Go Native

I had somewhat of an epiphany the other day regarding the fish pond. As you remember, I am at a sort of crossroads with what to do with the pond, as I have successfully killed two batches of fish (in two separate ponds, but in the same climate). The sad story is described here.

Although I love the idea of having fish-- they're relaxing to watch and they eat bugs --I don't want to make a habit of killing innocent fish. I seriously considered scaling back the pond dramatically and make it just a little water fountain feature. Still nice, but a pond has more "cool" factor.

Then it struck me as I worked on my post for Earth Day thoughts. In one of my thoughts, I suggested people stick with native plants, because native plants are naturalized, acclimated for the climate, and thus they can survive with minimal fuss and resources.

This same thought can apply to animals too. Why raise goldfish and koi in Colorado when they are more at home in tropical environments? What I need to do is raise fish that are native to Colorado. Like trout!

Trout are freshwater fish that inhabit cold mountain lakes and streams. Well, I am neither in the mountains, nor is the pond very lake-like. The biggest concern is that the pond may be too warm.

After some research, I learned that rainbow trout don't mind warmer water: Between 50-65° is ideal. I usually keep a thermometer in my pond throughout the summer, and I noticed the water barely got up to 70°. This is mainly because the pond is on the north side of the house and only gets about 6 hours of sunlight a day, maximum. In the winter it get 0 hours. The constantly running waterfall also keeps the water cooler as the pump draws cooler water from the bottom and circulates it. And there are always ice cubes.

I remember seeing a small trout pond in Estes Park a few years ago. There was a little food dispenser there, so I tossed some food in. Never before had I seen such a feeding frenzy! The water boiled with dark fish exploding to the surface to get the food. Either they were starving or those fish are plain WILD. It reminded me of some piranha movie. Their aggressive nature was fascinating.

So now I may have an option to still have fish in the pond. I need to do some more research, like where to buy trout, what to feed them, etc.

Earth Day Thoughts

Happy Earth Day everyone!

I long for the day that every day is Earth Day. We should be eco-conscious in everything we do, every day. It should not be something we do once a year, like making New Years resolutions.

But since it is today that we celebrate the Earth, here are some thoughts of how we all can help.

1. Recycle, Reuse, Reduce. Yes, this has been a mantra chanted over and over for years, but the fact remains that many people still throw away things that can easily be recycled. I continue to read how much trash we generate as a society, and at some point we will no longer have a place to put it all. Even things like yard waste, which would naturally decompose, cannot break down very well in a landfill.
2. Start a compost pile. You don't need a fancy, store-bought bin. Just get some chicken wire and form one. Or use an old garbage can. As I mentioned above, yard and vegetable wastes sent to the landfill cannot decompose naturally, and when they do, they give off more greenhouse gases than normal. Even if you don't garden, a compost pile is still the responsible thing to do.
3. Grow native plants for your landscape. Trying to grow bamboo in the desert, or an orange tree in the mountains is foolish. Growing non-native plants usually means extra water and fertilizers to make it survive conditions it's not meant to survive.
4. Minimize your lawn. See my article Lawns are so 19th Century to find out why having a huge lawn is thumbing your nose at Mother Earth.
5. Don't wash your car every weekend. I have at least two neighbors that wash their cars (all of them) every weekend, religiously. In the winter, if the temperature gets above 60°, they're out there washing away. This is a huge waste of water, and sends lots of soap down the street, which eventually ends up in our ground water. Come on people, they're just cars! They're not decor inside your living room. I typically don't wash my car until vegetation starts to grow on it.
6. Plant a tree. Or two or three. Trees are our friends. Sure, this isn't Arbor Day, but who cares. Bare root trees are available at garden centers right now. They're cheap and can enhance your landscape tremendously. They provide lovely shade in the summer, clean the air, give us oxygen to breathe, and generally are cool.

If you have any other suggestions, please post a comment!

Winter Gardening

By about December, I start to miss growing my own produce. Yes, the global market allows us to buy most of the produce we want throughout the year, but we really like to grow our own food. Even when it is 0 degrees outside, with the wind howling and snow piling up, you can still grow some things. No, not outside, but in that "greenhouse" you live in. If you have houseplants that you keep alive all year, then you can grow vegetables as well.

So, what can you grow? Well, smaller plants mostly. I wouldn't recommend trying to grow corn, for instance, or even tomatoes. Everything you grow will have to be in some kind of container. You'll likely want to focus on plants that can be eaten as "babies", like leafy greens or carrots.

To grow vegetables indoors, you need a few things:

1. containers
2. space
3. growing media
   
4. light
5. moisture
6. warmth
7. food
   

Containers

I like to reuse old containers. My favorite are the large yogurt containers. I drill three holes in the bottom, insert a round cut-out of landscape fabric, and then fill with potting soil. The landscape fabric lets water drain out the holes, but keeps the soil in. I also keep most planting containers I get from the nursery or garden center. Just be sure to clean them thoroughly between uses, otherwise you could spread soil-borne diseases to your fragile young plants. Another good container candidate are those large, clear plastic tubs you get lettuce and spinach in.

Space

How much you want to grow will determine how much space you need. If you simply want to grow a small pot of basil, then your needs can probably be easily fulfilled. However, if you want to grow something larger and/or more of it, you will need to find some dedicated space. It would be nice to have a sunny spot in a south-facing window, but this is not always practical. See below for light considerations.

Growing Media

Your media, also known as soil, should be sterilized. This means to be weed-seed free and without any soil-borne diseases. Plants, just like humans, can pick up diseases from a dirty environment. It's hard to envision clean soil and dirty soil, but soil can contain very many things, both good and bad. Failure to heed this may result in damping off, a condition where an otherwise healthy seedling rots at the soil surface. When this happens, the stem at the surface turns dark and emaciated. The plant is pretty much dead at this point.

If you purchase your potting soil, and you are sure it is of good quality, you can use it without any preparation. But if you like to mix your own media from old container soil, compost, native soil, etc, then you might consider sterilization. The most common way to do this is to cook your soil. This smells really awful, so it is recommended you do this outdoors so you can share the smell with your neighbors. I'll cover this technique in a future article.

Light

For light, sunlight of course is the best option, but many homes cannot accommodate 8 hours of sunlight each day, especially in the winter. You also want to be careful about putting your plants close to a window. The micro-environment next to the window is one of the most dynamic environments in your house. During the day, when the sun is shining in, it can get quite warm. But at night, it is quite cool next to the glass. Plants prefer more consistent and slower changing temperatures.

The only recourse then is to use artificial lighting. Fluorescent bulbs work best as they don't generate much heat and are economical to run. You will want to run them 14-16 hours a day. Try to get a fixture that can hold two bulbs, and get one cool white tube and one warm white tube. GE makes a bulb specifically for plants and aquariums. You will need to be able to adjust the light so that it is constantly 3-4 inches above your plants. As your plants grow, you will either need to raise your lighting or lower your plants. I will post an article soon with details on a miniature greenhouse for your indoor plants.

Warmth

(All temperatures are given in Fahrenheit.) Germinating seeds work best at temperatures between 65º-75º. Some plants-- like sweet pea, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower-- prefer cooler temperatures around 55º. Be sure to check the seed instructions. Once seeds become plants, the best temperatures are between 60º-65º at night and 70º-75º during the day. If your household temperatures are dramatically cooler than those, then you may have to run a space heater in the room.

Food

Fertilizer should never be given to young seedlings. A seed contains just enough nutrients to get it going. But once its true leaves have popped out, you could give your plants a light dose of plant food. Personally, I'm pretty lax about fertilizing (read: lazy) and I don't do it very often. But remember that potting soil doesn't offer much in the way of nutrients as good ol' dirt does, so it is probably a good idea to fertilize with an all-purpose fertilizer once in a while.


This was just a brief introduction to getting some plants going in your house. Many of these ideas apply to seedlings you intend on transplanting outdoors when the temperatures warm up, but they also work for plants you intend on leaving inside. Over the next few weeks, I'll try to expand on some of these ideas.

Know your Frost Dates

In a previous post, I mentioned taking full advantage of your growing season by knowing your latest spring frost and the first fall frost. After more research, I have realized that the link I provided to gather this information is not very complete. I have since found a better reference.

Go to this site to get more complete information of frost dates for your area. This site provides data for three different temperatures-- 36, 32, and 28 --and three different probability levels. I would avoid the 90% column, as most seedlings can't handle frost. Cold hardy plants can be put out in the 50% probability date, and everything else should wait until the 10% date. There is still a 10% probability of a frost, so you should always be prepared to protect your new plants should a cold snap hit.

The above site will also list your freeze free period, in days. It's important to understand this number because it defines your growing season. The length of your growing season determines what you have time to grow or how many harvests you can squeeze in. For my area, my freeze free period is 134 days, at 50% probability. What this means is it will be very difficult to grow plants that have long times to maturity, like cabbage and broccoli. Time to maturity information is provided on most seed packets, but you can also go here for days to maturity on most common vegetables.

In order for me to grow tomatoes and peppers, I need to start seeds indoors so that as soon as the danger of frost is (mostly) over, I already have seedlings ready to be planted.

For those of you planning to start seeds indoors, NOW IS THE TIME for most areas. This will be my weekend project; I can't put it off any longer. Now get planting!!