Future challenges

It would seem that the coming climate change will make the dismally wet summers I've notice the last couple years even more pervasive. And while I seem to have gotten a handle on insect issues recently, other forces have taken note and decided to fill the misery void. Namely fungus.

With wetness comes fungal infection, most noteably, the mildew twins (powdery and downy). I also noticed some scab previously on the leaves of my apple tree. Thus I have the following considerations when proceeding with next year's plan.

Physical: The current height of my raised beds is about 6 inches. This puts the garden foliage only minimally higher than the surrounding environment. In an effort to lower the relative humidity I will raise the bed surface another 6 inches. Hopefully this will have a tangible effect on the micro climate of the soil.
Second, any vining plant will be grown vertically. Rampant overlapping foliage proved a haven for fungal infection.

Plant selection: Despite its success at bringing squash pests to a minimal level, nasturtium grows rampantly and contributes to the overfoliated conditions above. In the future I may switch to a dwarf variety or reduce its use.
Best efforts will be made to find open pollinated cultivars with desired resistances. I have noticed that the waltham butternut variety of squash did not succumb to PM despite living in contact with infected delicata squash. Purely anectdotal of course but worth noting.

Human intervention: Despite my desire to create a homeostatic balance and let nature take care of the problem, it may become necessary to spray. I will only explore the use of compounds which can be easily and safely produced at home in keeping with my ethos of limited dependence on external system inputs. I tried a milk spray this year with only limited success, and next year will attempt to more closely follow the proceedures outlined in the study. Humans created the climate crisis and its side effects, so I guess I needn't worry too much that a little human intervention may be required. Attra has a publication about the use of compost tea as a possible deterent of late blight in potatoes. Given the close relation between potatoes and tomatoes I don't see a reason why the resistance might not be effective there as well.

If anyone wants to share their fungal woes please feel free.

In the ground

Well yesterday evening, the spinach, lettuce, peas, broccoli, radishes and beets went in the ground. And of course there was a light frost this morning, but nothing seemed to be really bothered by it. This evening I'm starting the tomato plants for my dad's house, planting some podding radishes and flax outdoors, cutting the potatoes into smaller chunks, and approaching my wife about a spot I think would be perfect for another garden bed. Its worth a shot right?

Out and about in the yard I noticed lemon balm, bee balm, chives, mint, and wormwood poking up out of the ground. The buds on the ornamental cherry are swelling, the lilacs are getting ready to leaf out. I've got about 4 1-year-old blackberry primocanes that are budding and 3 coming up out of the ground. The berry yield will still be small but much better than the 7 berries I got last year.

Practice in practice pt 1d...enough already!

This last bed group sums up my rotation plans I'll be testing the limits of earliness, but I have blocked together what historically has been finished around the same time (peas, staggered radish plantings, and lettuce) knowing that when they come out first, they can be replaced by the curcubits which need more of a head start, and then when the second part of the early planting (beets, onions, broccoli) come out the more vigorous, "lets take over this place" curcurbits don't dominate the scene.

Nasturtiums of course being what I think much of last years surviving curcurbits owe their life to. The bugs pretty much left the squash and cukes alone because of them (the increased wasp population probably helped matters as well.)

So thats it, in terms of years, the beds follow the 1,2,3,4 numbering. I'm wary about having short periods between solanacea crops, but time will tell. I really should have 6 beds.

Practice in Practice pt 1c

Here it is, bed number 3. Pretty simple. Two things will depend on its sucess, the ability to get the spuds in early, and immediately replace the first of the potatoes which will be harvested "new" with the shelling beans. The potatoes for storage, even though they are coming out more than a week later, should still be out in time for a decent green bean crop...should be.

By the way, with the exception of onion sets and a couple odds and ends I have my seed orders in. Given the rise in demand I thought it best to start early and make sure I get the types I want.

parctice in practice pt.1b

Ok, bed module 1 is out of the way...onward.


Remember that the first module included some pretty hungry feeders, so other than the dowsing of compost in between, the first crop to follow is primarily a recharger, and opportunity to produce enough peas at a time to make for a good amount of stored (frozen) peas.

Following that (mid may hopefully) in goes the corn, beans for soups, and Cosmos. I haven't seen anything about Cosmos in a companion relationship other than as an attractant, but Jeavons recommended it with corn so I'll take his word for it. In addition, they look great and it goes with another part of this year's plan: grow some manner of flower along side the food crops.

Its my way of acknowledging to some of the other members of the family that I know this isn't your favorite thing in the world. Thank you.

Putting Practice into Practice

In keeping with last year's Theory and Practice series of posts I took what Jeavons had written and tried it in my particular spot of land. Results varied but I think the overall principles I learned are sound. I decided to once again document my plan for all the world to see, and lay out the results.

I tried to follow the sample layout as closely as possible, this time I have taken my favorites, added a few newbies and come up with a list, arranging them by companion guidelines at a spacing density as recommended in "How to grow..." The entire list does not exist in any one place, but in planning I came upon a theory of my own...or at least a method. Rob over at Onestraw described a great rotation system based on keeping plant families together using a six bed rotation model. I don't have the kind of space he does, so my beds have to be more diverse, but that doesn't mean it can't follow the same kind of orderly system.

As discussed in the previous post, nutrient cycling based on plant rotation is not much of a concern. Like a lot of people by now I dump compost on the bed wherever and whenever possible. I'm a firm believer. Crop rotation will be to satisfy disease avoidance. That being said I get considerably more freedom to plan and plant what I choose (within reason).

Therefore I've divided my plans into "Bed Modules," groups of plants with known complimentary properties and seasonal requirements. As it stands I believe I have four beds planned. Currently I have been alloted two officially, and two unofficially. Were I to have six I could put comfrey and other compost crops in rotation. Back to the modules. Each one has its own specific single year succession and place in the overall rotation.

Since I've already written quite a bit I'll just introduce one bed module. This one is probably the simplest as it goes pretty much unchanged throughout the season, until the middle zone gets replaced in the fall by something else. The onions (leeks actually) and carrots go in the ground first to get a head start. As things warm up, the tomatoes and peppers go in before the petunias which will try to take of the place if not kept in check. Note that orientation matters with north being at the top of the diagram.

So thats bed module #1

Rotation Roundup

A question for those in the know. When planning crop rotations, which matters more, time or # of crops in the interval.

Say for instance I use the same spot of land for more than one crop in a year, does simply having "x" number of different crops on that spot count? Or should I wait the recommended number of years? Growing say cabbage crops in a spot in spring of this year, then in the fall of next year. Assuming two-three crops per spot per year, it technically means 3 crops have been grown between cabbage plantings.

I suspect that there may be two separate issues involved, one of soil recharge which would be satisfied by a required number and type of crop in between, and a whole other matter altogether of diseases which I am guessing probably need the time between crops.

Am I off base?

I hate resolutions

because nobody (nobody I know at least) ends up keeping them.

so rather than resolve to do anything,

I'll lay out my to do list for the year

1.) sunroom Nary a hole has been dug nor post been laid, but I'm exhausted already. After going back and forth with the zoning board, we are shaving a foot off the front and pressing forward. No date yet from the builder, but they expect all their ducks will be in a row by the end of the month. Should leave plenty of time to get the seedlings going.

2.) trees, a veritably orchard will overtake the front lawn, but first, the old emaciated monster needs to come down. I've been begrudgingly picking up its dropping branches for 3 years now, I just needed a reason.

3.) third bed, I need to expand the garden, and I've no where else to dig but a spot in the perennial area, where the sunflowers sat last year. I'm planning out the layout and rotation schedule, and will post that soon.

4.) And even if I don't actually build the house portion of it, I'll be redoing the wooden boarder of the two main garden beds to fit the floorplan of a hoophouse I would like to put there eventually.


So far the seed catalog count is up to six. I've got my tomato order back (I'll be growing a different strain of brandywine than last year, a Cherokee purple, an a fistful of Amish paste in the hopes of making my own sauce. We're planning our trip to the nursery in early May for the trees. But I've still got a lot of ordering to do for this year.

Theory and Practice: a map after the fact

I actually intended to do something like this when I first started, but I think its more relevant now that I have changed from the original plan.

Here is how things started, by the book, and I am intentionally leaving the exact square footages of the crops out. If you want those numbers, buy the book.

(click for a larger view)

Then phase two came along and This is essentially how things stand now.


So thats where I am at now, and you can kind of see with the late summer crops where things will be this winter. If all goes according to plan, the remaining warm weather crops in the lower bed will get swapped out with cold weather veggies to overwinter, before the cycle starts again with minor changes (most notably a change of bed locations).

My new goal is to come up with a reliable rotational system that keeps each plot continually productive. It is going to be an evolutionary process to achieve a real sense of flow with the seasons. And of course ideally I'd like to add another bed or two into the rotation.

What is that lovely scent?

Ok, its official, I've gotten the reputation at the office as the "garden guy." A recent transplant* to our are was asking about growing tomatos. Something she had done in her home further south. She was complaining about the work required with weeding, and after finding out she leaves* them spaced thinly and in bare soil, offered some advice to at least cut down on the ability of the weeds to compete. She also mentioned her love of "that tomato smell" going so far as to rub a stem or two between her fingers so she has it with her when she leaves the garden.

THATS my kind of perfume!



*Dear God I can't stop with the puns today! Make me stop! someone! anyone! make it stop!

Ask and ye shall recieve

No sooner did I pose the same connundrum in Onestraw's blog post than I recieved a quick and helpful response from Mr. Straw himself (actually he shares his real name with a poet, which is really cool...but I digress)

I got the answers I needed, in the form of a link to Fedco seeds. How I missed these guys before is beyond me, for some reason they didn't show up in any searches, unless I actually looked for "Fedco Seed" Bottom line: fantastic selection, I was able to find everything on my list I still had remaining, like 70 and 90 day corn, potatoes, onion sets, early cabbage.

And as if that wasn't enough, last night I stumbled upon my wife thumbing through our new (well, new to us) copy of Gaia's Graden. She handed it to me with the section on keyhole gardens open and said, lets do this instead. I was floored, despite her professed lack of artistic capability, she has a finely tuned eye for the asthetic, it makes itself know in demands for symetry and order. I was able to manage a concession for the herb and perennial area so that I could maintain a more wild feel, but I would have never guessed she would be inclined to abandon the orderly rectangular "banks" of raised beds for keyhole mounds. I'm stoked. Now I have to get out the graph paper and the compass and come up with square footage estimates...and retool the layout in the Jeavons book.