March 2010
www.bountea.com  
In This Issue
March Garden Tasks
Veggies in Containers
Quick Links
 Dear Reader,

I hope you have visited our revitalized website.  We are continuing to upgrade all the information and organize it so it is easy to access.  Please let us know if you have any suggestions.  I was recently interview by Alex Wise of Sea Change Radio  – the MP3 file is also available on our website.
Roland in the garden
When I was in San
Francisco doing the interview with Alex, he showed me his small back yard and patio.  He commented that he, like a majority of city dwellers, just did not have the garden space to grow what he would like.  This month’s article addresses this problem by offering tips on how to grow vegetables in containers.  Everyone should have at least a few lettuces and tomatoes this summer.
On the gardening front, the weather continues very cold and snowy, and I am gradually slipping behind my ideal planting schedule.  However, I am being diligent
with the Bountea Blog, so you can read my up-to-date postings on fava beans and oriental greens.  You can also find my thoughts on garden ecology and some future musings on the relationship between gardening and inner growth.


Regards,

Roland Evans

Organic Bountea


March Garden Tasks
(March 15th — April 15th)March is a tricky month so use your experience to decide what, when and
how to plant.
Tip: Risk an
early planting of a portion of seeds or seedlings — save enough in case
of a killing frost.Vegetable
seeds indoors: eggplants, peppers, tomatoes, basil.  Soak peas
and germinate in a plastic bag with a damp paper towel.
Flower seeds indoors: Half Hardy
Annuals — snapdragon, begonias, aster, impatiens, lobelia, petunia,
hollyhock, alyssum, etc.  Try germinating as above.
Roots,Vegetable seeds outdoors (temperatures
over 40 degrees): beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots,
cauliflower, chard, kohlrabi, arugula, mesclun, lettuce, onions,
parsnips, radishes, rutabaga, spinach, turnips, chives, cilantro, dill,
fennel, thyme, oregano, sage.
Flower
seeds outdoors: Hardy Annuals — sweet pea, larkspur, bachelor’s
button, calendula, violas.

tubers and plants outdoors: onion sets, seed potatoes, rhubarb
burls, shallots, strawberry plants, grapes (mulch grape roots),
tarragon.

Ornamentals:
cut back ornamental grasses, transplant shrubs and roses that need to be
moved.

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The Bountea Growing System:  Now is the  time to apply your first dose of Bountea, if you have not done already.  Be sure to add Root Web and M3 to your first brew.  Dose the whole garden that is workable including your indoor and outdoor containers.
 

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Veggies in Containers

Most people have grown a plant in a pot.  Growing vegetables in containers is
similar but needs a little more care and attention, particularly at the start.  The idea is to reproduce a mini garden
ecology.  Disregard advice that
suggests mono-crops in soilless potting mixes with chemical fertilizers.  Think rich moist soil, mulches,
companion planting and micro-environments.Containers


Purchase or build sturdy, wide and deep containers.  Except when you are growing
shallow-rooted vegetable such as lettuce (see below), your vegetables need as
much space as possible to expand their root systems.  14″ – 18″ square containers, 12″ deep are optimum but any
large pot (2 gallons plus) will do. Modern self-watering containers are
excellent for the busy gardener.

Most containers need adequate drainage.  However, lettuce and all salad greens
can be grown in 4″ deep trays with no drainage holes.  Cover the bottom ½” of the tray with pea gravel.  Cut out sturdy weed-supressant cloth to
fit over the gravel and fill the rest of the depth with your soil mix.

 

Container Soil

Make your own premium potting soils, even if that means
adding something to bagged mixes.  Soil
is the essential element of your container garden and should be rich, fertile and
porous with a slightly open texture.
Coir coconut fiber is a better soil base than sphagnum peatmoss: it is
renewal, holds water and does not degrade as fast.  Avoid potting soils that are mostly ground up bark.

 

Garden compost, Humisoil or mushroom compost is
essential to contain moisture… read more



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Care for your Plants — Care for your Soil — Care for our Earth
the Bountea way.

 

Organic Bountea
info@bountea.com  800-798-0765