Farm Tours - A Family Affair - Niemela Family Growers

This post is probably a bit late because I have been hanging out at Niemela's picking strawberries, NON-STOP. They are growing some of the largest, sweetest strawberries I've ever tasted. A family daughter told me that strawberries picked on the first day was the size of a small plum!! The first time I went, they were the size of a large golf ball.

Niemela's first year strawberry patch and stand.

Niemela Family Growers is a tiny family run farm out on Tapiola Rd. Their large extended family typically picks the fields in the morning, probably to sell at the stand on US41 near Chassell.  U-pick is often available in the afternoons. They charge $2/quart. They will lend you the flat and quart containers for picking but you must bring your own containers to take away. 

Phone ahead to check on times.

I had no problems getting a row to pick this week when I went but given how delicious and beautiful their strawberries are, as well as their growing reputation, I think it's going to get A LOT more competitive next year!

39466 N. Tapiola Rd. (map)

Chassell, MI

906-523-4362

p.s. They also sell different grades of maple syrup. Light and dark Grade A and Grade B. 

p.s.s They will also be having u-pick raspberries for the first time in about 2-3 weeks.

PSCG Plant Sale Pics

Thanks to Paul for taking the pictures!

Starting Seeds Indoors

I was talking Sarah today about starting seeds indoors and some of the lighting setups that I have talked about previously, and she suggested I post a few pictures of them on the blog.  So, here goes:

The first one is my Aerogarden.  I normally grow herbs (mostly Basil) in mine during the fall and winter when there is no chance of growing it outdoors, and they are superb for this role.  I have tried growing other things in them, but have found herbs to be their forte because you do not need to worry about pollination and they have high market value!  In the spring, however they make excellent seed starters.  The Aerogarden company sells styrofoam inserts that hold unto 60 plants in the rectangular system.  The rectangular aerogarden is their standard unit that you can buy from the company, from Amazon, or used on ebay.  The triangular one is a discontinued model called the spacesaver that you can still get used on ebay. It fits nicely on the corner of a desk and can hold about 45 starts.  The sponges inside the foam insert are made of a biodegradable peat-like substance.

Aerogarden Classic with 60 Cell Seed Starter. Plants on left are
Chocolate Habanero,and those on right are a selection of sweet peppers

Aerogarden SpaceSaver with 45 Cell Seed starter.
Plants are two different varieties of chamomile.

I plan to over-winter plants in my office using 24 inch T-5 grow lights hanging from shower curtain rods braced between the walls in my windows, but right now I am using them to grow-on some Jolokia (Ghost) and Scorpion peppers that I started from seed as an experiment.  The T-5 grow lights are not inexpensive, but have higher intensity than a regular fluorescent shop lights.

A two-tube 24 inch T-5 grow light hanging from a shower curtain rod on adjustable
hangers.  The plants are Jolokia and Scorpion peppers I am growing as an experiment.

For seed starting and growing plants in the winter,  I modified an old cabinet by attaching four-tube 24 inch T-5 grow lights under the shelves.  The green trays came from a seed supply store and are about the same depth as the shelves so I am able to get a number of plants on the shelves and keep them watered.  The only problem with the lights is that they generate a lot of heat and you have to watch out for the plants getting a little leggy.  I try and help control this with an oscillating fan.  With tomatoes and peppers this is not a huge problem since I usually bury half the plant anyway.

A wide view of the cabinet with some more Aerogardens on the top.
The cabinet was originally used for my coffee and tea center
until I bought a Saeco Superautomatic espresso machine.

A close up of one of the shelves. The light has two switches so that I can
turn of the inner or outer tubes as needed.  The plants on the left are peppers
and those on the right are tomatoes.  As you can see their close proximity
and heat causes them to get a little taller than you might expect. 

One last photo is of my air conditioner.  My office is on the 7th floor of ChemSci and typically gets in to the 80's during the summer.  So to keep me, my computer, and my plants cool I have a 12000 BTU air conditioner.  As you can see, I put a riser over the outlets so that I can still have plants in that window ledge.

PSCG Plant Sale!

PSCG is having it's annual plant sale to help raise funds for the garden!

If you are a member, please consider dividing perennials in your yard and donating them to the sale.  Contact Elena at 483-2028 for more info and to drop off plant donations.

Resprouting

Welcome back to the gardeners of the Pewabic Street Community Garden and a hearty hello to our new gardeners!

I hear the weather has been terrific this spring in Houghton and am a little bummed about not being able to get to my lovely little plot yet. Either way, let me kick off the gardening summer by offering this little technique that I recently learned about, re-sprouting.

Some of you may already know this trick. It's probably more useful in winter than summer. Turns out you can "re"sprout green onions, celery and bok choy! (Now I'm wondering about cabbage) I'm not sure you can do re-sprout infinitely but at least twice.

The onions make sense but it never occurred to me to do this with green onions. I even did this with some really tiny red-onion seedlings that were deemed to tiny for the garden and destined for the compost heap. You do this by cutting the green-tops off to use and then sink the white bulb end with intact roots in a little water. Slowly (not really), you will get new green-top growth. That is approximately 1 1/2 weeks worth of growth in the picture to the left.

Here are 3 web pages (from 17apart.com) that detail exactly how it is done with green onions, celery and bok choy. I really like the celery idea since it's considered to be one of the "dirtiest" vegetables with tons of pesticides sprayed on.

Bok Choy
Celery
Green Onions

See you out at the garden!