I had the pleasure of attending a Gardening Roundtable on March 24, 2011 at Sonnewald Natural Foods with my husband, best friend and her husband. There were 3 local speakers who all work small farms in the area. Here are the nuggets from their talks:
Soil/General Gardening
- Resources- Any book by Rodale, Complete Book of Composting, Secrets of the Soil
- Usually by St. Patrick’s Day can put cold weather seeds in the ground outside (some lettuces, carrots, peas, potatoes, turnips)
- 4’x8’ beds are a good size, raised if possible, do not use pressure treated wood to make the frame, locust or cedar will last the longest
- Square foot gardening technique is great for getting the most yield out of small spaces
- In PA will need to add 1 cup dolomite lime per year to keep soil slightly acidic
- Soil should be compost-based to provide more nutrients for a longer period of time but be careful because it will hold water more
- Can make your own compost with a mix of minerals, peat moss or rice hulls, vermiculite and perlite
- Organic Mechanic soil mix is good, mixture of pine bark, worm castings, rice hulls. Drains well but if the plants are in it for more than 5 weeks will need to use a fish-based fertilizer to supplement (They have this at Sonnewald and I bought a bag today for a little over $6 which is comparable to more well-known brands.)
- Vermont Compost and Fertrel are also good companies
- Good, nutrient-rich soil is vital to grow crops with high nutrient contents
- When watering gardens, remember that people don’t like cold showers and neither do plants. Instead of watering with a hose, better to let some buckets of water sit out a few days to get to the air temperature before watering
Pests
- To keep pests away, ground vinegar, garlic, lemon in blender then sift through cheesecloth and spray after each rain on plants
- Companion planting can also help w/ pests (i.e. marigolds throughout the beds)
- Floating row covers can also help
- Organic sprays can be used, neem oil is good for stopping Mexican bean beetle
Seeds
- Good seed companies include Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and Johnny’s
- Don’t plant more than 1/8-1/4” deep (3x the size of the seed), larger seeds should go in larger cells if planting in flats
- Heat and water needed for germination, light not necessary until seeds sprout
- If using grow lights, place 4-6” above flats
- When watering, but sure to hit the corners and to water completely, not just the top of the soil, flats should be nearly dry before re-watering
- Be sure to check on the maturity date, sometimes the company starts the maturity date counting from the time of planting the seed, other times from the time of transplantation to outdoors.
- Typical rule of thumb is to start indoors 4-6 weeks before transplanting outside
They also talked about the need to use organic seeds and no chemicals, as well as being conscious of what neighbors are using on their yards and gardens as this can leech into your beds. The one speaker had been in industrial agriculture for a long time and spoke briefly of the patents on genetically modified seeds and that farmers are being sued for trying to reuse seeds that they gathered from their fields (the companies, such as Monsanto, that patent the seeds require that you purchase them each year and often also require you to use their chemical fertilizers and pesticides).
I hope to attend future events as this one to gain more information from experts, as well as a weed walk with the owner, Grace. She did have some chickweed available to try :)
