Categories
Growing

Planting An Oak Tree

A couple of days ago I planted an acorn with my daughter, and by George, I think it’s going to grow. Over Easter I traveled to BC to visit my folks who live south of Revelstoke, and as we waited for the ferry, we took a little walk in the park-like rest area. Most of the ground still had snow on it, but there were a few bare patches underneath a few oak trees. Most of the acorns had been taken by the wild animals over winter, but we found a few. And wouldn’t you know it, some of them had begun to sprout.

Sprouting Acorn

So we collected them in a little plastic bag we had and added a little water so they wouldn’t dry out. Once we got to my folks house, I filled the bag with some damp sawdust so they would survive the several days it would be until we returned home. And they seemed to thrive in that sawdust, because what had been just a little knob peeking out of the shell grew into a good sprout by the time we got home.

Now on the top of my fridge sits two little pots that are hopefully growing a couple of oak trees. I’m not sure how long it will take to see anything on the surface, but I’m confident that by next spring, I’ll have at least one little seedling that I can plant in our yard… as long as I remember to water it.

Update: April 12, 2008

One week old oak tree seedling

Wow! Just one week later, this little seedling has sprouted and sits at about two inches tall! The other acorn I planted is slightly smaller, but it has two stems. Is that normal?

Update:  April 21, 2008

Three week old oak tree seedling

Now five inches high and eight inches wide. Looking good!

Categories
Hints, Tips, and How Tos

How to Make a Square Foot Garden

I’d like to introduce you to a new way of gardening. It’s called square foot gardening. I planted my first square foot garden last year and I’m hooked. Here’s the basic gist:

Square Foot GardenMost gardens are planted in long rows separated by three foot aisles. This means 80% of your garden (that you water, weed, and fertilize) grows nothing. You just walk on it. The square foot method eliminates that 80% of your garden that you don’t use by planting in blocks.

Using the square foot gardening method, you divide a 4′ x 4′ box into sixteen 1 foot square gardens. You then can plant a different crop in each of the squares. For example, you might plant 16 carrots in one box, four beans in another, and one cabbage in another. That leaves you with 13 other boxes to fill! I think it’s a fantastic system, but I’ll let you decide for yourself. Here are some of the reasons why I love square foot gardening.

Continue reading “How to Make a Square Foot Garden”
Categories
Commentary

17 Hardy Fruits That You Can Grow On The Prairies

When I was a kid growing up in central Alberta, I was pretty sure that all good fruit came out of B.C. True, I we had raspberries and strawberries on the farm, but apples, plums, cherries, grapes and the like where all “exotic” fruit that simply didn’t grow in Alberta. How mistaken I was! Or at least, how things have changed! I never would have thought that I could be growing plums, grapes and kiwis just outside of Red Deer, Alberta. But it’s true. There is a whole world of hardy fruit plants that can survive and even thrive on the northern prairies.

Grape Vines

So if you’re looking to grow some “exotic” fruit of your own, here’s my list of 17 hardy fruits that you can grow on the prairies.

1. Cherries

The University of Saskatchewan has really done great work in making cherries a viable prairie fruit. I now know of at least 10 varieties that are available. (I personally have 7 varieties.)

2. Haskap/Honeyberries

This fantastic fruit is amazing! Consider this… Can withstand -47 degree weather, ready for picking by the end of June, can produce 7 kgs of fruit per bush, and tastes great! Take a look at this article I wrote about haskap earlier.

3. Grapes

Yup, that’s right. Grapes in Alberta. Valient is the most common variety, but there are others as well. I’ve had mine for two years now, so I’ll be looking forward to my first harvest soon.

Continue reading “17 Hardy Fruits That You Can Grow On The Prairies”
Categories
Compost, Mulch, Etc

Is Human Hair Really a Great Fertilizer for your Garden?

On Yahoo! Canada today there was a news article from ABC News entitled “Hair: the best fertilizer?” – all about using human hair as fertilizer for plants. At first I thought perhaps it was a new exciting way to fertilizer my garden, but the article’s title was a little misleading.

The article talks about a nursery in Florida that uses human hair that has been pressed into mats for weed control around their plants. The nursery owner says that he’s saved thousands of dollars on herbicides and labour because of the human hair mats.

That sounds a lot more like weed suppression than fertilizer to me.

No where on the internet can I find anything about human hair being a fertilizer, though it would have merit as a weed suppressant – just like plastic mulch, wood chips, hay, and host of other materials. For my garden, I think I’d much rather lay down a strip of plastic mulch than a wad of hair.

So before you rush out to buy a truck load of human hair, check out some mulching ideas from Bob at NorthernGreenhouse.com for a simpler, easier way to suppress weeds and retain moisture.

Read ABC’s article.

Watch ABC’s video.

Categories
Garden Plans

Garden Plan & Seeds for 2008

With spring not all that far away, folks are browsing the seed catalogs and are starting to put together their seed orders for this spring. And of course, once compiled, these lists make their way onto the internet for our viewing pleasure. So where’s my list?

Well, instead of a plain ol’ list, I thought I’d show you the full meal deal. You see, I have tendency to be way too organized and since I’m quite adapt with a computer, I just so happen to have a full color diagram of everything I plan to plant and where I’m going to plant it. Care to take a gander? Then here goes…

Oh, by the way, click the image to download a full size .pdf file to study at your leisure.

A-Frame Greenhouse Plan

A-Frame Greenhouse Plan 2008 (pdf)The main crops in here are tomatoes, watermelons, and cucumbers, but you’ll also a variety of other things as well. Something new for my greenhouse this year is pumpkins. I’m going to try to grow a giant pumpkin or two inside my greenhouse. I’m also going to try raspberries in my greenhouse to see if I can extend their season. The blank plot in the upper left corner is where I’m going to plan a mini-replica of my main outdoor garden just to compare how the plants grow differently in the greenhouse.

Just a note about the “Phil’s Strawberries”: Those are a type of strawberry that I’m getting from my brother Phil who is a u-pick fruit grower. I’m not sure exactly what type they are.

Continue reading “Garden Plan & Seeds for 2008”
Categories
Commentary

Building A House With Straw Bales

With the recent week of -40 degree weather, my thoughts have again turned to straw bale houses. I first discovered these creations a few months ago and was immediately impressed. If you’re not familiar with straw bale houses, here’s a quick run down.

The main idea is that the walls are not made of lumber, insulation, and gyprock. Instead there is a wood frame that is filled with straw bales and covered in plaster.

Straw Bale House

Taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluearc21/5036084/

Straw Bale House

Taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/73416633@N00/304363867/

The main benefit of this type of structure is the amazing insulation that the straw bales provide. My house (where the temperature with the wind chill has reached -47 degrees this week) has R-20 in my walls. Straw bales would provide an insulation value of R-50 to R-60.

Straw Bale House

Taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/indigo100966/1856700319/

According to Strawbale.com, the energy savings of a straw bale house is about 75% over a traditional stick frame home. What that means in dollars and cents is this: Last year my heating bill was $778. If I had the same house, but built out of straw bales, my heating cost would have only been $194. That’s pretty impressive.

Straw Bale House

Taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/8002454@N06/472853961/

I love the sunken window and door frames, the rounded corners, and the imperfect surface.

If I build any major buildings in the future, I would love to build a straw bale structure. And of course, if I do, you’ll be the first to know!

Categories
Seed & Plant Reviews

The Dilemma of Pea Varieties

Peas have long been my favorite garden snack. Ever since I was a kid, you would often find me wandering the pea patch popping pods. So needless to say, peas take up a major percentage of my garden plot.

The one thing I didn’t (and still don’t) like about peas is trying to pick them when the plant is wet with dew or last night’s rain shower, and the plant, for one reason or another, is off the fence and on the ground. Then you’ve got to pick the cold, wet, muddy things. Wouldn’t it be nice to somehow avoid all that?

Well, last spring I had an idea. I had seen in a seed catalog a new variety of peas – Greensage. This variety, as the catalog said, was “a semi-leafless vine that makes the pods easier to see and harvest and produces a more upright vine.” These Greensage Peas might just be the answer to my problems.

So, that spring I planted three varieties of peas – Homesteader, Green Arrow, and Greensage – in equal amounts. The results? Well, take a look…

Greensage Peas

The plants were very viney, and the stuck very well to the chicken wire fence that I had put up for them – even in heavy winds and hail. The Green Arrow and Homesteader had a much greater tendency to fall off the fence in those situations. Due to the lack of leaves, the pods were much easier to see, but the massive amounts of tendrils made picking almost more difficult, as some pods were stuck behind a jungle of entangled tendrils.

When compared with the Green Arrow and Homesteader, the Greensage pods were quite small and we didn’t enjoy the taste of the Greensage peas as much.

Green Arrow Homesteader Greensage
Yield (pails of pods) 8 9 6
Flavor Good Good Ok
Easy of Picking Best Good Poor
Uprightness (with fence) Good Good Best

So make your conclusions as you will. It really depends on what’s most important to you. If your space is limited, Homesteader certainly gives the best yield. If you’re concerned about keeping the pods out of the dirt, the Greensage is the way to go.

As for me, I’m sticking with the Green Arrow and Homesteader. But I have heard good things about Mr. Big peas… Perhaps next year.

Categories
Compost, Mulch, Etc

How To Keep Your Grapevines Alive Through The Winter

After my grapes went through their first winter, I wasn’t sure they had survived. Well, after my fruit trees had all budded out and leaves were appearing, my grapes still hadn’t shown any signs of life. I began to suspect the Alberta winter had killed them.

Grapes after nearly being winter killedHowever, eventually, a couple of the stems on my Valiant grapevine began to sprout out some leaves. Then along came my Prairie Star not long after. But my Kay Gray didn’t seem like it had any life at all. I was just about to uproot the lifeless stick when a little bud appeared just at the base of the plant.

At the end of the day, all three grapevines made a full recovery, but at least 80% of last year’s growth was winter killed. Because of that, there was no fruit to be had that year.

So let me share with you some of the lesson’s I’ve learned.

Continue reading “How To Keep Your Grapevines Alive Through The Winter”
Categories
General

Lettuce Fields In Alberta?

While traveling through southern California & Arizona over Christmas, I saw some super-sized gardens. Having grown up in central Alberta, I’m used to seeing large fields of hay or wavy seas of wheat. On occasion I’ve even seen some fields of corn, peas, and even strawberries. But never have I seen acres upon acres of lettuce, onions, and broccoli.

Lettuce Fields in Arizona

It was quite a sight to see – rows upon rows of lettuce. In Arizona, lettuce is a common winter crop. One local farmer I talked to said their family grew watermelons and corn in the warmer months and lettuce during the winter.

Continue reading “Lettuce Fields In Alberta?”
Categories
Commentary

Gardening for Future Generations

This Christmas I was inspired to plant a tree. Maybe two. Maybe even a hundred.

You see, I had the opportunity to spend Christmas in Yuma, Arizona with my wife’s family. Her Grandmother snowbirds down there and has a lovely little lot in the foothills. While I was there, I did two things that I never could have done at home.

#1. I picked oranges.

About 20 years ago, when my wife’s grandparents purchased their lot, her Grandfather planted some orange, lemon, and grapefruit seedlings. Today those seedlings are 20 foot trees loaded with fruit. Each morning I was able to pick an orange right off the tree for breakfast, and for lunch I could squeeze some fresh lemonade. What a treat!

Grandpa's Orange Tree

Continue reading “Gardening for Future Generations”