Committees:Gardens
From Miller Farm
There are three gardens at the farm, one in the front of the property, one in the driveway circle, and one behind the house. Traditionally the front garden has been used for community projects, the circle garden for herbs and flowers, and the back is reserved for the house, but there is little difference between them otherwise. Because of our emphasis on ecological agriculture we steer clear of any pesticides, sprays, chemicals, and other icky stuff that would be detrimental to organic farming. We aren't certified organic, but we follow many of the regulations for organic farming.
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Back Garden, 2007: Guide to the Summer
The plan for this garden is loosely based on Ruth Stout's 'No-Work-Garden'. It works by using lots, lots, lots of mulch, which means that the work of both weeding and watering is greatly reduced. There are several kinds of mulch that our garden uses:
- Leaves, straw, hay, and elephant grass, used on the raised beds, on the paths between the raised beds, and the squash mounds. Leaves and elephant grass can be found in piles all over the dump. Hay is in the barn in the old sheep pen. Since hay contains seeds, we've been putting it on top of a layer of leaves. The idea is that if the seeds do happen to fall all the way to germinate in the soil, they won't be able to make their way up to the sunlight to grow.
- Cardboard and black plastic, used to mulch in between the squash mounds. This is used over leaves and hay because it's a more efficient way to mulch the larger space between the squashes, and also because it's more effective at keeping out the more intense weeds (like thistle) from sprouting through the mulch.
- Carpet scraps, used around the perimiter of the garden. We're using pieces of carpet to try to reclaim the edges of the garden and to prevent the grass from working its way into the beds.
The goal of this garden is to let the mulch do the work for you, so that you spend as little time as possible weeding and watering. So the most important job over the summer is to maintain the mulch. When you see thistles working their way through the leaves and hay, grab the spade and pull them out by the roots, disturbing the layer of mulch as little as possible. If you see a spot in the garden where you can see the bare soil (usually on the ends of the beds) grab a handful of leaves and cover it up. If thistles work their way up through the cracks of the cardboard, tear them up and close up the crack. It'll take very little work over the course of the summer to maintain if just a little bit is done a few evenings a week.
Month by Month guide to the Farm Garden
May
- Important project: use the carpet and/or cardboard scraps to mulch the trees in the orchard. Lay out cardboard/carpet to cover the ground around the tree inside the fence. Don't worry about mulching outside the fences.
- Plant cilantro, hot peppers, and basil in the herb garden. We had problems with the mulch covering up the soil where we planted. Our recommendation: rake off all the mulch, plant the seeds in a clearly marked place, and put the mulch back once the seeds come up.
- Plant seeds in the empty beds in the garden. This mulch is much better established, so it should be a lot easier to make a small circle in the mulch and sow seeds into the soil. If you don't want to bother with that, you can always buy some starts from Mendenhall and put those in. The hardware store next to the Italian market also has cheap starts.
- Plant potatoes in designated bed. (Potatoes could also be planted in the other empty beds if you like.) To plant, clear bed of thistle and other weeds, then make two 3-4" deep trenches on either side of the bed. Place seed potatoes in trench, spacing 1 foot apart. Fill trench with soil and water.
- Finish the cardboard mulch for the squashes. Use plenty of rocks and bricks to keep it from blowing away, and repair any spots where the cardboard did blow away. Mulch any mounds that haven't been mulched (use wet leaves to avoid losing your mulch to the wind.)
- Pull thistle wherever you see it.
- Put tomato cages around all of the tomato plants.
- A special project could be to closely inspect the perimiter of the fence and repair any holes. I think there's a groundhog hole in the southwest corner (the one with the scarecrow).
- Make sure the peas, spinach, and garlic are weed free.
- Thin the garlics (they should be 4-6 inches apart). If they're closer than that, the other garlics act like weeds, and the harvest will be less. You can try transplanting some into the other garlic beds. Make sure you transplant in the evening (never in the hot afternoon sun!) from one moist bed to another. Try to disturb the roots as little as possible.
June
- Weed and eat peas, and thin spinach to 6-8 inches apart. This will allow them to grow into beautiful heads of spinach.
- Ajust squash vines away from the beds, so that the squash vines don't overtake the other beds.
July
- The peas and spinach should be about done. If you're feeling ambitious, you can plant something else in that bed. (Maybe broccoli? Bush beans? More spinach? Lettuce?) If you don't plant anything there, please mulch it so it doesn't turn into a big bed of weeds.
- In late July/early August, plant spinach, lettuce, and kale in the greenhouse, the coldframes, and/or the garden. Try keeping the greenhouse doors open to lower the temperature in there. Don't forget to water it daily. This is important, because it's nice to have lots of greens when all the fall semester folks move back in. (Spinach is especially useful because it can be mixed with basil to make pesto go farther!)
August
- Let the good times roll.
- Plant peas in an empty bed.
Fall Semester
- Handling the Harvest:
The book "Putting Food By" is a great guide to canning, freezing, and preserving food. USE IT! Some quick suggestions for making your harvest last into the winter are:
-Can tomatoes. Another option is to cook them into a tomato sauce, put them in bags, and freeze them
-Blanch and freeze kale/chard in bags
-Slice eggplant, fry it, put it in bags, and freeze it. It'll make great eggplant parm months later.
-Store squash in the basement.
-Make lots of pesto and freeze it. Mixing basil with spinach will allow you to make more pesto.
Garden Log
Use the Garden Log page to log anything done in the garden, cold frames, greenhouse, etc.
Garden To Do List/Ideas/Questions/Reminders
The Garden To Do List is a more random page for notes on the garden. It can be used to ask questions, write reminders, and create a plan for the garden for the rest of the summer to ensure that plants continue to be planted and other garden maintenence continues through the summer. Hopefully this will allow more input from last year and next year's farmers, and hopefully the communication between summer farmers and old/future farmers will help ensure success!
Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Instructions
Potatoes
Storing seed potatoe until you plant them. Store them in a cool (40-45 F) and dark place until ten to fourteen days before planting. Then, expose them to warm temperatures, 65-70F, and bright sunlight to encourage sprouting.
Soil. The ideal soil for growing potatoes is sandy-loam, but potatoes will grow in clay soil, provided it does not stay extremely wet. The soil should be fertile, with healthy additions of compost. Well-drained soil is essential, as a water-logged soil will rot the seed potato before it has a chance to grow.
Culture. Plant your seed potatoes 1-4 weeks before the last frost and up to 12 weeks before the first fall frost. The soil tempurature should be at least 40F, and not too wet. Potatoes usually can withstand light freezes. Temperatures below 25F may kill the leaves, but the plant usually resprouts within two weeks. In a sunny spot, plant your seed potatoes 4 in. deep. Plant seed potatoes whole, 10-12 in. apart in the row, in rows 2-3 feet apart. As the plants emerge, hilling [mounding] them to the top 2 in. of the plants creates ideal growing conditions for the potatoes. It facilitates the exchange of oxygen and other gases to the roots, helps control weeds and promotes the formation of the tubers which takes place underground. Decrease watering late in the season to avoid cracks and rot.
Harvest. In the autumn, after the potato vine has died or been killed by frost, wait two weeks before you harvest the potatoes. This two week period without vine growth enables the tubers to ripen and toughen up their skins. This makes your harvest easier to handle. Potatoes will not keep well if bruised or scaped during harvest. Store in a cool (40-45F) and dark place.
Soils, Compost, etc.
Lyn's Potting Soil Mix
2 3-gallon buckets peat moss 1/4 c. lime 1 1/2 c. fertility mix 1 1/2 buckets vermiculite 1 1/2 buckets compost
Fertility Mix
2 c. colloidal phosphate 2 c. greensand 2 c. blood meal 1/2 c. bone meal 1/4 c. kelp meal (1/4 c. azomite?)
If you don't have really good homegrown compost (but are using something like commercial bagged composted cow manure) you'll need extra fertility mix (1 or 2 cups) and 1/4-1/2 cup or so more blood meal.
(Trish Mumme, Garden Patch Produce, i.e., Erin's garden mentor.)
