Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Hydroponics

Earlier this year, when my greenhouse dreams were just mental sketches, I had the notion that I would like to grow my plants in the greenhouse using some sort of hydroponic method. It was almost as much a part of the concept in my head as gardening right through the winter.
I went right out and bought books on the subjects of greenhouse gardening and hydroponics. As I looked through the greenhouse book (which I've since heard referred to as "the greenhouse bible"), I found only a couple of paragraphs devoted to hydroponics where the author explains that he does not use hydroponic methods, and is somewhat biased against them, but still throws in a good old Seinfeld style "not that there's anything wrong with that." He is careful not to discount hydroponics, but simply explains why he does not use those methods of growing plants. I remained open minded to both watery and dirty gardening, though.
Time passed, and I fully digested all 400+ pages of the greenhouse book. Then I went back to touch on a few areas of special interest. It's clear why this book is thought so highly of. Then I went on to read about hydroponic gardening. I quickly became aware that while gardening in soil has something spiritual about it, hydroponic gardening is all about sterility and automation. It's about carefully measured nutrients and pumps, timers, vials and vessels. I can't say for certain that the subject, and not the writing was the source of the dryness, but it seemed that most things that attract me to growing things are missing from hydroponics. That's my feeling on the subject. I have come to the conclusion that while it's interesting, and I may dabble in it someday, hydroponics are not my style. I've had jobs where I've worn a white lab coat, but when it comes to hobbies, I'm more the dirty t-shirt type.

Seeds

I just came pretty close to wasting a lot of time. Last night for dinner my wife used our first tomato of the year (see below) for a nice tomato and mozzarella salad. It was delicious. In fact, I was so excited about fresh, home-grown tomatoes that I decided it would be a good idea to collect some seeds for the next growing season. I collected some of the goo that encases the seeds and spread it on a paper towel to separate in the morning. This morning, I spread out the smeared paper towel and a piece of waxed paper to put the seeds on. As I picked through the seeds I thought about how quickly this variety produces fruit, and how nice it will be to have several plants like it. That's when I realized that early varieties like this often have these traits because they are F1 hybrids, meaning that they are the first generation of cross pollenated plants from two separate lines. I don't know why, but if seeds are collected from an F1 hybrid and grown, the resulting plants will usually not have the special qualities of the F1 generation, and become sickly, poor producing plants. Good news for the seed companies, bad news for me, because a quick web search revealed that the "celebrity" variety (which that plant is) is indeed a hybrid. Rats! I almost made a really stupid mistake. At least I caught myself before I went as far as trying to grow the seeds. I threw the whole mess in the trash. Maybe I'll see if I can get some clippings from that plant to grow.

Monday, July 17, 2006

Had a Stump.


Had a Stump.
Originally uploaded by cafn8.
Yesterday we had a barbecue.

Yesterday we had a stump.

Today we have leftovers.

Today we have a 5 foot hole where a stump once was.

After scratching my head and trying various things to remove that stump, we finally found just the right thing. My father-in-law brought over a 4 foot long, 2 person saw and a pair of splitting wedges late in the afternoon for a little sporting activity yesterday prior to our little barbecue. While the women watched from the shade of the patio, and the neighbors heckled from their swimming pool next door (this was not my first attempt), we sawed down into the old, weathered stump as far as we could. The $5 rummage-sale-purchased saw was unaffected by rocks and dirt the way any chainsaw would be. We cut several pie-slice cuts into the top, then hammered the wedges in to the cuts with a big sledgehammer, along with some coaxing from a hefty pry-bar to finish the job. If this had been a fresh stump, the roots would have been a problem. As it was, however, they gave up easily. My next task will be to break up the chunks into a more manageable size, but for now I'm satisfied.

Friday, July 14, 2006

Mmm.


Mmm.
Originally uploaded by cafn8.
Fresh Basil - Check

Mozzarella - Check

Fresh tomato - Check



It's the first ripe one of the season. I hope it tastes as good as it looks.

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Plants


Plants
Originally uploaded by cafn8.
I guess you could say that recently, I've discovered gardening. I've always known it was there. I was always very close to it growing up. In fact, almost every summer day after work my dad could be found out in the garden in cut-offs, tending to the plants. Like most kids, though, I saw working in the garden as work. I kept my distance whenever possible. I wasn't within striking distance of the gardening bug. Dad, on the other hand grew up on a farm. Gardening seems to be very deeply a part of who he is. In fact, even though Mom and Dad now live in the Arizona desert, Dad is still able to keep an impressive garden all year around through the use of technological gadgets. The blast of the Arizona sun is no match for shadecloth, a network of mist nozzles, an automatic watering system, and a strong will. The urge to grow things is strong for those who have it.

I think I have it too. For the past couple of years, I guess we've just been too busy, or didn't get things out in time, but we really didn't have much of a garden to speak of. A few annual flowers, and maybe a couple of other plants put out late in the season were all. This year we did more. We cultivated it and added a lot of rich compost. It really has taken off. It's a good feeling. I couldn't really say why it feels good. Maybe it's the feeling of being closer to nature. Or maybe it's the feeling of having made something (although the plants mostly grow themselves as long as they have all the things they need.) I guess it's also just calming being surrounded by healthy green plants. Whatever it is, I think I'm hooked. This is why I plan to build a little warm place where the plants can keep growing this winter.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Something Edible Soon to Come.


Something Edible Soon to Come.
Originally uploaded by cafn8.
Although I'm far from being a seasoned gardener, I've really been enjoying cultivating and tending to our little strip of garden and seeing the results. Many of our smaller plants suffered a set back early in the season when some unknown animal helped him or herself to many of our plants, actually devouring two and a half of our four hot cherry pepper plants and a good part of our basil plants before we were able to block off the garden with a rabbit fence. Everything seems to be doing fairly well now, though. The pepper plants that were formerly razed by the neighborhood animals have recovered and are starting to set fruit. The basil plants have become tall and full, and the first tomato has started to turn from a deep green to a slightly rosy green. Maybe it won't be long before we have our own home-grown veggies. I never would have thought that vegetables could be so exciting.