Growing in the Shade

Not everyone is blessed with open space, plenty of sunlight and perfect soil.  If you're one of the 'unlucky' ones but still yearn to have a robust garden, this post is for you.

Let's start off with the soil.  In our nearly 30 years of gardening, we have never tested the soil. Perhaps that was to our determent but I don't believe so.  Our gardens typically produce well without any intervention except the following;

• Properly till the garden area with either a shovel, pitch fork or rototiller.  You want the soil to be loose so plant roots have the freedom to take hold and prosper. Not everyone believes in tilling, but we found it to not only be beneficial but makes planting easier.
• Adding leaves in the Fall.  They will break down over the winter and be ready to till into the soil in the Spring.  Gardener's Supply Company explains "Leaves are packed with trace minerals that trees draw up from deep in the soil.  When added to your garden, leaves feed earthworms and beneficial microbes.  They lighten heavy soils and help sandy soils retain moisture".
• Compost.  We compost year round.  It's either put into the compost pile or directly into the garden.
• Rotate plants every year or every other year.  Wikipedia puts it very simply; "Crop rotation is the practive of growing a series of dissimilar or different types of crops in the same area in sequenced seasons.  It help in reducing soil erosion and increases soil fertility and crop yield."  What the means is don't put your tomato plants in the same place every year.  Change it up and reap the benefits.
• Our best weed fighter is grass!  Take your clippings and put them right in the garden. We pile it up in between the rows.  Be sure NOT to directly cover any plants, it will kill them. Another bonus, you're adding nutrients that can be tilled into the soil every year. I would however caution you, if you use chemicals on your grass, don't use it in your garden.  If your goal is growing heirloom or organic fruits and vegetables, then adding chemically treated grass will defeat your efforts.

Let's talk about shade and determining what you have and will be able to grow.  Penn State Extension has a guidance on determining your specific conditions.  Here are the basics:

• Heavy shade; no direct sunlight reaches the ground (such as under dense evergreen trees).
• Moderate shade; mostly reflected light (such as a typical hardwood forest).
• Light shade; there is partially filtered sun (such as under birch trees).

Finally, you will need to determine just what type of shade you have; Heavy, Moderate or Light. Take a few days to note where the sun reaches and for how long.  Once you have an area chosen and determine how many hours of sun vs. shade it gets, you're ready to plant.  ALWAYS keep in mind, gardens are temperamental, not everything grows when or how it's supposed to.  Most successful gardens go through several years of experimentation.

I agree, you don't have a whole lot of options when dealing with shade, but you do have some and that's always better than none.

If you'd like to research more before diving in, check out these additional, informative posts.

Mother Earth News:  40 Gardening Tips to Maximize Your Garden

Smiling Gardener:  Checklist for Growing Nutrient-Dense Organic Food

Penn State Extention:  Vegetable Planting and Transplanting Guide

Planet Natural:  Vegetable Gardening Tips and Tricks

Gardener's Supply Company:  Vegetable Gardening for Beginners

Now that you've harvested your garden, it's time to enjoy!  There are a wide variety of recipes on our Pinterest Boards; choose the right one for you.

Salads to Enjoy on the Homestead

Recipes for the Homestead Kitchen

Desserts on the Homestead

Crockpot Recipes for the Homestead

Homemade Salad Dressings

Homemade Herbs Spices and Seasonings

One-Pan Recipes 

Late Summer Edition: Buying from the Dying Shelf

 YES!  These are from the Dying Shelf purchased at 50% or more from the retail price.

In my earlier post, Buying from the Dying Shelf,  I showed you how we bought dying plants at our local plant store for a fraction of their retail pricing and how the plants have grown and prospered beautifully.  I found these Spider plants (3) in one pot for $5 (originally $10-$15 PER plant).


Fast forward to now, late Summer.  We once again took a look at the dying plants that were available. To our surprise, there was quite a selection, again at a fraction of the cost!

We purchased 2 Hydrangea, 2 Sage, 2 Cone and 2 Lavender plants.  Here's the breakdown:

Quite a savings isn't it?!  As you can see, the plants don't look so great right now but they have plenty of healthy new growth AND they are all perennials that will come back year after year. My advice is the same as it was for the indoor plants; look over the plant, see if there is new growth, it's free from mold and is at least 30-50% green.  

Buying from the Dying Shelf is a fantastic way to save AND have beautiful plants year and year!

Buying from the Dying Shelf

Have you ever been to the garden shop and looked over at the "Dying Shelf".  You know, the shelves where plants are typically $1 to $5 but look like their going to die before you even get them to the car?

I have and it's my favorite place to shop!  Look over the plant; does it have some green still on it?  Is it free of mold near the bottom?  Are the shoots of the plant at least 30-50% green?  If so, you're in luck!  You've got the perfect find!

This Year's $1 Find!

Last Year's Find

Commonly know as Hens and Chicks these are a flowering succulent plant.  They grow best in sunlight, planted in well drained soil.  They like to be tucked in near rocks.  

This is my best find so far this year, $1 for 6 plants!  The average price is $2 PER PLANT!  What a deal!  When planted outdoors, they WILL survive the winters and grow in the northern climate of New Jersey. You can also plant them indoors, just be sure to have well drained soil.  In other words, don't water them too much.

The flowering picture was last year's find.  I got a FULL FLAT  for $5 (just a few are pictured), and planted them throughout the rocky areas of the garden bed.  They were very sad looking last year but this year they are thriving and blooming.

$5 Find

These are Chlorophytum Comosum, otherwise known as Spider Plants.  You pretty much CAN'T kill these plants!

Last year, on the same Dying Shelf, along side of the Hens and Chicks, I found ONE pot with 3 of these dying plants for $5. 

The average price is $10-$15 PER PLANT. 

Part of the $5 Find

I simply separated and repotted them into 3 containers and PRESTO, I now have 3, big beautiful Spider plants to enjoy for the price of $1.67 per plant!

  

And finally, my CRAZY plant.  I actually have no idea what this is!  It was marked 50 cents and in a planter the size of a tea cup.  I couldn't resist!  It has easily increased its size 300% over the last year. It grows vertically with horizontal shoots.  Hey, if you happen to know what it is, let me know!

If you know what this is,
let me know!

Share any great Buying from the Dying Shelf finds with us!

7/3/15 UPDATE  Our friends at Our Fairfield Home & Garden were kind enough to identify this plant.  It's a PENCIL CACTUS and unknown to me, is poisonous! It also is stated at growing 12-20 FEET!  Oh my!  Well, since we have both cats and dogs that like to nibble the houseplants, I'll be putting this one on the top shelf for safety and if it does grow to unimaginable heights, we'll be removing it completely.  In the meantime, I'm having fun watching this crazy thing grow!

Composting Made Easy

Composting really is so simple.  There are dozens of sites telling you how to set up a compost area, layering materials, getting proper oxygenation; the details are endless. I'm here to tell you, based on over 25 years experience, that none of that is necessary!

Stainless is your best option

Start in the Kitchen with a compost pail.  DON'T buy a plastic pail, it WILL hold odors and smell after just a couple of months. And there's no need to buy anything fancy or complicated.  I found this stainless steel bucket in the Target clearance for $7 and had an extra pot lid at home.  If you're not that lucky, you can still get a stainless bucket and lid for under $20.  Stainless will never hold smells and cleans up easily.  We eat alot of fresh food so ours is emptied 1-2 times a week.

Almost everything is compostable

Put your kitchen scraps in the bucket.  Yep, it's that easy.  If you can throw scraps in the garbage, you can just as easily throw them in a bucket.  Everything goes in EXCEPT meat, eggs, dairy items, fish, bones.  Here's a great comprehensive list to use as a guideline from Planet Tea.



There are several ways to use your compost.  We have a one large compost area in our backyard where kitchen waste is mixed with 'greens' such as leaves, sticks and grass.  We simply add them when we cut the grass or rake the leaves.  We also dump directly into the garden.  If you don't have the space, you can purchase a Compost Tumbler. I will admit, I don't have experience with Tumblers so you'll need to research that as far as getting it started.

Dump scraps right into the garden

If you're new to composting, be patient.  It will eventually come naturally and you will find yourself freaking out if someone throws valuable compost waste into the garbage instead of the pail!

Also if you're new, be prepared to wait a full year before you can utilize your compost (a Tumbler may be quicker. HOWEVER, once your compost area is established, you will have nutrient rich soil to work with!  Yes, soil.   There's no need to start new areas each year, simply continue to add scraps.  Now that the area is established, adding scraps just adds to the nutrients and breaks down faster.

Mix scraps with 'greens' in a pile

What can you do with all that awesome, chemical free compost?  Use it in gardens, planting beds, and indoor/outdoor potted plants.  We put most of ours in the garden; fruits and vegetables grow beautifully in nutrient rich, chemical free compost dirt.






To sum it up...

1. Get a stainless steel bucket with lid.  The lid should have an air hole.
2. Put scraps in the bucket.  Use this list from Plant Tea as a starting guideline.
3. Empty scraps into your pile or tumbler at least once per week.
4. Add 'green' waste whenever you have it.
5. Turn your compost pile whenever you add greens.
6. Use your nutrient rich, chemical free compost soil!

What to do with all those Strawberry tops?!

Picking 2 big baskets of strawberries leads to 1 big bowl of strawberry tops!  That lemon is leftover from the strawberry pie.

I recently read a post about using the tops as an additive to water for great flavor.  Since I don't like to waste anything, I figured it was worth trying - really, what did we have to lose?

 

Turns out, IT'S AWESOME!  You should try it!