Bummer Summer

A lot of things didn't go as planned with my summer garden. Things just didn't grow like I thought  they should have. In fact, some of my vegetables did much better than they probably had any right to. I thought that because I had found a few earthworms as big as little snakes, this soil should be more fertile. And it was, indeed, good enough to keep some things growing, but because there was so much clay, there was no way that I was going to get much produce. I only got a few tomatoes from what I actually planted, although the rogue cherries were great.  All of the tomato plants had been grown from seeds indoors, but had been planted too early in a cold, windy spring. Despite all my best efforts, those efforts weren't good enough. I ended up ripping up half of them.

  The other half had one or two fruits. Thumbs down on these for this year. It wasn't a hot summer, for the most part. Great for those of us who hate the heat, but it sucked for the tomatoes.

Bit by bit, here and there, I added extra organic soil to the dirt around the plants, but it was too late to dig it in and mix it up. Since there there was so much clay, the soil either dried out too fast, or it was too wet. There was never a happy medium. Up at the front of the garden, by the street, this had been the area where I had been composting  leaves and certain weeds beforehand. So this dirt was a bit better and my lettuce did pretty good there in the spring. Everywhere else was problematic. The only tomato that did well was the one that had been planted next to the chopped down tree. I have no idea why that plant was happy there. Maybe the ground was broken up from tree branches or something. Maybe its roots didn't have to struggle in a compacted soil. Gotta dig deeper next year and add way more compost. I found out that there is free compost once a month over in Berkeley. I'll take advantage of such things more often.

(This is me taking advantage of free compost. My new Berkeley acquaintance was very sweet to let me have some of her black gold. And it felt like Christmas to me - that's me on the left - notice my dance posture)

I had planted two different kinds of cucumbers this spring - and later sowed more seeds. Nothing but stunted little plants. A couple vines threw out several yellow, stunted fruits. Total Fail. I was so disappointed. There is so much more to this gardening stuff than I had figured on. There is nothing like nature showing one what cocky F%$(ers we can be.

Surprisingly, the one worry that I did have never materialized: there were no varmints. The de-weeding of the field was a huge contributor to this, but I did expect some critter action. I found one carrot dug up and chewed on. That was it. I was confounded. But then again, there wasn't the bounty I had envisioned either.  And I had no crazy raccoons driving me nuts and trying to break in. I hate to say it, but they had started amusing me despite and because of their antics!

There were hundreds of wasps all summer, but hardly any bees. In fact, I found some dead ones. I keep hearing people say that sometimes they just die while pollinating and doing their thing, but Ive been finding them everywhere on the sidewalks. This isn't normal. They are dying. We cant live without bees. Ive planted flowers. Ive let thistles grow in strategic places. I want the bees to come and love my garden. So I'll plant more flowers tailored to their tastes next year and hope for the better. And hopefully I can beat my landlord to the Roundup rape of the yard with my handy little weed whacker. I have to start earlier in the game.

 I got lots of green beans, kale, Swiss chard, a few potatoes and spaghetti squash. I got one big French Heirloom pumpkin and lots of rogue cherry tomatoes.Everything just felt half-assed. It wasn't a total disaster, but with better planning, a lot more soil amending, and the proper fertilizers and nutrients, I'm sure everything will thrive. I still fantasize about shelves of canned produce! I am every hopeful.

Easy At Home Soil Test

I did this.
Nothing bubbled.
So I knew I was screwed.

The War Of The Finches

Ar one point, the wild neighborhood finches discovered that dinner was waiting for them every time I tried to sow seeds. I have no proof that it was them, but they would sit on a pile of branches in the field and watch me. So 1+1=2 and I decided to do something about it.

I took those branches and covered the bed with them. It worked.

Pole Beans

One of my favorite crops is Pole Beans. My taste buds like them - and I love clingy, viny plants. I grew Kentucky Wonder with organic seed. I had the good sense to stagger the seed sowing a bit, which came in really handy towards fall.
 Ok. I lied. Good sense had nothing to do with it. I just resowed as the bugs had their merry raping and pillaging party. But that staggered sowing ended up to be good for me. I will probably plant them a bit later also next spring. The slugs and bugs had a feast day with these seedlings, and I have read and heard that this dies down as summer approaches. We had a total war going on, though. I was out spraying them with Neem oil and soapy water in the morning and evening. The culprit mainly seemed to be those cucumber beetles. As with the raccoons in my previous life, I used to think that these were cute little bugs - but no longer, my friends. Oh no. No longer.

I didn't really do anything special to them. Mainly they got a good dose of worm castings once in a while and daily watering. The soil is that heavy California Coast clay that had not been amended well, so they did a bit better than I would have hoped. I think with a better soil and longer light they would produce more heavily. The vines loved the trestle that I made for them, the bees loved the blossoms, and they kept going well into October

.I got enough beans to freeze a few bags and give away now and then - and I almost got sick of having beans for dinner every other night. Honestly, though, I love them and I cant wait to grow them again. I think that next time, I will move the trestle to the front of the line and see how the lettuce and spinach does behind it. I think those plants will be shaded, but get just enough light to be happy. The possibility of me being wrong about this is high, so nothing is set in stone yet. The sun dried the soil out too fast for them and this was problematic. They didn't like the blaring sun.  I want happy lettuce that wont get bitter and can just chill out for me. Is that too much to ask?
I'll also have better soil next year. I have a plan.

Cilantro - You Either Love It Or Hate It

I love it.
It did the best in Spring and then when I tried to resow in the summer, it wasn't happy.Even the plants that resowed themselves didn't do as well.
It bolts super fast as soon as the weather warms up. I even tried the "slow-bolt: kind, and it just wouldn't cooperate with me. But I had lots of it at first, and loved it, and then I let it go to seed. The flowers smell like a little bit of heaven and the bugs fly around it in swarms. I dried the seeds and got some of the most fragrant coriander that I had ever had. Maybe I will try and make an oil from it next year. My friend Homirah has been teaching me how to cook some basic Afghan recipes, and my coriander sent us over the moon!

The Promise Of The Harvest

I know enough about myself now to know that I love the planning stages of the gardening - the getting it started - the thrill of the new little seedlings popping up out of the ground - the battle with the bugs feels like a challenge - and spring fever makes it hard to stay indoors. I rarely buy soda, but my neighbors in my apartment building love it. So I go through the recycling periodically, and find bottles to make into waterers, cloches for the seedlings, and protection from the slugs.

 ~Will those potatoes really make more potatoes? (yes. If you do it right)
~Will these stakes be strong enough to hold up the vines? (yes. But there are about a million different ways to stake things)
~Is it really so important to put little labels at the beginning of each row? (yes. Unless you have a very good memory. If you are like me, you don't )
~Wont you just be able to tell what they are? (No. You are an idiot . You didn't label the row)
~Is it really so important to have a garden journal? (until you know what you are doing, it might be a very good idea. I misplaced mine this spring and didn't get it back until late summer. That hurt)

I planted potatoes in the plastic bins. And we'll talk about that later.
Sigh.
But I liked my spaghetti squash trellis on the end. And my bean trellis was the bomb! Some fairly high winds blew through this field, and nothing blew over.
I had originally wanted to train the beans to grow up string tied along the house, but the landlord wanted to paint, and it wasn't really going to get enough sun in that spot anyway. Peas might be better there next year.
You can see by the brown grass where the roundup had been sprayed. It was way too close to this garden, but I had to grit my teeth and carry on. I had to just hope that this wasn't going to affect my plants. Or my health.

Spring Was Good

This blog is just a reminder for me to have something to go on when I move forward with my gardening adventures. Just the act of posting pictures is making me remember things that I had forgotten. Things like lettuce and spicnach did great in the spring. The peas were plentiful. The bugs were ravenous. Things like the time that Sam left me a wonderful bag of organic mulch and I dressed the soil and everything started growing just a tiny bit better. I over watered. The  cucumbers started out and then became stunted. The squashes did ok, but not great. But I made some nice salads. There is nothing better than your own salad from the garden. I dont even mind if the bugs get thier share. Just leave enough for me.

Early Bounty

 I was happy with my attempt at growing peas. They didnt mind the poor soil. They didnt mind the wind and the cooler weather.
They didnt mind being crowded. And they produced for me. I actually froze a few bags of them to be added to some stir fry in the winter. I ate bags of them on little road trips and gave them away to friends. So I claim success at growing peas. They sometimes didnt make it into the house. I just went out and grazed when I needed a snack! So I will be growing more of these babies next year for sure!

And I also attempted strawberries.They dont give a great yeild the first year, but I got a few handfulls - cant wait for next year!

Splashes Of Color

I am developing a habit of adding lots of the color orange to my vegetable garden every year. I don't think that poppies repel bugs, but I do surround the perimeters now with Marigolds, Nasturtiums, and Calendula. I think this helps with keeping certain bugs at bay. And the bees love them. I didn't see a lot of bees this year. This may have also contributed to my growing woes, but the ones that buzzed around loved it.

Heirloom Seedlings

 

These tomatoes and pumpkin starts turned out pretty nice. I had enough to pass out to family and friends. (This is just a few of them)

The ones that I kept for myself did terribly. The ones that I gave to friends did not grow or produce well. The ones that I gave to my sister grew and produced like monsters.

The first mistake that I made was to put them in terrible soil. I had put all the compost from my bins into the soil first. I had turned the soil a few times. I had added a few bags of purchased organic garden soil. I added coffee grounds, an organic fertilizer and worm castings before I planted. But soil needs time to be amended and I didn't realize just how bad and depleted the ground really was. Next spring I will have better soil. I'll also add some calcium and fish in the hole before I plant. A woman down the road told me that she adds a dead fish down by the roots and always has great tomatoes. Ive read about it. I'll do it.

An early warm spring fooled me. We had a spurt of great weather and I went crazy with planting things. The tomatoes went in way too soon. When the weather turned windy and chilly, these became stunted. They didn't have a chance in hell to become great producers. But I limped them along all summer and I did get a few tomatoes. What a waste of water and effort though. I learned things. I learned. I'll wait until May next time. I'll start the seedlings later.

I also planted them too close together. I knew this wasn't good. but they did ok up at Sam and Earl's last summer. So I went ahead and did it. Bad Move.

It was not a hot summer. They needed more heat. It was too windy. And I also don't think that they got enough sun. I'll plant them in different places next year. I also may put some of them in Smart Pots and see how they do.

As for my friends, they had neither the time nor the initiative to learn how to grow a vegetable. But it might move them forward for next year. At least they didn't die!

As for my sister, she lives in Napa - very hot in the summer. She had a walled in, protected garden and the soil had been amended for several years with chicken and rabbit manure. Her tomatoes went insane. Her peppers and eggplants were monsters. I would like to live in Napa. But here I am........................I will add some aged manure this winter.

I had lots of rogue tomatoes again this year, and I let them grow wild. Those did fabulously. I had cherry tomatoes again and the neighbors ate them to their hearts content.

To be continued next year.

The Day Roundup Arrived

The day arrived that my landlord told me that he was purchasing this property and that I could continue gardening to my hearts content because he didn't think that he would be building with this economy any time soon. As my heart swelled, it also came to a crash when he told me that he was going to level the weeds in the field with Roundup.

Roundup.

I begged him to rethink. I explored renting goats. I bought a weed whacker and set to chopping down the field. I was half way in when he drove up with his helper and started spraying. It was one of the worst days I had had in a very long time. My dreams of an organic garden had crashed. I don't want to go into the dangers of Roundup and the horrors and evil of Monsanto - not right now, Not at this very moment. If you know me, you know how I feel about these things. If you don't know what the fuss is all about, go look it up online.

He spared my garden and stayed as far away as he could. But it travels. I don't think it actually got on my growing peas. I don't think it actually got on anything but the soil around my sectioned off area, but I was heartbroken nonetheless. The coyote bushes got cut down and I said I didn't mind if the acacia tree was chopped down, but then I was regretful later on - it would have been a better place to grow lettuces under the hot sun. And of course, most of the brambles and weeds grew back anyway. But for the rest of the growing year, we had no hillside filled with Calendula. No field of raccoons and critters. Mice and bugs came into my house that had never entered before, we had the worst flea problem that I had ever had anywhere, and instead of feasting on all the grasses and weeds surrounding my spring garden, my seedlings were ravaged by bugs. I fought the bugs with neem oil and soapy water, diatomaceous earth, cut off pop bottles placed over the baby plants, and hand picked cucumber beetles by the bushel ...........stomping on or dropping into soapy water. The rape of the garden calmed down after spring, but I knew that it had been extra bad because of the demise of the field. If I get to do this next Spring, I'll jump on the weed whacking much sooner to keep ahead of The Man.

I continued to use my weed whacker after that. I kept most of it down. It wasn't that difficult. He came back once during the summer and went after the blackberries again. But there are other ways to take care of these things. A little hard work. Maybe a goat or two...........it seems to be the thing to use goats in Seattle...........I did my best to educate. All you can do is to do your best. I love my landlord. Don't get me wrong. But he isn't very progressive in this area. He thinks I'm a hippie. And that word is still used in a very dismissive way. So sad.

I just want to eat some good, wholesome food.

January/February 2013

I started digging up the grass and weeds in the area close to the house. I really started getting into it - and it provided me with a lot of exercise. It pulled up really easy. The weather was still very chilly, but it felt good to be out in whatever sun was available. All I could think of were the rows of canning jars filled with produce from my organic garden.

 Ta Da!

So bit by bit, to the entertainment of my neighbors, I dug this monster up with a shovel and my own two hands. I put down old bricks from the building that had once lived in this spot, rearranged rocks and concrete, and built myself the beginnings of a garden. I KNEW that I was probably not going to get the results that I was fantasizing about because I simply had no money or resources for new soil and amendments. But I was going to give it one hell of a try! I kept finding burned wood in the soil as I dug it up. The building here had burned down maybe 15 years ago or so. But ash is good for the soil. Right?

  Hope springs eternal.
The weather in late February was allowing me to plant some peas and replant some potted herbs.
And in the meantime, I started basil, pepper, and lots of Heirloom tomato seeds upstairs under my skylight. My friend Lisa and I were getting lots of  heirloom and organic seeds from places like Baker Creek and Territorial Seeds. I pored through the seed catalogs for hours, trying to figure out what would grow  well in this area. I did really well with getting my seedlings started.The conditions were perfect. In fact, people told me that they just couldn't do it well, gave up, and went on to get their plants from a nursery. So I was plenty pleased with myself.

January 2013 Part One

I started feeling sorry for the birds in early January and I draped a string of popcorn and cranberries in the coyote bush out in the field. Coyote is an indigenous California bush. Its not the prettiest plant Ive ever seen, but it works in our drought ridden fallow fields and countryside. I should have been paying attention to what grows in the ground in this spot. But what the hell did I know? Now I do: pay attention to what grows in the ground near your chosen gardening spot.And study your soil. Get pH tests. I did none of this.

The birds wanted none of my present, so I eventually threw it in the compost. Ingrates.

 As I said before, I started throwing vegetable peels and whatever could be composted out into the little patch of ground that I was able to dig up after the rains. I knew this wasn't really the way to go - esp. after I encouraged my upstairs neighbor to throw stuff down onto the soil for me. But it started getting out of hand with whole potatoes and stuff being tossed out her window. It was kind of funny though. I figured it couldn't hurt in the long run and that anything was going to help this poor, tired out soil. I did end up having  to rake up some food stuffs that were just going to attract rodents and other critters.

 My plan was to turn this field into a lush garden. There is an orb over there in the upper left corner that I cant figure out .........probably just a reflection. But of what - because there is nothing to reflect off of over there. Maybe the fairies were happy of my plan. Then I took another photo a few feet back.......

 Still an orb in the same place. So it must be a reflection. Right?

I told my friend in town the other day about my pictures with orbs in them and she just did a shoulder shrug thing and said, "oh yeah. I see those flying around your house all the time."
I was like..."WHAT???????? And you never told me?????????"
So I have orbs, dear friends. Ive always wanted one. And now I do. I have no idea what this means. She said that its "Magical Science". I like that.

 But anyway. My turnips were doing good in the bins and I vowed that I would plant some in the ground this spring. There was also kale and chard in a few pots, which was awesome to go out and pick when I needed some greens. I was determined to get a lot of future produce out of all of this. All of this abandoned splendor.

Naked and Cold

The garden is deceptively sleepy right now. It is cold outside and only the hardiest of my little plants have survived. I pulled up the last of the marigolds a couple weeks ago and now the ground is host to mostly weeds from the previous rains..

Bit by bit, though, Ive been digging up the soil and amending it with leafy kitchen scraps.Although its cold out, the ground is damp and the weeds have been easy to pull out. If I were to wait until warmer, drier  weather, the ground could get rock hard. I'll have some nice compost and worm castings to toss in here in a month or so. I'm going to attempt to plant things in the ground this time and see what happens. A lot of varmints and bugs is whats gonna happen, but I'll spray with cayenne and neem oil - and probably sprinkle pee around the parameters just in case. Diatomaceaous earth will be my friend again. I'll circle the veggies with marigolds and stickerie bramble sticks  and hope for the best. I'll plant lots of herbs and tomatoes and squash. I'll have lettuce and carrots and beans.

There is garlic showing itself in one of my Smartpots. I wish I had planted more, but that, and onions, and potatoes will be on the agenda for spring.

Cant wait!