Juli Lawrence – Rakish Gardening

April 4th, 2008

So this year I’ve started fewer plant babies. I have a sweet setup in the basement with grow lights and all that. I just use some old gray metal shelves we had, but  I’d really like to get a cute potting bench made of wood. That’s silly, because the setup is quite functional and if I spill water or Maxicrop, it can’t hurt those shelves.

I’m buying all my herbs at an annual herb festival I discovered, so didn’t start many herbs from seed. Just two kinds of parsley and some bronze fennel because I had seeds left over from last year and I like to use those as companion plants….so need quite a few. I have no clue how much the herbs are going to cost at the festival. I hope there are clowns.

Herbs are hard to grow from seed, at least in my experience. Parsley, basil (I should start some basil too..hmmm) and cilantro are easy, but things like rosemary, sage, thyme….all hard. Last year I tried all kinds of crazy things – borage, lovage, tansy, statice and many others – and did not have good luck. I ended up buying a borage and tansy plant from the nursery. Tansy has returned in the garden! Woot. The borage was very pretty and the bees loved it. It’s supposed to make your tomatoes taste better.

So what AM I growing downstairs? I have my beloved sweet peppers: several gypsies, a few giant Marconis and so far, two corno de toros have erupted. All are looking very healthy. Then of course my eggplants: lavender (best of all!!!) and a new one called Prospero something. I’ll buy Black Beauties from the nursery. I’ve got HEALTHY and robust Marmande tomatoes, some kind of French tomatoes. I’ve also planted some free tomato seeds, wayahead or something like that…60 day.

Flowers, as usual, I’m trying to grow butterfly weeds to bring in my monarchs. None have come up yet. Same with the Candelabras, but they take awhile to germinate. I also planted a pot of violas, because I saw the seed at Home Depot and couldn’t say no. I love violas. They’re starting to sprout. So is the QA Lace…the ladybugs love that. So do I, one of my favorite “weeds” from childhood. It grew everywhere and I always thought it was beautiful.

I’ve also planted some zinnias and marigolds for companion planting. I think I’ll just buy nasturtiums at the festival…they’re good for repelling cucumber beetles. And they’re pretty.

Tonight I ordered my purple castor bean seeds from OnaLee – I LOVE those plants. They also run off the moles, although I have no moles. I have squirrels and tomorrow I’m running to my favorite nursery to buy some Shake Away for small critters. It worked great on the wild rabbits, so I’m hoping it will run off those adorable squirrels. They’re digging holes all over my garden! I’ve gone out and caught them in the act, yelled at them, and they just look at me, like “Hi, bitch!”

I’ve been using Maxicrop on my seedlings and they’re all just so healthy. I have not lost ONE seedling. The plants I bring in for winter – hibiscus, spiders, oxalis, my huge lantana bush (crazy, but I can’t let it go…and it just keeps on living), and various other things – starting to get growth on the things I cut back. Some things died. I ignore these plants most of the winter. Just stick them in the basement near a sunny window and water them once in awhile. I can’t have any plants upstairs because one of the cats digs in them and then pees on them. It’s too much nitrogen. (Urine is actually an excellent source of nitrogen, but you need to dilute it….I know people who use their own as fertilizer, but they add food coloring so the neighbors think it’s Miracle Gro..haha.)

For a time, I did collect my own in a covered bucket to add to the compost pile, but it became too big of a pain to try and pee in a cup. Plus DH didn’t like a bucket in the bathroom. I asked him to leak on the pile, but he refused to participate. And yet he enjoys my tomatoes, which benefit from the compost tea. I guess I shouldn’t really share my urine collection schemes, but I think it’s funny. And it’s the ultimate in recycling!

Just a quick warning lest a reader carry this  idea too far: feces from a carnivore should not be used. That means cat poop, dog poop and human poop. Cow, chicken and goat poop is good, because they are vegetarians. The parasites and various bad things are from meat eaters. In China they do use human poop because they lack a surplus of manure, and this is why they poisoned half of Korea with their kim chee and it’s why China is full of wormy people. True. (This is the practice of nightsoil, and the Chinese won’t listen to health experts who tell them to quit it.)

Oh god, I have to keep down this crazy path: yes, e coli is in the cow poop and they don’t eat meat. This is because they eat grains, and their intestinal flora get messed up. They were built to eat grasses, not grains, but grains make fattier meat and more tender. Plus it’s faster to fatten them up. It’s economic. THE FORCE FEEDING OF GRAINS CAUSE E COLI. This is absolute fact. You can avoid e coli if you’ll eat grass-fed beef, but it’s hard to find, more expensive, and kind of tough. So just cook it well….or stop eating beef. And never eat a pink burger from McDonalds.

How did I travel from my sweet baby plants to e coli? What a disaster.

Oh! I saw the most beautiful BLACK coleus yesterday at another nursery. I must have it. I love these plants that are black. I’m also thinking of trying a sweet potato vine.

This year, I’m all about the guano. I’ve wanted to use that stuff for years, and I’m finally going to get some. Years ago, my mom was in Germany and she was so wowed by the window boxes of flowers. She finally asked someone what their secret was, and they said GUANO. So I’m going to find out if it really makes a difference. Maybe this will be the year I get spectacular hanging baskets. I just can’t decide what to grow!!! I thought I’d decided to go back to wave petunias, but now I’m thinking tuberous begonias. Oh I don’t know. So many decisions.

I might also build a rail box for the rail of the front deck. Here is one set of plans:

Rail box

I think I’ve also seen plans at Lowes.com. Then fill that with something bright and showy, plus the sweet potato vines.

I hope I can find more of that Laurentia. It smelled like lilac and was delicate and purple.

• It’s that time!
• Winter projects, growing sprouts, indoor gardening
• Planning for spring
• Tomatoes are in the bath…

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