Tag Archive | Wellspring Gardens

Enclosing the Porch For Winter Growing

2022

updated 3/13/2024

Enclosing the Porch for Growing Plants In Winter

Average Temperatures

Winter weather is in a rush to make its presence known here in northern North Carolina. Average nighttime low temperatures in October are in the 50’s F falling to the 40’s by the end of the month. In 2022, though, many nights were frosty. In this article, I’ll describe how enclosing the porch can add more growing space for sun-loving tender plants—those killed by freezing temperatures.

I moved to this beautiful acre outside Elkin, in USDA plant hardiness zone 7b, in October, 2021. The average lowest extreme temperatures in winter are 5-10° F, with January the coldest month. That won’t stop most gardeners from finding ways to extend the growing season, and, in fact, encourages us to do so.

Abnormally cold weather prompted me to gather all plants that would have been damaged or killed by frost. Both daytime and nighttime temperatures have fallen 10-20° below average on many days in October and November. On the other hand, we’ve also enjoyed a few shorts-and-tee-shirt days hovering well above average.

Priority: Plants

Succulents in this dish garden can begin stretching toward the light after less than a week in insufficient sunlight.

Priority went to succulents and tropical plants intolerant of cooling temperatures. Some I’ve had for decades and don’t want to lose. A collection that started in spring as 12 flats of tender plants blossomed to 40 by autumn.

Miniature succulents, succulent gardens in bonsai trays (photo, above), bromeliads, aroids (Alocasia, pothos, philodendron), amaryllis, leopard lilies (Drimiopsis, Ledebouria), tradescantias, ferns, ficus, begonias… I propagated all these houseplants for the farmers’ market, where I’ve been a vendor (“Wellspring Gardens”) since April, 2022.

Plants requiring warm temperatures fill every sunny window indoors. In the basement, more plants snuggle close to the 4′ fluorescent shop lights.

From autumn to spring, I carried many flats of houseplants outdoors to the sunny porch when it was warm enough, above 50° or 60°F. And later in the day, I brought them back indoors again. Almost every day. Winter ’21-’22 was quite mild.

That’s in addition to the dozens of flats of herbs and cool season greens (lettuce, spinach, arugula, broccoli, kale, etc.) started for the farmers’ markets and my own gardens. After 3-4 weeks of growth, they could safely be hardened off outdoors, exposed to colder temperatures—even frost—before planting or selling them.

The Best Option

I need an easier way to accommodate all these plants. A greenhouse is prohibitively expensive for now. Another option is to keep them outside, after enclosing the porch. In winter, this south-southwest-facing porch receives full sun from morning until sunset. Perfect!

How hard could it be to tack a big sheet of clear plastic to the structure? That will work in the daytime, when the sun’s out. But during cold overcast weather and at night, supplemental heat will be needed. Later in this article, you’ll see what I did to keep the tender plants comfortable.

Preliminary Plans

The goal was to create an inexpensive makeshift greenhouse environment from readily available materials, employing rudimentary carpentry skills. Winter winds, primarily from the west, can be fierce at times. This necessitated strong bracing for the structure to prevent the plastic from breaking loose.

At the hardware store, I bought a 12 x 100′ roll of clear 4-mil plastic for enclosing the porch and creating low tunnels in the garden for winter greens. You can find sheets and rolls of clear plastic in the paint department. Although it won’t last as long as greenhouse film, it is less expensive. A more attractive alternative is clear acrylic film, but I’m looking for the most economical solution for now.

Plastic degrades in sunlight, and faster in hot sunlight. So, if used on the porch only during the cold months, it should last 3-4 years. That’s based on many years’ experience using plastic to protect plants from cold winter weather.

(***Update***: Plastic used in the garden lasts longer than the plastic used to enclose the porch. After 2 full seasons, the porch plastic is showing signs of weakening in the hottest spot because the enclosed space heats up significantly, shortening the life of the plastic. If I don’t vent the plastic or open the front door and use a fan to blow the heat into the house, the porch heats up to 90-105° F on a sunny winter day. The air under plastic in the garden doesn’t get that hot because the plastic is removed or vented to prevent overheating the greens. January 14, 2024)

The plan is to leave the wooden support grid in place all year. After weather warms up in spring, I’ll remove the plastic panels, still stapled to their 1 x 2 x 8′ posts, clean them, and store them in the basement. In the future, enclosing the porch in permanent materials (floor-to-ceiling operable windows) is a strong possibility.

Enclosing the Porch: First, the Support System

Before cutting the plastic, I had to figure out how to put this whole thing together, preferably without piercing the aluminum siding. Where to start? How to seal it from drafts? What about a door?

The front porch measures approximately 20′ x 8′, so the 1 x 2″ x 8′ wood posts from the hardware store fit well. I used a hand saw for a few cuts. Posts with large knots, not visible when purchased in bundles, were returned to the store. Those are weak spots that could break in high winds. These posts have a smoother side—the side in contact with the plastic.

6 x 6″ timbers with 1 x 2″ x 8′ posts across the front of the porch.

Four 6 x 6″ timbers support the roof along the front edge of the porch, and the attic above is insulated. The timbers are secured 3″ inside the outer edge of the decking. Because the 1 x 2’s are attached at the top of the timbers and extend 8′ down, past the edge of the decking, the posts are slightly off vertical when viewed from the side.

I didn’t attach plastic directly to the bottom of the timbers because I wanted it to fall all the way to the ground on the 3 sides. That would help warm up the concrete block foundation and the ground underneath the decking. The goal was to retain the maximum amount of heat in the enclosed porch.

The porch is elevated 2 steps up from the ground. That made my time on the ladder somewhat less daunting. I took my time and was very careful. Safety first.

Brace Yourselves

Hardware included:

Hillman Red Exterior 8 x 1 5/8″ deck screws, with a special drill bit in the package
3″ galvanized corner braces with smaller screws
a few nails

Although the deck screws are supposed to require “no pre-drilling”, a few of the 1 x 2’s split. I used a couple of nails to hold them together.

corner brace screwed to decking and post

Brace was placed with the edge of the post flush with the front edge of the floor.

Holding a 1 x 2 post firmly against the house and the edge of the floor, I positioned a brace, then marked where the first screw would go. The west and east sides would have five 1 x 2’s each.

I used a reversible drill to screw braces to the floor. For each of the east and west sides, one brace went next to the house, one on the outside corner, and one in the middle. The other 2 posts on each side were screwed to the edge of the decking without braces.

I used 2 longer deck screws—instead of the smaller screws in the package—for the horizontal half of the brace attached to the floor. This made a stronger attachment. Because the long screws would have gone through the 1 x 2’s and pierced the plastic, I used shorter screws on the vertical part of the brace (photo, above).

Next Up: The Vertical Posts

Once the braces had been secured on the west and east sides, the vertical 1 x 2″ posts were next. I attached five 1 x 2″ posts to the decking—about every 2′—on the west side and 5 more on the east side. Each post was screwed on at the bottom securely enough for it to stand straight. A carpenter’s level established true vertical and horizontal before I tightened the screws.

Then I fastened the middle horizontal post, and the top horizontal post as close to the ceiling (overhang) as possible. I can add more supports at any time, if necessary.

Where the ground level was higher near the house, I cut the posts so they stopped right above the soil. In other areas, the 8′ length doesn’t extend that close to the soil, but that’s okay. The excess plastic made a flange over the ground, on which I placed heavy pots and cinder blocks to block air infiltration. I haven’t trimmed any of the 12′ wide plastic, but I can play with that later. Incidentally, the flange helped keep the basement drier during a recent rainstorm. For now, it stays.

enclosing the porch, west side wood supports

The west side with 5 vertical and 2 horizontal 1 x 2″ x 8′ posts.

The braces and posts were sturdy, but there was too much play in the sides. So, I drilled another 3″ brace inside each of the upper 2 corners adjacent to the house, through the siding in the ceiling and into the vertical 1 x 2 (photo, below). A wooden beam hides under the siding. First, I hammered a nail through the aluminum, then replaced it with a deck screw, stabilizing the sides.

Brace secures vertical post to the ceiling, near house. Clear tape, barely visible on the right, seals plastic to siding.

On the South Face

Posts: 1 2 3 4 door 5 6 7 8

Here’s the 20′ south face of the porch. Imagine the vertical posts are numbered, from #1 at the left (west) corner to #8 at the right corner, with a larger gap in the middle for the “door”. The numbers don’t exactly correlate with the posts, but you get the idea. The door has not been finalized. Posts #1 and 8 were added previously to the corner timbers, when I worked on the east and west sides.

Across the front, I fastened braces to the floor and then added 2 middle posts on each side of the door (#2, 3, 6, 7). The other 2 new posts were fastened to the top of the inner 6 x 6″ timbers (#4, 5), and screwed directly to the edge of the decking. All 1 x 2″ x 8′ posts angled out slightly, below the edge of the floor.

Then the horizontal members went up: top and middle. Later, I had to remember to leave some extra plastic at the top of the outside corners to accommodate the slightly angled vertical posts (and longer dimension at the floor). Some of the posts were a bit bowed, so I’ll tape the gaps at the top from inside the porch.

At this point, all braces and support posts are in place. Progress!

Headings

Page 1: Enclosing the Porch for the Winter (Average Temperatures, Priority: Plants, The Best Option), Preliminary Plans, Enclosing the Porch: First, The Support System (Brace Yourselves, Next Up: The Vertical Posts, On the South Face)

Page 2: Enclosing the Porch: Second, Wrapping It Up (The West Side, The East and South Sides, How?), Warming Up to This, Enclosing the Porch: A Winter Retreat for Succulents (An Arctic Blast, and I Don’t Mean Fun Times with Santa, Blown Away Or Not?, Why Not LED’s?, Enclosing the Porch for Edible Plants, Potted Herbs and Tender Plants, Enclosing the Porch for Me, Too!)

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Seedlings For Your Garden: 12 Tips

Jun27

2022

Starting Seedlings For Your Garden

Busy spring! This lengthy article focuses on starting and caring for seedlings and getting them established in the garden. If I’m not working on the seedlings, I’m working in the gardens, creating new beds and expanding those started last fall and winter. Winter weather was delightfully mild to allow planting right through the cold season. The weeds and I have come to an understanding, and in the next article, I’ll tell you how in “Patches for Pollinators”.

Foremost on the agenda has been starting plants to sell at our local Elkin Farmers’ Market. It’s been a challenge this year, keeping plants in good condition with high heat, heavy humidity, and frequent rainstorms. If I had a climate-controlled greenhouse, there might have been fewer losses. But, for the most part, my company, Wellspring Gardens, is producing more seedlings than I can sell at the market.

Some of that overproduction is destined for the vegetable gardens. It will yield small harvests of produce to sell at the market in addition to what’s needed in the kitchen. This is new territory for me, adding produce to the plants offered at the farmers’ market.

I might even consider canning, which I’ve never done…but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. That would be helpful, though, considering the rapidly rising prices at the grocery store. For that reason alone—the impact of rampant inflation on our wallets—it’s wise to learn how to grow at least a few vegetables.

The sun’s path across the sky, Charlotte NC.

Watching how the sun tracks across the sky from month to month reveals good spots for the sun worshipers and areas where leafy greens should thrive in partial sun. This is my first summer in this house. The massive oak trees create shifting shade patterns that cause me to periodically rethink the plans.

So, let’s begin!

12 Tips For Starting Seeds

1. Start with clean materials for seedlings.

Sweet pepper ‘Glow’, started in 9-cell packs.

This calls for packaged seedling mix or fine-grained potting soil. Don’t use “dirt” from the garden, with its pathogens, insects, weed seeds, and worms that disrupt soil structure around tiny roots. In addition to the unknowns lurking in garden soil, its high clay content causes drainage issues in containers.

Soil used previously for potted plants is not a good medium for your seedlings. It’s often depleted of nutrients, might contain pathogens, and the organic matter has partially decomposed. If it’s only one season old, it’s probably safe for potted annuals, when mixed with fresh potting soil, or incorporated into the backfill for that new sourwood tree. Or simply throw it under the shrubs or into the compost pile.

Because seedlings are susceptible to soil-borne diseases, play it safe and start with pasteurized bagged seedling mix or potting soil. This, however, doesn’t guarantee a successful outcome, as many disease spores are air-borne. But we can increase the odds of success by using clean materials.

When reusing cell packs, pots, and flats for seeding, wash them in a 10% bleach solution, and rinse well before proceeding. Don’t smoke around plants, and wash hands thoroughly before working with them. Tobacco and other plants in the nightshade family (Solanaceae, including tomato, pepper, eggplant, and potato) can fall prey to the same disease organisms. Spores can transfer from tobacco products to your hands to the plants.

Pasteurizing Potting Soil

For bagged soil that’s questionable, you can pasteurize it in the oven. Don’t heat soil that contains timed release fertilizers. Use an oven-safe covered pot or baking dish, wet the soil, and heat the oven to 200°F. When the soil registers 140° on a meat thermometer, lower the oven temperature and maintain soil at that temperature for 30 minutes. This kills most pathogens. Wait for it to dry somewhat and to cool thoroughly before using. Various websites recommend different temperature levels from 140° to 300°. At the high end, beneficial microbes are killed off as well.

Let it cool down outdoors. Considering the pervasive “earthy” odor coming from hot soil, you might prefer buying a new bag of seedling mix or accept a small risk with the open bag in the garage.

Another method of pasteurizing (not sterilizing) soil is to place a heat-resistant container of soil in a black plastic bag. Place the bag in a sunny place outdoors on a warm day, and let the sun do the work for you. This is called solarization, and can raise the temperature inside the bag to 140-160°F. To prevent damage to the beneficial microbes, take the temperature, and maintain it at 140° for 30 minutes, opening the bag a bit to prevent overheating.

Most bagged potting soils and seedling mixes already have been heat-treated to eliminate pests. Close the bag securely and store in a cool dark place. The last and only time I pasteurized soil was nearly 50 years ago because that’s what the experts recommended.

2. Grow disease resistant varieties…

While fungicide and bactericide formulations—both organic and conventional—are available, I’d rather grow disease resistant varieties and not rely on spraying. Keep in mind that resistance is not 100% effective, particularly when plants are exposed to stressful weather or cultural conditions.

Certain varieties are more flavorful than others, but all well-grown fruits and vegetables from your own garden taste better than those purchased from grocery stores. Picked when vine-ripened perfect, anything coming from the garden will be superior to what’s found elsewhere except, perhaps, at farmers’ markets and farm stands. Freshly picked produce also has the highest nutrient content.

Digging in the garden is great exercise; proceed slowly at first. Working outside in nature feels good, and self-sufficiency is never amiss. A few steps from the back door gathering a green onion, spinach, dinosaur kale, and a little ripe sweet pepper for the veggie omelet is more rewarding than I can describe. You’ll see!

Those are just a few of the many benefits of growing our own vegetables. Using disease resistant varieties, if available, makes the job so much easier. Many new gardeners gave up after having suffered the disappointment of losing an entire crop to early blight or bacterial leaf spot. And we also have to deal with deer, rabbits, and insects!

Although this article concentrates primarily on edibles, flowering plants also have their own set of disease organisms. Again, look for resistant varieties, grow them in conditions that don’t favor infection, and look for remedies at the garden center.

…Especially Tomato Seedlings

Disease beginning on ‘Rutgers’ tomato.

Tomatoes and peppers, two of the most popular crops for home vegetable gardens, are vulnerable to many diseases. They’re caused by fungal, bacterial, or viral pathogens. In some areas, nematodes also can be a problem. Usually, we can harvest some fruits before disease claims them, but resistant plants last longer in the garden. Plants infected with viruses should be removed and destroyed. For fungal and bacterial pathogens, products at garden centers will help. Always read the labels.

Tomato diseases include Alternaria stem canker, early blight, late blight (Phytophthora; very few varieties are resistant to this one), Fusarium wilt, grey leaf spot, leaf mold, tobacco mosaic virus, tomato mosaic virus, tomato spotted wilt virus, and Verticillium wilt. Catalog listings use initials to indicate disease resistance. For tomatoes, AS, EB, LB, F, GLS, LM, TMV, ToMV, TSWV, and V, respectively, represent those diseases.

Tomatoes are weedy plants and normally produce good crops, despite many organisms that target them. Peppers are susceptible to several races of bacterial leaf spot, and basil to basil downy mildew. Some zinnias are plagued by powdery mildew. Weather conditions, such as high humidity and frequent rain, exacerbate these disease problems.

Most hybrid (or “F1”) tomatoes have some resistance to one or more pathogens, but not to all of them. ‘Big Beef Plus’ is resistant to a wide variety of diseases. ‘Damsel’ and ‘Defiant PhR’ are resistant to late blight. Hybrid seeds carry a higher price than open pollinated varieties due to the cost of research that developed them and the extra steps needed to produce hybrid seeds each year.

It’s so hot out there!

If you live in a hot climate, look for tomato varieties that have been bred to produce better at high temperatures. The pollen in tomatoes and peppers, and others, can die at high temperatures. While these plants are comfortable at 65-80°F, pollen dies above 88°, 90°, or 92°, depending on the cultivar. No pollination = no fruits! A reference to “heat” or to the “south” in the plant’s variety name indicates its higher tolerance for heat.

Researchers are investigating thermo-tolerant genetics in wild tomato species (Solanum pimpinellifolium) and incorporating them in tomato breeding programs.

One trick to preserve viable pollen is lightly shading the plant in the hot afternoon hours. Attach shade fabric—a black woven mesh—to a support over and on the west side of the tomato or pepper plants. This provides a decrease of up to several degrees in hot climates or temporarily during a heat wave. In the photo, above, mesh bags from the grocery store protect fruits from squirrels and sun scald, and lightly shade new flowers and their pollen from high heat.

The young ‘Estiva’ tomato plants (“estiva” refers to summer), a hybrid bred for heat tolerance and great taste, lost most of their diseased bottom leaves in heavy rains, but those little fruits are still growing! I’ll plant them out this weekend, after the temperatures drop well below the 108° heat index value we have now. Recent weather has been in the record-breaking mid- to high 90’s F, with high humidity. Not my favorite conditions to dig in the garden…so I don’t. I was not bred for heat tolerance!

***Update***: ‘Estiva’ tomatoes endured this hot summer and produced fruits past the first fall frosts. I covered them on chilly nights to ripen the last of the fruits. These were among the last tomatoes to succumb to the cold, in mid-November. Autumn 2022

A Few More Tomato Tips

Your best defense against tomato disease, in addition to growing disease resistant varieties, includes these tips:

Stake them. Tall indeterminate types need a 6-8′ tall stake, taller for some.
Space them farther apart, at least 3½-4′.
Thin the vines to 3 or 4 main stems by removing excess suckers.
Remove leaves on the bottom 12″ of the plants after they’ve become established.
Locate them where a breeze blows through the garden. These first 5 tips address increasing air circulation around and through the tomato plants.
Give them lots of direct sun—a minimum of 7 or 8 hours. The more sun they receive, the shorter the window of opportunity for pathogens to germinate on damp leaf surfaces.
Mulch the soil under the plants to prevent disease spores lying dormant in the soil from splashing onto and infecting the foliage. More on Page 4.
Water in the morning to early afternoon so all foliage is dry going into the night. Try to keep the foliage dry at all times and avoid handling wet foliage.
Water established plants heavily (1½”/week) when needed, but avoid giving little sips every day. Young seedlings need more frequent watering until their root systems expand.
Clip off leaves that show early symptoms (yellowing, spotting), and dip your pruners in alcohol when moving from plant to plant.
Don’t smoke near the garden, and wash hands thoroughly before working with plants.
Rotate your crops. Don’t plant a member of the Solanaceae family where any members have grown in the past 3-4 years. There’s more about crop rotation on Page 4.

All plants grown with good soil preparation, good air circulation, proper watering techniques, adequate sun, and appropriate fertilization are less stressed. Less stress equates to lower infection rates.

Growing Heirloom Seedlings

: These “black” heirloom tomatoes are higher in beneficial pigments called anthocyanins, which are powerful antioxidants. ‘Cherokee Purple’ (above) originated near the NC/TN border, and had been grown by the Cherokee for generations before seeds became widely available in the early 1990’s. ‘Black Prince’ (left), is a high-yielding variety, shown before fruits darkened.

Heirloom tomatoes are always in demand because of their exceptionally good flavor. Heirlooms are open pollinated, which means gardeners can save seeds from fully ripened fruits each year for the next season’s garden. Because they’re not F1 hybrids but have been breeding true, for the most part, for many decades, heirlooms retain their traits from one generation to the next.

These varieties, however, don’t have much built-in disease resistance. Nevertheless, I’m growing a few heirlooms, and spacing them 4′ apart for improved air circulation. We’ll see what happens.

Commercially grown tomatoes must be able to survive long distance transportation and handling without damage. They’re picked early, when green or first showing color. Varieties of these tomatoes have skins that normally are tougher.

Heirloom tomatoes have more desirable thinner skins and, therefore, travel poorly. So, you won’t see them in grocery stores unless those stores buy from local farms. Heirloom tomatoes from the grocery store might cost $5.00/lb. or more! So, yes, it is worth growing a couple of heirloom tomato plants in our gardens.

A few prolonged and heavy rainy periods this spring almost wiped out certain tomato varieties, namely ‘Carmello’, ‘Brandywine’, and ‘German Johnson’. I still have a few that show less damage than others. ‘Black Krim’ and ‘Cherokee Purple’ are doing fairly well, although they are heirlooms. Most of the remaining plants will be set in the garden. There’s usually a breeze blowing through the property, and by spacing them appropriately, I should get plenty of fruits.

Basil Downy Mildew

First symptom of BDM: yellow blotches between the main veins.

Although this dreaded disease targets only basil, it hasn’t appeared yet this year. But I’m prepared.

Last year, I grew ‘Rutgers Obsession DMR’ (DMR = Downy Mildew Resistant), an acceptable substitute for our beloved ‘Genovese’ and other susceptible sweet basils. Last year’s ‘Obsession’ did not develop any basil downy mildew (BDM)—not one speck—although wet and humid weather presented a worthy challenge. Other basil varieties in the ground or in pots succumbed to the disease within a week of infection…even young seedlings.

This year, I’m growing ‘Rutgers Obsession DMR’ and also ‘Rutgers Devotion DMR’ outside all summer. In addition, I’m seeding the old favorites, including ‘Genovese’, ‘Italian Large Leaf’, Thai basil ‘Siam Queen’, ‘Marseillais Dwarf’, and ‘Tuscany’, a lettuce-leaf basil. A few non-resistant basil plants will come indoors at night when warranted, as described below. But I’ll stop seeding susceptible varieties, except for a few pots, and concentrate on the resistant ones for the farmers’ market if the disease appears in the neighborhood.

Several other BDM resistant varieties can be purchased as seeds or as started plants.

Avoid High Humidity

Healthy sweet basil, in a pot.

If you want to grow your favorite basil varieties that are not resistant to BDM, there is a way to prevent a total loss.

BDM spores move up from the south on the breeze or on infected plants shipped into the area. The spores don’t overwinter in cold climates. If spores land on a susceptible variety, they need a relative humidity above 80-85% for a couple of hours in order to germinate.

Even during pleasant weather, the relative humidity can reach 90% or higher in the 2-3 hours around dawn. That’s when the temperature is usually the coolest and, therefore, the relative humidity is the highest.

When plants show early symptoms of BDM, remove the affected leaves. Take potted basil plants indoors for the night, every night. Indoor conditions never reach those high humidity levels, so you can still grow your preferred basil varieties successfully with a little effort. Remember to place the plants back outdoors after the sun has been up for a couple of hours.

Follow this regimen during rainy weather, although the plants might need to spend a day or two inside. Find the brightest spot to keep them during their temporary stay indoors. If possible, provide some artificial light. Unless it’s wilting, avoid watering basil indoors. Less sunlight means the plant won’t be photosynthesizing optimally or using much water, and wet soil can initiate root rot.

Headings

Page 1: 1. Start with clean materials for seedlings. (Pasteurizing Potting Soil), 2. Grow disease resistant varieties… (…Especially Tomato Seedlings, It’s so hot out there!, A Few More Tomato Tips, Growing Heirloom Seedlings, Basil Downy Mildew, Avoid High Humidity)

Page 2: 3. Timing is important for seedlings. (The Fall Growing Season, Keeping Records, The Cooperative Extension Service, Starting Seedlings Outdoors, Don’t Start Seedlings Too Early, Cool Season Crops, Extending the Growing Season, Seedlings Transplanted Into Bigger Pots, Bunching Onions, The Brassicas, Brassicas In My Garden, Lettuce), 4. Is the temperature suitable for seedlings? (Miniature Incandescent Lights For Warmth, Water Temperature)

Page 3: 5. Start seedlings in small batches. (My Simple Infrastructure), 6. Seedlings need strong light. (Growing Seedlings Under Shop Lights), 7. Cull the weaklings and anomalies. 8. Prevent damping-off disease from killing your seedlings. (Actinovate), 9. Seedlings and plants need fertilizer. (The Elements, Read the Label)

Page 4: 10. Prepare the soil for your transplants. (Start With Good Drainage, Air Pore Space, Gypsum and Lime, Add Nutrient-Rich Amendments, Bury It), 11. Try succession planting for maximum yield. (Crop Rotation, Mulch), 12. Stop the pests before they ruin your garden. (Slugs and Snails, Larvae of Moths and Butterflies, Spider Mites and Thrips, Deer and Rabbits), Concluding

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How I Got To The Farm In My Yard

Apr16

2018

The Farm In My Yard

Years ago, I had a conversation with a woman in the detergents aisle at the local grocery store. We were having a lovely chat about gardening, and, after some time, she suggested that I write a book. Who wouldn’t love to be published in the field of one’s toil and passion? She asked what the title would be, and I readily responded “The Farm In My Yard”.

I must confess that this was an idea that had been bouncing around in my head for a while, but with the demands of both work and family, there was no time to devote to the project.

Flats of plants, at sunrise, almost ready for the markets.

Working From Home

For most of my career as a self-employed horticulturist, all I had to do was to step outside the kitchen door and go right to work, growing thousands of plants (the “Farm”) on only a fifth of an acre of land (the “Yard”), tucked at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac. That’s just the kind of commute I like!

The farmers’ markets and garden festivals (okay, I did have to drive there) where I sold potted herbs and vegetables, annuals, perennials, houseplants, and dish gardens required that the plants be grown by the seller. I couldn’t simply buy them wholesale and then resell them. Where’s the fun in that?

herb gardens and forced bulbs at the garden show

Herb gardens and forced spring-flowering bulbs were garden show favorites.

The Infrastructure

I set up a potting station in the garage. Flats of transplants went to benches of 2 x 4’s on cinder blocks or around the yard. Sun-lovers grew in the front yard, and shady perennials, such as Hosta, Tiarella, Helleborus, and various ferns, preferred the back yard.

Cuttings rooted and seeds germinated under a dozen or so 4′ fluorescent light fixtures in the basement, and more in the spare bedrooms, as needed. Add talk radio and a pot of coffee and I could work happily, undisturbed, for hours, around my children’s schedules.

In the busy late winter to spring months, I transplanted homegrown seedlings and plug trays (flats of 50-300 young plants purchased from wholesale suppliers) until daylight faded. And then I’d move the operation to the kitchen counter, where I could work for several more hours.

Over the decades, more of these markets began operating year-round instead of just seasonally. Full displays required constant plumping of inventory throughout the year. There was always something germinating, or rooting, or being potted up. Always an opportunity to play in the dirt, on the farm in my yard.

Wellspring Gardens' booth at garden show

Wellspring Gardens’ booth at the Maryland Home and Garden Show, Timonium, in late winter.

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Better Gardening: Getting Started On Day 1

Apr10

2018

Gardening is not new to me, but blogging is…

packing truck for farmers' market, better gardening

Packing the truck for the farmers’ market, late spring. With limited space, some plants grew in flats on the driveway, next to the perennial garden.

…so bear with me as I figure this thing out. Since I like details, keeping the articles short is not my style. A subtitle could include the phrase, “beyond the label descriptions”. All those details not found on plant tags can make a huge difference toward a better gardening experience. So, here’s to better gardening; it starts now!

This blog is about gardening, nature, birds and bugs, and some cooking. I’ll also include information gathered on trips to garden shows and other places of interest.

New Jersey, West Virginia, and Maryland

For 40 years, I owned a small horticultural business, which germinated in my parents’ Oradell, New Jersey, basement. When I moved to West Virginia, all the tables, light fixtures, and plants came with me. My husband and I lived there for a few years. For the next 35 years, we lived in Maryland, most of that time in Rockville, and had two kids and one divorce.

Throughout much of this period of time, I attended college classes in biology, botany, horticulture, landscape design, and landscape technology. I continued working, of course, selling plants at garden shows, flea markets, and county fairs, and wholesale to local garden centers and florists.

Then the farmers’ markets became phenomenally popular in the late 1980’s, popping up in every town and city. For many years, my little company (Wellspring Gardens; not affiliated with the online company) sold an assortment of plants at several farmers’ markets and other festivals in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

: Dwarf succulents in ceramic bonsai tray.

: Herb garden in Italian clay window box.

There was strong demand for herbs and vegetable transplants, and I also grew annuals, perennials, and houseplants. Succulent dish gardens and potted herb gardens, as well as seasonal offerings, were favorites at all the shows. Finding unusual varieties and growing new cultivars made my work fun and sometimes challenging.

I also spent a few years drawing landscape plans for contractors in Maryland, and many years installing gardens for customers I’d met at the markets.

North Carolina

better gardening, Rountree Plantation edible section

Cool season greens at Rountree Nursery and Supply, Charlotte NC.

Six years ago, Mother called from Charlotte, North Carolina, and expressed the need for help. So here I am, with a lot of plants, and supplies and furniture kept in storage. Since self-employment is not practical at this location, I worked for a few years, managing the Edibles Department at a local garden center (photo, above)…until just last week. (***Update***: I am now living in beautiful rural northern North Carolina, and have recently re-started the business. Wellspring Gardens will sell plants at 1 or 2 local farmers’ markets. 2/6/2022)

After receiving customers’ requests for gardening lessons, and a trip to Barnes and Noble for a copy of Blogging for Dummies, this blog was born. In order to retain ownership of the content, I set up a “self-hosted” blog. This takes work, especially for someone with no computer skills. But I’m glad to finally catch up.

The Farm In My Yard

Most of the posts here at “The Farm In My Yard” comprise helpful suggestions and timely tips. The information is derived from decades of decoding problems that friends, family, and customers have had with unproductive tomatoes, spotty ugly basil, 4″ long caterpillars, and soil that looks, well, dead. And that’s just the beginning. These articles might answer questions for both beginning and experienced gardeners.

If you’re curious why your tomatoes stopped producing fruit in the heat of summer, you’ll find the answer in No Fruits On Your Tomato Plants?. Join me for a lovely drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway and a visit to the picturesque Mabry Mill. Or perhaps you’re looking for recipes for homemade chicken soup or almond crescent cookies.

Check back now and then for new relevant information that will be added periodically.

Toward Better Gardening

Before you proclaim that you’ll never grow a green thumb, let me reassure you by saying that, even though I’m fairly competent now, I killed my first bunch of houseplants—in the early 1970’s, while in college. I did everything the plant shop told me to do, but they still died…as did the next few plants I bought.

A little experimentation was called for here. I was a Biology major, after all. The next plants (including Zebra plant [Aphelandra], Dieffenbachia, and Emerald Ripple Peperomia) were placed in windows that received morning sun. Brighter light is precisely what they needed. Once I started succeeding with houseplants, I was hooked! The next year, I started a horticultural business.

Never give up. Read everything you can get your hands on. But remember: there is no substitute for the educational experience of handling plants, starting seeds, and digging in the soil. Year after year after year.

Now that spring is here or coming soon to the northern states, our thoughts turn to another attempt at a ripe red bell pepper or more than a few vine-ripened tomatoes. Armed with new information and renewed determination, you’ll be able to improve upon previous less-than-overwhelmingly-successful experiences.

Thanks for joining me on this quest toward better gardening. I hope you’ll find the answers to your garden questions and enjoy reading some of the articles posted here.

Flats of plants growing on the sunny driveway, in early spring.

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