Gardening With Xpress: Tips On Snakes And Seeds

Winter greetings, mountain neighbors! I look forward to restarting this monthly garden feature and answering your questions about plant and soil care. You can contact me at gardening@mountainx.com and I'll share what I know about the things growing in our beautiful ecosystem.

Snakes in my garden bed

A friend of mine found a snake nest in her garden. Is there a safe way to move the dog nest and/or a way to "hide" the dog nest while keeping their home safe?

When I hear about snakes in gardens, I'm happy. The first and most important step, of course, is to determine what type of snake you are dealing with. Luckily, the vast majority of species living in North Carolina are nonvenomous, 31 out of 37 to be exact. And many, harmless to humans, like to prey on garden pests like voles, mice, and rats. In fact, the snake I've seen the most in my yard is the black sand snake, which, true to its name, loves to eat rodents (thanks).

Other common species include garter snakes, milk snakes, and corn snakes. The only venomous snakes I've seen here are copperheads and rattlesnakes. They're both fairly easy to identify with their large, diamond-shaped heads and vertical, cat-like pupils. Another interesting feature of these beautiful snakes is that they are oviparous, meaning the mothers incubate their eggs inside their bodies and give birth to live babies. This trait leads me to believe that your friend's babies aren't crickets or caterpillars since the birthing season doesn't start until mid-summer.

So if this was my garden I would love to get out of the snake pit and hope some of the kids would keep me around to help me manage herbivorous pest populations. To keep snakes away from your dog, you can put large rocks around the nest so the dog can't pull them out while they're inside.

potato time

The climate is quite warm. Is it too early to plant potatoes?

Potatoes are a popular spring crop and are, in fact, among the first things to plant when spring arrives. However, they do need a soil temperature of at least 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Because "potato seeds" are planted deeper than actual seeds, this means the soil needs to be warm enough to be about 6-8 inches deep. It's not quite there yet.

If potatoes are planted too early (before the soil has warmed enough to germinate), they will sit and wait for temperatures to warm up or rot. The former is obviously not a problem. The plants just take a little longer to grow. However, the latter can mean seedless. Rot is more likely if you cut the seed potatoes into chunks and leave large open areas in contact with cool, moist soil. Unless you have very small nuts, it's good practice to cut them into 2-4 eyepieces each, so it's worth waiting for warm weather.

One way to narrow down your potato planting schedule is to buy a simple soil thermometer and stick it in the soil when you know it's warm enough for them to work. It's usually mid to late March here.

The Life of the Seeds

Where can I buy the best garden seeds?

Seeds are the foundation of any garden and now is the time to get them for spring and summer gardening. Not all seeds are created equal, and the quality of your seeds plays a huge role in the success of your crop. I'm a big proponent of open-pollinated, regionally adapted seeds and varieties for small growers like us. Some hybrid seeds developed for organic practice are also excellent for use in the home garden. On the other hand, in my humble opinion, genetically modified seeds have no place in our food system.

The best sources of good seeds are small seed companies that are regionally appropriate and some large companies that select their own seeds and/or buy from small, high-quality seed producers.

Before you order seeds, consider what you have. View not only the crop or variety names, but also the full dates. Seeds are living organisms that cannot remain viable forever. Many seed types can last for years if stored properly, but others will not germinate well after just a year of storage. Exposure to moisture, heat, and light can shorten the lifespan of the seed. Here's a quick reference to tell you how long different types of seeds will last under good storage conditions. We got this information from the more detailed chart from Johnny's Selected Seeds (avl.mx/cey).

1 year: onion, parsley, parsnip, ointment, spinach
2 years: corn, peas, beans, onions, okra, dandelion
3 years: carrots, leeks, asparagus, beets, turnips
4 years: peppers, beetroot, pumpkin, squash, watermelon, basil, artichoke, cardoon
5 years : mainly cabbage (cabbage, collards, broccoli, etc.), beetroot, tomato, eggplant, cucumber, melon, celery, celeriac, lettuce, endive, chicory

In addition to having a good idea of your current seed stash, it helps to have a basic gardening plan for next year. This shouldn't be completely ruled out, but rather a general idea of the area you need to grow and the different types of plants and strains you expect to grow. To help you plan your garden you can check out the full garden planning course we offer at our school in Wild Abundance.

When you're ready to buy seeds, my favorite sources are Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (nearby in Virginia), Fedco Seeds (based in Maine), Adaptive Seeds (based in Oregon), and Johnny's Selected Seeds (also in Maine) . : Our hyper-local seed company is called Sow True Seeds and offers a wide range of open-pollinated and organic seeds as well as live plants, bulbs and propagation material.

If you're a seed enthusiast like me and like checking out what many small seed companies have to offer, read a blog post I wrote about small independent seed companies across the country . If you have a favorite seed source that is not listed please email me so I can add it.

If you want to save on your seed order, bundle and order in bulk. Many of these companies offer larger packages at lower prices per ounce, and some offer wholesale discounts on larger orders.

Once you have received your seeds, store them in a cool, dry and ideally dark environment such as a B. in a closet or corner shelf. In a humid environment like ours, a plastic bag or other container can be very useful to maintain a stable microclimate and keep the seeds fresh. For added moisture protection, you can add silica desiccant packets (like those found in vitamin jars or nori sushi packets) to your seed pouch. If the seed packet gets wet, do not put it in the container with others until it is completely dry.