Fall Equinox

Happy First Day Of Fall!
We just planted a bunch of garlic (ordered from The Garlic Store), onions, more beets, new rows of carrots, and new lettuces (the lettuces we planted a month ago are now about 2" tall, so it's time to do the next successive planting). The sowbug invasion seems to be minimized a bit...nonetheless I made cardboard "fences" around the little seedlings (baby potato plants, winter squash) using the collars from to-go coffee cups, and a long fence made from recycled envelope inserts down the rows of seeds. And then, for good measure, I sprinkled the old diatomaceous earth around the bottoms of the plants. Lets hope they make it. It's been a frustrating couple of months!

XXO
Yvette

INVASION!!

Someone has been killing the sprouts from seeds that were sown directly into the garden. Rows of carrots, beets, onions - it was maddening. Not one tiny bit of green would even surface. This went on for a good 4-6 weeks. Anxiety ensued. Did I lose my green thumb? Is our garden soil poisonous? Is an old enemy from Junior High School trying to sabbotage my efforts? After much observation and detective work, the culprit was identified: the seemingly innocuous sow bug.

It seems that we were not letting our compost break down enough before adding it to the garden. Normally, sow bugs eat the rotting, dying vegetation in the compost bin. Once the compost is truly finished, they move on. Apparently, we were adding the compost to our raised beds a little too early, with an inordinate population of the little guys. For lack of enough dying matter to feed them, they turned to our seeds. I start a lot of our seeds in the kitchen window, but certain plants, like carrots, like to be sown directly into the garden, leaving them especially vulnerable. Since our garden is organic, I expect to lose a certain percentage of yield to pests, but this was too much.

I did some research, and came up with a plan that has, thus far, been extremely effective. I added Diatomaceous earth to the top of the soil, and even mixed some in, just under the surface. This chalk-like powder consists of the fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled algae. It works by absorbing lipids from the waxy outer layer or insects' exoskeletons, causing them to dehydrate. I am also putting rolled up newspaper along the edges of the raised beds. When the newspaper becomes damp, the sow bugs use it as a shelter. It can simply be picked up and thrown away.

The Diatomaceous earth will also destroy beneficial insects, so it should be used with that in mind. In humans, it can cause irritation if breathed in, so it must be added to the soil with care.

DRAMA!!!! With any luck, this will balance the scales, and this next round of seeds will not be murdered in their sleep!


XXX
Yvette

Learning Curve

We have been digging up potatoes lately, and they're as delicious as can be. There are few things as fun as foraging for them. It is so gratifying to spend time rummaging around in the dirt, and out pops a beautiful yellow or purple one, and then another and another! There were not nearly as many potatoes as I'd thought there would be. I figured that out of eight plants we'd have multitudes. Some of the plants didn't really even produce any (mystery). But, we did get some, and those some wanted to make me plant more.

The biggest problem I've faced in this garden is timing...when to start new plants to supplement the ones that are going out, to leave room for them, to not have everything ready at once, and to truly figure out what it is that we eat and how much of it to grow.

I found out that we eat a lot of lettuces. We eat a lot of tomatoes. Not so much with the green beans, even though green beans are something we used to buy in the grocery store all the time. Many millions of peas (so vast was the number of peas that we consumed that the plant got completely harvested every day and none even made it into the pot!). I love to have beets on hand, and roast a bunch of them at a time and keep them in the fridge for snacks and impromptu salads with goat cheese. The onions get used and appreciated, but we're running low and don't have anything but tiny seedlings to replace them with. The garlic will run out eventually, and probably before the next garlic is ready.

Here is my new experiment. I have planted a row of lettuce, and a row of arugula. As soon as those rows get to be 2" tall, it'll time to plant another row. We'll see how that goes...

The garden is only a year old. I'm wondering how long it will really take for us to manage it to the point that we have the rhythm.


XXO

Yvette

Plant Markers

Next time you hear "I'm bored, there's nothing to do!", here's some fun:

Madi and Ryan made these plant markers using crayons, white paper, wooden BBQ skewers and, I'm so sorry, but...some plastic. I figure (excuses, excuses), that since we bring our own bags to the market, and even clothes shopping, since we use about 1 bag of Ziplocks every 2-3 YEARS, since Fred rides his bike nearly everywhere instead of using the car, we could slide on this use of petroleum in hopes of the markers lasting more than a week of sun and watering and dare I say rain?

The Recipe:

Cut Pieces Of Paper To Size
Make A List Of Plants
Create Drawings
Break BBQ Skewers In Half (large popsicle sticks could be substituted for this)
Press Sticky Plastic Sheet Onto The Front Of Each Drawing
Hold Skewers Tight Onto The Back Of The Drawing, Leaving about 4" At The Bottom Sticking Out
Press Sticky Plastic Onto The Back Of The Drawing, Including The Skewer
Make Sure That Plastic Is As Tight As Possible, Especially Around The Skewer

Put Into Garden!

We bought the sheets of plastic at Staples. They're sticky on one side, and worked great. I found them in the same section that laminating supplies are sold. All's good so far, and they sure are cute.

XXX
Yvette

Tangled Up In Blue

It's time to start ordering fall and winter seeds! Last year, we planted a bunch of sweet peas on a bamboo trellis. We ordered the seeds from The Fragrant Garden, which has the most incredible colors of sweet peas to choose from. They are easy to grow - the seeds should be soaked for 24 hours by floating them in a little dish of water or wrapping in a wet paper towel before planting as they have a tough skin that must be broken through to germinate. Follow the planting instructions on the packets, and you'll be in bouquets all winter. Sweet peas thrive in colder weather, so for us in So Cal, it's a winter flower. For really cold places, it's a fall - spring plant. The flowers should be cut daily, as the plants are quick to start producing seeds and die if they're not picked often. Cutting will inspire tons and tons of flowers to be produced!

Another great favorite to order now are onions and garlic. We get our garlic from The Garlic Store. They have really interesting varieties, as well as "packages" that contain 4-5 different kinds, all with great growing instructions, and excellent customer service for weird questions (I've asked!)!!! Garlic and onions are easy but glacial to grow, so be PATIENT. The garlic and onions we grew last year took about nine months from planting to harvest...


One more blue thing, just cause it's so pretty and getting lots of attention from the bees and hummingbirds as well, our beloved butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii 'Black Knight').






XOXO
Yvette

Endings and Beginnings

So begins the mid summer challenge. As much produce as we are gaining (tons of tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, beans, and peppers mostly), we are losing plants every day. Lettuce is bolting, as is the last of the broccoli. The onions are finished growing and need to be picked and cured. Everything that was vibrant in the spring and early summer is making its seeds for the coming year. There are bald spots in what used to be, just a few weeks ago, filled with life.

Over the weekend we sowed the beginnings of our fall garden: Gourmet Blend Beets, Watermelon Radishes, and Purple Haze and King Midas Carrots. We planted some extra winter squash seeds (Delicata Honey Boat), and some more Sakata's Sweet Melon, which so far has been a failure, but try and try again! This week we will plant some new onions, snap peas, more pole beans, and a round of lettuce, which will get covered from the August heat with a burlap tent. I am going to plant successive rows of lettuce this time around. The method I am going to use is to plant two rows of lettuce at a time (the rows will be about 3' long, and when the seedlings are about 1.5"s tall, it's time to plant two more rows).

Albeit so exciting to plant anything, it is bittersweet. I am already feeling the end of summer. We even have a beautiful orange baby pumpkin already. I am anticipating that chill in the air, leaves falling, saying goodbye to another year...


XXX
Yvette

PS. Thank you to my dear dear friend Suzi Varin for the beautiful photo!!!!!!

Happy 64th Birthday Smokey!!

XXX

Yvette