Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Our next step...

I'm getting great feed back. You've offered several opinions on size, shape, orientation, and scheduling of stories. Most agreed that there is a lot to do in the fall. We've had a lot of thoughts on pests and sprays. Becky says healthy plants don't need them. I'm willing to give that a shot and hope she's right, but I may have the spray ready at the last minute if things get nasty.
From here, we have to decide what kind of beds to have and what to plant. I'll email you some questions.

The Permaculture guru weighs in...THANKS!

A few thoughts on the schedule from Becky...
February soil tests - You may want to dig that soil before the groundfreezes, eh? I don't depend on soil testing, but would recommend you focuson rebuilding damaged or depleted soils. Urban soils have many issues thatneed addressing and you could address them in your article. Soil testingdoesn't always have much to offer (I've been a gardener for thirty years andhave never had my soil tested.) Those tests could be considered if you hadproblems that showed no apparent answers, but for me and the professionalgardeners I know... no one soil tests unless there are indicators that thereare problems that amendments and mulching wouldn't fix.
June - Please don't plan on having weed and bug problems! First off,weeds are often edible themselves and many have medicinal qualities. Afterall, God made weeds to perform a service, NOT to irritate gardeners. Weedscan be positive and to begin anticipating set-backs isn't fair and hopefullynot accurate. Same goes for insects... There are more beneficial insects togardens than pests. If you have healthy plants they can handle most insect"problems." As you can tell I am organic in my gardens. I can't stress toyou enough that our culture is addicted to using quick-fix chemicals and theunhappy fact that we are contaminating our soils, ground water and watersystems. Don't begin your gardens with the "going-to-war" attitude. Please.
July - I have some easy hail-proofing ideas for you. Let me know if youare interested. Again, most healthy plants can survive most hails. (But,alas, a gardener's life isn't perfect.)

Friday, September 02, 2005

The latest input: Edwin Carley

Several important items may have been overlooked in your outline:
January - Draw a garden plan indicating what you are going to plant and where. This is necessary because it guide seed and plant purchases. Depending on the orientation of the garden, you don't want tall plants shading shorter plants, etc.
If a new garden, you will need to determine how you are going to water it and with what. Some people use sprinklers, soaker hoses or laser lines.
Realize that you may be planting and harvesting all summer long, although your thoughts for September are appropriate.
In our garden the following vegetables have done extremely well; lettuce (multiple varieties), spinach, carrots, radishes, onions (fantastic!), summer squash, parsley, cilantro, cabbage, turnips, and rutabagas.
Our tomatoes have done well but I start the plants in mid-February and plant them in the garden in mid-May using "walls of water" to protect them from the drying winds and perhaps a late frost. Six plants produce more than an adequate amount of fruit. Four plants could be sufficient for most families.
For two years I tried to grow peppers but my efforts weren't rewarded. I finally decided to build a plastic film covered frame. I planted pepper transplants in the garden and covered them with a mini greenhouse until early July. We now have lots of nice sized bell peppers for home use. Given the price of peppers in most grocery stores, the effort is probably worth it ... especially if one is retired and has the time to putter around.
In a small garden, crops such as peas, beans, corn, potatoes, pumpkins and winter squash don't have a good fit because they consume too much space. I grew peas in our garden one year ... they could be trellised on the garden fence ... but the deer discovered that they were tasty.
Lettuce should be planted every few weeks, and sparingly. How much lettuce can a family eat in a week? A problem I have with later lettuce plantings is that they seem to come up and then disappear. I finally realized that mice consume the late season plantings and have to set mouse traps and pray that I catch the mice before they eat the lettuce seedlings.
My comments regarding lettuce bring up another important point ... how does one protect their garden from voles, mice, rabbits, deer, Bighorn sheep, elk and bear? The latter two animals are the only ones that haven't enjoyed our garden. You obviously know that hail can be expected to occur and the most unappreciated time!
Enough comments for you to digest for the moment.

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Recomendations from Stephanie Jensen

"I like your story schedule, but you might add a bit about ways to get a jump on the season by using contraptions like "walls of water" and something about irrigation (manual, drip, etc). You also should think about piling up easily obtainable and cheap soil amendments at the site (leaves, grass clippings) this fall and digging them in next spring. "

She also writes that I should decide what I want to grow, then determine my square footage. I would rather set the square footage, and see how much we can pack into it. What do you all think?