photo credit: starmist1

I just wrote this rather long comment on Fern’s blog, in response to her post on climate change. I really love her blog and don’t mean to sound critical, but I thought it was worth repeating here, because her comments reflect a common misconception about how scientists are investigating climate change. Often people look at one year or one season’s weather and notice it is cooler than the previous year and so conclude that there isn’t clear evidence of climate change. The problem with this is that you can look at 1 or 2 years or even 3-5 years and find evidence for or against climate change.

There is a big difference between observing the weather and measuring the climate. I understand why many people, including some scientists are still not sure, but it’s important to talk about why so many scientists are convinced. Weather in individual places over time might be warmer or cooler year to year or season to season–there are always those types of variations. What makes many scientists worry is the changes in average temperatures world wide, over decades.

Biologists are also finding many plants and animals that are changing their ranges or flowering earlier. As gardeners, we can and should be helping to gather evidence about climate change in our local areas. Some gardeners regularly monitor the weather, including daily highs and lows, rainfall, and the first and last frosts of the year. This is the kind of information that, if it’s continuous for decades, lets you begin seeing climate change in action. You can also monitor your garden plants for changes in seasonality. If you want to monitor climate change for yourself and help scientists you could join the National Phenology Network. Their volunteers have been monitoring the dates of flower blooms (lilac and honeysuckle since 1956).  It’s normal to see flowers bloom earlier one year and later another, but when you monitor for decades and the average bloom date gets earlier and earlier, that’s when scientists start to worry.

It’s common for people to look at year to year variations and wonder where the evidence is, but a climate scientist is looking at decades (for temperature and precipitation changes) or centuries (if they are looking a CO2 levels in frozen ice.)

Here are a couple of audio stories from NPR about phenology.

Climate Scientists Enlist Citizen Volunteers
Beautiful Lilacs Tell a Tale About Climate

If you want more information, you might want to pick up The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth by Tim Flannery. Flannery does a good job of explaining what evidence scientists are examining and related politics.

Technorati Tags: climate change, environmental politics

photo credit: tillwe

I’m still getting my patio garden set up and arranged, but one of the first things I bought to plant was some herbs. Herbs make me happy. They are beautiful, they like to grow in pots, and they then I don’t spend a bunch of money when I need some fresh herbs for cooking. I don’t know about you but I always feel like it’s such a waste to buy fresh herbs from the store. A small bunch of herbs costs $1-$1.50. I use a few springs and then the rest rots in my fridge, it’s such a waste. A small herb plant only costs $2-3 dollars and you can continue to pick sprigs off it almost year round here in Eugene.

Here are a few of my favorite perennial herbs for a patio…

The picture above is Thyme, which, like many Mediterranean herbs likes hot, dry conditions. Below are kitchen sage, oregano, and rosemary. All these herbs would enjoy a nice spot next to a sunny, warm wall.

Although these are shown planted individually, you can also plant herbs in large pots mixed with other herbs and flowers. I like to grow a tall herb with a trailing flower like nasturtiums or a trailing herb like thyme with an upright flower like geranium or marigolds.

photo credit: The County Clerk

photo credit: yashima

photo credit: ceejayoz

Technorati Tags: edible landscaping, Growing Herbs, kitchen garden, kitchen herbs, Patio Gardening, Small Garden Design

photo credit: dok1

One task you should be thinking about in your fall garden is preparing your sustainable landscape now for spring planting. There are lots of different ways to prepare your garden dirt for spring planting from double digging to lasagna gardening. If you prepare your garden beds now then you can plant earlier in the spring, when the dirt is still too cold and wet to dig.

There are many good organic amendments you can add to your garden dirt now because the soil amendments will have time to rest over the winter and be ready to enrich your soil in the spring. Many organic soil amendments like compost or manure can chemically burn your plants if you add them to your while they are too fresh. Adding them to your dirt now will give them time to mellow before you plant.

What should you add to your soil now? Compost! If you don’t have compost from your own compost pile ready many cities now compost green-waste and allow residents to pick up the finished compost. If your city doesn’t do this you can buy compost from your local nursery.

One of my favorite soil amendments is old bedding from horse stables. Most stables have a huge pile of this stuff sitting around and are happy to let you truck it off for them. The bedding is a usually mix of horse manure and wood shavings which enriches and loosens your garden soil. It will contain some grass seeds that might germinate, but I have found that these are easily weeded in the spring when they are small. If you don’t want to risk it nurseries sell various types of animal manure that has been sterilized to kill any bacteria or seeds.

Again, this manure might still be chemically “hot” and burn your plants if you put it straight on your plantings. If the manure still has a strong yucky smell I would be cautious about where you put it. Finished compost and composted manure shouldn’t smell bad.

Another great thing to add to your garden dirt is leaves. You have to rake them off your lawn anyway, you might as well put them to good use. Composted leaves can be a great soil amendment. The trick is getting them to stay where you want them and not blow around. If you have a chipper you can put them through that and then spread them directly over your beds. You can also run over them with a lawn mower to break them up before spreading them. Some gardeners spread them as is on their beds, but I find that whole leaves tend to mat up over the winter making spring planting difficult. They also blow around causing you to have to rake them up again. Another option is to bag them up and allow them to decompose over the winter and then add them to your soil in the spring.

The final question in preparing your garden dirt for spring is whether to dig your amendments into the soil or mulch. Gardeners generally have strong opinions about this one way or another. I prefer to dig amendments into the soil of my vegetable beds once a year and then mulch. I also dig in lots of organic material like compost or manure when I first prepare a perennial bed or border. Many people advocate a no-dig method in order to reduce erosion and avoid disturbing soil ecosystem. No-dig can work, but it takes time (as in years) and I’m too impatient. I like to jump start my garden dirt! How about you? What are your favorite ways to prepare your soil for planting?

Technorati Tags: fall gardening, Garden Dirt, organic soil preparation

photo credit: la fattina

This fall I’m starting a brand new patio garden at my new home in Eugene. One of my first steps was acquiring some nice containers. My patio does have some soil around the edges, but it’s fairly shady and the soil is filled with tree roots, so I’m focusing on planting in containers for now.

Plants in containers are much more susceptible to overheating, lack of water, or drying winds than plants in your garden beds. In order to be successful in growing plants in containers you need to choose your containers carefully. Here are six common mistakes gardeners make when choosing containers for their patio garden:

• Terra Cotta – Most gardeners love the look of terra cotta. The problem with terra cotta containers is that they lose moisture rather quickly. The biggest danger for plants living in containers on a patio is uneven moisture. Most plants need damp roots and will die if you let them dry out frequently. If your patio is very damp and shady terra cotta may be a good choice.
• Dark Colored Containers – In sunny weather dark colored plastic, metal, or wooden containers can heat up quickly damaging you plants’ roots.
• Containers with No Drainage – It’s fun to recycle vintage containers for planting, but you can’t plant directly into a container without making sure it has some sort of hole in the bottom so that excess water can drain out. Plants breath through their roots, they need oxygen. If you over-water a container without drainage you could drown your plants.
• Containers that are Too Small – Small containers can’t hold much soil and so dry out quickly. In dry or windy weather you can water in the morning and the soil in a small container may be dry again in a couple of hours.
• Recycling Containers Without Sterilizing – In healthy garden beds the microorganisms in the soil help fight off plant diseases, but potting soil from your local nursery is sterile. Containers that you buy new from a nursery shouldn’t be carrying any plant diseases but if you get containers used you should always wash them with soap and water and then rinse with a diluted mixture of a little hydrogen peroxide and a lot water. This treatment should kill anything nasty that could be lingering from old plantings.
• Forgetting to get saucers or pot feet – Pot saucers are important for small containers, without them water will run straight through your potting soil and might not soak in. For larger containers pot feet can be used to keep your pots off the surface of your patio. All your containers need something to keep them off the surface of your patio because otherwise you risk permanently damage or staining.

I have been frequenting garage sales and have managed to acquire several attractive, barely used containers for my patio garden. The smallest containers I use are at least six inches tall and wide and mostly I like much larger containers. Besides being easier to care for large containers allow me to group different plants together to create attractive displays. Normally I’m not a big advocate of using plastic, but I don’t feel bad about saving nice plastic containers that might otherwise go to a landfill. You can also get attractive wooden containers or biodegradable containers made from corn. I haven’t tried the new biodegradable containers yet, but I’m hoping that they will be a durable, attractive alternative to terra cotta and plastic. What are your favorite containers? Do you buy your garden containers new or up-cycle them?

Technorati Tags: choosing garden containers, container gardening, organic gardening, Patio Gardening