Organic gardeners reveal their best tips and tricks for starting seeds, creating healthy soil, tending the garden, and stretching the growing season in Gardener to Gardener¿ Seed-Starting Primer & Almanac. Compiled for gardeners just like you by the editors and readers of Organic Gardening magazine, you'll find month-by-month activities, timesaving gadgets, and wheelbarrow loads of garden-tested advice, such as how to:
* Increase yields by rounding the surface of flat garden beds
* Build a compost and soil sifter to fit on top of your garden cart or wheelbarrow
* Diagnose soil trouble by identifying which weeds are in your garden
* Turn leaves into fabulous fertilizer using a three-pronged approach
* Get your apples off to a strong start when planting rootstocks in five easy steps
* Use a small fan to help your seedlings develop sturdier stems and minimize the chance of fungal diseases
Gardener to Gardener
Best-Ever Seed Tape
It's difficult to space tiny seeds like those of carrots in the garden, so I make homemade seed tapes by prespacing the dark seeds over a white surface. Here's how to do it:
1. Unroll a strip of toilet paper on a table, mist it with a sprayer, and place the seeds along the center of the paper. (Alternate carrot seeds with radish seeds because when the radishes sprout, they help to mark the row and break the ground.)
2. Starting along the strip's long edge, fold a third of the paper over the seeds, then fold the other third over. Tamp the paper, misting it again to secure the seeds. Make as many of these strips as you need. Then fold the strips up and carefully carry them to the garden.
3. Make shallow furrows in the prepared soil, lay the strips down, and cover them. In a jiffy, your carrots will be planted and perfectly spaced.
Doris Ekblad
Prairie Farm, Wisconsin
* Increase yields by rounding the surface of flat garden beds
* Build a compost and soil sifter to fit on top of your garden cart or wheelbarrow
* Diagnose soil trouble by identifying which weeds are in your garden
* Turn leaves into fabulous fertilizer using a three-pronged approach
* Get your apples off to a strong start when planting rootstocks in five easy steps
* Use a small fan to help your seedlings develop sturdier stems and minimize the chance of fungal diseases
Gardener to Gardener
Best-Ever Seed Tape
It's difficult to space tiny seeds like those of carrots in the garden, so I make homemade seed tapes by prespacing the dark seeds over a white surface. Here's how to do it:
1. Unroll a strip of toilet paper on a table, mist it with a sprayer, and place the seeds along the center of the paper. (Alternate carrot seeds with radish seeds because when the radishes sprout, they help to mark the row and break the ground.)
2. Starting along the strip's long edge, fold a third of the paper over the seeds, then fold the other third over. Tamp the paper, misting it again to secure the seeds. Make as many of these strips as you need. Then fold the strips up and carefully carry them to the garden.
3. Make shallow furrows in the prepared soil, lay the strips down, and cover them. In a jiffy, your carrots will be planted and perfectly spaced.
Doris Ekblad
Prairie Farm, Wisconsin
