Organic. Period.

Two women from Michigan have invented a little garden gadget that may help you decide what kinds of plants to place where. They call it the “SunStick”.

The SunStick is a plastic green and red flower with a light sensor in the center of the flower. To use the SunStick, you poke it in the ground in the early morning at the spot you want to monitor. The sunlight causes a chemical reaction to the center of the flower, and it tells you whether the area is sun, part-sun, shade, or part-shade. Then you can match the light requirements to the plants you want to grow.

SunSticks are available in a package of 3 for about $8.99. Ask for them at your garden center.

OK, I’m talking about a grapefruit tree indoors here in the north. I had some of these several years ago, and they were great. When fall came, I gave away all but one, and when I brought it indoors for the winter, my cat liked the large pot. Enough said.

So I’m starting more grapefruit trees. You can do this with any citrus, lemons, limes, oranges, tangerines. Just get old fashioned seedy varieties of fruit at your market, and save some seeds. Our local FFA sells Florida citrus every year, and I buy casesof it. It comes straight from the groves.

I plant the seeds immediately, and don’t let them dry out. I’ve had the best luck using a large pot and planting them about two inches deep. It takes a bit longer for them to sprout and reach the top of the soil, but the roots develop deeper in the soil and the trees are sturdier than shallow-planted seeds. I put lots of seeds in a large, deep pot and wait to see how many sprout. Not all will. Some will be scrawny, so thin them out. I like to end up with about 3 good seedlings in a 12 inch pot. The taproot is quite long, so use a deep pot.

It takes 10 days or more for the seedlings to appear. Keep the pot warm and watered. I don’t cover it for fear of mold growth over the long germination time. Alternatively, you can keep citrus seeds moist and warm in a paper towel until they sprout, and then carefully plant the strongest seeds in pots, but I have had limited success with this.

Here is one of the sprouts about 5 days after it appeared. As the days grow longer, it will grow faster. Late winter is the best time to plant citrus seeds in the north. Just keep them warm, away from cold drafts, and give them plenty of light.

There are many factors that affect bloom and fruit production, but here in the north the trees make beautiful houseplants that thrive on a summer patio.

The first wave of garden seeds came in the mail. I am always excited opening the box, it’s almost like Christmas! I’ll be gathering my odd assemblage of planting containers to start tomato and pepper seeds indoors, and getting the cold frame ready outdoors. I’ll start a few cabbage and broccoli seeds inside for very early plants to set out, but most of them will be started in a covered seed bed outside. I’m especially eager to get my wave petunia seeds planted. The seeds are all pelleted, and I think there are 15 in the packet for less than the price of one potted plant.

I think I’ll need a couple of plant light bulbs to help cover all of these…

The fruit tree order is ready to go in. Since this is a new little home orchard, and we have none of our old fruit trees left, we will be planting these in a new area that has had only shady grass on it for the past 30 years, and was wooded before that. The old oak tree that shaded that part of the yard went down in a storm, so we’ll use the new sunny space for fruit trees. Now to keep the deer away!

We’ve ordered cherry, peach, pear, plum, and apple trees. All are dwarf, with the pollinator varieties matched together, so we should get some small crops in about 3 years. In the meantime, we’ll be happy with blackberries and blueberries, and I’ll add strawberries this year and maybe some red raspberries.

Victory gardens fed the citizens during World War II, and made it possible for farm commodities to be used to feed American troops. Growing a plot of food was seen as every citizen’s patriotic duty during the war years. Front yards and balconies were filled with vegetables, and gardening became a productive pastime for many people that they carried with them throughout their lives.

This year, when you plan your garden, plan an extra row or two so you can have extra vegetables to give away. Many food banks will be happy to distribute home grown foods to needy families. If you need other sources, contact other service organizations or local churches. They may also be able to help distribute your produce to people who will appreciate it.

I love early garden lettuce. It really needs to be planted directly outdoors, which presents problems in unpredictable mid-western springs. For about 20 years now, I have planted “Snow Lettuce” in late January or early February with success almost every year.

So far in 2009, we had some of the terrible winter storm that hit the rest of the mid-west. I actually measured 11 inches in the yard in several places, and it was drifted deeper than that on the garden with layers of ice sandwiched between layers of snow. The snow on the garden was up to the second board of a three board fence, and deeper at the low end of the garden.

I took a picture to share with you. I located my little lettuce raised bed and sprinkled lettuce seeds onto the snow. There are so many birds around that I pressed them into the snow with my hand, but of course hungry birds will still pick them out if they want them. Black seeds would have appeared against the snow better, but anyway, this is the way I grow my earliest lettuce. The seeds melt down into the soil with the snow, and when the ground temperature is warm enough, they will sprout. That is my signal to get peas and spinach planted.

Sometimes after the lettuce is growing we will have freezing temperatures. When that happens, I can cover the bed with clear plastic. Bubble wrap is a good insulator if you can find a sheet of it large enough for your space. Leave it over the plants like a cold frame until the bad weather passes.

I’ll let you know when this lettuce is up and growing.

For a hearty side dish, try making Corn Pudding.

This recipe is the best I’ve tried. It bakes into a lovely custard.

I’ve made it with butter and whole milk or half and half, and also with olive oil margarine and skim milk. Either way, it’s really good.

Get the recipe for Corn Pudding here.

Picture by bella_domanie www.morguefile.com

How many of us have one of the small, one gallon aquariums tucked away in a closet or cabinet? Each of my grown children had one of these at one time or another, and I recently found one when I was cleaning out a closet.

There is an inherent problem with these small aquariums. The manufacturers tell you that you can stock it with a couple of tiny fish like neon tetras or zebra danios or guppies. Yet even these small fish need more room to swim than these small tanks provide. These are also schooling fish, and they are happiest and healthiest when they are living in large groups of their own kind. Often these small fish become lonely and will not eat, literally starving themselves to death.

Two interesting species that will thrive in a tank this size are brine shrimp and ghost shrimp. Brine shrimp are native to inland salt water lakes and can live in various degrees of salinity. They are often sold as “Sea Monkeys” and they are quite entertaining to watch. Ghost shrimp are transluscent scavengers that will clean up an aquarium. They, too, are interesting to watch, as they look for food on the bottom or swim upside down eating from the surface. Small particles of flake food will keep either of these nourished. Both tiny shrimp species are food for larger fish. They like normal room temperatures of 65 – 80 degrees.

Another way to use a small aquarium is for a water plant display. You don’t even need to include fish. There are many beautiful aquatic plants available, and you can create a lovely arrangement to brighten up a room.