Mid-Winter's Dream of Seed Catalogs and Fish Fert.

It's a strange winter day here at the Farm.  Snow drifted down and around our heads from a low-hanging fog bank this morning.  Nickers and cackles coaxed us, with impatience, to their pens as we paraded into the barn toting hay and crumbles. We fed the horses and chickens in a swirling cloud of tiny wet confetti. Hubby and I agreed, the weather's actually warmer today than some sunny days last week. On a cable channel, weather newsman said the big freeze has come because of Global Warming? Another puzzle from Mother Nature or La Nina or Al Gore.  But THIS is a Blog about Gardening and even though weather patterns are a part of the natural cycle of seasons and growing food, political hot potatoes are not.  Speaking of potatoes... 

Two weeks ago the colorful, information-packed Territorial Seed Company (TSC) catalog arrived.  I pulled it from the mailbox and saw another one in there just like it.  Unbeknownst  to me, Hubby had ordered his on almost the same day I requested mine from Territorial's website.  As I handed the 175-page booklet to him with a querying look, he confessed, "I wanted to have my own to look at too."  I don't blame him.  It's hard for him to get any quality time with mine.  And I'm secretly pleased to see him take an interest in our gardening plans.  

"Seed catalogs and Pinterest are the two things getting me through this monochrome winter.  I didn't know brown came in so many shades of brown.  Even UPS looks colorful."

The one thing that grows here in Winter

From my research of TSC's catalog and our OSU Agricultural Extension website, I'm preparing a list of  vegetables, fruits and herb varieties that I will be planting indoors (seedlings) starting February 1st and continuing on through the extended season next Fall.  Planning the garden is almost as fun as preparing good soil and planting the garden.  It requires a systematic strategy and mapping considering:

• the geography of the garden 
• how much sun each section receives
• plants that are friends or foes to each other
• the height of plants 
• ease of harvest 
• succession plantings and 
• more!  

Our very useful extension office even provides a garden calendar and seed planting schedule that can be copied and re-used for many seasons.  I will post my garden plan after I have finalized it and all things gardening are a GO!  

Growing seedlings indoors is pretty easy as long as your house or greenhouse is kept at temperatures consistent with the seed/seedling's requirements (check the catalog, back of the seed packet or do an online search). The seedlings also need to get plenty of sun or sit under artificial grow lights as they develop and they will need fertilizing periodically to give them a healthy start.  I like to use Organic Fish Fertilizer but not everyone wants the smell of fish in the house if your seedlings share your space.  I don't mind it because, 

"I love the smell of fish fert. in the morning.  It smells like...Victory Gardens." 


Starting in the Summer and all the way till seedling planting time in February, I save every toilet paper and paper towel tube that enters our house.  In the bathroom are two large bags of tubes that remind me, as they sit there, that I am going to plant hundreds of seeds in them after I fill them with potting soil.

Homemade Seed Starter disintegrates after you plant it in ground.  I use toilet paper rolls to make biodegradable homemade seed starter pots.

• Cut each roll in half and press it flat.
• Make four, half-inch to three-quarter-inch slices on one end of the roll to create four equal-sized flaps.
• Open up the roll and fold in the four little flaps like a box bottom. This is your seed pot.

Fill the “pot” with potting soil, plant your seeds and water gently. Put the seed pots under grow lights until they are ready to go outdoors. When you are ready to plant, you can either pull the cardboard away from the soil and put the plant in the ground, or simply unfold the bottom and plant the whole pot — the cardboard will slowly disintegrate.

Margaret Comstock
Apple Valley, California

(From Mother Earth News, Feb/Mar 2008)  

I keep mine in a plastic container of some kind.  They will need to be watered to stay moist but not "wet," especially indoors where the air dries out in a warm house.  I found some black kitty litter boxes at the dollar store that are the perfect height to hold my seedlings in front of the south-facing windows.  I can easily transfer them, as well.

When Should I Start Feeding My Plant Seedlings and with What?

Homemade Fertilizer Tea Recipes

Make these easy liquid fertilizers — then sit back and watch your seedlings and plants thrive! 

By Barbara Pleasant 

Add the amount of dry ingredients shown in the chart below to a 5-gallon bucket, then add water to fill, and steep for three days. Strain or decant the tea and dilute as shown below. To make fertilizer tea from urine, simply dilute the urine in 20 parts water, and it’s ready to use. Water plants with these solutions no more than once every two weeks.

Check out Free, Homemade Liquid Fertilizers for more information about liquid fertilizers and the many benefits of making your own.

Type	Amount	Dilute
Dried chicken manure with wood shavings	1/5 bucket	1:1
Seaweed	1/5 bucket	none
Fresh grass clippings	2/3 bucket	1:1
Urine		1:20

Here's a list of Organic Plant foods to consider after you plant the seedlings outdoors, 
including my favorite, Fish:)  

[NOTE:  Some people don't like using fish fertilizers because it supports the fishing industries that they believe are hurting fish populations and causing damage to our oceans.  I was inside that industry for a short time and I also worked for an organic Landscaper/Gardener/Farmer who used fish emulsions liberally. I found that using fish fert. is a good way to recycle the waste coming out of fish canneries.  From what I've seen and heard, the Federal Monitors who rode out with our fleet recorded numbers of excess fish that contradict the belief that seafood numbers are dwindling.  I'm not an expert but I choose to use Fish and other types of Fert, as well.  Of course, since 2011, there is the Fukushima factor to consider as independent reports coming from the West coast say there is an increase in radiation readings at the water's edge.  I'm researching more about this issue and will update my findings on this blog when I learn more.]

Organic plant food: 5 types of fertilizer for your garden

1. Bone meal is made from steamed and crushed animal bones and is rich in phosphorous, a mineral that plants need for healthy root development and flower growth. It also supplies calcium and a little bit of nitrogen. That makes it a great supplement for bulbs and roses. A little bone meal goes a long way, with just one tablespoon needed for every two square feet.

 2. Blood meal is an ideal natural source of nitrogen, which is the main nutrient that virtually all plants need to grow. Nitrogen is a crucial component of plant cells and one of the building blocks of chlorophyll, the substance that enables plants to convert sunlight into sugars. Blood meal increases the yield of fruits and vegetables, adding lots of leafy green growth, and can also help keep deer out of the garden.

 3. Cottonseed meal is a slow-release organic fertilizer with high nitrogen content. A by-product of cotton manufacturing, this organic plant food is slightly acidic, so it's perfect for acid-loving plants like azaleas, camellias and rhododendrons. It releases nutrients over an extended period of time. Cottonseed meal is a popular natural way to achieve lush green lawns.

 4. Fish emulsion is a decomposed blend of finely pulverized fish left over from commercial processing, which contains a very high concentration of nitrogen. This powerful natural plant food can be used in very small quantities to give plants a major boost in growth, especially when applied early in the spring season. It does have a fish odor, but the smell goes away within about 24 hours.

 5. Manure is perhaps the best-known organic plant food. Manure used as fertilizer may come from horses, cows, pigs, chicken or sheep. While applying manure to your plants may sound like a smelly and potentially unhygienic undertaking, commercially prepared manure plant food like Miracle-Gro Organic Choice is pasteurized in a unique process that kills harmful bacteria as well as weed seeds, reducing odors.