Incredibly Cheap DIY Seed Starting Setup!

As we sit and hope that our incoming storms are big enough to fill our lakes, and not our floodplains, I've been running around thinking about nothing but gardens, gardens, gardens! Seed catalogs, garden layouts, germination temperatures, start dates for perpetual harvests; the list is endless! I can't wait for spring!

In order to get an early jump on the season and avoid the issues from last year when we lost nearly ALL of our starts to a mistake and a freeze; I opted to set up a cheap seed starting room over in the small engine shop.

I started with two shelves in a dark corner of the shop; piled high with forgotten boxes and random piles of books. I wish I had taken a picture before clearing it out, as half of the lower shelf was out of sight. But this picture, taken after cleaning and running electricity to the area will have to do.

You can see a combination hygrometer / thermometer in the right side of the photo. I wanted to test to see how wet and cold this corner got normally without lights or seedling mats, so I set this up the day before putting the area together. Overnight as the first of our storms hit, the corner varied from 49-52 degrees and 85-89% relative humidity. As damping off occurs around 90% humidity, I expect that I will have to do something about that before sprouting. I will wait to see what the addition of lights and soil heaters do to the humidity and will work from there.

In order to give a hint of insulation and reflectivity to the walls, I went for super cheap. I cut up a few used pallet bags from our pellet stove fuel. By carefully pulling apart the top seams and cutting the rest with a utility knife I was able to get two 3x15 foot white plastic sheets. I used a steel straightedge with the knife to cut away the freyed plastic and cut the pieces down to size. While the thin plastic will not do alot to keep heat in, I hope that since it is airtight, it will allow cold nighttime air to move down the wall to the ground without hitting the plants. I will know more by checking our temps tomorrow.

I reused some old rubber flooring for matting to cover the shelves and prevent water from the top shelf from dripping down onto the light below. I avoided cardboard and metal, since we would be dealing with electricity and water and figured to keep a second conductor out of the mix. I know they will be well separated, but hey; better safe than sorry.

For the lights, I used two types. One is a $10 4' fluorescent shop light fit with two full spectrum bulbs. The two lights above are 8" reflectors (like brooder lights) fitted with 150w Gro-Spot floodlights. (Which we hope to have in stock sometime this week.)

The idea is that I will use the low intensity fluorescent for seed starting, and then move more developed plants under the gro-spots. The grow spots are clamped onto an old six foot piece of 1"x1/4" flat steel, fittid into place with deck screws so I can adjust lap height as I go. I also have the ability to add three more lights if needed.

49-52 degrees is a bit cold for some of the plants I want to get a head start with, so I added two seedling mats. The seedling sprouter single and two tray mats. (19.99 and 39.99 respectively) they will raise the soil temperature 10-20 degrees above ambient, so we should be getting 62-72 degrees at peak. I'm hoping the lights will keep the area a bit warmer as well. (Again, we will see as we go)

I opted out of a timer for this set up, since seedlings are going to need about a 14 hour cycle. Since I'm here from 730-4, I should be able to go the first week by simply turning ont he lights when I leave and off when I get here. There is nearly no ambient light in the corner, so I am not worried about darkness during the day.

To set up a simple 72 seed starter kit of your own, drop by and pick up the following:
8" Reflector - 8.99
150w Gro-Spot bulb - 10.99 (back-ordered as I write this, expected in by Feb 1st)
Super Sprouter Seedling Heat Mat - 19.99 single tray, 39.99 double
Seed Starter Green House Kit - 6.99

Alright, lets grow!

Livestock Swap?

Everything is still int he works, but it looks as if we will be having a monthly livestock and animal swap on the second Saturday of each month beginning on Saturday February 13th! Keep an eye out on the blog or check out the newsletter for more information as we work it out!

MCFS Garden Planner!

Now that the first of the year has come and gone, I have my eyes firmly set on spring. Planning the upcoming garden, getting seeds selections set, preparing for chicken arrivals, and a ton of other things. Even on a cold rainy day like today, the work begun now in preparation for growing season keeps sunshine in my mind.

I sometimes have a hard time keeping things organized, and my seed start plans are generally an incomprehensible mess of chicken scratch in one of my pocket notebooks. This year, with multiple gardens under my care, I have dedicated myself to at least making organization easier. To begin with, I created a very simple spreadsheet to track both indoor and outdoor start dates based on the last frost.



This easy to use spreadsheet will automatically fill in calendar dates to start your seeds. Just look for the blue and yellow boxes and put in your first and last frost dates and the calendar will update to give you an idea on when to get those seeds going.

To find historic first and last frost dates for most major cities in California (even Ukiah is in there) you can visit the California master gardener webpage. Other states can be found through your county extension web pages.

MCFS-Garden_Planner [Excel Formatted]
MCFS-Garden_Planner[Open Document Format]

If you lack a spread sheet program, you can download one for free from www.openoffice.org that will open the Open Document format.

Happy planting! And please feel free to contact us with suggestions and corrections!

Winter Garden Ammending

This time of year, as our bodies adjust to the onset of another chilly Mendocino winter, it is easy to want to hide inside by the woodstove and let the garden do its own thing through the winter. However, with a little bit of work now, you will be rewarded in spring with stronger, more fertile soil with much less overall work. The key is to let the winter freeze and thaw cycle do you work for you.

The first thing to do is to check your soil nutrient levels. A simple $20 test kit will set you on the right path. Once you have a rough idea of your soils needs, it is fairly easy to lightly work soil amendments into the ground, and let frost heave and winter rains finish the job. While it is not recommended to add nitrogen until spring, you can boost your phosphorous and potash levels now with great results, especially if using more slow release organic nutrients like greensand, bone meal or wood ashes.

Now is also a good time to dump a bit of compost into your beds to get the earthworms working again to disperse your amendments. Once you add your nutrients and compost, plant a simple cover crop to be tilled down in spring. Not only do cover crops fix nitrogen in the soil, when tilled down in spring, they boost the organic matter in the soil giving a strong boost to the microscopic culture in a spring time bed.

Winter Tool Storage

Winter cold, rain and disuse plays havoc on our tools. Now that the seasons work is done, special attention should be taken to make sure your tools are stored properly. From garden spades to tillers and mowers, a small amount of work now can avoid costly repairs next spring.

For motor driven equipment, you should cover the equipment, or store it inside if possible. Prior to the winter, it is advisable to either drain the fuel or add a fuel stabilizer such as Fresh Start. Sold in convenient self-measuring bottles, you simply add a few ounces to your tank to stop oxidization of the fuel which can cause poor performance and engine and carburetor damage the next time the tool is used.
Now is also a great time to change your oil! Doing your own oil changes is quick and simple, or we can do it for you in our small engine repair shop. Bring in your model number and we can set you up with new filters, spark plugs and oil to make it an easy job.

Once you drain all that spent oil, you can recycle some of it yourself. By filling a bucket with sand and pouring your used motor oil into it, you can create an easy way to clean your tools and prevent rust with a simple dip. This is great for shovels, picks and pitchforks. Those of you with organic plots can use Stylet Oil or even plain-old vegetable oil for similar results. Be sure to cover the bucket to keep water from filling it and spilling over. This sand and oil bucket can be used season after season, and refreshed with a light addition of used motor oil once a year. The oil soaked sand, once used up, can be dropped of with the haz-mobile at any of our local transfer stations.

Keep those tools working for you year after year!

Erosion Control

So, some of us put it off until this late, and our hillsides and roads are starting to show the first rivulets and ravines of the winter rain season. But it is not too late for erosion control! You don’t need to construct stone terraces or use expensive hydro-seeding or hydraulic-mulching to control erosion; in fact with a little bit of ingenuity and know-how, erosion control is dirt cheap.

The two simplest ways to curb erosion are mulching and seeding. A simple straw mulch, held in place with jute netting is nearly 100% effective in stopping erosion, and you can easily put down seed prior to the mulch for a more long-term solution. Straw mulches work even better when smashed into the soil with a flat head shovel, creating pockets to catch accumulated runoff and silt. The punched in areas should run at a slight diagonal to the hillside for the best results.

We carry a number of erosion control blends for roads, hillsides and tilled pastures. Uniquely blended for Mendocino’s climate and landscape, these grass blends are simple to choose and easy to apply with a shoulder spreader.

For a more finished look, and ease of application, we sell erosion control blankets, 5’x100’ swaths of compressed jute fiber. Roll it out along the hillside, securing every six feet or so with landscape stakes. In high wind areas, smashing rocks and boulders into the ground along the edges can keep the blanket from shredding in all but the most heavy of winds.

The digging of diversion trenches is hard work, but by adding a trench above the affected area, in addition to ground covers, you can reduce runoff to almost nothing. The same holds true for roadsides. You can also lay out straw wattles; specially made rolls of straw in a tubular netting. Stake the wattles down along the contour of the slope to catch silt and accumulated run off. This can also be used on ridges and hilltop landings and house pads to create a containment dyke and keep the landing’s edges from running away with the rain.

Around the house, check to see if there are any areas where water is coming out of storm gutters and digging holes. The addition of a paving stone or a bit of gravel will stop erosion immediately.

With a little bit of work and ingenuity, it is easy to keep the world from washing away. For insight into your own situation, stop by, or ask a question here on the blog!

Thanks for reading!

Welcome

Hello, and welcome to the somewhat official blog of the Mendocino County Farm Supply.

I’m Sean Spicer, editor of those fun monthly newsletters you’ve been seeing around the shop and I’d like to warn you that I am taking full responsibility for this blog. That means that even if I can’t spell, hold a coherent thought, or make you laugh you should not assume the farm Supply shares my shortcomings. Just a general disclaimer I wanted to put in here.

The purpose of this blog is to disseminate some of the incredible information I glean from my coworkers and customers here at the Farm Supply, and get it out there on the internet where it can help others. Here you may find information on everything from winterizing your chicken coop to solarizing your compost pile.
I would also like to encourage everyone to ask questions, no matter how obscure. If I don’t have an answer, I will find one. So, if you need to know how to build a snake trap or a potato bin, here is the place to ask.

So, welcome aboard!