It is time to start planning the season of 2018. Holidays are coming and you are probably spending your free time snuggled in with some seed catalogs, or maybe creating your vision of garden delights.
We will present you some insights of professional gardeners that are sharing their 6 weird but brilliant tricks that work every time.
A cooler can double as tool storage and a garden seat
According to Carlos Charriez, science teacher and manager of the organic garden at Wilmington Friends School, you should bury a large cooler halfway the soil, then store your garden tools inside of it and the top doubles as a dry seat to use while you plan your next garden project.
Distribute seeds evenly with help from a saltshaker
Usually there’s no relationship between the size of a seed and the fruit or vegetable it produces. Carrots are difficult to plant, difficult to sow, however, there are some tricks that will make the process much easier. Plant the seeds using a saltshaker. By doing so you will be able to distribute the seeds evenly. Additionally, you should protect those tiny seeds from the wind. Kurt Mitschke, a famous gardener on Instagram says to “cover your tiny surface-sown seeds, like carrots and lettuce, with a layer of burlap to prevent them from drying out”.
Defend your crops
Being excited about particular fruits or vegges (for example, tomatoes), only to find out later that they are ripe is disappointing. If squirrels are the problem, try using red pepper flakes all around the soil. Squirrels absolutely hate spicy pepper and it is the perfect way to keep them away.
If birds are eating those delicious tomatoes, follow Mitschke’s genius suggestion. “One challenge I’m faced with each spring and summer season is how to keep birds from completely destroying my tomato crop,” he notes.
Mitschke protect his plants from a hungry flock like this: “I’ve started resorting to my own version of “fruit bagging” which is an organic technique I’ve seen used in orchards to protect fruit such as apples and mangoes. Even better, the nylon mesh bags with built-in drawstrings like I use are very affordable, water-resistant, and can be reused for multiple years—plus, you can order them in green to match the foliage. In my garden, this has been a much better solution than wrapping bird netting over entire plants, which I find to be a total pain and an ugly mess.”
Think vertical
Khaled Majouji, the founder of In.Genius Farms advises to think about vertical gardening if soil quality or space is your problem. His farm produced acres of strawberries and about 150 varieties of fruits and vegetables—but all of it is grown in rain gutters. His amazing trick is using converted and extended series of gutters filled with rich, organic soil. As plants decompose, the soil just gets richer.He builds special wooden supports for the rows of gutters and each row is filled with plants that get optimal amounts of sunshine and water.
Plant and stomp
If you live in a colder climate, late fall is the time to direct sow seeds for a wildflower spring garden. At this case, November is the optimal time to direct sow seeds directly in the soil, optimally an ugly bare brown patch without mulch or other amendments. And within a few months, the results are going to be amazing, and the “wildflower fence” will then be a real carpet of glorious blooms from April through August.
Plant the three sisters
Have you considered planting the three sisters? These are perfect trip of corn, beans, and squash—you can plant them at separate times for maximum efficiency and garden health. Nick Ritar, an organic farmer from Australia points out that not only is the cornstalk a cheap and easy way to stake the plants, but that beans return nitrogen to the soil that the corn depleted. It’s a perfect, elegant solution just right for Thanksgiving every day in the garden.
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