Seed Starting Mix Trial Part IV: Finit!

Hey Sherrill! So, as you know, my tomato seedlings have been growing under lights since February. As many of them are large enough now to really need potting up in "big kid" soil, I thought I would post final photos of some of the varieties side by side, to show the different results in the three different soils.

In all the photos, seed starting mixes are arranged from left to right as follows: Black Gold (black dot), Jiffy Mix (red dot), and Green Planet Naturals (green dot):

Variety: Sun Gold

Variety: Cherokee Purple

Variety: Red Siberian

Variety: Super Marzano Hybrid

Variety: Beaverlodge Plum

As you can see in the final photo, I even had some unexplained die off as a result of the Jiffy Mix! You can bet your butt I will never be buying this variety of soil again! Horrible stuff.

Overall, this has been a valuable learning experience for me, without a doubt! I think it is clear from the results that your choice in seed starting mixes really does make a tremendous difference in the health and vigor of your seedlings.

Happy growing, Sherrill! If you want to adopt any of my lil' guys to replace the ones you lost, just let me know! Next week some time I will be potting all of these babies up into larger pots with new soil and giving them a shot of fish emulsion! I'm curious to see if the poor little Jiffy starts catch up to their bigger siblings given some time & care. One thing's for sure... the man with the beautiful hair needs to get on that green house repair, 'cause it's gonna be a tomato jungle in my house in no time!

Ciao!!!

Seed Starting Mix Trial: 

• Part I 
• Part II
• Part III

Seed Mix Trial Part 3: Do You See What I See?

Hey Sherrill! Good to hear you are still alive & breathing! If anyone knows that life can get stupidly busy, it's me, so no worries! If it makes you feel any better, I bought a spendy purse this month. Nobody's perfect! There are still 10 months left of the year to get back on track, lady friend! 

On to the tomato babies! First off, let me just apologize right now for the crap-tastic photos. Sometimes I'm just too lazy to change the lens on my camera, which is what I really should have done to get better shots, but, truthfully, you don't need ultra-crisp details to see what I'm seeing here:

So we're all on the same page, the tomato starts with the black dot on the markers (back row) are growing in Black Gold seed starting mix. The red dot (center row) indicates Jiffy seed starting mix, and the green dot (front row) is Green Planet Naturals seed starting mix. Look again. Notice anything?

Here are close ups of the same variety of tomato, Lizzano (a cherry-type I will be using in pots or hanging baskets), planted on the same day & sprouted under the same conditions:

Black Gold

Jiffy

Green Planet

Do the seedlings planted in the Jiffy Mix look stunted & small compared to the ones planted in Black Gold and the GPN? They do to me! None of the seedlings planted in the Jiffy have true leaves yet, while the seedlings in Black Gold and GPN are just getting them now. Overall, there is a very noticeable difference: the seedlings growing in the Black Gold and the Green Planet Naturals seed starting mixes are significantly larger, greener & more robust in their growth so far.

Only a few varieties of my peppers have started to emerge, and there's no noticeable difference in the onion starts, except for the fact that the onions emerged more quickly from the Jiffy mix, probably because it is so lightweight.

I'm going to reserve final judgement until these babies put out more leaves, but I'm a little worried about the red dot tomatoes! In order to have a true test, I just have to leave them as is, although it's taking a significant amount of self-restraint over here not to mix up some fish emulsion to feed the poor things!

In conclusion, I would say that so far the race is neck and neck between Black Gold and Green Planet Naturals, with Jiffy Mix way in the back... eatin' dust! Alright, Miss Sherrill. How are your starts shaping up? I know your tomatoes are way ahead of mine, since you start them in, like, November or something crazy like that! I suppose you're eating fresh tomatoes already, correct? Heh.

I wanted to also add that Linda from Green Planet Naturals contacted me the other day to let me know that their web site is now up and running and ready to take orders! The shipping charges there are also significantly lower than through Amazon, so yay!

To take us out, here's a pretty nifty time-lapse of a couple of tomatoes from little green things to harvest! Ciao for now, my friend!

If you're just joining in, here is Part 1 and Part 2 of this series. 

A Taste of Summer in February: Dry Rub Oven Baked Ribs

Hey Sherrill! I made everyone's favorite ribs today. The first time I made these was while we were vacationing in our beach cabin at Kalaloch several years ago. Ever since then, the aroma of these delicious ribs baking in the oven brings back the memories & feelings of August on the beach! The kids love them & ask me to make them pretty regularly, but since one pig only has so many ribs to provide, I try to space out making this dish. We probably only eat them twice a year.

Want to fill your house with the smell of summer? Here's the recipe:

• 2 Tbsp paprika

• 1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

• 2 Tbsp brown sugar

• 1 tsp. salt

• 1/2 tsp. ground celery seed

• 2 tsp. Cajun seasoning 

• 1 tsp granulated garlic

• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper

• 1/2 tsp. cumin

Combine all ingredients so that everything is incorporated together & there are no big lumps:

Rub the mixture on to your ribs (there are about five or six lbs of pork spare ribs pictured here:

Cover your baking dish with foil and allow the ribs to sit for up to 6 hours. Goodness knows I hardly ever plan ahead far enough in advance for this, but at least a couple hours will help get all that yummy flavor into the meat! 

About 4 hours before you want to eat, place the pan in a 300 degree oven & bake. Your house will fill with the heavenly aroma of summer while they cook!










Since the oven was already on, I went ahead and served our ribs with baked potatoes... and coleslaw!

I like mine with Sriracha Sauce smeared on top! 

Yummy, Yum, YUM!!

* * * * * * * 

In other news, I repotted my lemon tree yesterday & took her outside to enjoy the warm weather! It's a bit chillier today, though, so she's back in the house!

Don't worry little tree, summertime will be here... eventually!

Ciao sista... where ever you are!

Sharing today at:

Seed Starting Mix Trial Part 2: Planting

Hi Sherrill. Happy Wednesday! You asked a good question in your comment on Part 1 about light. I should clarify up front that I'm not going to try & grow my seedlings with just the paltry window light that seeps in through the trees in our back yard. No way. I have a big ol' 5' wide shop light that should have a stand built by Saturday & all the seedlings will be lined up across the top of that shelf on a board under two florescent bulbs. Seeds, in general, don't need light to germinate-- only warmth and moisture. As long as I have some good strong light for when they emerge from the soil, we'll be all good!

Color-coded plant labels: Green - Green Planet, Red - Jiffy, Black - Black Gold.

Okay, after planting seeds in all three mixes last night, today I would like address what I noticed about each brand.

Packaging: 
The Black Gold packaging irritated me right away, as there were what looked to be deliberate air circulation holes punched in regular intervals all over the plastic bag containing the soil; anyone who has dealt with bagged soil before knows what this mean! Wherever the bag went, a thin dusting of gritty, statically charged soil trailed after! I tried taping up all the holes I could find, but finally had to put the whole bag into another bag just to keep from having my whole house covered in ground up sphagnum peat moss & perlite! Not fun.

The Jiffy mix comes packaged in a heavy duty, crinkly (aka noisy!) plastic bag-- no air holes, so no mess. Both of these brands are heat  sealed at the top & have to be cut open to access the soil, which also means there is no way to reseal these bags after opening it.

To my happy surprise, however, the Green Plant Naturals (GPN) soil arrived in a sturdy (but not crinkly!) weight plastic bag with a resealable, zip-lock opening at the top! Nice. Of the three, of course, only GPN had a friendly personalized note written on it too!

• Conclusion: GPN wins in the packaging category, hands down.

Composition & Texture: 

As you can clearly see in the above photo, there is a distinct difference in color, texture & composition between the three soil mixes.

The Black gold mix, which, according to the web site is comprised of  Canadian Sphagnum peat Moss(which has been double-screened to remove larger particles and sticks); fine perlite and vermiculite, has a noticeably high concentration of  perlite (the white rock particles). Perlite is used to provide oxygen and good drainage to the mix so the sprouting roots can breathe. To make perlite, natural volcanic glass (obsidian) is heated to extreme temperatures until it expands to 7-16 times its original volume. Perlite is common in all commercial potting mixes, and it is clearly evident in both the Black Gold and the Jiffy mix.

The Black Gold mix arrived dry to the touch and clumpy. The clumps were easy to break up, which resulted in a dry, fluffy medium for planting seeds. Once the seeds were planted and I attempted to water them in, however, the soil actually repelled the water, displacing the soil in the cups. The water eventually settled in, but I'm now unsure how much the seeds were moved around in the cups; I doubt they are still in the center, where I planted them!

Black Gold - Lots of perlite. Dry & clumpy.

The back of the Jiffy bag states that their mix consists of 40%-50% sphagnum peat moss, vermiculite, lime, and "wetting medium" (whatever that is... perlite, maybe?!). Of the three mixes, this mix has the dryest, most processed feel to it. It has a very fine, almost powdered texture, as all of the particles have been ground to tiny pieces, as can be seen below. 

It was difficult to photograph, but this mixture also has a high vermiculite content, which is apparent from the color, lofty texture, and the sheen of the mica-like vermiculite particles. Like perlite, vermiculite is created by exposing a mineral, (biotite or phlogopite) to high heat. Pouring water into this mix  had an even more disruptive effect than trying to water in the previous mix. Not unlike trying to pour water into dust, this mix billowed up in the cup, repelling the water and, no doubt, moving my seeds to some unknown region of the planting pot. It did soak in after a few minutes, though. 

Jiffy Mix - Lots of vermiculite. Dry & powdery.

Of the three mixes, the GPN Seed Starting Mix is the only one to contain anything close to actual soil: compost! Of the three, it looks the most like natural soil, resembling the humus-rich top soil you might find on a forest floor. This mix is comprised of coco coir, sphagnum peat moss, fine volcanic pumice (instead of the highly processed perlite or vermiculite), and organic compost. Of the three, this is the only mix that does not seem overly-processed. The organic matter is clearly apparent, and it arrived in its bag perfectly moist with a pleasant, cushiony texture. The few clumps that I encountered were easily broken up, and appeared to be made up of compost. 

Honestly, of the three mixes, this is the mix I was the most excited about tucking my seeds into! And all you garden-nerds out there know what I mean! Unlike the other two mixes, the water that I poured into the pots containing the Green Planet Naturals mix soaked right in & was absorbed immediately, and I am confident that my little tomato, pepper, eggplant & onion seeds are sitting tight, right where I placed them!

Green Planet Naturals - Most like actual soil. Moist & humus-rich!

On a final note, I should add that both my husband, who knows next to nothing about soil mixes, and my seven year old son, who's spent much of his life digging in the dirt next to mama, both commented that the GPN mix looked like the best mix. As my son put it, "That one's the right color of brown. It looks like dirt."

• Conclusion: If I had to choose between these three mixes based on the packaging, the composition & the texture alone, I would choose the Green Planet Naturals Seed Starting Mix in a heartbeat. I'm excited and, also, truthfully, a little anxious to see if there's a noticeable difference in seedling performance between these three mediums. Like any garden mama, I want all my little green things to grow big & strong!

Okay, Sherrill. I'll report again next week, when I should start seeing some signs of seedlings emerging! I'm totally exciting! Anticipatory! Expectant, even!

Let's end with a good quote about gardening... and weather:  

Weather means more when you have a garden.  There's nothing like listening

to a shower and thinking how it is soaking in around your green beans. 

~Marcelene Cox

Might as well make friends with the rain, right? 'Cause you know as well as I do that it's going to be our constant companion for the next 4 months... at least!!!

Ciao!

Go here to read Part 3: Do You See What I See?

Seed Starting Mix Trial Part 1: How'd I Get Into This?!

Hey Sherrill! So, I'm embarking on a seed starting mix trial today! That's right, a test of three different bagged starting soil mixes! It's not enough for me to just start veggies in early February. In the house. Under lights. No, I've got to add something dramatic to make it interesting!

You may be wondering how in the world I got myself into this bucket-o-fun! Well, it goes like this: I was on the computer one day thinking about starting seeds. I knew I wanted to try a different starting procedure,  as my seedling results last year were terrible! I started them with bottom heat & under lights out in the greenhouse, but they just never took off. Oh, they sprouted & set about four leaves, but then all of those poor little tomatoes just sat there. And sat there. And SAT there... literally for weeks! They barely grew at all! I watered them & kept the bottom  heat on, but by May I had to admit defeat, toss the whole lot into the compost pile & buy starts to plant in the garden! Very discouraging.

So anyway, this year I knew I had to do something different. Where did I start? Well, where I always start-- by doing research on the internets. Specifically, I was thinking maybe there were some potting soil reviews I could read, or maybe even a local brand of soil mix that would be a better alternative to the super-homogonized "big boy" brands. I didn't find much of the former, but within a few clicks, I did find the latter-- Green Planet Naturals Seed Starting Mix, based in Oregon! Score! Where did I find it? On Amazon, of course. The price for a bag was reasonable ($6.99 for 20 qts), but it was not eligible for Prime shipping, and the $20+ shipping made me cough uncontrollably.

I continued searching around to see what else I could find or to see if anyone else was selling this brand with a lower shipping price. Pretty quickly I landed in the actual Green Planet Naturals store. I added a bag of soil to my shopping cart & put in my zip code, bracing myself for the shipping quote... and no shipping charge appeared! Huh. I was pretty sure it was a mistake, but I went ahead and finished the transaction, even though I was almost positive there was a catch; who's going to offer free shipping on a big, ol' heavy bag of dirt?! Come on!

Not surprisingly, I received an email pretty quickly from a super nice gal named Linda who seemed utterly surprised that I was even able to locate the product page, let alone complete the transaction, since their storefront was still under construction. I accepted the refund she offered me, but I also started asking some questions about the product & the company, explaining that I was unhappy with my seed starting experience last year & that I was looking for a better, more local product. We emailed back and forth for much of the afternoon, and I finally asked her if she would be able to send a free sample of their product if I wrote a review here, and she said yes!

Last week about 4 quarts of seed starting mix arrived in the mail. I will be testing it against two other brands, which both claim to be organic-- Black Gold, and Jiffy.

Tonight I spent a good 2 1/2 hours getting everything set up, organizing & counting out my "pots" (recycled Tillamook yogurt containers!), photographing soil, carefully labeling plant markers, planting & watering in 3 pots each of 16 different varieties of veggies--  tomatoes, peppers, eggplant & onions! Here they are, all my babies tucked in for the night:

 Okay, Miss Sherrill, I'll post "Part 2: Planting" tomorrow. Right now it's time to get a girlie girl ready for bed! Sweet dreams little seeds; here's some inspiration for you:

Go here to read Part 2: Planting

Tutorial: How to Foster Chicks with a Broody Hen

Hey Sherrill, I know it's a little early for chicks, but I don't know about you, but I'm getting antsy for spring! Happens every year. The days start getting a bit longer... a few days in January feel almost spring-like... my thoughts start wandering to crocuses and daffodils, garden soil and baby chicks. It's a big tease, of course. It will be cold and wet for at least a few more months... and then just wet for a couple more, but it's not too early to start planning, and I thought now might be a good time to share the steps to tricking a broody hen into raising your feed store chicks for you!

A year ago last summer we found ourselves with some new pullets. One of them was a beautiful Golden Laced Wyandotte:

Such a pretty girl

But by the next spring, our pretty girl had transformed into this!!!

Yikes! Beware of the Broody!

So, how do you know if your hen has gone broody? Here are the signs:

• She sits in a nest box all day without getting out.
• She "hoards" eggs underneath her, sometimes ever stealing the other hens' eggs to sit on!
• She will puff up, spread out her wings and growl and cluck loudly in an attempt to protect her eggs when you approach her. Be careful! She might even try to peck you!
• She refuses to move off of her eggs, and even if you take her off her nest, she'll return the minute you leave.
• She will also stop laying eggs as her body goes further into "brood" mode.

Not all hens are prone to broodiness; many of the more modern, hybridized "layer hens" have had this trait bred out of them, since broody hens are not really a bonus if all you're interested in is a chicken who spit out an egg every 26 hours without fail. If you want to add new chickens to your flock, though, and you don't want to deal with raising chicks under a heat lamp -- a fun, but also messy & kind of smelly project, once the chicks start to feather out and get larger -- a broody hen can be a real asset! 

Heritage chicken breeds that are more likely to go broody are:

• Plymouth Rocks
• Delawares
• Wyandottes
• Brahmas
• Orpingtons
• Bantams

So, if you think you might have a broody hen & you would like her to 

do the dirty work of raising some new chicks for your flock, 

here are the steps to follow for a more than likely successful outcome: 

Step One: Watch her for a week

If you think you have a broody hen and you're considering trying to convince her to foster some chicks, you'll want to give her some time and watch her to see if the broodiness is going to "stick". On a calendar, mark the day she starts exhibiting broody behavior, and make a note each day that it continues. She should be encouraged to get off the nest once a day to eat & drink, but if she's truly serious about setting, she will hop right back on the nest once she's had a bite & a sip. If she continues to brood for a full week, it's time to try moving her to a secure location. 

Step Two: Move her to a "brooding pen"

In our case, Mama Hen (as we now refer to her), removed herself from the coop after a week or so of setting. Where did she choose to brood? The wood shed! This girl was so committed to brooding, that she sat on an empty nest for another week before we finally decided to move her and purchase some chicks for her to, hopefully, foster and raise. Before you run out and buy those adorable puff balls, though, be sure you have a secure area for your mama to raise her babies. We already had a small fenced area near the chicken yard to use; all we had to do was block any gaps in the fence the chicks might squeeze through & put straw in the old unused dog house we use for temporary quarters when we're transitioning new hens into the flock.

Your brooding pen should have the following elements:

• A fence to keep the mama & chicks in a secure area away from the other hens! This is very important! It is quite likely that your other chickens will try to kill the babies. They need to be kept away from the other grown hens until they are fully feathered out and large enough to protect themselves. 
• A small dog house, wooden crate, or other small "house" that will keep mama and her babies dry and warm. Fill the bottom of this container with straw or wood shavings.
• Food and water-- for mama until the chicks "hatch", and then for all of them! You can go ahead and purchase a bag of "chick grow" feed and give it to mama before the chicks arrive. It won't hurt her any at all.
• Some way to secure the box at night. For us, this meant putting a piece of plywood in front of the dog house opening and placing a large rock in front of the plywood at night so mama and chicks were safe from the unlikely prospect of a neighborhood dog or a stray raccoon getting in to our fenced yard. If you live in an open rural area where predators are more of a danger, you'll need to construct some type of latching door or other system to truly protect your little feathered family at night. You might even consider housing your whole brooding pen in a garage, out building or barn that can be shut up at night. Mama will do her best to protect her babies, (and it's quite a sight to see!), but keep in mind that she's only a chicken & she can only do so much! It's truly up to you to make sure those babies don't become some random animal's lunch!

Step Three: Continue to count days & watch mama

In general, it takes three weeks for chicks to hatch, so you'll want your hen to sit for at least that long. You can place real eggs under her or fake ones such as Wooden Eggs, golf balls, or even plastic easter eggs stuffed with tissue! In our case, we put some real eggs under her, and she continued to sit for the full three weeks, so we knew it was time to smuggle in some chicks!

Step Four: Acquire some day old chicks & wait for the dark of night

It's important that you buy the youngest chicks you can find. I wouldn't recommend ordering them through the mail, as they may already have feathers growing in by the time they arrive! Your local feed store is really the your best bet for brand new chicks that you can hand pick. Find out from your store when their chicks are delivered and go that day! What you're looking for are balls of fluff with no wing feathers growing in yet. It matters not at all the color or breed of the chick, in fact some people have their chicken mamas raise turkey poults!

You will, of course, need to have all of the materials on hand for raising the chicks yourself, just in case mama decides she doesn't really want to raise babies. This can happen & it's vitally important to the survival of the chicks that you are prepared for this possibility!

Okay, so you have your chicks & you are understandably very excited about putting then in with their new "mama"! Wait, though. Keep your babies warm in their box until a couple of hours (or more) after the sun has set. Then, sneak out as quietly as you can and gently remove the eggs from under your sleeping hen, replacing them with the chicks, making sure they are tucked snuggly under her wing for warmth. The chicks are naturally attracted to warmth & should snuggle right in. Secure mama & chicks in their box and wait with your finger's firmly crossed until morning!

When you go out the next day, if all has gone well you will be welcomed by 

the adorable sight of your proud mama hen and her new fuzz butt: 

Unfortunately, even if you've followed all of the steps above, your hen may not take to mamahood, and you may have to rescue your chicks and bring them inside to raise; there's just no telling. This was the first time we'd ever tried to have a hen raise purchased chicks, though, and it worked like a charm for us! I think the most important step is making absolutely sure that your hen is truly committed to brooding. This takes weeks of observation on your part, and no amount of hoping and wishful thinking is going to turn a fickle brooder into a dedicated mama.

If this process does work for you, though, you now have an invaluable treasure in your flock: a reliable mama hen to do the hard work of raising chicks for you! Yay! You can say goodbye to heat lamps, chicken dust is the dining room... and random chickens jumping out of the brood box and wandering around the house! 

This one turned out to be a boy!

So, Sherrill, I'll let you know if mama hen gets broody again soon... 

maybe she can raise your new chicken tractor tenants for you! 

Ciao!

Snapshots: Knitting Meetup 1.26.13

Birthday sachet from Miss Sherrill.

Hand knit hand spun cowl on Miss Sherrill.

Spring green socks!

Spripey Socks!

Gauge swatch for a new project I'll be sharing next week. As usual, two needle sizes down!

Never ending moss stitch shawl. An iPhone. A basket. Some keys.

A gorgeous finished object!

Oh, and karma. Somebody's been teasing me about forgetting things... 
somebody also walked off without her coffee grounds... 
Gotcha!

Until the next meet up, my friends, keep knitting! (Sorry my camera missed you, Jieun!)