002 Growing microgreens. Backyard blueberry plants. Importance of thinning vegetables, fruit.

Master Gardener Gail Pothour tells us how to have a microgreens garden in the kitchen. Choosing the tastiest blueberry varieties; how to grow blueberry plants. The importance of thinning young vegetable seedlings and young fruit. What are you grateful for?

Thank you for listening, subscribing and commenting on the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast and the Beyond the Garden Basics Newsletter.

Chapters

• 1:57 Growing Microgreens
• 14:08 Choosing and Growing Blueberry Plants
• 20:03 Importance of Thinning Vegetables, Fruit
• 23:58 Shelter In Place Questions to Ask Yourself

Transcript

Farmer Fred:   0:12
Welcome to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred Podcast. If you're just a beginning gardener or you want good gardening information while you've come to the right spot, those of you who are familiar with my garden radio shows here in Northern California, which I've been doing since 1982 might be wondering. Well, what's the reason for this podcast? Well, even though I'm fond of saying all gardening is local garden basics with Farmer, Fred will be reaching out to gardeners wherever they may happen to be with garden tips and growing advice that apply just about anywhere will strive to explain garden jargon and terms anyone can understand. And we'll be talking to garden experts from throughout the world who will share their vast plant and soil knowledge with us, and we'll be answering your gardening questions. Think of us as your one room schoolhouse for growing your backyard garden of fruits, vegetables and oh yeah, flowers that attract the garden, good guys, beneficial insects and pollinators. And we'll have some fun, too. Let's get started.  

Farmer Fred:   1:12
Welcome to Episode two of Garden Basics with Farmer Fred. In this episode, we talk about a garden project that you can do indoors. And, you'll be growing some of the healthiest food there is in a sunny window, using easy steps that everyone in the family will enjoy taking part in. Plus, we talk about how to grow blueberries. That's a fiber rich, sweet taste treat that's easy to grow, even if all you have is a small front or backyard patio. Also, we'll give you details and how you can participate in the show by sending us your garden questions. We've got some quick tips to share with you as well, and we're going to do it all in less than 30 minutes.

Farmer Fred:   2:02
Have you tried microgreens yet? It's some of the healthiest food you can eat, and basically, it's just baby vegetables that you can grow on your kitchen counter as long as there's some bright light around. We're talking with Gail Pothour,  Sacramento County master gardener out here at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center. And microgreens are exactly what that description is, isn't it?  

Gail Pothour:   2:21
These are just small germinated vegetables and herbs, exactly. As long as the vegetable or herbs or even flowers are edible! To begin with, you could grow any cool season crop that's edible. Nasturtium is an edible flower that could be grown, and it takes 10 days, two weeks, depending on the variety. You're going to go from seed to your first harvest, and you grow them in a potting soil or a soilless mix. 

Farmer Fred:   3:05
You could start seeds in a store-bought propagation kit, that contains several little containers, but you have a unique way of doing it. 

Gail Pothour:   3:10
I save all my deli containers from from the deli in the grocery store, something from a salad bar or whatever. Just make sure that there's drainage holes in the bottom. If they're not already there, I'd punch him in with an ice pick, and then I can use the cover that goes on that deli container to cover the seeds initially, and then I use  a saucer beneath it. But I'm sort of cheap and lazy, and I don't like to throw anything away, so I reuse. Be sure that they're scrupulously clean. So I always wash it in warm water and even a little bit of bleach if I've  used them before to start the seeds to prevent the spread of disease.    

Farmer Fred:   3:52
And the purpose of those drain holes:  drainage is very important when you're starting the seeds.

Gail Pothour:   3:56
 Absolutely. And what I found with micro greens is I start the seeds in a moistened soilless mix. You don't have to plant them deeply. Some I just sprinkle on top and kind of push them in. And I used bottom heat with a propagation mat. I had arugula that came up in one day and mustard came up in two days. My beets came up in two days, and then once they have grown a little bit, maybe a quarter inch or so, I no longer water from above because they're so fragile. It tends to smash them down. So I water from the bottom. I'll  let it soak up through the soil.  

Farmer Fred:   4:36
How long will you keep him in that little pot of water?

Gail Pothour:   4:38
Just until they're saturated, maybe a half hour or so. Then remove them from that wet saucer out. Put the containers back under the lights or in a window, wherever you have them. Because they grow so quickly, they don't really need a lot of light.  Microgreens grow so quickly, they don't need to be under lights for a long time.  We should point out tomatoes should not be part of the microgreens, because while the tomato fruit is edible, the plants are toxic. Just be sure that whatever vegetable or flower you're planting is edible.  

Farmer Fred:   5:17
And we should point out to that when you said you apply "bottom heat", that doesn't mean you're sitting on the plants. That means that you purchased a  propagation mat.  

Gail Pothour:   5:25
I do have a propagation mat or you could put them in a warm spot on top of the refrigerator or wherever. Cool season crops like arugula and mustard and beets that I have growing right now don't really need the bottom heat. I do it just to get them off to a quick start.

Farmer Fred:   5:41
And we should also point out is you don't have to cook these. You eat them raw, right?

Gail Pothour:   5:44
You do eat them raw. They're so fragile. I will sprinkle them on a dish when it's done or I put them in salads, use them in place of lettuce on the sandwich or something like that. I don't like some of the cool season crops (when they're fully grown). Mustard and arugula for example. I don't care for that. But I like them as microgreens.    

Farmer Fred:   6:02
In your research, you found that the cotyledons (the first set of leaves that emerge) served well as microgreens. The cotyledons are the initial leaves that come out on any seedling. And then it starts forming new leaves. And you are basically advising people that when you harvest the micro greens, it could be at the cotyledon stage or at the first true leaf stage?

Gail Pothour:   6:25
 Correct. The micro greens are eating when they're very young. You don't need them to get much taller than the first true leaf because in some varieties, depending on the vegetable, couldn't start to get a little bill woody or little tough. So that's why they're great to grow in just 10 days or two weeks, they're ready, and you just snip them off just above the soil line.  

Farmer Fred:   6:48
You don't want to pull them out?  

Gail Pothour:   6:50
No. Use scissors. Just cut them off. You don't want to get soil on the plate you're going to eat so that you just cut them off, give them a haircut, and then you can kind of rinse them off and store in the refrigerator. Maybe just for a few days. They are best used right after you cut them. But however, I did just find out I had grown some arugula for a class I taught in January, and I came home and had a whole flat of arugula left. I stuck it in my refrigerator and they lasted a month in there. I don't know if all micro green varieties will do that, but the arugula happened to hold up really well.  

Farmer Fred:   7:25
And this is an ongoing process that you would be replanting in various containers. What, Every few days, right?

Gail Pothour:   7:31
It could be that. I use small containers like small, deli containers. That will last me, maybe a week. And so I don't want to have a whole glut of the same thing all at one time. So I'll stagger my plantings so that I could just continue my harvests over a long period of time.  

Gail Pothour:   7:50
There is the convenience of going to the nursery or a big box store and getting one of their seed starting kits. Those trays usually are maybe 12 by eight inches or maybe a little bit longer and a little bit narrower. But they have maybe 32 to 64 cells per tray, which means you can start a wide variety of micro greens. But I've found with using those sorts of cell containers, it's a little tougher to harvest them because you sort of have the side of each of the cell kind of in the way. So I like to use a flat, something unopened, like a flat of six by 10 or something. So you don't have any obstruction when you go to harvest them.   

Farmer Fred:   8:33
A tray like that you might find at a nursery that's holding several four inch pot, right?  

Gail Pothour:   8:37
Yeah, something like that. You want to just have at least a couple of inches of depth for the soil. Don't want it too shallow, but It doesn't need to be really deep, either. They are not going to be in there that long.  

Farmer Fred:   8:48
All right. Now let's get to the meat of the matter. Which microgreens are best? In your estimation, you've grown a lot of different vegetables and herbs for micro greens. Which ones do you like the best?  

Gail Pothour:   8:59
They're basically all cool season crops. So beets, mustard, arugula, lettuce. You could do chives. I do some herbs. Basil is good, so is parsley, if you like the taste of parsley. Those are the ones I basically use. If you have old seeds, try Cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower. I tend to use up my old seeds. If I have a package of broccoli or cabbage seeds that I'm not gonna grow any more. I'll use those for microgreens, even Brussels sprouts that don't do that well in our climate.

Farmer Fred:   9:32
You use those for micro greens?   

Gail Pothour:   9:36
 in reality you could grow those year round on your kitchen counter because you're harvesting them at the cotyledon or the first true leaf stage.  I say that to differentiate between warm season crops, corn and beans and tomatoes and peppers.  I've also heard, but  I haven't tried, are peas.  Pea starts are edible.  So, it's what would be classified as cool season crops.   

Gail Pothour:   10:09
And I didn't mention you don't follow the seed package spacing recommendations. You sow them very thickly. So in a container that six by six, I'll use up a half a package of seeds. No thinning required.  They are in the soil for a short period of time. You want them sown thick, you wanna be able to cut off a handful.  

Gail Pothour:   10:35
I guess the easy way to plan it would be: you have your tray or deli containers or whatever. And maybe you fill those containers maybe 3/4 of the way with that soilless mix (also known as seed starting mix). You sprinkle the seeds on top and then maybe covered them with a thin layer of more of that soilless mix. Exactly. That's what I do to fill it. Maybe 1/4 of an inch from the top put. With my seeds, I sew them very thickly, thicker than you think you'd want to. And then I just sprinkle in really lightly a little more of the potting soil. Or if the seeds are really tiny, you maybe don't have to do that covering at all and just give them a little water, cover them and let them go.  

Farmer Fred:   11:14
Well, let's talk a little bit more about that watering. Now, after you've planted the seeds and you want to keep that seed bed moist, are you misting it?  

Gail Pothour:   11:21
I actually have a little apparatus, its screws on an old water bottle. The top  has a lot of little holes, like a showerhead, so it gives it a fine watering, but not a mist, but it's not a hard stream of water.  I use that initially, But then when I cover it, I really don't need to water again  until they've sprouted and say, In my case, I had things come up in a day or two, and then once they sprouted, take the lid off, or you could use a plastic wrap or whatever and then put him under lights and they'll be ready to harvest another week.  

Farmer Fred:   11:52
And then you water it from the bottom. The bottom?  

Gail Pothour:   11:54
Yeah. On the tray. Um, I still water from the top, maybe the first few days after they come up, but when they start getting tall, watering from the top is going to knock the plants over. So then I do bottom watering.  

Farmer Fred:   12:06
I've saved the best for last. The nutritional value of micro greens is amazing. In your research, you found that microgreens are multiple times nutritionally better that a full grown plant.  

Gail Pothour:   12:20
Some sources in their research have said that they could be from 4 to 40 times more nutrients in the micro greens than in the mature crop, depending on what you're growing. And I initially started growing microgreens just because I think there kind of fun and they taste good. But it's good to know that I'm also getting some added nutrients there.  

Farmer Fred:   12:39
Could you make a whole salad out of it, or just use it as a garnish?

Gail Pothour:   12:42
I use it as a garnish.  If you like arugula on a salad, you could make a whole salad of the arugula sprouts. That's not my thing. I like a little bit of it on there, so I always add them to salads. But you could put them on omelets or in crepes or say in sandwiches or sprinkling on soup. I mean, it's  kind of unlimited!  

Farmer Fred:   13:02
Gail Pothour knows her vegetables. Even the teeny tiny ones, the microgreens. Give them a try. Gail Pothour, Sacramento County master gardener out here at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center. Thanks for talking to us about micro greens.

Gail Pothour:   13:13
Thanks, Fred.

Farmer Fred:   13:19
Here on Garden Basics with Farmer Fred, we want to answer your garden questions. There's a couple of ways you can do that. Give us a call. 916-292- 8964, that number again, 916-292-8964. You can either leave a message or you can text that number as well. Be patient. There are a lot of rings before we pick up. Another way is e-mail. Send your garden questions to Fred at farmerfred dot com. That's Fred at farmerfred dot com. One benefit of E-mail or text is you can attach a photo of a bug or a plant that you're trying to identify. We're looking forward to hearing and seeing your questions. And thanks for listening to the Garden basics with Farmer Fred Podcast I appreciate all your support and all your comments.

Farmer Fred:   14:05
From the garden basics mailbag. Norma asks about a very tasty backyard fruit. She says, "We're considering trying to grow some blueberries. My husband read up on them and also watched videos on the subject. Our problem is we can't find anyone who can tell us which varieties will grow best where we live. Any suggestions will be appreciated."

Farmer Fred:   14:28
Well, as far as a general rule, Norma, the development and spread of Southern high bush varieties of blueberries more than 40 years ago have allowed gardeners in warmer states to enjoy the tangy flavor and high nutrition of this fruit that the people who live in the northern tier of states have been enjoying  for centuries. Unlike the northern high bush blueberries varieties, the southern high bush blueberries were bred to take hot summer days and mild winters, and they grow on bushes that get from 3 to 6 feet tall. There've been a lot of taste tests around here with blueberries. Maybe you might want to try one of these that I'm about to mention, like Georgia Gem. It's a taste test winner. This bush gets about 5 to 6 feet tall and ripens early in the blueberry season. And "blueberry season" depends on where you live. Here in California, Georgia Gem matures in May;  where you live, maybe it's a little bit later. The fruit is described as having a spicy sweet blueberry flavor. Another favorite is called Misty. It's a four foot tall Southern high bush favorite. The fruit is exceptionally sweet, and it's one of my favorites as well. Then there's Revillee, which gets 5 to 6 feet tall. It produces mid season blueberries described as having a great blueberry flavor. One of the larger blueberries is called Star, and that's a taste test winner. The flavor is described as pleasant and sweet. The plant has upright growth to about six feet tall, and it produces its fruit early in the season as well. Some other Southern high Bush varieties that I've grown that I've had success with have included Cape Fear, Emerald, Jewell, Jubilee, O'Neill, Sharp Blue, South Moon and Sunshine Blue. But don't overlook some of the northern high bush blueberries that are favorites of Northern Tier states. Despite their requirement for more winter chill and cooler summers, some have proven remarkably adaptable, for the warmer areas of the country. Northern high bush varieties that have had success here have included Blue Ray, Blue Crop, Duke, Jelly Bean and Ozark Blue. I've grown a lot of blueberries in my time, and I will tell you when it comes to picking them, you're really want to pick big blueberries. So, which are the plants that produce the largest blueberries? Some of the biggest include Emerald, Gulf Coast, Jewell, South Moon, Star and Jelly Bean.  

Farmer Fred:   16:49
Now, I mentioned at the beginning of this podcast that blueberries are easy to grow. If all you have is a backyard or front yard patio,  you can grow them in containers. In fact, they probably do better in containers if your soil isn't naturally acidic. On the East Coast and in the northern tier of states,  they have acid soil where the pH is about 5.5 to 6. But out west, the soil is more alkaline,  their pH is above seven. So using an acid soil mix really benefits those of you that have alkaline soils like here in many parts of California. Oops, I just used one of those "unfamiliar terms".  pH. What is pH? pH refers to the soil's relative acidity or alkalinity, and that affects plant growth because it influences the chemical availability of nutrients in the soil for uptake by plants. And you might still be asking, What do the letters, pH, stand for? Well, everybody agrees that  the H stands for hydrogen. there is disagreement about what the P stands for.  you might think, well, maybe "percent Hydrogen"?  Well, no. According to German chemists, they claim that it stands for the power of hydrogen. Ancient Romans would say it's a Latin phrase Pontus hydrogenii, meaning the quantity of hydrogen or perhaps the capacity of hydrogen. The British, meanwhile, said it's nothing more complicated than potential hydrogen. Let's just call it pH and move on. Okay.

Farmer Fred:   18:16
Blueberries grow well in large containers, and you know the soil pH is easier to control when you mix it yourself. Here's a good mix. To try, use a 1/3 mix of Camellia Azalea potting soil, 1/3 peat moss and 1/3 small pathway bark.  Throw in a handful of soil sulfur. That helps lower the pH to around 5.5. Now peat moss, it can be kind of tricky to moisten and keep moist. So when you're working with peat moss, it's always a good idea to pre moisten it before mixing it with the other ingredients.  

Farmer Fred:   18:50
Blueberries are adaptable to sun or shade, and based on personal experience, blueberries grown in part shade do just fine. But I know people  growing blueberries in full sun who enjoy them as well. Blueberries, though, need consistently moist soil. Just be sure the pot has good drainage. Now, if you live in a hot area, containers can heat up in the summertime, so place them where they can get some afternoon shade.  

Farmer Fred:   19:13
What makes a good container for blueberries? The bigger the better.  Maybe a half- barrel. Or if you, ah, are near a farm supply store, you might try a cattle watering trough. Cut some holes in the bottom. Paint your favorite color on the outside, and you've got yourself a great place to grow blueberries for years and years.

Farmer Fred:   19:29
Feed blueberries with an organic fertilizer because blueberries are adversely affected by over fertilization. The relatively lower nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content of organic fertilizers is a safer bet. Apply during the blueberry growing season, which could be from late winter through summer, depending on where you live. Now. If you want the most blueberries possible, grow several different blueberry varieties. That will improve pollination and give you an extended harvesting season.  

Farmer Fred:   20:04
Garden Basics With Farmer Fred is posted as a podcast twice a week, usually on Tuesdays and Fridays, and every time we'll have a quick garden tip for you. This one is about the importance of thinning fruits and vegetables. Now what do we mean by that?  Well, late April and early May is a good time for planting many easy to grow vegetables from seed that includes carrots, corn, cucumbers, eggplants, radishes, summer squash and winter squash. Now, of course, it all depends where you live. If you live in a colder climate, it might be closer to Mother's Day or even the first of June, that you might be doing this when everybody gets their seeds in.  

Farmer Fred:   20:41
There is a problem because the emerging plants are small. Many gardeners don't have the heart to thin them out to their proper spacing. The result: An undersized crop, greater incidence of pests and diseases, or too much of a good thing. For instance, zucchini squash. That's a perfect example. If you planted zucchini before, you know what I'm talking about. But how many of you have actually read the instructions on a seed package on how to plant zucchini? Well, here's the instructions found on a Burpee Seed packet. It says: "Sow 1 to 2 seeds of zucchini, about 36 inches apart. Cover with one inch of fine soil. Firm lightly and keep evenly moist. Zucchini seedlings emerge in 10 to 14 days. Thin to one plant when seedlings have two sets of leaves." Well, I'm here to tell you that even hardened backyard farmers like myself tend to ignore those spacing instructions, let alone just keeping one zucchini plant. But every year it happens: overwhelmed gardeners go on midnight runs during August, surreptitiously placing bags of oversized or unwanted zucchini on neighbor's front porches. The bottom line basically is: read and follow all planting instructions. They aren't kidding.  

Farmer Fred:   22:00
Thinning also applies to your backyard deciduous fruit trees (those are trees that lose their leaves in the winter). If you live in a climate that allows you to grow apples, peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, plums, apricots, and the plum-apricot cross,  called pluots, they need a bit of tough love. Around here, mid April through early May is the time for thinning the fruit. Now it might break your heart to remove most of those future edibles in April or May. However, leaving six inches  or so of space between each piece of fruit now will result in larger fruit and less stress on your trees. This summer, you won't have to worry about broken branches that are going to start sagging and probably breaking as the overcrowded fruit gets heavier and heavier. Moreover, because of the lack of crowded and rubbing fruit, the remaining fruit is goingto have better exposure and will ripen more evenly. The good news is there's plenty of food producing backyard vines shrubs,  and trees that don't require crop thinning because of their small size. For example, cherries aren't usually thinned from backyard trees. Other small fruited plants like blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries. They don't require fruit thinning. However, they may need their older wood or runner's removed annually after harvest.  

Farmer Fred:   23:11
If you live in a climate that allows you to grow nut crops like almonds and walnuts, they don't need thinning. And if you live where you  can grow citrus trees such as oranges, lemons, mandarins, limes and other fruit-bearing evergreen trees, they don't usually require much fruit thing either.  

Farmer Fred:   23:27
And one more final tip. If you want to suppress weeds, moderate soil temperature, and preserves soil moisture,  add several inches of an organic mulch beneath all your fruit trees to conserve precious soil moisture. And what's nice is:  as that mulch breaks down, it  feeds the soil. But don't let that mulch touch up against the trunk of the tree. You can spread it throughout the entire understory of the tree, but keep it about 2 to 3 inches away from the trunk to avoid rotting issues.  

Farmer Fred:   23:56
One of the reasons the garden basics with Farmer Fred podcast came along is we're living in  "interesting times". There's no question about that. In this era of shelter in place, we have to stop and think awhile about where we are all headed. What used to be normal may not be normal for much longer. And as we emerge from this Coronavirus epidemic, as we move into more uncertainty, the only true certainty is: you've got yourself. You've got your family and I hope you have a yard to play in. I hope you have a backyard or a front yard where you can enjoy the benefits of gardening. It's good exercise. It clears your mind. It gives you something to do, something to take your mind off all the problems in the world and just have fun with Mother Nature.  

Farmer Fred:   24:48
There are some things that we need to ask ourselves every day now. During this period of shelter-in-place, a very interesting post of "daily quarantine questions" showed up on social media. It was from the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley. Brooke Anderson wrote these questions, and it's something to think about every day, and I do.   

Farmer Fred:   25:08
Question number one: What are you grateful for today? I'm grateful for all the spring vibrant colors that I see in everyone's yard right now. Here it is mid April, and the plants are bursting forth in color and it's just a great sight. I'm grateful for that. Question number two: Who are you checking in on or connecting with today? Have you called somebody? Have you said hello to a neighbor that you haven't said hello to in a long time? Have you smiled at somebody just to smile? I try to do that every day while walking the dogs. question number three: What expectations of "normal" am I letting go of today? Well,  maybe  there's more standing in line in our future. Once we emerge from this and until a vaccine is developed, there may be businesses wanting you to stand in line, and they want to take your temperature before you walk into their building. Maybe we just got to get used to that and have to exercise a bit more patience. Question Number Four: How are you getting outside today? Well, gardening is the answer to that one. There's always something to do in the garden, especially in spring. And if you can't think of anything to do, I bet there's a weed or two you could be pulling! Question Five: How are you moving your body today? Gardening is good exercise. Every point of the body. It can be aerobic. It could be anaerobic (try lifting a three cubic foot bag of potting soil!). It works muscles. It works bones. Just think of all the lifting and bending you have to do. It keeps your flexible. Question Six: What beauty am I either creating, cultivating or inviting in today?  Well, we talked about having a micro green garden inside. What better way to enjoy healthy food and watch it grow from the convenience of your own kitchen!  

Farmer Fred:   26:48
Just some things to think about, but I hope you think about doing more gardening and learn to embrace the joy that it can bring you. Thanks for listening to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred Podcast. I appreciate your support. I appreciate your comments. Maybe leave a comment at wherever you heard this podcast and maybe tell a friend. Thank you.  Be sure to subscribe.