Heart~Rock~Garden

"He grows a little garden in the backyard by the fence;
he's consuming what he's growing nowadays in self-defense"
~The Belamy Brothers~

Is there any finer aroma than freshly turned Spring Earth in your hands? Oh, how I wait for the day each year:-) The time has finally come to dig in the dirt and officially begin regular postings here at the "Heart Rock Garden." This one will be an eclectic mix of tid-bits I've accumulated and our gardening progress here in Northern Michigan.

As you can see by the many pictures, I am a big fan of raised beds in all their beautiful incarnations.

Mine recently made me braggin-proud because after planting lettuce (which had sprouted:-) in a bed with an old window for a cover, the snow came (2 hefty dumpings) along with many nights of sub-zero temps and winds from every direction. But my little seedlings were happy campers under glass. Hopefully we are done with the snow now, but one never knows up here near the 45th parallel; we've had snow in May and hard freezes in mid-June! (although not in the past 10-15 years.....) We also have carrots, beets, scallions, spinach, peas and broccoli planted in various raised beds and oodles of tomatoes and peppers started indoors.

Seedlings

If you have visited before please check out the many new links in each section of the side-bar and also the newly created link list for "Healthy Food and Recipe Resources." Here's a sampling of what's new:

Backed by a wealth of knowledge and nutritional education, Sunny Johnson offers amazing, tasty and easy recipes for Wild Food Plants, including gems such as the refreshing "Oxalis Cooler".
"Naturally Grown" is "a non-profit alternative certification program tailored for small-scale, direct-market organic farmers." Or as I say, certified "Organic" without the red-tape (and increasingly sub-standard criteria) of the U.S.D.A.'s "Certified Organic" program.
Big green "THANKS!" to Chris Baskind and the folks at Lighter Footstep for an outstanding site dedicated to sustainable living. News, Daily Tips and lots more presented in a fresh, user-friendly format that sets the bar for eco-sites.
"Plants For A Future" is an awesome, easy-to-use database of edible, medicinal and useful plants for a healthier planet.

These are some great Garden Charts (in PDF format):

COMPANION PLANT FRIENDS & ENEMIES (2 pages) GENERAL GARDEN INFO (2 pages)
PLANT SPACING FOR RAISED BEDS (6 pages, includes blanks to design your own and a pre-planned Salsa~Lovers~Garden!)

All 3 charts are available at Frame It All, along with lots of ideas, kits and accessories for raised bed gardening.

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In the short version, Moon Planting is based on the transit of the Moon as it cycles monthly through the Astrological signs of the Zodiac. Feminine signs are considered fertile, with Watery Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces being the most fruitful. Earthy Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn are semi-fertile and moderately fruitful. The masculine signs are considered barren or sterile. However, Fiery Aries, Leo and Sagittarius; and Airy Gemini, Libra and Aquarius are good signs for working soil & destroying weeds & pests.

The period of time when the Moon is changing from a (dark) New Moon into a Full Moon is called waxing. This is a good time to work with above ground plants, especially if the moon is passing through a Water or Earth sign.

The time from Full Moon to New Moon is called the Waning period and is a good time to work with root crops or perennials (which need strong root systems).

Check out the Farmer's Almanac Moon Planting link (on the right, under the moon phase).

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The Cooperative Extension System is a nationwide educational network that offers information on topics such as nutrition, child rearing, agriculture, horticulture, husbandry, small business and personal finance. Every U.S. state and territory has an Extension office at its land-grant university. Each state has a network of local or regional offices staffed by professionals in their field.

Each office offers a wide variety of services and tools to assist local citizens, many of them free or very low cost. They can help identify plant and insect pest, test soil, provide guidance on frost dates, native plants and much more.

You can easily find your local Cooperative Extension System Office at the U.S.D.A.'s site.

The naturally formed heart rock pictured at the top of the page is my most beloved treasure, gifted to me last year by a most wonderful friend. It measures 10 inches across and weighs several pounds.

Quick Tip: To determine how much mulch, (or sand, etc) you need for a project, multiply the length of the bed by the width then by the depth of mulch you want. Divide this total by 12 and then by 27 to obtain the amount of mulch in cubic yards. Thank goodness for calculators:-)