Char's Gardening"As the Garden Grows, so does the Gardener"

Tomato grafting in not a new technique, though most Americans have never heard of it.  Japan and other European countries have been grafting tomatoes, and other veggies, for half a century.   At a tomato workshop I attended yesterday, at the Santa Rosa County extension, Dr. Johanna Welch, taught this technique.   I will attempt to demonstrate the technique below.  At the end of the lecture, when someone asked Dr. Welch, why we Americans were just now, 50 years later beginning to graft, her answer dismayed but did not surprise me.  She said, our farmers have been reliant on cheap chemicals, such as ethylene, to fight tomato diseases while other countries have chosen other ways to deal with this problem.   When grafting tomatoes, a root stock resistant to the most prevalent and deadly diseases is chosen and then grafted to the better tasting ones (this top portion is called the scion).   This allows farmers or gardeners to no longer be reliant on toxic chemicals.

Here’s the list of supplies needed for tomato grafting:

-Root stock seedlings, about 4 wks old  (they must have their true leaves)

-Scion seedlings, about 4 wks old (they must have their true leaves)

-Razor blade

-Cutting board

-70% alcohol solution (the working area must be sterile)

-Grafting clips or tubes (1.5mm to 2.0 mm)

root stock on left, scion on right

cut root stock below cotyledons and scion above cotyledons (You want the root stock to be longer than the scion b/c graft must be above ground when planted)

lay root stock and scion next to each other and using a razor make a 45 degree cut through both of them

this is what it should look like after cut, next you would press the two together and place the clip or tube over graft

this is the picture of the grafted tomato I got from the workshop

the grafted tomato must stay humid and out of direct sunlight for a week and then be hardened off, mist it daily while in the bag

If you are interested in tomato grafting Johnn’y Selected Seed’s has both root stock seeds and the grafting clips.  The  University of Arizona is a very informative site.

One of my “New Years Changes” was to try to eat local.  I do not believe I will be 100% local, which admittedly was my original uneducated aspiration.  Maybe 75% can be done.  There are things that are not grown in my area, such as rice and grains, but the things that I can’t get locally I will be buying organic and fair trade.   I am not a trend follower, but if you are not growing your own food, buying organic or locally,  you may want to jump on the bandwagon at this time.

Here is an eye opening excerpt from an article I found through, 100 mile locavores.  You may want to think twice before eating another pineapple.

“Pineapples need very large amounts of pesticides, about 20kg of active ingredient per hectare per cycle. The soil is sterilised; biodiversity is eliminated. Fourteen to 16 different types of treatment are typically needed, and many have to be applied several times. They use chemicals that are dangerous for the environment and human health. The chemicals involved are legal in Costa Rica but include some of the most controversial in the world.”  Read the entire article here.

"GROWING LOCAL - The Truth About YOUR Food" 
brought to you by Raw & Juicy and Twin Oaks Farm

Tuesday Feb 8th : Movie begins at 6:30

"What's Organic about Organic?"

WHAT’S ORGANIC ABOUT “ORGANIC?” rings the alarm for the need to develop
an ecological
consciousness.  The film illustrates that the organic food
debate extends well beyond personal choice and into the realm of social
responsibility. Each of the film’s characters is intimately connected to the organic
world; they’re farmers, activists, and scientists.  While many folks can
easily endorse “organic,” the characters in the film take the
discussion beyond just shopping for another eco-label. As we glimpse
into each of their lives, we see how organic agriculture has the
potential to solve many of our environmental and health problems.  The
film will explore how organic farming can be used as a soil and air
protection system, a healthy solution to toxic pollution, and an
innovative means to combat global warming.

     Fountain Square, DOWNTOWN FWB  
     196 Miracle Strip Pkwy SE
     Fort Walton Beach  

EAT LOCAL 5PM  * held in the Art Lair, Unit G

Sorry, this post is so late, but I hope if you live in the Fort Walton area you can come and join us.

Headed to superbowl party!  Taking betting board and desert!  Go Steelers!!!

Not too much happening in the garden but fresh veggies always brighten the day.

Fresh veggies

Bees are vital to the success of our veggie gardens, with nearly one third of our food crops being pollinated by bees.  Bee populations are down, but here are a few things we as gardeners can do help attract bees to our gardens.

-Plant flowers and herbs that produce nectar and pollen.

-Plant native flowers rather than hybrids.

-Use combination of plants that will produce nectar and pollen throughout the year.

-Don’t use pesticides.

-Make sure water and shelter are available.

If you need ideas for plants click here.

Honey bee courtesy of aboutbees.org

Although most of us know the importance of honey bees, many are unaware of the Africanized honey bees, better known as “killer” bees.  The africanized honey bee unlike the European, normal, honey bee is very aggressive and territorial.  These bees moved into the United States via south Texas back in 1990 and have spread to many areas in the South.  They will not seek you out, but if you stray near their hives, they will make you pay.

African honey bee swarm courtesy texasento.net

Here are a few things you can do to insure these bees do not move into your home and yard.

-Remove potential nesting site

-Inspect exterior walls and eaves and seal openings greater than 1/8-inch

-Install screens (1/8-inch hardware cloth) over vents, rain spouts, water meter/utility boxes, tree cavities, etc.

-During peak swarming season (spring through fall) inspect once or twice a week for any bee activity.

If you see a nest stay away!  Do not spray the nest with anything, and call your local bee club to remove it.

If you disturb a hive here are a few things to do.

-Run for shelter.  Do not jump into a pool, they will stay and wait for you to surface.

-Cover your head with your shirt, as bees will get into your ears, nose, and mouth.

Click here to see where these bees have spread.

I think most of us gardeners are asking ourselves what are we to do in January.   Since the weather here has been a bit warmer yesterday and today I thought it was about time for an outing or two.  First up, a visit to the Port City Market in Pensacola.  This market is small but it does the job.  At the market there were artists, veggie farmers, a farmer selling local organic meat, and another person selling organic coffee.

Port City Market

Honestly, I am not sure who I was more happy to find, Green Acres Farm who had the pasture raised meats or Keens Beans with organic coffee.  Let’s just say, since the morning was still a bit chilly the coffee sure was great.

Second up, a visit to the beach.  I haven’t been to the beach in quite sometime.  My last visit to the beach was not a good one.  The beach  was strewn with tar balls, and if that’s not bad enough, seeing the birds swooping into the water, knowing that they would inevitably have oil on them, was just more than I could take.  So I have stayed away.  But today was beautiful and I couldn’t resist a visit. There were still men with equipment on the beach, I presume to see how much oil is below the top sand layers,  but today, no tar ball could be seen with the naked eye.  The birds were enjoying the day and I had a ball collecting shells.

The water was cold but beautiful

Pelicans enjoying the day

Pelican flying

Shells collected

I posted the other day how my received a package of citrus fruit from my parents in central florida.   Meemsnyc commented that I should make marmalade and it seemed like a great idea, even though, marmalade is on the seemingly endless list, of things I’ve never made. I wasn’t going to let this stop me, so I called my mom for a recipe, I mean who else do you call when you need something.  Not only did she send me a recipe, but she tried it first to make sure it worked.  Mom’s are the best.  Okay, back to marmalade.  Below are the pictures I took making the marmalade.

Here is the marmalade recipe I used.

Head over to  Greenish Thumb for some other great garden to table ideas.

In order to become a locavore a person needs to find sources for local organic food.  So the goal has to be to meet farmers or find a CSA.  So here I am wondering how in the world I was going to do this.  I had searched the internet for local CSA’a and farmers and had come up with nothing.  Then I get an email from someone who reads my blog, thanks Deb, that the neighboring town has an eat local group.  Hooray!  Every second Tuesday of the month some area businesses are sponsoring a film series, “Growing Local: The Naked Truth About Your Food”.  So it seems I will have more info soon.

I thought I would show you my winter garden, since I haven’t posted a picture in quite some time.  Even though the deer came by and ate it down after I first planted it, I am very pleased with the results.  I’ve been using the protective cover I built, to keep out the deer, and it’s been working great.  The cover is light weight enough for me to remove whenever I need to work in the beds.

One of the best things about square foot gardening is after harvesting one veggie, the seeds for the next veggie can go right in it’s place.  All I do is add a little fresh soil, compost would be best but my compost is not ready yet,  to the square   Here in zone 8b, it is time to plant cauliflower, celery, peas, and potatoes.  I hope to build a few more beds before spring.