It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown

Yes, it's the day celebrated in the one of the best and certainly the most elusive of the Charlie Brown/Peanuts specials. For anyone looking for this lost gem, it's only available on the "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown" DVD. Good Grief!

Arbor Day was originated in Nebraska on April 10, 1872 by Julius Sterling Morton, the man who was later to become Grover Cleveland's Secretary of Agriculture. He felt that Nebraska's landscape and economy could benefit from the planting of trees. His idea was incredibly successful and eventually other states adopted their own Arbor Days with the dates depending upon the local climate. In 1970, Richard Nixon proclaimed the last Friday in April to be the national Arbor Day.

Other countries also celebrate Arbor Day or a variation thereof. Israel celebrates the New Year's Day of Trees, Yugoslavia celebrates Reforestation Week, Iceland has Students' Afforestation Day, and Japan has Greening Week.

Stop reading now and go plant a tree (or a shrubbery, or a vine, or anything)!

Digging in the dirt (sort of)

I planted most of the seeds in my little plastic greenhouse this past weekend. You can see for yourself the results. The photo shows the chard, cucumber, buttercup squash, and watermelon sprouts. It's a little out of focus, but I'm still practicing with my new digital camera. I was prepared to write about how uninspiring planting my seeds in the little plastic tray was, but after seeing the amazing growth over the last 4 days, I am a little conflicted.
I'm sure this isn't quite the transcendent experience that Thoreau and Emerson had in mind when they wrote such bon mots as, "When I go into my garden with a spade, and dig a bed, I feel such an exhilaration and health that I discover that I have been defrauding myself all this time in letting others do what I should have done with my own hands."(Emerson) and "As I drew a still fresher sooil about the rows with my hoe, I disturbed the ashes of unchronicled nations who in primeval years lived under these heavens, and their small implements of war and hunting were brought to the light this modern day."(Thoreau) Planting seeds in little peat pellets seemed a little lacking. There was no smell of damp earth, no feeling the coarse molecules of earth flowing through my fingers, no sense of connection with the Earth from which we all were born and are destined to return. Just poking seeds into little balls of peat.
On the other hand, the results were indeed amazing. After only 4 days, nearly all of my seeds had sprouted and grown to between 3 and 4 inches tall. And anyway, I would get to play in the dirt once they were ready to plant. The verdict - little plastic greenhouses rock!
I also built a compost bin this weekend. My research indicated that although a compost pile was cheap and easy(and I already had one in fact), a compost bin created usable compost much more quickly. All of the bins I found on-line were relatively expensive (some over $100). Since they all looked rather like plastic trash cans with lots of little holes in them, I figured I could drill my own holes(free) in a trash can($14.99 fro a 45 gallon can from my local big box retailer) and save a ton. So far, so good.

Since the seeds will almost certainly be ready to plant this weekend, the decision of what kind of garden (plot or raised bed) has suddenly become very important. Stay Tuned!

Seeds of Change

More seeds to add to my gardening repertoire - Brandywine Tomato, Big Max Pumpkin, Early Prolific Straightneck Squash, Buttercup squash, and Pinkeye Purple Hull cowpeas. Since I have several varieties of heirloom seeds, I thought it might be interesting to learn the history of them. I'm sure you are probably thinking the same thing. If you are, you're as wrong as I was. Unfortunately, I was only able to find some rather sketchy information on three of the varieties of seeds other than the Datil pepper. If you read my previous post and clicked on the Pure Florida link, you already know quite a bit about the Datil. If you didn't read my previous post, what's wrong with you?! Go back and read it now, we'll wait on you.
.............................................................Now that we're all caught up, back to the main thread. I was able to find a little history on the Buttercup squash, Moon & Stars watermelon and the Brandywine tomato. However, what I found was not the thrilling saga of yesteryear full of intrigue, romance, and betrayal that I imagined it would be, but mostly rather humdrum. But, since I went to all the work to do the research, here it is anyway:

Buttercup Squash - Several years ago a North Dakota horticulturist bred a small variety of turban squash as a substitute for the sweet potato, which does not thrive on the northern Great Plains. This little Buttercup squash has flesh surprisingly similar to sweet potato in taste and quality. (Wikipedia)

Moon & Stars watermelon - Called 'Sun, Moon and Stars' when it was introduced in 1926 by Peter Henderson and Company, the melon had disappeared from the commercial market for decades and was thought extinct when, in 1981, as Goldman notes, Kent Whealy, cofounder of Seed Savers Exchange, was contacted by Merle Van Doren of Macon, Mo., who was growing the melon and gave Whealy some of the seeds from the melons he grew. The Southern Exposure Seed Exchange reintroduced the oblong 'Amish Moon & Stars' and a yellow-fleshed, not-so-sweet variety in 1987. (Seed Savers Exchange)

Brandywine tomato - This is fairly certain, Brandywine is a tomato that found its way into the Seed Savers Exchange collection in 1982. It got there via an elderly (now deceased) Ohio gardener named Ben Quisenberry, who received the variety from a woman named Dorris Sudduth Hill. She stated that they had been in her family for over 80 years. The key question is whether Brandywine was a family heirloom that arose from a commercial variety via selection, or was brought from overseas. Burpee reports carrying it in their catalogue as early as 1886. It is reputed to have been developed by the Amish, though there is no evidence of this and may simply be a result of 19th Century marketing. (Wikipedia and Seed Savers Exchange)

Now that I have way too many seeds, I think I'll start my seeds in the little plastic greenhouse tomorrow.

I got seeds, they're multiplyin...

It turns out that not only is organic gardening good for you, it's good for the whole planet. While surfing at work today, I found an interesting article about the environmental impact of organic gardening (http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070408/SPNEWS0505/104080099). Not only are non-organic fertilizers bad because of the chemicals in them that seep into the groundwater and cause algae blooms and other sorts of ugly problems, the production of inorganic fertilizers is fairly energy intensive. According to Mr. Homeyer's article, each 50 pound bag of 10-10-10 fertilizer produced uses about 1.5 gallons of gas. That doesn't sound like a lot, but a considerable amount of petroleum is being used to make the fertilizer for several million gardeners across the country (and around the world too, I guess). So, make your own compost (see here for tips http://www.compostguide.com/), buy cow poop, and stick it to THE MAN!

Enough ranting for now. I took the plunge and bought seeds for the garden and a little plastic greenhouse today. We will be growing Datil peppers, Moon & Star Watermelons, Ruby swiss chard, Sumter cucmbers, and some kidney beans my fiance's son sprouted at school. I'm especially excited about the Datil peppers. I love hot peppers and the Datil is a unique variety. The seeds generally aren't available commercially and are very closely guarded by the Datil growers in St. Augustine. For some more background on the Datil, check out the Pure Florida blog ( http://pureflorida.blogspot.com/2005/08/datil-peppers.html).

I bought organic, heirloom seeds for my organic garden because that just sounded right. After further contemplation, I starting wondering, what makes seeds organic? After all, organic produce is raised without pesticides and chemical fertilizers, but seeds? Seeds are what are left over after you eat the produce. That's what I thought, but apparently, seeds are a huge industry by themselves.

It turns out that organic seeds are not genetically modified or chemically treated like regular seeds(!!). Often genetically engineered seed is not adequately tested before being released. Genetically modified seeds also decrease ecological diversity. Organic seeds are also bred to be more adaptable to their environment. Heirloom seeds are seed varieties have been passed along for sometimes hundreds of years. By using heirloom seeds, I'm preserving a part of the past, and maybe eating the same type of tomato or cucumber that my great, great grandparents ate. Heirloom seeds preserve genetic and cultural diversity as well. Seed Savers Exchange has been a pioneer in the heirloom seed movement, and you can find out more about them and their mission at http://www.seedsavers.org/Aboutus.asp .

The next challenge is to decide what type of garden to plant, container, raised bed, or a plot.

It was a dark and stormy night...

Actually more like a windy afternoon. I decided yesterday to do two things - start a blog and plant a garden. So, here I am starting the blog, anyway. I will be planting the garden this weekend. I really like the idea of an organic garden- it's sustainable, renewable, functional, and healthy. It also builds community. Oftentimes, we barely know our next door neighbors, let alone the people three or four houses down the street. Gardening is a great way to meet those people - you've got to have someone to give all of your leftover vegetables to! My fiance and I are discussing what to plant in our garden, so I am open to suggestions. We're looking for vegetables that are easy to grow in North Florida and are tasty (that's a matter of opinion, but to me that means no zucchini, broccoli, or yellow squash). I haven't had much luck growing anything but tomatoes, so any suggestions or tidbits of advice are welcome.

Stay tuned to find out what we end up planting!

Here a a few interesting links that I found for anyone interested in organic gardening:

http://www.kitchengardeners.org/

http://www.organicgardening.com/

http://perrone.blogs.com/horticultural/
This is a great blog by Jane Perrone, a British author and organic gardener


I used to visit and revisit it a dozen times a day, and stand in deep contemplation over my vegetable progeny with a love that nobody could share or conceive of who had never taken part in the process of creation. It was one of the most bewitching sights in the world to observe a hill of beans thrusting aside the soil, or a rose of early peas just peeping forth sufficiently to trace a line of delicate green. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mosses from and Old Manse