Good Idea, Bad Idea

The image below illustrates a good idea executed poorly:


The good idea: disinfecting seed-starting materials before planting. Reason: when starting seeds, one should use sterile (i.e. store-bought) potting mix, and sterilize any pots with weak bleach solution. The bad idea: carrying out said good idea in one's newly-remodeled bathroom.

Oops.

As a result of the mud bath, the bathtub acquired a ring of new and horrifying dimensions. Then, the person who remodeled the bathroom (a.k.a. the other human occupant of the house) was appalled at not only the mess, but the fact that I left the bleach bottle on the new slate floor.

No damage, thank goodness.

Here is Vernon supervising seed trays drying in the sun:

Fall Garden: The First Attempt

This post is a recap of the fall planting, intended for our record-keeping.

For the fall garden, we sowed some seeds and planted starts from the Chattanooga Food Bank's Fall Planting Workshop on September 8, 2010. The plant list is at the end of this post.

The Food Bank's workshop was great in some ways: for $15, we started 4 whole flats - and they kept in the greenhouse until the were ready to transplant. Given the pace of the fall semester, it was especially nice that we didn't have to baby the seedlings! We picked up the seedlings on October 5th and planted them within a couple of days.

We didn't know exactly what to expect from the weeks ahead...

I thought that we'd get to harvest more before the dark days of winter... boy, were we wrong! Although there we were able to pick cilantro and lettuce, there was just not enough time between early October and the first cold weather for most plants to mature.

For future reference: if we want a fall crop of brassicas (broccoli, kale) we need to start them in August and have them in the ground by mid-September. The Food Bank's workshop will be useful for acquiring cold-hardy starts (broccoli, kale, onions and garlic). But: we will expect these plants to overwinter for a March harvest. At some point, I'll write another post to discuss our first experience of overwintering crops.


Fall/Winter Plant List:

Sown: lettuce (several varieties), kale (lacinato; blue scotch), peas, and carrots.

Transplants: lettuce (red romaine), kale (redbor), onions (purple; copra), cilantro, broccoli (Blue Wind)

Planted: Garlic, elephant garlic, and bunching onions.

Signs of Autumn

I know that fall is here when the orb weaver begins her nightly craft:

Sweet Potato Harvest

At the last group harvest, we dug sweet potatoes:



and picked loads of hot peppers:

August in the Garden

From A.E.R.:

Hi all,

The school calendar doesn't really follow the agricultural calendar anymore, it seems... we are going back to work, but the garden isn't done. Here is what to expect in the upcoming weeks. I realize that there is a lot in this email. Please read at your leisure and at minimum, please respond to items III and IV. Not to stifle your creativity, of course: feel free to respond with any other thoughts, especially if something below sounds like sheer lunacy. :)

I. Last GROUP harvests and thereafter:

SATURDAY, AUGUST 14 - picking as usual.

MONDAY, AUGUST 16 - LAST GROUP HARVEST. Let someone know if you can't go; we'll save you something. Highlight: digging up the sweet potatoes.

AFTER Monday, gardeners should feel free to pick at any time. If there is something you're saving for, DO EMAIL the group and let everyone know. It is important to communicate what you want to get out of the last 6-8 weeks of the warm-season plants. Don't feel bad for making a request; if you don't speak up, no one will know, and then someone will end up picking things only to keep the plants healthy.

At this point, please do not invite members of the community to go and take what they want anytime. We can reevaluate when we know (a) our group's ability to use the produce and (b) how prolific the remaining plants will be in the upcoming weeks. In 2009, we were overwhelmed with tomatoes in August because we planted two determinate varieties whose fruit all matured at 55-80 days. The heaviest harvest days coincided with the first weeks of school. This year, we have mostly indeterminate plants, which a measured supply of tomatoes until the plants are killed by disease or frost. For planning purposes, I do want to have a general, anecdotal sense of how much the plants are producing through the end of their season, even if we're not weighing harvests or even picking at the same time. This will help determine the number of gardeners in future summers and which plants are a good match for our garden desires. For now, let's share bounty with the community by bringing extras to the office and offering some basil cuttings at the "open house"...

II. Garden "open house":

Wednesday after Faculty Normal (time TBD). If you want to, hang out in the garden, prune basil, and answer questions from interested community members. The idea here is to communicate what labor and benefit is involved in our community garden and to generate a "waiting list" of interested gardeners (space permitting).

III. LET ME KNOW if you're "in" or "out" for fall planting...

In Tennessee, autumn-to-winter is a great time for cool-season crops like lettuce, spinach, and kale. What you're getting into: fall crops may be planted between now and Sept. 15; and will harvested (roughly) between Oct. 15 and Thanksgiving. Final cleanup will take place before Christmas break. If you are "out" for the fall, it does not mean that you lose your summer spot - but to keep your summer spot, you must assist with the cleanup of the summer garden. Speaking of which...

IV. ...End-of-summer Cleanup!

When school begins, it is harder to find time, and no longer are we motivated by the anticipation of the first delicious tomato. But cleanup and soil care are the most important factors for the success of next summer's garden. Because it is unlikely that we'll find a weekend when everyone can devote a day to garden work, please choose what fits your schedule and email the group to "sign up" for you're able to do (or add something I missed).

Now through Labor Day: Ideal for people who will NOT be involved with fall planting.

- Till cucumber area in upper tier
- Bag the pile of vegetable waste and completely remove diseased plant material to trash
- Cleanup the tool shed area to the Hall's water spigot: trash, fallen branches, weed trees, etc.
- Cut back weed trees on upper fence
- Weedeating around perimeter

Mid-September through October: Ideal for people involved in the fall, but possible tasks if the beginning of school is all-consuming.

- Remove vines, soil amendment in middle tier
- Pull, bag, and trash tomato/eggplant/pepper vines
- Soil amendment in lower tier
- Planting of cover crops or heavy leaf mulching

Squirrels in the Garden!

From A.O.:

Everyone,

I spent a few minutes on the internet and found the following about keeping squirrels out of the garden. Let me know your thoughts. -AO

Here are some remedies for discouraging squirrels from eating your tomatoes.

1. Put mothballs down around your plants. Matter of fact we have some tool and garden sheds that are about 1 foot of the ground and every year I buy a trunk load of it (or so it seems). This discourages them from the git-go and even keeps out stray cats and other critters.

2. Hang rags soaked in vinegar and stapled onto small wooden stakes or dowels near you plants. Most rodents hate the smell even when dry. Re-soak each rag in about a week.

3. Should you be a coffee drinker who brews it up using coffee grounds then empty your coffee filter around the base of your tomato plants and that should help you. Should you be fortunate enough to live by a Starbucks go and ask for their used coffee grounds as they have been known to give away 5 and 10 pound bags to anyone who asks for it.

4. You can also mix up some regular cheap liquid soap with some ground red hot chili pepper powder and pour that around the base of your tomato plants. I would do some out about 2 inches and then another ring out about the same distance as your widest leaves on your plant. You may want to keep your eye out for those big jars of chili powder that go on sale once or twice a year in discount markets and stock up to use at the base of your plants by just sprinkling it on the ground. It is supposed to work also.

5. Then there is the old chicken wire with the smallest mesh. You can wire or staple it to stakes and drive them deep into the ground. You can use 36” or wider chicken wire and bend them over your tomato plants or they will use the wire as monkey bars to get in.

6. For those of you who live in the country and do not mind guns then you can fire at them or up in the air and they should take off into your neighbor’s garden. (Please do not send me an email about this suggestion.)

7. For those of you who have a squirrel problem and who happen to have big spendable income budgets and also love these long tail rats then buy lots of squirrel feeders, put them away from your vegetable garden or tomato patch and keep those feeders full. The squirrels might appreciate your largess enough to keep out of your tomatoes.

8. Get some blood bone meal and sprinkle it around the base of your tomato plants and this will also work.

July in the Garden

From A.E.R.:

Today is PICKLE DAY. I have a big pot of salked cuke slicees, onions, and peppers in the fridge, and I'm about to start the cooking process. Fun! Everyone was at the garden this morning, so it was good to see things coming along.
Here are some images of the garden's progress as of the first week in July: