It's February and still cold here in the Northeast, but we're preparing for the next growing season here at my farm - my gardeners are busy starting all the many vegetables from seed.
Many of my vegetable seeds and other supplies are from Johnny’s Selected Seeds in central Maine - a company I’ve been using for quite some time. Johnny's Selected Seeds offers a wide selection of products and provides practical solutions for both the home gardener and the professional farmer. Starting from seed isn’t difficult. They can be planted closely together in seed starting trays and then pulled apart easily when they're ready to move into larger pots or outdoors.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
This time of year my head house tables are often filled with seeds ready to be planted in trays. Johnny’s Selected Seeds is a privately held, employee-owned organic seed producer. I use many of Johnny’s seeds every year.
This is my giant half-acre garden in June. Lots of the produce grown is started from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. Together with nutrient-rich soil, I have the best crops ever.
Some of the many vegetables I always grow – giant cabbages of all kinds including green cabbage, red cabbage, Savoy cabbage, and Napa cabbage, etc.
Here is a crop of kale from last year. Kale, also called leaf cabbage, is primarily grown for its edible leaves.
I grow tons of broccoli – perfect heads of delicious and nutritious broccoli.
I also grow large beds of artichokes. The artichoke is actually the bud of a flower. The bracts, or leaves, cover a fuzzy center called the choke which sits on top of a meaty core, which is called the artichoke heart.
And don’t forget the root vegetables such as carrots. These also grow so well in my garden.
Johnny’s Selected Seeds offers hundreds of varieties of organic vegetable, herb, flower, fruit and farm seeds that are known to be strong, dependable growers.
Some of this year’s offerings include this okra variety, ‘Jambalaya.’ (Photo courtesy of Johnny’s Selected Seeds)
Johnny’s ‘Rangitoto’ spinach has uniform bright green leaves on tall, upright stems. (Photo courtesy of Johnny’s Selected Seeds)
This eggplant variety from Johnny’s is called ‘Turkish Delight.’ They have an elongated shape and a rich flavor. (Photo courtesy of Johnny’s Selected Seeds)
Johnny’s ‘Bacchus’ radishes are recommended for both early spring and fall harvests. (Photo courtesy of Johnny’s Selected Seeds)
When starting seeds, be sure to read the planting dates for each variety. Valuable information is written right on the seed packet.
Here my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, writes the seed variety on markers, so he’s ready to place it in the trays after planting the seeds. It’s also helpful to put the date of planting on the back. Ryan determines what order they will be started in trays depending on how long it takes each plant to germinate.
Seeds are started in trays like these. These can be saved from year to year, so don’t throw them away after the season. Seed starting trays are available in all sizes and formations from Johnny’s Selected Seeds.
It’s best to use a pre-made seed starting mix that contains the proper amounts of vermiculite, perlite and peat moss. Seed starting mixes are available at garden supply stores. I use Miracle-Gro Starting Potting Mix, which is effective for germinating both vegetable and flower seeds.
When possible, prepare several trays in an assembly-line fashion and then drop the seeds. Doing this saves time and simplifies the process.
Using his finger, Ryan makes shallow indentations in each cell where the seeds will be positioned.
Seeds come in a variety of sizes. Ryan drops one to three seeds into each cell compartment. It’s always a good idea to keep a record of when seeds are sown, when they germinate, and when they are transplanted. These observations will help organize a schedule for the following year.
And once the seeds are planted and covered with a layer of additional starting mix, the tray is watered and placed into my Urban Cultivator where the seeds will germinate. Seeds are usually started about two months before the last frost in an area – we will be planting seeds well into March. Are you starting some seeds this weekend?
Many gardening chores are best done in winter when the plants are dormant. Among them - pruning.
My blueberry bushes produce an abundance of fruit every summer, but they do need some maintenance to keep them productive. Pruning produces larger berries in greater volumes, ensures good air circulation and light throughout the plants, and helps to control diseases that may otherwise spread through the patch.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Blueberries are among the most popular berries for eating. Here in the United States, they are second only to strawberries.
Blueberries produce from early summer through fall. I pick cartons and cartons of blueberries each year. What is not eaten fresh is frozen and used throughout the seasons.
Blueberries are plump, juicy, sweet fruits that are low in fat, yet packed with vitamin-C and antioxidants. Everyone at the farm loves to pick these delicious fruits.
Blueberries are ready when they are completely blue. One may want to pick them as soon as they turn, but it’s actually best a few days later, when there are absolutely no hints of pink or green on the fruits.
Now the blueberries are bare of foliage and any fruit. It’s the best time to do some pruning and grooming.
Pruning blueberries is an essential chore for several reasons. Proper pruning maintains an open growth habit, opens the center of the plant to sunlight, and reduces disease. Annual pruning also maintains productivity by encouraging the growth of new fruit-producing stems.
In winter, flower buds are easily visible on one-year-old wood and their numbers can be adjusted by pruning to regulate the crop load for the coming year. New growth shows visible swelling of the flower buds. It also indicates good healthy plants. This stage can tolerate cold temperatures.
When pruning, it’s the four Ds that are removed – dead, diseased, damaged, or deranged branches. The stems are cut off all the way to where they join a thicker branch.
Most of the job can be done with garden pruners. Everyone on my crew has a pair. Here, Ryan cuts a dying branch.
The crew also makes sure all the tools are extremely sharp, so they make clean cuts.
At the base, blueberry bushes have multiple canes growing directly out of the soil in clumps. The canes or branches are smooth and thornless. When pruning, cut about one-third of the branches all the way down to the ground to stimulate new stems to emerge from the roots.
Adan occasionally stops to look at the work he has done and assess where else the bush needs trimming. The goal of good blueberry pruning is to remove enough old growth to encourage the production of new.
I instructed the crew to leave those branches that protrude from the sides – I wanted the bushes to remain full.
The posts are the same 18th-century Chinese granite uprights I use for the clematis pergola, my apple espaliers, and my raspberry bushes.
Here’s just one load of pruned branches ready to be taken to our chipping pile.
Phurba rakes up any debris in between the rows.
And then the patch is ready for a good layer of composted mulch.
The middle of the rows look so much better – no more overcrowding. And they look so tidy top dressed with nutritious composted mulch. Blueberry shrubs are actually extremely hardy. Some varieties survive down to minus-35 degrees Fahrenheit. In fact, blueberries need a set number of hours below 45-degrees in order for their flower buds to open and produce berries. Without ample cold weather, blueberries do not produce fruit.
Pruning and grooming takes some time, but the benefits are great. With good, regular maintenance, my bushes are sure to produce bounties of fruits year after year.
The next time you're looking for something interesting and inspiring to do, consider attending an art show. It's a great way to appreciate and support the creativity and hard work of the artists involved.
Last week, my operations manager, Matt Krack, attended the second annual Nameless Art + Design Show in New York City. This show focuses on the works of unknown American makers between the years 1600 and 1970. Two dozen dealers from around the country participated in this year's event. Many of the pieces exhibited were utilitarian such as furniture and business supplies. There were also paintings, sculptures, textiles, and children's toys - all made by unknown, little-known, and possibly forgotten crafts people.
Enjoy these photos.
The show was held in Chelsea, a downtown neighborhood on the west side of Manhattan. While it is largely residential, it is also a center for art and includes more than 200 different galleries.
This booth was presented by Warren Battle based in Hudson, New York.
Among Warren’s pieces was a carved and painted owl decoy with shotgun shell eyes. It was made in the early 20th century.
This is a 19th century folk art wooden horse toy made with a real horse hair tail.
Another toy on display was this wooden elephant with movable legs surrounded by other wooden animal friends.
Matt picked up this piece – a charming berry box. Also made by hand by someone unknown.
Other works were by little known craftsmen. This antique miniature cut-paper silhouette is signed by TB Gray, circa 1866. This fine work was presented by Portmanteau Antiques. Paper cutting art was referred to as a “scherenschbitte,” which is German for ‘scissor snips.’ The practice began in the United States with German immigrants in Pennsylvania.
This piece caught Matt’s eye. It was shown by dealer Cathy McLaurin and John Osorio Buck of Labor and Glean who noted that it was purchased in Alabama, but nothing was known about the artist who made it. The entire piece is painted and decorated – even the undersides.
This piece was shown by Adam Irish, Antiques & Americana. The designer is unknown and shows a half man – half lighthouse wooden sculpture.
Scott Filar and Joy O’Shell had this fun object – a business promotional sign for Family Protein Centers. It was built using scraps – dowels, a toy, individual glass letters, and wood. It focuses on the nutrition pyramid of the 1950s which included eggs, meat and milk.
This was from the Evan Grant booth – a steamship etching on coal, circa 1920. Perhaps the artist was a sailor who carved it during his service on the ship.
On the wall, Evan displayed handmade, and well-used game boards.
Aarne Anton displayed this handmade cabinet on the left clearly marked with “keep out” and “medicine” with drawings of a horse and skeleton, possibly used for veterinary and other large animal remedies. On the right, handmade invention drawings and sketches from 1936 through 1956 done by Stephen Gecik Gessig.
This piece is a handmade clam basket from Maine, offered by South Road.
On this handmade wooden table – a blue ceramic sculpture of a woman on cardboard.
This piece is from South Road Antiques. It is a concrete woman decorated with glitter from the late 19th century. It was found in Connecticut – maker unknown.
Also from South Road Antiques – a group of whimsies in the style of Wilhelm Schimmel. The carver is noted to be from Pennsylvania.
Other objects included these small figurines – wooden and articulated, possibly toys, but very detailed.
This toy truck was created with very detailed axels and wooden sides. Notice the seats – they’re even “upholstered” with scraps of carpet.
And this was salvaged from an Odd Fellows Lodge, an international fraternity. Visitors to this establishment would write on small tags and hang them from this handmade stand.
And this bird was made by Joseph Bernier, a French-Canadian lumberjack who was crippled by a fallen tree accident and started carving to support himself and his family. He wasn’t a well-known artist, but some of his pieces have been shown in museums and other antiques shops.
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