Free Trees For Earth Day

Its the last week of April, and spring has sprung everywhere but here. Although we have had some nice warm days, the nights are still too cold for seeds to germinate. Maybe next week...

The last week of April also brings Earth Day and Arbor Day. Since many people are suffering from spring fever right now, free tree give aways can provide some much needed outdoor activity for little or no money. By planting free trees you can get some good exersise and help your environment.

Many large and local hardware stores offer free tree seedlings on Earth Day and Arbor Day.
Lowe's is giving away one million trees in honor of Earth Day on April 23, 2012. Contact your local Lowe's to make sure they are participating in the event. Our local nursery in Bozeman, Cashman's, offers a free seedling to anyone who with a new born baby. All you have to do is bring your baby by the nursery, and they will give you a seedling to be planted in your baby's honor.

give away.

With a little research you will find many options for free trees in your area. Another way to get some trees that are suited for you climate for a very low price is to become a member of the Arbor Day Foundation. For as little as $10, you can choose ten trees that will flourish in your region or have ten trees planted in a national forest in your honor. The membership also provides discounts on trees, and a book that details the best techniques for growing your new trees. Another option is the Hazelnut Project. For $20, they will mail you 3 hazelnut bushes when it is optimal for planting in your area. While enjoying a lifetime supply of hazelnuts, you will also be contributing much needed information that will be used to research global warming.

During this week of environmental holidays, remember that our forests provide wood, habitat for animals, clean air, and drinking water for all of us. By donating or planting trees, you will help preserve these resources for many generations to come.

Tomato update

Now that the tomatoes' roots are filling in their larger containers, they are growing rapidly. The picture below show the plants on April 19th.

We began measuring them with the Farm's most accurate measurement tool, an Ocean City, Maryland ruler won on the boardwalk.

April 21

 The plants are growing about an inch a day and need to be watered every two days. 

April 22nd

They have been fed every watering with a half strength 3-1.2-1.25 fertilizer and seem ready for full strength feedings. 

The large Hydroponic garden is really beginning to flower. It has almost out grown it's trellis and fruits are set all over every plant. New flowers form every day and the pollinated flowers are swelling into sweet tomatoes. 

Other Companion Container Gardens

The other container gardens are begining to take off. The lettuce container is enjoying the cooler nights more than the pepper/basil, but all of the containers are flourishing. 

Since the outdoor season is still months away, we started a cucumber, green bean, and strawberry box.

 We chose Dragon's Egg cucumber, Dragon's tounge bean, and Red Wonder Wild Strawberry for quick harvest. They really like the ideal indoor conditions and the beans will need staking soon so they don't tip over.

Tomato Transplant and Some Food At Last

It's April 16th and our local ski hill closed yesterday despite the spring snow dump.

Inside it's already almost "June" and our little tomato plants needed to be transplanted to larger pots (only one more transplant). They were planted in the recycled red cups on March 27th, below is the progression of the plants over a less than a month.

March 27th

March 30th

April 3rd

April 8th

April 15th

Hydroponics 

Meanwhile the more mature hydroponic plants produced their first fruit of the season - Red Cherry Heirlooms. We enjoyed some homemade meals that seemed impossible to make with fresh local ingredients in March.

The tomatoes were bright red and orange in color and had a sweet tomato flavor. They were perfect for snacking with just a pinch of sea salt. They also were a great addition to pasta dishes and grilled cheese. 

Homemade Staycation

It started snowing yesterday and it is not going to stop until sunday. We are expecting 15-18 inches from the storm.The long term weather report is calling for a cool and wet April and May. This might be good for the outdoor crops, because we picked crops that thrive in cool weather, such as carrots, onions, lettuce, and broccoli.  

Since snow can be expected any month of the year in Montana, it is good to grow some tropical plants to take your mind of the endless winters. We ordered a dwarf banana tree last march and it has been doing great under the lights. It came as a small, lifeless root that we placed in the soil. Growing bananas was a new thing for the farm so we did not know what to expect. It took a while to get started, but the long days and strong light helped get the banana established.

It now makes a new leaf every week an has begun to push a new shoot out of the stump. Bananas are considered a herb because after each bloom the stalk (or tree) dies. The small shoot at the bottom of the plant then replaces the dead stalk and forms bananas again.

Picking and Grinning

The first tomatoes are just about ripe. The rest of the tomatoes in the hydroponic system are starting to catch up with this one, so the harvest should not end for another few weeks.

Outside Garden

I placed some yellow onion sets and cold heady peas (Blue Podded) in a freshly tilled area of the garden along the fence before the snow came. As long as the storm does not bring really cold weather with it, the snow and dirt should insulate the seeds enough to germinate.

Snow in the forecast and these tomatoes don't care.

   Its going to snow again, but the tomatoes seem to be getting riper by the minute. Here are some pictures of a vine ripening over the last week.

March 30th

April 1st

April 3rd

April 4th

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This plant was the first clone cut about two months ago. It had a head start on the other plants in the tubs, so it started forming fruit before the others. Now that the plants have been eating the flowering food for a week, they are beginning to form tons of flowers up and down every branch. 

Each flower will form a tomato if it is pollinated. The flowers only open for a few hours a day. In the wild, wind and insects pollinate the flowers. When growing tomatoes indoors, there may not be enough wind and hopefully not enough insects to pollinate the flowers effectively. The solution is simple, lightly flick the main stems while the flowers are open. Hard enough to shake the plant, but gentile enough to keep the stems from being damaged. When the flowers are pollinated, the flower will wither away and a small green ball will form at where the base of the flower was. When the flowers are pollinated the hard part is over. The buds will form into tasty tomatoes in about a month.

Peppers are Idealist

  
After ten days, the new sprouts are starting to show how much they are enjoying their ideal conditions. These mixed bell peppers(purple, yellow, red, green) sprouts were started and transplanted to containers at the same time. The containers are the same size.

   The only difference is one was grown under 20 hours of light with the room temperature around 75 degrees.

   The other was grown in the sunniest window in the house, dealing with cold nights and snowy days.

Tomato Update

   The tomatoes are also loving life. They were fed for the first time yesterday with a 3-1.25-1.25 fertilizer.  The food was mixed to a 1/4 strength so the plants don't get stunted. This happens because the new roots are very sensitive to nitrogen. The roots stop growing and die if exposed to too much. The plant will let you know if you have over-fed it, leaves will turn yellow at the tips and began to die back. If this happens, flush the container until water streams out of the bottom and don't feed again until the plant begins to recover.

Springtime in Montana

   This hydroponic tub was started about six weeks ago from tomato clones taken from a golden harvest (yellow cherry tomato) and a red cherry heirloom variety. The clones started slow because the roots need time to develope enough to be fully submerged in the nutrient solution. As the roots grow larger they can access the nutrients. Once the roots reach the nutrients the pants begin to grow very quickly.

 The plants also require more water as the roots develop. When the tub started, the plants did not need much attention. They now drink a gallon of fresh water daily and require constant pruning to make sure the leaves do not crowd each other. Over crowded plants can bring disease and spread insects from plant to plant, while reducing the amount of CO2 available to the leaves.

   This tomato started when the plant was about 12 inches. It ripened very slowly, maybe from the nutrient solution of because it was shaded at the bottom of the plant.

Meanwhile outside...

  After a week of unseasonal warmth, we began to prepare the outdoor raised bed.  The dirt in the bed is rock hard clay. It does not hold water well and seems to compact more and more after each rain. To help with drainage, coco fiber and small clay stones where added and worked in to around 24 inches. There were many roots growing very deep (16-24 inches) with small stems shooting toward the surface of the soil.  They were tilled up all the way to the bulb and thrown into the slash pile. 

   Then we were reminded why we are focusing on indoor farming...