Getting Started: Plot plans, plant picks, and peat pots!

In the past couple of days, I've had several people ask me about my process in this whole gardening thing. I never really know how much information people are looking for because  1. I'm moderately socially inept and 2. I could ramble on for hours about plants and their great beginnings, so I figured, what better place to blab about procedures than this blog!

The first step in starting your very first vegetable garden is consult the internet. Research what grows well and when in your area. Look at what region you're in according to the hardiness map. Walk outside a few times throughout the day and observe the places that get more sun than others. Plan your plot space! Are you on a balcony? Will you be planting in containers? Raised bed or in ground? Dig into your soil a bit. Is it fluffy and loamy? Is it full of clay? Spring/summer space or autumn/winter? How much space can you dedicate to this? All of these are things to consider when planning your space. Do you want to feed the family for a season or for the year? Is it just you? Are you planning on doing any canning or freezing? Will you be doing square foot gardening or gardening in rows? If you're a first timer and looking for some extra guidance, Smartgardener.com is SUPERB. Check it out! In the interest of keeping this relatively under control and concise, I'll stop there, but plan well! Decide what you want out of your space.

Here is a link to the US hardiness map. This is a helpful tool when garden planning: http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/Default.aspx

My favorite bit comes next: Pick your plants! I chose a little bit of everything this year, but again do your research! Do you want green beans? Beans that grow in bushes or beans that grow up a trellis?! Do you juice stuff like crazy (this girl) and need TONS of greens or just a few for salads and things?  Do you have a little babe that needs lots of mushy peas and carrots? So many questions!! I live in the Willamette Valley so I choose all of my greens first as they will be the first things in the ground when it kind of sort of stops raining for a minute in early March. This year, I'm expanding my garden a bit so I can have a whole corner dedicated to greens. Through the summers, I like to have a pretty steady supply of green juice. Anyway, look at the amount of space you have and plan accordingly. Again, Smartgardener.com is an incredible resource when it comes to these things.

Next, decide where you'll be purchasing your seeds. My favorite supply website by far is Groworganic.com. Not only are they a great resource for gardening tips and tricks, but each of their seed packets has very specific planting instructions including whether to start indoors or out, seed depth, and ideal soil temperatures. Here is a little sampling of what I'll be growing this season :)

The final getting started step is to actually get started!! I use peat pots and whatever potting soil I have laying around to get my seedlings going. If this is soil you've used before in pots, make sure you add some fresh compost or organic fertilizer to make sure your babes will have plenty of nutrients. This year, I'm employing the help of a grow light, but that is by no means a necessary thing as long as you have a sunny window. Before you plant your seeds in your peat pots, make sure your soil is nice and moist. If it been sitting outside in the cold for a while, wet it with warm water before putting it into the peat pots. Its also never a bad idea to soak the peat pots in warm water for a minute or two. The key to good germination with most plants is light, moisture, and heat. Keep that in mind, moisture, heat, and light. If you find that some of your little plant babies are looking a little "leggy" or "stringy" they might not be getting enough light. If you see they they're looking a little down in the dumps, they're probably not getting enough water. If, in a few weeks, you still have no little seedlings, make sure they're not somewhere freezing cold! Here are my babies as of last night:

Everything seems to be coming along swimmingly! I'll keep everyone updated as the season continues. This is one of the most exciting times for me. So much promise in new beginnings :) Enjoy!!

Soil! Soil! Soil!

So, this might bore the vast majority of human beings, but as I am going through my Soils 205 class at OSU, I am learning a tremendous amount of fascinating and wonderfully applicable information.

Side note: If you're interested in gardening, or living, or existing in a happier state on this earth, GO OUTSIDE. Dig a hole. Put a seed in there and see what happens.

Anyway, in learning about types of soils and soil orders and what not, I discovered that I live on a nice big slab of Vertisol. Vertisol is a soil order that is largely defined by the properties of the copious amounts of clay present. These clays shrink when they are in extended dry conditions and swell when there are wet conditions. In the Willamette Valley, we have Xeric moisture regimes, which means we have very very wet winters and extremely dry summers. Since the clay content is SO high on my property, soil drainage becomes a real issue in the home veggie garden.  When I started digging up my garden bed last year, I spent boat loads of money on soil amenders and compost to try and improve the drainage there.  When I started to till the soil a bit today, I found that the places I tilled in soil amender last year, were not nearly as well drained or healthy as the places I tilled in mostly compost! I also found that there were an abundance of worms (good for creating macro pores aka good for drainage) in the more compost rich sections of the garden. My soils professor, the notorious James Cassidy, says that the answer to almost anything is ADD ORGANIC MATTER. Kudos to you JC, for you are full of magical soil wisdom.

SO all of this is to give you my hypothesis and methods for my garden experiment this year. In order to make the soil more glorious for my plant babies this year, I am planning on adding almost exclusively organic matter, in the form of good quality compost and leaf mulch. The organic matter should help improve drainage and should allow the plants to access a larger portion of the nutrients and water stored up so tightly in that soil. Clay holds on to moisture and nutrients, so although I watered often, I found that my plant babies were dehydrated and sad. The added organic matter should help alleviate that issue. As I continue to add more OM through the years, I'm hoping one day, my plant babies will be able to access the all of the glorious nutrients! The leaf much will remain on top of the soil throughout the growing season to help retain moisture in that top layer. Summers are very dry here so the top 2 inches or so of soil dry out very quickly.

I am also planning on only truly loosening/tilling the sections of ground where I will actually be placing seedlings or seeds after my first addition of organic matter. Since soil is a self-organizing living thing, this will help maintain some of the tunnels (macro pores) developed by roots of past plants, worms, and burrowing animals. This should hopefully create a better draining environment for my plant babies!!

 As the season progresses, I'll keep you all (I am absolutely positive you're enamored with all of this riveting information) posted with my results! Below, you'll find a picture of my progress today. Initial till done with a pitch fork, gently, to maintain developed pores and worm life. This is pre added organic matter. Where you see the pitch fork stuck in the ground on the right side of the picture marks the future border of my plot. I'm expanding :)

Humble beginnings

So, the thought of writing a blog has always been a bit overwhelming. Dedicating time daily, or weekly to write/type down thoughts and feelings no one else could possibly care about seems a daunting task, but here I am!

I am Jorie. A Viticulture and Enology student at Oregon State University, a creator, a logistics coordinator, a gardener, a soil organism, a doggy mommy, a wine drinker, a lover of plants, a human.

The idea of garden therapy and a passion for growth are the driving forces behind this experiment. Last year, after moving to Corvallis, Oregon, in September, I discovered that seasonal affective disorder is, indeed, a real thing. For anyone who may not know, the Pacific Northwest is gray about 9 months out of the 12. It mists. Not rains. Mists. In your face. For weeks on end. Without a gleaming ray of sunshine in sight. I grew up in Texas where sunshine abounds and is gloriously overwhelming. My first winter here was rough to say the least. In an attempt to ease my frustrations with the weather and with an underwhelming job, I went out into my yard and basically ripped apart a pretty large section with the intention of building something tangible. I wanted to add something to this world I was living in. To feel useful and productive. I needed something desperately and, let's be real, gardening is cheaper than therapy. And it ended up working! The result was a lush, glorious, safe place. It became my retreat. It was what challenged my mind enough to keep me sane during the dark days.

Anyway, this is the beginning. I'm back in school now and learning a lot. Get ready for a ton of soils information...its my current obsession and hopefully you'll soon see why. I want to document and share some of that knowledge. I want a place to preserve my gardening experiences, my wine industry experiences, and kitchen experiments. I want a place to look back at and be able to, hopefully, see progress...and growth...heh..heh... see what I did there...Growth..Garden blog...heh :)

Pictured above is my garden last year. I plan on expanding, experimenting, and growing more than ever! Get ready!!