The Raspberry Garden Journey: Part 1

When we bought our first house in 2000,  just 3 blocks down from our current house, we effectively inherited a garden and an orchard.  While some dream of having a nice garden "one day", we had it thrust upon us all at once.

Nettie's Original Garden on Doubletree 9/15/00

Nettie Clear, who is the 90-year-old woman we bought the house from that year, had worked that garden for 20 years, almost to the day.  Her husband had passed 7 years prior, so she actually managed this all by herself - and what a fantastic job she did.  I'd even go as far to say that not only did we inherit her garden, but we also inherited her inspiration.

One of the features we loved about that garden was the long row of Raspberries along the eastern fence (not seen in the picture to the left!).  It was about 25-30 feet long, and seemed to have one or two different varieties of Raspberry.  While it was awesome to have fresh Rasberries, we knew nothing about how to take care of them, and even less about what to do with them - besides eat them.  And, at the time, I wasn't really that big of a fan.

The challenge with that garden was that there was no automatic irrigation, and as a result, our yield was hit or miss, based upon our ability to keep up with watering.  And Rasberries need lots of water!

Typical Raspberry Bushes

Over the years, they spread out into the lawn, and were kind of a nuisance.  And, the lawn returned the favor by invading the Raspberry area, depleting them of their water.  In the end, particularly after we moved from that house, the lawn won.  Yes, it's kind of a sad story.

So, upon moving into our new home in 2007, with no landscaping inherited, we knew that we'd love to have them again.  But, this time we would take what we have learned, and do it better.  The goals for this project were to:

A. Make sure that the planters were automatically irrigated to sufficiently water them.

B.  The planters would be self-contained, so that they would not invade other areas, and other things would not invade their space.

C.  Since Raspberries grow long canes and they have prickly stems, we wanted to ensure that they remain upright once they begin bearing fruit, so some sort of trellis or support system would be necessary.

Bland area, with fence.  Check.

One of the best places to put Rasberries is along a fence.  They take a bland area that is dominated by brown boards, and add lots of green to make it lush.  It was almost a given from the moment we started building the new garden that the Raspberries would be along the fence.  I had envisioned a long planter from the start, with vertical posts to hold wires that would hold the Raspberry canes from falling over and making the path in front of them impassible.

During the design process (which for us is pretty much ongoing and open to change until it's built, aka "design-build"), our friends Courtney & Dean attempted to use our general design for a planter that was 10 feet long on one side. When they added the soil to the planter, the board bulged, demonstrating there is an upper boundary to the length of any of these planters when using 2x12s.  This, in turn, caused me to reconsider exactly how long of a run I would do without a supporting post going into the ground, as well as the distance between the vertical trellis posts - which would double as the corner posts.

The Bulging 10' Box at
Courtney and Dean's

Once we took field measurements of the area, we found that we had 24 feet of length that was going to be dedicated to Raspberries.  Our board length was 16 feet, so we considered building planter sections that were 4 feet long, creating 6 overall planters.  While logical, and giving us short lengths that we have plenty of experience with regarding bowing, it also increases the cost significantly - not to mention the assembly time.

The original rough sketch layout

Each time there is a connection between a 2x12 and a 4x4, it requires the use of 2 A34 Simpson Strong Ties, which cost $0.43 each.  At $0.86 per corner, that each planter has a cost of $3.44 in angle hardware, and that's before tax and the screws.  Let's call it $4.00.

Each post also has to be cut and the top mitered.  That takes time.  Each post also has to have a hole dug into the ground to support it, and when putting on the stain, the corners are the most time-consuming thing to paint.  It all sums up to significantly more labor.

So, we decided instead to create 4 planters of approximately 6-feet in length each.  Every other post would be a tall trellis post, creating a gap of 12-feet between posts.

The layout of the boxes was an important activity too.  We needed to ensure that we had enough room to walk the backside of the planters.  While I don't personally plan to pick Raspberries from that side, it's reasonable to assume that we might need to get some from that side - they prickly after all.  And, this is not to mention the fact that leaves and debris will likely accumulate back there - a garden is never as tidy as the day it's built.  We decided to set this planter row 2 feet from the fence, maximizing the size of the garden, while still giving us a reasonable access between the fence and the planter.

The modified sketch, with lots of scratchouts!

Add to this, we had to consider the fact that this row of planters would eventually connect with the Asparagus Planter at the front (West).  Since that Planter would be square with the pathway, and the posts from Raspberry planters would be oriented square to the fence, eventually, something would have to be mitred when we connected the two.

What we finally decided was that the apex of the fence line (where the two angular fences met to make an open angle) was the place to start.  We had already built the Strawberry Planter by this time, and that had a definitive centerline that aligned with this same Apex.  We would start the planter installation from there, and if there was any need for adjustment, the slack would be taken up in the Asparagus Planter.

Pre-Fabricated pieces stationed before installation

And, with that, we began taking measurements and milling the wood for these planters.  We decided to pre-fabricate the longer lengths of 2x12, pre-attached to their corresponding short-posts.  We would alternately pre-fabricate the tall posts connected by their shorter foward-to-aft pieces.

Why go through all of this trouble?  Leveling.

In order to make this section of garden level, we decided to build each planter one by one, keeping it straight and level in relativity to the one before it.  We also checked for consistent measurements from the fence, which after 2 years of weathering, was developing some warpage.  I think it was during a moment of frustration with this warpage that we coined the term "Garden Tolerance", which is a euphemism for "close enough".  Seriously, it's just a garden, after all. One of the other challenges for this specific installation was the grade of

Setting the first Raspberry Planter

One of the other challenges for this specific installation was the grade of the earth near the fence.  It both sloped towards the fence unevenly, as well as sloping slightly from the fence Apex towards the west.  We had decided early in this process that the top height of these planters would NOT match the height of the Strawberry, Blueberry, and Asparagus planters.  It needed to be lower because these are naturally tall bushes, and we didn't want to be picking Raspberries with a ladder.

However, on top of that, the cost of raising the top of the planter to that same elevation would require that it be a planter that utilized more than one 2x12 vertically.  That would get fairly expensive quickly on a planter that measures 24 feet by 2 feet.

So, the final decision was to set the East end of the planter flush with the ground, then keep it level going east.  We estimated that it would be about a 4-5" grade difference, although we didn't have any fancy tools to tell for sure.  Eyeballing it is not entirely invalid, at least in my construction handbook.

Once the first planter was in place, we used a 4-foot level to check it in all directions.  Our methodology for leveling in the thick clay soil is a bit different than we would probably do elsewhere.  Basically, we dig a post hole, set the planter into all 4 holes, and then lift to add soil until we are in the ballpark.  Then, we placed a piece of scrap wood on top of any post that needed to go lower, and then used a sledge hammer to pound it to being level.  Crude, but effective.  And, since the soil does not compress easily, it holds very very well relative to other regions of the US.

A little sledge hammer action to move a post

Once one section is done, then we connect the next 3 sides to make the next planter, and repeat the leveling.  After putting all planters in place, we then bury the remaining areas around the posts to secure the planter in place.  As my construction buddies often say, "That ain't goin nowhere!"

After all of the planters were set in place, the next step was to stain them with the Redwood stain, then staple the interior plastic, add rocks for drainage, and then the soil.  All that will be described in the next segment on the construction of the Raspberry Planters.

To be continued!

The Evolution of our Living Fence & Espalier Design

Deb has been in love with living fences ever since our first time at our friend Sue's house.  Sue Oberle is who we used to buy all of our seedlings from when she was in that line of business.  She has a wonderful apple tree that has been trained into being a fence.  And Deb wouldn't let our next garden construction phase be designed without this being included.

I completely got the concept of a living fence.  Mostly.  The practice dates back to Egyptians in 1400 BC, throughout the Middle Ages in Europe, and in Colonial America.  The pruning of living fences was considered a secret art that was passed from generation to generation.

There are several reasons for building living fences.  They are useful as borders between areas of gardens or farms.  They allow for productivity in small areas.  And, when done against a wall, they can benefit from the heat radiating from the wall to extend seasons, or induce flowering or ripening.

If you are interested in the history of living fences, as well as detailed information about how to prune them, I would recommend the website at Colonial Sense.  It's rich with detailed information on this subject.

The living fence I saw in my mind.

So, in my mind, I pictured a tree where the branches that are forward and aft are removed, and the remaining branches are trained resulting in horizontal bars bearing fruit.  My primary concern was what would happen when the branches reached the length that put them at the edge of the planter.

Would we cut them off, and then the branches would just get thicker and thicker?  Would they bear fruit in this condition?  And what stops the tree from growing upwards?  Don't I end up with a big thick trunk and very little foliage.

I had a difficult time visualizing how to give Deb her dream, and still have a functional fruit tree 10-20 years from now.  And, on top of that, making something that wasn't going to look like a disaster at the end of every garden picture.  It IS about the pictures, when the history books are written.

In our case, we are looking to:

1. Create more fruit variety in our garden overall.  We currently have a Golden Delicious and Jonathan Apple tree.  We are thinking of adding other Apple varieties, and perhaps a Cherry.

The West End View: Isn't it missing something on the far side?

2. Create a visual backdrop for the garden elements, when viewed from the West.  When you walk around the corner from the driveway, it's what defines the back side of the garden.

3. Create a visual barrier between us and our nearest next door neighbor.  We have a weird situations, where the fence between us is about waist high due to the drainage that runs between our properties, and their back porch is so close, it feels like we are almost on top of one another.  This will help create privacy for both yards when we are in this garden.

Now, besides the general concept, and the location, we didn't really discuss much detail about the tree or trees.  We had built the East end of the Garden to hold this living fence, and intentionally avoided any dividers to make one continuous planter that was bent on an angle, creating two planting zones.

Future unfinished home of our Living Fence, aka an Espalier

In fact, deciding between 1 or 2 trees was the primary decision in my mind.  I just figured that there was one advantage to putting a single tree, right at the bend, and a different advantage to putting one on each side.  I kept oscillating in my mind.

By putting one at the corner, I was imagining that I could have the maximum length branches, and that was a good thing.  But, because one side is longer than the other, it would be kind of a weird tree.  One side would get thicker than the other, as the longer side would still be stretching itself out.

But the downside of the one tree design was the trellis.  It would require creating four posts, with some sort of cris-crossing of lines or wires right near the trunk of the tree.  It just sounded like it would look forced.  Idea nixed, for the moment. Or was it?

The two tree design made the trellis easier for sure.  It meant we could put one post in the each end, and then one in the center.  That made sense, but then there was almost the same issue with the other design - one tree would be substantially larger than the other.  But, then that could be solved by having one apple, then one cherry.

Time to bring Deb in to help settle the matter.  Well, sort of.  In reality, all I did was infect her with my oscillating thoughts.  It was a bit frustrating for both of us.

The diagram that opened our eyes

That is when Deb found a site on the Internet the explained that the living fence we were looking for was called and Espalier.  She printed out a page showing all sorts of designs.  It was like suddenly moving from 2D to 3D.  Okay, not so dramatic, but still.  It opened our eyes.

Given the freedom to combine multiple trees to create patterns suddenly made me a painter with living branches, and suddenly, I could create just about anything I could imagine.  This could be good.

So, with the freedom to plant multiple dwarf varieties of fruit-bearing trees, and then bend them into patterns, it solved the problem of how thick the branches would become to a degree, because the pattern could evolve over time.  And, the space could be more easily filled in the first few years - not waiting until we are on our deathbeds to see the final product!

What Espalier will appear here?

By the time the planters were completed, we realized that in order to do this right, we might need to shop around a bit in our local nurseries, and perhaps even wait for the end-of-season sales that always come in August and September - a GREAT time to plant trees and save some bucks.

In the meantime, we may choose to just fill the area with soil, and grow some watermelons, pumpkins, or something else we don't normally do.  It's one of the fun things about new garden acreage - you can use a season to kick the can down the road until you make a final decision.

What do you think we should do?  Please comment!

The Blueberry Planter Gets Complicated: Part 1

What began as a simple request from Deb to incorporate 3 basic berries to our new garden became much more complicated from one of the tastiest of these berries - the Blueberry.

We knew going into the project that blueberries required acidic soil.  Since our primary design is raised bed planters, where the soil is controlled, this appeared at first to be no big deal.  We will just amend the soil with acidic things like peat moss, and it won't be a big deal.

I had already begun design of the garden, and had purchased the lumber when Deb discovered that CSU had done a study to determine how best to grow blueberries in the Rocky Mountains, where the soil is famously alkaline.  In the area around our house, we have tested the soil in several places, and it has pH values from 8.0 to 8.5.  What they determined was that blueberries could be grown in containers, and with proper care for the roots, they could winter over and be perennial.

Small Stones indicate the corners of the Blueberry Planters

At the time of the news, Tim and I had just laid out a box that was a triangularish trapezoid.  It was going to be the "complex" box because the side pieces were going to need to have angled cuts.  If only that were true.

With the news that we were going to need planters, we quickly came up with a solution - to create 3 planters within the trapezoid.  Each of those planters would hold the more acidic soil, and because they would have soil on the exterior, they would protect the roots from freezing during the winter.

Fancy bevel, no?

We had just completed the top section of the Strawberry planter, and Tim and I both agreed
that the 24" x 24" size made for a nice looking stand-alone planter.  We measured, and found we could fit 3 of these within the area of the trapezoid we had laid out.  So, with that, 3 became the number of Blueberry bushes we would have.

Construction of the inner planters was very easy.  All three would have the same dimensions, so it was almost a production line.  Tim cut all the wood and beveled all the posts as he did for the entire Berry Garden.  One of the things that isn't obvious from the more distant photos is how much more striking the corners with bevels are than my original posts from the Octogarden.  While we are using quite basic building materials, the bevel just has the effect of making the construction look fancy.

That bevel, however, is being cut using a pre-safety-era Sears table saw, that predates even the Craftsman name.  It was my Uncle Bob's saw, and was well used from the 60s through the 90s to make all sorts of things without him losing much of any of his fingers (just kidding, of course).   While the bevels on short posts like the center of the Blueberry Planters would be relatively easy for one person, the taller posts in the garden would require Tim and I to work in conjunction to safely keep the wood level and straight going through the blade.

Let's just say that it would only take an average shop student about 3 minutes to chide us for multiple safety violations.  It's not quite as bad as my layman's job back in 2009 when the original Octogarden was built, as the image below clearly documents.  In my defense, I do have safety goggles on, and it's not just because they make me look pretty.

Do NOT try this at home kids!

So, our Blueberry Planter operation actually was a slick operation.  Tim cut the wood, and I split my time between putting the angles on the posts, and laying out other parts of the garden.  Our mini-planter assembly line can be summed up in 4 pictures.

Tim using a speed square to get a straight cut

Stacks of cut boards

Angle Attachment Assembly Line

Finished Posts

Once the parts were all cut and the angles attached, we quickly assembled the 3 planters, and found our next dilemma - how precisely to arrange them.  When we originally laid them out with rocks, of course, because we did not yet own a snap line, I had the forethought to think about alignment with the other elements in the garden.  While standing at the front (west) side of the garden, I had noticed early on that the second post in the Asparagus Planter actually aligned with the center post from the Strawberry Planter approximately up the center of the Trapezoid.  It followed (in my head) that the three planters should probably align with that post-to-post line.

That being said, I was continuing with a design theme from early on.  The central focus of the garden is the tall post in the center of the Strawberry Planter.  It should be the highest point in the garden, and the eye's focus should always lead toward this post.

There are two dominant straight lines in canvas we have to work with - the breeze path, and the existing cedar fence.  The breeze path's line is an extension of the house, and is perfectly (relatively) parallel with the house.  The fence line, at least the part starting at the entrance, is at an angle which we do not control.

So, the early decision was to incorporate triangles into the design, making the Berry Garden a masculine garden, in that it would have strong angles and straight lines.  This is different than the Octogarden, which was an attempt to utilize the simplicity of 90-degree angles for construction of boxes, which were then arranged into an circle, around an Octagon, which is nearly a circle itself.  While the Octogarden is a mix of masculine and feminine, the Berry Garden at least at first glance is masculine.

The Raspberry Planters are parallel with the fence, and the Strawberry Planter has one edge parallel with the fence.  But, the Strawberry Planter, with it's multiple levels gave us the opportunity to move that central focus away from the center of the planter itself, to create a high-point which is more approximate to the center of the widest part of the garden when viewing from a distance.   By combining this decision with noticing the alignment with the 2nd Asparagus post location, we essentially create a 3rd angle from the house and fence, which in turn makes the garden more like sun rays spreading from the west end into an ever-widening garden looking east.

Having seized upon this concept, but both Tim and I became emphatic that this was a terrific idea, and we pretty much galloped forward with it once we had the realization.  Having built the boxes, we simply arranged them on our sketched layout, written in Sharpie pen, trying to figure out what exactly was going to line up with the new post-to-post fan line that so impressed us.

If we put the boxes corner to corner, they would align, but when viewing from the side, they looked a bit forced into that position.  The alignment with the post-to-post line was evident, but the sides of the boxes, their front and side posts, and pretty much everything else looked relatively random.  For a garden design that seemed to have so much emphasis on straight-sided shapes, having these boxes cockeyed to achieve this singular alignment just had bad energy.

After 30 minutes of "let's try this", we stumbled upon a grand idea - we would align the PLANTS to the post-to-post line, but the boxes would be turned 45 degrees from the line parallel to the house.  This would create a "diamond" shaped box, considering the view from the path.  But, this diamond would be identical in angle to the 2nd level of the Strawberry Planter - creating the impression that the larger one had 3 smaller buddies.  It wasn't to mimic the Giza pyramids, but the thought did cross my mind after the fact.

What we noticed is that we could stagger the boxes so that the leading edge of one box could be aligned with the lagging edge of the prior box.  This created a weird effect.  While the boxes remained unfilled the alternating posts would straddle the post-to-post line.  If you view enough of my pictures of the construction, you'll notice that I intentionally will photograph from this center-point going forward.  The result is this first draft alignment shown below.

The view that showed alignment with Strawberry Level 2

The first time we noticed there might be an alignment

The "alignment" showing the post-to-post line

 This complex portion of the project wasn't even close to being finished yet.  As we read further into the study, we noticed that drainage was frequently mentioned.  Colorado clay soil is notoriously poor for drainage.  In some cases, it feels more like concrete when dried up.

In the original Octogarden design, I noticed that when we had severe storms, the water would fill up the planters like a bathtub, and sometimes take more than an hour to drain.  I had originally imagined that the open-bottom design would be plenty for those flash-rain situations.  However, in the case of blueberries, it seemed crucially important to add a rock layer at the bottom of the planter, covered with weed fabric, to ensure that there would be a drainage sink.

But, putting rocks into the bottom of the planter would raise the overall bottom of the place where roots could eventually go, and given the second requirement to have the root ball buried by as much soil laterally as possible, Deb was emphatic about planting this one deep, and having room for it's roots to go deeper.  That left only one way to accomplish this - dig down about a foot below each planter, but only beneath each planter so that the wood would still have support.

I embraced the extra work, and used the post hole digger to quickly create a 1-foot deep sink at the bottom of each planter.

Drainage Sink made with Post Hole Digger

At this point, it would appear that most of the complexities had been overcome, but like the proverbial Rabbit Hole, it's only a matter of how far we want to go.

Bethany's Garden: Variation on Planter Construction

Our friend Courtney has a friend in Texas, Bethany, who is on the gardening bandwagon this year.  She was able to convince her husband Joe and some friends to use their tractor, and dig out the area for the garden.  They tilled the soil from their last garden, and sourced compost locally to combine and create the soil for these planters.

The great thing about this design is that it factors in easy constructions methods and low costs, along with the versatility of perhaps recreating the garden again 5-10 years in the future.  While my personal choice with our garden has been to design and build for longer life, and perhaps an artistic aesthetic, this design is straightforward and functional.

In terms of keeping the costs low, the design uses the same basic materials of 4x4s and 2x12s, but instead of cutting the 2x12s to fit between the posts, they pass in front of the 4x4, and deck screws hold it in place.  For the purpose of creating a raised bed, this is totally functional, and dramatically lowers the cost, not to mention the overall labor.

This garden is not irrigated, and Bethany says she plans to regularly flood the boxes, which she estimates will save on the overall water usage.  Since it was 96 degrees on the April day when she mentioned this, I am imagining that this summer will be full of garden watering sessions!

I am hoping to get regular updates from Bethany and Joe on their garden this summer, and look forward to seeing what they grow!

Plant a Container Garden with Old Dresser Drawers

I saw this article at Organic Authority, and thought I would share this, for those that want a creative way to make planters.

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Classic box-shaped dresser drawers--reclaimed from a dresser on the curb bound for the dump or your own worn out dresser--work perfectly as planters. As a repurposing junkie, I adore the idea of reusing well-loved (i.e. worn out) furniture for new purposes in the garden.

Alongside the usual terracotta and clay containers used to hold plants, repurposed old dresser drawers can add diversity to a deck or backyard. Picture them filled with soil and brimming with your favorite flowers or homegrown vegetables.

Before you get planting, check out these tips to make your dresser drawer container garden a success.

Make a plan

I know you’re more than ready to get growing, but making a plan for your container garden can save you unnecessary stress. (If only this worked in all parts of our lives.) Although much of gardening requires learning through trial and error, making a plan is a good start.

Consider where to plant. Most plants do better in sunny areas, where they can get six to eight hours of sunlight a day. Although certain plants, such as mushrooms, do better in shady areas. Find a corner of your backyard or deck that receives the appropriate amount of sunlight for the plants you want to grow in your drawers. Speaking of that…

Consider what to plant. Fruits and veggies that grow well in shallow containers include herbs, lettuce, onions, cucumbers, carrots, radishes and strawberries. Don't forget to add flowers to your container garden. Flowers that grow well in containers include weigela, begonias and black and gold cannas. Check your local nursery for more ideas for plants that grow well in shallow containers and in your climate.

Check out the drawer

Solid wood drawers, not newer lower quality versions made from particleboard, will hold up well to weather and wear. If the drawers you have seem a bit feeble, reinforce them with a drill and screws. Yes, a drill. I promise you can operate it, or you could always ask your hubbie or a power tool savvy friend to do it for you.

Before you start planting, make sure the wood is untreated. You don’t want chemicals leaching into your soil and plant roots. If the drawer has been painted or stained, use some sort of liner to cover the bottom and sides of the drawer before planting.

I say leave the knobs or pulls on the drawers to add fun ornamentation to your garden.

Start gardening

Get your rocking container garden going! As you go along, consider a few necessities.

Drainage. Drill some holes in the bottom of the drawer for drainage; otherwise the plant roots will rot. And how sad would that be?

Potting soil. Fill your dresser drawers with an organic potting soil. You could also blend it with some of the soil from your compost pile for a mix that your plants will eat up.

Spacing. When you go to plant your seeds or starts, look at the directions. The spacing directions on seed packets may be meant for gardens with a larger area. Check with your local nursery for more information.

As your garden develops, it doesn’t matter if the drawers start to look worn. The shabbiness will only add character to your garden. Water your miniature garden daily and soon your plants will begin to sprout.

If you love these ideas, but don’t have a green thumb, keep a pretty dresser drawer inside the house to hold potted plants. Make sure to place the box near a sunny window. Happy gardening!

First Success: Seed Sprouts to Seedlings

When we first started gardening in Telluride, back in 1998, we had a sad little garden that was about 3-4 feet long, and maybe 2 feet wide.  It was just some soil-like space between some rocks.  We planted seeds in that garden, but with a June 15 last frost combined with very low soil temperatures (even in mid-summer), it was hard to get anything to germinate.

I've been unable to locate a picture (pre-digital days) I remember showing the tiny little carrot and two pea pods that came from our first year, but sometimes such is the yield from experimental first-time gardeners.  Trust me, you'd laugh at how little we got from all of our work - a story I hear over and over from those making their first foray into gardening.

In the following year, we had some small planters on our condo patio, and we actually got useable herbs from them.  I think this is how it starts out for many people - little spaces and pots filled with starter hopes and dreams.  And, those little successes inspire you to try more the next year.

Deb in our first planter garden on the deck of our condo in Telluride, CO

In 2000, we moved to Ft. Collins, and we anticipated having an easier time in 2001 with the longer season and warmer temperatures.  For certain things, this was true. We planted 14 Zucchini, and they all sprouted and grew to mature plants for sure.  Took over the entire middle of the garden, and we quickly learned all Zucchini recipes known to mankind.

We tried to get tomatoes and peppers to grow from seed, and we started with Jiffy pellets, but once they sprouted, we let them get long and stringy, and it was just impossible to get them to grow stems that could support the weight of the plant.  So, we'd end up going out and buying tomatoes and peppers at various nurseries in Fort Collins.

Back in 2002, we stumbled into our friend Sue Oberle's business (Oberle Botanical) at the Fort Collins Farmer's Market, and began getting really cool heirloom varieties, all organically grown.  We became quite used to having quality hard-to-find varieties, that we started to actually go straight to her house to get early picks from her crop.  Plus, she has a super-cool backyard garden that is just plain fun to visit.

The Sunshine Systems UFO: Red/Blue LED 

Well, this year, we decided to go back to our old nemesis, and actually get plants from our spouts - and we finally had success.

I attribute the success to two things: Staying on top of transplanting, regular fertilization, and using an LED grow light vs. putting trays by a window.  The last step, of course, being the most important.  We used the Sunshine Systems UFO, and it has been nothing short of a revolution in our gardening.  Instead of watching weak seed sprouts turn yellow, limp, and deathlike before our eyes, we basically had 100% success getting seedlings growing, and actually maturing them - all under this 90-watt, extremely low-heat LED light.  When you see it running, you may still doubt it will do the job.  But make no mistake, this has plenty of power to grow beautiful plants.

INDOOR SEED SPROUTING

Ferry Morse Ultimate Seed Starting Combo

To sprout seeds indoors, I recommend the Ferry Morse Ultimate Seed Starting Combo.  This is a product that has been used for decades by millions of home gardener's and it's arguably fool-proof.  That is, to get seeds to sprout.

The problem is pretty simple: You need to transplant the sprouts into another medium when they are ready, not when you are.  Most people see the sprouts, cheer, and then say for 3-12 days that "tomorrow" they really really need to transplant them.

What most people aren't aware of, is that the next step can be done in the SAME base tray.  We'll get to that step.

First, to get the tray started, you need to put about 10-11 cups of warm water in the tray, and let the peat pellets soak up the water.  Once they are fully puffed-out cylinders, you are ready to plant seeds in the center.  It's best to pull the fabric at the top of the pellet back a bit, and make sure that  you put your seeds down into the little hole that appears in the center.

We typically put 2-3 seeds in each pellet.  If more than one germinates, we call these doubles and triples. We covet this fortune, as we think that we get more yield from the same garden square footage.  Not really sure it works out that way, but it's definitely more vegetation more quickly when you have doubles and triples.  Once the pellets are all seeded, we put labels at the end of rows, using masking tape and toothpicks as markers.

Long stringy seedlings awaiting transplant

After about 1-2 weeks, we see sprouts, and within a few days, they are inches long.  We place our trays by a window, and once they break through the top of the peat, they just reach reach reach for the sun, with only their seed leaves open.

In a 4x4 container

It's within 1-2 days of when your sprouts look like this that it is critical to transplant into a larger container.  We experimented with both 4x4 and 2x2 containers, and found that there was a specific benefit to the 2x2 containers.  First, it uses less soil.  Second, there are trays that hold 24 of these, with a lifter for drainage into the same base tray you start with for sprouting.  They also fit the higher humidity controlled plastic domes that you need for the next stage.

Domed transplants 

Once transplanted into the larger container, I'd place them all under the red and blue Sunshine Systems UFO, with the light on a timer.  It would be set for 18 hours of light, with 6 hours of darkness.  I would water once per day, adding Age Old Kelp and Botanicare Pure Blend Pro Grow at a rate of 1 ounce per 1 gallon mixture.  There were days skipped if there was accumulated moisture.  But, my intent was to ensure the young seedlings had plenty of nutrients to grow roots quickly.


The area we set up to hang the light is actually on a metal shelf, purchased at Lowe's.  It's backed by cardboard with aluminum foil, and then the UFO light hung from above.  There is no heat from the light at all, even though it is putting out the same amount of light as a 400-watt metal halide lamp.  This combination of high UV with no heat is perfect for ensuring survival of your sprouts becoming seedlings.


The most exciting days are when the sprouts get their first real leaves.  Seed leaves are usually a pair that look nothing like anything the plant will ever grow again.  The next pairs that come out have the pattern you would know for that plant.

Below is a shot of the two stages next two one another - all seed leaves, and then some getting their first real leaves.

Within a few days, those seedlings were sprouting large leaves.  The stems were getting the fuzzy appearance of a mature tomato plant.  And the leaves had the full shape of a mature leaf.  The picture below is only 1 week after the first pair of real leaves.

This next picture is from just 5 days after the one above:

Considering our prior crash and burn attempts to get seedlings to live through the next step, the fact that all of the plants were surviving was quite unexpected.  It demonstrated to me that this UFO LED light was really worth the money.  We are now going to save a ton of money on tomatoes and peppers we would normally buy somewhere like the Fort Collins Farmer's Market, or any of the local nurseries.  We shop both Bath Garden Center and Fort Collins Nursery.

Nothing against these places at all, by the way!

We love the service they provide, and definitely have appreciation for what it takes to get plants started from seed.  But, the gratification in growing your own plants from seed isn't just about saving money, it's just the whole life process of going from seed to fruit, flower, or veggie.  We say, if you are just getting started, save yourself some early grief and purchase your seedlings early in the season from your local farmer's markets and nurseries.  When you've got confidence you know what to do planting more mature plants in your garden, then take up sprouting your own seedlings.

I hope that this article was helpful for those of you thinking about, or actually starting your own gardens from seed.  I am happy to answer any questions.

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Jason and Julie's Garden: Garden Area Tilled

I stopped by Jason and Julie's garden this week in Loveland, CO, and they took on the project of tilling the soil to get it ready for irrigation over the past weekend.  While it could be argued that they only needed to dig trenches for the irrigation, the existing soil was uneven, hard-packed, and full of weeds.  By tilling the entire area, it's a "fresh start" that will make it easier to get the irrigation tubing in place, as well as to level the ground for the planters.

While taking this photo, Julie asked me about the succession of planters.  They want to get some done this year, and expand in upcoming years as they have the time, finances, and strength to pull it off.  While I had a preference for starting from the fence this year, and moving forward in coming years, there is also logic to starting on the near edge, and working back - it will be more visible to the rest of the yard immediately, and then expansion area will be in the background.  The only advice I gave was to ensure that they don't box themselves in, and give plenty of room to get to the back area.

I believe the planter size they are going to build will be 4' x 8', but we also discussed making sure that the length on the long sides is not so long that the wood bows (as we saw in Courtney & Dean's initial design).  It's important to factor the building materials, as Jason and Julie have not yet committed to the 4x4 and 2x12 wood we use in our own garden.  If a thinner material is used, it most certainly will need mid-length support, particularly on any 2-board high planters.

They took additional pictures of the tilling process (action photos!), so looking forward to getting copies and posting.