I am so excited to share this guest post about sprouting (which is a container garden of sorts…) by Phil Nauta. He is a SOUL Certified Organic Land Care Professional and author of the book Building Soils Naturally, coming out in Spring 2012. He has taught for Gaia College and been a director for The Society For Organic Urban Land Care. He was an organic landscaper and ran an organic fertilizer business before teaching innovative organic gardening methods at SmilingGardener.com.

* * * * *

In 2005, I started intensively studying organic gardening. That process inspired me to leave behind my junk food habit and seek a healthier lifestyle. I learned to grow my own food and I discovered sprouts, one of the most nutrient-dense foods you’ll ever eat. Since then, I’ve been sprouting year round, and especially in the winter when fresh food is not plentiful.

Sprouting is super easy, takes 2 minutes each day and saves a lot of money over buying them from the grocery store. Plus, it’s incredibly fun to see the process of how seeds become plants.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Buy your seeds. You may find them in smaller packages at a grocery store, but I buy them in bulk online from Mumm’s. Go for organic if you can. I generally stick to the seeds that are most versatile and simplest to grow – clover and alfalfa. Avoid alfalfa if you have arthritis or inflammation issues.

2. Get a container. A mason jar works well. Since I sprout a lot, I’ve found using specialized containers such as EasySprout and Sproutmaster are timesavers and grow nicer sprouts, but a mason jar is just fine.

3. Put the seeds in your container and add water to amply cover them. For bonus points, add a touch of liquid kelp or sea minerals for micronutrients. Soak for 4-6 hours, although if you forget them overnight, you’ll still be okay.

4. After soaking, drain the water off. Spread the seeds out in the container so that they have room to breathe and grow. If you’re using a jar, an excellent strategy is to cover the mouth with mesh or cheesecloth, secure it with an elastic, and set the jar upside down at an angle, with something under it to collect any water that drains off.

5. Rinse and drain the sprouts 1-2 times daily, with room temperature water. After rinsing, always make sure the sprouts are spread out a bit (a fork helps) and that you drain off all the excess water. If you can remember this rinsing step, you’ll be successful at this.

6. After a couple of days, once the seeds have sprouted tails, put them in sunlight for 2-5 days. They will green up. Every time you rinse, you’ll find you can rinse out some of the hulls. This isn’t necessary, but just makes your sprouts a bit tastier. This rinsing gets easier after a few days when they’re close to being ready.

7. You can now start eating them. I use them in sandwiches, salads and smoothies. Store them in your sprouter and continue to rinse them daily until you finish eating them. They will keep growing as you remove some to eat, since they have more space. You can also store them in a breathable container in the fridge for 7-10 days. Be sure they aren’t wet when you put them in the fridge or they may rot.

And that’s all there is to it. Any questions? Any tips to add?

My first orchid memory is of taking care of my aunt’s orchids while she was on vacation. She had two greenhouse windows in her kitchen that were filled with tons of orchids. Of course, my aunt has a real way with plants, and orchids in particular. She told me recently that my Moth Orchid (Phalaenopsis) will be easy for me to grow. We’ll see.

A common way to fertilize container gardens in general, and orchids in particular, is to follow the maxim “weakly, weekly.” This means to fertilize them at a weaker strength than recommended on the package, on a weekly basis. A good rule of thumb is 1/4 strength.

A lot of orchid fertilizers are synthetic. If you want to keep things organic, one thing I’ve found that works pretty well for orchids is a weak worm tea. Check out a product called TerraCycle Orchid Plant Food if you don’t have your own vermicomposter or just don’t want to have to make it yourself.

By the way, I saw suggestions on the internet to use fish emulsion. Trust me, you don’t want to use that indoors. It STINKS!!! Also, avoid using time release fertilizer granules unless you’re growing cymbidiums, and then only use them very sparingly and only in early spring. They release too much fertilizer at once.

For more info on caring for orchids, check out the website Orchids are Easy.

Here’s a teaser from my latest article on Fiskars.com: In the late 1980s, NASA set about studying how plants can help filter toxins out of the air and replace it with fresh, clean oxygen. More recently, Kamal Meattle gave a TED Conference talk on how to use those plants to clean the polluted air of his hometown, New Delhi, India.

Continue Reading on Fiskars.com >>>

You’ve probably heard of starting seeds indoors, but you may have some questions, like what the heck is the point? Or when should I start my seeds? You can totally geek out on seed starting if that’s your thing, but it doesn’t have to be difficult if you don’t want it to be.

WHAT: Starting seeds indoors means exactly that. You sow seeds in small pots or special seed starting trays, and keep the containers inside until the plants have sprouted and grown a bit.

To get started you need a very bright window or a supplemental light. In most cases a standard issue CFL bulb will work fine if you are only starting a few plants inside. I use a shop light fixture and florescent tube lights, so that I start about 90 seedlings indoors. As far as seed starting trays go, you don’t need anything fancy to get started, you can turn empty yogurt cups into seed starting pots by poking a hole in the bottom. I do recommend using special seed starting potting soil though, I’ve had much better success with seed starting mix than I have with regular potting soil.

WHY: If you live in an area with a very short growing season or are on a serious budget, you should definitely consider starting seeds indoors. By sowing your seeds indoors while it is still winter, you effectively extend your growing season by starting with plants that are already several weeks old. A packet of seeds will create numerous plants for a buck or two. And you can trade your extra seeds with friends to get even more seeds for no money at all.

WHO: You don’t need a college degree (or even an elementary school education) to sow seeds, but it does require someone who is meticulous about checking on the seedlings to make sure the light is at the right height and the soil is evenly moist. So if you often kill plants because you forget to water them for weeks on end, it might be better to start with transplants from the nursery.

WHEN: There is no hard and fast answer to the question, “when should I start my seeds.” The first thing you need to do is find out the last frost date for your area. This last day of winter/early spring on which you can expect to have temperatures at a below freezing. Each seed packet will tell you how many weeks before your last frost you should start those particular seeds. So if your packet says to start the seeds 6 weeks before your last frost, count back six weeks from that day and you have the indoor seed starting day for your seeds. Some plants will need to be started earlier than others, but you can expect most of your seeds to need between 4-8 weeks of indoor growing.

WHERE: I started my first seeds in the windowsill above my kitchen sink, though I now keep my seed trays on a shelf in my garage. You can start seeds anywhere that is warm and has bright light. You could even use a closet if there is a plug nearby for your grow light.

Photo by Melanie O.

I was thrilled to go on the Here’s The Dirt radio show in Danville, VA to talk about indoor gardening yesterday. It was my very first time on the radio. I was a little nervous, but it turned out to be a lot of fun! You can listen to the show here: Indoor Plants with Fern Richardson.

Here are links to some of the topics we talked about:

• NASA list of indoor plants that do the best job  of cleaning the air
• TED Conference talk on how to use plants to clean toxins out of the air
• Dwarf Pomegranates
• CFL Grow Lights that you can use with your regular household lamps
• Jobe’s Houseplant Indoor Fertilizer Food Spikes
• ASPCA list of plants that are toxic and nontoxic to cats and dogs
• Yellow Sticky Traps for getting rid of fungus gnats

I have a new post up over at Fiskars.com. It’s about making a gift basket filled with beautiful hellebores to give to your holiday hosts:

Starting with Thanksgiving right through New Years, November and December are filled with holiday parties. Of course, you are a thoughtful guest, and you always bring something special and beautiful to give to your host or hostess. Right? Well, if you’re looking for a gift idea for a hostess who loves flowers or gardening, why not say “thanks” with a basket of hellebores? Word on the street is that they’re the de rigeur gift in Europe.

Read the rest of the post >>>

I’ve had a Wally One from Woolly Pocket laying around for awhile, waiting to be tried out. I had originally planned to order some indoor plants to review as well, but when that didn’t work out, and my one and only indoor plant died, I knew it was time to put up my Wally and give it a whirl.

It was really simple to install and plant, I finished the whole project in less than an hour. And I’m really happy with the results. One thing that I hadn’t considered–but is a nice side benefit–the Wally keeps my plants away from my four cats who really enjoy taste-testing plants.

Here’s how easy it is to install a Wally:

You have two screws and two anchors. The anchors are really heavy duty and they help hold the screw solidly in place, which in turn helps keep the Wally securely on the wall.

Carefully measure everything out and the screw the first anchor into the wall. Place the grommet on the Wally over the anchor and screw it in place.

Use a level to make sure your Wally is straight (I used an app on my iPhone) and then mark where the other anchor needs to be screwed into the wall. Repeat the step above to screw the other side of the Wally in place.

The next thing to do is plant the Wally. Be sure to pay attention to which side is the plants’ good side, and which is their not-so-good side. The same fern plant is show in both photos, but the top photo shows the side that was a little banged up, so I placed that side against the wall and no one (except me and you) has to know about it.

Also, because your plants will be so close together, I suggest picking plants that have different colors, textures, sizes, etc. In my Wally, I planted a colorful croton with twisted foliages, a green and yellow pothos that will trail over the side, one finely cut fern with light green fronds, and another with broader, darker leaves.

I always like to plant largest plant to smallest plant, because I think it’s easier to squeeze smaller plants in last. The flexibility of the Wally combined with the fact that it was already attached to the wall actually made planting it really easy. The planting was so easy and fast, I forgot to take step-by-step photos. Oops.

I’m really looking forward to the yellow-flecked pothos growing in and trailing down the side of the plant. I’ll just have to be sure to keep it trimmed, as they are poisonous to cats.

]]> http://lifeonthebalcony.com/when-you-cant-garden-outdoors-anymore-grow-vertically-indoors/feed/ 23 http://lifeonthebalcony.com/friday-afternoon-grab-bag/ http://lifeonthebalcony.com/friday-afternoon-grab-bag/#comments Fri, 02 Apr 2010 20:00:25 +0000 Fern http://lifeonthebalcony.com/?p=3068

I’m trying something new in an effort to share some of the cool things I come across as well as lighten the load for me (writing 5 full-length posts a week for nearly 2 years is starting to take it’s toll). Basically, on Fridays I’m going to be sharing some links and quick ideas for you all to take into the weekend. Let me know what you think…

Great Blog Reading

• Homemade EarthBox – Mr Brown Thumb shares how he made his own self-watering container with $2, a garbage bag and a rubberband.
• What Makes a Good Gardener? – Author and blogger Gayla Trail pontificates on what qualifies someone as a “green thumb.”
• How to Make a Planter Out of a Wooden Pallet – This isn’t a blog post, per se, it’s an Instructibles post, so I’m not really sure where that fits in the scheme of things. Regardless, it’s an interesting idea for making a nice looking planter out of found materials.
• The San Francisco Garden Show: Container Drama – Christina shared her photos and thoughts on all the beautiful and interesting container designs at the SF Garden Show.
• Review of Upside Down Planters and EarthBox – Paula Lovgren provides a thoughtful review of her experience with the Topsy Turvey upside down planter, and the self-watering EarthBox.

Loving These Colors

I keep on seeing yellow, orange and silver in gardens and find it a really beautiful, subtle color palette

Book I Can’t Wait to Read

Alys Fowler’s Garden Anywhere. I received the book as a Hanukkah gift, but haven’t had time to read it yet. I flipped through a copy at the San Francisco Garden Show, and was kicking myself for taking so long to actually crack open the cover.

I’m Lusting After…

The uber modern Roost Copenhagen terrarium containers available at aHa Modern Living.

In the News

• Michael Tortorello examines several indoor herb garden kits in his New York Times column. I always enjoy his thoughtful commentary on edible gardening from a newcomer’s perspective.
• Cindy McNatt, garden writer at the Orange County Register, provides a bunch of useful tidbits and trivia about growing tomatoes.
• The topic of master gardeners was really popular this week. Google found 1260 articles about master gardeners published in the last week.
• A new community garden opened up in Tempe, AZ and replaces a vacant lot with flowers and vegetables. Although the concept is a bit different than most community gardens, the produce grown in the garden will supply local restaurants.
• The Guardian examines edible flowers and the various flavors they can add to a dish.

Know about something that should be included in next week’s grab bag? Send your tips to fern at lifeonthebalcony.com.

I think we can all agree that the people who work for NASA are pretty smart. Right? In the 1980s those smart folks turned their attention to plants. Specifically indoor plants. NASA scientists wanted to know which plants did the best job of improving indoor air quality?

Houseplants have an advantage over outdoor plants when it comes to purifying air. Indoor plants are adapted to tropical areas where they grow beneath dense tree canopies and get very little light. These plants evolved to efficiently capture light, which means they must be equally efficient when processing the gasses necessary for photosynthesis. Scientists believe this gives indoor plants better ability to absorb the harmful gases exuded from pretty much everything that is mass produced theses days, from furniture to flooring to wall paint.

Here are the plants that the NASA scientists found to be the best at removing toxins commonly found in indoor air:

1. Philodendron scandens `oxycardium’, heartleaf philodendron
2. Philodendron domesticum, elephant ear philodendron
3. Dracaena fragrans `Massangeana’, cornstalk dracaena
4. Hedera helix, English ivy
5. Chlorophytum comosum, spider plant
6. Dracaena deremensis `Janet Craig’, Janet Craig dracaena
7. Dracaena deremensis `Warneckii’, Warneck dracaena
8. Ficus benjamina, weeping fig
9. Epipiremnum aureum, golden pothos
10. Spathiphyllum `Mauna Loa’, peace lily
11. Philodendron selloum, selloum philodendron
12. Aglaonema modestum, Chinese evergreen
13. Chamaedorea sefritzii, bamboo or reed palm
14. Sansevieria trifasciata, snake plant
15. Dracaena marginata, red-edged dracaena

The scientists who conducted the study found that different plants do a better job of removing different toxins, so it’s best to use a variety of the plants listed above. You need at least 15 plants per 2000 square feet of space to provide the best benefit.

NOTE: Several of the plants on the list are toxic to cats, dogs and small children, so do your research first if you share your home with smaller critters.

Photo Credit: Crows to Burnbaby

Can you imagine the wonderful smell of jasmine scenting your home? Not to mention how beautiful it would look!

Jasmine is easy to grow indoors so long as you don’t overheat your home or allow the soil to dry out. Try to keep temperatures below 65 degrees F while the buds are developing. Perhaps you have a room you don’t heat, or a particularly cool bathroom to keep the jasmine during that time. Jasmine likes bright, filtered light, so a lot of bathrooms are perfect, especially since they like things a little on the humid side.

Feed your Jasmine once a month during spring and summer with half strength liquid fertilizer that is low in nitrogen. Or, if you prefer, give it slow release fertilizer in early Spring and forget about fertilizing all together.

If your Jasmine needs a haircut, trim it back immediately after blooming. If you wait too long, you risk cutting off the buds that will turn into next season’s flowers.

Don’t forget that while Jasmine is not toxic to kitties, it is to dogs. Even if you are a better housekeeper than Martha Stewart, flowers and leaves will fall to the ground before you have a chance to clean them up. But your pup will find those leaves ASAP.