Peppers

Here are a few tips to take into the pepper growing season:

• Planting. Plant peppers where they will succeed. Peppers want full sun and deep, sandy or gravelly loam–meaning rich and well drained. Add plenty of aged-compost and organic matter to planting beds in advance of transplanting peppers. A pH of 5.5 to 7.0 is optimal.

 • Transplants. Plant transplants with strong stems and dark green leaves. Watch out for leggy or spindly plants; they may not have had enough light getting started.  The root system of a pepper seedling is not strong enough to support flowers and fruit while it is getting started in life. If buying plants, look for those with stout stems, dark green leaves, no flower or fruit, and no blemishes.

• Starter Feeding. Give peppers a good boost at planting time. At the bottom of the planting hole add a handful of compost. Set peppers in a hole about six to eight inches deep and space plants about 15 inches apart–so that the leaves just touch at maturity.

• Watering. Water deeply to encourage deep root development. Too little water can result in bitter-tasting peppers. Peppers want even, moderate moisture around their roots.  Avoid overhead watering especially when peppers are in bloom, overhead water will wash away pollen and any chance of fruiting. Do not overwater. Overwatering will cut off the supply of oxygen to pepper roots.

• Mulching. Mulch with straw or grass clippings around plants. A thick mulch will stop weeds from growing and keep moisture in the soil when the weather gets hot. Use hay, straw, leaves, or grass clippings to mulch peppers.

• Weeding Regular weeding will keep weeds from getting a foothold in the garden. Avoid damaging roots by gently hand-pulling weeds. Most young weed roots will not reach more than an inch deep into the soil.

• Feeding. Feed peppers with manure or compost tea. Pale leaves and slow growth are signs your peppers need a boost. Peppers are heavy feeders so a side-dressing of manure or compost tea a few times during the growing season is a plus

• Harvest. Harvest peppers at the height of maturity. Early in the season pick the first blossoms or set of fruits to encourage the plant to keep bearing and grow larger fruits later in the season. Most sweet and hot peppers require about 70 days from transplanting until the first fruits are ready. From the start of harvest, peppers can take another 3 to 4 weeks for reach full maturity–that is to turn their mature color–usually red, but sometimes yellow or orange. The hotter peppers can require anywhere from 90 to 200 frost free days to reach harvest. Keep in mind that the cooler your growing season, the more time must be added for peppers to mature.

• Cut Don’t Pull. Cut peppers off the plant, don’t pull them. Use a sharp scissors or shears to cut peppers away from the stem.

Happy Gardening.

Gardening and Learning

Have you ever seen the look in a child’s eyes when she or he sees the first butterfly? I have and to me that look is the best definition of wonder and awe that I can come up with. Education should inspire similar reactions.

The pure delight of finding something you did not know before, something new. The joy of discovery when you see a butterfly emerge from a cocoon or watch bees buzzing from flower to flower on their endless journey to collect pollen for the hive.

The garden, both at home and at school, is a safe environment where children can experience discovery while learning about nature and so much else.

Reading a scene from Romeo and Juliet after watering the roses in the garden, and then talking about the uses of rose hips, could make a dynamic lesson that helps the child appreciate  Shakespeare, roses and wild food.

We learn by doing and when the teacher or instructor can couple the theoretical or the literary experience with a real-world event the lesson will take on a deeper meaning.

Math is a necessary part of gardening; read the instructions on a seed pack and then create a math problem based upon that information.

If the gardeners are growing peas and pole beans, for example, they will need to build supports which also requires math in addition to basic mechanical skills.

Biology and botany are obvious garden subjects. How does a garden grow? This is a short question but the answer introduces the student to photosynthesis, pollination and soil science, for example.

Plants have their own history and students can journey back through time by tracing how a plant came into being and explore geography when they uncover the various lands that plant may have traveled through over time.

A vital lesson is the most obvious one, where food comes from and what real food tastes like. Have you ever bitten into a just picked tomato, still warm off the vine?

The awareness that food does not originate in the grocery store nor naturally come in microwaveable boxes will change the learner’s relationship with food and those who produce it.

If your child’s school does not a learning garden think about starting one. Talk with the principal, to start.

If you have a garden at home and are not already gardening with your young ones do so, you will create memories and lessons that will last a life time.

bee and sunflower

Worm Compost

Worms ate my garbage, is what you will be able to say when you put a worm composter in your kitchen. Worm composting or vermiculture is an ideal way to dispose of kitchen vegetable matter, that you would otherwise toss in the garbage. Or if you recycle, an indoor compost box can save you a trip into your backyard on those cold winter or rainy nights.

An indoor worm composting bin will turn your kitchen scraps into odour free nutrient-rich organic material that you can use in your garden or in small amounts add now and then to your houseplants.

You can buy a ready-made composter or build one. To build your own you will need, a worm box, redworms, bedding material and kitchen scraps.

Wormbox:

You can use a wooden or plastic garbage can or storage box. Be sure to drill 3 holes (1/4”) in the bottom for drainage. As the worms eat your garbage, moisture is produced so you will need to place a container to catch this liquid, or one morning you will find an unpleasant puddle needing your attention.

This liquid is great for your houseplants so do not toss it away.

Cover the drainage holes with small rocks or gravel, about one inch of gravel at the bottom of the box will do the trick. Cover the gravel with a screen.

Moisten the bedding material. This can be shredded leaves, sawdust, newspapers or peat moss and fill the box about 2/3 full. You can add a ½ cup of finished compost to speed the process along at this point if you wish.

Now it is time to add the worms which you can order from a number of sources. Red worms are what you need not earthworms. There are a number of good online red worm suppliers out there, and if you do not want to build your own composter they can sell you worms and worm bins.

Cucumber peel, melon rinds, lettuce and coffee grounds are favourite foods.

IMPORTANT: Be sure to bury the scraps in the bedding in order to avoid attracting fruit flies.

Over time the bedding will disappear, and the box will become full of worm castings. You can harvest the casting by placing fresh bedding and fresh scraps in just one spot, and when the worms move in you can remove some of the castings, which you can then use on your houseplants or out in your garden.

Be sure to keep the worm box 2/3 full and your worms and your plants will be very happy.