I've been gardening for most of my life and have been a devoted fan of organic gardening the whole time. It just makes so much more sense to work in harmony with Mother Nature than to fight her. Besides which it is better for the planet and better for our bodies. Here you can see what I'm planting and harvesting, with gardening hints and resources thrown in for good measure.
Well I finally got to pick some cantaloupes. They were on the small side and a bit watery. I think because our rains have started. But they were ripe and still good eating.
more kale seedlings potted up
I potted up some more kale and chard seedlings. They are growing fine, but the grasshoppers and Japanese beetles are trying to eat them up. I really need a screened in place to start seedlings in the summer.
hot compost
I turned the compost piles and started a new one. These piles are mostly chicken litter from the pens at moms house. They are basically sawdust with some straw and shavings along with the manure. I add a little manure/alfalfa mix from my friends sheep and goat pens and whatever green waste I don't give to the birds. Because they are very fine textured they will not need sifting before I use them when they cool off.
semi wild garden
I planted more wild flower, pasture mix and a bee and butterfly flower mix in this area. I tossed seeds right over the wood chip mulch then covered with a thin layer of manure. The live oak trees I planted a couple of years ago are finally beginning to really put on some growth.
Can you find the fig tree?
Can you even find the fig tree in here? I tromped the grass and wild asters down and put a little chicken litter around it.
There is is
There it is. This one is a Mission fig I planted last summer.
building soil with chicken litter
I spread some more chicken litter around the old chicken yard. To build up the soil here I'm just cleaning the coop to the outside. (The birds in this coop cannot come outside because there is not enough predator protection). Eventually this space will be full of trees, herbs and shrubs and when the plants grow up I'll let the chickens out sometimes.
Would love a tractor with a shovel and bucket!
I hauled sand and rocks from the creek to fill in a berm above the new garden where the rain washed it out. Shovel and bucket are slow going.
assorted squash
More squash this week.
Black Beauty and Black from Tula tomatoes
A few big tomatoes.
bush beans
Green beans soon.
bean flowers
Bean flowers are pretty
more bush beans sprouting
About a week ago I planted 100 sq ft in green and yellow beans. They are already sprouting.
volunteer acorn squash is taking over
This is a monster volunteer squash. It seems to be an acorn squash.
Well our monsoon rains seem to have started in earnest. Normally it rains all around my place in early July and my garden doesn't see any appreciable amount until about the 3rd week of the month, but this year it has come a little early. On Monday the 10th I got a good amount, probably about .5 to .75. (remember when the javalina tore up the potato bed? They broke my rain gauge. I just got a new one which I will put up today) On Friday when I was driving back from Superior it rained some at Top of the World.
downpour on the Pinals
It was dry coming into Miami, but I could see the rain on the Pinals.
I stopped at my house to collect eggs and close the gates. Then the rain hit and I was stuck in the chicken coop for a bit. A lot of wind and some hard rain, but I'm not sure how much. Amazingly we are in for 30-80% chance of rain almost every day for the next 10. Of course just because they are predicting it, doesn't mean we will actually get it. I just hope it doesn't come down too hard and fast and run off.
In the mean time temperatures have moderated a bit. With higher humidity things aren't drying out as fast so less watering is needed. Also the rain has kicked things into gear. I predict a good squash pick this week again, as well as a decent amount of greens.
bed prep
So I have added some composted manure to the top of the potato bed. Since the rains started I have planted the whole 100 sq ft to green and yellow bush beans and covered the bed with bird netting. This bed was the last of the compost piles I made last winter and is still pretty coarse with a lot of wood chips still, beans don't normally need the nitrogen in the manure, but the wood chips will take up a lot of it while they are breaking down.
planting seeds
In the creekside garden I planted an empty bed. A row of rainbow carrots sprinkled with radish, a row of turnips, the last row with mustard and dill. I covered the bed with old window screens to keep out the birds and I hope, the grasshoppers. The turnips and mustard were up in about 3 days.
turning compost
I spent some time turning compost. The older pile was still chugging along at about 130 degrees. After turning it dropped below 100 then came back up to about 120. It is almost finished. Probably one more turn and it will cool off enough to use.
Hot compost!
The day after turning the new pile it went almost to 140. These piles are mostly chicken litter from the barn at mom's house which is mostly sawdust with some straw and wood shavings. I also add a little ruminant manure with alfalfa from my friends pile and whatever green waste I don't give to the chickens, like potato plants and horse nettle. Because of the fine texture of the materials it won't need to be sifted before use and will be perfect as a planting medium once it cools down.
Well compost pile #2 is heating up pretty well, just need to get it to kick on up to 131 degrees F or higher to make sure that all pathogens are killed. But 120 is a good start!
This pile is taking a little longer to get built than the first one, so that might be the problem. Hopefully I'll get it finished off in the next couple of days.
burn pile buried in the garden
Remember that bed of beans I'm digging up? Well I got down to the area where none of them lived and what do I find? There was a burn pile buried in there. Pure ashes along with broken glass, rusty metal and a lot of rocks. No wonder those bean plants croaked!
about done
This was several days hard labor, a lot of pick and shovel work. Fortunately the weather has cooled off a tad. I piled up a lot of sand and gravel from the bed into the path. But after about 8 inches of build up it was started to slide into the next bed. So I started throwing it over the fence into the driveway. Harder work, but faster than using a bucket.
dirt and rocks in the driveway
adding and wetting organic matter
Now for a special trick to really make this bed super abundant. Adding chicken litter mixed with wood shavings and old horse manure to the bottom of it. This organic matter will act as a giant sponge and help catch and retain water for the plants. The material is really dry and so is the ground so I'm wetting it down as I go.
actually not wet yet!
Even though there is water puddling in the bottom of the trench, the chicken litter is not really wet yet. I have to stir it up and keep wetting it until it is all saturated.
Then toss a few shovel fulls of the top soil onto it and add some more litter. This will take a few days to complete. Then I will add some fresh compost to the top soil, set up the new drip irrigation lines and start planting.
Purebred Blue Ameraucana
The last chicks hatched in June are getting big now.
purebred Black Ameraucana
BCM pullet eggs with egg color chart
My oldest Black Copper Marans pullet began laying this week. But her egg color so far is disappointing. Both of her parents hatched from a #7 egg (that would be the lower right side of the color chart). So far she's just laying about a #4 which is the lightest that Marans should ever be. My fingers are crossed they darken up some as she gets going.
My Nanking cherry bushes which I grew from seeds are mostly doing OK but a couple of them need some iron & nitrogen. I added an organic iron product awhile back, but so far it doesn't seem to be helping. So I loosened up the soil around them a bit with my digging fork, then added some vermicompost. I hope this helps them perk up soon.
loosening up the heavy clay soil
vermicompost
Vermicompost is the compost made with earth worms. It is very concentrated in nutrients and in plant growth hormones. I have used it to save many ailing plants. This batch I scooped up from the worm bin without bothering to seperate the worms out, so there will be worms in this area now too. Earthworms help break down organic matter, concentrate plant nutrients in a plant available form and help loosen up tough soil.
Desert Willow
Yay! I got to plant 2 more trees today! A desert willow which have really pretty lavender/purple flowers. The other one was a Mission Fig. I think Mission has some of the biggest figs I've ever seen. This gives me 6 fig trees of 5 varieties.
Mission Fig
The Compost Chickens finished out their first week with a full dozen eggs layed with ZERO commercial feed. Check out their own page for more information!
My Nanking cherry bushes which I grew from seeds are mostly doing OK but a couple of them need some iron & nitrogen. I added an organic iron product awhile back, but so far it doesn't seem to be helping. So I loosened up the soil around them a bit with my digging fork, then added some vermicompost. I hope this helps them perk up soon.
loosening up the heavy clay soil
vermicompost
Vermicompost is the compost made with earth worms. It is very concentrated in nutrients and in plant growth hormones. I have used it to save many ailing plants. This batch I scooped up from the worm bin without bothering to seperate the worms out, so there will be worms in this area now too. Earthworms help break down organic matter, concentrate plant nutrients in a plant available form and help loosen up tough soil.
Desert Willow
Yay! I got to plant 2 more trees today! A desert willow which have really pretty lavender/purple flowers. The other one was a Mission Fig. I think Mission has some of the biggest figs I've ever seen. This gives me 6 fig trees of 5 varieties.
Mission Fig
The Compost Chickens finished out their first week with a full dozen eggs layed with ZERO commercial feed. Check out their own page for more information!
Now I know a lot of folks have cold compost piles, that is basically just a pile of yard waste slowly rotting in the corner some where. But if you make hot compost piles then make it work over time for you. My recent piles have run about 150 degrees. When they cool off a little I dump some dirt on them and plant in them! If it’s still cold at night I put an old window over the plants to help keep them warmer. Watermelons seed planted March 1st. Have survived quite a few nights with 32 degrees and have several leaves on them. This compost pile was about 100 degrees when the seeds were planted. These are baby blue hubbard squash, started in 2″ soil blocks. The compost pile is about 140 down in the middle of the pile. [edit May 2, 2009, this pile is now up to 165 degrees and has been for over a week]
Watermelons seed planted March 1st. Have survived quite a few nights with 32 degrees and have several leaves on them. This compost pile was about 100 degrees when the seeds were planted.
These are baby blue hubbard squash, started in 2″ soil blocks. The compost pile is about 140 down in the middle of the pile. [edit May 2, 2009, this pile is now up to 165 degrees and has been for over a week]