A Beginner’s Guide to Container Gardening

Compiled & written by Lee Coray-Ludden, Kenai Peninsula RC&D &

Pam Voeller, Natural Resources Conservation Service

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Helping People Help the Land

Natural Resources Conservation Service

www.ak.nrcs.usda.gov

3/16

The Kenai Peninsula Bucket Brigade A Beginner’s Guide to Container Gardening

Introduction……………………………………………………………………...…...………... Buckets…………………………………………………………………………...……….…… Soil & Fertilizer…………………………………………………………………………...…... Seeds/Starts/Planting/Thinning/Weeding………………………………………..………….… Light/Wind/Water………………………………………………………………..………….… Pests and Other Challenges……………………………………………………..……………... Harvesting……………………………………………………………………..………………. To Do Calendar……………………………………...………………………..………………. ‘Bucket’ Record……………………………………………….....…………..……………...…(to be completed by you!) References & Resources……………………………………………………….…………….... Acknowledgements…………………………………………………….………………………

4 5 6 8 10 11 11 12 13 14 14

Make the most of what you have!

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The Kenai Peninsula Bucket Brigade

Introduction

The goal of this booklet is to introduce container gardening to people of all ages and in all areas of the Kenai Peninsula Borough. The information in this booklet can also be adapted for other locations. Gardening was introduced early to Alaska by immigrants and adopted by many of Alaska’s first people. As Alaska developed, more residents began living in towns and now Alaskans are almost completely dependent on food grown outside of Alaska. Our hope is you can use the information and resources in this booklet to produce food for your family, eat healthier, and enjoy an activity you can share with others.

Fresh produce sitting just outside your door is a real treat! We will provide reasonable and realistic choices to help make gardening a successful and rewarding experience for you. We tried to identify natural and low cost choices, with the end result being healthier, affordable food. Many foods can be grown in Alaska; you do not need to be an experienced gardener to grow your own produce. All you need is a ‘bucket,’ soil, fertilizer, seeds, a bit of rain and sunshine, and then watch your garden grow! What a wonderful gift to enjoy and share with family and friends!

We hope you find this booklet useful and enjoyable. We encourage you to share your ideas. This booklet is an ongoing effort and we value your input.

Lee & Pam

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‘Buckets’ You can grow vegetables and salad greens in many different kinds of ‘buckets,’ from a three pound coffee can to a large fish tote. You can buy new containers but why not reuse and recycle something you already have?

Possible ‘Buckets’

Type: Use: 3 pound coffee cans radishes, chives, spinach 1 gallon milk containers carrots, leaf lettuce, chard 5 gallon plastic buckets onions, beets, beans, peas Small fish totes all the above plus potatoes Large fish totes all the above only more of it! Homemade wooden boxes depends on size, see above Homemade alder twig baskets why not?

You want to grow healthy food, so make sure your ‘buckets’ were not used to store toxic

substances and don’t use pressure treated lumber (green lumber) to build boxes.

‘Buckets’ with cracks or holes already in them could be great for your garden!

If your ‘bucket’ does not have holes in it, punch at least four ¼ inch holes on the side of the ‘bucket’ near the base for drainage.

Small ‘buckets’ will need watering more often than large ‘buckets’.

Put rocks or similar filler in the bottom of the container. This will encourage drainage of

excess water.

If you might need to move your large or heavy containers, consider putting them on a low platform with wheels or dollies.

If you are using a wooden box with no

bottom, put down hardware cloth (wire mesh) to keep out rodents (voles & shrews) and six or more layers of newspaper to help keep persistent weeds from pushing up into your container.

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Soil & Fertilizer

Soil is the source of food for your plants. The dirt (soil) around your home may not be the best for growing vegetables. It is probably low in organic matter and too acidic for most garden vegetables. If you dig some up and put it in a pot, the soil structure will likely collapse and water will not drain through the way it needs to. But, you can mix your soil with other materials to improve its condition. Giving your plants fertile, nutritious soil helps them produce healthy food for you. To make your own soil, mix:

1 part sand 1 part peat moss 1 part loam ½ cup garden lime for every 5 gallon bucket of soil made fertilizer

Or, if you can’t find enough loam, mix: 2 parts sand 2 parts peat moss 1 part compost ½ cup garden lime for every 5 gallon bucket of soil made

Sand allows excess water to drain from your soil so it does not become soggy. Most plant roots need oxygen and if the soil is too wet, they drown. If you use sand from the beach, rinse off the salt before mixing it with your soil. Peat moss is the decomposing sphagnum moss found under living moss, usually in wet places like muskegs. Peat moss adds organic matter to the soil. Organic matter helps soil hold nutrients and stay moist but not soggy. Loam is a naturally occurring mix of sand, silt, and clay and can provide minerals and micronutrients to your plants. Usually the brown soil found in the first 12 inches of undisturbed ground (like under native plants) will work for the loam portion. The soil under alder stands, especially near the trunk, can be extra rich. Compost provides nutrients and more organic matter. Compost is organic matter that has decomposed to make a dark, crumbly, soil-like material. You can make your own compost using materials you have on hand: wood chips, leaves, fireweed stalks, fish waste, manure, grass clippings, coffee and tea grounds, crushed eggshells, etc. The University of Alaska, Fairbanks (UAF) Cooperative Extension Service has publications on making compost and fertilizer especially for Alaska. However, composting may require more of your time and attention than you want to give it, especially if you are just beginning to garden. (See page76 under Nitrogen – Manure.) Lime raises the pH of soil, that is, makes soil less acidic. If you have old soil from houseplants or potted flowers, recycle it by adding it to your soil mix!

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Fertilizer The major plant nutrients are nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). The sources listed below provide minor nutrients and micronutrients as well as the major nutrients. Such sources feed both plants and the soil. Nitrogen

Fish waste – from fish you catch or from fish processors. Either compost the fish waste or make a fish emulsion (see the UAF Cooperative Extension Service publication “Make Your Own Complete Fertilizer”); or

Manure – from your own animals or else where. Manure from sheep, goats, and rabbits, especially when mixed with straw or hay bedding, is safe to use right away. Horse, cattle, pig, and poultry manure should be well composted before using in your ‘bucket’. Never use cat or dog waste due to the possibility of passing on diseases.

Fishbone meal – from a local manufacturer. Mix about 2/3 cup into each 5 gallon bucket of soil made (this product also supplies phosphorus); or

Blood meal – from garden supply stores. Mix 5 tablespoons into each 5 gallons of soil. Phosphorus

Fishbone meal – see “fishbone meal” under Nitrogen; or Rock phosphate or bone meal – from garden supply stores; or Ashes from burned animal or fish bones. Mix about 1.5 ounces into each 5 gallon bucket of

soil. Potassium

Greensand – from a garden supply store, or Wood ashes – from your woodstove or campfire. Do not use ashes from treated or painted

wood or from cardboard, coal, or charcoal. Mix about 2 tablespoons into each 5 gallon bucket of soil made.

Commercial chemical fertilizers feed plants but do not build the soil. They usually contain a mix of the major plant nutrients but not the minor nutrients and micronutrients that are part of a truly balanced diet for your plants and soil. A common fertilizer mix is 8-32-16, which is 8 percent N, 32 percent P, and 16 percent K. If you use chemical fertilizer, spread one teaspoon of 8-32-16 over each square foot of soil after planting your starts or two weeks after your seeds sprout. Mix the fertilizer into the top ½ inch of soil and water well. Repeat about every three weeks or use liquid fertilizer (see below). Be careful not to over-fertilize – more is not better in this case.

Fill your ‘bucket’ with prepared soil Twelve inches of soil is the most you should need so if you have a deep ‘bucket’ you might want to place filler in the bottom. Put gravel in the bottom as the first layer for any of your ‘buckets’ so the drain holes don’t plug with soil. If you still need filler (because you have a deep ‘bucket’), you could use chunks of wood, capped water/pop bottles, any used plastic bottles, scraps of foam insulation, empty jars, or more rocks, then top it off with the twelve inches of soil.

Liquid fertilizer By mid-season your plants will have used much of the fertilizer you mixed into the soil. Give them a boost by watering with a liquid fertilizer. (If you are applying chemical fertilizer every three weeks as described above, you should not do this.) You can purchase liquid fertilizer or make your own. When using a liquid fertilizer, fertilize in the morning - it makes for better absorption and the plants will be dry during the cooler evening hours.

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Kelp tea – add a handful of seaweed to a 5 gallon bucket of water. Stir every day. After a few days, strain the liquid and use it to fertilize all your plants. Drench the soil and the leaves. Manure tea or simple compost tea – add 5 quarts of manure (can be fresh) or compost to 3 gallons of warm water in a 5 gallon bucket. Let it steep for a week, strain, and use. Water around your plants and avoid getting any on the leaves. Blood meal - mix 1 tablespoon with 1 gallon of water and let it steep for a week. Water around your plants and avoid getting any on the leaves.

Seeds/Starts/Planting/Thinning/Weeding Seeds & Starts You can start your plants from seeds or buy plants started early by someone else (called “starts”). You can buy seeds at many outlets in Homer, Seward, Kenai, Soldotna, Anchorage, the internet, or through the mail from seed catalogs. All these communities have greenhouses as well as larger stores with garden sections where you can buy vegetable seeds and plant starts. Whether you buy seeds or starts, it’s important to get a type of plant that will grow well in South Central Alaska, or your area. A retail store may not have this information but the nursery or greenhouse should. If in doubt, contact your UAF Cooperative Extension Service to find out which variety is best for your community. (See page 14 for contact info under References and Resources.) Starts allow you to get a head start on the growing season but seeds are usually less expensive than buying plants so you might want to try planting your own seeds indoors before the ground thaws. Don’t start your seeds too early: they might outgrow their pots before you can put them outside. You will need light soil, small containers (egg cartons are great) and a sunny window or special light. Try starting broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, lettuce, or chives from seeds. The back of the seed packet will tell you when to start plants indoors. For example, it might say to plant seeds indoors four weeks before planting outdoors. A rule of thumb for South Central Alaska is you can plant outdoors on June 1 so you would plant seeds around May 1. You can use your homemade soil mix for seed starting but sterilize it first by filling a flat roasting pan with soil, covering with aluminum foil or a lid, and baking in your oven at 180 degrees for an hour. This will help prevent tender, young seedlings from getting “damping off” disease. Some seeds do not need to be started in the house and can go directly in the soil when it has been prepared for them. Some of the seeds that can be put directly in the soil are radishes, carrots, Napa cabbage, bok choi, onions, chard, beets, peas, nasturtiums (good in salad), and leaf lettuce. Caution: If you buy starts, make sure the plants are healthy and you are not bringing non-native insects, diseases, or other pests into your community. If a plant is limp, has drooping or discolored leaves, has holes in the leaves, or is generally not healthy looking, pick a different plant or do not buy one at all. Go to a different store or, if possible, get seeds.

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Planting Seeds - Follow instructions on the seed packet. Some seeds need to be in the dark to germinate (parsley), some need light (lettuce), and most are not very particular. Just make sure all seeds have good contact with the soil and don’t let the soil dry out. If you start plants indoors, try sprinkling a thin layer of clean sand over the soil after planting seeds to discourage fungus gnats (a common pest of plants started indoors). Pouring water on very small seeds planted close to the surface can disturb them. The soil should be moist when you plant the seeds. Once they are covered, you can keep the seeds moist by lightly misting the plants each day from a clean spray bottle until the seeds germinate. Starts - When you are ready to move plants from indoors to outdoors, get them used to being outside in the sun, wind, and cooler air by “hardening” them. Set the plants outdoors in dappled sun or partial shade for an hour the first day, longer the next, and so on until they are out most of the day without damage. This takes less than a week. Gently remove the plant from its starting container, plant it in your ‘bucket’ and water it so the plant settles into the new soil and roots do not dry out.

Thinning What is thinning? Thinning is what you do when you get too many plants crowded into a space. You must thin when extra seeds are planted in case some do not sprout. Some plants are easy to thin, like beans and peas, and others are more difficult because they are so small, like carrots. Also, some seeds are very small and it is difficult to place them exactly as far apart as needed. Once the plants come up (and some can still be pretty small) they will become crowded and will not grow to the right size (just like too many young trees in the forest). You must remove the extra plants, usually the smallest, to allow the others to grow to a good size. You may have to thin more than once. You can thin by pulling plants or by snipping plants off at ground level to avoid harming the roots of the plants you want to keep. You can eat a lot of what you thin, such as the leaves of peas, lettuce, beets, chard, cabbage, and kale. As carrots mature and you continue to thin, you can eat the little ones you pull up.

Weeding One of the advantages of ‘bucket’ gardening is easier weed control. There is not a lot of extra space where weeds can get established and they cannot creep in from the edge of the garden. Just pull weeds out as you discover them.

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Light/Wind/Water

Water Just like fertilizer, water is important to the plants you are growing. Most garden vegetables like the soil moist but not soggy. If your bucket drains well and there is enough organic material in your soil, then it should be easy to keep the soil moist. When the soil is dry one inch down, give your plants a soaking. Try to water in the morning so the plants dry before the cooler evening. Morning watering helps prevent fungus growth and allows your plants to go to bed with soil warmed through the day. To slow down water loss by evaporation from the soil surface you could mulch, especially around larger plants, with pebbles, compost, a scattering of dry grass, or scraps of geotextile (“Typar”). You might also need to plan how and where you will get water for your plants. If it is a hot, sunny period, you may need to water every day. Do you have to carry the water? How far and how much? Is there a hose to help with watering? If you can not carry the water yourself, is there someone who can help you? What do you need to do to insure water is available to keep your plants healthy and growing?

Wind Wind can be a blessing and a curse. A light breeze can keep mosquitoes away, but wind blowing over the surface of the soil can dry it out or keep it from warming as much as it might if there were no wind. Some plants like a warm soil or are delicate and do not thrive in a windy spot. When placing your ‘buckets’ it is important to consider the wind directions around your home. It may be necessary to set your ‘buckets’ where there is some wind protection, or create a wind block for them. A wind block could be another plant or shrub. It could also be something you make, like a screen of wood or plastic.

Light We all enjoy a warm sunny day in summer and so do most plants, but some require more sun than others. Look at the seed packet or the tag that came with the start. It will tell you if the plant likes full sun, partial shade, or shade. This is important to know and will help you determine where to put your “bucket.” Water, wind, and light are important elements to your success. Begin by building healthy soils, choosing plants that do well in your area, and then include these other elements in your planning. Your opportunity for success increases!

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Pests & Other Challenges

Insects & disease Start by giving your plants good nutritious soil and the right amount of water, light, and fertilizer. Healthy, strong plants can resist disease and infestation better than plants stressed by poor soil or nutrition. If you purchase plants, do not bring home any with drooping or discolored leaves, with holes in the leaves, or that do not look healthy. If you think you may have an insect problem, the first job is to identify it. What is the color and size of the bug(s)? Does it have wings? Does it look like a beetle or is it soft and wormy? Is there a web or noticeable egg sacks? Does it have legs? Is it just on one of your plants? Contact your nearest expert or call the UAF Cooperative Extension Service at (907) 262-5824 for information on what you might have and what to do to get rid of it. Remember, not all bugs are bad; some are helpful in the garden, so be a good observer and ask questions.

Animals Moose and bears can be problems for gardeners. Bears (and dogs) can be attracted by some fertilizers, especially if the fertilizer is made from fish. Moose, well…There are some vegetables, like broccoli and cabbage moose seem to love. But they will take a bite of almost any plant just to see if they might learn to love it.

Trees Trees add much to our environment, but they can be a challenge when gardening. Avoid placing your ‘bucket’ directly under birch, cottonwood, or alder. All three of these tend to ‘drip’ onto plants below and can cause disease or death of garden vegetables. Also, if you place permanent, bottomless ‘buckets’ too near trees, the tree root systems can sprout into your ‘buckets’.

Harvesting Food now! Many people think of harvesting as a fall activity, but happily, with salad vegetables, you can harvest throughout the season. Radishes and chives are ready early and the little carrots and radishes you pull when thinning are tasty treats. As lettuce, kale, Napa cabbage, bok choi, chard, and beets grow, pluck a leaf here-and-there for your salad. After cutting the main head of broccoli, side shoots will keep you supplied the rest of the summer. Plants like peas will continue to produce if you pick the pods regularly.

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To Do Calendar

Early in the month Late in the month

October Put some soil mix in a container and store it where you can get to it in early spring when snow is still on the ground. This is the soil you will sterilize for seed starting.

November – February

March Browse seed catalogs and web sites. If you order seeds, get together with friends and share packages.

April Sterilize the soil you set aside in October for seed starting.

Start seeds indoors: lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, chives.

May Prepare soil mix. Collect buckets and fill them with soil mix.

Begin planting seeds outdoors: radishes, carrots, chard, beets, peas, lettuce, and nasturtiums.

June Transplant starts into your ‘buckets’. Continue planting seeds outdoors.

Build a compost pile.

July Begin harvesting greens. Water with liquid fertilizer.

Harvest

August Harvest

September Harvest

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‘Bucket’ Record Use this chart to keep a record of what worked, or did not work, in your ‘bucket’ so you can remember for next year.

This record belongs to:

Name & variety of plant

Date plant started

Date planted in 'bucket'

Type of fertilizer used

Water requirement

Date harvested

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Comments:

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References and Resources

People and Groups University of Alaska, Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service - Tom Jahns (fftrj@uaf.edu) or Janice Chumley (rnjic@uaf.edu) 262-5824 Central Peninsula Garden Club - Marion Nelson, mmkn@ptialaska.net Homer Garden Club - Brenda Adams, 235-3763, brenda@muddytruck.com Natural Resources Conservation Service - Pam Voeller - 283-8732 ext 106 Kenai Peninsula Resource Conservation and Development District - Lee Coray-Ludden, 283-8732 ext 114

Books

Kachemak Cultivating from Seaside to Summit – Homer Garden Club The Alaska Gardeners Handbook – Lenore Hedla

Publications The University of Alaska, Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service has many free brochures and pamphlets on-line and by request to help you garden. Go to the website www.uaf.edu/ces/pubs and search for the titles: Make Your Own Complete Fertilizer; The Compost Heap in Alaska; Recommended Variety List for Southcentral Alaska; 16 Easy Steps to Gardening in Alaska

Community Resources

Alaska Pioneer Fruit Growers - Dan Elliot, 376-5196 Farmers Markets:

Homer – Paul Castellani, 235-0703 Kenai – Harold Piland, harold@visitkenai.com Soldotna – Saturday market: Clayton Hillhouse, 262-5463, clayton@alaska.net Soldotna – Wednesday market: Annette Villa, 262-5252, akvilla9@yahoo.com

Lower Peninsula Fruit Growers – Judith James, 235-2574 or Peggy Craig, 235-0631 Southcentral Alaska Beekeepers Association - Steve Victors, 892-6175, thfofc@gci.net

Acknowledgements This project is a collaborative effort of:

Kenai Peninsula Resource Conservation and Development; Natural Resources Conservation District staff at the Kenai Peninsula USDA Service Center; Janice Chumley of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service; Rosemary Kimbal of the Central Peninsula Gardening Club; Christine Greig at Alaska Sea-Ag; and Will Hightower, Container Gardener.

First Edition, April 2009

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Notes

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Helping People Help the Land

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer