Snap Pea Spout

One of the crops that first turned me onto gardening in a big way- snap peas.

To get our garden started, we worked with the Seattle Urban Farm Company. We didn't know anything about anything ... and these guys came out and bootstrapped us (they're awesome). One of the crops they planted was Snap Peas.

These grow with minimal effort, and the kids will be picking the peas off and eating them by the handful in late June/ early July.

We planted two different types last year - Sugar Star (90 days), and Super Sugar Snap (58 days)... and we discovered that we definitely prefer the Super Sugar Snaps. It wasn't just that they were faster, bigger, and bore more peas... they flat out tasted better. Maybe next year I'll experiment with another variety, but this year I just planted a whole bunch of the Super Sugar Snaps.

Carrot Sprout

I'm still new to this. At this time of year, when both sprouts and weeds are popping up at the same time (and are the same size) I'm still working out what is what.

So I've decided to start tracking what the sprouts look like... I can reference the photos later on.

What we have here is a lovely little carrot. :)

At this point we have .... four different rotations of carrots in varying stages of development.

Bok Choi sprouts, slugs, and iron phosphate

Something is nibbling my Bok Choi. Grrr... effing slugs no doubt.

I heard that coffee grounds can repel slugs - considering I use coffee grounds to acidify the soil, that doesn't seem like the best solution. Based on some feedback from an organic gardening forum, it doesn't sound like it works too good anyways.

So... some method of dealing with the slugs is needed. This is, after all, Rain City.

Apparently slugs don't get along with iron phosphate; and I've seen it mentioned as both safe and effective by organic gardeners. Two different products are mentioned: Sluggo and Escar-go.

So the question is: Can I use it and still be considered 'organic' & 'earth friendly'.

The EPA report on Iron Phosphate indicates that it is safe for humans, pets, beneficial insects (worms, bees, beetles), and the watershed (fish). Not one to take anything the EPA prints as gospel...

Oregon State University reports that iron phosphate is safe and effective in the northwest. (As opposed to metaldehyde = bad.)

But of course - enough digging online and you can nearly always find an opposing view. I found a well documented paper that takes shots at the EPA report as being over broad with its declarations of how safe Iron Phosphate. (The EPA over-sell on safety?! Imagine that.) The paper does not assert that iron phosphate is unsafe, it asserts that 'completely safe' is irresponsible over reach, and that Iron Phosphate should be used sparingly and only as directed.

Finally...

I went to the USDA website which turned out to be surprisingly good. Their report on iron phosphate indicates that the EU, Canada, and Japan allows iron phosphate for non-organic crop production, but not for organic crops. The U.S. has similarly voted (2-1) to not certify the use of of iron phosphate for use on certified organic farms. "Currently no synthetic substance has been approved for use as slug and snail bait in organic crop production". However, the same report indicated that "Ferric phosphate is a very effective molluscicide and does not harm humans, animals, non-target insects, plants, or soil microbes. It is a very stable and non-reactive substance in the agroecosystem."

So why did they vote against it? According to the report, because "other organic alternatives exist." Methinks that's lacking detail...

The 'alternatives' are essentially a barrier based approach (copper) or beer traps (yech!).

I'm not certain the direction I'll go on this.

First Harvest of 2010... radishes!

They're not big... The radishes were e planted in mid-February. This bed wasn't amended (with compost), nor were they even fertilized. (Mental note: have some compost always on hand in the future... you might find yourself suddenly planting on a warm February day.)

But... it's not even May and we're starting to have fun pulling food out of the ground and eating it. :)

Satya discovered that radishes are "SPICY!!"

Amaya chopped some up and put them in the fried rice we had with our salmon. (Yum!)

Good times.

Never let the perfect be the enemy of the good...

The strawberries are ready to go!

The bed has been cleared of dead leaves and old shooters, and fertilizer has been applied - and none too soon; we're seeing the first flowers appear. This year is just warm... everything is popping early this season.

Cleaning the strawberry bed is just *not* my favorite task - and it's a great example of my habit of "85% is good enough" that Amber (justifiably) accuses me of. I will gladly sacrifice 15% of quality if it means a job gets done with haste- particularly if it's something I don't enjoy doing in the first place. So the strawberry bed is ready for the season - or at least it's 'good enough'.

Grapes

Last year was the first year that our grapes successfully crossed the terrace, and it was also the first year that we got a harvest! The grapes are delicious- I just wish I knew what kind they are.

They're a red, seedless grape that are quite small.

One side effect of having the grapes in the upper terraced bed is that we can no longer aggressively till the soil there. The root system for the grapes has spread extensively throughout - and tilling would disrupt the grapes. We have some herbs that are coexisting in the same bed, so that works well. For sections that are currently bare, I'm thinking that we could regain some functionality with containers on top of the terraced bed soil (like mint... which you wouldn't want in an open bed anyways.)

At the end of this growing season I'll be looking to cut back the grapes quite a bit to the core vines that we want to nurture.

Blueberries and Rhubarb

The blueberry bed has been weeded twice so far this year, and coffee grounds have been added around the base of every bush to increase the acidity of the soil (once.) I need to do a Ph test...

Last year we still didn't get all that many blueberries. We've got six plants... I'd like to think that's enough so we can get our fill- but getting the plants to produce in a significant manner has been difficult. In truth, I think the main problem is water. I didn't get the irrigation system modified last year, and I'm pretty sure that until I do, these plants will live, but they won't thrive.

This one is actually looking pretty good... the amount of blossoms we are getting on this is the best ever. I think this our Spartan, since that's the only one we have that begins fruit production this early in the season.

The rhubarb transplants that we got from Bruce at the beginning of the spring have already taken root and look really healthy. I've given them some fertilizer and at this point these look to be an easy maintenance crop and a nice addition to the mix.

There's a recipe in particular that I'm looking forward to ... once a few years back I had Bruce's wife's strawberry/rhubarb crisp. It was delicious... I must have it again. I had never had rhubarb before that.

I've also got it in mind to try to create a rhubarb chutney. I think that could work.

The Three Sisters Project - Part I: Corn

The three sisters - Corn, squash, and pole beans is an *old* method.


If this works out as it should, this new raised bed should supply an ample amount of corn, squash, and beans hereafter.... (from the Renee's Garden link above)


"Corn provides a natural pole for bean vines to climb. Beans fix nitrogen on their roots, improving the overall fertility of the plot by providing nitrogen to the following years corn. Bean vines also help stabilize the corn plants, making them less vulnerable to blowing over in the wind. Shallow-rooted squash vines become a living mulch, shading emerging weeds and preventing soil moisture from evaporating, thereby improving the overall crops chances of survival in dry years. Spiny squash plants also help discourage predators from approaching the corn and beans. The large amount of crop residue from this planting combination can be incorporated back into the mound at the end of the season, to build up the organic matter in the soil and improve its structure."

Having the "spiny squash plants" protecting the corn is of particular interest, since we have raccoons in the area. I don't want to go through this exercise just to feed a bunch of city coons.

I'm curious about the premise that you can plow in all the crop residue. Corn stalks, corn husks, squash leaves... combined and composted with the nitrogen that the pole beans capture in their root system, means that you can continually plant the same crops in the same plot? (more research needed.)

My official seed planters have planted the corn.....

When the corn gets to 4 inches the pole beans will be planted in the mounds with the corn, and the squash will go in the negative space between the the mounds.

"Native Americans kept this system in practice for centuries without the modern conceptual vocabulary we use today, i.e. soil nitrogen, vitamins, etc. They often look for signs in their environment that indicate the right soil temperature and weather for planting corn, i.e. when the Canada geese return or the dogwood leaves reach the size of a squirrels ear."

We planted when the lilacs and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom.

First harverst (radishes) nearly ready....

Winter was *warm*. Amber's gamble during an over warm Feburary day - the last frost may actually have happened - plant and see if things turn out.

Things indeed have; Another week or two and we'll be munching fresh radishes. YUM! Cyrus is excitited - that boy loves radishes pulled straight from the ground.

The lower rock wall bed

Last year I planted in front of this rock wall, and I (nominally) amended the soil in only half the bed. I wish I would have taken pictures of that entire process... sunflowers that were in the portion of the bed that had received some compost were notably taller and better looking than those that I just planted in the dirt (little more than a sand/clay mix).

This year I've dug down about a foot breaking up the sand/clay dirt, removing the rocks, and amending the soil with cedar grove compost. In my mind there's dirt and there's soil. Dirt occurs naturally. Soil is something you have to create and nurture.

We planted watermelon (Bush Sugar Baby - 80 days), more spinach (Bloomsdale Savoy - 50 days), more broccoli (Green Sprouting Calabrese), and pumpkins (Small Sugar - 110 days). I'm skeptical that the watermelon will work ... but I was told that you can use a dome of plastic or you can prop up a sheet of plastic (southern facing) to amplify the sun and create a warmer micro-climate for the watermelon. I'll probably try that to help the watermelon along. I'd be neat if it works. It could be a viable method for other warm climate crops- peppers in particular!

Corn - a new challenge

Corn in Cascadia. Is it doable? We'll find out.

I discovered the 'three sisters' concept last year. (More info: gardenweb.com and Renee's Garden I'm determined to make it happen. Squash and beans are no problem... they're easy. Corn on the other hand, is more complicated.

First off, there's planting the corn. Corn can't just be dropped into any bed. Corn roots go deep (up to 4 ft!). "Over the course of a growing season, about 40% of the water used by corn will come from the first foot of soil, 30% from the second foot and 20% from the third foot. Less than 10 percent will be obtained from the soil below 3 feet." We diligently till and amend the soil in all our beds, but not 4 feet down.

To solve this problem, I've decided to build a new raised bed. Raised beds offer several advantages. Even with building a raised bed and importing soil from the nursery, I still have to dig down to break up and amend the existing soil - but at least I'm not digging down as far. (I'm aiming for 18-24 inches down and a 24" high raised bed). The earth under where I'm putting this bed has had excavators, my F-150 on top of it... and it's even been worked over with a compactor. Breaking it up took some work. Another benefit of raised bed gardening is that the temperature of the soil comes up faster in the spring. I expect that this raised bed will prove useful for other warm weather crops in future rotations.

A change from other crops we've grown is that corn has both female and male flowers on the same plant. (Primer) Normally the wind would provide what's needed for pollination to occur - but to ensure a strong crop I'll likely have to manually pollinate the corn.

To top it all off... lots of things beside humans like to eat corn. We've got raccoons, crows, and squirrels in abundance and they all like corn.

A worthy challenge... but worth it for the prize of fresh, sweet corn.

Rasberries

Rasberries are done and ready for the season.

Pruning, weeding, a top layer of compost (2 bags gave a 1-2" layer for a 1' x 50' bed), and then fertilizer. The fertilizer was put together by Amber - it's a recipe from a great book: Steve Solomon's "Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades".

This is the second full spring for this bunch of rasberries. Last year was a bit disappointing in terms of yield. It was good enough for lots of munching, but barely enough to also supply preserves in the freezer. I'm not sure about this year yet... but I'm pretty sure that next year will be fantastic - the root system has spread throughout the bed and new shoots are coming up all over the place. By year four we may need to thin the bed out.