Indoor Gardening in Winter
I always have pots of herbs, citrus trees, and a few other greens under grow lights during the long winter months here in Maine. This year, since I grew this ‘Pizza my Heart’ pepper in a container by the front door, I decided to bring it indoors for the winter to experiment with growing perennial vegetables in this method.
A few weeks ago, I read about a guy who brings in a lot of his peppers and simply replants them after risk of frost is past the following summer. He claims that they start producing peppers earlier and produce more peppers when treated in this manner. Instead of trying to bring in all my pepper plants, I figured I’d start with one; the one that was already in a container.
This pepper has flourished in this container all summer, since it was still growing, flowering, and producing well, I figured it was a great candidate for this experiment. This variety (from Renee’s Garden Seeds) is well suited for containers, which should increase my chance of success. I’ll keep you up to date on the progress of this lovely plant. At the moment, I’m not 100% certain where it will reside this winter. I have three lighted growing areas in the house, each with different climates. I’m thinking this pepper will appreciate the upstairs area since it’s very warm and gets lots of morning light.
What are you experimenting with this winter?
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Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere
As I’ve mentioned in the past, I now grow my cucurbits (specifically pumpkins) in my compost pile (more on this method here). I learned of this method from the book ‘Gardens of Plenty’ by Marylynn Abbott and gave it a try. It worked beautifully and I have been utilizing this method ever since. If you remember, I saw this method in action in the garden she wrote about in this book when I visited the gardens at the Hagley Museum. This year, my pumpkins were grown in the giant compost piles I made last fall. I planted four vines figuring I’d get a pumpkin or two from each.
They grew like champs and quickly took over the compost pile and the lawn nearby (which wasn’t really a big deal because I wanted to get rid of the lawn to expand the garden. When the vines died back I noticed how many pumpkins were there.
After cutting all the pumpkins and carting them down to the house, I counted them up. There were 30 pumpkins, the smallest are fairly large, the largest pumpkins are HUGE and very heavy.
Now we have pumpkins sitting here, there, and everywhere throughout the house. The goal is to cure them a bit, so they will store better and be sweeter for eating. There is a pile of pumpkins in the office behind me, a pile on each side of the front porch, they are piled in the kitchen under the table, and on either side of the dresser in the dining room.
Some of them are also being used as fall decor by the front door, these will be cooked and fed to the chickens. Most likely, this winter, as I cook a pumpkin for us to eat, the birds will get at least half of it. There are so many pumpkins we could never begin to eat them all. Add to their numbers the glut of butternut squash I ended up with as well and we won’t be lacking vitamin A this winter.
What did you have a glut of this year? Do you grow pumpkins?
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Homemade Organic Blueberry Fertilizer
Around here we like blueberries, high bush blueberries. Maine is famous for their low bush blueberries, which are good, but I much prefer the high bush with their balance of sweet & sour. In Ohio we had six bushes, here in Maine we inherited a few that were not doing so well. Last year I added a few small ones to the garden, this year I added three more.
Blueberries have their own special likes when it comes to fertilization and treatment, they will perform much better if given the acidic conditions that they like. We naturally have acidic soil, but the blueberries are planted in garden areas where the native soil has been improved enough that it’s not as acidic as it could be. This is where sulfur comes in. Blueberries will apprciate a bit of sulfur. I mix up my own blend of fertilizer for the blueberry and other acidic loving shrubs (like rhodadendrons).
My recipe is as follows: 5 pounds sulfur, 5 pounds Tennessee brown phosphate, 5 pounds granite meal, mineral blend (I use Azomite, which I buy in 44lb bags and add to the entire garden as well as feeding it to the chickens), compost. If I have them, I add a small scoop of zeolites as well (these increase water and nutrient retention as well as keep nitrogen in the soil). I purchase all of my amendments at Fedco Grower’s Supply, which is close enough that I drive up and pick up my order.
Each blueberry plants gets a cup of my three ingredient fertilizer mixed into a bucket of compost. If I have mineral mix and zeolites, I add a quarter to a half cup of those as well. Mix well and spread around the blueberry plants. They will thank you for it with robust growth and lots of fruit.
Finding organic options for fertilizers can be a problem. I’m happy to have a large flock of birds to provide lots of fertilizer and a source for good compost. Most soils can use a few extras to help plants grow healthy plants.
Do you have a favorite homemade fertilizer mix for your garden?
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Homegrown Goodness for the Felines
I always grow catnip in the garden. Little sprigs are picked throughout the growing season and brought in for the cats. This time of year I harvest armloads of it to dry for the stuffing of cat toys, which I make and give to friends & family. I found the fantastic Cotton & Steel fabric to use for the cat toys I make. I simply cut the cats out, back with scrap fabric, and sew a piece of cotton string in for the tail. So far all the recipients have fallen in love with their toys. As you can see, it’s hard to keep our cats away from the toys I make for others.
Catnip is also valuable in the garden because it’s a great insect deterrent. If the mosquitoes are bothering me while I’m working, I harvest a handful of the catmint and rub it on my exposed skin. This works splendidly for me (the cats love it too). I once went to a friend’s home and her cats were rubbing on me and licking my legs. We got a good laugh when I remembered that I’d rubbed myself down with catnip that morning because the mosquitoes were thick in the garden. Perhaps I’ll make a few to sell someday, until then, all of our cats and our friend’s cat will be happily enjoying the homegrown catnip.
What fun gifts are making? Are you able to use any garden items in them?
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Reaping Rewards
This year I feel like I’m finally starting to reap the rewards of all my hard work over the past five years. The main vegetable garden is stunning, simply stunning. Every time I head up there to work I’m amazed at how lovely it looks this summer. It makes me stop and enjoy the garden on a daily basis.
This garden features a mix of flowers (both perennial and annual) and vegetables (both perennial and annual as well). As I start to think about the final design for this space, I take notice of plant shape, color, and structure every time I look at the garden.
I follow a no-dig gardening method, which has been an amazing discovery. This bucket of weeds is all I got from weeding the entire garden (which is roughly 70×80). It was the first time I had weeded in a month. If you want to know about the no-dig gardening method, I highly recommend books by Charles Dowding, No Dig Organic Home & Garden is a fantastic one.
The brussels sprouts are sizing up beautifully, I’m thinking of pruning half and leaving half as is. I’ve read that a little pruning can make them produce bigger, better sprouts. We shall see.
The Scarlet Runner beans that my dad gave me have bloomed beautifully for most of the summer. The hummingbirds enjoyed them until they migrated south. These were always a staple in my mom’s garden, she planted them just for the hummingbirds.
All three varieties of broccoli are still producing like mad. The ‘Happy Rich’ mini broccoli is producing loads of side shoots, as are the heirloom variety ‘DeCiccio’ and the hybrid ‘Marathon’ are producing side shoots as well. ‘Marathon’ produces side heads, that are actually quite large. We’re eating broccoli every evening from the side shoots.
Overall this year has been a grand success in the main vegetable garden. The potager has been neglected a bit, but the plan is to give it a complete overhaul with pathways, rock walls, and more. So it has become more of a nursery area than an edible garden space. Hopefully next year I will have extra time to get it headed in the right direction.
How is your garden growing this year? Do you feel like you’re starting to reap the rewards of all your hard work?
