June 20, 2010

The first photo, taken June 20, 2010, shows some decent sprouting, particularly of beets in the bottom left. The snapdragons have buds but no flowers, and the snow peas are making headway up the mesh on The Teepee at the back of the plot.

The second photo, taken just under 3 weeks later on July 9, 2010, shows a fabulous burst of growth and colour, thanks to our finally having received some steady sunshine. Hurrah!

July 9, 2010

• The snow peas have begun their happy ascent up the “teepee” (back right).
• Two different kinds of beets have sprouted and are flourishing thus far, largely because slugs do not appear to like them — they are in good company (bottom left).
• The carrots have sprouted (spot them front middle-ish).
• The poor, sad garlic has been denuded of it’s leaves and rust has taken over the remaining stalks. Scapes are in evidence (see if you can find them, mid-plot left side; use top photo showing healthy garlic as guide).
• The kohlrabi, two rows next to the beets, has not made an appearance. Not a single little sprout. Okay, no great loss.
• The dwarf tomato (front centre of plot where the kohlrabi was planted) appears none the worse for wear despite having been transplanted twice, however, it’s not thriving either. It may be hesitating to set down roots for fear of being roused once more, poor thing. I made an unfortunate choice — or two — of locations, both of which ended up being too shady. Note to self!
• Only a couple of the bush beans I seeded popped out and all of them are looking pretty sickly. Near as I can figure, it’s a mix of slugs and aphids, but I’ve caught only a few of each in the act.
• The two red cabbages I swapped with my neighbours D&D for 3 cauliflower are taking nicely to being transplanted.
• The spinach is just beginning to show itself (next to the rusty garlic).
• One kind of kale I seeded is happily growing away, while another kind is less enthusiastic about it’s emergence into daylight (here and there).  We’ll have to keep an eye on that.

And last but not least:

• The sprouted brassicas I bought and added are taking hold nicely: 3 Brussels sprouts, 3 broccoli and 2 cauliflower (mixed throughout).

Now if we could just get some sunshine instead of continuous clouds, cold and rain, we might see some real action!

You have a mere 2 weeks to submit your best farming/gardening photos in the Home Grown! Photo Contest hosted by FarmFolk/CityFolk Society and the Museum of Vancouver. Your entry gives you a chance to win the grand prize of $500 worth of BC Farmers Markets products, your photo included in the upcoming Home Grown! art exhibition, as well as tickets to the Opening Party.

The Home Grown! exhibition opens August 26, 2010 and  features international award-winning photographer Brian Harris. (Thankfully, you won’t be competing with him. Instead, contest winning photos will be judged separately and may be exhibited alongside his.)

For the past 3 years  Brian Harris has focused his camera on local sustainable farming and Vancouver’s urban agriculture scene. The 40 images on display at the Home Grown! exhibition  will portray local farms, farmers and urban growers with Brian’s characteristic hopeful and intimate cultural style of portraiture.

Learn more about the contest, check out the photos submitted thus far (not many so you still have a chance!) and enter today. Then be sure to attend the Home Grown! exhibition and be inspired by what many local farmers, urban growers and locavores are doing to return our society to a more sustainable and healthy relationship with our earth and food.

The Vancouver Community Agriculture Network in collaboration with the Environmental Youth Alliance have compiled a handy dandy guide to help you get started. It covers everything from tips on finding appropriate land and getting organized, to planning the space and sourcing resources.

There’s lots of information for even the most beginner gardener, and a few tips that even veterans may appreciate.

Garlic rust fungus, close up

In further pest and pestilence news from the community garden, my garlic has developed a nasty rust fungus problem.  And mine is by  no means the only affected plot, thanks to a miserably cold and wet April and May. And June.

Thank heavens for our garden Education Committee of One who knew what it was and tenaciously spent time researching how to deal with it.

Notes-to-self if you are encountering this issue:

• The fungus can spread to leeks and onions also, but not other types of plants
• Caused by excess rain and lack of light and/or soil inadequacies
• Possible solutions: Create sprays with either baking soda, milk, neem oil (huh?) or chamomile tea (see recipes below)
• Cut off the leaves then dispose of them (NOT in your compost bin, people!) to ensure the fungus does not spread. Word on the street is, the stalk continues to photosynthesis even if you remove the leaves
• Disinfect your clippers, etc. also to ensure the fungus does not spread from plant to plant (this is serious, folks!)
• The good news is garlic rust does not appear to affect the garlic bulb — I pulled one to test and it looks just fine

Infected garlic, sans leaves

Organic, Rust Fungus Spray Recipes

1. 1 gallon water, 1Tbsp baking soda, 2.5 Tbsp vegetable oil
2. 1Tbsp milk per gallon water
3. 1 tsp neem oil, 1Litre water or chamomile tea

These teas may be more preventative than cures; spray on infected leaves in morning for several days in a row (especially if rain is washing off leaves – the oil helps spray stick to leaf).

I have cut off all the leaves and am trying the baking soda recipe. I have no great hope of eradicating the rust, but I do hope to minimize any further infestation on both mine and my neighbours’ plants.

More on Garlic

If you want additional general info about garlic such as how and when to harvest and cure it, check out the Garlic Farm website, which I found in my garlic research travels.

They are located in British Columbia (middle of the province at the US border in a town appropriately named Midway), and sell organic garlic seed in Canada and the US. They start taking orders July 2nd on a first come, first serve basis for delivery in September. Get your order in now!

It’s now official, “I’m not here to water” is no longer a legit excuse not to garden. Check out this clever concept and watch the how-to video at Urban Organic Gardener.

I hope more people adopt the Local Delicious philosophy that every little bit counts. Well said, CanarsieBK (a.k.a. Mike Lieberman):

“Most people think that living sustainably and making eco-friendly decisions are difficult and can’t be done. That it’s an all or nothing type game. Through my sites and writing, I want to show you that it’s simple to make these decisions. Some or all of these steps can easily be done in your daily lives without any disruption, and I would like to show you how to do them.” – CanarsieBK/Mike Lieberman

With all of the moisture and cool temperatures we’ve had, slugs are having a field day in the community garden. My plot has not been particularly hard hit relatively speaking, but the slime masters have definitely enjoyed more than their fair share of my pole and bush bean sprouts.

Two weekends ago before I planted my lettuce I spent a couple of hours enduring a Saturday afternoon of misty rain — getting rather damp in the process — on serious slug patrol. They definitely let their guard down in weather that any normal person would know to come indoors from.

In some cases, the slugs were quite effective in blending in and only when I’d crouched still, thoroughly surveying a small area was I able to spot them. There were also some really big, nasty buggers (it’s okay to say that when they are, in fact, bugs).

And I noticed there is a crack between my and my neighbour’s garden plot where some of the larger ones are coming up from the depths. (Hmmm, note to self, bring salt for dropping into crack…)

To Squish or Not to Squish

On the question of preferred method of disposal, we gardeners are of differing opinions. Normally an advocate of non-violence, I chose the cut-’em-in-half method as it seemed the quickest. My mom uses the put-them-in-a-bag suffocation method. When I discussed the relative pros and cons with some of my fellow gardeners, one of them pointed out that at least suffocation is painless (loss of oxygen, falling asleep, dying) vs. the more abrupt, barbaric method I’d chosen. He has a point. Plus there’s less slime and goo to deal with. Aforementioned earlier comment aside, salt seems unusually cruel.

Organic Slug Remedies

With many other plots quite heavily affected there have been many suggestions to deal with slugs. Here are a few favourites, contributed by several garden members (the wisecracks are mine):

• Plant things slugs dislike: Ginger, garlic, mint, chives, red lettuce, red cabbage, sage, sunflower, fennel, foxglove, mint, chicory and endive seem to be less prone to slug attack. (This of course is no help if all you want to eat is tender, delicious lettuce, bok choy, and green beans.)
• Change your watering schedule: Probably one of the best ways to get rid of slugs is to water in the morning instead of the evening. Slugs have very delicate bodies that require a moist environment. They are abundant in the garden because it contains a great source of food and it is usually very moist from watering. (Well, that and we’ve had a very wet year so far.)
• The infamous beer trap: An age-old trick for controlling slugs is to use beer as a trap. Set a small amount of beer in a wide and shallow container or bowl and bury it in your garden soil, level with the ground. Slugs will crawl into the bowl and drown in the beer. (But they die happy. I tried that on a rooftop deck one year, but the slugs didn’t like the brand of beer I used. At least, that’s all I could assume since that trick didn’t work.)
• Copper wiring: Another slug control method is to attach small strips of copper around the sides of flower pots or raised beds. The copper acts as a barrier that slugs won’t cross. Make sure there aren’t any leaves or branches hanging over the side that will allow slugs to bypass the copper. (You can buy copper strips from the gardening store or finally use up that mega jar of pennies you’ve been saving for forever.)
• Lava rock: Lava rock has an abrasive surface that most slugs will avoid. (Haven’t seen any volcanoes nearby…)
• Crushed egg shells: Crushed up egg shells also have sharp edges that slugs will avoid. (I’ve tried this as a cheaper alternative than finding or buying lava rock, and thus far my salad sprouts remain uneaten.)
• Use a caffeine based spray: Spray around infected areas, especially on leaves and soil surrounding any slug delicacies. It is harmless to pets, kids and plants. It works by reducing the mollusc’s appetite; if you catch one near the plant you’ll see it doing a very unnatural u-turn of a twist to get away. (I’m guessing “caffeine based spray” could simply mean “coffee”.)
• Leave the beetles alone: Those large, black iridescent beetles you see in your garden are predators! (Which just proves once again that there is such thing as a good bug.)

And finally, my favourite, a low tech option:

“I’ve always just used a plastic lid from whatever. As long as it doesn’t let through much or any light. The dark moist environment under it is a nice place for a slug to curl up for the day. Then dispose of them as you feel most comfortable, Squish!”

Related Post: Good Bug or Bad Bug

Aside from last year’s garlic, a couple of thriving snap dragons and a pot of assorted flowers, the entire garden was a blank canvas. (The strawberries in boxes along side the plot are from last year and show promise of producing this year, unlike last.)

I decided since I was able to get an early start on the season, I’d try seeding my garden instead of buying sprouts. Last year I got a mid-July start because we’d only just got the plots and soil. In order to get a crop, I bought the last dregs of a nursery’s Brussels sprouts, cabbage and broccoli starts. In the end they flourished, I got a decent crop, and best of all, it actually looked like I  knew my way around a garden.

So on to the planning. Last year I planted rows that ran east/west in the bottom right section of the plot, then realized that because some plants shoot up quickly and others take a while, the late bloomers got left in the shade. This year I planted north/south in an attempt to alleviate that issue.

I also decided to draw up a garden map so I know what’s coming up where. This should enable me to have a better handle on what’s a weed and what’s a “real” plant.

And, I planted bush beans in the general area where winter barley was, in case this helps accommodate their nitrogen needs.

Then, it was water, watch and wait…

Here’s what the plot looked like after I worked in a bit of rich, horse manure, a bag of mushroom manure, and some winter barley bits in late April.

I am, after all, the Bumbling Gardener, so I rely a lot on hearsay from a variety of “experts” as to what I’m supposed to be doing. Someone said I shouldn’t plant right away after blending in manure because it can be too strong (acidic maybe?) and will burn the seeds. It needs to cure a bit. That makes sense, so I blended and let it rest.

Re: the barley…

Over the winter I grew a bit of winter barley in order to “fix the nitrogen.” The way I understand it, there are 2 key things to know: (a) some plants need more nitrogen than others; and (b) some plants taketh and some plants giveth. Winter barley giveth, peas and beans taketh. So I planted the barley where I would plant some beans in spring. I have NO idea if this will help, but you’ll know when I do by how well the beans are doing. Stay tuned.

I decided to blend in the barley plant bits while I was doing the rest of the blending, so it could become compost as it decomposed. You know, circle of life and all that. And maybe it will  “fix the nitrogen” some more, too.

Things I Learned From Blending

Here’s one tip for you to keep in mind if you try it: you can blend in the barley grass bits, but the roots are a tangly clump and you’re better off just to yank them out.

Something else I’ve realized with the blending experience is that I also turned up bits of the coconut coir I laid last year to help with moisture retention. I’ll have to keep an eye on that.

And, realized just how many wood chips and twigs there were in the compost we so gratefully accepted from the City of Vancouver last year. I’m not complaining (it was FREE and they brought us truck loads!), just saying. There are little bits of plastic and glass, as well as small stones, so I’m going through and picking those out a bit at a time.

Then came the planting…

Robin Wheeler is the founder of the Sustainable Living Arts School and runs Edible Landscapes on BC’s Sunshine Coast. Robin is the delightful, engaging and very knowledgeable author of Food Security for the Faint of Heart, and Gardening for the Faint of Heart, and her workshops are a real treat. (Click each book title for my book review of each.)

Workshops are offered on a pay what you can basis (typically $25 – $30 for 2 hrs, $40 for 3 hrs). Your contribution to these workshops make it possible for teachers like Robin to expand and deepen the scope of the important educational and social change work that they are involved in.

For info on additional workshops and events, including those listed below, visit the Village Vancouver website.

Intentional Community – Shapes in Sharing
Saturday, June 5, 2010
11:00 am – 12:30 pm
West End Community Centre

City Dwellers have many skills and resources all around them, but may not have a mechanism for organizing and drawing on those skills in times of trouble. This class will look at the different shapes in sharing that take place so easily in rural communities and may need a boost in the city. We will talk about building trust and safeguarding our precious possessions while opening up to a wider community and its valuable support.

Register online at www.westendcc.ca, in person, or by calling 604-257-8333.

Introduction to Medicine Making
Saturday, June 5, 2010
1:30 – 4:30 pm
Kitsilano neighbourhood, venue confirmed with registration

There are so many plants that are safe, easy to recognize and locate, and effective for personal use. We will learn some techniques, and then how to make teas, poultices, tinctures and infused oils for our own use. We’ll learn about solvents, supplies and storage.
To register, contact Ross at rmoster@flash.net.

Concepts in Year Round Gardening
Saturday, June 5, 2010
5:00 – 7:00 pm
Fairview, venue confirmed with registration

The Whys and Wherefores of food cycles – why we want them and how to get them. We will plan round the calendar food supplies, both in the larder and stored in the garden.
To register, contact Ross at rmoster@flash.net.

Gardening for the Faint of Heart
Sunday, June 6, 2010
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Kitsilano, venue confirmed with registration

We will confront the bare bones of garden needs, and begin our list of things to do, and create a do-able map of how to begin our 2010 food garden. If you’re new to gardening, this is a good introductory course.
To register, contact Ross at rmoster@flash.net.

Seed Saving in the City
Sunday, June 6, 2010
1:00 – 3:00 pm
Main Street neighbourhood, venue confirmed with registration

Seed saving is the missing link in food security. In our current climate of seed patenting and ownership, it’s important that our communities retain their knowledge about how to properly save seeds. We’ll talk about the politics and the joy of seed saving, learn basic skills, and discuss the creation of neighbourhood seed saving collectives in Vancouver. Your donation includes a copy of The Five Levels of Seed Saving by Terry Klokeid. (Draft copies of Robin’s new booklet How to Grow a Seed Collective: a community template for seed saving will also be available.)
To register, contact Ross at rmoster@flash.net.

Intensive Urban Microfarming
Sunday, June 6, 2010
3:30pm – 6:30 pm
Sunset neighbourhood, venue confirmed with registration

Getting the most out of a normal urban garden can take imagination. This class assists us to boost production through a deeper understanding of microclimates, and of lateral growing, food cycles, succession planting, “shoulder” cropping and much more.
To register, contact Ross at rmoster@flash.net.

Learn more about upcoming workshops and events at Village Vancouver.