Last night we had a great lightning and thunderstorm. It started at about three in the morning and lasted for several hours. When you walked out of your house in the morning, did you notice how green the your grass and plants were? Did your plants look extra fresh and vibrant?
You weren't imagining things. It really is true. Lightning is a natural fertilizer giving your plants a quick boost of energy.
Now get yourself back to your high school chemistry days. I know my high school chemistry teacher, Miss Mitchell, would be happy with this. Here is the deal.
Air is comprised of 78% nitrogen and about 20% oxygen. We know that nitrogen is an important element that plants need for developing strong leaves and encouraging strong stem growth. If you go to the garden center and look at the plant fertilizers you will see how important nitrogen is. While air is mostly nitrogen, it is unfortunately in an usable form for plants. This is were lighting comes in.
The intense heat and electric charges produced by lightning causes the nitrogen molecules in the air to cling to the oxygen molecules. This bond forms nitrogen oxides. The nitrogen oxides will either fall from the sky themselves or be collected by the rain drops. The nitrogen is now in a highly charged form that can be used by the plants making them brighter, healthier and greener.
Now that is a natural fertilizer.
Monday, July 13, 2015
Monday, July 6, 2015
Everyone's Favorite Kohlrabi and Rogue Potatoes
Another strange summer from a weather perspective along the lake. It really hasn't been hot for any length of time. It feels like we have been in the 60's and 70's during the day and 50's at night forever. While this is great weather for growing lettuce, potatoes, spinach, peas and other cooler weather crops, it is terrible weather for the heat loving vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and zucchini.
The one thing with the cool, and not so humid weather, is that my tomato plants look really healthy. They just haven't developed any of the diseases you might find when it gets really humid.
I harvested all of my Kohlrabi. The variety I planted is called Grand Duke. The plants produced really nice 4 inch globes that were crisp and tender. I will be using this variety again next year for sure.
The potatoes that I grew last summer in the bags turned out so well that I decided to grow them the exact same way. As you can see, they are off to an amazing start. I am growing two different varieties. The first variety is called La Ratte. This is a late summer yellow heirloom fingerling variety that originated in France during the late 19th century. It is suppose to be excellent for roasting and in salads. The second variety is called Desiree. This is an early summer rosy red all purpose potato. Both varieties got planted in my grow bags on April 11th. The Desiree variety matures in 80 days which puts harvest time around June 30th. The La Ratte variety matures in 120 days which puts harvest time around August 9th. Desiree has been flowering hard so I am going to let it go longer. In the next week I plan to stick my hand down in the dirt to see if I can feel any potatoes. It is hard to tell that I have three tomato plants in front of the potatoes.
Speaking of potatoes, I got a bonus planting in my compost bin. When I cleaned out my garden last fall I dumped the contents of the grow bags into the compost bin. There must have been a few potatoes in the bags and they started to grow this spring. Fun, but I can't turn my compost pile without disrupting the rogue potatoes.
The one thing with the cool, and not so humid weather, is that my tomato plants look really healthy. They just haven't developed any of the diseases you might find when it gets really humid.
I harvested all of my Kohlrabi. The variety I planted is called Grand Duke. The plants produced really nice 4 inch globes that were crisp and tender. I will be using this variety again next year for sure.
The potatoes that I grew last summer in the bags turned out so well that I decided to grow them the exact same way. As you can see, they are off to an amazing start. I am growing two different varieties. The first variety is called La Ratte. This is a late summer yellow heirloom fingerling variety that originated in France during the late 19th century. It is suppose to be excellent for roasting and in salads. The second variety is called Desiree. This is an early summer rosy red all purpose potato. Both varieties got planted in my grow bags on April 11th. The Desiree variety matures in 80 days which puts harvest time around June 30th. The La Ratte variety matures in 120 days which puts harvest time around August 9th. Desiree has been flowering hard so I am going to let it go longer. In the next week I plan to stick my hand down in the dirt to see if I can feel any potatoes. It is hard to tell that I have three tomato plants in front of the potatoes.
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| Early to mid May |
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| Early to mid May |
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| End of June |
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| End of June |
Speaking of potatoes, I got a bonus planting in my compost bin. When I cleaned out my garden last fall I dumped the contents of the grow bags into the compost bin. There must have been a few potatoes in the bags and they started to grow this spring. Fun, but I can't turn my compost pile without disrupting the rogue potatoes.
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