May 10th-16, Week 7

RuthAnn’s Weekly Garden Diary

Documenting Progress and Reflections in the Garden

My attempt to document the planting, growth, harvesting, and preserving of our family’s 8000 square feet of garden.

Northeast Iowa Gardening in growing zone 4

Last frost date May15, First frost date September 15

May 10th-16th, Week 7

This week brought us to our last frost date! This means it is now considered safe to plant summer crops/cold sensitive plants/seeds into the garden. However, it is important to look at the 10-day forecast before I plant because average last frost date means approximately ½ of the time the last frost is before the 15^th and half of the time it is after the 15^th. This means there is a 50% chance that our last frost can happen after May 15^th. The 10-day forecast shows some nighttime temperatures in the 40s (which heat loving plants won’t love) but no frost! So, I made the decision to plant since the soil conditions were dry enough to prevent compaction.

We have received no rain for 2 weeks. Things are dry and dusty!

What I planted this week:

20 Amish Paste tomato plants (for all our canning needs)
4 Brandy Wine tomato plants (for slicing and fresh eating)
4 sun gold tomato plants (for snacking on while gardening and to add sweetness to my tomato products)
8 Cucumber plants *Straight 8 variety (for fresh eating and fermenting.)
½ lb. bush beans *Jade variety (for canning and fresh eating.)
250 seeds of short season sweet corn (68 days to maturity) *Temptation variety (for fresh eating.)
750 seeds of long season sweet corn (82 days to maturity) *Serendipity variety (for freezing.)
Lots of Zinnia Seeds *California Giant variety, original seeds from Sow Right Seeds
Planted the rest of my Cana and Dahlia bulbs

If you have been here for any of my gardening seasons you already know that I don’t water my garden! In fact, in the 25 years that I have gardened here I have watered my garden less than 6 times. With the exception being, when I transplant seedlings into the garden.

I like to use my compost tea to water seedlings when I transplant them to reduce transplant shock. Transplant tea is simply fermented plants. My favorite plants to use to make compost tea are, comfrey, stinging nettle, and burdock leaves. These plants have very deep tap roots and draw minerals from deep within the earth where the roots of most annual plants in our gardens never reach. When we ferment/rot the foliage of these plants in water those nutrients are released into the water creating a very rich concentrate. You can find the video on compost tea here. For Seedlings I mix 1 cup compost tea to every 1 gallon of water. When I am watering more mature plants I add 2-3 cups compost tea per every gallon of water.

Have your tomato seedlings ever turned purple after you transplant them to the garden? Here’s why.

Tomatoes are a true hot weather crop (me too tomatoes, me too) and for them to able to absorb nutrients the soil temperature needs to be a minimum of 60°F. When soil temps are below 60°F you will see their leaves turn purple from a phosphorus deficiency. Although the phosphorus may be there in the soil, the plant simply can’t absorb it.

In colder regions, like here in Northern Iowa, there are a couple tricks to help our tomatoes accumulate Growing Degree Days in the spring.

Using black plastic will warm the soil by 10-15 degrees around the roots.
Planting tomatoes into raised beds. Soil temperatures in raised beds are often warmer than in ground gardens.
Shallow planting. (This is the method I prefer.) Since the top 6 inches of the soil will be warmer than the soil 12 inches deep, shallow planting simply means planting the tomatoes into the top, warmest section of the soil. My tomato plants this year were very leggy, but I still planted them just below the surface and lay the plant down sideways, covering the long stem with soil (it will grow roots and support the plant too) only allowing the top 5-6 inches and the ‘heart’ of the tomato plant to be above the soil. I also wait to cover the surrounding soil with compost or organic matter until the soil is staying consistently above 60°F. Covering the soil will keep the soil cool, great for cool weather crops, but not helpful for heat loving crops. I don’t take the temperature of the soil I just watch the plants for new growth and signs of thriving. When nighttime temperatures begin to stay above 50°F and daytime highs are in the 80s then the soil temperature is sure to be over 60°F and I’ll add compost or organic matter to help keep weeds down, provide nutrients and keep moisture levels consistent.

Reflections

Lack of rain fall always causes me to pause and remember who the master gardener really is. I have zero control over the rain that falls from the sky. And even though God doesn’t expect me to be in control of precipitation, he does have expectations from me during dry seasons. He expects me to be in control of my attitude and thought life during dry seasons. Am I fretting and worrying and getting caught up in the negative conversations around me? We live in a crop farming community, everywhere you go there’s talk about the weather, and it is hard not to get caught up in the worry. But God calls us to trust him and have faith. Faith that He is working for our greater good even when we cannot see it. As a Gardener I have witnessed this firsthand!

In the weeks without rain my garden crops seem to come to a standstill. To the unfaithful eye not much seems to be happening, no new growth, no blossoms, and sometimes even visible stress to the plant. But below the surface, in the darkness, something unseen is happening. Something unseen, that if allowed to happen, will yield wonderful, positive results. The root system of the plant is reaching far down into the earth to reach moisture. And when the root system reaches down deep into the earth it also finds a wealth of nutrients that are not available at the surface of the soil. The nutrients that the plants find down there in the deepest parts of the garden help it to grow into a vigorous plant that is disease resistant and will bear a greater harvest than if it had been watered daily or received rainfall every few days.

My favorite Bible verse to recite in the garden during dry seasons;

Jeremiah 17: 7-8

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

When we are going through a ‘dry or dark season’, if we trust and lean into the truth that God is Good, He cannot make mistakes and believe that He is doing work even when we can’t see it, our spiritual life will be stronger, more vigorous, and bear more fruit.