Sunday, April 10, 2011

Germination and My Electric Lawn Mower

This morning we had sustained rain. The rain has brought moisture and nitrogen to earth. The impact was virtually immediate.

GREEN!

Although it is going to keep me out of the dirt for a few hours this morning.

Artichokes:

I chipped my seed, soaked in warm water overnight, used a heat mat. Packet says 10-14 days. Well, it has been about two weeks and nada. Reading through information it appears germination is poor overall, at least here in the United States. Further reading gives me to think that commercially, most artichokes that end up on my plate are grown from offsets; however, it does not seem possible for the home gardener to purchase these offsets.

One horticulturalist in Britain seems to think seed is the way to go

Radicchio:

Wow! I am impressed. Seed packaged by Burpee's. I've pricked out seedlings. They look great.

Best Practices:

As part of this blog, I am attempting to record some best practices. Something I've have started doing is tracking those cultivars that grow well and produce well with a minimal amount of fuss here in central Wisconsin. That means talking to successful gardeners and watching their techniques; what they pant, when they plant, how they cultivate it and any other special cultivating techniques. It also means trying odd things in my own garden.

Late last summer on close-out, I bought a corded electric lawnmower (the Earthwise corded electric lawnmower). Okay, the cord--not so great. The cost of an extra battery and no cord? Out of my budget. I have a tiny yard, and less and less grass, so a corded mower is not an incredible pain. What I did with my mower last fall was to mow down my perennial/shrub border (mowed around the shrubs). My dull-bladed reel mower can't do that.

I really like this mower. It is so quiet, and being electric, starts at the flip of a handle. I can release the handle and walk away and move a lawn chair and come right back and flip the handle and continue mowing, without starting issues. The problems with maintenance on 2-cycle engines was a big issue for me. My electric mower is quiet. I feel like I am vacuuming my lawn. For the he-man in your life you might want to get some sort of "more power" soundtrack and an aerosol spray of "eau de gas-belching engine" cologne. Lawn mowing suddenly doesn't seem like such a masculine "sport"!

This spring after raking out my lawn, I mowed the heaps of leaves. What were piles leaves, pine needles, and dead grass were chopped into almost nothing. I raked this into about four buckets and spread it out on my perennial border. No bagged leaves. Composting in place.

I have long believed that everything you take out of your yard is taking away from the nutrients available in your yard for your plants.

Of course, then you can go out and buy commercial fertilizers to replace what you just sent to the landfill...

1 comment:

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