Recipe for Good Garden Soil

Gardening is not just about taking care of plants; it is about taking care of the soil. Good garden soil has texture, moisture, oxygen, nutrients, and microbial life. If everything adds up below the ground, your plants will probably thrive without much additional effort from you.

Throughout a year, nutrients are used up, and soil organisms break down organic matter in the soil. Now is an excellent time to add compost fortified with chicken manure. Doing so restores the organic matter and nutrients in the soil while improving texture.

bumperThree to four inches of Bumper Crop worked into the top 8″ of soil will yield a 9-12″ deep layer of suitable garden soil that drains well, nurtures life and produces a respectable garden harvest. Ongoing care of the soil will result in a garden that produces better and better as the years unfold.

Good Garden Soil Starts Here!

If you are preparing a vegetable or flower garden bed here’s a tried-and-true soil preparation recipe that works wonders. It lightens our heavy soil, nourishes it and buffers the pH to make it ‘just right’ for the success of your vegetable and flower seeds or transplants.

Good Soil Tips

The following is a to do list that can help you nurture your soil:

  • Plant in a Raised Bed: Improves drainage, helps warm the soil.
  • Incorporate Organic Material: It acts as a wedge to hold clay soil open and allows water to drain more freely and permit air to occupy more of the space between soil particles.
  • Incorporate Gypsum: Helps leach salts from the soil, adds calcium and relaxes the clay.
  • Add Mulch: Apply 3″ of bark or Bumper Crop to reduce weeds, save water and moderate soil temperatures.
  • Improve Nutrients: Fertilize with a mild fertilizer which includes micro-nutrients (EB Stone Organics, Maxsea). Micronutrients are essential for healthy plant development and are sometimes missing from soils.
  • Water Appropriately: Water thoroughly but infrequently enough so that air is allowed back into the soil between waterings, usually only every 3-10 days depending in the weather.
  • Use an inexpensive Moisture Meter to judge soil moisture more accurately.

Remineralize Your Soil

California’s alluvial soils of the Central Valley are rich and friable because centuries of seasonal flooding have deposited minerals from the eroding Sierras into the fertile lowlands.

Alluvial soils are so full of minerals and nutrients making them perfect for growing crops.  Adding minerals to your soil using Azomite® – which is volcanic rock dust – is similar to centuries of valley flooding. Spread a box of Azomite® around your vegetable garden or backyard orchard three to four times a year. Gardeners doing so have achieved noticeable improvements, not only in leaf color and vigor but in fruit and vegetable flavor and production as well.

Nutrient Source

Where do you suppose vegetables get their nutrient content?  From the soil!

Azomite® replenishes and enhances the soil. Azomite® rock dust is a natural mineral product with 70 micro-nutrients rarely available in one place. It is odorless, won’t burn your plants and won’t restrict aeration or water penetration. Unlike some products, Azomite® rock dust is not a manufactured, chemically prepared fertilizer. It is 100% natural with no additives, synthetics or fillers.

Azomite® has been shown to loosen hard soils, build healthy, more pest-resistant and drought-tolerant plants and promote lusher growth. Use Azomite® rock dust to improve all your gardening and landscape areas from lawns and vegetable plots to compost piles and enjoy:

  • Increased fruit and flower production
  • Increased vitamin content in your fruits and vegetables
  • Better tasting fruits and vegetables
  • Increased pest and disease resistance and greater cold tolerance in all your plants
  • Lawns with better color while using less fertilizer

Best of all, Azomite® rock dust is easy and economical to apply 1/2 pound per 100 square feet.

Flavor Your Garden with Herbs

Now is the time we find ourselves dreaming of summer vegetable gardens soon to be planted. Consider adding an herb garden to round out the flavor palate. Herbs can slip into a small pot or a corner of the garden, they require very little growing time before they are useful and they add a lot of pop to barbecued meals, salads and side dishes.

Try grilling chicken with an oregano, chive, and basil marinade or filling a roasting chicken with rosemary, garlic and oregano. Potatoes take on an entirely different flavor when roasted with a basting of olive oil and rosemary, chives or dill. Take a few minutes and add herbs to the vegetable garden. You’ll find that their magic can add a savory taste to all your cooking!

BASIL (cold sensitive – plant outside when the weather warms, late March or beyond)
Basil adds zest and color to bottled vinegar, use this when preparing a fresh salad dressing.  Basil is great for salads, marinades or fresh fish dishes. The most popular basil is sweet basil with its fragrant leaves. Use it in pesto, sprinkle it with chopped garlic on prime rib, and use it liberally in Italian dishes. Basil also makes a bright accent in the flower garden. Basil plants have the added benefit of repelling flies. Enjoy as “window sill basil” to get the season going.

CHIVES
This spiky plant looks like a cluster of onions. In late May it is crowned with lavender flowers. Clip and chop handfuls of it to season potato dishes, salads, dressings, egg dishes, and soups. It is one of the most versatile kitchen herbs. You can flavor white vinegar with a few stems of this herb and enjoy it splashed over garden ripened tomatoes.

DILL
Used for pickling, dill is also wonderful in salads, sauces, soups or breads on vegetables and fish. Special tips: Try pickling green beans, carrots, new potatoes or peppers with a bit of dill.

LAVENDER
The addition of culinary grade lavender in tiny amounts can jazz up dishes as diverse as grilled pork chops, to scones, cakes, and even candy.

MARJORAM
Like oregano but sweeter, this flavor is perfect in Mediterranean dishes, meats, and vegetables.

MINT
The flavor of mint is refreshing, cool and sweet, especially good in iced drinks and teas, with lamb or in salad dressings. Special tips: Minty sun tea: Put 8 tea bags, ½ c. of fresh mint leaves and 1 gal. of water in a clear glass jar. Set in a sunny spot for several hours. Serve over ice, or simply make iced mint water. It’s so refreshing! Mint tends to overgrow its neighbors and proliferate in the garden – consider a separate pot to contain this enthusiastic grower.

OREGANO
This pungent herb is no foreigner to cooking. Use it in marinade; grind it to add to pizza, spaghetti sauce or salad dressings. And one summer favorite is to add it with fresh basil to an oil and vinegar marinade for fresh from the garden flavor.

PARSLEY
For a clean sharp and peppery taste, add to vegetables and salads as a garnish. Include in sauces, soups, stews and stuffing. Special tips: Parsley is high in Vitamins A, C and B.

ROSEMARY
Wonderful flavoring for chicken or any barbecue. Evergreen, woody shrub has aromatic foliage (It’s actually related to mint.) The flavor of rosemary is bold and piney. Use it in pickles, jams, preserves and sauces, as well as meats and soups. Special tips: Use a branch of rosemary as a basting brush at your next barbecue, or put some on the coals for a great aroma. Plant in full sun.

SAGE
Warm, slightly bitter, this flavor is a must for turkey stuffing, as well as pork, duck and sausage seasoning. Special tips: Dried sage leaves are used as a substitute for coffee or tea.

TARRAGON
A spicy, sharp flavor with licorice and mint overtones, tarragon lends itself to French cooking, egg dishes, fish, and salad dressing. Special tips: Tarragon vinegar: Pour a qt. of cold vinegar over ½ c. fresh tarragon leaves, cap and store for 4 weeks.

THYME

Thyme is another popular herb known of its culinary and medicinal properties. It has a concentrated herbal flavor with sharp grass, woody and floral notes. Thyme leaves can be added, whole or chopped, to a dish at any stage of cooking although the longer they cook, the more flavor they’ll provide.

Grow Potatoes in Grow Bags

Growing potatoes is easy in well-prepared soil. Spring rains give the potatoes a head start without effort. We’ve harvested potatoes that volunteered in a compost pile!

Growing potatoes in a planting bag filled with potting soil is rewarding and simple. Potato grow-bags have several advantages over conventional garden growing. They drain well, and they are easy to harvest.

Grow your Potatoes the Easy Way!

Prepare
Cut seed potatoes into chunks having at least two eyes each. Allow the pieces to be dry at least overnight or dust with sulfur. 

Fill the container about 1/3 full with a 50/50 mixture of Master Nursery Bumper Crop and either garden soil, or Master Nursery Potting Soil. Add Masters Tomato Vegetable Fertilizer or Master Start.

Plant
Plant one seed potato for every 3 gallons of fabric pot capacity. For the #10 container, for example, plant three to four seed potatoes. Place the seed potatoes evenly in the pot.

Water the soil thoroughly. It should be moist but not soggy.

Care
Soon, you will see little stems pop through the soil. Mound up more soil/compost mix, on the stem without covering the top set of leaves. The leaves need sun and air exposure.

As the potatoes continue growing, keep adding the soil/compost mix around the stem until you reach the top of the container.

In June, when the plants begin to bloom, you can harvest “new” or young potatoes. Or for larger more mature potatoes, wait until mid to late summer the potato leaves and stems will begin to turn yellow. Timing will vary somewhat depending on the potato variety.

When the foliage has died back, stop all watering about two weeks before harvest. The leaves and stems will turn almost all yellow. You are ready to harvest.

Harvest
Don’t use a spade or sharp instrument! Pull out all the stems and leaves, wearing gloves. Dig in and find your hidden potatoes or simply dump out the “potato bag”.

Store
Arrange potatoes in a single row for a day and allow to dry. Then brush off the soil. Store potatoes in a cool, dry area with ventilation. Do not store potatoes in the refrigerator!

Bag Care
Potato planting bags are reusable! Shake out any extra soil and allow the container to dry. Store in a dry location until you are ready to start again next spring.

January Garden Checklist

checkbox Brighten the garden with colorful bedding plants. Refresh your garden beds and containers with primroses, pansies, Iceland poppies and more. Check with the staff for helpful advice and ideas.

checkbox Feed camellias, azaleas, rhododendrons monthly with Master Bloom through March.

checkbox Prevent crabgrass before it starts. Apply Bonide Crabgrass & Weed Preventer (with fertilizer) now to keep crabgrass seeds from sprouting in your lawn. Apply Bonide Crabgrass & Weed Preventer (without fertilizer) to ornamental landscape. Use Corn Gluten around edibles.

checkbox Spray Your Roses Now. An application of dormant oil just after winter pruning will help reduce pest populations by smothering over-wintering eggs. Spraying copper fungicides, as well, will halt diseases such as rust, blackspot and powdery mildew. Bonide All Seasons Spray Oil and copper are listed for use on organic gardens.

checkbox Protect tender plants when frosts are expected. If it hasn’t been raining, make sure to water plants ahead of a cold snap. Cover with drawstring frost bags or drape with protective frost blanket. String non-LED Christmas tree lights on your frost-tender plants when a freeze is expected. The warmth from the bulbs will provide another measure of protection.

checkbox Keep up your New Year’s Resolution . . . join the Livermore-Amador Valley Garden Club (lavgc.org) and the Mt. Diablo Rose Society (mtdiablorosesociety.org), Northern California Daffodil Society (daffodil.org), Iris Society (MtDiabloIris@gmail.com) and Valley Bonsai Society (valleybonsaisociety.com).

Have you Tried Growing Potatoes?

Did you know that home grown potatoes taste different than store bought? They have amazing flavor and are so easy to grow! Potatoes grow under ground – it is fun to dig for buried treasure. The whole family will enjoy growing and eating home grown potatoes.

Normally arriving in January. Our first potatoes have arrived very early!

Potatoes are planted mid-February in a sunny location. Follow these simple instructions for success with this culinary favorite.

  • Sifra Potatoes are white potatoes with high moisture and low starch content which are excellent for boiling, salads, stews, or roasting. During boiling these potatoes keep their shape.
  • Prince of Orange Potatoes are a red-skinned dark yellow fleshed table potato, suitable for general use. Constance has a buttery taste and smooth texture making it ideal for mashing, boiling or baking.
  • Red La Soda Potato has a rosy skin and waxy white flesh which is tasty baked, boiled or fried. Red La Soda keeps well and withstands our heat and drought.
  • Russian Blue Potato is purple-blue inside and out with a delicious mild flavor.  The color remains – imagine purple potato salad.

Planting Tips

Storing Before Planting
Potatoes can be stored for months before eating or planting. If you are purchasing potatoes before planting time, store them in a cool, dry place. Keep the potatoes in a cardboard box or brown paper bag during their hibernation period. Keep in mind that they require ventilation, so do not stack or pile the potatoes too high. 

Preparing the Soil
Potatoes prefer a loose, well-drained soil. Our native soil is not ideal and must be amended. We recommend mixing at least 3″ of MASTER NURSERY BUMPER CROP into the top 6″-12″ of soil; you’ll need 3 bags for each 50 square feet of planting area. In addition, incorporate two pounds of MASTER NURSERY 0-10-10 to encourage root and stem growth and 2 pounds Iron Sulfate to neutralize the soil pH. Or plant your potatoes in fabric “potato bags”. Talk about an easy harvest – just dump them out. No digging required.

Choose “Certified Potatoes”
Our potatoes have been inspected to assure they are disease-free and are ready to be planted in your garden. Potatoes purchased from the supermarket have been treated with a sprouting retardant making them marginal for use in the garden. Choose from our improved selection which includes many of the popular new colored varieties.

Cut and Dry the Potatoes
Cut the potatoes into chunks 1 ½” square with at least two eyes. Spread them in a single layer (cut side up) and allow to air dry at least overnight. Cut surfaces should be dry to the touch. The air-dried cut pieces are less likely to rot in the cool, wet soil. Dusting with sulfur before planting will further decrease the chance of disease infection. If potatoes are small, simply plant the whole thing.

Plant
Form rows that are 4″ deep and 2′ apart. Set the seed potato pieces in rows, cut side down, 12″ – 18″ apart. Do not plant if the soil is very wet, but be sure to water thoroughly after planting. Or plant in our fabric bags with professional MASTER NURSERY POTTING SOIL and some EB STONE TOMATO AND VEGETABLE FOOD. Fabric bags are great to grow in, and harvesting is easy. In a bag pieces can be set about 4″ apart.

Hilling Up
The potatoes will form above, not below, the planted pieces. When the plants reach 5″ – 6″ tall, draw up loose soil (or a soil/straw mix) around the plants so that only 2″ of the stem is exposed. Hill soil up again in 2-3 weeks. Hilling up gives the potatoes a light soil to expand into as they grow.

Water & Feed
After growth begins, give the plants regular deep watering (once per week). Feed potatoes monthly with EB STONE TOMATO AND VEGETABLE FOOD, a balanced fertilizer. This along with the MASTER NURSERY 0-10-10 and Iron Sulfate incorporated at planting completes the nutritional requirements.

Harvest
Dig early or “new” potatoes when plant tops begin to flower (around June), dig mature potatoes when tops die down (late summer). Dig carefully to avoid bruising or cutting them. Store in a dark place at approximately 40 degrees.

What you will need:
  • Master Nursery Bumper Crop
  • EB Stone Tomato & Vegetable Food
  • Master Nursery 0-10-10
  • Iron Sulfate

December Vegetable Guide

December Vegetables

Vegetable

Plant Time

Amount Family of Four

Special Notes

Plant Now

Asparagus January – February 30 – 40 plants Permanent, perennial. Pick up free planting guide. Bareroot after mid-November
Broccoli August – February 15 – 20 ft. row Can be planted more than once/year for a continuous harvest. From starts or seeds
Brussels Sprouts August – February 15 – 20 ft. row N/A From starts or seeds
Cabbage August – February 10 – 15 plants Suitable for a small garden if compact varieties are grown. From starts or seeds
Cabbage, Chinese August – February 10 – 15 ft. row Suitable for a small garden if compact varieties are grown. From starts or seeds
Carrots Year ’round 20 – 30 ft. row Suitable for a small garden if compact varieties are grown. Can be planted more than once/year for a continuous harvest. From Seeds
Cauliflower August – February 10 – 15 plants Tie leaves up and over head to protect from frosts. From starts or seeds
Celery August – February 20 – 30 ft. row Suitable for a small garden if compact varieties are grown. From starts or seeds
Chard August – February 3 – 4 plants Suitable for a small garden if compact varieties are grown. From starts or seeds
Chives Year ’round 1 clump Suitable for a small garden if compact varieties are grown. From Starts or Seeds
Endive August – February 10 – 15 ft. row N/A From Starts or Seeds
Garlic October – January 10 – 20 ft. row Suitable for a small garden if compact varieties are grown. Note: plant through EARLY January for best results From Bulbs
Kohlrabi August – November 10 – 15 ft. row Suitable for a small garden if compact varieties are grown. From Starts or Seeds
Leeks August – February 10 ft. row N/A From Starts or Seeds
Lettuce August – February 10 – 15 ft. row Suitable for a small garden if compact varieties are grown. Can be planted more than once/year for a continuous harvest. From Starts or Seeds
Mustard August – April 10 ft. row N/A From Starts or Seeds
Onions (bare root) November – December 60 plants Stockton red, white & yellow. Suitable for small garden. Plant 2″ apart, thin and use during the winter. Leave 6″-8″ between remaining plants. Harvest large hamburger slicers in June. Bundles
Onions (bulb) November – March 30 – 40 ft. row Suitable for a small garden if compact varieties are grown. Bulbs
Onions (green) August – December —- Suitable for a small garden if compact varieties are grown. Can be planted more than once/year for a continuous harvest. From Starts or Seeds
Parsley Year ’round 1 – 2 plants Suitable for a small garden if compact varieties are grown. From Starts or Seeds
Peas September – January 30 – 40 ft. row Suitable for a small garden if compact varieties are grown. Can be planted more than once/year for a continuous harvest. From Starts or Seeds
Radishes Year ’round 4 ft. row Suitable for a small garden if compact varieties are grown. Can be planted more than once/year for a continuous harvest. From Seed
Rhubarb December – February 2 – 3 plants Bare root in November – January, Canned in February – April and again in September and October. Bareroot from mid-November
Spinach September – January 10 – 20 ft. row Suitable for a small garden if compact varieties are grown. From Starts or Seeds
Strawberries June – September 12+ plants Bare root in late January/February – 6-Packs arriving in March. Bareroot after mid-December

Herb Gardening in Winter

As the temperatures drop and the desire to garden remains high, cold hardy herbs can fill a need to grow something edible.  Herb gardening can be enjoyed in a kitchen window, a container on the deck or out in the garden bed, and they are perfect for Thanksgiving Stuffing, winter stews, salads and more. 

So take a few minutes and add herbs to the vegetable or kitchen garden. Youll find that their magic can add a savory taste to all your cooking!

chives Chives
This spiky plant looks like a cluster of onions. In late May, it is crowned with lavender flowers. Clip and chop handfuls of it to season salads, dressings, potato & egg dishes and soups. It is one of the most versatile kitchen herbs. You can flavor white vinegar with a few stems of this herb and enjoy it splashed over garden ripened tomatoes.
lav-250
Lavender
The addition of culinary grade English or French lavender in tiny amounts can jazz up dishes as diverse as grilled pork chops, to scones, cakes, and even candy.
mint150
Mint
The flavor of mint is refreshing, cool and sweet, especially good in iced drinks and teas, with lamb or in salad dressings. Remember to grow mint in pots as it spreads rapidly by runners and will come up in the “living room” if left unimpeded. 
parsley150
Parsley
For a clean sharp and peppery taste, add to vegetables and salads as a garnish. Include in sauces, soups, stews, and stuffing. Special tips: Parsley is high in Vitamins A, C, and B.
rosemary150 Rosemary
Wonderful flavoring for chicken or any barbeque. Evergreen, woody shrub has aromatic foliage (It’s related to mint.) The flavor of rosemary is bold and piney.  Use it in pickles, jams, preserves, and sauces, as well as meats and soups. Special tips: Use a branch of rosemary as a basting brush at your next barbeque or put some on the coals for nice aroma. Plant in full sun.
sage150 Sage
Warm, slightly bitter, this flavor is a must for turkey stuffing, as well as pork, duck and sausage seasoning — special tips: Dried sage leaves are used as a substitute for coffee or tea.

Bare Root Onions

Bare root onions have arrived.  At the moment we have red (Burger), white (Castle), yellow (Merlin), Walla Walla & red torpedo onions.

Our supplier starts the onions from seed in August and carefully nurtures them along to the bare-root stage. We bundle them in packs of 30. Bare-root is the preferred method of planting for many long-time gardeners.

Onions grow best during cool weather and are usually planted in the fall in California for late spring harvest. Plant in rows 1 to 2 feet apart in a moist seedbed, in full sun. Bare root seedlings should be planted 1 inch deep and 6″ apart.

Use our Recipe for Good Garden Soil and then get ready to plant.

Stews are Better with Home Grown Winter Vegetables

winterstew[1]As the days shorten and the earth cools it becomes the perfect time for planting a garden for fall and winter vegetables.

In California, vegetable gardening doesn’t stop with the fall harvest. There are many varieties of vegetables that do best in cool weather. Lettuce, cabbages, root vegetables such as carrots, radishes and beets are a few of them. It’s also an ideal time to start a winter hardy herb garden. The cooler temperatures will allow the herbs to be firmly established by the warmer days of spring. Herbs also do well in containers or planted along walkways where their fragrance is released as someone brushes against them.

Remember, a garden started now means fresh vegetables for winter stews and garden salads as well as herbal seasonings all year round.

If you haven’t planted your winter vegetables yet, this would be a good time. The vegetable starts are here now with fresh shipments arriving weekly. Use our Recipe for Good Garden Soil and then get ready to plant.

Fresh carrots, onions, cabbage will all taste great in winter stews and casseroles. Come in and choose now. We have Kale, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower, Chard, Cabbage,  Parsley, Spinach, Herbs, Lettuce and much more from seeds or starts, and we have Garlic and Onions from bulbs.