Black Lake Organic Newsletter for March 2010 (click to download)
Black Lake Organic has out grown its current technology platform for sending out our monthly Newsletter. Therefore we have moved to a new system, If you have not already gone to the new website at (blacklakeorganic.com) and registered for the Free newsletter, we would appreciate you do so at your earliest opportunity.
BLACK LAKE ORGANIC NEWSLETTER FOR MARCH 2010
MARCH gives the order to commence planting! Time to plant your SPLORPS; which are Spinach, Peas, Lettuce, Onions, Radishes, Strawberries and more. That’s what it says on our store’s answering machine and in BLO’s 2010 South Sound Food Gardener’s Calendar. As a rule, there’s no point in sowing vegetables outdoors prior to March first.
Out of the Ordinary undefined In an ordinary year that would be true. As noted in last month’s newsletter, however, nothing is ordinary anymore. Nevertheless, as the days grow longer, the sun’s apparent orbit rises off the southern horizon bringing not only greater warmth, but also the greater intensity and duration of sunlight required for plants to bud out and green up. You can get a good picture of how this all works (and why delay) by going to Steve Solomon’s Fifth Edition of Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades (2000), page 15. There you will see a bell-shaped curve centered on June 21 (summer equinox) and a shaded portion, roughly between March and October, denoting the “period of rapid plant growth” based on the amount of solar energy.
The Heat is On undefined Not just the heat, but the quality of light and the amount of cloudless hours are what enable emerging leaves to do their thing, which is to make food for themselves out of sunlight, air and water, and the minerals of the soil. This magical mixture is the original miracle of photosynthesis, which feeds not just the plant itself, but, directly or indirectly, all of us squirming organisms, save those around deep ocean thermal vents. Let there be light!
March Fools? undefined Usually we wait for April 1st to be fooled. This year we’ve got a head start on it. As the old song goes, “Fools rush in, where wise men fear to go.” After all, if you look on the BLO Gardener’s Calendar, you’ll see that spring doesn’t start until March 20th. And that’s only in the heavens! Here on Earth, there’s a lag time of about two weeks while the ground and air gets heated up by Ol’ Sol - - - ordinarily.
Swallow Arrival Date (S.A.D.) in recent years has been around March 20th. With all the mild pre-spring weather we’ve had on this coast, you’d have thought these true Harbingers of Spring would have been here by now. Maybe they know something we don’t. Nonetheless, they will be here shortly, so you may start planting - - - now that it’s March.
About the Gardener’s Calendar undefined We’re pleased as punch to announce that, as of the first of March, BLO has sold over 90 Food Gardener’s Calendars. We are fast approaching the 100 mark (thereabouts) set for all of 2009, the first year of the calendar. And while the calendars are perennially useful and usable, the 2010 edition did see some sprucing up and the addition of detailed planting charts for both early (spring) and late (winter) gardening. Some people even write in their calendars. Said one customer “I’ve heard really good things about it.” Yet another customer was just giddy, “I love my little guide [calendar].”
Such a Deal undefined Some customers have remarked that the garden planting charts alone make the BLO Calendar worth the purchase price ($8.00). Paid-up members of our Black Lake Organic Membership Community receive the calendar free in serial form month-to-month (as the seasons advance). You can find the details by going to our new Community Member website www.blacklakeorganiccommunity.com.
They’re Here! undefined Onion plants (bundles of young plants) and Seed Potatoes (not actually seeds) have arrived! And believe it or not, while it may seem they took forever, they got here about the same time as last year. Believe it or not, it’s still early in the gardening year, folks. Here are the variety listings:
Onion Plants: Walla Walla, Candy, Copra, First Edition, Mars (Red), Ailsa Craig, Yellow Sweet Spanish
Seed Potatoes: Yukon Gold, Satina, Norkotah, Cal White, All Blue, French Fingerling, Red Lasota, Cal Red
Berries Too have shown up, just about the right time to go into the ground. This year, partly because of the “early” season (and delay in ordering, admittedly) our variety selection is down. Here is the listing of what has come in from our Oregon nursery supplier:
Blueberries: Bluecrop, Blueray, Darrow, Duke
Raspberry: Munger (black-capped)
Strawberry: Hecker
Grapes: Himrod, Niagara, Golden Muscot, Alwood
Oddballs: Asparagus, we know, is a vegetable, but what is the Rhubarb, vegetable or fruit? Would you still eat rhubarb pie if you were told it was a vegetable? Anyway, we now have our asparagus “roots” (that are actually “crowns”) of the Mary Washington variety. Plus, we have rhubarb “roots” (that are technically crowns also). The variety is Crimson. Rhubarb roots are just about indestructible. You knew the leaves are poisonous, right? So are the leaves of the tomato, which is a fruit, technically. Indeed, an old name for the tomato is “Love Apple”. Our tomato variety list (grown at BLO) will come out in April.
Tangled Webs undefined Owed to William Shakespeare: "Oh, what tangled webs we weave, when first we practice to upgrade." In addition to the Membership Community website address given above, we have a new email address, which is( info@bloorganic.net. ) or Gary Kline at ( gary@bloorganic.net ) Our old "info" and "Gary" at blacklakeorganic.com addresses are now inoperative, otherwise a.k.a. "defunct".
In-Demand Items undefined Pea (Legume) inoculant is in. This year we have a really nice pelleted product, Fix N’ Grow, that you can simply pour out of the envelope down the planting furrow. The price is very nice too, just $3.00. Iron sulfate (a fertilizer) is on hand for those seeking to kill off moss in their lawn. You dissolve it in water and sprinkle it on the moss, which does kill it, if only for the year. For details, ask for our Lawn Maintenance Gardening Information Leaflet (GIL).
Muck Boots are popular in the Mucky seasons. We have yet to hear a disparaging word about them, except from the people who have worn them out and are back for replacements. These boots (and shoes) are praised. Several styles are available. While we are unable to keep all the styles and sizes on hand, our prices are lower and we have a quick special order service, often next day receipt. Our deal is that we order your style and size and, if that doesn’t fit, we don’t quit. We reorder until it does.
Chicken Book undefined Last year was surely the Year of the Chicken. Having sold out of two chicken raising books, we ordered and just received a supply of Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens now billed (beaked?) as the New Edition of the best-selling classic ($19.95), and an impressive 440 pages it is! This book will be recommended reading for Bobby Johnson’s forthcoming repeat performance classes on the subject. We’ll announce the classes when scheduled.
Chicken Feed undefined We continue to stock the popular, high nutrition chicken feed developed by Bobby Johnson in collaboration with Alice Royal, nutritionist, at Union Point Custom Feeds in Oregon. As a privileged few who buy eggs from Bobby’s “girls”, we can state that they sure taste good! The bright orange yolks and excellent taste are unmistakable cues to the high nutritional content of the feed and the chickens’ open range foraging.
Riddle of the Ages undefined With all the nuts around, why are there so many screws loose?
This newsletter is brought you
in the interest of your gardening success by
Black Lake Organic Nursery and Garden Store
www.blacklakeorganic.com
360-786-0537
Proud recipient in 2007 of
The Washington Department of Ecology
Environmental Excellence Award
For 27 years of building human and
Environmental health - - - from the ground up
