Straw-Bale Gardening

Planting in Straw
A recent trend (though not a new technique) in gardening is straw-bale gardening, essentially conditioning bales of straw (not hay- hay has seeds and will sprout too much) and planting vegetable plants right in them. The photos above are of my neighbor's garden of straw bales. There are several on-line tutorials on how to do this. The basic steps are to condition the bale, and this involves watering the bale for several weeks before you plant, plus adding fertilizer to improve the nutrients in the bale and help it break down a little. The seedling plants are then planted right into the bale. Straw-bale gardening has several advantages- it greatly suppresses weeds, the straw breaks down and enhances the soil and you can easily add whatever fertilizers you need. If your garden soil has any plant viruses, the straw should suppress these as well, and they will not travel as easily into the plant. Another advantage I can see is in making a garden bed where one did not exist before- the bale will kill grass and break down into it, making your digging a far easier chore. The bales hold considerable water, but, as they are "high" they could get dry at the edges, though straw holds water in the interior well. Root crops are not well suited to this technique, but it seems to be good for tomatoes, peppers and squashes.

Some gardeners have been planting in untilled hay beds for years. They just add more hay every year and do not dig (the hay is not kept in a bale). You could layer the hay with leaves, compost or other organic matter to improve soil fertility. I might give this a go next season to see how it works.

Happy gardening!

Gooseberries

Gooseberries

I like gooseberries. They are an under-utilized small fruit in the garden, possibly because they can harbor white pine disease, a virus that affects a valuable wood in northern forests. Gooseberries grow wild in the Shenandoah woodlands, so planting them in VA is not a problem (check with your local ag extension agent before planting gooseberries or currants, members of the Ribes family, for applicable laws in your state). Gooseberries are easy to grow (they like some sun and well-drained soil) and are lightly sweet when ripe (watch for the thorns when picking!). However, though easy to grow, I am often hard pressed to get any fruit off of them before the birds do, though this year I am finding more fruit on the plants. I was just about to follow my rule "If it does not produce, rip it out," but I am a little more hopeful that perhaps all the plants need to do is mature more intro higher production (wishful thinking? maybe)...so they have a reprieve for one more year! The ones pictured above are a variety that matures to a purple or red wine color, so it is easy to tell when these are ripe (you will never forget what an unripe one tastes like!)
Happy Gardening!

Field Trip Report: The Cloisters

Quince Tree
Citrus
Espalier Pear
The Cloisters

The Cloisters is a museum devoted to medieval art. Part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it is located in the Upper West Side of New York City in the Fort Tyron Park area (a quick skip and a hop away from the George Washington Bridge. And you can see my hometown, Englewood Cliffs, NJ across the Hudson). I visited there on Fathers' Day. I was not able to explore the Museum and gardens like I would otherwise, as I was accompanied by small children, but the kids did the best they could and I fully intend to go back (though the 10 year olds and 14 year old loved it).
The Cloisters has a medieval garden and I had the opportunity to speak to a garden volunteer of 10 years for a few minutes- too bad I did not get his name. A lovely person, he took his time, despite the beating sun and heat, to talk to me about the standout quince trees in the garden (photo above). I love people with that level of enthusiasm and generosity of spirit! These 45 year old trees apparently produce only some usable fruit in the cool climates of New York, with the cool September and October breezes off the Hudson, but they are lovely and the flowers and fruits are highly fragrant. The volunteer also took the time to show my very bright nephew Ethan the candelabra-shaped espaliered pear tree (photo above) and explain how it was done -quite lovely.
The garden tries to be historically accurate, but, like all historic gardens, there is some guesswork involved. They have a lovely arum (the same I have posted on, Dranunculus vulgaris, that I also grow) and some interesting citrus fruits of the era (photo above) and a variety of herbs. The Director has an interesting garden blog, worthy of a visit (learn about skirret!) at:
http://blog.metmuseum.org/cloistersgardens
Happy gardening!

Basil Blight!!!!!!!!!!!!

Watch out basil (and pesto) lovers- there is an outbreak of basil blight! If you see signs, act quickly!

Read about it at:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128061773&sc=emaf

Happy gardening! No blight!

4th Annual National Pollinators Week: Part 2

[Photo Credit: SRV]
Save the Pollinators!
I hope you have been a busy bee and engaged in National Pollinators' Week activities! What, you haven't? It's not too late. Pollinators, and other wild creatures, need just a few things to thrive, so here goes:
1. Plant something that flowers. A yard of regularly mown grass is as useless as a desert to a bee. Most flowers will do, though some are better, like native plants. Plants that I see abuzz with activity for bees, birds and butterflies include salvias, asclepias, buddelias, African blue basil and many fruiting plants and shrubs. Even a few well cared for pots of flowers will help!
2. Walk on the wild side- is there any area of your yard or garden that you can allow to grow a little wild? We have a small copse of trees and brush that is a habitat for many critters.
3. Provide a shallow basin of water (changed regularly) with a rock in it that stands above the water line and butterflies will thank you! They cannot go into water to drink, but can land on the rock and drink. They like natural seeps as well, where they get minerals along with their water.
Protecting pollinators is important- as I wrote last time, no pollinators, no food.
Happy gardening and pollinator protection!

A Lagniappe: Orchid

This is an orchid (cattleya?) from the conservatory at Ginter gardens. They have some lovely specimens, sometimes more quantity than others, but always enjoyable.

4th Annual National Pollinators Week

(Photo credit: SRV)
Happy 4th Annual National Pollinator's Week! June 21-24, 2010 is the week set designated by the USDA to honor and encourage those hard working insects, birds and mammals (think bats) that pollinate all pollen-bearing, sexually-reproducing plants! Like ALL our major food crops! No pollinators, not food! What have you done for them today? More on this topic this week! In the meantime, go to:

http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/!ut/p/c4/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os_gAC9-wMJ8QY0MDpxBDA09nXw9DFxcXQ-cAA_2CbEdFAEUOjoE!/?contentidonly=true&contentid=2010%2F06%2F0333.xml

Happy gardening! And, thank you, pollinators!