Garden Ornaments

30 Ekim 2014 Perşembe

How to Plant Garlic in the Fall: How, When and Why

How to Plant Garlic in the Fall: How, When and Why

My method for planting garlic is for gardeners in areas that get freezing winters. If you don't get freezing nights, snow and frozen ground... garlic bulbs are often pushed into the garden bed surface, about an inch deep and covered with some mulch.

I am in Maryland Zone 7 and my beds freeze in the winter. Garlic should be planted 3-4 inches deep depending on how much cold you get. The video will show you how I set up the soil and plant the garlic cloves, broken from the bulbs. I will use diffenernt fertilizers as available. I often use bone meal for phosphorous, as it helps with bulb growth, and blood meal for nitrogen. The key to nice size garlic bulbs is very loose soil and fall planting.

Garlic Sprouts - The Rusted Garden 2014

You plant them in the fall for two reasons. The garlic will recognize the winter and come spring will set off to form a bulb. Planting them in the fall also allows the clove to sprout a tip and develop a really strong root system. When you plant the clove you want to make sure you have some slow release fertilizer mixed into the planting area. Don't worry if your garlic gets a few inches of green growth that gets beat up before the cold arrives. It won't hurt it.

Plant Garlic in the Fall before the Freeze Comes

I plant my garlic about 4 inches deep in my zone. I don't mulch it. You can plant it in late September through October. If you want to push it, early November is okay. The key is that you want about 4 inches of a barrier between the clove you plant and freeze. You could do a 4 inch depth in the soil or 2 inches in the soil and 2 inches of mulch. It is really up to you. You do not need to be exact.

I use garlic from the grocery store. A lot of people say you shouldn't as you have a risk for diseases. I haven't had issues. You can buy it from catalogs and online. You can go to specialty gourmet stores for different varieties that are meant to be eaten... but I plant them.

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21 Ekim 2014 Salı

Fall is Here and Now is the Time to Build Raised Beds and Prepare Garden Beds for Next Spring

Fall is Here and Now is the Time to

Build Raised Beds and Prepare Garden Beds for Next Spring

Fall often signals the end of the gardening season. It is a great time of year to convert your earth beds over to simple raised beds or to increase the size of your garden with another raised bed or two. If you have a raised bed it also the time to clean out the old plants, amend your soil and prepare them for hibernation. Which really means tossing in some compost, dirt and maybe some cover crops. Come the spring, you just need to turn the beds and get them ready for planting.

If you do the work in the fall, come spring you really just have to turn the soil, add what you like and plant your seeds. Raised beds are a great way to organize your garden. They can be planted earlier in the spring, as they drain better and warm faster. They also help you conserve resources by directing you time, amendments and money into the actual planting area. The space between the beds can be mulched for weed control and walking. The good stuff goes into the raised bed.

If you are framing out a new raised bed, you can actually build the frame, lay it down and put newspaper and cardboard over the grass inside the frame. Cover the frame with basic cheap soil to press down the newspaper and come spring you have a place that is weed and grass free. You can add compost and amendments of your choice and just turn the bed. You will be ready to plant come spring.

8 Ekim 2014 Çarşamba

Bulk Seed Sale: 7 Varieties of Cool Weather Salad Greens

7 Varieties of Cool Weather Salad Greens

I selected these bulk purchase seeds based on what I enjoy in my salads. There are 4 types of lettuce with different colors and shapes. A spicy arugula, an endive and some turnip greens. You can grow these in the spring and fall in most areas. They love the cool weather. I am growing these now in my greenhouse cold-frame for fall and hopefully winter greens.

Sprouted Seeds in the Cool Weather Seed Packages

Arugula Roquette
A leafy green with a slightly peppery flavor. The young leaves can be used fresh or mature greens can be cooked. It will get to 3 feet tall when fully mature. It does not like heat. A definite cool weather crop.

Endive Salad King
Grows 2 feet tall. This is a dark green variety with curled and deeply cut leaves. The plants are slow bolting. Plants can stand a light frost. Plant in spring and fall.

Lettuce Danyelle
This is an incredibly red lettuce from baby leaf size to maturity. It is sweet and crispy with nice full heads and an upright habit. The plants are easy to grow and hold their quality in the field for a long time. 28 days baby leaf. 50 days mature.

Lettuce Grand Rapids
Non-heading variety with fringed and curled, sweet crisp, light-green leaves. Great for leaf picking and cut and come again lettuce. 45 days to maturity.

Lettuce Oakleaf
Medium-green oak leaf-like leaves are born on a single stalk/rosette. As outer leaves are picked, plant continues to produce tender new leaves. A unique loose leaf variety. Good container plant. 40 days.

Lettuce Red Romaine
A great looking lettuce. It is tender crisp with a sweet gourmet romaine flavor. Plants are 12" tall, slow to bolt and widely adapted. The leaves are green at the very base and red on top. The red color intensifies with cool weather. Great for spring and fall crops. It matures later in about 70 days but you can pick it as you wish.

Turnip Seven Top (Greens)
Popular turnip grown not for the root but for the delicious greens. It is an heirloom and has been around for 100+ years. It matures in 45 days. Another great cool weather green.

7 Varieties of Seeds for $ 9.75 (shipping included)

Click Here to My Seed Ordering Page

27 Eylül 2014 Cumartesi

The Rusted Garden 2015 Tomato Seed Sale is Active: 40 Varieties I Hand Collected

The Rusted Garden 2015 Tomato Seed Sale is Active: 40 Varieties I Hand Collected

All 40 Tomato Varieties Test Germinated: Sale is On!

Well it was a great summer. I grew over 40 varieties of tomatoes and collected seeds from about 40 plants for resale. All the seeds test germinated well. You can purchase them from my blog and here is the quick link to The Rusted Garden Tomato Seed Sale. I have decent quantities but I think they will go pretty quickly. You can view the seeds at the link and order there. I have descriptions, pictures and videos for a lot of the seeds. I will add more over time.

I also order some bulk tomato and pepper seeds from a company I use. These will be seeds I grow next year in the a garden. I am also offering them in a package of 10. I will do a few discount packages or bulk deals as time goes on.

Thanks for being kind and watching my videos. I am already looking forward to next year. I hope everyone had a great year in the garden!

Gary

The Rusted Garden Tomato Seeds Ready for Sale

25 Eylül 2014 Perşembe

Growing, Harvesting and Drying Hot Cayenne Peppers: Red Pepper Flakes for Pasta!

Growing, Harvesting and Drying Hot Cayenne Peppers: Red Pepper Flakes for Pasta!

A pepper that is very easy to grow is the hot 'Cayenne' pepper. There is a sweet version with no heat. I grow the hot cayenne specifically for making red pepper flakes for my pastas. I live in Maryland Zone 7 and transplant my plants late May into my earth beds and container gardens. I typically harvest the peppers in late August or early September when they are a brilliant red and start drying a bit on the plant. I believe harvesting them this way improves their flavor!

The Finished Product - Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

Peppers need warm days and nights to really start growing. If you plant them too early, frost will kill them and if you put them in past the frost date but when it is still cool... they will just sit. They prefer 60+ degree nights and 80 degrees days to really start growing. Warmer night bring faster growth. Late May is a good time to get them in ground in my area. I recommend using transplants you either start yourself indoors about 8 weeks before they would go into the ground or you can by transplants locally.

Cayenne Peppers Oven Dried and Ready to be Crushed

If you don't have room to grow them in the ground you can grow them in containers. I recommend a 5 gallon container but they can also be grown in 2 1/2 gallon containers like in the video. The key to healthy container peppers is never letting the soil fully dry out and liquid feedings about every two weeks with a balance fertilizer or one with a lower nitrogen number. Too much nitrogen gets you a lot of leaf growth.

Over time I found letting them dry a bit on the plant adds flavor. They will go from being a firm plump red pepper that is hard to bend to a slightly wrinkled red pepper that is pliable. Don't let them over dry on the plant but just wrinkle a bit. This is typically around 90 days after transplanting. You may get several harvests too depending on the area in which you grow. Here is a video that shows you my recent September harvest and how the peppers look before picking. I also quickly go over the drying process. Drying time will vary.

One of the great things about gardening is you continually learn. Here is my first video on picking and drying hot cayenne peppers from 2 or 3 years ago. It is essentially the same but I did change a few things. I now let them dry a bit on the plant. And I don't take the tops off when they go in the oven. I think my new method keeps a bit more flavor within the peppers. However, nothing is exact and this video shows you how to dry fully plump cayenne peppers which really means instead of 5 hours drying time it will take you nearly 7 hours. And that makes sense as there is less moisture in wrinkled pliable cayenne peppers you take off the plants... but more flavor!

And finally... store them in an air tight container. You don't want the humidity of the days to seep back into your dried peppers. Keep the crisp. When you use them they will absorb the flavors of the pasta sauces you use. Good luck and enjoy!

Two Ways to Store Your Dried Cayenne Peppers

19 Eylül 2014 Cuma

10 Varieties of Hot Peppers from Mild to Blistering with Mixed Flavors and Uses: Bulk Package Deal

10 Varieties of Hot Peppers from Mild to Blistering

with Mixed Flavors and Uses: Bulk Package Deal

I selected these bulk seeds based on loving hot peppers myself. They range from very mild to quite hot. They are also functional too in that they vary in flavor and use. Some are great for grilling, sauces, pickling, salsa and just burning. These are seeds I bulk order.

10 Varieties of Seeds (30+ per pack) for $14.00 (shipping inlcuded)

Ancho/Poblano
Mildly hot stuffing pepper. Heart shaped peppers are 4x3”. They start out green and turn deep red when ripe. 80 days. 76-80 days. The are picked as Ancho but when dried are called Poblano.

Cayenne Long Slim

Dark green, long fruit maturing to red. Slim 6” x 3/4” pointed and wrinkled. Strong, spreading plant, 20-24” tall. Great for processing & drying. 70-75 days. Great for hot pepper flakes.

Habanero Orange
HOT! Late maturing pepper has fruits with thin walls and lantern shape averaging 2” x 1”. Matures to orange color that looks too hot to even touch. 100 days. 150,000+ Scoville Units.

Hungarian Yellow Wax
Hot! Peppers are light yellow to red, medium-thick wall fruit 5 1/2” x 1 1/2” wide. Strong upright plant growth. 65-70 days. A very hot banana pepper.

Jalapeno (Early)
Thick walled, dark-green fruit maturing to red. Averages 3” x 1 1/2” in size. Tapered to a blunt tip. 4,000-5,000 Scovilles. 65 days.

Large Red Cherry
Prolific and very hot. Bears heavy crops of 1” x 1 1/2” medium-green to red nearly round fruit. Pungency rating: 1,000-2,000. 70 days.

Mulato Isleno
A mildly hot poblano type pepper. This heart shaped pepper matures from green to dark chocolate brown. 1,000 on the Scoville scale. Excellent for salsa, roasting and stuffing. 3” wide, 6” long. 80 days.

Pepperoncini (Greek Golden)
Yellowish-green, Greek pepperoncini similar to those found at many salad bars, pizza parlors and sub sandwich restaurants. Just the right amount of heat. Prolific, early season fruits eventually turn red but should be harvested immature. 62 days

Scotch Bonnet orange
Hot! This variety is for serious Chile heads, the heat registers over 100,000 Scoville units. Peppers are green before ripening. They are 2” long by 2” wide. Plants are very productive. Scotch Bonnets are the most popular of the Caribbean peppers. 100 days.

Tabasco
This is the pepper used to make Tabasco sauce. It was introduced to the country in the 1800’s from México and is still going strong. The peppers are 1 1/2-3” long and are held upright on the plants. They ripen from green to yellow to orange to red. 30,000-50,000 Scovilles. 90 days.

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17 Eylül 2014 Çarşamba

A Gardener’s Perspective: Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson … Didn’t Know Better? Are You Serious?

A Gardener’s Perspective:

Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson … Didn’t Know Better? Are You Serious?

Every once in a while I air an opinion on my garden blog not related to gardening, when something makes little sense to me. Ray Rice struck his girlfriend. It was quite violent. Adrian Peterson actually whipped his children with a switch. It was a violent act, not child discipline. I am a clinical therapist who has been in the field for 20+ years. Violent acts are an adult striking an adult and an adult striking a child. This is not about anger. We all get angry but we all don’t beat children or hit women. It is a choice in our behavior. So... people are actually saying they did not know better. Really?

We have really done little to address child abuse and domestic violence in America. I only hope Rice and Peterson get their share of the consequences but also hope the NFL get theirs. Plain and simple… benign neglect is still neglect.The NFL is responsible for neglecting a deep problem. Listening to the NFL say they didn't know it was happening is like seeing a battered woman or bruised child and saying they just fall a lot.

The main reason I am putting my thoughts down on my blog is this… Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson are adults that have practiced a life time to become athletes and football players at the highest level. They are educated and have shown the capacity to learn and develop their skills. To say their excuses maybe that they grew up with violence, their mother or father beat them, they never learned to express anger the right way and finally they were never taught how to not be violent to another adult or child is ridiculous. These excuses create permission and perpetuate this type of violence. Come on… Are we saying they didn't know better? Are we saying they haven't learned right from wrong? Are we saying the NFL didn't know these things were issues among their players?

Here is the simple litmus test to not knowing something is wrong. You don’t try and hide it. The players tried to hide it. The NFL tried to hide it. They all know that this kind of behavior is wrong. If they thought it was right and okay, Rice would have said he hit her because he felt she was out of line in his opinion. Peterson would have said he whips his kids all the time because he finds it to be an effective way to best discipline them. They tried to hide it. Both players only really admitted it, after it was discovered. As did the NFL, or to be honest, when that behavior became more harmful to the NFL by not addressing it. How many victims does it take before a privilege of playing a sport for entertainment is taking away from those that can't follow civil rules? No person or organization should benefit from the rewards of civil society if they themselves can not be civil.

If Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson can spend hours upon hours upon hours learning how to improve their skills to be an athlete… they could have taken a parenting class to learn how to raise a child appropriately or not to abuse a child or a behavior management class to learn how interact with someone you love and not strike them when you get mad. They could have done it on their own, at anytime. They chose violence. And if not a class, they could have inferred over time as they grew up to become adults, practicing day after day with adults, that violence is wrong. I would argue they ran into hundreds of potential role models and could have inferred violence was wrong, The NFL should also recognize that hitting children and adults is wrong. Recognize it in a way that creates strong policy, not a game of hide and seek.

Rice and Peterson didn't walk onto a professional football field with baseball cleats on their feet and hockey gear for protection because that is all they used as a kid growing up. You know when you are a kid, you use what’s available to play a pick-up game. The end zone is the old oak tree and the pine tree. Out of bounce is beyond that bush. This method of playing wasn't imprinted on them as the only way to play football. They both learned how to play the game the right way, with the right equipment, with the right training while being coached. You can also learn that way when it comes to raising kids and loving someone.

Saying they don’t know better or didn’t know better around hitting an adult or child because that is what they learned as a child is well… like saying they didn’t have the capacity to become professional athletes because as child they didn’t have the right equipment. Silly and sad, that people are really trying to make excuses for their behavior. Why are we making excuses for them and the NFL? Don't you teach a child hitting is wrong? Don't schools teach hitting is wrong? Don't movies teach abuse is wrong? Doesn't the media put out enough information that striking a child is wrong? Since when does not knowing or "that's the way my parents did it" become an acceptable excuse?

As adults we have the capacity to learn. That is why you found my blog and YouTube channel. And as an adult we are responsible for violence directed toward others. Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson are responsible for their actions. They have the capacity to learn, change and deal with the consequences of their actions. That is their individual burden to deal with and reconcile. The NFL is equally responsible for their failure to address this type of violence from their paid employees. Making an example of the NFL, not Ray Rice or Adrian Peterson is the best way to change attitudes and save millions of men, women and children from domestic violence and child abuse. A better NFL policy may have prevented the recent events. Early action is the best way to change behavior. Playing dumb is not.

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