Showing posts with label Food Forest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food Forest. Show all posts

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Fall is THE best time to fertilize with organics


           I get so many questions about 
 this topic, so here are some answers 

  Fall is THE best time to fertilize with organics. First of all, since they are slow release, they are slow to break down and so fall - with its attendant rains -starts the breakdown process.  BUT, due to cooler soil temps and lower N values, the plants don't needlessly convert the nutrients into excessive vegetative growth.  Instead, they plants start building up the storage pantry -- which is what will be needed for the spring flush, when reserves would otherwise be depleted.

Also, building up a robust root structure is what will help your plants prevent frost damage.  Our winters have been a bit whacky, but what has been a pattern is a few weeks of super cold weather. You need to freeze proof your plants.  A good fall fertilizing with Hendrikus Organics, which offers an ample supply of beneficial soil microbes will help in this process. Similarly, with all the rains the winter months will bring, a robust root structure will utilize the water better.  
                       
 Fall is also the time of year to amend soils and build the best soil structure.  Increase organic matter through compost -- and humate (HuMagic), and food sources that will feed both the plants and the microbes.  HO ferts contain at least 22 different species of beneficial microbes.  The microbes do much of the work in making nutrients available, but they also are the carpenters improving soils "architecture."  Increased pore space and aggregates of soil particles are necessary to drain te heavy rains. Otherwise, you will have soggy soil which can not breathe. The anaerobic conditions lead to death of beneficial microbes -- and root rot!  )= sick plants)
  
Lastly, fruit bearing plants such as blueberries are setting their fruitbuds now for next year. Fertilize now to get the best yield next year.  Similarly, the berries come out of the winter "starved."  A good fall fertilization will give them the nutrients they need to get producing more effectively during the growing season. 

Liquid HuMagic:  Stressed trees & shrubs.  Treat with soil drench all around the drip line.  Do a foliar leaf spray for Non-Conifers. (conifers breathe through their needles so we don't recommend spraying needles). The Humagic contains a mixture of benefical organic acids: Humic, Ulmic, and  Fulvic Acid.  The fulvic acid in particular, has a very low molecular weight -- which enables it to pass immediately through the cell wall where it immediately works to chelate minerals in forms useful to plants. The synergistic effect of the organic acids serves to improve metabolism, nutrient efficiency, and disease resistance. 

Japanese & Vine Maples have been particularly stressed by the long drought period.  While they are attractive now, in terms of their characteristic fall color, most maples are still a bit flacid and lack the vigor and pop they usually display. Perk them up and help them build up for winter stresses with applications of Liquid HuMagic:  They will respond quite happily to soil & foliar drenches.  Mix at rate of 2oz/gallon, apply every two weeks -- or for more immediate perk up and improved appearance, root enhancement and disease resistance.   The difference will be noted in leaf branch stem, vigor, and leaf thickness. Sometimes more intense color.

  Community supported, Supporting community

Sincerely,
Village Green Perennial Nursery

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Organic fertilizers and soil mycorrhizae

Organic Fertilizers
Ciscoe LOVES it!
Why use anything less than the best for your garden?

I have been gardening for years. For many years I mixed all my own fertilizers...I'd buy 50lb bags of fertilizer ingredients, lug them around and custom blend them-a tiring and dirty dusty job!

I was also mail ordering mycorrhizae to add to my soil blends to stimulate healthy root-soil development.
I was blending and bagging the fertilizer to sell to my customers...
TIME consuming!
BUT, this was the most important component to healthy plants...HEALTHY SOIL

Seriously, there must be a better way!

I started exploring the fertilizer options and came across Hendrikus organics
StartRight is a balanced combination of endo-ecto mycorrhizae in a bio-stimulant nutrient base to assist new plants and transplants in their development of root systems and new hair roots. The name "Mycorrhizae" is Greek for fungus roots and it describes the mutually beneficial symbioses between these soil fungi and plant roots. A teaspoon of healthy soil can contain several miles of mycorrhizal filaments that play a fundamental role in establishing and extending root systems, improving plant nutrient and water uptake, disease resistance and plant growth, while reducing transplant shock and drought stress. StartRight re-establishes these essential soil fungi for healthy plant development.
(Reprinted from Hendrikus website) 

I now USE and sell EXCLUSIVELY the Hendrikus line.

For me-there has never been a better product, complete with clear instructions and nice packaging.


Friday, September 21, 2012

Perennials Sale

 As the summer comes to a close, and we begin the return to cooler temps, shorter days and and colorful changes that fall brings, we realize some plants are more sleepy than others...so...

           We're having a 'Sleeping beauty' sale. 
Spring bloomers, trees and shrubs will be so much more vigorous and floriferous in the spring if you plant in the Fall. 
  Why you ask?
 They are dormant.  Strong root development can take place over the winter, resulting in less spring maintenance/watering, and stronger healthier plants.

           The same things apply to Fall planting...
    The success of healthy, well developed plants is 
                              IN THE SOIL. 
                          


Sleeping Beauties SALE 
50%off sleeping/resting plants
Sept 22nd-30th 

Perennials on sale 
Daylilies 
Dahlia's 
Foxtail lilies 
Hardy Geraniums 
Columbine 
Geum 
Hellebores 
Lady's mantle 
Iris 
Hosta's-going to sleep soon (excludes Guacamole) 
Taro 
Lilies 
Shasta daisies  
Carnation 
Monarda 
Daffodils 
Tulips 
Uvularia 
Filipendula 
Yarrow 
Alliums 
Veronica 
Eryngium 
Penstemon  
Bowles golden grass 
Scented geraniuims-houseplant or outside in summer 
Devil's club- a NW native
and more...

Shrubs on sale 
Indian Plum 
Ninebarks 
Barberry 
mystery azalea's 
Gooseberry 

Vines on sale 
(excludes hops and honeysuckle) 
All clematis 
Climbing hydrangeas  
and more... 

Select Roses on sale... 
York and lancaster (overstock sale) 
Complicata (os sale) 
Sissinghurst castle (os sale) 
Evangeline  
Everest Fragrance 
Cardinal Richelieu 
Margarets Rambler 
Golden Showers  
and more...
The only West Seattle source for Hendrikus Organic Fertilizer
and soil mycorhhyzza. Give your plants the right start.

Family owned and operated. 35 years in business.
Community supported.

Sincerely,
Vera Johnson
Village Green Perennial Nursery

Friday, September 7, 2012

Plant your food forest now for harvest next year


Want more edibles to harvest? We have a huge selection...

*Asparagus
*Apples-columnar, great for smaller spaces
*Aronia-gorgeous berries-for jams, pies or leave for birds-beautiful fall color
*kiwi-need male and female
*Evgn. Huckleberries- wild blueberries-NW Native
*Elderberries (black)-great for pies, jams, syrups to fight colds and flu
*rhubarb
*horseradish
*pears-needs a pollinator/neighbor/dwarf variety
*Cherries-Danube-self pollinating
*Angelica -100's of uses for this herb






*oxalis
*ostrich ferns
*day lilies-eat the buds like squash
*gooseberry
*Indian plum
*Salal
*Mahonia Aquafolium-eat young leaves in
spring/also herbal remedies
*Raspberries
*Strawberries-many varieties
****Marshall strawberries- Village Green introduction... NOT included in sale-here is why...( a variety described by Slow Food USA and the RAFT alliance in 2004 as one of the top ten endangered foods in the country...it was once known as “the finest eating strawberry in America” “exceedingly handsome, splendidly flavored, pleasantly sprightly, aromatic and juicy”. Who could resist that? I had to taste one.) http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/slow_food/blog_post/the_longer_the_wait_the_sweeter_the_jam/

***Antique roses-a very long history of culinary uses in oils, teas, cakes, syrups, salads, candied petals and so much more (not included in the sale-I grow each one on it's own roots from cutting, it takes 2 years to offer them for sale)

-------Fertilizers...Amendments------
Hendrikus Organic fertilizers are the only fertilizers I use and the only one we sell.

*Seasons-good for raspberries for canes up to 6ft tall
*Humagic/soil enhancer combo-breaks up clay soil
*Bouquet-winter crops and bulb fertilizers well
*Organibloom for Azaleas, rhodies, hydrangeas, tomatoes, acid loving plants-fruiting trees and shrubs

*Worm castings-adds trace minerals and living microorganisms to your soil for strong root development, adding life to dead soils. 100% certified organic. Nothing less.



 
Come and see us-the ducks have grown so much and are quite eager to quack their greetings to welcome you!