Wonderous Week(s)

OK...so it's been gorgeous since last week. For the last few days, the extended forecast has only shown one night with temperatures below freezing. What month is it? 70...really?! I remember one January a few years ago in Charlottesville, VA when the whole month was like this. I worry that all the plants and insects, etc. are going to be woken up only to be creamed by a hard frost or huge snow. My buddy, Dr. John, was telling me that he's seen trees leaf out three times in one season. We'll see, maybe it'll stay like this. Hopefully, this doesn't mean it's going to be a crazy hot and dry season.

I want to clear something up. I started this blog with the intention of chronicling the progress of my permaculture site, Sweet Aspect Mini-Farm. The farm is near Mars Hill, NC, zone 6ish (somewhere between 6 and 7). I am also the gardener at the Penland School of Crafts. In that capacity, I care for ornamental flower beds adjacent to dozens of buildings. I also started a food growing operation and acquired a permit to compost most of the organic waste the kitchen produces. I helped develop a forest stewardship program to manage the undeveloped portion of the 400-acre campus. The difference in elevation between the two sites is about 1,000 ft. There are many differences between the Penland and Sweet Aspect, so I'll start to be more clear about which one I'm talking about.

At Penland this week, I tilled in all of the compost and Complete Organic Fetilizer (COF) I laid on 6 out of the 12 100' rows within the last couple of weeks. I wound up using about 8 quarts of the COF on each row and about an inch of compost from 2009. On Tuesday, I even planted a 100' single row of 2009 Winter Bloomsdale Spinach from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (SESE). I also did a 30' single row each of Ruby Streaks Mustard from the 2010 Organic Growers School, 2009 Tat Soi from SESE, and 30' of 2011 Sow True Seed's Appalacian Greens Mix, a combination of Seven Top Turnips, Champion Collards, and Green Wave Mustards. I hope they survive the next cold wave if they come up within the next week.

Before I tilled, I used a really handy trick to see if the soil's ready in clay conditions: take a handful of garden soil and make a ball with the soil in one hand. Stick the thumb of the other hand into the ball of soil. If it crumbles, you know the soil is ready for working. If you're not able to make a ball, you know the soil is too dry and if the thumbprint remains and the ball stays intact, you know the soil's too wet. If you till when the soil's too dry, the soil will slump the next time it rains and you will be left with an airless, concrete-like slab. If you till when the soil's too wet, the tiller will cause clods in the soil which will become like stones or bricks instead of the fluffy crumbly brown soil we all love.

Pili's Question

Hi Ryan,

I found your blog! and now i have questions. I've been doing some yard work - cutting down ugly stuff, and things that seem out of place. In doing this, i decided that i would like to plant some flowers - something pretty and colorful - that will be low maintenance and work in the local climate. Do you have any suggestions? I don't have a lot of money so suggestions for an affordable way to do this would also be great! Also, I would need to know when to plant them. If this is on your blog already - just point me in the right direction. I was going to post this as a comment on your blog in case it would benefit others.

Thanks!

Pili.

Low maintenance is SUPER key! The perennial flowers I always turn to in sunny situations are Black-Eyed Susans, Echinacea (Coneflower), and Globe Thistle. The no-brainer annual flowers that I always recommend for a sunny spot are Zinnias, Cosmos, and I really can't do without one called Celosia. You can easily find seeds for all these except for Celosia in the Fall. These plants are really easy to find and grow...I can definitely slip you some plants in the Spring. Anytime you can work the soil is a good time to plant from now until around June 1st, when you've kind of missed the Spring planting window. I'll also tell you later how to figure out if the soil is too wet or dry.

I want to know more about your site...I need to know how sunny it is and whether it is wet or dry. I can go into more detail once I know this info. Favorite colors, height requirements/preferences, and size of the area are other important details.

Coop

Leeks, Rosemary, Geraniums and Begonias

Just started my Leeks and Rosemary on Monday. Repotted my Geraniums, already gettin' big and lookin' good. Lisianthus comin' up. Still no word from the Begonias, but a couple of my Arums are sprouting. None of the Fringetrees have come up yet. Tons of flats of Green Onions.

Gonna have a hard time fitting all those Green Onions (Gronions, as I call 'em) in the unheated greenhouse with all of the Cabbage and Broccoli.

Also in the greenhouse are Curly Willow, Agapanthus, Paw Paw trees, Rosemary, and Green Onions. I'm trying to winter sow Garden Phlox and Foxglove, but that never seems to work for me.

Pruned ornamental and fruit trees like crazy all this and last week. Curly Willow, Redbud, Cornelian Cherry, a Yellow Cherry, Pears, and Apples. I'm done, now that the moon is getting full again. I'll fertilize and sheet mulch them later in the Spring.

Harvesting Beets, Red Giant Mustard, Thick-Stemmed Mustard, Kale, and Tat Soi from under row cover. Even Lettuce is sprouting and growing. I have a few plants of Parsley and Cilantro under cold frames, but the whole rows are alive with no protection at all!

Working on getting Tunis Sheep for next year, possibly females with an eye towards breeding

them...ahhh dreaming about the growing season...

Much Love

Coop