A bit of blue splendor from one of my recently divided agapanthus in the back garden.
Monthly Archives: May 2011
Rose Bed Cleanup Today
Tackling another project in the Summer garden cleanup here today. This is the large rose bed in the back yard. Not many roses left here, as the trees have blacked the sun more and more in the years we have lived here. I am thinking of ideas to refurbish this bed, but cleaning it up after the big Spring leaf-drop was definitely needed first.
We used many of the “extra” trees that were planted in the garden as edging around this bed and others. After several years, these small limbs and trunks have broken down almost entirely. I think we will still be able to use some of them, but I am already looking for replacements. I am going to try out some wine bottle edging around one of the smaller beds as a test. If it works out, I might expand it to others.
Here is a look at the rose bed before and after…
Not a bad change. My wife likes to do the edging, so I think she will work something up there. I want to top dress the bed with some of our compost to make it look a bit nicer and also cover the new soaker hose I also installed today. I think the squirrels were the one’s chewing holes in the old one, so a bit of “out of sight, out of mind” might be best.
Video: Bob Jones, Sr talks about seed germination testing at Chef’s Garden, Inc. #saturday6
While the Saturday6 was touring Chef’s Garden, Inc., Bob Jones, Sr. met us in the lab. This high-tech space is fit into a retired shipping container, but has some very high-tech stuff inside. One topic he spoke on was the germination testing they do on their seeds. Chef’s Garden is a business, after all, and poor germination can result in poor earnings from the greenhouse and the fields. The same is true in your garden.
In this short video you can see one of their lab-based germination tests while Bob talks about the importance of the length of the seed radical in judging overall seed health. It is of first importance that the seed germinates, but also important that the seeds are healthy enough to carry the plant to full growth.
Watch “Germination Testing at Chef’s Garden” – iPod Ready Video
Here is a close up photo of the germination test seen in the video.
Do it yourself!
Of course, you can do some quite similar germination testing in your own garden. it doesn’t take a fancy lab. As you may have seen before, you can place the seeds on a wet paper towel, folder half the towel over and place the entire pack in the fridge or on your kitchen counter. After a few days, depending on the germination time of the given seed, you will start to see something very similar to above.
If you test germinate 10 seeds from any given variety you can quickly gain a percentage of good seed in each batch i.e. 1 germinated seed = 10% germination rate, 2=20%, etc. If you have old seed lying about, you may want to test it before committing it to seed starter trays or your garden.
Years ago, I did this germination test with my young son as a home science project to give us something to do on a lazy day. You can see the results of that test in this blog post — The Seeds of Time. In this test I simply laid the seeds on some damp paper towel in a tray.
Disclosure: This post is in conjunction with my paid partnership as one of the Saturday6 from Troy-Bilt. All thoughts are my own.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Photo: Kitchen at Culinary Vegetable Institute
I know, I know. The picture is a bit blurry, but I had to share it with you.
This is the kitchen of the Culinary Vegetable Institute in Milan, Ohio which I visited as part of the Troy-Bilt Saturday6 kickoff.
What else can I say…WANTS!
Of course, I would need an entire staff to just keep it clean, let along cook meals there. Still, it is nice to see what a fantasy commercial kitchen would look like.
Click for larger version
Disclosure: This post is in conjunction with my paid partnership as one of the Saturday6 from Troy-Bilt. All thoughts are my own.
I Like This – May 27, 2011
- A collection of gardening items I found interesting this week.
- The Greenhouse Tavern Lives up to its Name – May 26, 2011
- Command Performance » The Royal Horticulture Society Chelsea Flower Show Opened Yesterday – May 24, 2011
- Best in Show at Chelsea – May 24, 2011
- The Chelsea Flower Show: 10 things you didn’t know – May 24, 2011
- Hoe and Shovel: Meet Meems :: Saturday6 Gardening Q & A at Lowe's – May 20, 2011 – Another Saturday6 member is hosting an event this weekend.
Is there a #GardenCamp in your future?
If you follow any of my other blogs or projects, you know that I love the idea of an unconference. An unconference is attendee organized and everyone is highly encouraged to present something during the day. The schedule is created the morning of the event and then everyone dives in. There is so much great, local, knowledge in most towns and cities and an unconference can help to bring out that information and share it with others.
#GardenCamp?
So, let me float the idea here of a GardenCamp unconference here in the Los Angeles area!
I would love to get together with other gardeners and hear what they have to say about their favorite gardening topics. There are a lot of great organizations here that might be potential partners for the event — providing space, providing sponsorship funding and maybe even providing a few speakers and attendees for the day.
Are you interested in putting together a gardening unconference here in LA or in your own local area? Let me know in the comments to this post or via email at agn@welchwrite.com. If there is enough interest I will set up a dedicated mailing list that we can use to get the ball rolling. I would especially like to here from organizations, gardens and garden-related businesses here in LA that might be interested in hosting such an event.
Video: Chef’s Garden “Unboxing” – chef-quality produce from Ohio
Join me as I open a box of ultra-fresh produce delivered straight from Chef’s Garden, Inc. in Huron, Ohio. I had the pleasure of visiting their company as part of Troy-Bilt’s Saturday6 and they were kind enough to send me a “Family Box” of veg to try. Come see everything that was included.
Click the full-screen icon to watch in HD
Watch “Chef’s Garden “Unboxing” – iPod Ready Video
Photos from our Saturday6 visit to Chef’s Garden
Disclosure: This post is in conjunction with my paid partnership as one of the Saturday6 from Troy-Bilt. All thoughts are my own.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Garden Bed Cleanup Today
We have lots of beds here in the garden, along with lots of paths and even what I call the “woodland” garden. Today was the first big push on the post-Spring garden cleanup.
Our bulbs start as soon as the first rain arrives in December or January, so by this time most of them are spent and the foliage needs to be cleaned up from all the beds. The bed, just outside the backyard always looks pretty ratty at this time of year. This always bugs me as we have our big summer party in June and about all I can do is make sure the bed is neat as there is nothing blooming at that time.
it is important to leave the foliage on bulbs after they finish their flowering so that they can recharge for the next season. Cut it off while it is still green and you will damage, if not remove, any display in the coming year. Of course, this often leaves things a bit messy. In this bed, most of the leaves are dead and a bit of raking removes it while still leaving any green leaves that are still working.
Before
There was also a ton of leaf litter in this bed. This is true of the entire garden since we have so many mature trees. In the case of this bed, it contains both a large eucalyptus tree and a locust, which drops a host of small yellow leaves each Fall. This was of the main part of the cleanup today. I ended up filling both composters and still had to start a leaf mold pile next to them. Cleaning up the leaves let the recently divided agapanthus stand out a lot more. I noticed that one is even blooming. I guess my division didn’t do too much damage. You never quite know what is going to happen when you pull apart the larger clumps. These were so large, in fact, that they had pushed themselves completely out of the ground.
I also took the opportunity neaten up the low recycled concrete wall that I assembled nearly 15 years ago. It has probably been over 5 years since I last did it. The wall has no footings. It is just broken-up concrete sitting directly on the ground. Over the years it slowly recedes into the dirt. Luckily, it doesn’t take much to get it back into shape, as you can see in the “after” picture. I have pulled some flagstones out of the front garden as we did grass removal there and I am thinking of topping this wall with a few of those to dress it up a bit.
After
I am looking for something I can plant in this backyard bed to give it some interest during this time of year, yet doesn’t impede the growth of the bulbs next Spring. I am usually a perennial only gardener, but I just might go get some bedding annuals to put in here before our party. That would be a change! (LAUGH)
Hope all i well in your garden. Please add a comment here or on the AGN Facebook page and let me know what you are doing in your garden.
A Gardener’s Notebook Store
Check out some of my favorite books and products in this Amazon.com store!
Tasks on my gardening list
Here are just a few things to occupy my gardening time over the next several days. It is always good to keep a list of such things, but not let it worry you too much. It is more of a memory aid than something to feel guilty about. Gardening should be about enjoyment, not guilt.
Garden Tasks List
- Install new soaker hose in rose bed
- Empty compost bin
- Turn second compost bin
- Research garden bed edging – Maybe bottle edging
- Clear bulb debris from beds
- Clear leaf litter – add to compost/leaf mould pile
- Trim large rosemary bush – topiary?
- Trim pittosporum bush
- …and much, much more!
Cattails at the edge of a pond, Douglas E. Welch
