Gardening On AutoPilot

Beginning of August, things are mostly taking care of themselves now. We're flush with summer squash, zuchini, cucumbers. Tomatoes and sweet peppers are beginning to dribble in, especially the Sungold cherry toms. They are wonderful.

By carefully selecting their (shady)location, and constantly watering to keep the soil cool, I've been able to keep lettuces growing deep into summer. Certainly, the relatively cool summer temps have aided my efforts, but the heat will soon be upon us, I fear.

Sweet corn is now tasseling, and is from 5 - 7+ feet tall! Can't wait. One bed of  spuds to dig yet, and will then plant carrots in their place for a fall/winter harvest. I have growing in flats - cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, cilantro, fennel, leeks. They have no place to go, currently, patiently awaiting space to free-up.

I have four beds planted to bush snap beans, a short row of climbing snap beans, sixteen tomato plants, and twelve pepper plants (sweet/bell), three aubergine, and some green onions. Will soon be starting onions in flats, thinking about ordering garlic , and always trying to figure ways of increasing production, and diversity. This WILL be the Autumn that I build the fruit cage, and put the remaining 40% of the garden on drip irrigation. I promise...I believe...I hope.....

Prodigal's Return

  Lots of time passed, much life has occurred.... And the garden still remains.Cannot make excuses for not writing, legitimate though they be. We all have our stories. I will simply bring you up to date.

Have harvested about 200 lbs. of potatoes ( and not yet finished! ) , along with fall planted onions and garlic. Immediately, we switched to warm weather crops, i.e. sweetcorn, bush-beans, tomatoes, peppers, aubergines (egg plant), zuchini, cucumbers, and summer squash. I had the Silver Queen corn growing in root-trainers, just awaiting a place to plant into the ground. As soon as the potatoes were pulled, into the ground went additional compost and organic ammendments, followed by the sweetcorn. We've about a dozen each of tomatoes, and sweet and bell peppers, as well as three aubergine varieties with differing maturity dates.

Last year was the first year we grew sweetcorn, and having had great success, we're increasing the amount this year. In only two 36 sq. ft. raised beds, we harvested 84 ears. It is about four feet tall as we speak. We had previously not wanted to risk growing it, as we were afraid that racoons would leave us heartbroken. The deer have been no problem, since our fence is, apparently, adequate. After buying a used electric netting set-up, and losing not one ear, we wished we'd planted more. This year, in our four 42 sq. ft beds, we'll be disapponted if we get less than 175 ears. We net the corn when we figure we're within 3 weeks of harvesting, turning the charger on and off each night/morning. Now that our free-range grandson wanders the garden when he visits, munching on whatever strikes his fancy, we will worry about forgetting to turn the netting off each morning and giving him a rude awakening. Last year, only the wife sufferred that fate, heh heh heh...

The only pest problems have been flea beetles on the aubergines. I must do something, likely dust them with diatomaceous earth. In spite of the damage, they appear to be thriving.Also, I planted no spring brassicas this year because I have lost every battle on that front to the white cabbage moth, or else unseasonably warm spring weather.It is about time to start thinking about fall planted broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, sprouts, though. 

I usually plant nothing but bush type beans, we put 40-50 lbs in the freezer most years. Harder to harvest, but I do not need to worry about trellising systems as I would with climbing types. 

We have just returned from camping at Mt Shasta with family and friends. It was our grandson's first camping experience, and very special. Difficult for him (and mom & dad) at first, he settled right in, and was a hit of the camp. 

Our son Jake proposed (successfully!) to Megan on the still snow-capped Mt. Shasta, the biggest highlight of the week for us! Cheers...

The Fix Is In

The back room conspiracy to slow down my gardening efforts is upon me. Frost was on the windshield of the truck as I left for work at 5:00 a.m.. Kind of snuck up on me, even though it is late November, since the unseasonably warm weather lulled me to sleep, apparently. And, I had just planted out some lettuces, v. Mervailles du Quatre Sassons (?), I believe it is called. Four Seasons Lettuce. They were tucked into a space that came open  after we picked and processed part of a bed of carrots last week. Looking rather pathetic in the cold. Hopefully the frost does not do them in. If they have recovered by this evening when I arrive home, they'll receive some sort of protection. Glad that I had planted more than half of the lettuces inside the greenhouse.

I also stashed some beet seeds in a corner, and will need to replant a few short rows of beets which failed to germinate properly, plenty of seed remaining for that. Last weekend, planted out anouther 50 or so red onion sets. Yesterday, also in the greenhouse, planted a few of both red and yellow Dutch shallots. What a generic marketing term, eh? About one fourth of them gott tossed because of mold or sponginess.

My wife helped me remove all the remaining greenhouse plants, prior to amending and replanting. The tomatoe and pepper plants went into the greenwaste bin, not into our compost pile, due to the potential to contaminate the compost with disease. Normally, not a bit of crop residue, weeds, or kitchen waste leaves the property, but rather is composted, their nutrients going back into the garden. Albeit slower than I'd like, things are getting done. 

More space is available for planting both outdoors and in the greenhouse, and will be planted out successionally. Care  and thinking has to go into choosing varieties, as the winter sunlight declines. Some plants are more light-sensitive than others, and cannot easily be grown at this time of year - not due to lack of heat because it's  still warm enough, especially if providing a bit ofprotection - but rather because of the low path of the sun in winter. Aggravating this, is the fact that I am in the mountains, surrounded by some tall redwoods. Where I am at is the same lattitude as parts of Sicily, so  day length is sufficient.

Tonight, going to finally pot-on another of the dwarf citrus trees, which are an experiment. There are five,  a  Washington naval orange, a Myers lemon, Satsuma ( orange or Mandarin?), a lime of some sort, and a red grapefruit, also cannot recall the variety. All of these can be grown here in the Santa Cruz Mountains with varying degrees of success. I am sure the key is proper siting, and protection during the coldest weather, with the grapefruit and lime trees being the most needy. I will have to provide them with protection during the coldest spells, using Agribond(fleece) and/or plastic to wrap them during the worst frosts. So much, though, depends upon the local microclimate.  As of now, with no fruit cages, citrus are the only fruit trees that won't be subject to destruction by squirrels, racoons, birds, skunks, etc. . Building a proper fruit cage is on my winter time agenda, as time and funds allow.

Plans of Attack - Mine & The Predators

Been under seige for about a month now, from squirrels, skunks, and the odd raccoon. An uneasy truce seems to have set in, but I'm not being lulled into a false sense of security. It is always an unending battle that ebbs and flows.

The squirrels, which use the fences on the property lines as highways, regularly make forays into my raised beds to stash nuts for the winter, sometimes destroying by veggies or seedlings.Using Agribond row covers has mostly solved that, but the pests just bury their food in my woodchip-covered paths, slightly more preferable, I guess. I'll know the full extent of the damage when the little oak seedlings emerge in the Spring.

I 've had to do a better job keeping the compost bins covered, as my wife was recently awoken by a family of raccoons chowing down in the middle of the night, and heartily enjoying themselves. That was on me, as I failed to complete a full layer - i.e., greens, browns, soil, tarp, boards - leaving veggie scraps  on top that were too good to resist. 

Finally, the skunks are occasionally digging around, looking for the abundant worms in my ever-improving soil. Oddly, even before I placed the row covers, they were only digging at the base of the the wood enclosing the beds. That happens to be where the mole-runs are. Will skunks eat moles? 

My Fall/Winter garden includes the following: broccoli, red and green cabbage, Brussels sprouts, Nero di Toscano kale, red and white chard, leeks, lettuces, carrots, celeriac, parsnips, arugula, bok choy, cilantro,350 onions from both sets and plants, as well over 150 cloves of garlic, black Spanish radishes, two types of spinach. We planted four artichoke plants, as well. If all goes as planned,  by days end I will have small sections of turnips and beets planted, too.

I have a greenhouse that needs clearing and replanting, extra compost bins to fill with manure for rotting down, carrots to harvest and process for the freezer, weeding and feeding of the growing beds. I have managed to add today,Monday, as an off day to the Veterans Day holiday I already get off (tomorrow), giving me a four day weekend.Still, time is slipping away. Just not enough time, ambition, or funds to take care of the many tasks around here.

What Remains?

The year has been, overall, a good one, with both successes and failures, of course. All raise beds afe now framed, in either redwood or cedar. This is a must to keep our front yard kitchen garden tidy looking. About 70% of the beds are on drip irrigation, the rest to be done over the fall winter. Perimeter flood lights, to allow working after we arrive home during the winter, are mostly complete, but I like it so well I may ad a few more on the other side of the garden.

Failures? Learning to fully utilize the greenhouse comes to mind. Tomatoes were only so-so this year. Still not starting enough of my own seedlings, so expenses for purchased plants still too high. Also, purchased organic materials such as baggd compost and manures way too much. Finally, not saving my own seed yet, but that will be remedied.

Today is Sunday, Oct. 26. Yesterday, I attended a garlic-growing workshop at UCSC, co-hosted by the director of the AgroEcology program, and one of his former students, Pete Rasmussen of SandHills Farm in Utah. Pete brought my 4 lbs. seed garlic I purchase from him, and this a.m., it went in the ground. Also managed to plant some Nero di Toscana Kale. Early a.m., I had picked up another huge terra Cotta pot intended for another of my dwarf citrus  trees. Thought I might pot it up, but as the kids are coming for Sunday dinner, I am happy to have gotten done what I did. Will do tomorrow, I hope.

Planted four hardneck varieties of garlic. Rosewood, Siberian, Corona Music, and Chesnok. Most of what is grown in California - and California grows LOTS of Garlic - is of the softneck variety, generally very reliable, but mostly uninteresting stuff. Harnecks are the true gourmet garlic, with wide assortment of flavor profiles. As a rule, hardnecks are best in northern climates, softnecks in the warmer southern climates. Here on the central coast,coastal  Santa Cruz is just about as far south as hardne ks can be reliably grown, so I am told, but that varies year to year with the severity of the weather. Since I am in the mountains inland of S.C. by twelve miles, and our mountain valley climate is quite a bit colder, hopefully  these superior flavored hardnecks will thrive for me.

Living where we do, there are many microclimates, giving places only a few miles apart, widely different temperatures and conditions. For example, I am on the valley floor, and thus can frequently get light frosts from about Dec.- Feb., with the odd heavier frost, and a light dusting of snow only once every couple years. A gardening friend, - only a few miles away as the crow flies, but a few hundred feet higher in elevation - seldom gets frost. I will thus, on the coldest nights, have to wrap my five dwarf Citrus trees with Agribond, and probably plastic, removing it in the mornings. During those months, winter temps may be 20's at night, 40's/50's during the day. The most difficult citrus to grow here is grapefruit. Time will tell.

A Drop Of Rain

...but just barely a drop, this past Wednesday.Much ado about nothing, really, but it was the first of the rainy season, and allowed me to forego watering for one day, at least.

Now, sitting out in my driveway, are many bags of organic compost and manure. Those, along with other soil ammendments, will be added to the three beds we framed up this past weekend. The beds are for the aproximately 200 onion plants I received today, awaiting me inside the front gate after work. They are from The Natural Gardening Company, in Petaluma Ca., the oldest organic nursery in the U.S. . To my shame, I failed to start my own onions from seeds, so I'm hoping the added expense is worth it. After a early a.m. trip to Santa Cruz this Saturday, I will work the beds and plant the onions. Garlic next weekend.

It is not light out till almost 6:45 these mornings, and is dark quite early in the evenings, as well. I installed low-voltage floodlights along some of my fence, at about 6 ft., and this makes it possible to do a bit of work in the morning before I start my commute to work.  But really, they are for working in the garden after I get home. In the depths of our winters, it is dark by 5:30 p.m., just one hour after arriving back at the house. I leave when it's dark, and get home when it is nearly so.The weather may be fine, but without light, what's a gardener to do, except look at seed catalogs, read, and get fat! Now, with a greenhouse equipped with electricity, and a well-lit garden, I can do something at night.

Before & After : 200 Onions In Less Than 36 Sq. Ft., 40 Each of Five Different Varieties

Great Expectations

The disappointment of not getting done everything that you set out to do , well, you learn to live with it. It was easily doable, had I pushed myself harder.But, you see, it's Sunday, and I don't want to push myself . So, I reconcile myself to the fact that I'm going to get an acceptable , but not optimal, amount done . I'll get it done during the week... sure.

Today, it was over 90F again, but still it was nice, especially in the shade. I managed to clear, prep, and plant two beds, one to leek plants ( King Seig?), the other to onion sets, a red torpedo type, and a yellow variety. That's 60 leeks, and 142 onion sets, plus a couple six packs of lettuce, and two of cabbage. More onions, this time plants, should ship out to me this week, and may be here by the weekend. I have much more prep work to do this week, and that's after the ten and a half hours I am gone each day. We'll see what happens.

Each bed was cleared, the residues going into the compost pile. After forking over the soil,  I added aged horse manure, compost, a bit of steer manure . The top of each bed is dusted with a combination of blood meal, bone meal, fishbone meal, greensand, and poultry feather meal. All is then incorporated into the top 4" of soil, raked smooth, tamped down with the back of the rake, and finally planted. 

This is pretty much what I do to my beds each time I replant, changing the amounts of each amendment according to what I have on hand. The greensand, which adds necessary trace elements, need only be  added every 2-3 years. In the future, I fully expect that I will be planting more and more of my small kitchen garden to green manures, or cover crops, in winter. The soil, very sandy, is improving each year, as I up the organic material. My production is getting better. Additionally, we are fine-tuning the quantities we grow, deciding what we really like/dislike, what we can grow lots of, what we 're really wasting time on. 

My greatest costs are for commercial composts, and those expensive organic soil amendments. My sandy soil seems to dissolve organic matter. That's where growing my own compost crops will help, as purchasing bagged compost is expensive. But it is difficult to produce compost in the amounts my soil uses it, so making my own  means I need to grow the raw materials. Unless one saves seed, starts their own seedlings, and produces as much compost as possible right on ones' own land, it is not really either cost efficient or sustainable. Might as well buy expensive food at Whole Foods.