show you can also do a little shopping -- ornamental and edible plants, garden tools, and a wide range of garden related products and services can be purchased from retailers attending the show.

One more thing.....While at the show today, I interviewed Jessi Bloom, a talented landscape designer and author of a new book on creating gardens that are designed to accommodate free range chickens. She is giving a presentation on that subject tomorrow (Friday) at 1:15 PM.  I encourage you to attend if you are thinking about adding chickens to your backyard garden. A transcript of my interview with Jessi will also be posted on the PlanterTomato.com web site next week.

The SF Garden Show began this Wednesday and continues through the week end.  I encourage all Bay Area gardeners to visit the show; you'll have a great time, meet some very nice folks and enter the 2012 gardening season with new ideas on how to improve your garden. Check out their web site for program details and times.  

 

Free Seed Starting Calculator

In this posting, I provide a free, down-loadable Excel spreadsheet that will automatically calculate the date to plant seeds for 45 vegetable types.  All you need to do is enter one bit of information and the spreadsheet does the rest of the work.

We are now getting into seed starting season.  Over the course of the next few postings, I'll share information with you to help you get your garden going.  In this first posting, I'm providing a free resource to my readers that will make determining when to begin planting seeds a snap.

Here's all you need to do:

1. Download the Excel spreadsheet attached to this posting -  Download PlanterTomato Seed Starting Calculator v2
2. In the yellow box, enter the last frost date for your area. The last frost date is the last date that your area is likely to get hit by frost based on historical weather data.  If you don't know your last frost date, you can find it at VictorySeeds.com/Frost.  Click on your state and find a nearby city.  Choose the Spring or Last Frost date and use this in the calculator.
3. Enter this date into the yellow box on the Seed Calculator spreadsheet and it then calculates the planting dates for 45 varieties of vegetables.

The first two columns that are shaded blue show the date that you would start your seeds indoors and the date that you would then transplant the seedlings into your garden.

The third column that is shaded green shows the direct sowing date, or the date that you would plant a seed outdoors in your garden.

Most seeds can be either started indoor and transplanted or directly sown into the garden, so you'll see dates listed for both these options. However, there are some exceptions.  For example, carrots and radishes are almost always sown directly into the garden, so I don't show dates for indoor seed starting.  Likewise, Brussels Spouts are almost always transplanted because their seeds are hard to germinate outdoors, so I don't show a direct sow date for that vegetable.

In my next posting, I'll cover your equipment options for seed starting.

Sample Calculator for a last frost date of 3/1:

Daylight Savings Time

Today we "spring forward" in the U.S., setting our clocks ahead 1 hour. Daylight savings time was instituted to save energy, but according to this article in Organic Gardening Magazine it doesn't.  In fact, the only thing daylight savings time seems to do is to give most Americans one more hour per day to go shopping.  

Not me.  You'll find me in the garden.

Honey Bees: Some Like It Hot

Most bee keepers know that honey bees maintain a hive cluster temperature of 95 degrees Fahrenheit by vibrating their wing muscles to create heat. However, new research shows that they use they use this same mechanism to create a division of labor within the hive.

According to the new finding from Wurzburg University in Germany, honey bee papa warmed to a constant temperature of 95 Fahrenheit become forager bees - the ones that leave the hive to search for nectar and pollen.  Those reared at 93 degrees become the housekeeper bees that stay in the hive to take care of brood etc.  

Apparently, the number of bees assigned to each role is no accident.  The bees actively manage the ratio of foragers to housekeepers to match their needs. Pretty cool.  Check out the full article.

Photo Source: Mail Online

Companion Planting Guide

Companion planting is a practice whereby certain vegetables, herbs and flowers are planted in close proximity to each other because one of the plants is believed to have a beneficial effect on the other, or in some cases a mutually beneficial effect.

A few weeks ago, a reader of this blog contacted me requesting information about companion planting.  I don't have first hand experience with companion planting but did a little research to help this reader. 

Before you run off to re-plan your garden around companion planting principles, I need to tell you that I couldn't find any scientific evidence that companion planting works.  I'm not saying it doesn't work, just that I couldn't find any experiments where companion planting was proven in a rigorously tested scientific experiment. However, there are many gardeners who swear by it and the companion planting pairings based on attracting beneficial insects and soil enhancement seem reasonable to me.

For those interested in in the subject,  I'm posting a link to a very complete companion plant list created by Ute Bohnsack.  Unfortunately, this chart doesn't specify the specific effect of one plant upon the other.  However, here are some of the general reasons plants are said to benefit their companions:

• Pest Deterrence -  certain plants can release chemicals from their roots or flowers that are said to repel insects and thereby provide protection to neighboring crops.  For example, marigolds, mint, chrysanthemums and rue are said to do this and are often planted between crop rows to provide protection against pests such as nematodes, Japanese beetles and other nasties.
• Beneficial Insects - certain plants may attract beneficial insects that will either pollinate food crops or prey upon harmful insects that would eat the food crop.  For example, planting bee balm to attract pollinating bees or corn flower to attract lady bugs.  Companion planting advocates also try to develop habitats that allow toads, snakes and other insect predators to flourish.
  
• Soil Enhancement - for example, using nitrogen fixing legumes to enhance the soil that will benefit a subsequent crop.
• Spacial Interactions - tall, sun-loving plants are grown adjacent to shorter varieties that have partial sun, or lower heat requirements.  Likewise, certain plants can be used as a wind-break to protect more delicate plants.  Famously, corn and beans can be grown together with the beans using the corn stalks as natural trellises.

If you've tried companion planting, let me know if you think it works by posting a comment.

Photo: reverse side of the 2009 native American $1 coin issued by the U.S. Mint.  The scens shows companion planting of the "three sisters" - corn, beans and squash.

Early Signs of Spring

The temperature reached into the mid 60 degrees Fahrenheit yesterday. The bees were very active, some of the fruit trees have been in bloom for a few days now.  I took a stroll through the garden and took some photos of some of the overwintered plants and some new arrivals.

Blenheim apricots are considered the best in the world. Sadly, it is a very fragile fruit, so those living outside of California, where most of the Blenheims are grown, have two options -- buy them as dried fruit, or grow them for yourself.  I'd recommend the latter.

Below is my Baby Crawford peach in bloom. Last year it suffered from peach leaf curl and then the squirrels nipped in and got all the peaches just as they were ripening.  I'm hoping for a better year in 2012.  

The tiny bell shaped flowers of this Chandler blueberry are a pleasure to look at.  The blueberries taste rather nice as well.

I planted several varieties of potatoes in grow bags in October of last year with the hope that the Winter would warm enough that I could get an early batch of potatoes. No such luck, we had a killing frost in January that destroyed all the plants but this one Yukon Gold potato.  I replanted two weeks ago but the new potatoes have not yet poked through the soil. One variety that I'm particlarly excited about is called "Reba." It is said to be an excellent potato for potato chips.  Oh the anticipation....

It's taken a while for them to germinate, but the Thomas Laxton English peas are the first vegetables that I planted in this calendar year (versus overwintered from last year). With any luck, we'll get a good crop for fresh eating.  Below is a photo of one of the peas just emerging from the ground.

We use lots of garlic in our cooking.  One of my favorites is a variety called Purple Glazer. It's considered "mild" as garlics go, but packs plenty of punch for us.  The bulbs planted last year are well on their way to making nice heads.  We'll probably harvest these and the onions (not shown) in June.

Small varieites of carrots can be grown in pots.  I planted these a while ago and now can't remember the variety.  They are likely Romeo but I'm not sure.  My kids love carrots and we plan to grow a new variety called Mokum in the spring.

As an experiment, I planted a rare variety of wheat called Frassineto in the Fall of last year.  This variety of wheat is supposed to make excellent flour for pasta.  This is my first time growing wheat so I don't know if this is good or bad, but it does appear that some of the plants are creating heads already. This seems a bit early to me, but we'll see.

When the weather warms and plants go into bloom, the bees spring to action.  At one point yesterday, here was so much activity that it created a bit of a traffic jam at the entrance to the hive.  I still have my entrance reducer installed, but will likely remove it in the next few weeks.  This will give the bees some more room to get in and out.  With any luck will have a bumper crop of honey in 2012 and this will allow us to make lots of Mead or honey wine.  Love them bees.

A Wi-Fi Sensor Plant Sensor From Switzerland

My wife was kind enough to forward this article to me about a new Wi-Fi plant sensor developed in Switzerland.  You put the sensor unit into a pot or into a garden space and then install an app downloaded from the iTunes store.  If the plant needs more water, light etc. etc., the sensor pushes a message to your smart phone so you can take action.

An interesting idea for sure. I checked it out on the company's website and it costs 120 Euros (about $160).  

So what do you think?  Worth it?  Let me know your opinion and also if you consider yourself a beginner, intermediate or advanced gardener.

Floriani Red Flint Corn

Last summer, I grew a variety of flint corn called Longfellow.  This variety has long, thin ears and produces a low sugar corn used to make tortillas, corn bread and other dishes that require this type of corn.  A reader of this blog, was kind enough to send me another variety of flint corn to try called Floriani Red.  I had an opportunity to do so earlier this week and would like to recommend it for those interested in growing staple crops in their gardens.

Floriani Red is a relatively rare flint corn that originates from the northern part of Italy.  The corn hulls are a beautiful red color and the grain itself is a deep yellow. I used some of the grain sent me to make pollenta, an Italian side dish that is made from medium-t0-fine ground corn that has been cooked with water and butter.  Floriani corn was cultivated in Italy specifically for pollenta so it's no surprise that it worked wonderfully well for this dish.  The Floriani Red has a rich corn taste and the pollenta was more interesting visually because the red hulls end up as little red flakes in the final dish.  (Pollenta made with yellow corn is uniformly yellow)

Corn is the easiest grains to manage because it only needs to be ground, versus other grains such as wheat or oats that need to be threshed (loosening the grain from the chaff) and winnowed (separating the grain from the chaff) before grinding.

For more information about grinding corn, see my prior post on grain mills and on grinding corn.

If you would like to grow Floriani Red corn, you can purchase seeds from Fedco, Heritage Harvest Seed, and several other suppliers.

Special thanks to Kelley who was kind enough to send me this variety to try.