A much-touted snowstorm did not materialize at our elevation, and someone in me was disappointed to miss some drama. However, the cold front did definitely move through and today I have been feeding logs into the wood stove at an alarming rate. Even at that, much of the house is quite chilly.
We did get a lot of rain, so the soil is too wet to do anything in at this time. I was going to cut back the other rosemary bushes, but they have begun to bloom and I can't stand to cut off the soft color. It can wait. Penny is bundled up in the garage making shelves and rearranging things and just generally enjoying a project.
My project has been to order a few seeds for when it is time to plant again. With what I brought home from the FoCuS seed-sharing event and what we have left from last year, there is little to buy this time around. But we did decide to try a few new varieties and we needed some more seed-starting trays.
We're looking ahead to spring and summer crops; it won't be too long before at least some of these can be started in the greenhouse. Here's the list we have created; I already know there is more here than we can find room for or be successful with! These are, somewhat, in the order they will be planted - some in the greenhouse, some direct seed.
Onions: Alisa Craig, Walla Walla, White Lisbon scallions (older seeds we have had for a while)
Beets: Early Wonder Tall Top, Forono (recent Bountiful Gardens order)
Radishes: Bountiful Gardens Radish Mix and Purple Plum - both ordered today
Lettuce: The intention is to always have some growing. The varieties on hand are Freckles (my favorite), Little Gem, Chinese Sword, Cocarde, Jericho, Amish Speckled, Deertongue (another favorite), Buttercrunch, Emerald Oak, Sunset, Ben Shemen. And, I count arugula in with the lettuces.
Carrots: Nantes, Chantenay, Early Market
Tomatoes: Pineapple and Orange King (left from last year); Cherokee Purple, Camalay, and Brandywine (from Outer Aisle at the seed sharing event); and two news ones ordered today from Bountiful Gardens - Arkansas Traveler and Lake.
Summer squash: Green scallop, from the seed share
Winter squash: Burgess Buttercup and Guatemalan Blue - both ones we had success with last year; two new ones ordered today from Bountiful Gardens - Butternut and Japanes Red Kuri.
Cucumbers: Lemon (seed share) and Striped Armenian (left over from previous year)
New Zealand Spinach (ordered from Bountiful Gardens) - this is a warm weather spinach.
Melons and watermelons: Orange Flesh Honeydew and Green Honeydew (Outer Aisle at the seed share); Red-seeded watermelon (seed share); Sugar Baby and Crimson Sweet watermelons from older seed packets.
Beans are a maybe - we have: Bush bean mix (Bountiful Gardens); Bacchia Flat green (seed share), and three different drying beans from the seed share - Calypso, Tiger's Eye, and one I forgot to label (ooo, I think I remember they are a small fava, so that will be a fall planting).
Potatoes for sure, but we have not yet thought about what we will get and from where.
There are also some flower seeds we might do something with. Particularly, I will plant the Mammoth Sunflower seeds I got at the seed share. We also have some left over Nasturtium and Calendula from Bountiful Gardens.
Two miscellaneous seed packets to explore: red fig from the seed share and clary sage that we were given in West Point at the Blue Mountain Coalition for Youth and Families when the Zen Monastery Peace Center did a PeaceStorming event there.
Wow, having written that all out, I think I have some research to do on all of these - to be sure we plant at the right time, know how to feed and water....all those things. And, somehow, to connect what we plant with what we can realistically use, so that we don't have too much or too little. That kind of planning seems to be the biggest challenge for me. I love thinking of what things will look like and taste like, but I dan't seem to connect the right number of plants with providing a reliable source of food, even supplemental food, for two people.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Sunny and cold
The wild weather gave way to mostly sunny skies and cold temperatures. There was a fairly heavy frost overnight. We took the Agribon row cover off the plants to let them soak up some sun. The lettuce we ate for lunch was perfect!
I decided that it was a waste of water to keep the few broccoli plants alive, so I harvested the little shoots that were there and pulled the rest of the plants up. I think they would have continued to put out some small side shoots, but it didn't seem worth it to maintain these big stalks and leaves. We will have a mini-side of broccoli tonight with our green soup (that was in the freezer but made originally from our own greens and Outer Aisle potatoes).
When I went into our little greenhouse to check on the seedlings (no true leaves yet), it was 92 degrees in there! It probably didn't get much into the 50's outside the greenhouse today.
I checked our baby fruit trees. The plum has lots of sweet little white blossoms and tiny green leaves. The peach trees have fat pink buds. The cherry will be the last to bloom, I think. The older tree, the mini nectarine, will bloom any day; the buds are just ready to pop. We're thinking of extending our hillside fencing so that we can plant more fruit trees and keep them safe from the deer. We'd also like to get a few goats to keep the hillside ground clear, but then we'd also have to put little fences around every fruit tree to protect them from the goats. The critter/plant balance can be tricky!
I'm not sure our cabbage plants will ever form actual good heads. I think we definitely need to be better about feeding the plants that need more nutrients. We can pretty much neglect the lettuce and kale, but we forget that some crops could use some periodic side-dressing with compost.
The transplated rose is not looking so good. The leaves are droopy and getting rusty spots - have to go look those up. We decided to cut it way back, leaving the parts that look the healthiest. The lilac seems to be totally enjoying its new home - covered with buds!
And there seem to be fewer aphids. I don't know whether to credit the banana peels or the cold weather!
I decided that it was a waste of water to keep the few broccoli plants alive, so I harvested the little shoots that were there and pulled the rest of the plants up. I think they would have continued to put out some small side shoots, but it didn't seem worth it to maintain these big stalks and leaves. We will have a mini-side of broccoli tonight with our green soup (that was in the freezer but made originally from our own greens and Outer Aisle potatoes).
When I went into our little greenhouse to check on the seedlings (no true leaves yet), it was 92 degrees in there! It probably didn't get much into the 50's outside the greenhouse today.
I checked our baby fruit trees. The plum has lots of sweet little white blossoms and tiny green leaves. The peach trees have fat pink buds. The cherry will be the last to bloom, I think. The older tree, the mini nectarine, will bloom any day; the buds are just ready to pop. We're thinking of extending our hillside fencing so that we can plant more fruit trees and keep them safe from the deer. We'd also like to get a few goats to keep the hillside ground clear, but then we'd also have to put little fences around every fruit tree to protect them from the goats. The critter/plant balance can be tricky!
I'm not sure our cabbage plants will ever form actual good heads. I think we definitely need to be better about feeding the plants that need more nutrients. We can pretty much neglect the lettuce and kale, but we forget that some crops could use some periodic side-dressing with compost.
The transplated rose is not looking so good. The leaves are droopy and getting rusty spots - have to go look those up. We decided to cut it way back, leaving the parts that look the healthiest. The lilac seems to be totally enjoying its new home - covered with buds!
And there seem to be fewer aphids. I don't know whether to credit the banana peels or the cold weather!
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Snow, rain and sleet
When the weather is wild - wind, rain, hail, snow, sleet - for three or four days, there are two things you can't do: work in the garden and work on the computer (the latter because your internet provider has lost power and you have no connection). Today we still can't work in the garden, but we can write! This sorry looking lump of green stuff under the light snow is what our cover crop looked like this morning. A few days ago it was standing about two feet tall! The snow has since melted, but it is still not very perky. We'll see. We had the greens and lettuces in the garden covered; the kale looks great and everything else is holding its own, although looking somewhat the worse for the assaults.
In the greenhouse, almost all of our seed starts are up, except the scallions. No sign of them. We have tried these before with no luck. But we do have the next round of greens and lettuce on the way.
We just came from picking up some produce at Outer Aisle Foods. They have a source for the plumpest, softest, sweetest Medjool dates I have ever eaten. I am totally addicted to them. We also gave them a check for a share in their latest CSA effort: grain shares. In partnership with John DeRosier (see my last post), they are offering a grain and vegetable share for $500. $200 goes to John, and, in return, we will get grains and beans from him in increments over the next three years. The other $300 goes on our Outer Aisle account, which we draw on every week when we shop there. We also got another dozen eggs they sell from Red Earth Farm in Sonora. I love these eggs! They have chickens that lay many different colors of eggs, so a dozen may contain brown or white or shades of blue. And they have the richest, yummiest deep yellow yolks.
We watched the first half of "The Botany of Desire" last night, a PBS show (available through Netflix) of Michael Pollan's book. He narrates this look at how four specific plants have grown, spread and had their influence on humans. Very fascinating. I'm always amazed by the delights of nature....and, by how little I know.
Okay, as long as I am recommending things, here's a book that we both loved: The Dirty Life
by Kristin Kimball. It's the story of a young couple and the beginning days of their upstate New York farm and CSA. They have a complete CSA (includes meats, eggs, fruits, vegetables, honey...) and they farm with draft horses. It's a funny, touching, inspiring story of love and farming, and very well written. It's a new book, so in hardback still (unless you are one of those Kindle people - I seem to still need to feel paper and turn pages).
In the greenhouse, almost all of our seed starts are up, except the scallions. No sign of them. We have tried these before with no luck. But we do have the next round of greens and lettuce on the way.
We just came from picking up some produce at Outer Aisle Foods. They have a source for the plumpest, softest, sweetest Medjool dates I have ever eaten. I am totally addicted to them. We also gave them a check for a share in their latest CSA effort: grain shares. In partnership with John DeRosier (see my last post), they are offering a grain and vegetable share for $500. $200 goes to John, and, in return, we will get grains and beans from him in increments over the next three years. The other $300 goes on our Outer Aisle account, which we draw on every week when we shop there. We also got another dozen eggs they sell from Red Earth Farm in Sonora. I love these eggs! They have chickens that lay many different colors of eggs, so a dozen may contain brown or white or shades of blue. And they have the richest, yummiest deep yellow yolks.
We watched the first half of "The Botany of Desire" last night, a PBS show (available through Netflix) of Michael Pollan's book. He narrates this look at how four specific plants have grown, spread and had their influence on humans. Very fascinating. I'm always amazed by the delights of nature....and, by how little I know.
Okay, as long as I am recommending things, here's a book that we both loved: The Dirty Life
by Kristin Kimball. It's the story of a young couple and the beginning days of their upstate New York farm and CSA. They have a complete CSA (includes meats, eggs, fruits, vegetables, honey...) and they farm with draft horses. It's a funny, touching, inspiring story of love and farming, and very well written. It's a new book, so in hardback still (unless you are one of those Kindle people - I seem to still need to feel paper and turn pages).
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Weekend workshops - Part III
One of the workshops I attended on Saturday at the FoCuS event was given by John DeRosier who farms grains and legumes in the Paso Robles area. I didn't take many notes at that talk, but he also did a three-hour workshop at Outer Aisle on Sunday morning. Penny and I attended about two-thirds of that talk and here are my notes from it.
Organic components are what gives soil its color. Clay soils are good for growing wheat and oats; sandy soils are best for rye, triticale, barley. (One of the things I learned from him on Saturday that I think he did not say while we were there on Sunday was that very small growers of grains should only try to grow hull-less grains. It takes proper equipment to remove hulls from grains that have them.)
Grain has fibrous roots, so growing it is good for texturizing soil and building humus. Legumes have more of a tap root system; they can handle more marginal soils. John does dry land farming, so the crops are grown in winter when there are rains. That way there is no need for irrigation.
Growing grains is relatively easy, according to John. It seems that there are two things particularly to manage: 1) the timing, in order to maximize the available moisture from the rains, and 2) cultivating the land to control weeds which can crowd out the plants. A wide stirrup hoe is good for this, or a wheel hoe.
Planting a cover crop is a good way to prepare the area for planting a grain. A low-growing cover could also be planted at the same time as the grain.
If you sow the seed by broadcasting (as opposed to with some kind of seed planter), you would need to sow 15-20% more seed. Grains can be started in flats; they love transplanting.
Grains are wind-pollinated. You don't need to grow a particularly large area of grain; a single long row could work. Corn does not pollinate quite so easily; that is why you need to grow a larger area of corn to get adequate pollination.
The grains can be planted close together in their early stages; at this point the new growth shares nutrients with nearby plants. But when they get larger they can deplete the nutrients if they are too densely planted; they would need to be moved to have more space between them. They need acid in the soil in order to be able to absorb the minerals in the soil (just like human bodies need acid in the stomach for digestions - this comment was from Jakob Jaggy, MD).
When grains are harvested, there is a lot of straw waste. Either it needs to be removed from the area, or, if it is to be left to be digested into the soil, it make take a year to do that. John suggested a four-year rotation: cover crop, grain, bean, then lie fallow or another cover crop. You can speed this rotation up if you have irrigation.
He suggested avoiding vetch in the cover crop if you are planting grains. The seeds look like wheat, but they are poisonous. It could be hard to keep the seeds separate from the grain. Cover crop should be cut and incorporated while it is still moist; it needs the moisture to break down.
Whole Grain Connection is a website with information on grains. John suggests one variety of wheat to try growing where we live: Sonora. Eric and Christine have these seeds at Outer Aisle.
I'm sure there was much more, but we chose to leave and get home in time to do some things on our land. One thing John talked a bit about on Saturday that he hadn't talked about by the time we left on Sunday was cleaning the grain. He said there are some simple methods for separating the wheat from the chaff, but that getting really clean grain can be challenging.
One discovery we made at Outer Aisle that day was a catalogue (and website) called Lehman's. They sell all kinds of non-electric machinery and home goods. The catalogue looked really fascinating so we ordered one.
When we got home, we got the new garden bed in place and Penny filled it full with all the spare dirt and compost we had around. So, we have one more space for planting this year. It may be where we try potatoes this time around. So far, we have not had success with potatoes and they are supposed to be quite easy to grow. We are determined!
One thing I learned from some online research: aphids supposedly cannot stand bananas! So, we who eat a banana each every morning, are saving our peels and depositing them directly in each of our beds. We'll let you know if it works!
We also met with our neighbor on Sunday afternoon to have a conversation about a joint chicken project. I really would like to have about half a dozen laying hens. We do know that where we live we would need to build a very serious enclosure and coop to keep them safe. And, since their presence might attract additional predators, we want to know that we can keep our cat family safe. So, we have some things to work out and we are now thinking that we are aiming to get the chicks in spring of 2012. We will use the rest of this year to learn more and get their housing ready for them!
Organic components are what gives soil its color. Clay soils are good for growing wheat and oats; sandy soils are best for rye, triticale, barley. (One of the things I learned from him on Saturday that I think he did not say while we were there on Sunday was that very small growers of grains should only try to grow hull-less grains. It takes proper equipment to remove hulls from grains that have them.)
Grain has fibrous roots, so growing it is good for texturizing soil and building humus. Legumes have more of a tap root system; they can handle more marginal soils. John does dry land farming, so the crops are grown in winter when there are rains. That way there is no need for irrigation.
Growing grains is relatively easy, according to John. It seems that there are two things particularly to manage: 1) the timing, in order to maximize the available moisture from the rains, and 2) cultivating the land to control weeds which can crowd out the plants. A wide stirrup hoe is good for this, or a wheel hoe.
Planting a cover crop is a good way to prepare the area for planting a grain. A low-growing cover could also be planted at the same time as the grain.
If you sow the seed by broadcasting (as opposed to with some kind of seed planter), you would need to sow 15-20% more seed. Grains can be started in flats; they love transplanting.
Grains are wind-pollinated. You don't need to grow a particularly large area of grain; a single long row could work. Corn does not pollinate quite so easily; that is why you need to grow a larger area of corn to get adequate pollination.
The grains can be planted close together in their early stages; at this point the new growth shares nutrients with nearby plants. But when they get larger they can deplete the nutrients if they are too densely planted; they would need to be moved to have more space between them. They need acid in the soil in order to be able to absorb the minerals in the soil (just like human bodies need acid in the stomach for digestions - this comment was from Jakob Jaggy, MD).
When grains are harvested, there is a lot of straw waste. Either it needs to be removed from the area, or, if it is to be left to be digested into the soil, it make take a year to do that. John suggested a four-year rotation: cover crop, grain, bean, then lie fallow or another cover crop. You can speed this rotation up if you have irrigation.
He suggested avoiding vetch in the cover crop if you are planting grains. The seeds look like wheat, but they are poisonous. It could be hard to keep the seeds separate from the grain. Cover crop should be cut and incorporated while it is still moist; it needs the moisture to break down.
Whole Grain Connection is a website with information on grains. John suggests one variety of wheat to try growing where we live: Sonora. Eric and Christine have these seeds at Outer Aisle.
I'm sure there was much more, but we chose to leave and get home in time to do some things on our land. One thing John talked a bit about on Saturday that he hadn't talked about by the time we left on Sunday was cleaning the grain. He said there are some simple methods for separating the wheat from the chaff, but that getting really clean grain can be challenging.
One discovery we made at Outer Aisle that day was a catalogue (and website) called Lehman's. They sell all kinds of non-electric machinery and home goods. The catalogue looked really fascinating so we ordered one.
When we got home, we got the new garden bed in place and Penny filled it full with all the spare dirt and compost we had around. So, we have one more space for planting this year. It may be where we try potatoes this time around. So far, we have not had success with potatoes and they are supposed to be quite easy to grow. We are determined!
One thing I learned from some online research: aphids supposedly cannot stand bananas! So, we who eat a banana each every morning, are saving our peels and depositing them directly in each of our beds. We'll let you know if it works!
We also met with our neighbor on Sunday afternoon to have a conversation about a joint chicken project. I really would like to have about half a dozen laying hens. We do know that where we live we would need to build a very serious enclosure and coop to keep them safe. And, since their presence might attract additional predators, we want to know that we can keep our cat family safe. So, we have some things to work out and we are now thinking that we are aiming to get the chicks in spring of 2012. We will use the rest of this year to learn more and get their housing ready for them!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Workshop notes - II
Composting with worms: Ahhh, the most inspiring workshop of the day for me! Lea Ann and Meredith, two Tuolumne County women who call their work "Worms of Wisdom" (their card says that they support global worming!). They teach about worm composting and have a website WormsofWisdom.com. The worms they use are called "red wigglers" or red worms. Nightcrawlers, that you would get in a bait shop, would also work. Not earth worms.
They made a demonstration worm bin as they talked. They used an old ice chest (not the styrofoam kind). First they layered the bottom with rocks to create drainage. Over this they put some old shade cloth, just a folded layer or two. Then they add a sterile and aerated mixture of things - could be shredded cardboard or junk mail. About three or four inches of it, when wet. It should be moistened so it is not soaking but not dry. Then just add the food waste and the worms. They said it is not good to add very much citrus, and onion skins are not good. Also, not too much junk mail/paper because the created soil eventually goes into the garden and paper has no food value for the plants. The worms also need some sand or crushed egg shells; they are like chickens in needing grit in their gullets to help digest the food. It is also good to add some native soil from your yard. If you fill up one of these bins, leave the worms to do their work and start another one.
Lea Ann keeps a feeder box where she is just feeding and producing worms. In that one she uses only coffee grounds and llama manure. You can use any kind of manure in a worm box except cat and dog (they didn't say not human, but I think I wouldn't use that).
You need about two square feet of worm box per person in the household to consume the food waste. (In our household we generate a lot of organic waste, so I suspect we might need more.)
Their most exciting system, for me, is one they called continuous flow. You feed the waste in the top and rake out the soil from the bottom. For this, they built a large wooden box (maybe 8 feet by 3 feet or so), put on a hinged lid. The bottom is simply an old iron fence with bars. It is mounted on pillars. They put a solid four inches of matter in the bottom to start (paper, soil, etc.). The compost that is created just drifts to the bottom and it can be raked out from between the grids of the bottom. The worms stay up top and keep eating! Brilliant! We plan to go see this in operation as soon as possible.
If a worm bin should get smelly or moldy, you just adjust the materials in it. Once the mix is correct, whatever is off will correct itself; no need to start over. The natural composting process lowers the acid level of whatever is put in the compost, even pine needles.
The bins and worms should be kept at a temperature of 65 - 85 degrees and the moisture level like that of a wrung out sponge. They said that they have actually had a bin freeze and come back in the spring with worms.
With citrus and onion skins, you can pre-compost them. Put them in a bucket of water and let them sit a while to break down a bit before they go in the bins.
You can create compost tea from the finished compost. Just put a small amount in an untreated muslin bag and let it sit in a 2 gallon bucket of water for 24 to 48 hours.
I just visited their website; you can check out the continuous flow bin here:http://wormsofwisdom.com/index_files/Soulsbyville.htm.
Raising chickens: Mary Innes talked about her experience with chickens; she has about 50.
We have been wanting to avoid a rooster, but she said that a rooster plays an important role in the flock. The rooster is protective, often alerts the hen to good food tidbits if they are ranging around the land, and will break up fights between hens. She suggests 20-30 hens per rooster (but we would only have about 6 hens, so I still think no rooster). She also said that fertilized eggs are healthier, but I don't know exactly why.
She suggested getting the Murray McMurray catalogue just for all the information that it contains. It gives information on which varieties are endangered. Older breeds tend to be hardier, although they may also lay a bit less. She raises mostly Buff Orpingtons; they tolerate cold and heat well (and they are one of the kinds I would really like to have).
When the chicks are babies, they need 1/2 square foot of space per bird. As they grow, that space requirement grows. Chickens need daily care every day.
She told us about various resources for things that are needed for chickens. For building housing, Deutschman (spelling?) Lumber in Soulsbyville will sell scrap cedar. The owner mills his own cedar for making garden beds and furniture. He will let you forage in the scrap pile, and if you are willing to work for it you can quite a bit of wood for a good price. Chickens need water and a good idea is an automatic waterer with a float that can be attached to a hose (so they never run out of water). Modesto Milling in Ceres makes good organic feed; it is now being carried by Bolton's Feed on 108. They also now make a soy-free pellet, which is just slightly more expensive.
You can raise 50 hens on half an acre. Foraging for grass and bugs helps make the yolks very yellow and flavorful. Chickens like alfalfa.
The presence of chicks does, she said, draw predators. So not only do the chickens have to be protected but other domestic animals you have, like cats in our case.
Egg laying rate tends to start decreasing after about three years, but they can continue laying for many more.
Beekeeping: I didn't take a lot of notes in this workshop; there was not a lot of practical information. She did say there is now a Sierra Foothills Beekeepers Association that extends from Mariposa through Amador counties. They will have a beginning beekeeping workshop on April 30 (too bad that is one of the days of Sierra Green Days at Ironstone Vineyard).
Someone asked her (I am sorry I did not write down her name) what she thought was causing the bee colony collapses. She attributes it to commercial hive management practices, which is essentially another agricultural monocropping system that does not support the natural life cycle of a hive.
They made a demonstration worm bin as they talked. They used an old ice chest (not the styrofoam kind). First they layered the bottom with rocks to create drainage. Over this they put some old shade cloth, just a folded layer or two. Then they add a sterile and aerated mixture of things - could be shredded cardboard or junk mail. About three or four inches of it, when wet. It should be moistened so it is not soaking but not dry. Then just add the food waste and the worms. They said it is not good to add very much citrus, and onion skins are not good. Also, not too much junk mail/paper because the created soil eventually goes into the garden and paper has no food value for the plants. The worms also need some sand or crushed egg shells; they are like chickens in needing grit in their gullets to help digest the food. It is also good to add some native soil from your yard. If you fill up one of these bins, leave the worms to do their work and start another one.
Lea Ann keeps a feeder box where she is just feeding and producing worms. In that one she uses only coffee grounds and llama manure. You can use any kind of manure in a worm box except cat and dog (they didn't say not human, but I think I wouldn't use that).
You need about two square feet of worm box per person in the household to consume the food waste. (In our household we generate a lot of organic waste, so I suspect we might need more.)
Their most exciting system, for me, is one they called continuous flow. You feed the waste in the top and rake out the soil from the bottom. For this, they built a large wooden box (maybe 8 feet by 3 feet or so), put on a hinged lid. The bottom is simply an old iron fence with bars. It is mounted on pillars. They put a solid four inches of matter in the bottom to start (paper, soil, etc.). The compost that is created just drifts to the bottom and it can be raked out from between the grids of the bottom. The worms stay up top and keep eating! Brilliant! We plan to go see this in operation as soon as possible.
If a worm bin should get smelly or moldy, you just adjust the materials in it. Once the mix is correct, whatever is off will correct itself; no need to start over. The natural composting process lowers the acid level of whatever is put in the compost, even pine needles.
The bins and worms should be kept at a temperature of 65 - 85 degrees and the moisture level like that of a wrung out sponge. They said that they have actually had a bin freeze and come back in the spring with worms.
With citrus and onion skins, you can pre-compost them. Put them in a bucket of water and let them sit a while to break down a bit before they go in the bins.
You can create compost tea from the finished compost. Just put a small amount in an untreated muslin bag and let it sit in a 2 gallon bucket of water for 24 to 48 hours.
I just visited their website; you can check out the continuous flow bin here:http://wormsofwisdom.com/index_files/Soulsbyville.htm.
Raising chickens: Mary Innes talked about her experience with chickens; she has about 50.
We have been wanting to avoid a rooster, but she said that a rooster plays an important role in the flock. The rooster is protective, often alerts the hen to good food tidbits if they are ranging around the land, and will break up fights between hens. She suggests 20-30 hens per rooster (but we would only have about 6 hens, so I still think no rooster). She also said that fertilized eggs are healthier, but I don't know exactly why.
She suggested getting the Murray McMurray catalogue just for all the information that it contains. It gives information on which varieties are endangered. Older breeds tend to be hardier, although they may also lay a bit less. She raises mostly Buff Orpingtons; they tolerate cold and heat well (and they are one of the kinds I would really like to have).
When the chicks are babies, they need 1/2 square foot of space per bird. As they grow, that space requirement grows. Chickens need daily care every day.
She told us about various resources for things that are needed for chickens. For building housing, Deutschman (spelling?) Lumber in Soulsbyville will sell scrap cedar. The owner mills his own cedar for making garden beds and furniture. He will let you forage in the scrap pile, and if you are willing to work for it you can quite a bit of wood for a good price. Chickens need water and a good idea is an automatic waterer with a float that can be attached to a hose (so they never run out of water). Modesto Milling in Ceres makes good organic feed; it is now being carried by Bolton's Feed on 108. They also now make a soy-free pellet, which is just slightly more expensive.
You can raise 50 hens on half an acre. Foraging for grass and bugs helps make the yolks very yellow and flavorful. Chickens like alfalfa.
The presence of chicks does, she said, draw predators. So not only do the chickens have to be protected but other domestic animals you have, like cats in our case.
Egg laying rate tends to start decreasing after about three years, but they can continue laying for many more.
Beekeeping: I didn't take a lot of notes in this workshop; there was not a lot of practical information. She did say there is now a Sierra Foothills Beekeepers Association that extends from Mariposa through Amador counties. They will have a beginning beekeeping workshop on April 30 (too bad that is one of the days of Sierra Green Days at Ironstone Vineyard).
Someone asked her (I am sorry I did not write down her name) what she thought was causing the bee colony collapses. She attributes it to commercial hive management practices, which is essentially another agricultural monocropping system that does not support the natural life cycle of a hive.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Weekend workshops - Part I
Gardening took a back seat to learning about gardening this weekend. The Foothill Collaborative for Sustainability (FoCuS), along with the Tuolumne County Master Gardeners, presented a seed exchange and series of informative workshops on Saturday in Columbia. For ten dollars, I came home with several packets of locally saved seeds and two money plants! AND, much information.
I attended six half-hour talks on various subjects. For those who wanted to attend but were not able to (and for me), here are some notes I took from a few of these. I will do some in this posting and continue later with the rest.
Permaculture with Misha R. (I would attempt to spell his last name, but I would certainly get it wrong.) There will soon be a website - Sierra Nevada Permaculture, and monthly meetings of folks interested in permaculture will be beginning on the last Wednesday of the month in Sonora. He emphasized that it is not possible for each of us to become self-sustaining on our land. Our sustainability efforts must be in community. He encouraged each of us to ask ourselves: "What is something I can produce that the community can use?" As an example of community effort, he told us that trees use half of their energy to support the things in the soil and air that they need in order to survive. In other words, they are feeding the organisms that they depend upon.
He encouraged us to rethink our use of resources. If we use composting toilets, then the rest of our household wastewater becomes graywater that can be used on our land. He asked if we are dependent on power for water (we mostly are - our household well water is delivered via an electric pump). He mentioned ways to manage soil and water on our land with ponds, swales, and terracing. He asked the question: How can we change something that is destructive into something that is constructive? Locally, small scale co-ops are beginning so that groups of people can share in what no individual alone could do. Some examples: potatoes, biodiesel, seed growing, community kitchen.
He ended by suggesting we think of the seed as a metaphor: a very small unit of life that with proper food and growing conditions and community can become something very large that supports the life of others.
Jason Diestel on soil fertility: When we are increasing our soil fertility, we are improving the structure of the soil, not the content of nutrients. Compost builds humus which breaks up compacted soils and allows plants access to the foods they need. We provide the conditions that let nature direct the path.
He strongly urged those of us who are gardening at home, not really farming, to do our composting with worms. The worms do all the week of turning and digesting the food waste. It is very labor intensive and tricky to do a heat compost where the human beings do all the turning and management. I'm convinced. More on worms later!
When our garden beds are empty and ready to be prepared for a new planting season, we can simply spread about an inch of compost on the bed. Rake it in no more than three inches. Do this about two weeks before you plan to plant. When plants are about 4-6 inches tall, they should be side-dressed with some compost, and then this should be repeated about every 4-6 weeks during the growing season. He claims that is all the supplement they need to thrive. He also encourages putting on another inch after the season is over and the plants come out of the beds. Then plant it in a cover crop that fixes nitrogen.
He offers a couple of compost blends for sale. If you are using his "root force" blend, then it is only necessary to spread on a half inch. It is much more potent. We are working to build a soil that will respond to the plant's needs. Compost is a buffered food for the plants; it is not a raw nutrient like most commercial fertilizers. This lets the plant choose what it needs.
If you keep your compost covered with a tarp to protect it from rain, it needs to be uncovered when it is not raining so the organisms in it can have air. It also should not be allowed to dry out totally; keep it a bit moist.
He mentioned the benefits of compost tea (an infusion of compost in water) for applying to plants and ground. Misha, from the audience, told a story of totally loosening compacted ground with just applications of compost tea. Jason suggested that when you make compost tea, you use half compost from a heat compost pile and half from a worm compost system.
If you are filling a new garden bed, it is best to use a mixture of topsoil that is purchased and the native soil where you live. The native soil has the nutrients that the plants need.
I attended six half-hour talks on various subjects. For those who wanted to attend but were not able to (and for me), here are some notes I took from a few of these. I will do some in this posting and continue later with the rest.
Permaculture with Misha R. (I would attempt to spell his last name, but I would certainly get it wrong.) There will soon be a website - Sierra Nevada Permaculture, and monthly meetings of folks interested in permaculture will be beginning on the last Wednesday of the month in Sonora. He emphasized that it is not possible for each of us to become self-sustaining on our land. Our sustainability efforts must be in community. He encouraged each of us to ask ourselves: "What is something I can produce that the community can use?" As an example of community effort, he told us that trees use half of their energy to support the things in the soil and air that they need in order to survive. In other words, they are feeding the organisms that they depend upon.
He encouraged us to rethink our use of resources. If we use composting toilets, then the rest of our household wastewater becomes graywater that can be used on our land. He asked if we are dependent on power for water (we mostly are - our household well water is delivered via an electric pump). He mentioned ways to manage soil and water on our land with ponds, swales, and terracing. He asked the question: How can we change something that is destructive into something that is constructive? Locally, small scale co-ops are beginning so that groups of people can share in what no individual alone could do. Some examples: potatoes, biodiesel, seed growing, community kitchen.
He ended by suggesting we think of the seed as a metaphor: a very small unit of life that with proper food and growing conditions and community can become something very large that supports the life of others.
Jason Diestel on soil fertility: When we are increasing our soil fertility, we are improving the structure of the soil, not the content of nutrients. Compost builds humus which breaks up compacted soils and allows plants access to the foods they need. We provide the conditions that let nature direct the path.
He strongly urged those of us who are gardening at home, not really farming, to do our composting with worms. The worms do all the week of turning and digesting the food waste. It is very labor intensive and tricky to do a heat compost where the human beings do all the turning and management. I'm convinced. More on worms later!
When our garden beds are empty and ready to be prepared for a new planting season, we can simply spread about an inch of compost on the bed. Rake it in no more than three inches. Do this about two weeks before you plan to plant. When plants are about 4-6 inches tall, they should be side-dressed with some compost, and then this should be repeated about every 4-6 weeks during the growing season. He claims that is all the supplement they need to thrive. He also encourages putting on another inch after the season is over and the plants come out of the beds. Then plant it in a cover crop that fixes nitrogen.
He offers a couple of compost blends for sale. If you are using his "root force" blend, then it is only necessary to spread on a half inch. It is much more potent. We are working to build a soil that will respond to the plant's needs. Compost is a buffered food for the plants; it is not a raw nutrient like most commercial fertilizers. This lets the plant choose what it needs.
If you keep your compost covered with a tarp to protect it from rain, it needs to be uncovered when it is not raining so the organisms in it can have air. It also should not be allowed to dry out totally; keep it a bit moist.
He mentioned the benefits of compost tea (an infusion of compost in water) for applying to plants and ground. Misha, from the audience, told a story of totally loosening compacted ground with just applications of compost tea. Jason suggested that when you make compost tea, you use half compost from a heat compost pile and half from a worm compost system.
If you are filling a new garden bed, it is best to use a mixture of topsoil that is purchased and the native soil where you live. The native soil has the nutrients that the plants need.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Gratitude
On Thursdays I shop for our produce, and a few other items, at Outer Aisle Foods. Outer Aisle is the creation of our wonderful local organic growers Eric and Christine Taylor. They have been growing and selling organic vegetables in the Murphys area for many years. A couple of years ago they created Outer Aisle to expand the offering available in the area. Now, year-round, they sell their produce as well as other items that they have located from growers and producers in about a 200-mile radius. They offer a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) subscription program, so we pay in advance each season and then just shop for what we want in the store. Today I came home with brussel sprouts, beets, watermelon radish, oyster mushrooms, pink lady apples, meyer lemons, oranges, carrots, onions, garlic, artichokes, and the yummiest Medjool dates that I am totally addicted to.
They also sell some gardening supplies and seeds, other groceries like rice, beans, nuts, honey, eggs, some dairy products. And they offer occasional workshops on gardening or food preservation. We're going to a workshop at Outer Aisle this Sunday on growing grains and dried beans.
AND, this afternoon I harvested the first shoots of broccoli that we have ever grown in our garden! We will eat them for dinner, along with potatoes from Eric and Christine's garden. (I didn't need to buy them today, because we got a 25 pound bag a while ago.)
And Penny has just finished digging out the spot for our new garden bed. It has been another lovely, springish, sunny day. So much to be grateful for!
By the way, "Outer Aisle" is named for the outer aisles of the grocery stores where the healthy foods are - the produce and the meats. Since we also have a goal to reduce packaging and waste, that's where I attempt to do most of the shopping. I'm trying to limit the number of items that come packaged, but there are a few that feels like we have to have them. Probably the most packaging comes from all the cans of cat food to feed five cats!
They also sell some gardening supplies and seeds, other groceries like rice, beans, nuts, honey, eggs, some dairy products. And they offer occasional workshops on gardening or food preservation. We're going to a workshop at Outer Aisle this Sunday on growing grains and dried beans.
AND, this afternoon I harvested the first shoots of broccoli that we have ever grown in our garden! We will eat them for dinner, along with potatoes from Eric and Christine's garden. (I didn't need to buy them today, because we got a 25 pound bag a while ago.)
And Penny has just finished digging out the spot for our new garden bed. It has been another lovely, springish, sunny day. So much to be grateful for!
By the way, "Outer Aisle" is named for the outer aisles of the grocery stores where the healthy foods are - the produce and the meats. Since we also have a goal to reduce packaging and waste, that's where I attempt to do most of the shopping. I'm trying to limit the number of items that come packaged, but there are a few that feels like we have to have them. Probably the most packaging comes from all the cans of cat food to feed five cats!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Instead of a bike ride
The plan for today was to take a long, lovely bike ride. But then we noticed that rain could be moving in again next week and also that we have no time available this weekend to work in the yard and gardens. So, stay home and do outdoor projects! Here's what we did:
1. Cleaned up debris around the base of the new fruit trees we planted last year. Put some compost around them and covered with a mulch of leaves from the yard. (Two peach trees, a cherry, and a plum, plus one dwarf nectarine that we have had for a number of years.)
2. Put leaf mulch on the asparagus bed (which had already been cleaned out and composted). The asparagus season is not that far away - April/May!
3. Planted one more speedling tray of seeds: 12 plants each of arugula, and five kinds of lettuce - little gem, freckles (one of my very favorites), Rossimo, winter marvel, and winter density. All are Bountiful Gardens seeds, except freckles and the arugula which are from Peaceful Valley. Both of these are excellent California sources for seeds. Peaceful Valley sells all kinds of garden equipment and supplies and supplements. Bountiful Gardens has a wealth of resources on BioIntensive gardening (growing a lot in a small space).
4. Transplanted a rose bush that was here when we moved in and stayed alive but never bloomed. We guessed it needed more sun, so we have moved it to a place where it will get that. Not sure if it will survive the move.
5. Transplanted a white lilac bush that was given to me years ago by friends in the Calaveras Humane Society when I resigned from being President. It was planted in a wine barrel, and we had never moved it or done much for it. It was crooked and not getting bigger. So it, too, is now in the ground in a sunny space. We'll see.
6. Penny began to dig out the space where our newest garden bed will go. It's all made. Just has to be settled in place and filled up.
7. I hacked away at a seriously overgrown rosemary bush growing by our garage. It is now about one-third of the size it was before I started. I did this to it a few years ago, and it just comes right on back. There are three more of these on the property that could use the same treatment.
All in all, a successful and lovely day. Now Penny is making vegetarian chili - with lentils, not beans - a recipe my mother sent me a long time ago from the Omaha World Herald newspaper, but the source was something called the Nowhere Cafe in Los Angeles. We're eating it in Murphys! And I had to interrupt this writing because I remembered that I was to make the cornbread, a quick recipe from our neighboring Zen Monastery Cookbook. Not much in what we're eating tonight that comes from anything local! Unless Penny used some of the frozen cherry tomatoes that came from the Monastery garden last summer.
1. Cleaned up debris around the base of the new fruit trees we planted last year. Put some compost around them and covered with a mulch of leaves from the yard. (Two peach trees, a cherry, and a plum, plus one dwarf nectarine that we have had for a number of years.)
2. Put leaf mulch on the asparagus bed (which had already been cleaned out and composted). The asparagus season is not that far away - April/May!
3. Planted one more speedling tray of seeds: 12 plants each of arugula, and five kinds of lettuce - little gem, freckles (one of my very favorites), Rossimo, winter marvel, and winter density. All are Bountiful Gardens seeds, except freckles and the arugula which are from Peaceful Valley. Both of these are excellent California sources for seeds. Peaceful Valley sells all kinds of garden equipment and supplies and supplements. Bountiful Gardens has a wealth of resources on BioIntensive gardening (growing a lot in a small space).
4. Transplanted a rose bush that was here when we moved in and stayed alive but never bloomed. We guessed it needed more sun, so we have moved it to a place where it will get that. Not sure if it will survive the move.
5. Transplanted a white lilac bush that was given to me years ago by friends in the Calaveras Humane Society when I resigned from being President. It was planted in a wine barrel, and we had never moved it or done much for it. It was crooked and not getting bigger. So it, too, is now in the ground in a sunny space. We'll see.
6. Penny began to dig out the space where our newest garden bed will go. It's all made. Just has to be settled in place and filled up.
7. I hacked away at a seriously overgrown rosemary bush growing by our garage. It is now about one-third of the size it was before I started. I did this to it a few years ago, and it just comes right on back. There are three more of these on the property that could use the same treatment.
All in all, a successful and lovely day. Now Penny is making vegetarian chili - with lentils, not beans - a recipe my mother sent me a long time ago from the Omaha World Herald newspaper, but the source was something called the Nowhere Cafe in Los Angeles. We're eating it in Murphys! And I had to interrupt this writing because I remembered that I was to make the cornbread, a quick recipe from our neighboring Zen Monastery Cookbook. Not much in what we're eating tonight that comes from anything local! Unless Penny used some of the frozen cherry tomatoes that came from the Monastery garden last summer.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Not gardening
Today, beautiful as it was, was a not gardening day. Today was community activism day, supporting the two grassroots groups that are advocating for saving our county's rural lands from unplanned and unprincipled development. In the morning: creating a project description and budget for a proposed grant application. In the afternoon: attending the monthly meeting of the Calaveras Planning Coalition. Most of the news today was not good. The path to wise planning in this county is an uphill battle. Example: a proposal before the Planning Commission to allow golf courses and related development on any agricultural-zoned parcel, anywhere in the county. At a time when we are on the brink of serious food insecurity in our country and should encourage all the agriculture we can.
The bright side of the day was that although we didn't dig in the garden, we ate right out of it! For lunch and dinner we had slices of a yummy crustless quiche packed with our chard and kale. A recipe of my own invention. And a salad of freshly picked arugula. I love that we can create almost a whole meal from things we grew ourselves. If we had chickens, even the eggs could have been produced on our land!
The bright side of the day was that although we didn't dig in the garden, we ate right out of it! For lunch and dinner we had slices of a yummy crustless quiche packed with our chard and kale. A recipe of my own invention. And a salad of freshly picked arugula. I love that we can create almost a whole meal from things we grew ourselves. If we had chickens, even the eggs could have been produced on our land!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Aphids and bees
Today we removed all the aphid-ridden lettuce plants. The heads provided us with two large salads for dinner and enough to supply at least three neighbors with a bag of greens. The empty bed is covered with our last big piece of cardboard and compost. Hoping very much that the aphids don't find the other beds; so far those are looking very healthy.
While we were in the garden we were admiring a row of rosemary bushes that are covered with lavender hued flowers and tons of buzzing bees! They are just amazing. We actually have two kinds of rosemary bushes. One kind, that we grew from cuttings a friend gave us years ago, grow as taller bushes and have longer rosemary needles. The ones in bloom (I think we planted them as small plants that we got from a plant sale) grow close to the ground and have shorter needles. The taller ones seems to bloom later and never quite as abundantly as these that are blooming now.
Before we removed these lettuce plants, I counted our heads of lettuce and found almost 100! We cannot eat that much lettuce!! On the other hand, our nine broccoli plants would provide us with about one meal. We have not yet mastered the art of knowing how much of anything to plant. There is a learning curve! I was listening to some old Peter, Paul, and Mary music this weekend. There's a song that I think is just called The Garden Song, and among the lyrics are "all it takes is a rake and a hoe and a piece of fertile ground." Not my experience! It takes just a teeny many more things than that, at least in our getting-to-fertile ground.
Speaking of getting-to-fertile, our three newest beds have a healthy stand of nitrogen-fixing cover crop growing now. In the spring, we'll pull it up, chop it up, and put a lot of it back into the bed. All-natural compost.
PS If, during the course of your garden work, you put your hand on the plastic lid of a five-gallon bucket (a rather older plastic lid) and lean your weight on it while you try and reach for something else, your hand will go right through the lid and produce a scrape up your entire arm that looks like the kind of road burn you get if you fall off your bicycle on a gravel road. I know this for a fact; I will not provide a picture!
While we were in the garden we were admiring a row of rosemary bushes that are covered with lavender hued flowers and tons of buzzing bees! They are just amazing. We actually have two kinds of rosemary bushes. One kind, that we grew from cuttings a friend gave us years ago, grow as taller bushes and have longer rosemary needles. The ones in bloom (I think we planted them as small plants that we got from a plant sale) grow close to the ground and have shorter needles. The taller ones seems to bloom later and never quite as abundantly as these that are blooming now.
Before we removed these lettuce plants, I counted our heads of lettuce and found almost 100! We cannot eat that much lettuce!! On the other hand, our nine broccoli plants would provide us with about one meal. We have not yet mastered the art of knowing how much of anything to plant. There is a learning curve! I was listening to some old Peter, Paul, and Mary music this weekend. There's a song that I think is just called The Garden Song, and among the lyrics are "all it takes is a rake and a hoe and a piece of fertile ground." Not my experience! It takes just a teeny many more things than that, at least in our getting-to-fertile ground.
Speaking of getting-to-fertile, our three newest beds have a healthy stand of nitrogen-fixing cover crop growing now. In the spring, we'll pull it up, chop it up, and put a lot of it back into the bed. All-natural compost.
PS If, during the course of your garden work, you put your hand on the plastic lid of a five-gallon bucket (a rather older plastic lid) and lean your weight on it while you try and reach for something else, your hand will go right through the lid and produce a scrape up your entire arm that looks like the kind of road burn you get if you fall off your bicycle on a gravel road. I know this for a fact; I will not provide a picture!
Another round of seed starting
We planted one new speedling tray of seeds this afternoon - that is 72 potential new plants. It includes three rows (18 plants) of Crimson Forest scallions, three rows (18 plants) of Purple Peacock broccoli, two rows (12 plants) of White Russian kale, two rows (12 plants) of Georgia collards, and two rows (12 plants) of Mild Kingdom Mustard Greens Mix. All seeds are packets from Bountiful Gardens in Willits, CA ( http://www.bountifulgardens.org/).
We filled the trays with our homemade planting mix; we got the recipe several years ago from the Zen Monastery Peace Center next door and I believe they got it from Eric and Christine Taylor, our wonderful organic growers here in the Murphys area. Here is the recipe for one batch: 2 gallons of vermiculite, 2 gallons of peat moss (we will be looking for alternatives to this since peat is an endangered resource on our planet), 1 quart of compost, 2 cups of alfalfa meal or cottonseed meal, 1/4 cup rock phosphate, 2 tablespoons of lime powder, 2 tablespoons of kelp powder, and 1/4 cup of greensand. All of this is mixed and thoroughly made wet, so that it holds together if you pick it up and squeeze it in your hand (not so much that water drips out when you squeeze).
It is always so amazing that a tiny, black seed will yield an enormous plant of leaves, or leaves and fruit, in an incredibly short time. We are currently growing even more lettuce than we can eat, and we have been eating our own kale and chard for months. We actually seem to be having some success for the first time with a kind of broccoli called DiCiccio and a Bountiful Gardens cabbage mix. The broccoli is flowering and the cabbage leaves look like they could be beginning to form heads. And this is in February! We live in such a wonderful place for winter growing. However, our hot, dry summers make gardening in that season quite a challenge.
Today we will actually clear the remains of one bed of lettuce that for some reason attraced aphids. They also got into the older kale patch; I have never seen such a crust of little green bugs on a leaf! When we dig up these infested plants, we walk them some ways down our little road and toss them off the side well away from the garden. So far, the other beds show no sign of these bugs. I'm concerned that when the plants that are currently hosting them are gone, they may move into another bed. Where did they come from??
As we remove beds that are finished with their current crop we are covering the bed with large sheets of cardboard and putting compost on top of the cardboard. We are told, by Eric Taylor, that putting down the cardboard will do two thihgs: discourage weeds while the beds lie vacant and that as they decompose they will draw worms. We'll see!
We filled the trays with our homemade planting mix; we got the recipe several years ago from the Zen Monastery Peace Center next door and I believe they got it from Eric and Christine Taylor, our wonderful organic growers here in the Murphys area. Here is the recipe for one batch: 2 gallons of vermiculite, 2 gallons of peat moss (we will be looking for alternatives to this since peat is an endangered resource on our planet), 1 quart of compost, 2 cups of alfalfa meal or cottonseed meal, 1/4 cup rock phosphate, 2 tablespoons of lime powder, 2 tablespoons of kelp powder, and 1/4 cup of greensand. All of this is mixed and thoroughly made wet, so that it holds together if you pick it up and squeeze it in your hand (not so much that water drips out when you squeeze).
It is always so amazing that a tiny, black seed will yield an enormous plant of leaves, or leaves and fruit, in an incredibly short time. We are currently growing even more lettuce than we can eat, and we have been eating our own kale and chard for months. We actually seem to be having some success for the first time with a kind of broccoli called DiCiccio and a Bountiful Gardens cabbage mix. The broccoli is flowering and the cabbage leaves look like they could be beginning to form heads. And this is in February! We live in such a wonderful place for winter growing. However, our hot, dry summers make gardening in that season quite a challenge.
Today we will actually clear the remains of one bed of lettuce that for some reason attraced aphids. They also got into the older kale patch; I have never seen such a crust of little green bugs on a leaf! When we dig up these infested plants, we walk them some ways down our little road and toss them off the side well away from the garden. So far, the other beds show no sign of these bugs. I'm concerned that when the plants that are currently hosting them are gone, they may move into another bed. Where did they come from??
As we remove beds that are finished with their current crop we are covering the bed with large sheets of cardboard and putting compost on top of the cardboard. We are told, by Eric Taylor, that putting down the cardboard will do two thihgs: discourage weeds while the beds lie vacant and that as they decompose they will draw worms. We'll see!
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