Do you compost? Have you ever heard the term "black gold"? Have you always wanted to try composting but it seems too complicated and those bins are just too expensive? Well, fear not because composting can be easier than you think.
Over the last few years I have had several friends ask me what kind of compost bin I have and where I got it. They seem surprised (and at times skeptical) when I tell them about my compost bin. Like most hobbies in my life, I like to go the cheapest route possible when I first try something new. I wait until I am sure I will regularly use something before I invest much money. So no, I don't have one of those fancy round compost bins that have a crank to make it easy to turn. I don't even have one of those less fancy plastic compost bins that are popular these days at the hardware stores. No, my compost bin is homemade out of materials that I got for free.
Are you impressed!? Well, keep reading... I am not a handy person so I use the term "homemade" very lightly. My compost bin is made out of wire fencing (that I got for free at a garage sale) and heavy duty twist ties to hold it together. Sounds pretty fancy doesn't it! In fact, this compost bin was so easy to make and even easier to use, that last year I "built" another one. This year I think I will combine the two of them into one big bin which I hope will make it easier to stir.
So without further ado, here are some pictures of my fancy schmancy homemade and hand built compost bins, feel free to copy my design. (first picture is the bin newly set up for the season, the second is a full bin in the Spring)...
So what do I put in those bins you ask? I keep a bucket under the kitchen sink where we toss all of the compostable kitchen scraps; discarded vegetable materials, egg shells, coffee grounds (and filters), tea bags, indoor plant debris...etc. When it's full, I bring it out to the garden and dump it into a bin.
Once in a while I will turn the contents of the bins (easier said than done) and throw the black gold from the bottom of the bins out into the garden. I also sometimes will add dirt over the top to cover any sweet fruit waste I put into the bin (to keep from attracting yellow jackets). But for the most part, I am too busy to do anything but just toss the scraps into the bins.
I put the bins at the highest point in my gardens so that when it rains, the composted material will wash out through the fencing and into the garden (and I don't have to haul it across the yard). Each Spring I undo the twist ties and pull out the fencing. Then I spread the contents of the bins (at this point mostly black gold!) over the garden and till it all in. If there are any large, uncomposted chunks, I pick them up and toss them back into the bin.
That's it, simple as that. Here are some pictures of my beautiful black gold from the bins this Spring (awesome picture I know!)...
Now that I've been doing this for a few years, I am tempted to get one of those fancy bins that have the turn crank. I hesitate because I have heard mixed reviews about this type of bin. I don't want composting to become a chore (and I'm cheap) so I will probably just continue using my homemade bins for now. We'll see.
I would love to hear from you about your composting method! Please share your stories about composting, what worked well and what didn't work for you. I especially would love to hear any reviews about experiences with any of those fancy bins (pros and cons?).
I have been busy and meaning to post this for over a week now. Last week I winter sowed (well more like "Spring sowed") my last 10 containers. - Roma tomatoes
- Cherry tomatoes
- Caster bean
- Beafsteak Tomatoes
- Cabbage
- Cauliflower
So that makes my total for this year 136!!
Now the focus of these reports will officially turn from number of containers sown to number of containers sprouting (the fun part!!). Here is the list of what is sprouting as of yesterday... - White pumpkin
- Dill
- Morning glory
- Foxglove strawberry
- Nasturtium
- Fuchsia 4'oclock
- hardy hibiscus
- White carrot
- Lavender
- basil
- Clematis
- Jack-o-lantern pumpkin
- Greasy Pole bean
- Kentucky wonder bean
- Parsley
- Asparagus bean
- Cilantro
- Winter Carrnel squash
- Peas (pictured below)
- Deep blue morning glory
- Butterfly weed
- Yard long bean
- Greenway bean
- Sweet dumpling squash
- wall flower
- Dianthus
- Amaranths elephant head
- Calendra radio extra
- Cyprus vine
- Moss rose
Number of containers that are sprouting so far = 49 There were a couple more that looked like they were about to pop, but I don't count them until I see green! I will check again this weekend and I expect to find at least a few more. I have heard from some readers that many of their containers are sprouting. I would love to hear about your status too! What is your count? Also, feel free to upload pictures onto my Facebook page, I would love to see pictures of your sprouts (no matter how you sowed them)! 
In case you missed them, here are links to my previous status reports...Winter Sowing Progress Report #1Winter Sowing Progress Report #2Winter Sowing Progress Report #3Winter Sowing Progress Report #4Winter Sowing Progress Report #5Winter Sowing Progress Report #6
I have gotten several questions this week from people who are itching to get their gardens planted! I know how you feel!! It's so easy to get the gardening bug with this awesome weather we've been having this Spring.
But please don't let these unseasonable warm temperatures fool you. It's still April, we're still getting frosty nights...and it is Minnesota after all!! I know it doesn't seem like it, but we are probably going to get a few more frosty nights over the next month or so.
During most years, we get freezing nights and even snow in April and sometimes into May. Our average last frost date here in the Metro area is around May 15th. The good news is that you could start to plant your cold weather (frost hardy) plants this weekend if you want. I will start planting mine next weekend because my seedlings are still pretty small (and my garden won't be ready until after this weekend). But for most of your veggies and annuals, you really should wait a while before you plant them out in the garden.
I know it's hard to wait and you really want to get your garden planted...but be patient or you could be in for some major damage or complete loss of your warm weather plants. In fact, I've noticed that some of my perennials are confused and are starting to grow early. Sure enough, the other night we had a freezing cold night and I noticed some damage on some of my tender plants over the weekend. My advice is to wait at least until after Mother's day. Then check the 10 day forecast and if it looks like it will stay above 40 overnight, then I'd say you would be safe to start planting out your warm weather plants.
I also wanted to add a special note to all the late season winter sowers out there. One of the reasons winter sowing works so well is that the seeds are conditioned to know when it's safe for them to start growing. If they are sown and put out while the weather is still freezing, they will be smarter and therefore slower to start sprouting in the Spring.
If you are just starting your winter sowing now, keep in mind that the seeds will be confused by this warm weather we've been having and some of them will probably start to sprout sooner than they would have if they were sown earlier. This means that you should keep an eye on the weather report and on your containers.
The frost hardy cold weather plants will be fine. But if you have tomatoes, peppers, beans and other warm weather veggies or tender annuals that are sprouting already, you will want to protect them if we get a freezing night! The easiest way to do this is to simply bring them into a garage or porch overnight. You could also try to cover them with a blanket and they should be fine too.
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One of the things that I wanted to do with this blog was to post my yard/garden to do lists. The reason I thought that this might be a good idea is because the most common questions I get about gardening are similar to "When is the best time to do..." (you fill in the blank), and "What are you doing now; what should I be doing?". So, here is my to do list for this weekend (posted a bit later than I wanted to but oh well)...- Finish garden cleanup (remove dead growth from last year, leaves and mulch)
- Till gardens and put down my Spring application of Preen
- Put edging around my new garden areas (to keep the grass out!)
- Put out my other 2 rain barrels (I put one out last weekend and it's already full!)
- Finish winter sowing my seeds
- Check my winter sown containers for new sprouts and water them if necessary
- Pull out the garden hoses and get them set up
- Get my ponds cleaned out and turn the pumps on
And here is a list of other things that you could do now...- Remove mulch and uncover perennials
- Remove tree wrap
- Now is a good time to plant trees and shrubs
- It's also a good time to start dividing and transplanting your perennials
So what are you doing now? I would love to get more ideas (as if my to do list isn't long enough! :-) Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get outside!
I winter sowed 24 more containers this weekend, a large variety of flowers. I have so many kinds that I categorized the list this time. This is my last big batch of seeds. I just have a couple more containers to do and I'll be done for this year (maybe). Here's what I sowed this weekend...Annuals:- Amaranthus
- Bells of ireland
- Calendula 'radio extra'
- Celosia
- Centratherum (brazilian bachelor buttons)
- Chinese houses
- Cleome
- Coreopsis 'double sunburst'
- Cypress vine
- Datura (white)
- Dusty Miller
- Gerber daisy
- Impatiens balfourii
- Moss rose
- Nicotiana sylvestris
- Pansy (black)
- Petunia wave
- Salvia 'coral nymph'
- Verbena (deep pink flowers)
- Verbena (moss verbena)
Biennials:- Blue lupine
- Sweet william (red)
Perennials:- Allium sphaerocephalon (ornamental onion)
- Aster
- Astilbe (fuschia)
- Chrysanthemum coccineum
- Clematis (purple)
- Common milkweed
- Cone flower (white)
- Daylily
- Delphinum
- Dianthus (hot pink)
- Echinacea - sundown
- Korean hibiscus
- Silverlace vine
- Yucca
Tropicals/Houseplants:- African iris
- Butterfly pea vine (blue)
- Dierama pulcherrimum (fairy wand)
- Phygelius capensis
- Pitcher plant
- Russelia Equisetiformis 'coral fountain firecracker'
- Spilanthes oleracea (eyeball plant)
- Fatsia japonica
Tender Perennials:- Akebia chocolate vine
- Candylily 'dazzler'
- China rose
- Wallflower
That brings my total container count up to 126I also found lots of new sprouting containers this weekend!! I currently have a total of 20 containers that are sprouting, SO exciting!! Here's what's sprouting and a picture of the sprouting containers.- Delecata squash
- Winter squash
- Bachelor buttons (sprouted in less than a week!!)
- Sunflowers
- Hollyhock
- Gallardia Goblin
- Clamatis
- Morning Glory
- White Carrot
- Portulaca
- Mexican hat
- Pole beans
- Asparagus beans
- Zinnia (sprouted in 3 days!!)
- Cosmos (sprouted in 3 days!!)
- Snow pea
- 4 o'clock
In case you missed them, here are links to my previous status reports...Winter Sowing Progress Report #1Winter Sowing Progress Report #2Winter Sowing Progress Report #3Winter Sowing Progress Report #4Winter Sowing Progress Report #5
When I first started gardening, I could never remember the difference between and an annual and a perennial. The truth is, I didn't really care at that time because I was living in a rental property and knew I would only live there a short time. I was just so excited that I finally had a garden of my own and all I cared about was having beautiful flowers to enjoy during the summer (along with some random veggies). I also would hear terms thrown around like biennial, hardy annuals, tender perennials...ahhh, what does it all mean!? I didn't know so I just chose to ignore all of those. Now that I am a more seasoned gardener, I understand the importance of knowing what the different types of plant categories really mean. Understanding these terms has helped me become a more successful gardener, so here goes...
Perennials are plants the survive through the winter and grow back every year in the garden. These are usually further defined as plants that survive more than two years in the garden. Most perennials won't flower until they are mature or well established, which can take a year or so after they are planted. It usually takes perennial more than one growing season to mature when grown from seed. Now, to blur this line... some perennials are more hardy than others, and this is determined based on the plants hardiness zone. Wait...what's a hardiness zone? Hardiness zones are a basic guide to help categorize the hardiness of plants so that gardeners will know which plants will do well in their garden. The North American hardiness zones range from 1 through 11, with 1 being the coldest northern climates. Here in the Metro area of Minnesota, we are in zone 4. Keep in mind that hardiness zones are a basic guide, so some plants that are hardy to zone 5 may actually survive in zone 4 for example.
Annuals are plants that you have to replant every year. True annuals are plants that, in one growing season, start from seed, quickly grow to maturity, bloom continuously, set seed and then die. Most annuals grown here in zone 4 will be killed off by frost before they reach the end of their life-cycle. An easy way to remember this is that it's something you have to do annually, like your taxes (except WAY more fun!!). This used to confuse me because I thought of it the opposite way, annuals come back annually right? No, but the confusion is understandable (and now I probably just confused you!).
But wait, we're forgetting something...Ah yes, there is also a category called a biennial. A biennial is a plant that only lives for two growing seasons and then dies. Characteristics for this type of plant are that during the first season, the plant growth will be foliage only, no flowers. Flowering usually only occurs during the second growing season, and then the plant will set seed and die. Most biennials reseed themselves and grow new plants in the spring, so they appear to be perennial. Biennials are usually found in the perennial section of most nurseries, but the tag should tell you that it's a biennial.
What are "hardy annuals"? Sometimes you will see plants that are categorized as a hardy annual. These are annuals that have a longer life span than most annuals. They will survive a mild winter climate and in colder climates they survive cool frosty weather, during which they will continue to grow and set seed. But they are true annuals so they will eventually reach the end of their life-cycle and die.
What about "tender perennials"? As I mentioned above, the term perennial is subjective to hardiness zones. Having said that, a tender perennial is a plant that is a true perennial (lives longer than two years in the garden), but is not hardy in the zone where its being sold, and will not survive the winter if left outside. A lot of the plants that are sold as annuals here in MN are actually tender perennials. Some of these plants could survive in the house and make great houseplants over the winter (tip: this is a great money saver!!). You may also see tender perennials referred to as "tropicals", which means they are from the warmer tropical zones like 10 or 11.
I'm sure there are other terms out there that you've heard and wondered what the heck they mean. There are so many different categories (some I think are made up) that it can be confusing. Hopefully I helped to clear a couple of these up for you. What other terms have you heard and wondered what they meant?
