Organic Gardening Info from Peaceful Valley

I just received three Muscat of Alexandria bare-root grapes.  They are planted, watered, well mulched.  Do I have to prune them back?  Since it is January, they will have a great root system by spring.

Many Thanks
Barbara

Hi Barbara,

Our instructions also say to prune back to two or three buds, and I think the timing is good for pruning.  The benefit of pruning soon after planting is that it will encourage the roots to start growing.  Grapes are vigorous growers, so they really need their root systems stimulated in order to keep up with the vine growth.

Hope that helps and thank you for growing organically!
Amber

Since we started offering it for sale over 5 years ago, garlic has proven itself time and time again to be one of our most popular fall products. Affordable, relatively easy to grow and well loved by many; garlic is a worthy addition to any garden.

This year, we have a “bumper crop,” if you will, offering more than a dozen different varieties (most of them organic!), with types suitable for nearly all tastes and growing conditions.

For the beginning garlic grower, you can’t go wrong with the old standby: California Late White (or Early White, which is quite similar). Both of these are the types you will typically find in your local grocery store, and are perfect to help ease yourself into the wide world of garlic growing.

For the more adventurous types, you can choose from some amazing varieties for all palates – you can try Music for a great flavor, Chesnok Red is great for those seeking a more full-bodied taste, or for the truly daring of tongue, Bogatyr will challenge your taste buds to a duel.

Plant in Fall, and you can expect a crop of fresh, tasty garlic in late Spring. You will yield tremendous results – one clove will net one new bulb, which can turn around and be replanted for the next year’s crop. And, best of all, our seed garlic can also be eaten right away. Buy an extra pound or two for cooking or baking over the winter, while your crop grows, and make those Gilroy folks jealous over your new plants!

Get your order in now, for shipping in late August.

Every year, we run out of several varieties before we even receive our stock in our warehouse. Don’t miss out on your chance to get the best types!

Browse And Pre-Order Our Garlic Varieties.

Posted by Chad Silverstein, Call Center PVFGS

How frustrating to go into a bed of newly planted seedlings and discover holes chewed in their tender leaves!

Now’s a good time to get on top of controlling early spring critters, including caterpillars and slugs. Diatomaceous Earth (DE) is really popular in organic gardening, made up of the microscopic, super-sharp, fossilized exoskeletons of Diatoms. One thing, though, is that it’s only effective when dry, so it needs to be applied pretty often. Our nursery manager, Linda, likes to go out at dusk with a nice glass of red wine, lovingly dusting her garden babies.

Another treatment is Sluggo or Sluggo Plus, which works when wet, and the good ol’ beer in a shallow can trick.

Happy protecting!

Oh! There’s a great article in the newest Mother Earth News about using floating row covers (Agribon) to exclude insects from ever reaching your plants. More on that… later…

It’s amazing how quickly the trees, shrubs, and bulbs display their colorful glory! After a long subdued winter, how happy to see the bright yellow radiance of daffodils and forsythia!

Working in the Peaceful Valley store, I’m also amazed by how quickly gardeners display their eagerness to garden! As soon as those Spring colors begin to show, folks from all over the County and beyond come with visions of a bountiful harvest in mind. I love to talk to customers who can only come once or twice a year; they are so thrilled to see and touch the products they read about in the catalog! With our new Nursery up and running, they like to spend some extra time wandering around the plants and inspecting our Greenhouses.

I also appreciate our regulars who have much patience during the busiest times. They wait in line and still smile, glad to gather the materials that allow them to enjoy their gardens in the sunshine.

For anyone thinking about visiting, come on over! I’d suggest that if there are specific items you really need, call ahead to check on stock (888-784-1722 talk to the order deptartment or the store). Like I said, Spring eagerness is upon us!

P.S. – St. Patricks Day is an awesome time to plant Potatoes!

Spring is making its entrance all around us with typical grandeur. This is a wonderful time of year to photograph… it sort of reminds you how vast the transformation is all around you, and each new plant blooming or about to offers new delights.

We are in the process of ironing out the details for a photo contest, where we ask you to submit pictures to us based on a specific theme, and give away some fun stuff to the winners. So start taking pictures now!

Since we would be asking people to basically give us their pictures to show here on the site, we do have to be official, careful, commendable in our wording… in other words we have to write up an agreement that every one who submits will read and agree to… So though I am very excited I have to hold my horses a little. When that happens though we will unveil our new photo contest! Yay!

In the meantime, feel free to submit photos to our new flickr group if you are a flickr member. I might even give you a clue as to what the theme will be for our first “contest”