THE POWER OF TOUCH
Too Tall and Too Thin
I hope that I’ve caught you in time, before your seedlings have stretched out too long and too thin. That’s a problem this time of year. Tomato, zinnia, and broccoli plants — they’re all growing up on sunny windowsills. It’s the combination of a bit too much warmth and a bit too little light that causes that stretching.
The easiest way around this problem would be to just wait until the weather warmed up enough to sow seeds directly outside. There, abundant sunlight, cooler temperatures, and buffeting by wind would make sturdy, stocky seedlings. Of course, do this and you won’t eat your first broccoli bud until the end of June, and you’ll have to wait until early September to admire your first zinnia flower or bite into your first tomato.
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ESPALIER, A TASTY FUSION OF ART AND SCIENCE
Let’s Revive an Ancient Technique
Let’s go back in time, say, four hundred years. You’re puttering around your garden, your walled garden — walled to keep out animals and unfriendly neighbors. Hmmmm, you think, why not plant a fruit tree in that strip of earth against that wall, perhaps a fruit that will also benefit from the extra warmth over there? May as well make the plant look nice and orderly, too.
And so originated espalier (ES-pal-yay): a plant, usually a fruit plant, usually trained to an orderly and two-dimensional form. The word is derived from the Old French aspau, meaning a prop, and most espaliers must, in fact, be propped up with stakes or wires.
Although today we rarely build walls to fend off unfriendly animals or neighbors, an espalier still might warrant a place in the garden. Read more
THE TOP OF THE SOIL
Where Roots Like to Roam
“Topsoil” is one of the haziest terms used by gardeners — and by those who sell the stuff. After all, topsoil is nothing more than the top layer of soil.
And what’s so special about this layer of soil? Under natural conditions, topsoil is the most fertile portion of soil. In the forest each autumn, leaves fall on the surface of the ground, where they are digested by soil life to release nutrients and create soil organic matter. In meadows, including prairies, the topsoil each year is similarly enriched by the remains of old roots, leaves, and stems of flowers and grasses.
Lush meadow above ground, rich soil below ground
