Watering 101

Immediately after planting:

Water plants as soon as you get them in the ground. Allow the water to soak in, then water again until the soil is thoroughly moistened. A consistent supply of water will be critical for your new plantings for a full year or more.

First Two Weeks:

Water plants daily depending on the weather and water deeply to encourage deep roots. Moisten the soil to the depth of 4-6 inches. The larger the root ball the more water the plant will need. How much water will depend on your soil and environmental conditions. Is your soil sand or clay? It greatly affects watering frequency and duration.

Rain showers may not supply adequate water for any given day. A shower may only produce a quarter inch; or if three inches falls quickly, much of it may be lost as surface runoff.

First Month:

Unless the weather is extremely hot and dry, you may be able to decrease the watering frequency to two or three times per week. It is optimal to allow the soil to dry between watering because this encourages roots to grow deep. Too much water leads to foliar and root problems. Sand soils south of Tallahassee will dry out faster than clay-loam soils of northern Leon county.

Following Months:

Water only when the top inch or two of soil dries or when plants display signs of wilt.

Second Year:

Water deeply as needed. During prolonged periods of dry weather water once per week. Generally, it takes plants at least two years to fully develop a sustaining root system.

Following Years: 

Properly planted and watered plants should be fairly well established and can thrive with less watering than you may expect. Drought-tolerant plants may require no supplemental water, whereas shallow-rooted plants or plants with greater water needs may require water. Many plants, when selected for the conditions in your yard, may need watering only once a month in dry weather. 

Best Management Practices (BMPs) 

Pick the right plant for the right place: Choose plants that match the sun, shade and soil in your yard. Even drought-tolerant plants need regular water until they are established! 

Avoid planting in hot, dry weather: Plants will easily stress and not develop healthy roots under hot, dry conditions. If you plant in summer, plant in the cool of the morning when less water is lost to evaporation.

Young Trees and Shrubs: Young trees and shrubs need deep regular watering. During times of little or no rain, water deeply once a week until trees become established.

Choose the right watering method: If you are planting a few plants in an existing planting bed, hand watering can get the new plants the water they need while not overwatering the rest of the bed. If using sprinklers, four hours or more may be required to apply adequate water.

Get to know your soil: Is your soil sand or clay? It greatly affects watering frequency and duration. Our clay soils can only take in about an inch of rain per hour. 

Check soil moisture before watering: Check soil moisture with finger or spade. Soil should be dry an inch or two below the surface before you water. Prior to planting make sure the root ball of your new addition is not dry.

Recheck soil after watering: At least an hour after you water, probe soil to see how deeply the water penetrated. If it didn’t reach the root zone, you may need to increase your watering. If the area is soggy, try cutting back on watering next time. 

How-to: Vermicompost!

By: Laura Binford

Want to improve your soil health, process your own food waste and have the cheapest pets imaginable? Allow me introduce you to vermicomposting. Vermicomposting is the process of using worms to break down food scraps and other organic matter into a valuable soil amendment called vermicompost, or worm compost. It is one of the best ways to take care of food waste and provide nutrients for your garden.

The Basics

You’re going to need worms, but you don’t want just any worms. Some worms are invasive and can actually do more harm than good when released into the garden. You want earthworms, specifically red wigglers. These can be purchased at any bait shop, but if you’d like to know where your stock comes from, there are many reputable worm farmers (yes, that is a real thing!) who will happily ship them to you. Your new pets will need food, but don’t go emptying the whole fridge into the worm bin just yet! There are a few things you’ll want to avoid. All vegetable scraps are encouraged. Never put meat, dairy, or eggs into your worm bin, and avoid things that take a very long time to break down, like avocado pits or citrus.

You will also need to provide bedding material. Without this, the food scraps become a smelly, rotten mess and your worms can become sick. Shredded newspaper is the most accessible, but plain, brown cardboard works as well. You just want to avoid any glossy paper or cardboard. If you notice your worms are staying too moist, simply add more of these “browns”. If you see that your worms are sluggish and dry, mist them with water and add more food scraps.

The Setup

Vermicomposting doesn’t take much time, energy, or space; my first worm bin setup was housed in the laundry closet of my 600 sq. ft. apartment. There are several different methods to vermicomposting. When you are setting up your bin, consider the space you have, how much money you’d like to invest, and time you want to spend harvesting your castings. The single bin setup is the simplest and cheapest to set up. These bins can be made of two plastic storage containers and one top. Drill holes around the bottom perimeter of the bin for drainage and an additional row around the top for air flow - remember, these are living creatures! Place the bin inside of the un-drilled storage bin; this will be used to trap the “juice” released when the worms are busy working. You can use this valuable, nutrient-dense “worm tea” as fertilizer, just make sure to dilute first! Just like in their natural habitat, your worms want to live in the dark, so make sure to attach the top lid tightly.

After a couple years fumbling with the single bin setup, I’ve upgraded to a worm tower. There are many models available for purchase, both plastic and wood, but can be easily built with hardware cloth and wood. In this system, there are stackable, mesh levels. The worms, food, and bedding are placed in the lowest level. When the worms have almost fully processed the food in the bottom, you begin to add food and bedding to the next level. Your brilliant new pets get the message and move up to the next level. The process is repeated until the top level, and then begins again from the bottom. I love this method because the castings are easy to harvest, simply remove the bottom tray and use the compost as needed. No sifting necessary!

The Benefits

When your worms have processed your organic materials, you put that hard work to use in your garden! Do not expect your worm compost to be as fluffy and uniform as the worm castings you buy in garden centers. When it is “done” it should look like rich, dark compost with few to no whole pieces of food left. If you are using the single bin method, you will have to sift out the finished castings from the organic materials and the worms. You can do this with your hands or a homemade sifter made from hardware cloth on a wood frame. Don’t worry if you miss a few worms! Red wigglers reproduce at a rapid and almost constant rate, and your bin won’t even miss them. When you notice your bin is becoming too crowded, you will want to set some loose.

Find a spot in your garden and release them into the soil to do their thing outside. Cover them with leaves so they will feel welcome in their new home. You could even give the extras to a friend! Maybe it’s just me, but I’d love to receive worms from a neighbor. Enough cookies! Bring the worms!

I use my worm castings on almost everything in the garden, including flowers, shrubs, trees, and vegetables. MiracleGro has nothing on these worms! Chemical fertilizers are not only harmful to our natural ecosystems, but they are also harsh on our plants and our soil. Worm castings are a much gentler fertilizer that is kinder to our plants, waterways, and our wallets! Aside from the initial investment, this is an essentially free way to have fertilizer (and a few hundred wiggly friends) for life.

Garden to Table: Sicilian Eggplant and Herb Caponata Recipe

Caponata is a sweet and sour Sicilian dish, often likened to Ratatouille, that features nuts, fresh herbs, vinegar, sugar and one of summer’s prized jewels: eggplant. Caponata is often eaten as a main course with bread or pasta, but it also pairs well with fish, as a side, and is a perfect topping for bruschetta.

The dish cooks well in a single, large pan, and since the eggplant is chopped into bite-sized pieces, there’s no need for salting or brining beforehand, which cuts prep time down significantly. These two characteristics make it a busy weeknight favorite. 

Ingredients

1 cup pine nuts

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving

1 to 1 1/2 pounds globe eggplant (such as the Black Beauty, Nubia or Rosita varieties) cut into 3/4-inch cubes

1 medium yellow onion, diced into 1/2-inch pieces 

4 scallions, white parts only, sliced into 1/4-inch pieces

1 rib of celery, diced finely

1 red bell pepper, diced into 1/2-inch pieces

5 large large cloves of garlic, diced finely

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves, plus more for garnish

2 tablespoons minced fresh mint leaves, plus more for garnish

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup raisins

2 tablespoons capers, drained

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

3 to 4 tablespoons water

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Step 1

Toss pine nuts with extra-virgin olive oil and roast in a heavy-bottomed, large pan on medium-low heat until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Set aside.

Step 2

Heat 4 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil in the same pan, over medium-high heat. Add the eggplant and flip it occasionally, until softened and charred in spots. The eggplant will initially absorb all of the oil, but as it cooks it will release it back into the pan.
Step 3

Move the eggplant to the side of the pan. Reduce heat to medium. Add 2 more tablespoons of olive oil to the center, and follow with the onion, scallions, celery, and bell pepper. Add some of the salt and stir frequently until newly added vegetables have softened and are aromatic, about two or three minutes. Add the garlic, stir everything together, and let it cook for a minute or two longer.

Step 4

Add the reserved pine nuts, mint, parsley, tomato paste, cinnamon, raisins, capers, sugar, red wine vinegar and balsamic vinegar, then toss to combine. Add the remaining extra-virgin olive oil to the pan. Then add some of the water to the pan, one tablespoon at a time, until the consistency is sauce-like but not too loose. You might not need all 4 tablespoons. Season with black pepper and salt, to taste.

Step 5

Caponata can be eaten cold or room-temperature atop bruschetta, or hot with bread or pasta. Top with extra torn mint leaves and parsley, or with a drizzle of olive oil.

Adapted from Kenji López-Alt’s Sicilian Eggplant and Pine Nut Caponata.