The Garden Trend for 2016

People are always asking

"What's the new trend going to be next year?"

Would you like to know?

Sweet Rewards

It's not often that we do something 

and receive nearly instant gratification......

Flowering ORE-AY-GAHN-OH

I love how Jamie Oliver pronounces oregano.

Plus, he's so cute!

In late summer, oregano flowers and it's a beautiful pollinator magnet.

And, unlike some herbs, flowering does not diminish the flavor.

A friend recently taught me a fun new way to use it ....

Shine on, Harvest Moon

"Come a little bit closer

Hear what I have to say"  

Lyrics from "Harvest Moon" by Neal Young.

We've been hearing from EVERYONE that this year's

harvest was.........

Time to Relax

Gracie's Plant Works 

End of the Season SALE will be

Nursery Rhymes

 Nursery rhymes are for babies.

But.  They also can work for nurseries like Gracie's Plant Works.

Do you know why?

Critical Watering Stages of Veg Crops

Careful attention paid to your watering regimens will yield

much better results.  With vegetable crops, critical watering times

are

To-MAY-to, To-MAH-to, let's figure the whole thing out

Do you know what to look for and how to read the tags
on those baby tomato plants?

To the new gardener, tomato tags can read like hieroglyphics. 

MAT,  Beefsteak, VFN,  'DET' and OP or F1.

Special Invitation

A special invitation to our newsletter members and our Facebook followers.......

'Legacy' Fruits and Vegetables

Think you have to purchase new plants for your garden

every year?  Invest in a few of these, then sit back

and watch the groceries grow.

Hydroponic Lettuce Again in Ely!

THIS POST IS OBSOLETE.

IT WILL BE UPDATED IF THE SITUATION CHANGES.

THANK YOU!!

All of us missed Paul Hedrick and his exceptional hydroponic produce

at the Farmers' Market last summer.  

We are pleased to be able to say that Paul has

recovered from his surgery and.........

Like Sands Through the Hourglass....

 

 Don't miss this thrilling episode of

As Gracie's Plant Works Turns  

for an update on what's new and happening........

The Wonderful World of Tomatoes

Tomatoes come in all shapes, sizes, and colors.

SMALL

The smallest are called 'currant' tomatoes, and are indeed tiny.

White Currant, Red Currant, Matt's Wild Cherry are a few popular varieties.

Milkweed and Monarchs

What if?

The latest on Neonicitinoids

Do you think you have been avoiding neonicitinoids

in order to save the honeybees?

Photo by Kansas State University

Here's what you need to know about this emotionally charged topic.....

Do You Know What You Are Buying?

Happy First Day of SPRING!!!

Thinking of throwing in the towel (trowel?) because what you've
tried hasn't worked?  Please don't!!!

We'll help you get back in the ring and avoid disappointment this summer and next by......

How to Choose Healthy Seedlings

The most important part of growing is the day you visit the garden center 

and select what you are going to plant.  

Are you going to get a 'leg up' on the season or will you 

end up with 'leggy' seedlings that don't perform?

Springtime Tease

Hooray for springtime and for Daylight Savings Weekend!

Don't forget to SPRING AHEAD one hour on Saturday night.

The crew at Gracie's is in full springtime production mode, so we thought we'd share a few photos from last year's growing season as a peek into the inside of a growing greenhouse.

Garden Trend 2015

Wanted:

Easy to care for, low maintenance, un-fussy,

great texture and color.

Must be able to thrive outdoors in summer and indoors all winter.

Which plant do you think could answer this personal ad?

Please Be Nice to the Bees

Bees are beneficial insects that we want in our garden.

Do you actually know why you NEED them?

TAKE 2 Why do you garden? An Interactive Forum with a Give Away

Last week's contest/drawing was a bust.

We really wondered why there were no comments, 

then discovered,  much to our chagrin,

 that everyone was being given the 'run around' and couldn't comment.

Apologies to all.  

We're trying this again with instructions at the end of the post on how to comment

 and are keeping our fingers crossed that this time it works:

 
There are as many reasons to garden

as there are gardeners.

What are your reasons?

Longer days mean we are longing for spring

We're all (it can't just be us) suffering from a full-blown

case of cabin fever now.

Seems like it's too far away to even think about gardening.

May we suggest a few 'action items' to prepare

for the upcoming season and 

make the time go faster?

Why Do You Garden? An interactive forum

There are as many reasons to garden

as there are gardeners.

What are your reasons?

Are You a Good Bug or a Bad Bug?

Doubtless everyone is aware that there are good bugs
and bad bugs.  Just like the witches in The Wizard of Oz. 
There are lots of beneficials that pollinate our gardens and 

EAT
the bad bugs.

 But, do you know how to attract them and KEEP them in your garden?

The "it" color for 2015

In order to keep up with the current trends,

we in the horticulture business look to the fashion

industry for cues as to what is going to be this year's "IT" color.

THE PANTONE COLOR OF THE YEAR FOR 2015 IS

MARSALA 

 

Planning is part of the Journey

            

The rush and hubbub of the holidays is past,

and

it's officially time to begin dreaming of spring.

The days are getting longer now, and our bodies

can sense the shift from dark to light.

Oh, I know there's a winter storm forecast for this weekend,

 it's snowing to beat the band at the moment,
and the temperature forecast for the week is anything but pleasant.

It's the perfect time to grab those seed catalogs that have been

filling your mailboxes and start dreaming

of planting and growing this year!

Gardening is a journey.

The physical acts alone are not all there is to it.

Allow yourself to include the planning and the dreaming

as part of that same journey and perhaps you'll enjoy it that much more.

I always plan what I am going to grow.

There are vegetables that we love, and some that we tried but

don't want to repeat.  Don't use valuable garden space
for vegetables that you won't eat.

The next step should be to plan how much to grow.

When I was growing for market, the number of rows

required is dramatically different than growing to have

enough for the two of us and to share with neighbors.

Consider your plans for utilizing what you plant.

For example, do you want enough tomatoes for the table
or are you hoping to do some preserving next fall?

Be sure to calculate how many tomato plants

and what type for your table and the salsa canning party,  then

don't forget the onions, peppers, and papaloquelite.

Finally, but the most important reason to plan, is the location and  
where each variety of veg will be planted.  

Always take care to rotate crops, as different crops

have varying nutritional requirements.
If you plant the same crop in the same location every year,

you will end up with a patch of your garden in which

the soil has been depleted of the nutrients
required by that same crop. 

A perfect example is the monoculture of

industrial agriculture.  If you plant corn in the same field

every year, the fertilizer requirements will be high.

The conventional wisdom on my grandfather's farm was always to plant 

corns and beans in rotation, 

as beans fix nitrogen in the soil, thus

providing for the high nitrogen requirements of the following 

year's corn crop.  This isn't to say that you won't need to
amend with compost, but you will need less.

This photo in early 2013 shows tomatoes planted in the bed on the left, and
beans in the middle bed.  By no coincidence, the layout for 2014
was tomatoes in the center bed and beans and cabbage in the left bed.

(Incidentally, this photo was taken after the tomatoes had been
removed and a cover crop of organic buckwheat had been sown.)

By rotating crops to different locations each season,

 you'll be sure to not deplete the soil of nutrients.
But, there's more.

You won't encourage disease, as many diseases are soil borne

and affect different plants.  Growing leeks where tomatoes were

last year will not provide a host for tobacco mosaic virus, that is 

death for tomatoes, but doesn't affect leeks.  See?

And, crop rotation will improve soil tilth, or texture and structure.

Plant carrots or daikon radish in the location this year, 

and your potatoes the following year will be bigger and

more regularly shaped, as the strong roots of the carrots and 

daikons will have broken up the soil and aerated it nicely.

Soil tilth is an extremely complex subject, but one that
successful gardeners understand.
For more on soil tilth, read
THIS ARTICLE 

And finally, please do remember that a small but very nice

selection of organic, heirloom seeds from High Mowing Seeds will

 be available again this spring at Gracie's Plant Works

in addition to all of our vegetable and herb starts.

Save postage, buy locally, and get the same

quality and products.

Bon Voyage and happy Journey,
Kathy and Patty