Mark Your Calendars

As I continue to read and to plan and to dream of spring...I decided thee were things I could do now.  

I can mark my calendar.  Add my to do list to it.  Do you google?  Have you created a garden calendar?  Or just take your wall calendar and add to it what you want to do when.  It will help us happen to our gardens rather then just try to keep up!

My focus is always on my soil.  I would love to be able to see the work that is happening below the freezing sleeping surface.  Has the freeze broken up compaction?  Did I add enough compost this fall?  Did I over dig it too close to freezing?  

What do I need to do first this spring?  Why not put those thoughts down so I don't have to use any energy recalling what I need to do.  Not just notes in a journal but notes on my calendar.  

What are your thoughts?  Do you have any tricks and tips for planning for spring?

It's About Stems

 

It’s About Stem

After our UNL Master Gardener class on Tuesday night, the instructor gave us a large three ring binder, a turf book and a bug classification sheet.  This might not excite very many people…but judging from the oohs and aahhs in the room…we were those kind of people.

Basic physical science class information, I’m sure, but as I was not paying attention during class to the subject matter at hand it is exciting new information.  I was not internally motivated in any way to hang on to the new knowledge.

I’m sharing my excitement over what I am learning about stems!  Paul Read writes the first chapter in our binder.  (The Nebraska Master Gardener Volunteer Handbook.  2003)

 Stems are either above the ground as a runner, a crown or a branch.  They can also be under the ground as in rhizome, tuber, bulbs and corms.  I had always thought that tubers were roots but are really an enlarged portion of an underground stem.  Can you believe it?????  A bulb is a stem!!!  A short stem plate and closely spaced buds and fleshy leaves!!!

The parts of a stem called the node are where buds develop into leaves or flowers according to Paul Read.  The areas between the nodes are called the internode. 

Why is this important you ask????  So did I. 

My interpretation? The distance between the nodes is a story about the life and health of the plant.   By paying close attention to the distance between the nodes I should be able to gather information what is happening and do something about it.   

Are my plants too crowded?  Need food?  Need pruned?  Space?  Light? If it has a node then it is a stem and if it doesn’t then it is a root. 

Basically- getting to know the plant and becoming a better observer will lead to healthier plants and more food!

Introduction to Plant Patholgy and Tree, Fruit, Veggies, Flowers and Turf Diseases

I would highly recommend the Extension Educator Master Gardeners' class.  When I read the title of the presentation...I thought for sure I was in over my head.

However, as the diseases were explained and pictures showed, I realized how much I knew.  Just didn't know what it was or what to do about it!

Really it is just about the basics.  And...some common sense and practice.  Trial and error.  Things we learn as we go...  Things you already know.  

Set up our environments so that our plants succeed in order to minimize disease.

My simple synopsis:

Don't fight the plants' natural needs and tendencies.  Right plant.  Right Place.

Plant what will grow and is available.

Don't overwater.

Give lots of space.

Stay off the soil so it does not compact.

Pick often.

Prune. Deadhead. Clean up.

Amend the soil.

Mulch Wisely.

Minimize stress.

Observe and keep your eyes open so diseases can be identified and dealt with early!

Master Gardener

Tonight is the night! 

I begin my Master Gardener class tonight and am so excited about this.  I can't wait to take you along on this ride!

Tonight is Plant Diseases and Identification!

Goals: Intentionally Moving Toward Our Dreams

When we don't make plans we become like a twig on a fast moving river...bouncing hither and thither at the whim and the direction of the current.  Tossed to and fro!

We tend to swing from self absorption to pull down your pants and skate on the ice (My husband's quote) and wing it.  So can we find the healthy middle?  How can we intentionally effect change in our lives?

I believe that by identifying our vision and our goals-it keeps us moving in a planned step by step way toward our dreams.

First Step:  Vision.  Identify values and the desires within your heart.  Check them.  Do they align with where you thought they were?  Do your values and desires reflect your beliefs?  What is the direction we want to go?  Where do we want to end up?  

Mission Statement:  Do you have one?  Does your family have one?  

Think about it.  If we are in charge of managing us and our lives then shouldn't we know where we are taking them?

Second Step:  Identify priorities and challenges.  List them out.  Let's say for the next six months or year.  It doesn't have to be complicated...just list them out.

Third Step:  Identify strengths and resources.   Why?  This is a critical step for any goal.  To identify what our strengths and resources are gives us a concrete reminder that we have what it takes.  It also helps us identify the best ways for us to meet our goals...within our strengths.

Fourth Step:   Write out our goals that are functional, positive, realistic and measurable.  Make sure to write a goal for faith, family, financial, career, garden etc.  Be specific.  Who will do what...when and how.  Finally give it a timeline and how you will know that you have met it.

For an example.  I want to be debt free.  That aligns with my beliefs and values.  My priority for the next 12 months is that I will pay all of my debt except for my mortgage.  If I left it at that then I will get to the end of 2012 and find that I made minimal progress.  So my goal includes in the What/When/Who part each debt and what date it will be paid off by.  I've set it up so that I have to note progress at the end of each month.  

Do I meet all of my goals?  Not hardly.  But I'm living in a more intentional and focused way and meeting more of them all the time!

Found My Christmas Present to ME--Master Gardener Class

A local extension office is offering a Master Gardener class and I'm signing up!  I found my Christmas present to me!

As a young girl and in FFA and Agriculture classes, I loved plant identification.  Our class went to the Badlands for competition and practiced at the lake.   

I loved that feeling of walking through the prairie grasses closing observing the individual plants.  There is so much beauty in the shapes and textures of native plants and grasses.

So...I'm jazzed!  I think I'll talk my husband into going with me!  It will be date night!

Expanding Simply

Expanding simply is my goal.  

To add a few new varieties of tomatoes, potatoes, beans and peppers to my seed order was one way of doing this.  To learn more about the differences in varieties and thinking about how they will best work for me and within my schedule, my life and my environment.

I used to work against myself.  I started 50 tomato plants one year and couldn't figure out why I couldn't keep up with them and three little boys of my own and those I provided child care for....  

My personality needs some room to roam and meander and I plant to match me knowing that I will be more successful that way.  I've stopped trying to do what everyone does...instead I do what works for me!

My goal this year is to plant intentionally and not willy nilly as I grab plants from the green house and stick them in the ground.  To take into account how I like to grow things.  

For example:

• I plant my beans, peppers and tomatoes more in squares then in rows.  I find I can manage them better.  
• I use single posts and twine instead of cages that frustrate me.  Using a raised bed helps me do this.
• Using small old tires along the back fence to plant potatoes in helps me plant them and forget them.  I use mulch and when I water my flowers...they get it too!
• I put my garden where it works instead of feeling like I have to have everything in one square plot.  
• Herbs in my flowers.  Zucchini on the back of my flower bed and along the fence.  Onions, dill and other perennials in a back corner out of the way!

Finally to expand simply...I have a plan and I'm beginning to order seeds so I'm set and ready to go!  Limiting buying too much on a whim in the spring.

Get Ready to Plant!!