Diggin' In - Progress Journal (3/24 - 3/29)

Diggin' In - Progress Journal (3/24 - 3/29)03/29/2012   3/25/12. Peas' Net! We hung out in the garden today, creating netting for the rapidly stretching and reaching peas. We took the netting from a cantelope 3-pack bag, cut the seam, and stretched it across the box - connecting it to two strong sticks. Then tied it to tighten the net - very McGuiver style! Then we “trained” the peas, helping them wrap their tendrils around the netting, that was fun. We also moved the newly sprouted, second round of peas outside - they grow really fast! Tonight’s snail hunt: 11 slugs, 9 snails 3/26/12. Scallions outside Scallions have now been permenantly moved outside. It seems like the cold season veggies have all sprouted except for M’s beets and the celery root. They just barely popped up and didn’t really grow. Perhaps they were burried too deep or went out in the cold too quickly? Tonights hunt: 1 slug, 5 snails 3/28/12. Warm Season Veggies and Herbs We got our warm season veggies and herb trimmings in Edible Landscaping class today! Seems like we’re running out of room already...still needing to perminantly plant the cold seasons. We have to finish making the materials list for donation requests (wood, tools, etc) to get the raised beds and compost made. Here’s the warm season veggies we each got tonight: Basil-Italian Large Leaf (12 ea) Fennel - Zefa Fino (6 ea) Cucumber Lemon (3 ea) Onion - Red Bulb (10 ea) Pumpkin - Jack O’Lantern (3 ea) Tomato - Yellow Pear (6 ea) Tomato - Orange Short Vine Orange Blossom (6 ea) Zucchini Squash - Costate Romanesco (4 ea) Swiss Chard (6 ea) And some of the Herb Trimmings we got: Mint Black Berry  Basil Sage Our directions for at home care are: Seeds - check daily to see if mix is moist, water with spray bottle. Keep indoors near a south or west window until at least 75% of seeds germinate, then move outside during the day and in at night. Cut back watering once seeds have come up! Cuttings - will need to stay in the mix for at least 1 month, and should remain outside from the time they arrive home. Can test to see if they’ve rooted by pulling them up very gently - can just put them gently back in. *oops! we transplanted the clippings into soil! Should have read the directions better!* And about the Snail hunt...we are having a hard time killing all those snails and slugs. It’s so brutal! We heard that people have had success crushing up eggshells and encircling the plants. The snails aren’t supposed to cross because she shells are too sharp for their soft, squishy bodies. Well, we tried crushing a bunch and making a ring-oh-shells around our captured snails to see if they would cross the threshold. They didn’t hesitate. See video So we’ve decided to just relocate them from now on. Tonight we found: 1 slug, and 6 snails 3/29/12  I want to log an observation about the cold season veggies - most (all but the onion families and celery root) have been transplanted either into salad mix bins, a pot, or various plastic containers. It seems the ones in salad containers (about 4” deep of soil) and pots (12-24” deep) are doing the best in growth. And I’m intrigued to see if there has been a significant difference in how the compost tea treated plants do in comparison. Maybe some pics are in order soon! Warm season veggie and herb progress to be explored soon!

Diggin' In - Progress Journal (3/22 - 3/23)

Diggin' In - Progress Journal (3/22 - 3/23)03/23/2012

 

3/22/12. New Water Nozzle!

We bought a cute hose nozzle yesterday, to assist in the crucial watering process of the transplants (2x a day while they recover from the shock). I took a stroll through the garden section of the hardware store to get some ideas. How helpful it was! I also got the price check some things - check out my findings: insert findings

The hose has been nice to keep the plants moist. They are definitely getting some sun - and no incidents of snail feasting. But those 16 - 1 (fed to turtle) are still in the clay pot with leaves...in the shade. We’re at a loss as to what to do with them. I resist going out to hunt again for fear we’ll get another 20 more!

I want to look into adding vermiculite to the transplant mix (using “Happy Medium Potting Soil”) to hold moisture and nutrients. I noticed the seedlings aren’t growing as rapidly as they were before. Maybe I should email Jim at Soil Solutions and ask his thoughts. Perhaps some compost tea is in order.

Also, need to put together a materials wishlist for donations from stores. We want to build garden boxes (cedar or redwood last longest), hay bale beds, etc. A goal for tomorrow.

This Saturday, 3/24, is going to be our first work party. “Ivy and compost day” - we’ll see how it goes! Wonderful I’d imagine. Also in the works for D.r.e.e.m. Reality is creating a Santa Cruz DreemGarden Collective. This will allow for a network of locals to share produce, eggs, honey, etc - perhaps eventually using the surplus for a CSA or Farmers Market!

So far, locally we have: Eric, Melissa, Sara Pop, and us!

---

3/23/12. Snails and Transplanting

Snails...oh yeah, we have to sacrifice those snails from the other night. We’ve been putting it off because it’s so intense to think about killing such obviously alive creatures. We’ve decided to send them back to the earth via the compost hole, a large rock...and gravity. It was quite the experience (see the end of this video for the action)

---

And now it’s time to continue transplanting! We found several planting pots around the house and are going to use them as a middle step before the raised bed and hay bales. We went to visit Jim at “Soil Solutions” today, to buy more “Happy Medium” potting soil ($18.12) and he gave us a bit of his Compost Tea for free to try out! We’re supposed to spray it on the leaves and soil.

In the compost tea:

• Native microbial culture - woodchips (5-15yrs old), earthworm casting, concentrated compost, viatl earth compost (organic veg waste and fruit trees), and “Baseline” (peat moss)
• Fish hydrolysis - to feed microbs in soil

---

We performed a few experiements with the compost tea that we got...

Arugula layout & compost tea trail - in small-medium pot: Melinda put together a mix of soil using about: 60% local soil and 40% Happy Medium potting mix.

---

Cilantro layout & compost tea on roots - in big pot: Some tea put directly on the roots others on the soil. 

---

Cauliflower, Kale, and Beets - high clay content in mix, using mulch from the front yard, some top soil from yard (lots of clay), and soil from old pots.


The transplanting happened late in the day, leaving the seedlings without much sun afterwards...hope that’s ok. Oh, and we don’t really like our fancy new watering nozzle very much - it’s not gentle enough on the babies.

Also today, we measured the yard and garden space! The intention is to draw up some plans for the beds and such. Insert drawing

Tonight’s snail hunting around 10:15 pm yielded: 3 Slugs, 24 snails! Sacrifice completed.
Another round of snail hunting at 12 am: 7 slugs, 10 snails!

Oh! There was a baby snail on the pea leaves and there was evidence of munching for the first time!

Diggin' In - Progress Journal (3/19 - 3/21)

Diggin' In - Progress Journal (3/19 - 3/21)03/21/2012

 

3/19/12. Notes on Gardening

Notes from Edible Landscaping by Creasy, on planning garden:

• Create base plan: measure/draw, make copies to sketch on
• Choose design: take inventory: temp zones, soil type, drainage
• Do bubble drawing: identify, present layout and problem areas (slopes, drainage, roots, sun)
• Soil elements: air (oxygen/nitrogen), water, living organisms (microbacteria, viruses, worms), humus (organic matter - leaves, lawn clipping, compost, manuer), inorganic matter (particles of minerals/rock)
• Mineral components: sand, silt, clay
• Sandy soil - lots of pore space to allow air and h20 to pass (roots don’t get h20 logged), warms in spring quickly and easy to till. Need frequent watering and fertilizer because nutrients and h20 drain through
• Clay soil - retain h20 and nutrients well, but doesn’t drain h20 well. harder to till, doesn’t warm as quick in spring
• BEST - “Loam” contains fairly equal parts of sand, silt, and clay
• Test by balling up soil with some water to see how sticky, clumpy (clay), or crumbly (sand/org matter) it is Show picture
• Most veggies thrive in slight acid -> neutral soil (pH 6-7). We can get a pH test kit, but professors says not to waste money on it. Can send away for soil sample if really want to know.
• Important nutrients plants need: nitrogen, phosophorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur (especially 1st three)

---

Notes on seedlings we have (taken from EL book)

• Broccoli and Cauliflower - plant annnual, need moisture/fertilizer, grows 8-36” tall, needs full sun, harvest the main head - let stay in ground for small shoots
• Cabbage (leaf not head) - annual, moist/fertilizer, 6-8” tall, full sun, havest - cut individual leafs from outside when have 8 edible leaves. Don’t take all
• Chives - perennial, 12-24” tall, full sun, harvest by cutting off tops (flowers best when just open)
• Kale - annual, moist/fertilizer, 8-36” tall, full sun, harvest - pick young leaves as soon as large enough to withstand. Cut out as needed, young leaves keep growing
• Lettuce - successive planting annually, 6-12” tall, full sun (tolerates partial shade), harvest - entirely or few outter leaves (transplant seedlings into holes)
• Peas - annually, tendrals 2-8ft tall, full sun, harvest about 3 weeks after blossoms set

Soil depths for our seedlings (taken from EL book)

• 6-10” deep: arugula, beet, chive, cilantro, lettuce, onion
• 10-15” deep: celery, chinese cabbage, leek, lettuce
• 15-18” deep: kale, peas
• 18-25” deep: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower

---

3/20/12

Today we transplanted a lettuce cell into a strawberry/h20 container. Also! We planted a whip of an apple tree that was clipped as a demonstration in class on Feb 29. Melinda took it home because it looked like a magic wand, then stuck it in a glass of water. Yesterday it started growing buds/leaves! So we tipped it, to encourage root growth by eliminating the auxin hormone, and transplanted it. We’ll see what happens!

---

3/21/12. Snail Coed Mixer

Last night at 10pm-ish we took the advice from our EL book to “hunt” the snails in our backyard. Since we usually only see a few here and there we weren’t expecting much. With a headlamp on and a terra cotta pot in hand, we set out. We figured we’d scan the yard onced over and find maybe 5 or 6...within 10 mins, and ¼ of the yard perimeter, we found 16!! We were unprepared mentally to dispose of so many! Watching them for a few minutes made it very challenging to commit snail genocide. So we covered the pot for the evening, providing a few Ivy leaves inside (We figured we’d encourage Ivy eating over seedlings). Today we intend to relocate them to the river/eucalyptus forest...where they may seriously propogate after their 16 snail mixer last night!


Either that or we will have to commit them to the compost...

Diggin' In: Progress Journal (2/29 - 3/18)

Diggin' In: Progress Journal (2/29 - 3/18)03/18/2012

 

2/29/12. Moving Outside!

Today we moved the germinated plants out into the sun and in the aquarium to protect from rain and cold. Was hoping for a slight green house effect. The seeds that have only just poked the surface were left inside to germinate a bit more. It’s probably about mid 50’s and cloudy today. I hope our spindally seedlings will be ok!

I found out that what I thought was impressively healthy growing ended up being our babies stretching their necks to find the sun. Oops! Needed to put them into sunlight as soon as they started showing green leaves. Something to keep in mind for next round of seedlings coming up.

Plants we left inside to germinate more:

• Leeks - M & D
• Beets - M
• Cilantro - M & D
• Lettuce - M
• Onion - D
• Scallions - D
• Celery root - M

---

3/18/12. Transplant to salad mix bins.

Today we transplanted several seedlings into a mid-rand “pot” of salad mix bins. They’re great planters! And set them on benches in the yard to catch max sun - though it has been very rainy for the past 4 or 5 days. The separation of M and my own trays are no more. We’ve joined forces to mother all plants equally as a team.

Plants transplanted: Cabbage Peas Broccoli Arugula Spinach Kale

Still in cells: Lettuce Beets Cauliflower Scallions Celery root Chives Onion bunches Cilantro Leeks

We have also started more peas and scallions that we bought from the garden store. We are using the left over mix from the original plantings, while adding "Happy Medium" potting soil we bought today. That brings me to the point of talking about Soil Solutions and Jim Neves! We found a wonderful soil store on the outskirts of town - a local, organic store. Jim, the owner was wonderfully informative and kind - we talked for a while about our project and goals. He was open to share and we'll be for sure going back to him! He even offered to give a power point presentation and workshops for D.r.e.e.m. Reality! 

Diggin' In: Progress Journal (3/14/12)

Diggin' In: Progress Journal (3/14/12)03/14/2012

 

3/14/12. Sun tracking results

Soil test in class tonight! We brought in a sample from the back and front yards. The back was a nice “clay loam”, needing a bit more organic matter to break it up. The front was all mulch which you can’t “do anything with”. But it happens to be organic matter, which we can add to the back yard soil! (That is if we decide to dig in vs build up)

---

Suntrack Video Results - Hours of sun in zones

Back yard Zones 

• Zone 1: 10am - 5pm (7hrs)
• Zone 2: 11am - 3pm (3hrs)
• Zone 3: 11am - 5pm (6hrs)
• Zone 4: 12pm - 5pm (5hrs)
• Zone 5: 10am - 2pm (4hrs)

---

Front yard Zones 

• Zone 1: 11am - 2pm (3hrs)
• Zone 2: 12pm - 2pm (2hrs)
• Zone 3: 1pm - 2pm (1hr)

---

Side porch Zones 

• Zone 1: 9am - 11am (3hrs)
• Zone 2: 10am - 12pm (2hrs)
• Zone 3: 10am - 2pm (4hrs)

---

Room Patio  Zones 

• Zone 1: 9am - 5pm (8hrs)
• Zone 2: 2pm - 5pm (3hrs)

---

Roof Zones 

• Zone 1: 8am - 5pm (9hrs)
• Zone 2: 10am - 4pm (6hrs)
• Zone 3: 10am - 5pm (7hrs)

---

Front house fence Zones

• Zone 1: 1pm - 4pm (3hrs)
• Zone 2: 2pm - 5pm (3hrs)

Of course these pictures were taken a week or so before daylight savings time...so the times are off and the season is changing. But the photos/video can show a general idea of where shade and sunshine are. Plus it was fun!

I’d like to share the definitions of sun and shade according to the Creasy book:

• Full sun = greater than 6 hrs of direct, unfiltered sunlight, including 2 hrs during peak (10am - 2pm)
• Partial shade = 4-6 hrs of sun a day, not a lot at mid day, lightly dappled sun off/on with some full sun
• Full shade = little full sun, no more than few hours of heavily dappled sunlight all day

*To check the shadow/sun ratio at noon, 6 months ahead - view the shadows at midnight on the full moon.*

Diggin' In: Melinda's Vision

Diggin' In: Melinda's Vision03/07/2012   An assignment for Edible Landscaping!   My very own Garden Arising with the morning sun, I wrap myself in a warm robe and head downstairs to put on the teakettle. As the water heats and the steam sets to a whistle I pour warmth into a cup. As I open the door to the backyard I am filled with excitement to see the new growth in the garden for the day. I slowly walk to the potted plants, with my warm tea in hand, and say, “Good Morning!”. My housemates and I have created a growing wonderland in our very own backyard—an eclectic assortment of big ceramic pots and wood planting beds weaving in and out of the areas that get kissed most by the sun. As I look around at all of the new growth of vegetables that we have planted, I become excited by the thoughts of the upcoming seasons and what joy and change they will bring to the garden. The flowers on the plum tree fill the space with bright color, giving rise to the fruit that will soon be enjoyed by all varieties of life. The cherry tree waits patiently in the corner of the garden space, for it’s time in the nearing season-knowing that it too will be able to share all of its glory of pink blossoms and succulent fruit. The experimenter inside of me delights for the chance to prune these magnificent fruiting trees as soon as their fruiting season has paced—as to not take away any of the blossom growth that they are now going through. Soon I will be able to experiment with cutting the tree to aid in its fullest potential of fruiting. The soil I use is for now bought at a local soil shop- all organic. Although there are some spaces in the backyard to plant in-ground, the pesky gopher would sure get his fill before we do with our growing goods. So for now, and until we develop the proper knowledge and awareness to create nutrient rich soil from what we are now blessed with, and until we learn how to keep out the gopher from indulging in our fruits of labor, we will keep our plants safe in their potted homes. I look forward to the day where the grape trellises dance up the white arbor fence, and replace the ivy, which is slowly dominating the yard. I do love the ivy and the green wonderland that it provides, but I am looking forward to the beautiful green leaves and juicy fruit that grapes can provide in its place. I will continue to aid in the health of the berries, who grow in auspicious places around the yard, and find them a space of their own where they can grow abundantly. As my vision and plants grow around me so does my knowledge, confidence and love of creating my very own organic, edible landscape.