Zap Gardens
the official web site of Jaime Zaplatosch
the official web site of Jaime Zaplatosch
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Garden notes
A Different Summer for Gardening (July 30, 2009)
This summer has been quite different in Chicago for gardening. It has been one of the coolest summers on record - great for my final stretch of pregnancy, but not for our warm season crops. Those of us growing peas, lettuce, spinach, and broccoli have gotten great yields well beyond the typical dates that we can expect to harvest from these plants. I JUST took up the last of my initial crop of (now bolting) merlot lettuce earlier today. At the end of July. That is relatively unheard of for almost being August. For those of us loving salad, this is a good thing. For those of us loving peppers, tomatoes and eggplant, well...
The cool weather hasn't been all bad. I am at the tail end (and counting) of my first pregnancy and the lower temperatures have enabled to me to work in the garden much longer than otherwise possible. I have been able to weed the parkway we just converted into a annual (but self-seeding) flower garden and manage to water all of the containers that we have scattered around our house (porches, front and back yard) on a daily basis. I hope that even though the growing season has been slow (and pretty wet for a while there) that our yields will be decent even if they are delayed. With a baby due any day now, I don't regret not having oodles of tomatoes ready to eat (and then preserve). The procrastination of this gardening season does have it's benefits!
Planting out what can handle pre-"frost free" dates (April 22, 2009)
Sunny days like today encourage us each to get out in our gardens to do some work. But what can you do this early in the season? In Chicago, our frost-free date is May 15th. That means that any warm season annuals should not be put in the ground before then or they might die if there is a cold snap.
Perennials are safe to plant now, whether they be flowering plants or edible or non-edible shrubs. I am planting my newest blueberry shrub in its container today. It won't be bothered by occasional 30 degree nights, as long as the days are warmer.
Cool season edibles, such as lettuce, peas, collards, kale, spinach, beets and radishes can be planted directly outside by seed now. As soon as your soil is warm enough for them to germinate (my merlot lettuce and mesclun mix in my raised bed are sprouting nicely already), they will start to grow. Keep your soil moist until any of these cool season veggies sprout to make sure that they germinate. Watering annuals at this time of year is tricky. The soil does not dry out as quickly as it does during the warm summer months, so make sure that you don't overwater. Overwatering can cause your seeds to rot. To see if your garden bed needs watering, put your index finger in the soil. If the soil is wet in the top joint of your finger, you don't need to water. However, if the soil is dry in that first joint - get out the watering can right away!
There are some cool season annual flowers that grow at this time. Pansies are one such flower. They are showing up all over garden centers (and have been for almost a month now!). Pansies will actually die off when June and the warmer weather hits. So, if you are looking for a spot of color on your porch or in your garden until then, buy some of these. I splurge on purchasing pansies from the store each spring. They are worth their cost in inspiration until I can plant my warm season vegetables and flowering annuals outside!
This summer has been quite different in Chicago for gardening. It has been one of the coolest summers on record - great for my final stretch of pregnancy, but not for our warm season crops. Those of us growing peas, lettuce, spinach, and broccoli have gotten great yields well beyond the typical dates that we can expect to harvest from these plants. I JUST took up the last of my initial crop of (now bolting) merlot lettuce earlier today. At the end of July. That is relatively unheard of for almost being August. For those of us loving salad, this is a good thing. For those of us loving peppers, tomatoes and eggplant, well...
The cool weather hasn't been all bad. I am at the tail end (and counting) of my first pregnancy and the lower temperatures have enabled to me to work in the garden much longer than otherwise possible. I have been able to weed the parkway we just converted into a annual (but self-seeding) flower garden and manage to water all of the containers that we have scattered around our house (porches, front and back yard) on a daily basis. I hope that even though the growing season has been slow (and pretty wet for a while there) that our yields will be decent even if they are delayed. With a baby due any day now, I don't regret not having oodles of tomatoes ready to eat (and then preserve). The procrastination of this gardening season does have it's benefits!
Planting out what can handle pre-"frost free" dates (April 22, 2009)
Sunny days like today encourage us each to get out in our gardens to do some work. But what can you do this early in the season? In Chicago, our frost-free date is May 15th. That means that any warm season annuals should not be put in the ground before then or they might die if there is a cold snap.
Perennials are safe to plant now, whether they be flowering plants or edible or non-edible shrubs. I am planting my newest blueberry shrub in its container today. It won't be bothered by occasional 30 degree nights, as long as the days are warmer.
Cool season edibles, such as lettuce, peas, collards, kale, spinach, beets and radishes can be planted directly outside by seed now. As soon as your soil is warm enough for them to germinate (my merlot lettuce and mesclun mix in my raised bed are sprouting nicely already), they will start to grow. Keep your soil moist until any of these cool season veggies sprout to make sure that they germinate. Watering annuals at this time of year is tricky. The soil does not dry out as quickly as it does during the warm summer months, so make sure that you don't overwater. Overwatering can cause your seeds to rot. To see if your garden bed needs watering, put your index finger in the soil. If the soil is wet in the top joint of your finger, you don't need to water. However, if the soil is dry in that first joint - get out the watering can right away!
There are some cool season annual flowers that grow at this time. Pansies are one such flower. They are showing up all over garden centers (and have been for almost a month now!). Pansies will actually die off when June and the warmer weather hits. So, if you are looking for a spot of color on your porch or in your garden until then, buy some of these. I splurge on purchasing pansies from the store each spring. They are worth their cost in inspiration until I can plant my warm season vegetables and flowering annuals outside!
Seed starting (March 31, 2009)
It is seed starting time again for those of us in the Midwest. While the seedlings won't be able to go outside until May, you have to start vegetables like tomatoes, eggplant and peppers inside, or the plants will not grow enough in a Chicago season to produce fruit - what we really want! Over the last two weeks I have started our fruiting vegetables and flowering annuals for the garden. Most of the seedlings have sprouted and will be put under grow-lights in a day or so.
The seed starting supplies are shown below. As I try to be as sustainable as possible, I don't use seed starting mix with peat in it (not a renewable resource). Instead, I used seed starting mix that contains coir (coconut husk) and that is readily renewable, a by-product of coconut milk extraction, and absorbs moisture. My seed pots and trays are reused from year to year. I leave them in the garage to overwinter, which kills off any bacteria or insects that might have been living in them as they can't survive days that are -17 degrees like we had in January. Here I am using popsicle sticks to mark what I am growing in what rows. Note that I wrote the variety names in pen - as marker will run when wet during watering.
I started the fruiting vegetables and annuals on separate days because I start seeds, transplant, and transfer seedlings into my raised beds according to the biodynamic calendar. This uses planetary alignment to sort out when plants that you are growing for roots, leaves, fruit and flower should be managed. I have been growing according to this calendar for 3 years now and my plant strength and crop yields have been great. My plants in the greenhouse where I grew in the past were always far better looking than the other gardeners'. This was enough to convince me to continue planting according to the biodynamic calendar.
Below are simple steps to seed starting, written in the captions. Starting your own seeds instills a sort of pride in a gardener, but is also MUCH less expensive than buying seedlings, and you are able to grow the exact varieties of vegetables/annuals that you are looking for. I wouldn't have been able to grow Big Bertha in my previous post without starting the Striped German heirloom tomato myself.
It is seed starting time again for those of us in the Midwest. While the seedlings won't be able to go outside until May, you have to start vegetables like tomatoes, eggplant and peppers inside, or the plants will not grow enough in a Chicago season to produce fruit - what we really want! Over the last two weeks I have started our fruiting vegetables and flowering annuals for the garden. Most of the seedlings have sprouted and will be put under grow-lights in a day or so.
The seed starting supplies are shown below. As I try to be as sustainable as possible, I don't use seed starting mix with peat in it (not a renewable resource). Instead, I used seed starting mix that contains coir (coconut husk) and that is readily renewable, a by-product of coconut milk extraction, and absorbs moisture. My seed pots and trays are reused from year to year. I leave them in the garage to overwinter, which kills off any bacteria or insects that might have been living in them as they can't survive days that are -17 degrees like we had in January. Here I am using popsicle sticks to mark what I am growing in what rows. Note that I wrote the variety names in pen - as marker will run when wet during watering.
I started the fruiting vegetables and annuals on separate days because I start seeds, transplant, and transfer seedlings into my raised beds according to the biodynamic calendar. This uses planetary alignment to sort out when plants that you are growing for roots, leaves, fruit and flower should be managed. I have been growing according to this calendar for 3 years now and my plant strength and crop yields have been great. My plants in the greenhouse where I grew in the past were always far better looking than the other gardeners'. This was enough to convince me to continue planting according to the biodynamic calendar.
Below are simple steps to seed starting, written in the captions. Starting your own seeds instills a sort of pride in a gardener, but is also MUCH less expensive than buying seedlings, and you are able to grow the exact varieties of vegetables/annuals that you are looking for. I wouldn't have been able to grow Big Bertha in my previous post without starting the Striped German heirloom tomato myself.
Harvest, Part 1 (August 18, 2008)
Summer is bursting with her harvest. Tomatoes are ripening faster than we can eat them fresh, onions have swelled out of the ground, potato leaves are turning brown. This is what the vegetable growing season is all about. Eating as locally as we can (from our backyards or the farmer's market, if your space is limited), in season.
My last few weeks have been peppered with sharing our bounty, with friends and interest youngsters. The latter is the most interesting of the interactions. So many city kids just don't know where their food comes from. The youngest girl, Trinity, who lives next door helped to plant some of our tomatoes. She asked me two days ago if the plants were growing...I say this sadly, as the tomato plants are 4+ feet in height. How could Trinity have missed them? But, if she is like her cousins, she might not know the green orbs were tomatoes at all. The cousins asked if our tomatoes were apples. Wouldn't it be fabulous if we could grow apples as annuals on a small "bush". Alas, we had some discussions about how tomatoes grow versus apples. And then I watched 8 year-old Isaiah eat a ripe pink lady like it was an apple. Incredible. He loved it. I suspect that he will be a return customer.
The neighbors (and I, if I am honest) flocked to see my husband harvest the largest tomato I have ever seen on a plant. As she came from a Striped German heirloom plant, we have named this 2.75 pound of fruit Big Bertha (lovingly named after my grand mother). Check out Bertha above.
Enjoy YOUR harvest!
Rain Garden (July 6, 2008)
I started out my garden installations at our new house in the front yard to accommodate our vegetable growing. In the backyard, the final touches (the down spout extender!) have been added to my rain garden. What is a rain garden? When I think of a rain garden, I think of an easy way to use water directly out of your gutter to water plants. When Sue Cubberly of Rain Garden Network thinks of the term, she would define rain gardens as having three specific features:
1. A natural or human-made depression in the landscape
2. A direct source of water emitted into this depression (such as a down spout)
3. Native plants that like their feet wet
My backyard is 16' x 18' at its widest, non-concrete, points. A few months ago, I decided to use 12' x 8' of that space for a rain garden. We already capture rain water into a rain barrel and save our food and garden waste for compost in our back yard - why not be even more sustainable in our gardening by adding a rain garden? Our garage roof gutters now have a new outlet - this planting!
In installing this rain garden, there were several considerations for site preparation. The ground was level, so I had to remove 6 inches of soil and used it as a barrier on the edge of the planting area (see photo below). When this oh-so-fun work (hey, we all live in an urban environment with a lot of compacted soil) was complete, the more fun task of planting started.
My backyard does not get full sun (only some of it gets six of more hours of direct sun), so not only was I choosing native plants that tolerate part shade conditions, I was also having to choose plants that like a range of dry to wet conditions. The plants that I chose for my rain garden were Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum), False Indigo (Baptisia australis), Indian Grass (Sorghastrum nutans), Golden Alexander (Zizia aptera), Sweet Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia submentosa) and New England Aster (Aster novae-angliae). The Indigo and Golden Alexander provide spring color, the Mountain Mint and Black-eyed Susan provide summer color, and the Aster and Indian Grass provide fall color.
This is the way that I design all of my native gardens - spanning the seasons with bloom times, just as in a traditional ornamental garden. With natives, though, you get the benefits of attracting native insects and having to water less and alter the soil content less, and having a super-hardy garden. That is, if you chose the right plant for the right place. Stay tuned for photos of the rain garden as it matures.
I started out my garden installations at our new house in the front yard to accommodate our vegetable growing. In the backyard, the final touches (the down spout extender!) have been added to my rain garden. What is a rain garden? When I think of a rain garden, I think of an easy way to use water directly out of your gutter to water plants. When Sue Cubberly of Rain Garden Network thinks of the term, she would define rain gardens as having three specific features:
1. A natural or human-made depression in the landscape
2. A direct source of water emitted into this depression (such as a down spout)
3. Native plants that like their feet wet
My backyard is 16' x 18' at its widest, non-concrete, points. A few months ago, I decided to use 12' x 8' of that space for a rain garden. We already capture rain water into a rain barrel and save our food and garden waste for compost in our back yard - why not be even more sustainable in our gardening by adding a rain garden? Our garage roof gutters now have a new outlet - this planting!
In installing this rain garden, there were several considerations for site preparation. The ground was level, so I had to remove 6 inches of soil and used it as a barrier on the edge of the planting area (see photo below). When this oh-so-fun work (hey, we all live in an urban environment with a lot of compacted soil) was complete, the more fun task of planting started.
My backyard does not get full sun (only some of it gets six of more hours of direct sun), so not only was I choosing native plants that tolerate part shade conditions, I was also having to choose plants that like a range of dry to wet conditions. The plants that I chose for my rain garden were Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum), False Indigo (Baptisia australis), Indian Grass (Sorghastrum nutans), Golden Alexander (Zizia aptera), Sweet Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia submentosa) and New England Aster (Aster novae-angliae). The Indigo and Golden Alexander provide spring color, the Mountain Mint and Black-eyed Susan provide summer color, and the Aster and Indian Grass provide fall color.
This is the way that I design all of my native gardens - spanning the seasons with bloom times, just as in a traditional ornamental garden. With natives, though, you get the benefits of attracting native insects and having to water less and alter the soil content less, and having a super-hardy garden. That is, if you chose the right plant for the right place. Stay tuned for photos of the rain garden as it matures.
Garden building (May 13, 2008)
A new home means a new garden. Every gardener's dream, right? I think so. I love the creativity and heavy work that goes into installing a garden. And, of course, there is the yield that comes out of an edible or perennial flower garden.
This Mother's Day weekend when people all over the Midwest plant their yearly garden, I was busy building mine. We chose the front of our home as the location for our raised bed vegetable garden because it gets the six hours of direct sun that edible annuals need. We decided on a raised bed as our home is across the street from an old railway corridor. The trains that ran past our 120 year old home would have been run on coal - spewing out mercury that probably remains in our soil.
My husband and I removed all of the dandelions that the house's previous owners ignored; we assembled the recycled plastic raised bed kits that we had purchased; we lined the bottom of the raised bed with a 30 year landscape fabric to keep the clean soil separated from the contaminated soil; we laid down cardboard and mulch over the walkways (to make sure those weeds are gone!); we filled the raised bed with two yards of garden soil mix.
By the end, we were exhausted. But we had transformed our small, urban front yard from a patch of dandelions to a vegetable garden. These hours of more intense labor will be forgotten as soon as we harvest a beet or tomato. Our seedlings and seeds will go into the ground over the coming weeks, and then we can completely enjoy our new garden. Of course there will be weeding and watering to do, but that is just a way to unwind from a long day at work.
Until then, there is the backyard...
A new home means a new garden. Every gardener's dream, right? I think so. I love the creativity and heavy work that goes into installing a garden. And, of course, there is the yield that comes out of an edible or perennial flower garden.
This Mother's Day weekend when people all over the Midwest plant their yearly garden, I was busy building mine. We chose the front of our home as the location for our raised bed vegetable garden because it gets the six hours of direct sun that edible annuals need. We decided on a raised bed as our home is across the street from an old railway corridor. The trains that ran past our 120 year old home would have been run on coal - spewing out mercury that probably remains in our soil.
My husband and I removed all of the dandelions that the house's previous owners ignored; we assembled the recycled plastic raised bed kits that we had purchased; we lined the bottom of the raised bed with a 30 year landscape fabric to keep the clean soil separated from the contaminated soil; we laid down cardboard and mulch over the walkways (to make sure those weeds are gone!); we filled the raised bed with two yards of garden soil mix.
By the end, we were exhausted. But we had transformed our small, urban front yard from a patch of dandelions to a vegetable garden. These hours of more intense labor will be forgotten as soon as we harvest a beet or tomato. Our seedlings and seeds will go into the ground over the coming weeks, and then we can completely enjoy our new garden. Of course there will be weeding and watering to do, but that is just a way to unwind from a long day at work.
Until then, there is the backyard...
Spring! (April 12, 2008)
Every gardener feels the same way about this time of year; the dreary skies and sometimes unrelenting rain are only a preview of the joy of the "gardening season" that lies ahead. My front yard has begun to awaken to the weather...
Even though I am a die hard fan of native plants, I have to confess that I am not able to refrain from adding spring bulbs to the native garden in my front yard. As many bulbs (as natives) don't need compost or fish emulsion to succeed, I see them in a fond light. I only choose to plant hardy bulbs in my yard that need little care. With little oversight, the crocuses turn to grape hyacinths to daffodils to tulips, much as my shooting star turns to coreopsis to little blue stem to aster. It is with little energy that the rewards of both natives and bulbs are seen as low-maintenance and perennial. That is, aside from properly planting and preparing your soil (the basis of any healthy, organic garden). Considering that most prairie plants do not come into their own until June at the earliest, I don't consider my bulb garden cheating on my natives.
All early color aside, I am committed to leaving the remainder of my bloom time to natives. Why? Midwestern natives are well adapted to the cold temperatures of winter and hot summers of Chicago. Their roots are so deep (usually two to three times the height of the plant!!!) that I frankly refuse to water them after the first year of installation, figuring that they are tough enough to sort it out on their own. And then their is the native wildlife issue. As referred to in Douglas W. Tallamy's book "Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens" natives just support our native wildlife in a way that non-natives cannot. Most native insects won't or can't eat non-native plants. In that respect, it is no wonder that the native honey bees are dying out in mass quantities. There is no native plant matter to support them.
Before I know it, only the leaves will remain as these spring bulbs gather their food storage for the next year's show. The landscape in my front yard with then turn to that of a midwestern prairie garden, ranging in heights of a foot with Geum to 6 feet with Helianthus. Until then, these spring beauties will grace my neighbors as they walk down the street.
Every gardener feels the same way about this time of year; the dreary skies and sometimes unrelenting rain are only a preview of the joy of the "gardening season" that lies ahead. My front yard has begun to awaken to the weather...
Even though I am a die hard fan of native plants, I have to confess that I am not able to refrain from adding spring bulbs to the native garden in my front yard. As many bulbs (as natives) don't need compost or fish emulsion to succeed, I see them in a fond light. I only choose to plant hardy bulbs in my yard that need little care. With little oversight, the crocuses turn to grape hyacinths to daffodils to tulips, much as my shooting star turns to coreopsis to little blue stem to aster. It is with little energy that the rewards of both natives and bulbs are seen as low-maintenance and perennial. That is, aside from properly planting and preparing your soil (the basis of any healthy, organic garden). Considering that most prairie plants do not come into their own until June at the earliest, I don't consider my bulb garden cheating on my natives.
All early color aside, I am committed to leaving the remainder of my bloom time to natives. Why? Midwestern natives are well adapted to the cold temperatures of winter and hot summers of Chicago. Their roots are so deep (usually two to three times the height of the plant!!!) that I frankly refuse to water them after the first year of installation, figuring that they are tough enough to sort it out on their own. And then their is the native wildlife issue. As referred to in Douglas W. Tallamy's book "Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens" natives just support our native wildlife in a way that non-natives cannot. Most native insects won't or can't eat non-native plants. In that respect, it is no wonder that the native honey bees are dying out in mass quantities. There is no native plant matter to support them.
Before I know it, only the leaves will remain as these spring bulbs gather their food storage for the next year's show. The landscape in my front yard with then turn to that of a midwestern prairie garden, ranging in heights of a foot with Geum to 6 feet with Helianthus. Until then, these spring beauties will grace my neighbors as they walk down the street.
