There are many movements afoot that are working towards creating a regenerative future. Good opportunities arise to learn more about what people are up to when there are gatherings that bring the diverse strategies of regenerative endeavors together. With so many fronts to focus on to bring us into a more sustainable today it’s hard to keep up on what’s going on sometimes. You can read books, search the Internet and take classes to learn more about becoming a part of the movement to create a more sustainable culture. But how do you sift through all the information to find out what works best? A great way to get more connected is to attend an event that showcases sustainable living. I don’t know about you but I like to learn about things in person and first hand. That’s why this fall there are some gatherings that I will be attending that bring some of these strategies into the same arena.
Sierra Green Day is coming to Murphys, CA on September 21st. It is meant to bring together people that are interested in participating in a sustainable community. This year they finally moved the venue to a place that seems to fit the vibe of the purpose. Murphys park and the Native Sons Hall is a great place to commune with people of all ages. There will be two tracks of educational workshops. One that fits in seamlessly with the mission of a “green” event is the self-reliance and local resilience track. The other is a bit of a stretch with employment and business development track. I see the former as a integral part in a so called green event. However, the business track seems a little bit out of line with the purpose of such an event, perhaps I’m biased a bit and think the whole thing should revolve around self reliance and local resilience. I’m just not sure that all employment and business are “green” and the list of workshops doesn’t really line up with so called “green” living. I look forward to seeing how some of the presenters tie their presentation into green living. I see the importance of such an event in our community so I will be presenting two workshops here this year. The first one I’ll be giving is about how to incorporate permaculture principles into your lifestyle. The second one will be how to make seedballs. If you don’t know what seedballs are I suggest you come to my workshop and Sierra Green Day.
Coming up on October 18th-20th is the 24th annual Bioneers conference. This year the theme is ‘turning vision into action’. Held at the Marin center in San Rafael, CA, it is the premier gathering for people that are dedicated to creating a regenerative culture. Here is their mission “The overarching mission of Bioneers is the advancement of holistic education pertaining to global social, cultural and environmental issues. Bioneers identifies progressive yet nature-honoring solutions to rising challenges of instability, inequality, and unsustainable growth…”. The conference is a space for many people to gather around these issues. Being the premier conference of its type on the planet it showcases leading-edge innovators and their solutions for restoring people and planet. The conference attracts many like-minded individuals and offers a great place for networking. The workshops and plenary talks are inspirational to say the least. I like the way they organize the workshops and plenary talks, their categories include women’s leadership, restorative food systems, youth leadership and an indigenous forum. These are the voices we need to listen to more. I think they have done a great job of giving voice to these issues. I have been to this conference for the last 3 years and I come away feeling inspired and connected every time. I feel at home when I go there, soaking up as much new material that I can and networking with friends and colleagues. One of my favorite parts of Bioneers is the seed exchange. Several local seed companies donate seeds, as well as one of my favorite sources for seed, Tesuque pueblo from New Mexico.
Go check out one or both of these events. Join with others that feel the need to make sustainable changes. Take some of the knowledge you may learn and help spread it around the globe.
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Monday, August 12, 2013
Chop and Drop some of your Crops!
Building soil fertility may be difficult to do without spending quite a bit of money on all kinds of amendments. However, there are several easy ways to build soil without purchasing amendments. If you look at nature, forests, prairies and the like have been slowly building soil for millennia. With a little insight from how soil is built naturally we can speed up the process. If you go to any forest or prairie you can see that the debris that is created by the ecosystem is deposited on the ground and is eventually broken down in to soil by fungi, microorganisms, herbivores, and others. If we take this design strategy into our own system we can design the system to have several different soil building species mixed in with our edible (or useful) perennials. If you have animals in your system you can utilize the fodder from your crops for making nutrient rich manure from your animals. But with or without animals in your system you can speed up soil building processes quite rapidly.
One thing I enjoy doing is chopping and dropping certain plants to mulch and build the soil locally. You can chop and drop plants of all different growing patterns and sizes. The basic concept comes from planting plants that you intend for this purpose and depositing clippings nearby where they were planted. This mimics the natural processes of growth, dieback and deposition of debris on the ground. However we can increase the amount of debris that can turn into soil by choosing species that either dynamically accumulate nutrients or fix nitrogen from the atmosphere. One of the great workhorses is comfrey. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows about 3 feet high and about the same in width. Once it gets this big it is ready to be chopped and dropped. I like to leave a few of the smaller shoots so they grow back quicker. You can do this at least 3 times in a summer. When you mulch the ground with materials like comfrey leaves you can protect the soil from drying out, create more habitats for microorganisms, fungi and other soil creatures, such as earthworms. It can also act as a weed barrier. If your not wanting to mulch a certain area or it’s already mulched well enough, you can utilize your chop and drop materials to make a nutrient rich tea to feed your garden with. Simply add your comfrey to a bucket and cover it with water. Wait about a week, stir it up and dilute this mixture about 1 to 10 and use this homemade fertilizer to boost plant growth.
There are plenty of annuals and perennials that can be utilized similarly to comfrey. At Love Creek Permaculture we harvest the greens from lambsquarters in spring and early summer, but when they bolt (flower) we like to cut the plant at the base and use the tops for mulching. Leaving the roots in the soil will add to the organic matter in the soil, and increase soil fertility. We even utilize the chop and drop method with several different tree species. Deer brush is a common medium to tall shrub that fixes nitrogen from the atmosphere. Cutting branches from these trees can give us materials to chip up or we can just leave them to decompose on the ground nearby. It is important to note that when you cut a branch from a tree, there are corresponding roots in the ground that die back. These dead roots also add organic matter to the soil and increase the soil fertility. Alder trees are also quick growing nitrogen fixers that can be coppiced and a continual supply of branches can be utilized for making woodchips, BBQs, and hugelkultur beds.
The ultimate food forest is designed to have several chop and drop species mixed in with crops that you utilize for food, fuel, medicine, and fodder. Some quick growing tree species can be planted to build soil as your slower maturing fruit and nut trees develop. Over time the quick growing species are chopped and dropped about once a year and eventually can be removed entirely to make room for your maturing trees. But all the while you are also using other dynamic accumulators such as comfrey to add chop and drop materials to the soil within your food forest.
This type of soil stewardship can be fun and is rather quite easy once you get the hang of it. Choosing the species can be more difficult because there isn’t much information on this subject outside of the permaculture community. However comfrey is a great species to start with and is easily found at your local nurseries. From your own observations of how plants grow you can find some chop and drop species that are already in existence on your land. Try it out and see what happens.
One thing I enjoy doing is chopping and dropping certain plants to mulch and build the soil locally. You can chop and drop plants of all different growing patterns and sizes. The basic concept comes from planting plants that you intend for this purpose and depositing clippings nearby where they were planted. This mimics the natural processes of growth, dieback and deposition of debris on the ground. However we can increase the amount of debris that can turn into soil by choosing species that either dynamically accumulate nutrients or fix nitrogen from the atmosphere. One of the great workhorses is comfrey. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows about 3 feet high and about the same in width. Once it gets this big it is ready to be chopped and dropped. I like to leave a few of the smaller shoots so they grow back quicker. You can do this at least 3 times in a summer. When you mulch the ground with materials like comfrey leaves you can protect the soil from drying out, create more habitats for microorganisms, fungi and other soil creatures, such as earthworms. It can also act as a weed barrier. If your not wanting to mulch a certain area or it’s already mulched well enough, you can utilize your chop and drop materials to make a nutrient rich tea to feed your garden with. Simply add your comfrey to a bucket and cover it with water. Wait about a week, stir it up and dilute this mixture about 1 to 10 and use this homemade fertilizer to boost plant growth.
There are plenty of annuals and perennials that can be utilized similarly to comfrey. At Love Creek Permaculture we harvest the greens from lambsquarters in spring and early summer, but when they bolt (flower) we like to cut the plant at the base and use the tops for mulching. Leaving the roots in the soil will add to the organic matter in the soil, and increase soil fertility. We even utilize the chop and drop method with several different tree species. Deer brush is a common medium to tall shrub that fixes nitrogen from the atmosphere. Cutting branches from these trees can give us materials to chip up or we can just leave them to decompose on the ground nearby. It is important to note that when you cut a branch from a tree, there are corresponding roots in the ground that die back. These dead roots also add organic matter to the soil and increase the soil fertility. Alder trees are also quick growing nitrogen fixers that can be coppiced and a continual supply of branches can be utilized for making woodchips, BBQs, and hugelkultur beds.
The ultimate food forest is designed to have several chop and drop species mixed in with crops that you utilize for food, fuel, medicine, and fodder. Some quick growing tree species can be planted to build soil as your slower maturing fruit and nut trees develop. Over time the quick growing species are chopped and dropped about once a year and eventually can be removed entirely to make room for your maturing trees. But all the while you are also using other dynamic accumulators such as comfrey to add chop and drop materials to the soil within your food forest.
This type of soil stewardship can be fun and is rather quite easy once you get the hang of it. Choosing the species can be more difficult because there isn’t much information on this subject outside of the permaculture community. However comfrey is a great species to start with and is easily found at your local nurseries. From your own observations of how plants grow you can find some chop and drop species that are already in existence on your land. Try it out and see what happens.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Get Prepping and Plant Peas!
Well for those that read my article last month here is a continuation of that inspiration. Hopefully you’ve already started thinking about what you want to grow in your garden this year. So now I’m telling you it’s go time.
Time to direct sow peas in the ground. If your ground is frozen solid or buried in snow your just going to have to wait. Just keep an eye on it and the next time it warms up and dries a bit, get it prepped. If your ground is nice and crumbly and you are beginning to see other plants sprout up, chances are you can prepare your beds and start to sow some cold tolerant plants. When I’m talking prepped I mean using a digging fork to loosen the soil, not necessarily turning it but fluffing it. It is better to maintain the soil structure than to churn it up. I have several garden beds that don’t have any frames around them, I’m just working with the earth and shaping it how I like it. I will insert the digging fork as deep as I can go and give it a wiggle to loosen the soil, repeating over the entire space desired. Then I’ll use a garden rake to smooth out the edges and pull them into the bed to make it taller. When you use raised beds of any sort they are able to warm up quicker in the spring allowing our plants to do better when it’s cold out. Raised beds also have increased drainage that can help reduce pathogen outbreaks. I’ll then top dress the whole thing with compost. Now it’s ready for direct sowing. I’ll also start prepping other beds that will take greens transplants in another month or so. Broadcasting seeds is another way to get stuff growing as well. Granted they won’t sprout up in neat little lines but it’s not labor intensive (bonus) and with a little practice you can get a good spacing of seeds throughout the bed. The bonus of starting things outside now is that you will get rainfall to do your watering for you. It rarely dries up during these remaining winter months and early spring. Mustards, arugula, mache, and lettuces are pretty hardy when it gets cold. I have all of those in the ground and covered with garden cloth. Two weeks ago they were buried in some of that snow we call sierra cement. So as the snow melted off I was surprised to see delicious micro greens when I peaked under the cloth. They are patiently waiting for warmer weather to put on some green growth enough for me to begin harvesting. You’d be surprised at how things can still grow when it seems to be so cold out.
Time to direct sow peas in the ground. If your ground is frozen solid or buried in snow your just going to have to wait. Just keep an eye on it and the next time it warms up and dries a bit, get it prepped. If your ground is nice and crumbly and you are beginning to see other plants sprout up, chances are you can prepare your beds and start to sow some cold tolerant plants. When I’m talking prepped I mean using a digging fork to loosen the soil, not necessarily turning it but fluffing it. It is better to maintain the soil structure than to churn it up. I have several garden beds that don’t have any frames around them, I’m just working with the earth and shaping it how I like it. I will insert the digging fork as deep as I can go and give it a wiggle to loosen the soil, repeating over the entire space desired. Then I’ll use a garden rake to smooth out the edges and pull them into the bed to make it taller. When you use raised beds of any sort they are able to warm up quicker in the spring allowing our plants to do better when it’s cold out. Raised beds also have increased drainage that can help reduce pathogen outbreaks. I’ll then top dress the whole thing with compost. Now it’s ready for direct sowing. I’ll also start prepping other beds that will take greens transplants in another month or so. Broadcasting seeds is another way to get stuff growing as well. Granted they won’t sprout up in neat little lines but it’s not labor intensive (bonus) and with a little practice you can get a good spacing of seeds throughout the bed. The bonus of starting things outside now is that you will get rainfall to do your watering for you. It rarely dries up during these remaining winter months and early spring. Mustards, arugula, mache, and lettuces are pretty hardy when it gets cold. I have all of those in the ground and covered with garden cloth. Two weeks ago they were buried in some of that snow we call sierra cement. So as the snow melted off I was surprised to see delicious micro greens when I peaked under the cloth. They are patiently waiting for warmer weather to put on some green growth enough for me to begin harvesting. You’d be surprised at how things can still grow when it seems to be so cold out.
Start thinking about seeds!
If you’re a gardener, it’s once again time to start thinking about what types of crops you want to grow this year. Pull out the garden porn (seed catalogs) and start drooling over all the scrumptious choices. Do you want more than one variety of tomato? Perhaps a big slicing tomato, a medium sized one good for salads and cherry tomatoes for popping in your mouth. There are plenty to choose from. Are there any other fruits or veggies you would like to learn how to grow? Now is the time to start gathering seeds to grow in the coming months and year. Now where does one get good seed? There are some good sources. And is all seed the same? Not really. Think of it this way, all seeds have stories behind them. Some stories better than others, so what story do you want to be a part of? The story of the seed that came from someone’s grandparents that got them from their grandparents? Or do you like the story about the multinational company trying to corner the market with a hybrid variety developed at a University. I prefer the former myself and for good reason. Truth is that this story of seeds and humans began around 12,000 years ago and has undergone a co-evolution between the two. Cultures evolved with diets based on the seeds they had relationships with. Today we are able to mix and match all sorts of fruits and veggies to our own likings. Borrowing food traditions from others and fusing them into our own creations. That is part of the reason that growing our own foods can be so exciting. You can experiment with all sorts of dishes without denting your pocketbook so much. You just have to find the time and space to get growing.
So when I look at my farm/garden porn. I’m only looking at those seed catalogs that I trust and know. I’m choosing to purchase my seeds from companies I know aren’t owned by Monsanto or some other big corporation. Which is becoming increasingly difficult. A company that has integrity to pass down quality seed produced with production practices that I agree with is one I want to support. Organically produced seeds are preferred because they will be more acclimated to organic fertilizers and possibly poor soils. Once I have found a good seed source I am inspired to localize that species and or variety to my own locale by gathering seeds from the plants I grow and growing them out the following season. I have been saving seed for several years now and have certain varieties of squash, beans, tomatoes, lettuce, etc.. The varieties I have saved have worked well on my site and continue to work well. The more generations that seeds are saved from at a particular site or climate the more adapted to the site they become. So after several years of growing Stupice tomatoes on site and saving seed from generation to generation I am developing a Stupice tomatoe that will do better than any other Stupice tomato seed I can purchase.
So why start thinking about seeds now? First off its better to be ahead of yourself than behind. And second because if you want to start your garden from seed many of the crops will need to be started in the next few months to get a good quality harvest. It takes awhile for seed starts to get big enough for transplanting out into the garden. Transplanting robust starts early in the season (weather permitting) can bring you great yields for the growing seasons. You can start your seeds in a sunny windowsill or for those of us lucky enough to have greenhouses we can do it there. If you don’t have a greenhouse or space on a sunny window you can construct simple cold frames that will allow you to start earlier but not quite as early as a greenhouse or a sunny window. It also depends on what you are trying to grow and when. Greens season is coming up and is already here depending on what elevation you live at. Warm season crops definitely need more heat to sprout so simple cold frames might not work for them as early as you’d like. If you don’t have the space to start your own seeds then you will have to rely on some of the local nurseries to get you going on your garden this year. Only purchase the healthiest looking plants if you can’t start your own and are left with no other options.
Any way you choose to get plants to your garden its time to start thinking about what you want where. What will you need to help you grow your garden great this year?
So when I look at my farm/garden porn. I’m only looking at those seed catalogs that I trust and know. I’m choosing to purchase my seeds from companies I know aren’t owned by Monsanto or some other big corporation. Which is becoming increasingly difficult. A company that has integrity to pass down quality seed produced with production practices that I agree with is one I want to support. Organically produced seeds are preferred because they will be more acclimated to organic fertilizers and possibly poor soils. Once I have found a good seed source I am inspired to localize that species and or variety to my own locale by gathering seeds from the plants I grow and growing them out the following season. I have been saving seed for several years now and have certain varieties of squash, beans, tomatoes, lettuce, etc.. The varieties I have saved have worked well on my site and continue to work well. The more generations that seeds are saved from at a particular site or climate the more adapted to the site they become. So after several years of growing Stupice tomatoes on site and saving seed from generation to generation I am developing a Stupice tomatoe that will do better than any other Stupice tomato seed I can purchase.
So why start thinking about seeds now? First off its better to be ahead of yourself than behind. And second because if you want to start your garden from seed many of the crops will need to be started in the next few months to get a good quality harvest. It takes awhile for seed starts to get big enough for transplanting out into the garden. Transplanting robust starts early in the season (weather permitting) can bring you great yields for the growing seasons. You can start your seeds in a sunny windowsill or for those of us lucky enough to have greenhouses we can do it there. If you don’t have a greenhouse or space on a sunny window you can construct simple cold frames that will allow you to start earlier but not quite as early as a greenhouse or a sunny window. It also depends on what you are trying to grow and when. Greens season is coming up and is already here depending on what elevation you live at. Warm season crops definitely need more heat to sprout so simple cold frames might not work for them as early as you’d like. If you don’t have the space to start your own seeds then you will have to rely on some of the local nurseries to get you going on your garden this year. Only purchase the healthiest looking plants if you can’t start your own and are left with no other options.
Any way you choose to get plants to your garden its time to start thinking about what you want where. What will you need to help you grow your garden great this year?
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Grow your own salad!
This article was first published in the May 2012 issue of the Mountain Chronicle
Hey folks, glad to be growing full steam ahead. After last years extended winter it is nice to be full swing into the growing season a little bit earlier than usual. While we are not passed the average last frost date it seems that we have passed that threshold. I could be wrong but I’m taking my chances by planting some frost sensitive plants a bit early. Tomatoes, peppers, beans, corn and potatoes just to name a few. It’s a joy to grow your own food and it’s hard to get anything better than what you pick out of your garden.
This month I would like to inspire you all to grow your own salad, or at least part of it. I recently purchased the book Salad Leaves for All Seasons by Charles Dowding to learn a little bit more about growing salad. I’ve grown my own salad mix for several years and over the years I’ve incorporated more and more into them. The beauty of salad is that there are a lot of things that can go into a salad. So this gives you the option of trialing a bunch of different things and growing what you like. Essentially customizing your salad. The flavors we use in salads come in many different forms from mild and sweet, bitter, mustard or spicy and everything in between. With all of the options available you can refine what you grow according to your palette.
Let’s start with some basics. Lettuce is a great place to start. It comes in many different shapes and colors. It is mostly mild and sweet but can become slightly bitter to really bitter depending on if it has started flowering or if the weather becomes too hot. Lettuce does well in milder seasons. When it is hotter out you can use shade cloth or plant it in shadier areas. You can grow whole heads of lettuce but you can also do a cut and come again harvest for younger leaves and an extended harvest. I prefer the latter method. Other good bases include mustard, Swiss chard, kale, spinach and Malabar spinach. While mustard greens can be spicy mustard greens such as mizuna are more sweet than spicy and have a nice succulent crunch in the stems. They can also be harvested as a cut and come again crop. You can keep cutting the flowering stems back as far as they are tender to prolong the harvest. The yellow flowers add nice color to a salad mix. Mustard greens thrive in cool seasons and will even grow well with intermittent frosts. Kale is a close relative to mustard, which has a sweet and sometimes spicy flavor. It prefers similar growing conditions to mustard, and some varieties do very well in the cold while others usually prefer milder seasons. Baby kale often makes it way into a mix, but you can also use full-grown kale. It’s great in a massaged salad. Spinach likes cooler seasons and will bolt, or flower, when it is hotter out. You can try a cut and come again harvest with it or harvest the whole plant when it is small or big. When the heat is too much for your spinach and lettuce Malabar spinach grows tender and deliciously when it is scorching out and is similar in flavor and texture to spinach. There is a lot more to the basics of a salad and you are just getting the basics here.
Briefly I will delve into other additions that can make a salad great. Herbs offer many different flavors to suite your palette. Basil, cilantro, lovage, mints, oregano, and thyme are just a brief mention of what the world of herbs has to offer your salad. Alliums (onion family) of all sorts are delicious in salads. Chop them back and watch them grow back. There are several flowers that will brighten up a mix and impress your guests. Various violets offer a plethora of colors and have a unique sweet flavor. Calendula petals are bright and glorious in the mix.
As the seasons change so will the flavor of your salad. Who gets spring mix in the fall anyways; I prefer to eat my own fall mix. Whether you’re planting some simple additions to a salad mix that you purchase or growing your whole salad mix you will be filled with a sense of accomplishment as you sit down to eat your fresh harvest.
Hey folks, glad to be growing full steam ahead. After last years extended winter it is nice to be full swing into the growing season a little bit earlier than usual. While we are not passed the average last frost date it seems that we have passed that threshold. I could be wrong but I’m taking my chances by planting some frost sensitive plants a bit early. Tomatoes, peppers, beans, corn and potatoes just to name a few. It’s a joy to grow your own food and it’s hard to get anything better than what you pick out of your garden.
This month I would like to inspire you all to grow your own salad, or at least part of it. I recently purchased the book Salad Leaves for All Seasons by Charles Dowding to learn a little bit more about growing salad. I’ve grown my own salad mix for several years and over the years I’ve incorporated more and more into them. The beauty of salad is that there are a lot of things that can go into a salad. So this gives you the option of trialing a bunch of different things and growing what you like. Essentially customizing your salad. The flavors we use in salads come in many different forms from mild and sweet, bitter, mustard or spicy and everything in between. With all of the options available you can refine what you grow according to your palette.
Let’s start with some basics. Lettuce is a great place to start. It comes in many different shapes and colors. It is mostly mild and sweet but can become slightly bitter to really bitter depending on if it has started flowering or if the weather becomes too hot. Lettuce does well in milder seasons. When it is hotter out you can use shade cloth or plant it in shadier areas. You can grow whole heads of lettuce but you can also do a cut and come again harvest for younger leaves and an extended harvest. I prefer the latter method. Other good bases include mustard, Swiss chard, kale, spinach and Malabar spinach. While mustard greens can be spicy mustard greens such as mizuna are more sweet than spicy and have a nice succulent crunch in the stems. They can also be harvested as a cut and come again crop. You can keep cutting the flowering stems back as far as they are tender to prolong the harvest. The yellow flowers add nice color to a salad mix. Mustard greens thrive in cool seasons and will even grow well with intermittent frosts. Kale is a close relative to mustard, which has a sweet and sometimes spicy flavor. It prefers similar growing conditions to mustard, and some varieties do very well in the cold while others usually prefer milder seasons. Baby kale often makes it way into a mix, but you can also use full-grown kale. It’s great in a massaged salad. Spinach likes cooler seasons and will bolt, or flower, when it is hotter out. You can try a cut and come again harvest with it or harvest the whole plant when it is small or big. When the heat is too much for your spinach and lettuce Malabar spinach grows tender and deliciously when it is scorching out and is similar in flavor and texture to spinach. There is a lot more to the basics of a salad and you are just getting the basics here.
Briefly I will delve into other additions that can make a salad great. Herbs offer many different flavors to suite your palette. Basil, cilantro, lovage, mints, oregano, and thyme are just a brief mention of what the world of herbs has to offer your salad. Alliums (onion family) of all sorts are delicious in salads. Chop them back and watch them grow back. There are several flowers that will brighten up a mix and impress your guests. Various violets offer a plethora of colors and have a unique sweet flavor. Calendula petals are bright and glorious in the mix.
As the seasons change so will the flavor of your salad. Who gets spring mix in the fall anyways; I prefer to eat my own fall mix. Whether you’re planting some simple additions to a salad mix that you purchase or growing your whole salad mix you will be filled with a sense of accomplishment as you sit down to eat your fresh harvest.
Seasons of Abundance
This article was first published in the April 2012 issue of the Mountain Chronicle.
Spring has sprung and is in full swing. Oh wait just one or two more low elevation snowstorms to make sure we think we had winter. So just when you thought summer would be here early, winter decides to make a tardy appearance. Better late than never perhaps? Well it is better for the snow pack of the Sierra. We are up over 50% of annual snow pack and counting. Maybe there will be a rafting season after all. Morel mushrooms might have ample moisture for fruiting. There should be plenty of agricultural water for the central valley farmers. Fire danger won’t be extremely high all summer long. Whew, it was looking scary for a bit there. Are we back to normal? We’ll I’m not sure about that. At least there will be some familiarity and I plan to keep going like there won’t be much change in the seasonal patterns.
So what about seasonal patterns? There is a rhythm in nature that all life on earth has come accustomed to. Weather it be a moisture pattern, a fruiting pattern, a dry pattern or any other pattern you’ve recognized there is a certain frequency that the entities of nature depend upon. Take for instance our own human sustenance coming from the farms that raise them. There is a season for planting and a season for harvesting and then we are fed upon that seasonal pattern. But what if some of the patterns begin to change? If California summers are no longer dry what will that effect? If the winters are no longer cold what will that effect? Well I noticed this year that there was an unseasonable flush of Manzanitae Boletes (Leccinum manzanitae) that was very LARGE. I picked some in the fall and early winter this last year, which is the usual season, but was surprised that there was another major flush this spring. There is something to say about how the conditions were different this year to create such a flush. Exactly what they were is a mystery but change is evident here.
So what to plant now? If you haven’t started already, it's the season to start gardening with this change of seasons. One thing to note while planning your garden is that zones changed on the USDA Zone Hardiness map by about one zone. With a warming trend over the past several decades the hardiness map had to finally be revised this past year and zones are about one zone higher than they were previously. That means that we are seeing an annual average of low temperatures becoming warmer. So you may be able to plant that citrus tree you’ve always wanted or that fig tree or the avocado. This trend may continue so you may want to anticipate even milder winters and warmer summers by establishing perennials that will thrive if the warming trend continues. This may eventually effect our average last frost date too, so we can expect longer growing seasons on the horizon. As far as the annual garden goes you should start just about all of your summer seeds in greenhouses or cold-frames now if you want to have the wonderful experience of seed to harvest. Some can be started after the chance of frost directly in the ground, such as beans and squash, but others should be planted much sooner for a quality harvest. If you don’t have the option of starting seeds early indoors there are many places to purchase vegetable starts locally. There is still the possibility of a frost that would kill frost sensitive plants such as tomatoes, peppers, squash, melons and several others, they can be planted out but will need protection from the cold to do well or merely survive. However there are several plants that may be planted out sooner than the last frost date that are frost tolerant. I’ve been planting peas since February at 4000 feet in elevation and will continue for about 3 more weeks. All sorts of greens do well with occasional frost. My scallions have been growing profusely in the past couple of weeks even though we keep getting snowed upon at this elevation. Several types of kales and mustard greens are providing fresh mineral rich greens before they flower. Even the florets are edible and they can be continually chopped back to satisfy your appetite. Giving their last hurrah before younger plats get planted to take their place. Fruit trees are waking up to provide nectar for bees as we eagerly await the first fresh fruits of the season. Those of us fungophiles are beginning to see some delectable edible mushrooms pop up in our forests and at our favorite restaurants. A fresh spring mix salad offers an array of textures and flavors that is unique to the season.
We are beginning to see some of the fresh bounty of the coming growing season in our own gardens, at grocers and restaurants. Don’t miss the experience of partaking in this classic dance with seasonal food. When you eat these seasonal treats in their local season the experience is much more meaningful. When you reserve your fresh tomato eating to only those that are vine ripened locally it’s hard to go back. You also become more aware of the seasonal patterns that we are amongst every day. Won’t you take this dance with what this season has to offer?
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Winter Plant Profile and Greenhouse Growing
Winter plant profile and Greenhouse Growing
This article was first published in the March 2012 issue of the Mountain Chronicle
Greetings folks! Spring is just around the corner even though winter never really arrived. On the tail end of what they usually call winter I’ll bring you the winter plant profile and I’ll talk about a greenhouse project I recently finished.
Last summer I began offering seasonal plant profiles, highlighting edible perennials that are either planted, grown or are harvested during the current season. The summer plant profile was Sunchokes and the fall plant profile was artichokes. Now I’ll give you the rundown on rhubarb (Rheum x cultorum). Strawberry rhubarb pie is a classic that tastes better with fresh strawberries and rhubarb from your own garden. Rhubarb is also included in many savory dishes and adds a unique flavor. According to Dave Jacke, in his book Edible Forest Gardens vol. II, rhubarb has excellent leaf stalks and is an excellent medicinal which acts as a tonic and also holds antibacterial properties, acts as a purgative, stimulates bile and pancreas secretions and has several other benefits. It’s important to note that the leaves and roots are poisonous due to the high amounts of oxalic acid. Late winter and early spring is the time to plant bare root rhubarb, available at your local nursery. You can also start rhubarb from seed, but don’t expect it to be productive for several years. My rhubarb plants are beginning to emerge and are offering some of the first splashes of color on the landscape. Their beautiful young leaves emerge with yellows, greens and reds and signal the coming of spring and warmer weather. One great benefit to rhubarb is that it is deer resistant. The poisonous leaves won’t get browsed and the plants thrive where others get mowed to the ground. You can plant it in full sun or partial shade and they are happy in moist to somewhat dry soils. Rhubarb can come in variations of colors from green, yellow, red depending on the cultivar. Once rhubarb is established they are very productive. Plants should be divided, as they get older so the crowns don’t crowd each other.
I just recently finished putting a greenhouse together near Angels Camp. There are two purposes. The first is to raise vegetable starts to plant out this spring, summer, and fall. The other is to house about 100 shitake logs. The humidity in California is a little low for outdoor commercial mushroom cultivation. So we thought that if we grew the mushrooms inside of a greenhouse we could create a better environment for them. After looking at several prefabricated hoop frames and other greenhouse kits we decided to put together our own PVC hoop house. So two of us set out to put together this inexpensive and easy to construct greenhouse. With a quick search on the web we saw that there were a lot of people that described their process online. We checked out what we liked and didn’t like about each particular design and went full steam ahead. We squared out a 12’ x 28’ footprint.
Every 4 feet we pounded a 3’ piece of rebar halfway into the ground. For those that want to build one where there is a snow load 2’ spans will work. Once we got both sides finished we stuck 20’ x 1” PVC on the rebar, bending them to slide on the rebar at both ends. We put a purlin on each side to make it one unit and to attach the plastic to. The north side has a baseboard at the bottom to attach to the plastic to. Now we had a tunnel to put some greenhouse plastic on. We created some simple framing to put doors in on each end and the plastic was ready to go. Rather than staple right into the greenhouse plastic we screwed pieces of wood into the purlins, the baseboard, and the framed ends to pin the plastic in place. After all said and done the greenhouse cost less than $500 in parts. A smaller one for a backyard gardener would cost significantly less. A 28-foot long greenhouse is fairly large. There is plenty enough room for starting seedlings to plant out on a small farm. We’re hoping to be able to put the mushroom logs underneath seedling tray tables to save and utilize more space inside.
Greenhouse gardening is fun and productive. Cold and sunny winter days can be hot humid and tropical inside of a greenhouse. I know having three on site at Love Creek Permaculture is a blessing and we are able to accomplish a lot more with them. Without a greenhouse I wouldn’t have tomatoes both fruiting and seedlings just emerging. I wouldn’t be able to have pepper seedlings or giant pepper plants with ripening red fruit on them. I am getting hooked on greenhouse growing and wonder what I could do with a very large greenhouse…. I have some ideas.
This article was first published in the March 2012 issue of the Mountain Chronicle
Greetings folks! Spring is just around the corner even though winter never really arrived. On the tail end of what they usually call winter I’ll bring you the winter plant profile and I’ll talk about a greenhouse project I recently finished.
Last summer I began offering seasonal plant profiles, highlighting edible perennials that are either planted, grown or are harvested during the current season. The summer plant profile was Sunchokes and the fall plant profile was artichokes. Now I’ll give you the rundown on rhubarb (Rheum x cultorum). Strawberry rhubarb pie is a classic that tastes better with fresh strawberries and rhubarb from your own garden. Rhubarb is also included in many savory dishes and adds a unique flavor. According to Dave Jacke, in his book Edible Forest Gardens vol. II, rhubarb has excellent leaf stalks and is an excellent medicinal which acts as a tonic and also holds antibacterial properties, acts as a purgative, stimulates bile and pancreas secretions and has several other benefits. It’s important to note that the leaves and roots are poisonous due to the high amounts of oxalic acid. Late winter and early spring is the time to plant bare root rhubarb, available at your local nursery. You can also start rhubarb from seed, but don’t expect it to be productive for several years. My rhubarb plants are beginning to emerge and are offering some of the first splashes of color on the landscape. Their beautiful young leaves emerge with yellows, greens and reds and signal the coming of spring and warmer weather. One great benefit to rhubarb is that it is deer resistant. The poisonous leaves won’t get browsed and the plants thrive where others get mowed to the ground. You can plant it in full sun or partial shade and they are happy in moist to somewhat dry soils. Rhubarb can come in variations of colors from green, yellow, red depending on the cultivar. Once rhubarb is established they are very productive. Plants should be divided, as they get older so the crowns don’t crowd each other.
I just recently finished putting a greenhouse together near Angels Camp. There are two purposes. The first is to raise vegetable starts to plant out this spring, summer, and fall. The other is to house about 100 shitake logs. The humidity in California is a little low for outdoor commercial mushroom cultivation. So we thought that if we grew the mushrooms inside of a greenhouse we could create a better environment for them. After looking at several prefabricated hoop frames and other greenhouse kits we decided to put together our own PVC hoop house. So two of us set out to put together this inexpensive and easy to construct greenhouse. With a quick search on the web we saw that there were a lot of people that described their process online. We checked out what we liked and didn’t like about each particular design and went full steam ahead. We squared out a 12’ x 28’ footprint.
Every 4 feet we pounded a 3’ piece of rebar halfway into the ground. For those that want to build one where there is a snow load 2’ spans will work. Once we got both sides finished we stuck 20’ x 1” PVC on the rebar, bending them to slide on the rebar at both ends. We put a purlin on each side to make it one unit and to attach the plastic to. The north side has a baseboard at the bottom to attach to the plastic to. Now we had a tunnel to put some greenhouse plastic on. We created some simple framing to put doors in on each end and the plastic was ready to go. Rather than staple right into the greenhouse plastic we screwed pieces of wood into the purlins, the baseboard, and the framed ends to pin the plastic in place. After all said and done the greenhouse cost less than $500 in parts. A smaller one for a backyard gardener would cost significantly less. A 28-foot long greenhouse is fairly large. There is plenty enough room for starting seedlings to plant out on a small farm. We’re hoping to be able to put the mushroom logs underneath seedling tray tables to save and utilize more space inside.
Greenhouse gardening is fun and productive. Cold and sunny winter days can be hot humid and tropical inside of a greenhouse. I know having three on site at Love Creek Permaculture is a blessing and we are able to accomplish a lot more with them. Without a greenhouse I wouldn’t have tomatoes both fruiting and seedlings just emerging. I wouldn’t be able to have pepper seedlings or giant pepper plants with ripening red fruit on them. I am getting hooked on greenhouse growing and wonder what I could do with a very large greenhouse…. I have some ideas.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)