Worm Poo Day (usually the 1st) has come and gone twice now, and I haven't posted much on the subject for a bit. July was a bit of a letdown, there really wasn't any point in harvesting, let alone posting about it. Trays were compacted with unfinished papergoods, and the castings that were there weren't worth the sort. So trays were swapped and we got on with life.
The summer heat wasn't kind to the process, as without central AC in the house (the duct work is there, but when the previous owner took off with one of the units, and the old clunker left behind shat itself last year - its an expensive project on the 'to do' list) the workshop area gets quite hot.
A box fan was put in front of the towers, and that helped quite a bit.
August was much better, with about 10lbs of castings from what was a rather difficult sort. Some cardboard along the way was plastic coated, so lots of little stips of plastic to be sorted. The worms themselves had retreated to the cooler lower levels of the bin, so lots of worm sorting too. This aside, the quality of castings was quite good, and although it's not up to the old levels, it's a lot better than nothing!
Some adjustments have been made as well. The idea of 'mo trays = mo fertilizer' doesn't really hold up, as you get more compacting with more weight - I've taken the 5 stack back down to 4. This means that I'll only be putting material through one tower this month. I'm also going to rework the harvest schedule to only harvesting from one tower every month. Now at first thoughts you may think that my output of fertilizer will half - but my thoughts are that this effectively doubles the time the worms can work on each tray. Since at the end of the month I still have a big sort of uneaten cardboard and paper in the tub, my problem isn't underfeeding. Given more time, I'll only be getting a single tray, but that tray should have more castings of a better quality.
This extra time being left alone should also give more time for them to increase their population. Even with the heat, that hasn't been an issue, but a higher population in each tub will increase productivity.
I'm once again thinking of expanding the worm farm and adding a tower. This will be an investment of some 100-120 dollars (given tower, worm, and possible upgrades all round) , so I'll be putting in a lot of thought before I bite the bullet. My last addition I took a tray from the old system and used it to 'kick start' the ecosystem, which sounds like a solid plan - although it still took me 4 months before it was in full swing - this is exactly the amount of time it took for new worms in a new tub, AND decreased the working population on the main bin. Albeit I did overzealously put that new tub into production, and made enough other mistakes that I can't objectively evaluate that plan. I'm currently flip flopping on whether to start one up 'from scratch' or to a tub swap and just take things slowly.
A third option would be to take a small population of worms and put them in a separate home-made container and build that populaton towards starting a new tub and monitor it's progress and population....
Decisions, decisions... but not any I need to make until Autumn/Winter.
We have nearly reached a point of no leftover papergoods in the house. The outside compost heap has been eating those for the past few months (both new and old shredded goods, and all large packing boxes) and with the fast growing summer grass, has been fed constant grass clippings as well. It is STILL only half full - maybe an inch over half after last weeks mowing. I'll continue to use this as the primary outlet of paper goods for a few more months until I get to an absolute zero balance of paper waste in the house (this will include the abundance of boxes still here from the move in a year ago, storage boxes, and the ongoing day to day of regular household trash). I'm really looking forward to seeing some of that compost in Spring - if all goes well it may be the last time I buy potting mix/garden soil.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
A Midsummers Day Update
It's been a month since I had a good update - mainly because not much happened on a day to day that seemed worth blogging about. Over a span of a month, you can see the differences.
It's been a month of wait, but not one of hunger. Sandwiches with fresh tomatoes, kale, the first beans, and lots of peppers have been through the kitchen ,or in the crisper for later, and all the herbs you could want to season and flavor. It hasn't been overflowing, but there's been steady good food as the slower plants of spring have started delivering.
Bib lettuce was planted and quickly germinated, although looking at it now it seems there were plenty of other seeds left behind that might have mixed in. I didn't thin these per se, but rather took a clump of them and transplanted them into the garden.
This is the same group - taken a couple of days ago. The remaining lettuce is going to need trimming in it's own right - it's outpacing the lettuce in the garden proper.
So, the question asked is 'why not just keep it in containers?'
Size and lifespan. Especially when dealing with lettuce like saladbowl (I haven't tried iceberg yet). In the garden they will grow much larger and be less prone to bolting - which will give you bitter lettuce.
This new variety of bean I've tried is doing very well. It puts out an amazing amount of flower buds, and I've already pulled a first take of beans off it.
It's the Ferry-Morse Tendergreen Improved Bush bean. There are only 2 squares planted, and the yield off them may rival the 6 squares I had earlier. HOWEVER - although still nice, they aren't quite as sweet as my earlier variety when pulled off the bush.. seems there are tradeoffs to be made everywhere. These bean are also planted in other areas of the garden (where corn was before) so I expect to be able to stock up and freeze some beans before summer is over.
Little wonky perspective there, but a lot of goodly sized peppers are coming out - in fact I had to pick 4 just to make room on the plant. I'll probably get 4-5 more in a weeks time.
at this rate I think I'll be dicing a few and freezing them for use later. It's not uncommon for a tray of 3 peppers of a size slightly less than mine to go for 4 to 5 bucks. By that pricing my pepper plants, that cost me a buck fifty for seeds, and the already existing soil (amended with worm castings) - has already earned between 25 - 30 bucks. If all you grew were 'big ticket items' - a 4 x 4 garden by itself could save the average punter quite a bit.
Top-your-broc. The sun the day this was taken had wilted them a little, actually I think they've grown more in the last 2 days since these pics were taken. Anyways, the broccoli I picked before had me worried. A good many months of growing, and a very small amount to show - but it's sprung back quickly - putting out many smaller heads, about 1/2 the size of the original, but many many more of them. So the lesson: dont be afraid to top off your broccoli, and don't fret if the initial head on it isn't that great.
I have 3 in the garden and 3 in containers to compare - and hands down the garden wins. These plants are 3 times the size of the containers, and they're all exactly the same age. Be aware it likes to 'lay down' and it seems that like a tomato, it will put out more roots (at least it appears to) - so make sure it has room to grow and not shade out smaller plants.
Again, 2 day old pic and it's already outdated by about a foot on that vine.
This I find interesting. My other squash plants were in large pots as an experiment - I had one butternut squash seedling left over and no pot to put it in. So I put it in the blueberry circle - something I put together to house a plant I got from the farm (that I knew had on a small chance of surviving). The soil is mainly wood chips, with some potting soil, some composted cow manure, and of course some castings. The plant didn't make it, and the seedling I put in there sort of just sat there doing nothing, while the others grew, flowered, and got hit with a damp rot. The last 2 weeks though this one had taken off like rocket. It has 2 very small butternut squash on it already and shows no signs of slowing down. I'm going to monitor it's progress - but the drainage on those wood chips is excellent - although I thought it might be too acidic for the squash.... I was wrong. If it does well I'll be factoring this into my summer garden expansion. But more on that in another post.
Cheers!
It's been a month of wait, but not one of hunger. Sandwiches with fresh tomatoes, kale, the first beans, and lots of peppers have been through the kitchen ,or in the crisper for later, and all the herbs you could want to season and flavor. It hasn't been overflowing, but there's been steady good food as the slower plants of spring have started delivering.
So, the question asked is 'why not just keep it in containers?'
Size and lifespan. Especially when dealing with lettuce like saladbowl (I haven't tried iceberg yet). In the garden they will grow much larger and be less prone to bolting - which will give you bitter lettuce.
It's the Ferry-Morse Tendergreen Improved Bush bean. There are only 2 squares planted, and the yield off them may rival the 6 squares I had earlier. HOWEVER - although still nice, they aren't quite as sweet as my earlier variety when pulled off the bush.. seems there are tradeoffs to be made everywhere. These bean are also planted in other areas of the garden (where corn was before) so I expect to be able to stock up and freeze some beans before summer is over.
at this rate I think I'll be dicing a few and freezing them for use later. It's not uncommon for a tray of 3 peppers of a size slightly less than mine to go for 4 to 5 bucks. By that pricing my pepper plants, that cost me a buck fifty for seeds, and the already existing soil (amended with worm castings) - has already earned between 25 - 30 bucks. If all you grew were 'big ticket items' - a 4 x 4 garden by itself could save the average punter quite a bit.
I have 3 in the garden and 3 in containers to compare - and hands down the garden wins. These plants are 3 times the size of the containers, and they're all exactly the same age. Be aware it likes to 'lay down' and it seems that like a tomato, it will put out more roots (at least it appears to) - so make sure it has room to grow and not shade out smaller plants.
This I find interesting. My other squash plants were in large pots as an experiment - I had one butternut squash seedling left over and no pot to put it in. So I put it in the blueberry circle - something I put together to house a plant I got from the farm (that I knew had on a small chance of surviving). The soil is mainly wood chips, with some potting soil, some composted cow manure, and of course some castings. The plant didn't make it, and the seedling I put in there sort of just sat there doing nothing, while the others grew, flowered, and got hit with a damp rot. The last 2 weeks though this one had taken off like rocket. It has 2 very small butternut squash on it already and shows no signs of slowing down. I'm going to monitor it's progress - but the drainage on those wood chips is excellent - although I thought it might be too acidic for the squash.... I was wrong. If it does well I'll be factoring this into my summer garden expansion. But more on that in another post.
Cheers!
Summer Planting for August
So July, the month of wait has gone, and we're on into August. Not that I've been idle, the month was incredibly busy, just not garden busy.
My own yardwork had to take a back seat as I dealt with everything from my usual landscaping jobs, kids, and having both cars out of action. But once again things are put back to as they should be. Beds pretty much weeded, soil amended, plants watered, and I'm ready to plant. As you can see everything is looking fairly green, and although it's been a month of watching and waiting - it's not been devoid of food.
Nearly everything I wanted to plant is in the ground, the exception atm is peas, as I was planning to do those after I pruned some plants (see last post) - so maybe a couple more days before I'm allowed to get grubby on that.
I was pretty ruthless when it came to clearing space - anything that wasn't working out was pulled - the second planting of carrots were consolidated into one square (as they weren't really working well). Root crops in general don't like being moved and I expect them to probably die off. If that happens they'll be replaced with beets and spinach. I don't want to repeat the mistakes of spring.
2 squares of spinach were planted out with a spacing of 5 plants. I did 9 last year with not much luck - and this time they'll be getting lots of sun in the big bed on the right. This is a first planting, and I'll be staggering in more as space is available.
Beets were also planted, 2 varieties and planted 9 per square. I did 9 last year (instead of a suggested 16) and did fairly well in late Autumn. I'm tempted to plant a 'test 16' and compare the outcome. Beets will be planted again in Autumn to grow over winter.
Salad bowl lettuce was planted into the long pots for germination, this system is tested and solid for me - plant in containers and transfer to the garden later. 2 pots of 12 - 24 plants.
A single square of radishes were put down too, in a square adjacent to where they were in spring. If they do as will this time around I'll have a good salad mix.
Swiss chard was planted in 3 squares, and I'll see how it does. one plant this time instead of 4. Last Autumn I tended to have one large plant and 3 stunted - so this is a comparison to see if 4 smaller plants are more effective, we have both size, quantity of leaf, and tenderness/taste to consider.
Lastly Turnip Greens. I love me some greens, and seeing how I failed to pick up Collard seeds, these are good for now. In spring I planted 3 squares and they overran the area very quickly - like my beans are at the moment (in those very squares). I have a few tucked away squares by the chimney where corn almost grew. They are problem areas that get a LOT of water and are prone to washout. They get more shade than most as well. I'm putting the greens out of the way up there. They can overrun if they want, the shade should help with leaf wilting, and the density should help with soil washout. We'll see. Greens are a super fast grower, so if I can utilize 'bad squares' AND have a rapid turn around plant - that would be perfect.
I'll be keeping an eye out for more seeds in my travels this week. I like a variety of things, and I need to fine tune the balance of fast/slow growing veg.
Lets see what we get in 10 days!
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Get A Grip!
The blog title 'Big Manly Garden' is mainly me having a bit of fun with how others view me, and a friendly jab at the 'man card' culture we seem to live in. Although I don't want to blow my own horn, these things don't exist in a vacuum, and one thing I do have is rather freakish hand/grip strength. When you're splicing drip lines or yanking fennel, manhandling tension springs and someone that's done that all their life says 'DAMN!'.. you have to at some point say 'yeah, that's not exaggeration' and own it.
There is a downside though - and a lesson to be learned, this isn't an ego stroke of my manliness.
Couple that with a pair of stiff garden shears and some tomato plants that need a bit of pruning, and in a split second that can go from something good - to something quite bad.
Although the wife was a little overzealous with the initial bandage, I nearly took 1/4 of the tip of my finger off.. It's rather sobering to think that with the edge I try and keep on most my tools, and had I slipped a little lower - it's quite feasible I'd be at the ER right now with the top of my finger from the last knuckle up in a tupperware container full of ice.
Lucky for me, I just made the top of it more kosher. I went inside and doused it under the tap, flipped the skin over and the wife went Florance Nightingale on it (later though for some reason she didn't want to watch when I doused it in iodine *shrug*).
Anyways - typing is a little slow, and thankfully I did all my planting today, so I won't need my left 'pokey' finger. But needless to say the updated I'd planned on doing over the next day or so may take a little more time than I anticipated.
So - stay careful out there, and I'll be getting folks up to speed as soon as I can :)
There is a downside though - and a lesson to be learned, this isn't an ego stroke of my manliness.
Although the wife was a little overzealous with the initial bandage, I nearly took 1/4 of the tip of my finger off.. It's rather sobering to think that with the edge I try and keep on most my tools, and had I slipped a little lower - it's quite feasible I'd be at the ER right now with the top of my finger from the last knuckle up in a tupperware container full of ice.
Lucky for me, I just made the top of it more kosher. I went inside and doused it under the tap, flipped the skin over and the wife went Florance Nightingale on it (later though for some reason she didn't want to watch when I doused it in iodine *shrug*).
Anyways - typing is a little slow, and thankfully I did all my planting today, so I won't need my left 'pokey' finger. But needless to say the updated I'd planned on doing over the next day or so may take a little more time than I anticipated.
So - stay careful out there, and I'll be getting folks up to speed as soon as I can :)
Monday, July 15, 2013
Blueberry Harvest is Done!
Yay! The end of the blueberry season hit, and I can get back to my garden. It's long, hot, and hard work out on the field, and many nights I got home after dark - the days I didn't I spent with the kids, who miss their Papa this time of the year.
One thing I do like about this garden is that I'm able to leave it alone and get on with things that need doing, and it chugs along without micromanagement.
It doesn't do spectacularly, but it doesn't die over a week if I'm not here. The second planting of beans has grown in my absence, and the summer rains have brought it to bud pretty fast. I'm looking forward to beans being back on the menu in a week or so.
The other summer plants I put in on the 1st are starting to peek up, although the heavy rains of summer may have washed a couple of things out. Between the young kale and a few other things, the month of 'wait' wasn't spent in garden famine. Next year I'll fine tune my planting a little more to hopefully afford more overlap into this time of the year.
Now is the time when your long-grow spring plants (tomatoes, peppers, etc) come in and you compliment them with the fast grow plants of the summer (lettuce,spinache). With a little more experience (and room) I hope to be hitting this time of year with summer salads at my fingertips.
My 3 little toms have been putting out a few fruits, and I've already tasted one. It's such a shame I probably won't get this variety again. The insides had thick walls and were juicy - ideal for slicing and putting on a summer sandwich. Still, a few of these go quite a ways when used like that - so I should be having juicy ham and tomato sandwiches for lunch for a few weeks - when I finish the oft-halted spring clean of the kitchen I'll compliment that with home baked bread (and later lettuce).
Not the best of photos - but the largest of the broccoli put out some florets. Not many, but enough to steam and have with my lunch tomorrow. This one budded early and looked like it might start flowering early - so waste not, want not.
I'm looking forward to a taste of this.
Other plants are doing ok, with one other starting to put out. This area of the garden was troublesome in the Autumn, but the broccoli here loved the rain and the partial shade.
Next year I'll plant this out entirely with broccoli and cabbage.
Speaking of cabbage - despite some sun burn and a couple of critters having a nom - these are starting to form up into the familiar 'ball' - along side them the others I planted 'staggered' are coming along, but time will tell if they take off.
Some carrots are in front of these, but they're not liking this area of the garden so much - still this is about experimenting and finding out the best places for various plants. I'll continue to try new things and optimize the layout.
In the germination pots I put down some Bib Lettuce, alongside it is some Black Seeded Simpson that I had planted earlier. These will be transplanted into the garden proper - hopefully I'll have this on the plate before the end of the month, when my Salad Bowl variety goes in.
I also planted out some Bib into one of the squares - just to compare. But the germination was slower, and some birds decided to pluck at the seedlings - for some reason they leave the germination pots alone.
Peppers are looking great. Not an abundance, but certainly the same amount I'd buy at the store if I had to. They are big and juicy - and I could put cling wrap around them and put them on a shelf with the best the grocery store had to offer.
Now that I'm back in the swing and getting back on schedule, the application of some worm tea to these will make them start popping.
The herb garden is going very well - I'll have to trim back the basil and do some drying - I have more than I could need. The dill is growing nicely as well, and enough parsley that I will empty out the containers I have on the back porch in August and use them to plant something else.
The two Cilantro that made it are up and going to seed - this isn't a bad thing. Cilantro/Coreander (as I grew up calling it) is rather versatile. The leaf is used a lot in Mexican foods, but the seed is what you'll find used in the U.K. and in Australia more often. The hard seeds are stored in a glass jar, and you grind them in a pestle before use. This twin-usage is something I like - if I had more tomatoes earlier I'd have made fresh salsa, but instead I have an all purpose spice that I can keep forever.
On the herb front I have 4 bags of basil leaves I will need to check in the drying room - about $25 worth of dried herbs there, more than likely $100 worth if it were used fresh. Trimming these back again I expect a similar quantity to dry. A good thing as it's wife's go-to herb in the kitchen.
OH NOES! No, it's not a disaster on the 4x4 raised bed. It was cleared and replanted. If you click on the image to go full sized you'll see carrots (staggered planting with a weeks break between them) and brussels sprouts pushing up near the back. At the very back are the last of the kale seedings and some broccoli I needed to put out. I'll be comparing this extremely sunny bed to my partial shade. A tomato was put back there as well, but I fear the heavy rains may have washed it out.
The middle row is being left clean for August.
August is the month when it seems most of your summer planting comes in, and I'm going to be needing space for them - many of my faves like beets are August plants.
Not all is roses though. My cherry tomatoes are in limbo, not dying, not growing, and not flowering - I may move them and see what happens. The big disappointment was the squash. Just when they started getting some nice sized squash, the heavy rains and winds put some kind of rot on them (not the usual fuzzy rot that hits the squash itself when the ground is too wet or dry) - it went into the plants themselves and made them brittle, snapping in the wind.
The butternut started to get it on it's vine so I cut it back and gave it a dose of fertilizer and it popped back to life. I'll see if it manages to make a comeback over this summer. Live and learn. I'll be putting in a dedicated squash and corn patch near the driveway next year and see how that goes.
The harvest today. It's not a cornucopia, but all good tasty summer veg. Enough tomatoes and peppers to see me through a week or so, a taste of ultra fresh broccoli, and a couple of cherry toms to put on the side of a plate - to pop in the mouth to cleanse the palette. Around these parts you're probably looking at $6-8 dollars that I don't have to spend, and that to me is the taste of victory.
Cheers - See you at the end of the week, and happy gardening!
It doesn't do spectacularly, but it doesn't die over a week if I'm not here. The second planting of beans has grown in my absence, and the summer rains have brought it to bud pretty fast. I'm looking forward to beans being back on the menu in a week or so.
The other summer plants I put in on the 1st are starting to peek up, although the heavy rains of summer may have washed a couple of things out. Between the young kale and a few other things, the month of 'wait' wasn't spent in garden famine. Next year I'll fine tune my planting a little more to hopefully afford more overlap into this time of the year.
Now is the time when your long-grow spring plants (tomatoes, peppers, etc) come in and you compliment them with the fast grow plants of the summer (lettuce,spinache). With a little more experience (and room) I hope to be hitting this time of year with summer salads at my fingertips.
I'm looking forward to a taste of this.
Other plants are doing ok, with one other starting to put out. This area of the garden was troublesome in the Autumn, but the broccoli here loved the rain and the partial shade.
Next year I'll plant this out entirely with broccoli and cabbage.
Some carrots are in front of these, but they're not liking this area of the garden so much - still this is about experimenting and finding out the best places for various plants. I'll continue to try new things and optimize the layout.
I also planted out some Bib into one of the squares - just to compare. But the germination was slower, and some birds decided to pluck at the seedlings - for some reason they leave the germination pots alone.
Now that I'm back in the swing and getting back on schedule, the application of some worm tea to these will make them start popping.
The two Cilantro that made it are up and going to seed - this isn't a bad thing. Cilantro/Coreander (as I grew up calling it) is rather versatile. The leaf is used a lot in Mexican foods, but the seed is what you'll find used in the U.K. and in Australia more often. The hard seeds are stored in a glass jar, and you grind them in a pestle before use. This twin-usage is something I like - if I had more tomatoes earlier I'd have made fresh salsa, but instead I have an all purpose spice that I can keep forever.
On the herb front I have 4 bags of basil leaves I will need to check in the drying room - about $25 worth of dried herbs there, more than likely $100 worth if it were used fresh. Trimming these back again I expect a similar quantity to dry. A good thing as it's wife's go-to herb in the kitchen.
The middle row is being left clean for August.
August is the month when it seems most of your summer planting comes in, and I'm going to be needing space for them - many of my faves like beets are August plants.
The butternut started to get it on it's vine so I cut it back and gave it a dose of fertilizer and it popped back to life. I'll see if it manages to make a comeback over this summer. Live and learn. I'll be putting in a dedicated squash and corn patch near the driveway next year and see how that goes.
The harvest today. It's not a cornucopia, but all good tasty summer veg. Enough tomatoes and peppers to see me through a week or so, a taste of ultra fresh broccoli, and a couple of cherry toms to put on the side of a plate - to pop in the mouth to cleanse the palette. Around these parts you're probably looking at $6-8 dollars that I don't have to spend, and that to me is the taste of victory.
Cheers - See you at the end of the week, and happy gardening!
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Summer Plant Preperation.
I had a week to get ready for the summer planting, but as many know life and plans rarely match up. This years blueberry harvest has taken a little longer than usual as we're breaking in a new harvester, and another farm was down a man - so I jumped on their harvester for a day between my own work.
This time of year is very busy for me, but apart from landscaping, seasonal farmhand, and my own online business - my primary occupation IS a Father, so my days between are filled with catching up on housework, maintenance, and of course the kids.So no posts all last week and even less in the photo department. The upside (for me) is I'm getting a killer tan and a great workout just in time for the beach :)
Several plants were cleared out in preparation for the summer. The original beans were harvested one last time as the plants were pulled. The last 2 big kale were trimmed up for tonight's dinner, along with the last of the carrots. None of them were really large, but I have 2 squares freshly planted to try a different variety.
Tomorrow the corn will be pulled up. It grew better than my last attempt, but that's no great accomplishment. Some talk with local farmers gave me some insight on my plants. Once the top 'tassles' you can forget about new growth - so mine are stuck with not very big ears to show for it. Although corn *technically* is well spaced at 1 per foot, it is quite nutrient hungry and the suggestion was to put it aside in a place I can really pump more fertilizer to and not have it leech it from surrounding plants.
Next time I'm at 'Papa and Grannies' for grounds keeping I'll ask them. They've forgotten more on the subjects of farming and gardening than most will ever know. I can't stress what a wealth of knowledge these folks are and how helpful they are on setting me on the right track for a lot of my plant queries.
A couple of other plants will be pulled as well, they've been non-producers and are obviously not suited for their location. A tiny pepper seedling will be relocated, and a cherry tomato vine will be pulled. This leaves me with quite a few squares to plant up - and I've sorted my seeds out into their planting months.
JULY
AUGUST
We can work the number down somewhat without much effort. Lettuce will be germinated in long containers - one container used to sprout 6 of each variety. there won't be need to transplant to the garden till they are slightly bigger than seedlings (and we can transplant as space becomes available).
Peas will be replacing corn - so no need to factor that in, and we'll be planting a lot of peas this year.
Broccoli and Sweet Peppers are already planted and doing well. I'd like to see how this broccoli does before planting any more. I'm currently comparing container vs garden, and in the garden the plant that's doing the best is where spinach failed in Autumn. Likewise with peppers, I have many plants - some doing better than others. if anything I might be pulling a couple of seedlings to make room. I have 6 productive plants at the moment flowering and looking to produce.
Although I pulled the last of the early planted kale, I still have 3 younger plants - there's no need to plant more.
Tomatoes, I really like the way this variety has turned out. However I have 3 plants in pots, and 3 seedlings currently in various places in the garden. Again, no need to plant more till I work out how these ones do.
Cabbage, I have 4 planted and a second planting only yielded 2 plants, so I need only fill that square in with 2 seeds. No new square needed.
Oregano goes in the herb garden, there is a square available from a failed sage plant.
So for July I need only find room for carrots, brussels sprouts, and possibly tomatoes (if I'm feeling mercurial).
Lettuce can be added to a square, and we can turn that square over with new plants.
For August we'll put in the spinach, radishes, both varieties of beets, peas, Swiss chard and turnip greens. Lettuce will be added from the second variety as space becomes available, and turnip greens
If our earlier spring tomatoes are over, we can plant the swiss chard in containers (one per container) and harvest it by leaves.
This seems quite do-able. I'll formulate exact numbers and placement when I get into the garden, taking into account the placement of what worked/failed in Autumn last year.
Tomorrow is also the first of the month: Worm Poo day in the BMG calender, so squares will be amended, dug over, and hopefully the first seeds will be ready to go in by the 4th.
One summer project (hopefully, time and pocketmoney permitting) will be adding another bed to the garden - more space, more plants for Autumn.
Cheers and happy Summer!
This time of year is very busy for me, but apart from landscaping, seasonal farmhand, and my own online business - my primary occupation IS a Father, so my days between are filled with catching up on housework, maintenance, and of course the kids.So no posts all last week and even less in the photo department. The upside (for me) is I'm getting a killer tan and a great workout just in time for the beach :)
Several plants were cleared out in preparation for the summer. The original beans were harvested one last time as the plants were pulled. The last 2 big kale were trimmed up for tonight's dinner, along with the last of the carrots. None of them were really large, but I have 2 squares freshly planted to try a different variety.
Tomorrow the corn will be pulled up. It grew better than my last attempt, but that's no great accomplishment. Some talk with local farmers gave me some insight on my plants. Once the top 'tassles' you can forget about new growth - so mine are stuck with not very big ears to show for it. Although corn *technically* is well spaced at 1 per foot, it is quite nutrient hungry and the suggestion was to put it aside in a place I can really pump more fertilizer to and not have it leech it from surrounding plants.
Next time I'm at 'Papa and Grannies' for grounds keeping I'll ask them. They've forgotten more on the subjects of farming and gardening than most will ever know. I can't stress what a wealth of knowledge these folks are and how helpful they are on setting me on the right track for a lot of my plant queries.
A couple of other plants will be pulled as well, they've been non-producers and are obviously not suited for their location. A tiny pepper seedling will be relocated, and a cherry tomato vine will be pulled. This leaves me with quite a few squares to plant up - and I've sorted my seeds out into their planting months.
JULY
- Carrots: Red Cored Chantenay (July/August)
- Lettuce: Bibb/Limestone (July/Sept)
- Brussels Sprouts: Catskill (July/August)
- Tomatoes : Queen of Hearts Hybrid (July/August)
- Sweet Pepper: California Wonder (July/August)
- Broccoli : De Cicco (July/August)
- Cabbage: Ferry's Round Dutch (July/August)
- Oregano: origanum vular (common) (July/August)
AUGUST
- Peas: Oregon Sugar Pod II (snow peas) (August)
- Spinach : Bloomsdale Long-Standing (August/October)
- Lettuce : Salad Bowl (August/November)
- Radish : Cherry Belle (August/November)
- Beets : Tall Top Early Wonder (August/October)
- Beets: Detroit Dark Red, Medium Top (August/October)
- Swiss Chard : Fordhook Giant (August/November)
- Kale : Dwarf Blue Curled Vates (August/October)
- Turnip Greens: Seven Top (August/November)
- Late summer potato planting.
We can work the number down somewhat without much effort. Lettuce will be germinated in long containers - one container used to sprout 6 of each variety. there won't be need to transplant to the garden till they are slightly bigger than seedlings (and we can transplant as space becomes available).
Peas will be replacing corn - so no need to factor that in, and we'll be planting a lot of peas this year.
Broccoli and Sweet Peppers are already planted and doing well. I'd like to see how this broccoli does before planting any more. I'm currently comparing container vs garden, and in the garden the plant that's doing the best is where spinach failed in Autumn. Likewise with peppers, I have many plants - some doing better than others. if anything I might be pulling a couple of seedlings to make room. I have 6 productive plants at the moment flowering and looking to produce.
Although I pulled the last of the early planted kale, I still have 3 younger plants - there's no need to plant more.
Tomatoes, I really like the way this variety has turned out. However I have 3 plants in pots, and 3 seedlings currently in various places in the garden. Again, no need to plant more till I work out how these ones do.
Cabbage, I have 4 planted and a second planting only yielded 2 plants, so I need only fill that square in with 2 seeds. No new square needed.
Oregano goes in the herb garden, there is a square available from a failed sage plant.
So for July I need only find room for carrots, brussels sprouts, and possibly tomatoes (if I'm feeling mercurial).
Lettuce can be added to a square, and we can turn that square over with new plants.
For August we'll put in the spinach, radishes, both varieties of beets, peas, Swiss chard and turnip greens. Lettuce will be added from the second variety as space becomes available, and turnip greens
If our earlier spring tomatoes are over, we can plant the swiss chard in containers (one per container) and harvest it by leaves.
This seems quite do-able. I'll formulate exact numbers and placement when I get into the garden, taking into account the placement of what worked/failed in Autumn last year.
Tomorrow is also the first of the month: Worm Poo day in the BMG calender, so squares will be amended, dug over, and hopefully the first seeds will be ready to go in by the 4th.
One summer project (hopefully, time and pocketmoney permitting) will be adding another bed to the garden - more space, more plants for Autumn.
Cheers and happy Summer!
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Spring - a post mortem
Well the 21st was the Summer Solstice, and with that Spring has sprung. It was a great season of learning, a few hiccups, some unexpected failures, and unexpected success. Everything that didn't work out to plan yielded some knowledge. Although plant selection and timing will need to be improved, many good meals were had (several I've shown, but there have been several quick lunches and just garden browsing) - I'd give a generous estimate of between 1/4 and 1/3 veg was fresh grown from the garden. A respectable amount - but a quite a long way to go.
Garden costs for the new bed were easily met thanks to the addition of the herb garden - putting it well into the black with very little effort.
The garden itself as it faces Summer certainly looks a lot different than the initial pictures from Spring. Some plants, like the beans, are yellowing and putting out what may be the last harvest from those plants. The 2nd square of carrots are coming in, and those turnip greens have long since departed.
And yet EVERY square has something in it growing. So it's actually MORE productive right now than Spring.
New beans are popping up around the corn, a second planting of carrots are starting to sprout. Peppers and some late planted tomatoes are in there too. Possibly too late, but worth trying out. There is going to be some dead time between the seasons, but hopefully that will be reduced next year. There are some things to work out when it comes to optimal planting due to sun and rain - but as a whole things have turned out ok. I'll break it down in sections.
The first bed I put in and dug over. Originally planted with (in order) turnip greens, a pepper from last year, lettuce, beets, carrots and radishes.
Currently holding beans, eggplant, peppers, kale and carrots.
The turnip greens were a good grow for spring, and something I'd do again - perhaps doing collards later in the year. Last years pepper is putting up a couple of nice early peppers that are nearly ready to pick. The placement of those was spot on, and I wouldn't change a thing - apart from maybe the amounts.
Radishes were abundant - and I think I picked the right time to cut back to one square. With some adjustments to the planting of other things, I think the goal of fresh picked salads will work out better next year. Carrots turned out well - some nice sized carrots, and the staggering of the two squares time wise is just about perfect - as the last of the first are due for pulling, the next batch are coming into their own. The only thing I'd change here would be volume. You can grow 16 carrots in a square and have them nearly all work out - but 32 is not enough. 64 will be the goal for next year with a 2 week staggering between them.
Beets was just a stupid mistake. I saw some sprout that had been left in the germination container and decided to go for it. Yes they sprouted, then struggled, then eventually died. Just boneheaded stupidity on my part. So long as the lesson is learned, and not repeated, then all is well.
Lettuce in both beds was a real letdown. I devoted an entire post to it early in the spring - and it all comes down to timing and variety. 2 things this blog is supposed to help me with.
The Black Seeded Simpson was the variety, and as you can see peeking between the beans and kale, it looks like it's about to bolt to seed at any moment - the leaves were quite prone to being burnt up as well. By the time I tracked down what I'd grown last Autumn it was too late to plant. In the future, as far as the garden beds are concerned, I'll be trying other varieties such as the Salad Bowl, and I might try Iceberg - the classic sandwich and salad lettuce.
As you can see though all is not lost. It seems the Black Seeded Simpson rather likes my germination containers - so next Spring I might set a long box aside and try growing 6 - 10 plants in there.
Regardless I will be sticking more to a proven method of growing lettuce when it comes time to plant again - sprouting and growing it in the boxes and transplanting it to the garden squares as space becomes available. This should cut down on wasted space anxiety.
The second bed didn't produce so well this spring, but that was due to both mistakes on my end and overall timing. Originally it was planted with tomatoes, corn, spinach, cabbage, and swiss chard from Autumn.
The chard should have been pulled at the start of spring and replanted. Spinach was planted both too early and too late. A late Autumn planting had been holding on and I was convinced it would come good - rather, half died and the other bolted straight to seed.
By this stage it was too late and replacement plantings sprouted and immediately were burnt up in the increasing temps.
Cabbage did well apart from something nomming on it. I can't find traces of the critters that are doing it (no slug trails, no bugs to find), the second planting was staggered a bit too late and has been disappointing. 2 plants dead and the other 2 showing little to no progress past seedlings. The corn came up, but I think I will need to rethink my soil strategy and placement for it. Still it is doing better than garden #2 corn - so I'll stick with it and learn. Currently I've planted some beans around it as an experiment in companion planting. Other squares have been planted out with carrots and a couple of Queen of Hearts tomatoes, which I am now 98% certain are determinate (or bush) tomatoes.
I ended up putting down plants from the overflow, and as you can see the broccoli loves it there. This is doing better than my container broccoli, so next year I think we've found a home for it.
The cherry tomato up the back has vined and is running around the pine straw behind the beds, which is good as it takes up little garden space - however I've yet to see a single tomato appear on it.
The other tomato plants are doing well, and again in hindsight These would have been perfect for planting one-a-square and staggered them by about a week - optimally where the first 4 stalks of corn are currently planted.
If I manage to procure more seeds of this variety, it's the strategy I'll try next year.
If not I will be going back to looking for that ideal variety of tomato - preferably an heirloom that I can generate my own seeds from.
I still have rain wash issues to work out with the bottom bed, but for the most part it's doing ok. Corn and beans are growing, although I think more fertilizer will be required if I do corn again here. Peppers are all doing well - apart from a square at the end that sees the most rain wash and the most sun. The pepper there has remained a seedling size while others are taking off.
In Autumn/Winter I grew beans and peas here, something I'll be doing again this Autumn as part of a bigger strategy to finally get some healthy corn going.
This raised bed I started this spring and it's done quite well for itself. It was planted with peas, beans, lettuce, and kale. I don't have to say much on this as it's been in nearly every post this spring.
Peas did fairly well but died out early - the beans here are coming to their last harvest - and I'll let them go out and replant the squares in July. In Autumn at the 'bottom bed' beans did ok and died out early while peas produced well. In the future I'll only plant peas in Autumn and beans all the way through spring. This should ensure some good nitrogen for whatever crops follow them. Peas lasted me all Winter last year, and I hope to reproduce this in a different bed this year.
Squash I haven't made my mind up on. The plants seem to be doing ok, but the squash aren't really developing to an edible size. This could be simply due to the maturity of the plant - or it could simply need more space, in which case next year could see me starting up a squash patch.
The butternut squash put out a single squash - but the plant seems to be needing some more love. I'll be seeing if some more fertilizer brings it around, or if it's simply run its course.
Time will tell on this idea.
A couple of non-starters and a couple of die-offs. But all in all the herb garden is doing well. Sage is on the way to being ready for picking, parsley is there in abundance and more basil than you can poke a stick at. The two plants of cilantro that survived are enough to be useful too.
Lessons learned here were to plant less basil, and that 4 plants per square seems to me to be an optimal amount. After this photo was taken I cut the tops off several of the basil plants and trimmed the leaves for drying. If it all makes it through the process it will probably amount to $20 worth of dried herbs if bought at the supermarket. Fresh - you don't want to know. A lot. The availability of fresh herbs is what made the new garden additions pay for themselves, and is still the most cost effective thing you can do with a garden space.
An honorable mention has to go out to the potatoes. I think I learned enough about them to try and make more serious run at them come late Summer.
On the composting front - the new bin is still half full, and will slowly break down (hopefully) in time for next spring - To harvest it I'll probably add a trap door to the bottom and make the design a 'flow through' box.
Vermicomposting was not without it's hiccups either - my own desire to take care of a surplus of paper goods from the move led me to make an error that will probably take a couple more months to sort out entirely. Also the rising temps and a lack of AC in the workshop are causing problems with them as well. Currently a box fan is being put on them, and ice blocks put in on the predicted hotter days. In a few weeks I hope to move them to a better location in the workshop and take some steps to lowering the general temperature of the area. Right nowt he entire house needs a new AC system, but that is a long term thing I need to work on - so it won't get solved this summer.
I'll be making plans over the next few days between farmwork and housework to outline my Summer garden plan. The summer plant for this zone starts in July, so I have a week or so to think and adjust. This also coincides with my end of month worm bin cleanouts - so I'll have a bunch of fresh worm castings to put in the soil when I plant. The beans will be ready to be cleared out just in time to make way for new plantings as well - in time I hope to have this overlap of seasons at a point where it's a near constant production of veg with very little down time, and this first season seems to have turned out as a much better start point than I thought it would.
Cheers!
Garden costs for the new bed were easily met thanks to the addition of the herb garden - putting it well into the black with very little effort.
And yet EVERY square has something in it growing. So it's actually MORE productive right now than Spring.
New beans are popping up around the corn, a second planting of carrots are starting to sprout. Peppers and some late planted tomatoes are in there too. Possibly too late, but worth trying out. There is going to be some dead time between the seasons, but hopefully that will be reduced next year. There are some things to work out when it comes to optimal planting due to sun and rain - but as a whole things have turned out ok. I'll break it down in sections.
 |
| The original garden bed. |
Currently holding beans, eggplant, peppers, kale and carrots.
The turnip greens were a good grow for spring, and something I'd do again - perhaps doing collards later in the year. Last years pepper is putting up a couple of nice early peppers that are nearly ready to pick. The placement of those was spot on, and I wouldn't change a thing - apart from maybe the amounts.
Radishes were abundant - and I think I picked the right time to cut back to one square. With some adjustments to the planting of other things, I think the goal of fresh picked salads will work out better next year. Carrots turned out well - some nice sized carrots, and the staggering of the two squares time wise is just about perfect - as the last of the first are due for pulling, the next batch are coming into their own. The only thing I'd change here would be volume. You can grow 16 carrots in a square and have them nearly all work out - but 32 is not enough. 64 will be the goal for next year with a 2 week staggering between them.
Beets was just a stupid mistake. I saw some sprout that had been left in the germination container and decided to go for it. Yes they sprouted, then struggled, then eventually died. Just boneheaded stupidity on my part. So long as the lesson is learned, and not repeated, then all is well.
 |
| The lettuce looks quite 'bolty' doesn't it? |
Lettuce in both beds was a real letdown. I devoted an entire post to it early in the spring - and it all comes down to timing and variety. 2 things this blog is supposed to help me with.
The Black Seeded Simpson was the variety, and as you can see peeking between the beans and kale, it looks like it's about to bolt to seed at any moment - the leaves were quite prone to being burnt up as well. By the time I tracked down what I'd grown last Autumn it was too late to plant. In the future, as far as the garden beds are concerned, I'll be trying other varieties such as the Salad Bowl, and I might try Iceberg - the classic sandwich and salad lettuce.
Regardless I will be sticking more to a proven method of growing lettuce when it comes time to plant again - sprouting and growing it in the boxes and transplanting it to the garden squares as space becomes available. This should cut down on wasted space anxiety.
 |
| 2nd Bed. |
The second bed didn't produce so well this spring, but that was due to both mistakes on my end and overall timing. Originally it was planted with tomatoes, corn, spinach, cabbage, and swiss chard from Autumn.
The chard should have been pulled at the start of spring and replanted. Spinach was planted both too early and too late. A late Autumn planting had been holding on and I was convinced it would come good - rather, half died and the other bolted straight to seed.
By this stage it was too late and replacement plantings sprouted and immediately were burnt up in the increasing temps.
Cabbage did well apart from something nomming on it. I can't find traces of the critters that are doing it (no slug trails, no bugs to find), the second planting was staggered a bit too late and has been disappointing. 2 plants dead and the other 2 showing little to no progress past seedlings. The corn came up, but I think I will need to rethink my soil strategy and placement for it. Still it is doing better than garden #2 corn - so I'll stick with it and learn. Currently I've planted some beans around it as an experiment in companion planting. Other squares have been planted out with carrots and a couple of Queen of Hearts tomatoes, which I am now 98% certain are determinate (or bush) tomatoes.
I ended up putting down plants from the overflow, and as you can see the broccoli loves it there. This is doing better than my container broccoli, so next year I think we've found a home for it.
The cherry tomato up the back has vined and is running around the pine straw behind the beds, which is good as it takes up little garden space - however I've yet to see a single tomato appear on it.
If I manage to procure more seeds of this variety, it's the strategy I'll try next year.
If not I will be going back to looking for that ideal variety of tomato - preferably an heirloom that I can generate my own seeds from.
 |
| The 'bottom' bed |
In Autumn/Winter I grew beans and peas here, something I'll be doing again this Autumn as part of a bigger strategy to finally get some healthy corn going.
 |
| The 'new bed' |
Peas did fairly well but died out early - the beans here are coming to their last harvest - and I'll let them go out and replant the squares in July. In Autumn at the 'bottom bed' beans did ok and died out early while peas produced well. In the future I'll only plant peas in Autumn and beans all the way through spring. This should ensure some good nitrogen for whatever crops follow them. Peas lasted me all Winter last year, and I hope to reproduce this in a different bed this year.
 |
| Squash in a pot |
The butternut squash put out a single squash - but the plant seems to be needing some more love. I'll be seeing if some more fertilizer brings it around, or if it's simply run its course.
Time will tell on this idea.
 |
| The Herb Garden |
Lessons learned here were to plant less basil, and that 4 plants per square seems to me to be an optimal amount. After this photo was taken I cut the tops off several of the basil plants and trimmed the leaves for drying. If it all makes it through the process it will probably amount to $20 worth of dried herbs if bought at the supermarket. Fresh - you don't want to know. A lot. The availability of fresh herbs is what made the new garden additions pay for themselves, and is still the most cost effective thing you can do with a garden space.
An honorable mention has to go out to the potatoes. I think I learned enough about them to try and make more serious run at them come late Summer.
On the composting front - the new bin is still half full, and will slowly break down (hopefully) in time for next spring - To harvest it I'll probably add a trap door to the bottom and make the design a 'flow through' box.
Vermicomposting was not without it's hiccups either - my own desire to take care of a surplus of paper goods from the move led me to make an error that will probably take a couple more months to sort out entirely. Also the rising temps and a lack of AC in the workshop are causing problems with them as well. Currently a box fan is being put on them, and ice blocks put in on the predicted hotter days. In a few weeks I hope to move them to a better location in the workshop and take some steps to lowering the general temperature of the area. Right nowt he entire house needs a new AC system, but that is a long term thing I need to work on - so it won't get solved this summer.
I'll be making plans over the next few days between farmwork and housework to outline my Summer garden plan. The summer plant for this zone starts in July, so I have a week or so to think and adjust. This also coincides with my end of month worm bin cleanouts - so I'll have a bunch of fresh worm castings to put in the soil when I plant. The beans will be ready to be cleared out just in time to make way for new plantings as well - in time I hope to have this overlap of seasons at a point where it's a near constant production of veg with very little down time, and this first season seems to have turned out as a much better start point than I thought it would.
Cheers!
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