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Author Archive
Thank you
These grass clippings are free of all non-organic chemicals and were donated by the garden’s good friend Rebecca. (Thanks again!) Mulch should be laid at least three inches thick and prevents weeds, conserves water, and improves the quality of the soil.
Much more mulch is still needed!
Mulch Appreciated
While we’ve been preoccupied with planting, harvesting, aphids, market, and composting (worm and otherwise,) a problem has been slowly creeping up on us, fed by the heat and the dripline (which is sometimes left on too long) spreading it’s pernicious tendrils up and down the rows.
Weeds. It seems as though we just weeded, and yet there are weeds. A quick search for organic weed control methods turned up some interesting results (apparently boiling water works really well for grass in driveway cracks) but almost all mentioned one method in particular- mulch, mulch, mulch, mulch.
So the garden is in need of organic mulch materials. Grass clippings, straw, cardboard, lawn detritus, (I am even considering shredded paper) as long as it is not sprayed with toxic chemicals (Herbicides, pesticides, or chemical fertilizers). If you bag your clippings and don’t spray your lawn, let us know, and we’ll be very grateful to come pick them up and give them a good home.
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Growth
It’s strange how quickly things change in the garden. The July garden was not the same as the June garden, and the August garden is not the same as the July garden. Even this Monday’s garden is not the same as last Friday’s garden.
Since we are out there nearly every day, the changes don’t seem so dramatic. It’s only when I sort through the pictures that I can see the difference.
Remember our little bean sprout? Thirty-five days later, it’s a bush bean proper.
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And the tiny tomatillo plant from the blooms post? Now it’s one of the largest plants in the garden.
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In the original (late June) pictures of our sign for the “about” page, you can see the freshly hoed and planted rows of tomatoes, cucumbers, and melons. By late July, the vines were huge, and the flowers we planted to attract beneficial insects were in bloom as well.
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Plants are magical.
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Aphid Update
The soap spray (we used liquid Dr. Bronner’s organic castille soap after the first day) is quite effective, and doesn’t seem to bother the plants. Above you can see the blacked, dead remains of a once-thriving aphid colony on a brussel sprout leaf.
Unfortunately, the aphids were multiplying faster than we could spray them, which with a kitchen spray bottle and five long rows of brassicas to spray is very tedious and frustrating work.
(A friend recently informed me that aphids can be BORN PREGNANT, since they reproduce parthenogenically. They certainly do breed at an alarming rate)
The brussel sprout (left) and purple cabbage (right) below are lamentably completely overrun by aphids.
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There was still hope, however.
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Another organic method of pest control was still available to us. Natural predators. Rebecca picked up a plastic container of 1000 ladybugs for us at Zamzows. We released them after our first night at market. |
We were concerned about them all flying away, and while not all of them stuck around, I see four or five a day as I putter around the garden. I was particularly excited to find the ladybug larva in the image below on a brussels leaf.
Between the ladybugs, the occasional spray with cold water from the hose, and a bi- to tri-weekly soap treatment (focusing mainly on the actual edible sprouts themselves, which bud off of the central stalk) the aphids are very nearly under control. While only three very large brussels plants made it through, we should get some sprouts off of them and are better equipped to deal with possible aphids on the new flat of brassicas Sarah picked up from Beth this week. (We planted some broccoli and cabbage this morning.)
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Caldwell Farmer’s Market (Our first two weeks)
I am pleased to report that we have two successful visits to the farmer’s market under our belts! The picture above was taken by a helpful fellow vendor at our first farmer’s market. After some, challenges, with the canopy (Caldwell Farmer’s Market has very strict regulations regarding appearance. Canopies must be white or green, no blue, and unfortunately just a few days before the college had sold all of it’s green canopies at the yard sale and kept only the blue) (luckily after calling several rental companies and sporting goods stores we were able to borrow a green cover from the market administration) we were off.
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We were unprepared for exactly how much lettuce was in our three rows of lettuce mix. Once washed it filled well over thirty bags- seven or so are pictured above, the other 23+ spent market day in the cooler. We sold most of our produce that first day, and made a decent amount of profit, considering it was our first day. (Initial estimates were about twenty dollars or so after subtracting the cost of materials and the market fee. Later, when Amanda counted up the cashbox, she told us we made much more.)
Customers and sometimes other vendors approached us and told us some wonderful stories about their breakfasts, gardens, kitchens, families, whatever. (One gentleman told us in great detail about his morning smoothie, which contained among other things, highly nutritious but sometimes-difficult-to-love kale). A few people were curious to know what to do with or how to cook some of our produce- questions that despite working for a food service and a catering company I wasn’t fully prepared to answer. I did my research later on sorrel, a tangy leafy herb reminiscent of rhubarb, and found that is most associated with sorrel soup. (Which was delicious, by the way. Some of the leftovers from market found their way into my roommate’s newly purchased stew pot)
By the next Wednesday we were Farmer’s Market Experts and harvested, bundled, and priced much less produce with considerably less stress and set up in no time. This time we nearly sold out of everything (!) pushing our total market profits to over 100$, doubling our budget. (Which was no longer as desperately necessary thanks to the donation of a hoe by our beloved benefactor Beth and ten tomato cages by another friend and organic grower, Bart.)
Below are pictures of our second, streamlined booth, featuring our walla-walla sweet onions.
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The past two weeks we have been absent from the market, choosing to focus on and send our produce to the Idaho Green Expo, but we’re looking forward to a comeback next Wednesday.
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Aphids
Sometime last week I noticed we had an aphid problem on the brussel sprouts. At first I couldn’t tell what the dusty white growths were, but after seeing the photos blown up on a computer screen it became pretty obvious.
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My first thought was a soap spray. The Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening lent to us by Jan said only that the soap had to be soap, not detergent, because the fatty acid/lipid base was what was harmful to the soft-bodied insects (like aphids). Aparently the soap spray paralyzes them.
I tracked down a spray bottle in the kitchen (interestingly we didn’t have any soap- it was all disinfectant and detergent) and ran home to the apartment for some Palmolive. I wasn’t sure if it was the best kind of soap to use but it was what we had available.
My google searches on soap spray for aphids warned me not to do in in full sun, on plants that were heat or water stressed, or on young leaves. Soap can burn or stress the leaves. Leaves that are smooth and waxy are more resistant to damage that soft or hairy leaves. One site recommended I do a spot test, spray a leaf and wait 48 hours to look for damage. The spray bottle had an intended purpose in the kitchen besides aphid spray, and had to be returned that day, so I put in about half a teaspoon of dishsoap in a quart sized waterbottle and sprayed down the kale, brussel sprouts, and purple cabbage, all the plants that had aphids on them.
Today Sara (who has recently returned from a sustainibility conference) and I went out to check the garden and found that the drip had been turned on by some unknown individual with a waterkey and left on all night, and that the purple cabbage had suffered burns from the soap treatment. Oops.
We rinsed the leaves well with a watercan, and I’m considering trying a tomato leaf or garlic oil spray on the purple cabbage. It will be a few days before we can tell if the soap spray is effective on the other plants. One source indicated that they should be sprayed every three days or so, so I’ll report back with results next week.
(P.S., We’re going to the Farmer’s Market for the first time tomorrow!)
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Boise Farmer’s Market
The kale was getting HUGE to the point of being completely out of control, (and possibly soon inedible. What do you do with giant kale?) and we had two or three rows of other greens ready to go to market. With Sara and Matt out of town we couldn’t get our Caldwell Farmer’s Market booth up and running, but Robin of Lazy Dog Farms graciously agreed to take some of our greens with her to the Boise Market tomorrow morning (Saturday). We sent her five or six boxes of kale, chard, and heritage lettuce mix.
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Chard and kale ready to go to the Boise Farmer’s market in the back of Rebecca’s car. Of course a leaf of kale with two big holes would be on top. Oh well, it’s an organic garden.
Thanks Robin for washing, bundling, and selling our greens for us! Organic gardeners/farmers are possibly the coolest people on earth.
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Kalee
Sara Cramer
