Yearly Garden Additions

I'm already done with the gardens' feeding for the year, so I guess it's time to add the amounts for the year. In addition to the Milorganite, I fed with Miracle Gro 24-8-16 from May through early July at a bit under half rate weekly through my EZ-Flo irrigation system. From early July to mid-September, I used K-Gro from K-Mart 15-30-15 to encourage flowering. That was also at about half rate weekly through the EZ-Flo system.

Organic additions were about 100 pounds per thousand less than last year, until you consider that 19 cubic yards of mulch went onto the gardens this year for an additional amount of 3,000 pounds per thousand square feet. That was an extraordinarily heavy addition of mulch.

Date	N	P	K	Iron	Organics	Other Notes
3/18/2011	0.50	0.20	0.00	0.40	10.0	Milorganite
5/1/2011	1.35	0.54	0.00	1.08	27.0	Milorganite
6/1/2011	1.20	0.48	0.00	0.96	24.0	Milorganite
7/1/2011	1.55	0.62	0.00	1.24	32.0	Milorganite
8/1/2011	1.13	0.45	0.00	0.90	22.5	Milorganite
9/1/2011	1.13	0.45	0.00	0.90	22.5	Milorganite
10/1/2011	2.47	0.99	0.00	1.98	49.5	Milorganite
Total per K ft:	9.33	3.73	0.00	7.46	187.5	373 active organic total

A Veil of Frost Protection

I started planting annuals late last week when the weather forecast showed we were clear of frost well into May.  Naturally, we have a projected low of 35° and we're under a frost warning and freeze watch.

There are a few ways to protect gardens from an unexpected frost.

The most common is to cover the plants, which is not realistic in my case--there are too many, and in areas that are too large.  With all the burlap I have on-hand, I might be able to cover 1/3 of the garden that's at risk.  Additionally, it must be promptly removed in the morning or the plants may end up baking under the covering.

In my case, I ran the watering systems on the grass for twenty minutes and the garden for the same.  Raising the humidity to nearly 100% at 45 degrees makes temperature drops difficult.  The dew point is higher, so as temperatures try to drop the water has to condense out of the air, releasing a large amount of heat and helping to protect the plants.  Additionally, the condensed water settles on the plants and soil at the temperature at which it condensed, helping to stop further drops in temperature.

The veil of frost protection woven by applying water is delicate and can be overcome if temperatures fall under 32°, but most unseasonable frosts can be overcome this way.

Kelp on the Lawn and Gardens

I just put down 10 pounds per thousand square feet of kelp meal on the lawn and gardens. Using a standard of 1-0-2, that's around 0.1 lbs nitrogen, no phosphorus, and 0.2 lbs of potassium. However, kelp generally isn't used for its NPK supply and functions far better as a soil conditioner.

Kelp contains auxins, cytokinins, and gibberelins, which encourage the roots to grow as well. That will help in both the lawn and gardens and assist in restoring more of the grub damage they sustained last fall.

Taking Down the Gardens

Yes, most people do it in November but I tend to leave at least some of the more elegant plants up until February or so. I used the string trimmer today to cut them down.

Over the next six weeks, the bits and pieces should decay away nicely, enriching the soil and preparing the gardens for spring.