Spring officially starts tomorrow and I already have a busy list of projects planned for my farm.
I'm always looking for ways to improve my gardens. I love planting interesting perennials that add texture, growth and beauty throughout the year. I also enjoy arranging large groups of certain plantings to create borders and appealing displays. Yesterday, my outdoor grounds crew planted Mugo pines along the edge of my pinetum. Mugo pines are conifers with dark green needles on dense branches. They're slow growing and mature to a size of five feet tall by 10-feet wide. I am also expanding the garden for more evergreens. Spring planting is underway!
Enjoy these photos.
Mugo pines are popular and interesting evergreens. They add texture, color, and pleasing shape to the garden. I nurtured these specimens from bare root cuttings and they’ve done so well these last couple of years. It’s time to plant them in their permanent spots.
Here’s my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, moving a selection of Mugo pines to my pinetum for a border.
Mugo pines, Pinus mugo, are dense shrubs native to mountainous areas in central and southern Europe. The will make a nice border for this garden.
This is my pinetum in summer. It is filled with many different shapes and sizes of evergreens. Over time, this area will fill out more and more.
All the potted pines are unloaded and placed to the side while the area is prepared for planting.
Gardener’s twine and stakes are used to mark the new edge of this bed. The twine also serves as a guide for the motorized sod cutter.
Here’s Phurba cutting the sod around the space. There are different types of sod cutters, but they all essentially cut grass at the roots so entire sections of sod can be removed to expose the bare ground underneath it.
Once the sod is cut, it is rolled up in strips. Doing this right away makes it easier to see where the sod has already been cut.
Here is a section of the bed after the sod is removed.
Phurba works in another area to roll up the sod. I never like to waste anything around the farm. The usable sod will be put in other areas needing grass.
Adan picks up the heavy rolls to fill the wheelbarrow.
The space between each Mugo pine is measured for accuracy. One can also eyeball the distance – four to five feet depending on established plants nearby. They all need adequate room to grow.
Holes are dug twice as wide as the root balls, but no deeper. Once in the hole, the top of the root ball should be a half-inch higher than the soil surface.
We’ve had a lot of rain lately, so the soil is quite moist and soft.
I always say, “if you eat, so should your plants.” Use fertilizer specifically formulated to help transplant survival and increase water and nutrient absorption. Pasang drops a generous handful of fertilizer into the hole and mixes the granules with the existing soil
Then using a hori hori knife he scarifies the roots of the specimen. Scarifying stimulates root growth. Essentially one cuts up small portions of the root ball to loosen the roots and create beneficial injuries. This helps the plant become established more quickly in its new environment.
Pasang also uses his hands to tease the bottom roots.
The plant is placed into the hole at the proper height – the nicest side faces out to the carriage road.
Always be careful to plant at the right depth. Planting too deep can kill any shrub or tree.
Finally, it’s backfilled. After putting a new shrub or tree into the ground, be sure to keep it slightly moist for its first year as it takes root.
Mugo pines are low-maintenance and highly resilient to various weather conditions. I’ll share more photos of this pinetum project in another blog.
A big project to restore a little pond on my farm is almost complete.
Restoring the health of a pond is very important. It improves the quality of the pond's water, supports aquatic life, and promotes a clean and balanced ecosystem. I began this project about a year ago with the removal of several large and unstable trees. The next step was to dredge as much of the pond silt as possible - decaying plants, dirt, old leaves, and other debris that had accumulated and settled at the bottom. After the cleaning phase, the pond walls were reinforced with huge rocks and boulders and the spillway was repaired. Here's the first of several blogs showing how it was all done.
Enjoy these photos.
This old pond is located on the edge of one of my hay fields, not far from a grove of beautiful weeping willow trees I planted when I moved to my farm. I’ve long wanted to restore this pond and make it cleaner, prettier and better for visiting wildlife.
A year ago, I began taking out the dead trees from in and around the pond. My outdoor grounds crew secured ropes to the logs so they could be pulled out.
One by one, the dead trees and all the limbs and branches were removed.
Just pulling out these trees made the pond look so much better.
The trees were all put through the chipper to make wood chips.
However, the pond was still murky and filled with decades of silt and other debris on the pond floor.
A pump was set up to help separate the water from the silt and empty the pond for cleaning.
A huge tractor and loader was used to clear a path, so silt could be removed and placed outside the pond.
The exact make-up of the silt, or sludge, in a pond depends on the location and the variety of plants that are around the water’s edge. When there is too much, it depletes the pond of oxygen.
Wood and steel mats are placed on the path so the tractor can work as close to the pond as possible.
Juan is an excellent tractor operator. He is able to maneuver the equipment in tight areas safely and efficiently.
This is a silt fence, a temporary sediment control barrier that keeps any removed silt from getting into other sensitive areas.
Separated water pumped out bypasses this area and goes to the clean streams beyond.
Here is one of the giant hoses that funnel the water out of the pond.
Smaller machinery is used to transport the silt away from the pond. Packed with nutrients, the silt will eventually be recycled back into the soil here at my farm.
This process took a few weeks. It is important not to disturb any wildlife or dig too deep. It should bot be dredged deeper than the clay layer which acts as a barrier preventing any water seepage into the soil.
This shows the pond a couple weeks later.
Other debris from the bottom of the pond is removed.
Here, one can see the bottom and debris that has been in the pond for years.
And here is a section of the pond after so much of the dredging is complete. It looks so much better already, but the project isn’t done yet. There’s so much more to be done to bolster and beautify the pond edge and repair the old spillway.
March is always a busy gardening month here at my farm. If my crew isn't prepping and cleaning the beds outdoors, they're starting seeds and transplanting seedlings indoors.
Many of my vegetables are started from seed every year in my greenhouse - onions, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, celery, etc. I use seeds from my favorite sources and seeds I find during my travels. Last week, I started several trays of eggplants and peppers.
Here are some photos.
I grow bounties of delicious eggplants every year. I try all different kinds to see what grows and tastes best and what I should plant again the next season.
Asian eggplants are often sweeter in flavor and vary more in shape and color than their American counterparts.
I also grow all kinds of peppers. They can be served stuffed, roasted, or eaten raw in salads and alone.
Bell peppers start out green and change color as they mature. If left alone they will turn yellow, orange, red, or even purple, depending on the variety. The longer the pepper stays on the vine, the sweeter it becomes and the more nutritional value it has.
Seed starting trays are available at garden supply shops and can be saved and reused every year. They are usually made from plastic, biodegradable paper or compressed peat.
When starting from seed, it is best to use a pre-made seed starting mix that contains the proper amounts of vermiculite, perlite and peat moss. I use Miracle-Gro Seed Starting Potting Mix.
Once all the packets are pulled and organized by type, Ryan determines what order the seeds will be started in the trays depending on how long it takes each plant to germinate.
I enjoy trying seeds from various vendors, but Johnny’s Selected Seeds and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds are two of my go-to sources.
Ryan fills the seed starting trays with mix and pats down lightly into each compartment.
The soil should be level with the top of the tray before starting.
Seeds are started several weeks before the last frost in the area. If you’re not sure, check online or ask garden center associates when the last frost usually occurs in your location. And be sure to read the valuable information on the seed packets.
Ryan creates a quarter-inch deep furrow in the middle of each compartment by pressing a finger gently into each cell. This can be done pretty quickly, even with multiple trays. The depressions are just deep enough to hold the seed in place.
One to three seeds is dropped into each cell. Pepper and eggplant seeds are small, so one must take time dropping them into the tray cells. It’s also a good idea to keep a record of when seeds are sown, when they germinate, and when they are transplanted. These observations will help organize a schedule for the following year.
Ryan places a label at one end of each row indicating the variety of seeds that are planted.
And then he adds more soil, covering all the seeds and leveling off the top of the tray. He lightly pats the soil down, so the seeds have good contact with the seed starting potting mix.
Now onto the eggplants… My greenhouse cat, Blackie, watches with some interest.
These wooden pot labels are from Johnny’s. At just about four inches long, they’re perfect for marking trays, pots, or even rows of a certain variety out in the garden.
Eggplant seeds are also very small. Ryan drops the seeds into the cells directly from the envelope. Germination is never guaranteed, so multiple seeds are planted. This provides a better chance at least one will take root. The seeds will be selectively thinned in a few weeks.
Once all the seeds are planted, Ryan covers the trays with a top layer of soil mix and pats it down gently to ensure good contact.
I am fortunate to have the room in my greenhouse for all the seeds I start every year. Because I share so many of my vegetables with my family, I am sure to grow many crops.
The trays are all given a good watering.
Within the next week sprouts will start appearing in the trays. I hope these blogs help remind you what you can do to get ready for the next gardening season. If you can, start some seeds today.
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