This close up (and even the pic below) don't do justice to the height of Amy's burgeoning tomatoes...Anyone want to wager how high they will go?
Sunday, June 29, 2008
How High Can They Go
This close up (and even the pic below) don't do justice to the height of Amy's burgeoning tomatoes...Anyone want to wager how high they will go?
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Documentation of Garden Flooding
Yesterday, with the significant rain fall, the garden flooded.
I took some shots of it while the kids and I explored what had happened...
This was the worst flooding I've seen in the garden yet.
Take care,
Linda
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Square Foot Gardening
Now that Linda posted the lovely photo of our pea blossoms, it's time that Rob and I make good on our promise to write a bit about the method we're experimenting with this year: Square Foot Gardening.
The basics:
1) raised beds -- significantly diminishes weeding and prevents walking on soil (crushing roots)
2) super fluffy, super-nutritious, moisture-regulating soil mix: 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 compost, 1/3 vermiculite.
3) handy 1 ft square grid: makes it easy to eyeball plant spacing and gives a
structure for interplanting of companion crops.
Why
SFG, popularized by Mel Bartholemew, is just one of many intensive gardening techniques. We chose it because my brother --- who really knows how to stretch a dollar --- had great success with this method in the past few years.
My brother had chosen this method for a couple reasons:
1) At the time, he was homeschooling 3 children. Several components of SFG make nice curriculum supplements: lots of measuring and calculations required in the bed construction and square-marking; plant life cycle; where food comes from; and all those soft lessons like delayed gratification, responsibility, and frugality.
2) My brother's the type of person who likes to optimize things from first principles. As such, I'm sure that he did extensive research on intercropping (interplanting of crops that have complementary nutrient needs/supplies) and optimal layout for succession planting (full 3 season gardening where each crop is turned under and supplies nutrients to the next crop). Roberto and I have not really pursued this thread --- while it's tempting to suggest that our incomprehensible layout must be the result of advanced understanding of soil conditioning and detailed planning, it's actually just haphazard (although mesclun-under-tomatoes does seem to be working out pretty well right now....we plan to pull the lettuces after their next bolt).
3) My brother really knows how to stretch a dollar.
Our experience so far
We built our Soviet block apartment complex, I mean, raised beds, in early March.
We learned that garden stores & home improvement stores don't really start stocking soil & supplies until LATE March. Getting the vermiculite and peat moss that early was a bit of a problem. I'd recommend building up your beds in the fall, so that you've got everything ready to go for putting that first pea seed in the ground on St. Patrick's day. Also, major home improvement box stores (who shall remain nameless) no longer carry vermiculate because, when dry, it poses a particulate inhalation hazard. (classified as a "nuisance dust" according to materials safety data sheets. Note that much of the recent flap over potential vermiculite hazard has been because of asbestos contamination, not a toxicity inherent of vermiculate.)
Since this was our first year doing SFG, our soil mix was a bit warmer than the ambient soil at the time, which was a plus. Unfortunately, germination was a bit dodgy for a couple reasons: first, the soil mix was so fluffy that the top inch dried out immediately on any sunny day. In general, this soil mix is really good at maintaining even moisture content (the vermiculite acts as a moisture capacitor), but only below the top layer (which is perfect once roots are established). Secondly, the water hookup at Squirrel Brand Community Garden was not turned on until late April, so we had to schlepp water from our home (only ~4 blocks away) every couple days to keep our germinating seeds moist.
We developed a greater appreciation for floating row covers at about the same time that everyone else in the country decided to start planning their garden --- way too late. So, in April, the heirloom seed supply that gave us such prompt service in February when made our initial order, was completely overwhelmed. So our row covers arrived a bit too for us to really take advantage of.
Which brings us to my second piece of advice: plan your garden early and order your seeds on-line by February. This will let you really engage in 3-season gardening to make the most of your community plot. In Cambridge, our last-frost-date is around the 3rd or 4th week of April. This means that the earliest crops (english peas & spinach seeds planted 6-8 weeks before last frost, onion sets or seeds planted 4-6 weeks before last frost) can go in as soon as the soil thaws --- first or second week of March! Also, February-March is the perfect time to start seeds for warmer weather crops indoors (if you have a sunny windowsill).
Our local stores don't stock seeds until April, which is really too late to get started. So order your seeds early, and you'll be ready to go for both direct-sow and indoor starts.
The basics:
1) raised beds -- significantly diminishes weeding and prevents walking on soil (crushing roots)
2) super fluffy, super-nutritious, moisture-regulating soil mix: 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 compost, 1/3 vermiculite.
3) handy 1 ft square grid: makes it easy to eyeball plant spacing and gives a
structure for interplanting of companion crops.
Why
SFG, popularized by Mel Bartholemew, is just one of many intensive gardening techniques. We chose it because my brother --- who really knows how to stretch a dollar --- had great success with this method in the past few years.
My brother had chosen this method for a couple reasons:
1) At the time, he was homeschooling 3 children. Several components of SFG make nice curriculum supplements: lots of measuring and calculations required in the bed construction and square-marking; plant life cycle; where food comes from; and all those soft lessons like delayed gratification, responsibility, and frugality.
2) My brother's the type of person who likes to optimize things from first principles. As such, I'm sure that he did extensive research on intercropping (interplanting of crops that have complementary nutrient needs/supplies) and optimal layout for succession planting (full 3 season gardening where each crop is turned under and supplies nutrients to the next crop). Roberto and I have not really pursued this thread --- while it's tempting to suggest that our incomprehensible layout must be the result of advanced understanding of soil conditioning and detailed planning, it's actually just haphazard (although mesclun-under-tomatoes does seem to be working out pretty well right now....we plan to pull the lettuces after their next bolt).
3) My brother really knows how to stretch a dollar.
Our experience so far
We built our Soviet block apartment complex, I mean, raised beds, in early March.
We learned that garden stores & home improvement stores don't really start stocking soil & supplies until LATE March. Getting the vermiculite and peat moss that early was a bit of a problem. I'd recommend building up your beds in the fall, so that you've got everything ready to go for putting that first pea seed in the ground on St. Patrick's day. Also, major home improvement box stores (who shall remain nameless) no longer carry vermiculate because, when dry, it poses a particulate inhalation hazard. (classified as a "nuisance dust" according to materials safety data sheets. Note that much of the recent flap over potential vermiculite hazard has been because of asbestos contamination, not a toxicity inherent of vermiculate.)
Since this was our first year doing SFG, our soil mix was a bit warmer than the ambient soil at the time, which was a plus. Unfortunately, germination was a bit dodgy for a couple reasons: first, the soil mix was so fluffy that the top inch dried out immediately on any sunny day. In general, this soil mix is really good at maintaining even moisture content (the vermiculite acts as a moisture capacitor), but only below the top layer (which is perfect once roots are established). Secondly, the water hookup at Squirrel Brand Community Garden was not turned on until late April, so we had to schlepp water from our home (only ~4 blocks away) every couple days to keep our germinating seeds moist.
We developed a greater appreciation for floating row covers at about the same time that everyone else in the country decided to start planning their garden --- way too late. So, in April, the heirloom seed supply that gave us such prompt service in February when made our initial order, was completely overwhelmed. So our row covers arrived a bit too for us to really take advantage of.
Which brings us to my second piece of advice: plan your garden early and order your seeds on-line by February. This will let you really engage in 3-season gardening to make the most of your community plot. In Cambridge, our last-frost-date is around the 3rd or 4th week of April. This means that the earliest crops (english peas & spinach seeds planted 6-8 weeks before last frost, onion sets or seeds planted 4-6 weeks before last frost) can go in as soon as the soil thaws --- first or second week of March! Also, February-March is the perfect time to start seeds for warmer weather crops indoors (if you have a sunny windowsill).
Our local stores don't stock seeds until April, which is really too late to get started. So order your seeds early, and you'll be ready to go for both direct-sow and indoor starts.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Look at the Peas
Emily and Rob's Square Foot Gardening project has produced these lovely peas...
Just wanted to post a pic.
Radish Mystery Solved
I was in the garden today talking with James about my radish crop. I'll try to post a picture, but they were measly and didn't bulb. They were in for twice as much time as the packet indicated (50 days instead of 25).
So...what went wrong?
A little researched turned up that my soil was too rich with nitrogen and probably low on potassium. Radishes like just the opposite--low nitrogen and high potassium.
This explains why one of James's radishes (that I had given him) did beautifully on the top leaves but produced a smallish radish.
Mystery solved!
Friday, June 6, 2008
New Raised Bed
Three gardeners, working together on a plot, created these raised beds...They are stunning!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Blast from the past
Apparently, Squirrel Brand candies are still being sold on amazon. Here's a picture...Who remembers these?
:-)
On Deadly Nightshade and Other Dark Portents
Since I discovered the deadly nightshade growing in our garden, I've done a lot of research on this fascinating plant, with which I've been intrigued for a time.
In Vermont, this was growing near my garage (loads of it). It came in as a wildflower/weed. Finding it enchantingly beautiful, I allowed it to live until it was near berry stage. A relative identified it for me--and urged me to pull it up. I had a baby (Aidan) at the time. The plant irritated my skin where it touched me.
The consensus seems to be that we should kindly ask our gardener to remove the deadly nightshade and replace it with another companion plant to deter pests, something like marigolds or catnip. He is out of town now, but I will try to reach him when he returns. I have sent him emails as well.
For now, I labeled the plant "This is toxic. Do not handle."
Liz had wonderful ideas for creating a fence around it with skull and crossbones on it. I love that idea but wonder what kind of fence we could build? She also said it would be a good education opportunity to teach people about these kinds of plants. Foxglove, for example, is poisonous, but the plant is used by drug companies for heart conditions (do not try this at home though as Foxglove really is powerful)!
Liz also mentioned this wonderful garden, created by Jane, Duchess of Northumberland: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2004/apr/05/martinwainwright. It is worth the web visit. She grows cocaine, belladonna (of course!), and scores of other poisonous things. It is like something out of a story book--really fascinating and cool. However, she has a staff to educate people, and the garden (I imagine) is locked at night. Fascinating topic though.
And lest we sell belladonna short, check her out when you are in the garden. As her name (Italian meaning beautiful lady) indicates, she is quite stunning. Black widow style.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Cold Frames
Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone was interested in building a cold frame for this coming winter? We just got an old cold frame that needs work (which we plan to do this summer)...But we plan to use this on our plot in the late fall/early winter months.
Is anyone else interested in building cold frames? Tim has expressed interest, and I thought that maybe a bunch of us could come together to plan, discuss, and construct them! There are always building materials on Freecycle (there is some free landscaping lumber there now for instance), and I think we'd be able to get some old windows at an area junk yard.
Take care and let me know!
Linda
Updated wait list
1. Gross, Daniel 04/14/2008
2. Zether, Leila Hooper 04/14/2008
3. Fountain, Clayton 04/14/2008
4. Stewart, Emily 04/14/2008
5. Cosel, Gabrielle 04/21/2008
6. Appapillai, Anjuli 04/24/2008
7. Parks, Shaheen 04/24/2008
8. Sterrett, Hatch 05/22/2008
9. Kiely, Tim 05/22/2008
First for next year:
1. Pollack, Robert 04/04/2008
He had to voluntarily give up space this summer due to traveling and is therefore first in line for next year.
2. Zether, Leila Hooper 04/14/2008
3. Fountain, Clayton 04/14/2008
4. Stewart, Emily 04/14/2008
5. Cosel, Gabrielle 04/21/2008
6. Appapillai, Anjuli 04/24/2008
7. Parks, Shaheen 04/24/2008
8. Sterrett, Hatch 05/22/2008
9. Kiely, Tim 05/22/2008
First for next year:
1. Pollack, Robert 04/04/2008
He had to voluntarily give up space this summer due to traveling and is therefore first in line for next year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
