Intermission

Hello Readers,

There will be a week or two of postlessness on this blog, but for happy reasons.  I have an interview this afternoon, which I'm hoping to do well on because gaining the position would mean a large promotion.  Then the husband and I have a concert to attend, and then we're headed off on a much-anticipated hiking/camping/fossil-hunting vacation.  There is no internet out there in the wilderness with which to update the blog... but getting away from technology and focusing on nature is the point of camping, of course.  Hopefully I'll come back with some fascinating ancient loot to show you!

The outdoor potted plants have all finally been hooked up to the drip system, but it looks like it will be mostly rainy and cool anyway so I don't foresee much of a problem with the baby veggie plants.  Here's hoping I come back to lots of healthy growth!  It will be a test in garden neglect.  :)

The bird feeder has been topped up, the fish & gecko are at a friend's house, the tomatoes are planted in the raised beds, the indoor plants are all nesting together in the bathtub, and the house is tidied.  Looks like everything's prepared, and so... see you later!

Happy adventures, 
- Kendra

A Mother-In-Law's Gardeny Gift

Onion Flowers

Oh dear... this is probably not good!  Several of my onions have begun to send up flower stalks... usually when onions start to flower, it means they stop growing.  They theoretically only flower every 2 years, but periods of extreme cold and heat can convince them that several seasons have passed, and they'll send up stalks.  Carrots are biennial too, and we'll use this method (at 4 degrees Celsius) in my lab to get them to go to seed early.  Our weather has been rather odd here... a week of chilly rain and wind, a week of dry summer heat, and back again, so I can't really blame the onions.  You get one layer of onion for every leaf, and most of these onions are only up to 6-10 leaves, so there are probably no bulbs to speak of... and having a flower stalk in the center of the onion makes it unsuitable for storage because it'll easily rot.

The beast rises in destruction

I'm finding lots of conflicting information on the web about pearl onions specifically... wikipedia says that they're a form of "walking onion" that makes little onion bulbs where the flowers used to be, which get so heavy they fall over and re-plant themselves a foot away (hence the "walking").  Others say that pearl onions are just regular onions that are so young they haven't bulged out much yet.  There's an easy way to find out which is true for my particular pearls... just wait and see what happens.  Even if all I get out of these pearl onions is lovely flowers and tasty greens, it's more than worth the nearly nonexistent effort put into them. 

This bug waits too

On the positive side, growing pearl onions just for the delicious greens is extremely cost-effective!  I did get the pearl onions for free, but if I'd actually spent the money on them, by the end of the onions' lives I'd probably save about 3/4ths of the cost of buying that many organic green onions.  Plus, they're always as fresh as possible, with nothing left over to go bad in the fridge before I forget to use 'em.  I've been cutting off just the bottom leaves on the plants (and from the garlic plants too) as they bend from their weight, and then sticking them in everything... a very heavy dose in quiches, pizza, stir-fries, omelets, and even sprinkled festively on salads, mac & cheese, and steamed veggies.  I've been going a little crazy with the greens, but the hubby loves it.

Fresh pearl onion greens... they go with everything!

I've found that growing my own onions (90 plants hidden in crevices about the garden) is enhancing my culinary creativity, and is increasing the amount of organic green foods we eat daily.  Since green onions offer most of the same health benefits as mature onions, this is a good thing!

A Better Wasp Solution

This weekend, a lady came by to say that she was spraying for pests (primarily wasps, and also rats) at 8 (out of 18) houses on our court, and she wanted to offer us the low, low price of $60 to spray our house too.  First of all... spray chemicals in my nice organic yard and near the food garden?  HECK NO.  Secondly, there are easier and cheaper ways to lower the wasp population if they're bothersome, like using homemade wasp traps, or putting on protective clothing and knocking nests down with a long stick before the grubs mature. 

Or you could always use the predator method!  A few days earlier, this bird tweeted at me from the top of the fence for a few minutes (and I tweeted back, of course) until I approached, then it flew to the neighbor's eave and immediately back to the fence with a wasp nest in its beak.  It was almost like it was saying "Hey lady!  C'mere!  I wanna show you a trick!"  I had time to grab the camera and take a video for you!  If anyone knows what kind of bird this is, please speak up... I've always called this type of bird a "blue jay" but looking for pictures online makes me think it is a "western scrub-jay" instead.

Jay eats a wasp larva.

There are two birds of this type who visit regularly for the hanging bird-feeder which I keep full of songbird seed... one is always interested in grabbing seeds from the feeder which looks much more difficult, and the second bird is always more interested in picking up primarily the sunflower seeds that have fallen to the ground.  Bird #1 tends to watch me a lot and is more vocal and friendly and sometimes comes by himself.  It's probable that this was the same bird, especially if it was willing to go through so much effort for a bug!

I will say this... I'm worried that my new bird friend will go for another delicious wasp treat and find out too late that it's been drenched in poison.  I'll keep my seed feeder and the water dish full, and hope the clean food fulfills his needs.

Lavendar Blossoms

Pumkins Sprouting

A few weeks ago had I asked my husband "if you could have anything planted in the garden, what would you pick?" and pumpkins were in his top 3, and they were the only thing I hadn't planned on growing because they take so much space.  Knowing that he likes odd things as much as I do, I ordered some huge and extremely warty pumpkins.  They're a salmon-skinned french heirloom called Galeux d'Eysines, and have a sweet velvety flesh.  There was ONE more empty spot in the backyard, so this will be the last thing added to the garden.  Well, I'll say that now, but we all know I'll manage to fit more in somewhere later!

The pumpkins sprouted this weekend!  
They look so small and innocent now, but just you wait...

I've heard winter squash like to be planted 2-3 (thinned from 5-6) on mounds so they can sprawl, so I fashioned a pile from much of the leftover compost and soil from the raised beds, and used some of my husband's stones to keep the mound propped away from the porch.  The mounds are supposed to be 3 feet in diameter, but, er, this is only about 2.5 feet long and 1.5 feet wide.  We'll see how it goes!  I'm going to cover them with mason jars at night for now to protect them from the inevitable wave of ravenous slugs.  I'd love to get a few wicked-looking warty pumpkins to carve and cook with in October.  <3

Happy Mother's Day!

After reading of my slug issues, my mother sent me this video she found on youtube.  It's hilarious, and is exactly what happens in my backyard when the sun goes down!  Thanks Mom, you always manage to bring joy to my day!

(I did not make this video, they are the slugs of Flushed Away)

Square foot gardening in the raised beds

Now it's time to divulge my plan for world garden domination!  It is a mish-mash of instinct and internet research.

Square foot gardening principles that I'm using, based on internet research
- 1 plant per square:  tomato, pepper, cucumber
- 4 per square:  basil, chard, kale
- 9 per square:  bean
- 16 per square:  carrots, radishes
- Do it in a raised bed

Companion planting principles for the bed
- Plant basil & carrots near tomatoes
- Keep peppers away from tomatoes since too much tomato fertilizer will keep peppers from making lots o' fruit
- Keep cucumbers away from tomatoes

This rough chart shows the raised bed plan... #1 is left of #2, and there will be a trellis (and/or arch) connecting the cukes and beans.  Click to enlarge 

My own principles
- Grow up, not out
- Only grow things my husband and I like to eat raw
- Mix & match sizes of plants so they crowd less
- Harvest very frequently so that I can squeeze in a few extra plants
- Plant a row of radishes (cherry belle, which grows in 4 weeks) along two of the square-foot lines every week for a continuous harvest
- Grow oddly and strongly-colored items for an extra vitamin punch (most are dark reds & purples or orange-yellow)
- Grow something known to be pretty failsafe even for newbie gardeners (Sungold tomatoes & chard)
- Keep chard in the middle to separate non-compatible plants, since chard is the only one of my veggies that will be there year-round
- Keep copious notes so I can improve on the beds next year
- Don't be sad if there's too little sun for an abundant harvest

So... I've already planted the lettuce, kale, chard, carrots, radishes, and basil.  I have to wait until it's a little warmer to transplant the tomatoes, cukes, and peppers.  It's starting to feel like a real garden!

Wordless Wednesday: Happy Onions

Raised Bed Gardening, part 3

Since I'm loosely following the Square Foot Gardening principles, I divided my beds up into 20 square-foot squares.  Since I'm cheap, I just used sticks and leftover garden twine.  Some people like the look of wood slats for dividers, but I am planning on growing radishes along the division lines so I don't want to block their sunlight.

Easiest drip system pattern:  like a U

And since I'm neglectful at times (er, I mean, when I go on vacation) and summers are hot here, a drip system is a must.  Luckily the original owners of the house have a vast network of drip system under their thick layer of mulch, so it was a simple thing to find the tubing near the raised beds and run it along my soil.  I used a 50-foot roll of 1/4" tubing (lots was left over), 10 stakes to hold the tubing down, 15 corner pieces, 4 T-shaped pieces, 20 in-line 1gallon/hour drips, and 3 larger tube segments for stopping the flow (bend the 1/4" tube, insert into larger tube piece to pinch it closed, and ta-da!).

Easiest way to stop the flow in a drip system... bend the hose.

Afterward, I shimmied the exposed drip system an inch or so down into the soil.

Now everything is ready for the funnest stuff... planting!


Raised Bed Gardening:  Part 1, Building the bed
Raised Bed Gardening:  Part 2, Choosing your soil amendments
Raised Bed Gardening:  Part 4, Square Foot Gardening plan

Raised Bed Gardening, Part 2

Today I'm going to write a little bit about the soil in a raised bed.  The main reason for having a raised bed is so that you can put in the perfect soil combination above inadequate ground soil.

Step 1:  Prepping the site
I got rid of the thin layer of decorative decomposed granite on the surface, and set it aside.  When we move, I can remove everything and just smooth this back over the top and the side yard will again look untouched.  Make sure your bed will be level and add some stakes in the corners temporarily to hold it in place.  Once the soil's in, it won't move.

Step 2:  Amend the existing soil to a depth of 1 foot
I have really really dense grey clay for soil, so I asked around and got advice to add cedar or redwood mulch.

Clay under the crust of decorative crushed rock.

Mixing in the mulch makes the clay soil "friable" which means that it is loose and crumbly, which is important so that the roots can easily penetrate the soil.  I used one bag of a brand called "Gorilla Hair" (it really does look like monkey hair!) for 20 square feet of clay, which was perfect.  My shovel was short at 6 inches, so I dug down twice.

Cedar mulch at the top, ready to get mixed in.

Step 3:  Fill with nicer soil
Now that the earth has been tinkered with, it's time to fill up the bed!

Even the most generic "Garden Soil" is a much deeper rich black-brown than my clay mixed with cedar.  The plants'll love it!

Step 4:  Add compost
I added organic compost, since these will be organic veggies I'll want to eat.  Making it a mix of everything is good... ours had mushroom and well-rotted manure compost along with worm castings.  Homemade compost would have been best... but until I can get space away from the house for a pile, I won't be saving up my yard cuttings for it.  I do have a worm composter, but it has been neglected during the move and is not ready for harvesting some worm castings.  I dug a trench down the middle of the beds, filled it with compost, and then mixed it in.  Next time I really do want to use lots of worm castings, because the store-bought stuff seemed a little rough and a bit smelly.

All done!  You can see the 2nd bed at the top, ready for me to start the same process. 

Step 5:  Add special fertilizers  (Optional)
Here I just added (and mixed in to a depth of about a foot) a special organic tomato fertilizer from Burpee. 

 My tomatoes can take all the extra nutrients they can get!

Step 6:  Mulch.
I haven't done this yet, and don't know if I will... I suppose it'll depend upon how dry the soil ends up getting over summer.

Looking for more?
Raised Bed Gardening, Part 1:  Building the bed
Raised Bed Gardening, Part 3:  Putting on the final touches