Tag Archives: Garden

Fraises des Bois Alpine Strawberries are Awesome!

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Just uncovered my Alpines!

Just uncovered my Organic Heirloom Fraises des Bois Alpine Strawberries. They had collected a leaf cover that protected them from frost and hard freezes — even down to -1F this winter. And yet, when I pulled back the leaves I had beautiful green crowns! I will soon be dividing and potting up extras from my pots for sale along with my new Fit Of Pique mosaic Strawberry Pots in which you can grow them. These are so easy to grow and care for and produce the most fragrant, luscious little berries. Love to have them outside my kitchen door so I can pick and add to my cereal in the morning.

Grown by European royalty for centuries, these are special. And aside from their beauty, fragrance and flavor, they are also healthy with some surprising medicinal qualities. Since the numbers I can offer are limited, you can pre-order/reserve yours now at CherryGal.com!

The Law Of The Minimum and your Soil’s Fertility

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Bee on Marigolds

If you buy fertilizer you will notice three numbers on the bag. These are the N-P-K levels in the fertilizer. The three numbers represent the levels of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P) and Potassium (K) — in short N-P-K. These three elements are the primary necessary to have healthy growth in your garden plants. Chemical fertilizers are generally much higher in these numbers than Organic fertilizers, but organic fertilizers offer so much more without the risks of chemical fertilizers.

There is a little known rule of science that governs the fertility of your garden soil. It is called “The Law of the Minimums” and is attributed to Justus von Liebig (1803-1873), a German chemist who made great contributions to the science of plant nutrition and soil fertility. Liebig’s “Law” states that yield is proportional to the amount of the most limited nutrient, whichever nutrient it may be. In other words, if one of the essential plant nutrients is deficient, plant growth will be poor even when all other essential nutrients are abundant so that your soil is only as rich as the minimum of any of the primary elements.

So why should you, as a gardener, care? Well, your choice of fertilizers and how you apply them means everything to the success of what you grow. Many new gardeners think all you need are seeds and a bag of Miracle Grow for success. You might get short-term success that way, but you might also be building up “minimums” in your soil that will result in poor growth down the line. In addition, the over-use of chemical fertilizers not only harms your soil over time, it can run-off into the ground water system with disastrous effects on the larger environment. The Chesapeake Bay is a good example — for more than a quarter of a century chemical fertilizer runoff into the Bay and its tributaries has poisoned fish and other wildlife. The same has been documented  in many other states. Chemical fertilizers are usually made from non-renewable sources, including fossil fuels. Repeated application can result in toxic buildup of dangerous chemicals such as arsenic, cadmium, and uranium in the soil — that then  make their way into your fruits and vegetables. Long-term use of chemical fertilizers can even change the soil pH, upsetting beneficial microbials, making your plants much more vulnerable to pests. (And forget about Roundup Ready seeds and plants — they are even worse — killing beneficial insects and leeching into your entire garden, poisoning your soil.)

So, you say, I don’t have time to get a degree in agriculture science, how can I enrich my soil without worrying about those concerns?

First — a soil test! Your local ag extension agent (and they are everywhere) will provide free soil sample tests! Now is a good time to do that, since you still have time to address any deficiencies before Spring planting season arrives. Just contact them or stop by their office and pick up a free soil test kit and instructions.

Alternately, you can purchase devices that will test for N-P-K and also pH, which dictates how available nutrients in your soil will be to your plants. Ideal pH varies, according to the plant variety. Acid loving plants like blueberries and potatoes, love lower pH levels, while sugar beets prefer a “sweet” soil, or pH around 7. Most crops fall somewhere in between — 5.5 – 6.5pH. It is best to check, since neglecting to do so could result in your wondering why your blueberries are failing in the limed soil that you created last fall. Or why the leaf mulch you dug in so lusciously to your 4 x 4 bed is now producing a puny bean or corn crop.

Most importantly, use organic fertilizers! Organic fertilizers are minimally (or not at all) processed, and the nutrients remain bound up in their natural forms, rather than being extracted and refined. Organic fertilizers like manure, compost, bone/blood/cottonseed meal, feathers, leaves and other yard waste (as long as it has no sign of disease) are readily available often for free if you are willing to clean out a horse stall or rake some leaves.

There are many advantages to using organic fertilizers.

As they break down, organic fertilizers actually improve soil tilth (structure of the soil) which improves water and nutrient retention.
Unlike chemical fertilizers, it is almost impossible to over-fertilize slow-releasing organic fertilizers, which means also that you will not be building up chemicals and salts in the soil that can kill your plants.
Organic fertilizers will LOVE your garden and surrounding environment. They are biodegradable and a renewable resource! And they will not harm beneficial insects — especially pollinators such as honeybees!
So please, do your garden and the environment a favor — use organic fertilizers! There are so many sources. Start a compost pile for your kitchen scraps. I once had a friend who went to the circus every Spring for elephant dung — and his garden was amazing! But you can find wonderful organic fertilizers now on the shelves at your local gardening center. Your garden will thank you and the world will thank you!

Oswego Tea … Beautiful Native, Historical Herb, Useful Medicinal

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Oswego Tea

I wait with anticipation for the appearance in Spring of my beautiful bed of Monarda Didyma, or Oswego Tea. Before the blooms, I can enjoy the fragrant and delicious foliage.

Also known as Scarlet Bee Balm, it is an ancient American native plant. The genus is named after Nicholas Monardes, a Spanish physician who wrote in the 16th Century about New World medicinal plants. The common name was bestowed by John Bartram (1699-1777), a Quaker farmer known as the “Father of American Botany”, who observed Oswego Indians using it for tea. It was used as a substitute for black tea during the American Revolution.

Monarda Didyma is less medicinal in taste that its cousin Monarda Citriodora (Lemon Mint). Like all members of the mint family it has a square-shaped stem. The large shaggy brilliant red flowers grow 30-36″ high and are aromatic and edible. Unlike other Bee Balms, it does not invite mildew — that unattractive “frosting” on the foliage so common on Purple Bee Balm in particular — in the garden. It is delightful and impressive to scatter the red petals over any entree or salad. An important bee forage plant it is also very attractive to hummingbirds. Here in North Carolina it fills out beautifully from early Spring and then blooms for weeks May-June and, if you deadhead the blooms, you will enjoy another burst of color again in August. Also a nice cut flower, wonderful tea and potpourri when dried.

Native Americans used this plant to cure flatulence and insomnia. The Blackfeet used poultices of this plant for skin infections and minor wounds. It is also used for mouth and throat infections since it is a natural source of the antiseptic Thymol, used in modern mouthwashes.

The seeds are somewhat difficult to harvest as they appeal to many birds. You can either bend the stem over a bowl gently, so you do not snap it and tap the base of the flower. If the light brown seeds fall out you are in luck! If you miss them, there’s always next year, as this wonderful flower WILL be back! An alternate method, and one which may yield a second bloom, is to cut the spent flower heads back to a leaf union and carefully place the head on paper for drying. If you do this properly, your plants will sprout new stems with flowers at the union, and once your harvested flower heads are dried, you can gently crush and shake them over a white paper plate until the seeds are ejected. Now — this is important — you will see many many more little black square irregular grains that look a bit like pepper. These are NOT seeds. But there are lots of them and you need to carefully search for the few seeds which are roundish, smooth and light brown.

Finally, a note about harvesting for tea or medicinal use. When gathering herbs for fresh use, pick early in the morning, when still kissed by dew. But when gathering herbs for drying, wait until the sun has dried the dew, to prevent mildew. Gather small bunches of the healthiest plants and tie at the ends with string with a tail. Then hang in a protected environment. For me, it is from the shutters of my interior kitchen window over my sink. No sunlight at this window but plenty of fresh air as an overhead fan circulates during warmer months. This is ideal. Otherwise, special drying racks work well. The idea is to dry quickly, without sunlight, but plenty of air circulation to keep mildew from forming. Turn if necessary to make sure the bunch dries completely. Once dry, crumple the leaves from the stems and store in airtight canisters.

CherryGal.com is offering this wonderful and special herb in two organically-grown forms, both in LIMITED SUPPLY — as Seed and as lifted Seedlings in Spring. Don’t wait until they are all gone! Get your seeds now, or reserve your seedlings for shipment at the appropriate time for your growing zone.

My established bed of Monarda Didyma

 

For my Gourmet Artisan Gin Drinking Customers …

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For anyone who does not imbibe, or for those who are struggling, please know that I do not want to encourage anyone to drink alcohol. But for those of my customers or followers who occasionally like a nice gin & tonic in the summertime (and you can put me in that column), this is for you.
Did you know that gin is just infused vodka? High end gins (and there are many) infuse their own special botanicals, spices and fruits before performing a final distillation. But the final distillation is only to remove the color and particulates. Before that is done it is “compound gin” as long as the primary infused ingredient is juniper berry. So you pay an exceptional price for this artistry or artisan flair.
But you can actually create your own compound gin by infusing these same selected botanicals at home. You will save money and create an incredibly delicious and fresh gin for mixing your cocktails.
Now, you can go and purchase or gather these infusion ingredients yourself — and it is fun to do — but CherryGal Heirloom Organics has done the research and put together a great little kit for infusing a 750ml bottle of neutral Vodka which you will purchase. It is a fallacy that inexpensive vodka is inferior vodka. There are very good and inexpensive neutral Vodkas available, including UV, Deep Eddy, Svedka, Luksusowa, Finlandia and Sobieski. Just be sure you choose a clear, neutral vodka, since flavored vodka is also on the shelves.
Another advantage to choosing a CherryGal Heirloom Organics Do It Yourself Artisan Gin Kit  — and an important one — is that the botanicals are all organic. When botanicals are infused in alcohol, the alcohol extracts everything from the botanicals — the flavor, the fragrance, the color and, unless it is organic, any pesticides or chemicals used in production. Yeck! Using my kit you will achieve a beautiful, clear gin with a golden botanical coloration.
So I hope you will give my new product a try. It is legal. It is fun. It is inexpensive (especially compared to Williams and Sonoma and others). And it takes about 5-10 minutes of your hands-on time and 36-48 hours waiting time. Available online at www.cherrygal.com or at the Warrenton Farmer’s Market each Saturday! Enjoy!

Enter Fraises des Bois …

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I love strawberries! All kinds. But the strawberry that really grabs me is the delicate heirloom alpine variety known as Fraises des Bois. The elongated conical pointed fruits grow on mostly runnerless crowns, making this an ideal plant for containers or window boxes. I have grown mine organically for 10 years in two window boxes outside my kitchen door opening to my garden, and they have weathered unbelievably capricious summers and cruel winters without blushing. Each Spring they begin their unending offering of red, intensely flavored sweet, piquant fruits — it takes only a few to brighten a morning bowl of cereal. The fruiting lasts until the first freeze. The crowns are evergreen and regenerate themselves each Spring as if by magic. I give them an occasional shot of Espoma Organic Grow fertilizer, and remove any tired leaves but that is all I do and they repay me with such treasure!

If you have a medicinal herb or ayurvedic garden, you should add Fraises des Bois for their remarkable and little known health benefits. Not typically associated in the modern mind with medicinal use, Alpine Strawberry was historically part of the pharmacopeia and used in many different ways: the root for diarrhea; the stalks for wounds; the leaves as astringents. Today, teas made from the leaves are wonderful for digestion (and diarrhea) and to stimulate the appetite, and recent study indicates a high element of ellagic acid, a known cancer preventative. The crushed fruit is very soothing to the skin and has antibacterial properties, AND can be applied to teeth (with baking soda) or skin to “bleach white.” The berries are an excellent source of Vitamin C and recent studies show them to be high in antioxidants, making them one to add to your cancer protection diet.

I have harvested and sold the seed for this wonderful fruit for many years, but this year decided to offer a few plants at Farmer’s Market. So this Saturday you can pick up one of these rare heirlooms and start your own back porch strawberry patch! It is easy to do with just one or two plants. Hurry before they are all gone!

 

 

Tips for Transplanting your CherryGal Organic Seedling

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I sometimes do not have the time at market to explain these tips, so I wanted to commit them now to my blog, for all to see. You’ve just purchased an organic heirloom seedling from me — now what?!@

  1.  Chlorine can kill your seedling. Your seedling has been raised with non-chlorinated water. So please, don’t kill it with tap water. You can de-chlorinate tap water easily by letting it sit, open, for 24 hours at room temperature.
  2.  Please harden off your seedling by giving accelerated exposure to full sun and warm temps in baby increments, starting with 1/2 hour a day up to a full day. They have probably already experienced this, but better safe than “fried.”
  3.  Tomatoes can be planted VERY deeply — up to their uppermost leaves — to encourage maximum root development. And all tomatoes, peppers and eggplants LOVE this side dressing: Grind up clean eggshells with used coffee grounds. This provides the magic formula that will keep the dreaded Blossom End Rot at bay.
  4. When planting, dig a $100 hole for a $10 plant. My cardinal rule. Your seedling has been grown in special organic potting soil. If you stick a 4″ seedling in a similar sized hole in a clay soil, guess what happens? It’s not pretty.
  5. Ideally plant on a cloudy, cooler day, or later in the day if it is hot and sunny. And water in very well. Keep an eye on it — any sign that it is stressed calls for immediate protective action. If thunderstorms are in the offing, cover it with a pot or cloche so it is not annihilated.

I love offering you these seedlings. They have been coddled, yes. But the result, if introduced appropriately to your garden, will be a healthy, organic producer of fruit and flower. Don’t forget that you can easily clone your CherryGal tomatoes, peppers and eggplants for next year’s garden. I’ll teach you how in a subsequent post.

Happy Gardening!

Goodbye Winter … Hello Spring!

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Goodbye Winter …

I spent the day yesterday in the garden. It felt so good. Although I saw my first robin weeks ago, it has been below freezing most nights until this week. We finally had a sunny, warm day without strong breezes and a decent rain during the night. So, I took advantage of the soft soil to lift two roses that had succumbed to our cruel whiplash weather winter, and to move two others that I think will do better in their new bed.

It always brings such joy to my heart to see the peonies pushing up through the earth, and the Major Wheeler honeysuckle has fully populated its part of the fence with its red buds ready to open. I take inventory of my perennials and shrubs. My bay laurel, which I harvested a bit too heavily last fall for seedlings and my kitchen, took a hit from our 20 to 80 to 10 to 60’s winter. I pruned the dead branches while my chickie girls bustled around me clucking their concern. Adversity, if it doesn’t kill you, does make you stronger, and my Laurus Nobilis will be fine once the weather settles into Spring.

So much new growth. The girls have been enjoying lush patches of Chickweed for weeks now. My Bee Balm Oswego carpets its area, ready to send up stalks soon. It is one of my absolute favorite May flowers, brilliant full fluffy fragrant red blossoms that attract bees in droves. If I’m able to keep it deadheaded, I get a second, less vigorous but still pretty, blush in August.

I greet my yellow lilac with joy! The flower heads are forming fully and it has suffered no loss to its foliage. It will perfume the girls’ coop soon. My dwarf cherry which I installed in a huge pot at the center of the chicken compound has some buds blooming! My apple tree espaliers are leafing out which means they too have survived! The yellow daffodils are done, but my whites that grace the front of my white house are in full bloom and lovely. The prolific sweet violets are sprinkled everywhere. I love them! The cowslip and red primrose are starting to bloom. And a few surviving Judith Leyster tulips (always such a risk here in NC) are ready to open.

So much to do. Today I’ll move another rose and a small shrub and the hawthorne, which all need better situations. Sometimes when I am rushed or tired I will “park” a plant inappropriately, but now is the best time to give them better quarters. These are the days when I steal time from sleep and other chores to be in the garden. I’ve been sleeping all winter. Now, we will have a beautiful warm Spring. Hello!