Warmth combined with enough rain made planting tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers a joy -and they all took off - BUT - and their is always a BUT - the droughty 3 weeks that followed ended up in bitsy eggplants that got nailed by flea beetles and tiny pepper plants that have managed to produce but not much and small fruits - sometimes you can never catch up with a bad start.

Corn was probelmatic again this year - mostly due to the same droughty conditions but I did get some ears for the dinner table!  Winter squash suffered too - mostly from a squash vine borer attack but there are a few spaghetti squash and pie pumpkins - small though they are.

On the bright side - a spectacular tomato harvest - it looks like late blight may be attacking again but we've put up so much sauce and eaten so many fresh tomatoes that I'm not caring that much if the season is cut a wee bit short.  Garlic, as always, was a great harvest and the best onions from this year's planting were the ones I started from seed.  So, cheaper and more productive - yeah -planting from seed from now on.

Potatoes are still coming up -there will be plenty for the winter though they are small again - see aforementined drought during prime growing time.

The star success story this year is the great crop of snap and dry beans - apparently lining the furrow with alfalfa meal is the perfect way to fertilize.  And apparently innoculant is not that important - given that I innoculated the garden beans with soybean innoculant and vice versa.  The soybeans did great too.  So, next year I am saving my money and planting without innnoculant.

Cucumbers did much better this year - but died suddenly after producing a big first flush - but I'm putting up plenty of pickles (misadventures of canning to follow).

Carrots and beets are still sizing up - I plant late now that I don't sell anymore so won't harvest until end of October.  Cabbages are also nice and I've harvested my first ever cauliflower and broccoli this year - so try try again is a good strategy.

Kale and collards went in a little over a week ago - and not really much rain to speak of so no germination yet - that may be another crop failure.

Oats, wheat, and clover for winter cover are going in with varying germination rates - again - lack of rain.

More to come!  And pictures too!

Replete from a Mediterranean themed vegan Easter dinner it's time to chat a bit about the season. 

The farming season is in full swing and there is lots to report.

First, onion seedlings.  I tried an experiment - half of the seeds went into a 50/50 peat and perlite mix.  The other half went into a 40/4-/20 peat/perlite/soil mix.  Hands down the winner was the mix with the soil.  The onions in that flat are doing well - fattening up and will be ready for transplant as soon as the ground is.  The others - well - they didn't make it.

You often hear of the need to start seedlings in a sterile potting mix.  I've tried that for years with less than outstanding results.  What I found with the soil mix is that not only were the plants in that mix more vigourous but more of them germinated. 

Based on that little experiment I have been starting all of my seeds in the 40/40/20 mix.  The lettuces loved it (by the way - Red Sails is an incredibly vigourous not to mention tasty leaf lettuce - it has out stripped everything else I planted). I transplanted the Crisp Mint, Forellenschluss, and Red Sails lettuces into the house garden today.  I'll need to prepare a few more beds before I plant the rest.  I like to keep the lettuces at home - I love going out in the evening and cutting a salad!

The coles - well - a number of them are doing OK but for the second year my Red Express barely germinated - time to switch suppliers I think.

The artichokes got planted but out of 20 or so seeds that I put in only 3 have germinated - I am not expecting great things there. 

Fifteen varieties of tomatoes got planted today - in ascending order of maturity dates.  The remaining fifteen varieties will get planted later this week.  The eggplants and peppers also got seeded this weekend.  All are under lights and on heat mats at 80 degrees.

The coles, lettuces that haven't been transplanted yet, and onions are all living outdoors full time now and loving the abundant sunshine and unseasonably warm weather of the past few weeks.

On the fruit front, all the fruit trees made it through the winter and are leafing out - as are all the raspberry plants.  A bunny chewed down on of the surviving blueberry plants (the lawnmower got one of the others) but the other two look about ready to leaf.  The starw mulch has been removed from the strawberry plants and they are looking vigourous.  I have found two of the three rhubarb plants and one is even leafing out.  I expect the third rhubarb to show up eventually.  Also growing great guns is my sorrel - after years of trying to direct seed I finally started it in trays last year and now have 4 patches growing up - it'll be time for sorrel soup soon!

At the farm, the garlic is up and the soil is working on drying out.  It was close last week but this weeks rain will slow down the process a bit.  I am still hoping to get up there next weekend to plant the spinach and peas - wish me luck!

January 31, 2010

Yes!  It's dirt under the fingernails time again!  The onion seeds have been planted and are now sitting pretty on grow mats under lights.  This is my first time planting onion from seed, I've always bought plants before.  Half went into a 50/50 mix of perlite and peat and half went into a 40/40/20 mix of perlite/peat/farm soil.  We'll see what comes up.  I sure do hope they end up looking as nice as the ones pictured above!

All the seeds are in, minus a few on backorder.  All I have to do now is wait until the time is right to start them.

Went way overboard on tomatoes – no surprise there…but with names like Zapotec Pleated, Orange Strawberry, Purple Smudge, Persimmon, Pink Grapefruit, Martian Giant, Aunt Ruby’s German Green and so on – what’s a tomato junkie to do?

Also trying artichokes this year – there is a variety that can bear in one year – an annual up here in the not always frozen North – unless maybe I can grow one in a big pot and overwinter it, hmm…

So, you know what didn't work for seedlings - well, here is what has worked.

Find some space where you can set up a shelving unit near a sunny south window or glass door.

Plant your seeds in trays that will drain.

Use a thermostatically controlled heat mat set to about 90 degrees for heat loving plants - or heating pads set on low.

Suspend shop lights from the shelving unit (mine has mesh shelves) so that they are just above the seedling trays.  Move the light units up as the seedlings grow.

If you use a potting mix such as peat and perlite (1:1), start fertilizing the seedlings once they're up.  I've tried waiting until the first true leaves but it just seems to delay progress.  Fertilize weekly.

I've used a variety of fertilizer recipes - here is one -

Per gallon of water:

1 tsp each of Synergy, Mineral Matrix, and, Ruby Fulvic, 4 tsp BioGrow, and 1 oz Maxicrop

from time to time I've also added Nature's Nectar nitrogen and potassium according to package directions

I had the healthiest seedlings ever last year - I'm not sure that all the ingredients are absolutely necessary but this year I didn't have the BioGrow or the Maxicrop or the Nature's Nectar potassium and the seedlings did poorly.

Pot up your seedlings to bigger containers as they grow and start getting them outdoors as soon as possible to get direct light.

Take the move slow - seedlings can die of sunburn.  A few minutes twice a day is enough for the first few days - then start increasing the time in the sun.  I usually double the time outdoors each day.  Once they can stay out for an hour they can stay out all day.  If it's cool out let the seedlings stay warm in some sort of greenhouse.  I use a small "Flower House" - a pop-up greenhouse that's about 2 feet tall and fits several seedling trays.

On transplant I most often add a handful of alfalfa meal to the planting hole and wet it down with a fertilizer solution - I'm not convinced it makes a real difference but I've been superstitious about it.  You can try experimenting - if it doesn't really make a difference you can certainly save yourself some money and time!

Now is a good time to start fall crops such as fall cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, and summer lettuces.

From a friend who prefers to remain anonymous...

http://www.pesticidefreebc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=75&Itemid=139

This link is about the Canadian Cosmetic Pesticide Act which...I'm beginning to giggle here....bans the use of glyphosate and others...Round-up and Weed/Feed lawn chemicals in Ontario....lots of giggling....and the soon in the entire country. (I love the word cosmetic in the title!  Spotlights a sort of cocky vanity about "weed" control.)

I have to see the pesticide problem from inside the landscaping industry everyday and despair of this sort of legislation ever happening here but...perhaps there's hope.

The poisons have made everybody apathetic and slovenly about the constant use of the evil stuff for plants in driveway cracks, etc.  The landscaping company I work for routinely sends out Dr. Death to spray sod prior to installing gardens.  I've lost track of the number of times that someone complains about poor seed germination and then answers affirmatively when I ask them if they use Preen/pre-emergent on their garden beds.  Sigh. 

The boss gets a frowny face when I take a weedwacker to the knee high weeds in the nursery, saying that he'll just get the pesticide guy-Dr. Death-to "knock the weeds down because that's more efficient".  He sends out untrained, non english speakers to apply pesticides, Dr Death mixes his poisons and chuckles Oops when he spills them etc etc etc.  And these are "professional" level people.  I'm quite convinced that Dr. Death is a major Rush Limbaugh fan due to neurochemical damage from pesticide exposure.

And always, I have to be careful what I say at work to the general public.  I quote my grandmother...one year's seeds, seven year's seeds, recommend regular weed wacking, heavy mulching, corn gluten pre-emergent and so on.  All too much work compared to Round-up .......grrrrrrrr.   I may move to Ontario....-

The days are growing shorter and the farm season is drifting to a close.  The garlic has finally been planted and tucked under its blanket of hay.  Now all that remains is to finish digging the carrots.

The season was a tough one - too much rain in the spring, hardly any during peak growing season, and way too much rain this October.  The late blight took half of the tomato harvest and neither the corn nor the winter squashes did much. 

But still, Mother Nature without much help from me, turned in an amazing performance. The freezer is stocked with asparagus, spinach, beans, edamame, beets, eggplant, and tomato sauce.  I'm currently freezing pepper and still have more beets to process.  The fridge is stuffed with cabbages, carrots, and leeks.  Garlic, onions, and potatoes are jostling for room in the basement and there are enough spaghetti squash to last through till next harvest - not to mention some beautiful Long Pie pumpkins.

The late planted sunflowers all bloomed before the frost and smiled over the harvest.  The dry beans were a mixed story - the ends of the rows produced a nice fruit set but the middle plants had lots of empty pods.  I'm still puzzling over that one...

I will miss the days on the farm, the dirt under my nails, the sunshine on my back, the birdsong, the rustle of the wind in the tall grasses, the scent of wild daisies, and the delicate flowers of the Queen Anne Lace.  I will miss the bees and dragon flies and toads and frogs.  But the land needs to rest, to gather strength to pour into next year's harvest. 

Still, there is much to look forward to - eating my way through the harvest, the coming crop of seed catalogs, starting seedlings, the whole amazing cycle of life for which I am abundantly grateful.

I stand in awe and reverence as I consider the miracle of life and the kindness of the Earth in providing such bounty. 

A new year and a new season just around the corner.  This year I am ordering my seed early - well earlier than I have in the past and yahoo - only two out of stock items out of all the seed I ordered.  Still have to order the potatoes but then all I have do is sit back and wait for the seeds to show up at my doorstep.

I'm trying a few new things this year - starting onion from seed (and ordering onion plants too - I don't want to get too cocky), going to try annual artichokes, and of course I am on my now annual quest to successfully grow broccoli and cauliflower.

A few of my favorites are no longer carried by my usual suppliers but thank heavens for the internet.  There are a number of small seed houses out there that carry off the beaten track  stuff and I stumbled across a number of intriguing seed varieties while I was tracking down Wadenswiler Kraut cabbage, Brown Golding romaine, and Green Pineapple tomatoes.

New seed sources this year include: Diane's Flowers, Trade Winds Fruit, Garden of Cures, and Wild Garden Seed.  Shawnee is a fan of Southern Exposure seed so check them out too.  This year potatoes will come from Roniger's - a huge selection of organically grown certified seed.

Most seed for this year is coming from Fedco, Johnny's, Abundant Life, Seeds of Change, Baker Creek, Seed Savers Exchange, and Territorial.  I'm repeating a lot of last year's varieties but of course a fell in love with some new varieties of tomatoes and peppers and was not able to resist their siren call.

We are now eating our way through last year's harvest - potatoes, carrots, winter squash and pumpkins, spaghetti squash, sweet and hot peppers, beets, asparagus, home canned pickles, cabbage, homemade sauerkraut, dry beans and snap beans, eggplant, onions, garlic (I love garlic...), tomato sauce - I mean really - how fortunate can one person be?

So, seeds are ordered, I'm eating my way through the winter stock (did I mention how incredibly good the Purple Rain carrots are?  not to mention the White Satin and Amarillo carrots...), listening to my Synister Dane CD (http://www.synisterdane.com/home.html), and plunging head first into political activism.

So, great vegan veggies - great activist musis, and a world to fix!  Yep - life is good.

Love has its price.  That price is grief.  Today we lost our little love, Jeffrey, to kidney failure.  Jeffrey came to us just six short months ago, a rescue from a local shelter.  Jeffrey had been found by police in an abandoned apartment.  He was in horrible shape with badly matted fur and toenails that curled under his paws.  He also had leukemia.

Despite it all, Jeffrey was a happy little guy who loved being petted and hanging around the nearest person.  He loved food and, after wolfing down his own meal, would lurk around his rescue-mate Pumpkin’s bowl as she ate, waiting eagerly to snatch any leftovers.

Jeffrey delighted us with his Bichon “waddle” (if you have ever been privileged to share your life with a Bichon then you will know what I mean).  Even more delightful was his Bichon “run”.  Jeffrey took an ownership interest in the house and always took great care to alert us when there were raccoons hanging about outdoors – going on high alert with his tail high and a bark ferocious enough to scare away the intruders.

Jeffrey graced us with his presence and we are only sorry that he could not spend more time in our home.  He will, however, live on in our hearts.  He was a kind soul, who despite abuse and neglect, learned to love and trust again.

Jeff – thank you for your lessons in love and for the joy and laughter you brought into our lives.  We miss you, buddy.  We will always hold you close in our hearts.

November 19, 2009

Today I joined nearly 100 climate activists and testified at an EPA hearing in Chicago support of what is commonly known as the "Big Polluters" rule - the EPA's first step in controlling greenhouse gas emissions.  Below is the text of my testimony and a link to follow that you can use to register your support of the rule during the public comment period. 

Please take action today - we do not have a moment to lose.