What's new in the garden for April 23, 2016

Completed Garden work day task list for April 23, 2016

Number of Gardeners: 15

Tasks

·         Block 100 lettuce plants

o   Block 80 parsnips

o   Block 50 Napa cabbage

o   Block 100 Red beets (Red Ace)

o   Block 100 Yellow beets (Bolder)

o   Block 100 spinach (Reflect)

o   Place pea fence on east half of row 10 and 11

o   Direct seed snow peas (Back half of row 10 and 11)

o   Cover 40 degree beds.

o   Complete grid system

o   Prep 40 degree beds

o   Arugula (11A) by compost

o   Broccoli (Row 18)

o   Kale row 15 A and B (by kitchen compost)

o   Snow Peas-east half of row 10 and 11

o   Spinach row 13

o   Place Pergola shade cloth

o   New solenoid and pressure switch in prep greenhouse

o   Mix new batch of soil blocking mix

o   Turn Cover Crop

o   Weed

o   Weed grass along fence next to kids garden

o   Flower bed by garden entrance

o   Rows 10,11,19 and 20 (west side of garden by kitchen compost)

o   Along outside of north tunnel greenhouse

 

 

 

Pictures of soil Blocking Basil

 

Here are some pictures of soil blocking Basil

Soil Blocking Basil

 

Here we are making soil blocks for transplanting. We use a planting mix adapted from Eliot Colman’s “New Organic Grower”. The recipe we use is listed under the “Guides” tab.

We then drop seeds into the blocks. We are blocking 200 Basil plants. These plants will go into the tunnel greenhouse. Extra’s will be given away to friends.

 

Garden tasks completed for April 10, 2016

·         Direct seeded radishes in north tunnel greenhouse

·         Basil- 200 soil blocks

·         Turn under cover crop

·         Weed Asparagus and strawberry beds

·         Black Plastic. We cover unused beds with black plastic to keep down weeds and heat the soil before planting

Potato curing, planting

This year we ordered a lot of potatoes, 25 lbs, to help with prior year ground rot losses and we will also try the following new steps from the Cornell method (see new blog guide).  Normally we've needed 7-10 lbs of potatoes in each 80 ft long bed.

- Sort potatoes into small and large

- Small are no slice for direct plant to 1st row after pre-warming by Cornell method 

- Large are sliced with 2-3 eyes each and 2-3 oz minimum weight to 2nd row after cured.

- Cure slices in large grocery bag using Cornell method and toss with our fir bark dust, waiting a week in cool temp to heal

- Plant all potatoes using Cornell method (4" trench or less, eyes up, 12-15" apart, 1 row per bed, cover level with well draining soil or compost mix)

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Saturday in the Garden

Here is what's happening in the garden this Saturday, April 2, 2016, 10am to Noon.

Tasks:

Start blocking 40 degree seeds: arugula, broccoli, t. kale, r. kale, eggplant (missing), sweet pepper
Continue pruning fruit trees
Weed strawberries for live plants
Weed asparagus
Continue moving compost
Continue turning over rows of cover crop
Check air in wheel barrow tires
Move red picnic table to pergola
Plant 2nd patch of N. tunnel for spinach


Reminder--garden dues are $45. Bring your money to the garden this weekend if you haven't paid.

Your garden leadership team

Orchard trimming

A retired orchardist helped us trim the apple tree in the first photo. 

By example, a couple of us later trimmed the pie cherry tree in the second photo.

Lodi apple tree (2nd from the east)

Montmorency sour cherry tree (2nd from the east)

Tomato sarts on the green house

Our propagating greenhouse is cleaned out and ready to go. Our tomato starts are on heating mats. We hand  water daily to keep them moist.

 

Our outdoor soil temperatures are running 40 degree F and soil temperatures in our hoop greenhouses are 50 degree F.

 

Outdoor temperatures the last two nights have been in the low 20’s.

 

Clean up Day in the garden

Garden tasks done on this chilly day include:

  - Cleaning and sharpening garden tools

  - Cleaning out tool  storage shed

  - Cutting back last fall’s cover crop

  - Turning last fall’s cover crop

  - Weeding fall garlic

  - Moving compost to new area

  - Pruning Cherry Trees

13 gardeners

Saturday in the Garden

Here is what's happening in the garden this Saturday, March 26, 2016

 

Work day will be from 1-3 PM

 

Tasks:

·        Clean out garden shed

·        Sharpen and clean tools

·        Prune fruit trees (If you attended the pruning demonstration)

·        Turn cover crop

·        Repair wheelbarrows

·        Move compost pile

·        Weeding

 

Reminder garden dues are $45. Bring your money to the garden this weekend if you haven't paid.

 

Your garden leadership team

 

First lettuce planting in our tunnel greenhouse

 

First lettuce planting

 

Forty four lineal feet of lettuce is planted in our tunnel green house. The green house soil is bone dry so we use soaker hoses under burlap to give it a good soak before planting.

Our drip irrigation system isn’t on yet so we will use the soaker hose daily for about 10 minutes to keep the soil moist. Soil temperature is 60 degrees mid-afternoon. Row cover will help keep the beds warm at night.

 

We prefer a lettuce mix from Gathering Together Farm in Philomath, Oregon. See the picture of mature lettuce.

Tunnel Preperation

Higher Ground has two 48 foot single glazed plastic tunnels. One tunnel is used for tomatoes, cucumbers and basil, the other is for peppers, eggplant and winter squash.

 

Here we are weeding the tunnels. We will direct seed our lettuce mix in mid-March. The soil in the green house is bone dry so we will soak the soil under burlap first.

 

 

Orchard Pruning

Our friend Charles demonstrates how to prune fruit trees.

- - Each tree should have no more than four main leaders
- - Branches off the leaders should be at 45 degrees
- - Open up the center of the tree for ease of harvest and increasing light

“Do your best, with gladness and integrity.

Then step back, open to success and disappointment.

The path to serenity.”

Growing onions from seeds

This year Carol will try starting onions from seed in our house.  Julie suggested this last year.  They will be Walla-walla and Cortland onion seeds.  Last year we had poor quality live starts and it's expensive ($10 seeds vs. $100 for live starts and bulbs).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IehuyOPf2dU

Some details gleaned from several websites:

- Plant seeds 8-10 weeks before last frost (early March should be ok for us)

- Plant in clean flats of moist potting soil, ~1000 seeds scattered across a 10X20" flat. Drainage holes not needed, but if there are holes can be covered with newspaper. Cover with 1/4" soil, pat gently, water gently.

- Cover with plastic top until ~ 50% have germinated, then uncover. Generally poor germinators, about 75%.

- Keep warm, 70-80 degrees is good, they'll germinate slower in cooler temps.

- When tops get tall they can be trimmed to about 4-5", use tops in cooking

- Keep slighlty watered.

- Start to harden off when several inches tall, or at least match stick diameter, but bring them in before it gets cold at night.

- Can be transplanted after most frost danger is over. Well fertilized soil, well drained, consistently moist, weed free.