Second Planting

June 13, 2011

The weather has finally at least cooperated enough to start planting summer crops. So last Thursday and Saturday I double dug the rest of bed#2 and the rest of bed#3.  Figure 100 sq feet total.  It wore me out I can tell you!

Michelle and I also visited Naomi's  in Sellwood and bought about $70 worth of starts. The bill was actuall $90 but that included another 3 cubic feet of compost,  a 5 lb bag of sweet lime and a 50 lb bad of alfalfa meal.

Planted the following on Saturday:

• spread 1 gram of Sweet Nantes Carrot seed
• 10-21 days to grmination
• 81%yield
• 6 pack of Organic Lucious Sweet Corn (6")
• 75 days
• Bicolor
• Hybrid se+ type
• 7-8" ears
• 6 pack of Red Selection Celery (4")
• 100 days
• stronger, more distinct flavor than regular celery
• 6 pack of Maxibel French Filet Beans (6")
• 35 days
• slender 7" long stringless pods
• high yields - pick frequently
• 2 Black Beauty Zucchini (3")
• The standard summer squash, introduced to U.S. markets in the 1920s. Compact everbearing bush plants are loaded with glossy green-black fruits with firm white flesh. Best eaten when under 8" long. Excellent variety for freezing. 1957 All America Selections. 45-65 days.
• 1 Butternut Squash (4")
• 1 Table Quenn Acorn Squash (4")
• 2 San Morano Tomato plants (6")
• 2 Roma Tomato plants (6")
• 1 Sun Gold Cherry Tomato plant (6")
• 1 Yellow Pear Heirloom Tomato (6")
• 1 Coriandum Sativum Cilantro 
• planted in pot
• 2 Genovese Sweet Basil
• planted in pot
• 1 Amethyst Impaired Basil
• 16"
• planted in pot
• 1 Fernleaf Dill 
• planted in pot

10 foot run of Raspberries in the back. My compost pile to the left.
Front left is the corn. Middle are Maxibel Beans. You can't even see
the zucchini between the beans and corn! Bean seeds to the right
of the Maxibel beans (not germinated yet). Celery to the right.

Tomatoes. I dug a trench, threw in a handful of Lime and  planted them sideways.
The idea is that they will develop stronger root systems this way.

4 Boysenberries.  Those are Valencia Onions in the bed.
Front left, that leafy stuff, is Purple Peacock Broccoli

Valencia Onions. Red Cippolinni Onions. Purple Peacock Broccoli.
Green leafy stuff is Snowball Cauliflower. Back left are Schwiezer
Riesen Heirloom Snow Peas.

Caribe potatoes (front). Yukon Gold potatoes (back)

Lucious Corn.  Looks kinda pitiful but I think will be OK.

Potatoes are up

June 5, 2011

First signs of potato germination today. There were about 10 plants up.

• Onions - healthy but not large
• Raspberries -  booming
• Boysenberries - healthy strong canes with blooms
• peas - a little pale but healthy. 7"
• Carrots - no sign of them. Didn't germinate. WTF?
• Cauliflower - healthy but small. 4"
• Broccoli - healthy but small. 4"
• Apples - new columnar apples trees are doing great. Dark green leaves. Signs of fruit. Wahoo!
• Broccoli in pots - HUGE. 20"
• Peppers - weak. they are small (2-3"). Moved them outside. They need real sunshine and heat. It was 80 today. Maybe that will do it.
• Lettuce and Spinach - healthy. average size. 4-5"

Soil Temps slowly rising

June 1, 2011

From http://landslides.usgs.gov/monitoring/portland/rtd/temperature.php...


The average soil temperature is about 8 Celcius, or 46.4 Fahrenheit.  That means carrots should finally start germinating (I thought mine did but I think cold weather killed them).


From Wunderground.com

	Actual	Average	Record
Temperature
Mean Temperature	53 °F	61 °F
Max Temperature	57 °F	72 °F	94 °F (2001)
Min Temperature	51 °F	50 °F	39 °F (1966)

Sigh.

Soil Temperature Data - When to Plant

May 17, 2011

I came across this while perusing the internet with my google machine:

Soil temperature data for the last 7 days is available at http://landslides.usgs.gov/monitoring/portland/rtd/temperature.php

Over the last 7 days, the soil temperature has risen to 5 Celsius, or about 41 degrees f. Why do we care? Well, because "How to Grow More Vegetables" provides a table of the desired soil temperatures for seed germination for each vegetable.  A few excerpts from the vegetables that you would typically sow from seed in your garden:

peas    40F (min)   40F-75F (optimal)
carrot  40F (min)   45F-85F (optimal)
onion   35F (min)   50F-95F (optimal)
lettuce 35F (min)   50F-95F (optimal)

Likewise, there are appropriate temperature ranges for optimal GROWING. Yesterday, the annual average temps are: (from wunderground.com)

May 17, 2011	Max Temp	Min Temp
Normal (KTTD)	69 °F	47 °F
Record (KTTD)	92 °F (2008)	36 °F (1996)
Yesterday	62 °F	42 °F

Here are a few optimal growing temperature ranges :


tomatoes   65F-85F (70F-75F optimal)
onions       45F-85F (55F-75F optimal)
potatoes carrots celery lettuce parsley peas  45F-75F (60F-65F optimal)


Grow on!!

Spuds go in. Peas are up

May 17, 2011

On my last post for May 1 I neglected to mention one thing:  I hurt my back planting the apple trees. It wasn't a sudden sharp pain.  It was first a little sore and then tired and then REALLY sore.  Turns out I strained the muscles in my back, right behind my right hip.  This is all new to me. I have never hurt my back in my life. Fortunately, I have fully recovered after a 10 day rest period.  So from May 1 to May 11 I was out of commission. Well, sort of...

I still planted the onions on May 4 and replanted the onions on May 7.

May 8
Planted chives in one of the apple tree containers

May 12
Peas germinated today. Go peas.


May 14
Went to Naomi's in Sellwood and bought two bags of Teuffel organic compost and two kinds of seed potatoes:

• Caribe (Pronounced Ka-REE-bay)
• Lustrous purple skin covers smooth snow-white flesh. A great potato for boiling, baking, or frying. 
• 2x4 in. Tender Annual
• A mid-dry, oval shaped potato. 
• Maturity: Mid-season 95-100 days. 
• 2 pounds plants 20 row feet and yields 15-20 pounds
• I planted 1 pound, or 20 pieces
• planted 9" apart

• Yukon Gold
• yellow-skinned, yellow-fleshed potatoes ready to harvest in 100 days
• 18-24 inches high
• 12 inch spread
• I planted about 1 pound (20 pieces)
• planted 9" apart

I double dug another 10 foot long, 5 feet wide bed and planted the potatoes, first the Yukon Golds to the South and then the Caribe's to the North of that. I need to take some pictures!


Chili Pepper Update
So, a few things have happened with the chilis.  First, Big Jim didn't really germinate. I got one. Secondly, mu son's cat got into the utility room and the little bastard chewed the leaves off a few plants and flat out pulled up a few others!! Garr!

Nevertheless, on May 21 I pricked 10 planted and re-potted in potting soil.  I couldn't stick with the seed tray but it was getting moldy. It was just too wet.  I think the problem is that in order to keep the temperature up I had to keep water in the tray but that was water logging the soil.  So I transplanted them all and they all lived.  So, now they are in the same place, under a lamp, in 4" pots, and they are growing.  I do not plan to plant all 10. I think I'll plant half and give away half.

May 17
Carrots are starting to show. Maybe 20 of them.

A Week's Worth of Planting

May 8, 2011

I am a little behind on posts, so note the dates in this one.


April 30
Planted 4 boysenberries in a double-dug bed.  I spaced them about 2 feet apart.  They are nice potted plants purchased from Portland Nursery. They have 18" stems. I haven't taken any pictures yet but will post some soon. Before planting I spread about 5 lbs of Alfalfa Meal on the bed and mixed it in 2 inches deep.

"Down to Earth" Alfalfa Meal, (2.5% N, 1% Phosphate, 1% Potash)

Double-dug half of what I am calling Bed 1.  Bed 1 is the bed next to the raspberries and boysenberries.  I felt this one in my lower back. It tired me out a bit.

May 1
Planted 'NorthPole' Columnar Dwarf Apple tree in a 20 gallon container.  Columnar apple trees have short (6") branches and are suitable for containers.  I am following "McGee & Stuckey's the bountiful container : a container garden of vegetables, herbs, fruits and edible flowers" for advice on growing fruit trees in containers.  Powells sited this book at the go-to reference for container gardening.


NorthPole Columnar Dwarf Apple Tree

• Planted in 20 gallon container with NuLife Organic Moisture Control Container Mix
• Ripens early (Sept)
• Lg bright red fruit
• $44.75 at Portland Nursery
• Hardy to -20F

Planted 'Scarlet Sentinel' Columnar Dwarf Apple Tree

• M7 root stock
• Green blush red fruit
• $34.99 from Portland Nursery
• Planted with NuLife Organic Moisture Control Container Mix

May 4

Planted Valencia Onions in South end of Bed 1.

• Harvest early as bunching onion
• Harvest later as cooking onion
• Harvest last for storage
• 4-6" bulbs
• mild-sweet
• 105-130 days
• $3.95 for 6 clumps @ Naomi's

Planted Red Cippolini onions in the Boysenberry bed. There is lots of room here because the Boysenberries are small and there is room for some onions.

• 75-105 days
• mild full flavor
• storage onion
• Harvest when skin turns and tops fall over
• Cure in sun for 1 week before storing

Planted broccoli and cauliflower in Bed 1 next to o

• I don't have the details. TBD

Planted Schwiezer Riesen Heirloom Snow Pea

• planted seeds 1/2" deep
• planted about 2 " apart in hexagon formation
• 5-14 days to germination
• Planted the whole package (1 oz)

Planted Scarlet Nantes Carrots in Bed 1 next to peas

• broadcast the seeds over a 2.5' x 5' area.
• might end up thinning them back quite a bit. We'll see
• Uprising Seeds Co
• thin to 2"
• 10-21 days to germination @ 60-80F

Planted Oregon Sugar Pod Peas in pots

• Jason got these from a PTA fundraiser thingy at Burgerville.
• Planted them in pots at the house so Jason could enjoy
• planted 4 seeds per pot in 5 pots

Planted Misty Souther High Bush on the East side of the house. Bought this 1 gallon blueberry at Portland Nursery

• Mid/Late variety
• grows 3' H x 3' W

May 7

Dug up onions and planted properly. I'm such a dork I thought that maybe the onions I bought were supposed to be planted in clumps!  So I dug them up and pulled apart the individual onion stems and planted them 2" apart in Bed 1

May 8

Planted Chives in the 'NorthPole' Apple tree container

Planted some leftover broccoli and cauliflower in containers at the house. Why not?

GROW BIOINTENSIVE Double-Dig method

April 27, 2011

Grit your teeth. You are not going to like what I am about to explain because it is all work and no play. The GROW BIOINTENSIVE method requires proper soil preparation before first crops are planted. Proper prep means loosening the soil and composting it at the same time.  I am not going to talk about fertilizing until later because that comes last.

Apparently composting is CRITICAL to building good soil and necessary, even in the Willamette Valley. GROW BIOINTENSIVE claims 2X to 3X returns on garden output if their methods are followed. They don't make this claim for first year gardens. Or second. Or third. I think you see where this is going. Building soil is a long-term process. I think my garden soil is pretty sound. In fact, I tested it and found it to have a pH of 7.0, a high presence of Potassium and Phosphorus and a poor showing for Nitrogen.  Composting is fertilizing. Yes, well-cured compost will build good soil as it has all of the nutrients needed by a vegetable garden, but if you are starting off from scratch as I am, it is going to take a few years for composting to be sufficient. Until then, additional source of nitrogen will be added.

The process of Double-Digging garden beds involves loosening the soil to a depth of 24" and mixing in 2 inches of compost evenly throughout.  This is called the Complete Texturizing Double-Dig and is only done once when preparing beds the first year. Don't get too excited, though, the second year is better but not much!

Complete Texturing Double-Dig method, "How to Grow More Vegetables", John Jeavons

Hopefully you can read the text in the image. The image shows a 5x10 foot bed from the side, ground level. The first step is to spread 1 inch of compost over the bed and, using a 4 or 5 tined pitchfork, turn it in to a depth of 12" or the depth of the pitchfork, whichever is shallower.

The trench in Step 4  runs 5 feet long, by 1 foot wide by 1 foot deep. You dig that out with a square-headed shovel (made for digging trenches!) and put the dirt into a wheelbarrow or whatever. Next you add 1 inch of compost to the trench and, using a 4 or 5 tined pitchfork, turn the soil in the bottom of the trench to a depth of 12 inches or the depth of the pitchfork, whichever is shallower.

Tired yet?  : )  Wait, there's more!  You take a step back and dig another 5x1x1 foot trench, shoveling the dirt on top of the first trench.  The trick here is to keep the soil from falling back into your new trench, so expect to pile it up high. Now you put another 1 inch of compost in the new trench and turn that in.

Keep going until you drop dead.

I tried this last weekend on a 10 foot x 4 foot bed that was tilled last year to a depth of probably 18". The soil wasn't too bad. Not compacted really.  I progressed at the rate of 5 feet per hour. Granted I ran 8 miles through Forest Park that very morning and yes I did have 3 or 4 Margaritas at Grandma Shirley's house (they  were weak ones. It was Easter brunch). Still, this is real digging so best be prepared.

I plan to Complete Texturize the remaining 300 square feet of garden this spring. That's about another 10-12 hours of digging maybe. Depends on how many Grandma Shirley drinks I knock back first!

4th: Bulgarian Carrot Chilis

April 27, 2011

The first Bulgarian Carrot Chili seeds germinated last night. So the final germination calendar looks like this:

• April 12 - Initial seed tray setup and planting
• April 16 - Moved seedlings indoors to assure 70+ degree environment
• April 22 - New Mexico 64 Long peppers first germinate (10 days)
• April 24 - Jalapeno Peppers first germination (12 Days)
• April 26 - Big Jim Peppers first germination (14 Days)
• April 27 - Bulgarian Carrot first germination (15 days)

BTW > It should be noted that the last frost of Spring 2011 appears to be April 19.  I am using the last frost date as a milestone for scheduling my garden this year.  For instance, even though I missed the starting gun for starting my seedlings for spring/early summer planting, I am right on schedule for starting cucumbers, watermelons, and basil.

Big Jim is Third

April 26, 2011

And coming in third are the Big Jim Chili Peppers.  I saw the first sign of germination today after work.

• April 12 - Initial seed tray setup and planting
• April 16 - Moved seedlings indoors to assure 70+ degree environment
• April 22 - New Mexico 64 Long peppers first germinate (10 days)
• April 24 - Jalapeno Peppers first germination (12 Days)
• April 26 - Big Jim Peppers first germination (14 Days)

Very good. One thing I have noticed while trying to regulate the temperature: Maintaining the water level in the bottom of the seedtray helps keep the temperature up. I'm thinking that it is easier for the heating pad to keep the water bath at temp which in turn keeps the soil at temp as compared to the heating pad trying to keep the soil temp up through a half inch air pocket.

GROW BIOINTENSIVE

April 25, 2011

I am geeking on a new gardening book I was gifted this winter:  "How to Grow More Vegetables".  The title sounds innocuous enough, but the agenda of the book is really about building soil in order to maximize the output of the home gardener.

This book might be the most pragmatic reference I have ever read on gardening. It contains a wealth of information that is new to me.  My step-mother, Nancy, gave me this book and it is a GOLD MINE. I am so impressed with it I am adopting its methods this year. My faith is justified, I think, because the advice boils down to effort: How much effort to expend on preparing beds, to plan, to compost, and to record. Frankly, when a book tries to sell me great results with minimal effort I run away from the snake oil salesmen.

The GROW BIOINTENSIVE method is adovated by Ecology Action. They have some very real-world concerns about the current state of the worlds farmable land:

• Because of population growth, pollution of water sources, and greater use of water for industry, by 2050 each person on the Earth will have only 25% of the water that was available in 1950. Current agricultural practices use 80% of the Earth’s available water.
• There may be as little as 40 years of farmable soil remaining globally. For every pound of food eaten, 6 to 24 pounds of soil are lost due to water and wind erosion, as the result of agricultural practices,
• 95% of the seed varieties ever grown in agriculture are now virtually extinct. Much of this is due to the growing of relatively few crops, and the frequent use of hybrid seeds for the crops that are grown. Seeds that are no longer used soon lose their viability and are rarely available.
• Global warming may cut agricultural production in half within as little as 20 years. In February, 2004, the Observer in the United Kingdom reported that climate change is a greater threat to the world than terrorism.
• With supplies of petroleum and natural gas running out, conventional agriculture—heavily dependent on these resources—will become more expensive, raising food prices accordingly. As natural gas to make inexpensive nitrogen fertilizer is depleted, it may take significantly more land to grow the same amount of food, when conventional agricultural practices are used.
• The number of farmers globally keeps decreasing. In the US, only 2/5 of 1% of the population now farm. Many people would like to farm but are unable to afford the land and equipment current wisdom says is necessary for a farm to be economically viable. Other farmers have been forced off their land due to heavy competition from globalization and subsidized food. As farmers go out of business, their skills—often passed down through millennia—are also lost to the world. Once thriving communities that served rural populations deteriorate and die as farmers leave.

The main points of the GROW BIOINTENSIVE method focus on:

• Double-Dug, Raised Beds
• Composting
• Intensive Planting
• Companion Planting
• Carbon Farming
• Calorie Farming
• The Use of Open-Pollinated Seeds
• A Whole-System Farming Method

So I am in Stage 1: Double-digging my beds. Its alot of work. But my labor is free. In short, the method means that a first-time bed preparation involves mixing 1 inch of compost into the top 12" of soil and mixing another 12" of compost into the 12"-24" of topsoil. How do you do that? Well, that's for the next post where I will scan a page or two from the book and show the method. The bottom line is that you sweat.

Next up: Jalapenos. Planted lettuce and spinach

I saw yesterday that my Jalepenos started germinating. These are the second of 4 chili pepper sets to start germinating. The New Mexico 64 Longs are nearly all up now. Hopefully I'll see alot more action soon from the Big Jim's and Hungarian Carrot Chilis. The idea is to germinate the seeds and keep them in the seed trays until they are about 3-4 inches tall, then transplant them into 4" starter pots.

I scored free 4" pots at Portland Nursery yesterday. Turns out they have a recycling center in their East parking lot and they don't mind customers rifling through the bins to find and take home pots.  I have done this a few times when looking for accessory pots for various reasons.

I also did some reasonably good gardening this weekend:

• Double-dug a 5 foot bed for a new set of Boysenberries
• Double-dug a 6 foot bed at the house and planted lettuce and spinach
• Purchased 2 Columnar apple trees, lettuce, spinach, four Blueberries, and four Boysenberries

First Germination

April 22, 2011

The first seedlings came up Thursday. The New Mexico 64 Long's sprouted 2 seeds. Nice. I planted the seeds on April 12, 9 days ago.  I expected 10-14 days, so this is right in line.  The soil appeared to be overly wet under the plastic so I removed it. I needed to once the seeds germinated anyway.  It caused the soil temp to drop a little so I changed the heating pad from medium to hot.

Wee little sprouts

Start Seedlings Indoors

April 16, 2011

Well, my seedlings didn't experience a good start.  The setup wasn't working because I couldn't get the soil temperature up to 72 degrees. No heat, no germination. The shop where I had my initial setup has an ambient temperature of about 45-50 degrees. Damn if this isn't a cold spring in Oregon!

So today I moved my setup into my basement. The ambient temperature in that room is about 66 degrees. The temperature came right up to 76 degrees no problem. Also, I heard from Nancy about my initial setup.  Turns out it is not necessary to poke holes in the plastic. There is plenty of oxygen in the soil. She also advised that I move the halogen lights down to about 10 inches above the seed tray. Alrighty then.

4-16-2011 Seed Tray Setup - Soil Temp is 72 degrees

I also brewed beer last week with my work colleague Todd.  Below is a batch of Todd's Pale Ale (left) and a batch of my Bull Run IPA (right) fermenting away. Peppers and beer. Heh. Maybe I'll make chili beer this fall after harvest!

Brew Bro's Pale Ale and Bull Run IPA. Drinkable June 1

Weeds be gone!

April 16, 2011

I have a 400 square foot garden over at Brentwood Communitry Garden.  The garden is managed by the Parks & Rec Department of Portland. For a fee of $75 per year I lease the plot and work the garden.  I helped install the garden last year for it's inaugural season.  The 2010 harvest was okay, but not great. As all Portlanders recall, it was a long, late spring and was cold till mid-July. Just not a great growing climate for warm-season vegetables.

So on to this year.  Today, I visited the garden and found surprisingly few weeds in the garden. Not bad at all.  It  took me about an hour to week out all 400 sq feet. Nice!

Also of note, my 10 foot run of raspberry bushes exploded.  I planted four clumps last spring.  They did okay but didn't bear much fruit. Raspberries are an interesting plant.  First year canes do not bear fruit. So the first year long canes stretch out from the center and then get kinda woody over the off-season.  These woody canes are the fruit-bearing stems of the following year. There are about 20 good first year canes, maybe more.  There are about a hundred 2011 canes coming up.  So I'm off to do a little research and decide how much to thin out my first year canes.

2011 Pepper Seeds started today

Tuesday April 12, 2011

Hah! Finally got my chili seeds planted today.  Nancy Culley gave me 4 seed varieties:

Big Jim organic Chili Pepper
harvested 2010
Premium Chili Pepper!

Jalapeno - organic 
harvested 2010

Bulgarian Carrot Chili
Medium Hot Chili
Seeds from "Totally Tomatoes"
First year trying these

                       New Mexico 6-4 Long                      
organic, harvested in 2010
Good for Roasting or drying. Alittle milder
than Big Jim

To plant, I bought a bag of Seed Mix and a starter tray from 7-Dees. I filled all of the holes in the tray except two with soil. The two holes are for pouring water into the bottom of the tray.  Nancy advises, "Make sure to water from the bottom - just lightly spray the top of the tray - this will encourage the seedlings to develop good deep roots."

Seedling tray

I bought the cheapest thermometer I could find and stuck it in the soil (the left column is not planted). Underneath the tray is my wife Michelle's heating pad and over the top (not shown) is a fluorescent shop light about 2 feet from the tray.  The goal is to germinate the peppers at around 75 degrees.  If the heating pad raises the temp too high I plan to add rails underneath the tray to raise off the heating pad.  Oh yeah, I laid down a sheet of plastic (heating pad underneath) to keep water spray off  my bench.

Tomorrow I will put plastic over the top and poke holes in each box area to let a little air and water in.