June 25th, 2009
This year I’ve had a huge increase in requests for edible garden design and education programs relating to gardening with edibles. I know quite a few of these new clients are interested because of the vegetable garden the Obamas added to the White House earlier this year. Fortunately, my earliest gardening work was on our family farms raising our own food. Raising food is in my blood and in my soul, so I’m always thrilled to mentor others in the art and science of growing their own. It isn’t just about the health benefits that getting out in the dirt and doing the labor means. It isn’t just about enjoying the beauty of creating a veggie garden. It isn’t just about reducing our carbon footprint and petroleum consumption by growing foods as locally and organically as we can. It isn’t just about learning that real food doesn’t come out of a plastic bag or cardboard box. It isn’t just about correcting our health by reducing our consumption of processed foods. It is about all of these things and so much more.
In a recent interview with ABC News, Michelle Obama related her experiences and thoughts on health care reform. Gracefully, she connects the dots between diet, exercise and gardening to her family’s health as an example to all of us. I enourage you to watch the interview here for her own words.
Tags: eat local, edibles, Gardening, healthcare, Localvore, locavore, michelle obama, veggie garden
Posted in Edible Gardens | No Comments »
June 23rd, 2009
It was last October, shortly before Halloween 2008, that I planted my garlic, and it still isn’t ready yet. Many readers have written in to ask how to know when garlic is ready. Some clients have been asking all spring about planting garlic, and I’ve been telling them they need to wait until Fall. And, they’ll need some patience. Garlic takes almost as many months to mature as a human fetus (that’s about 9 if you didn’t know). So, here’s a little rundown on garlic.
Tubs of Newly Planted Garlic in October 2008
All of the varieties I planted are hardnecks, and the scapes have been rolling in for the last few weeks. The scapes have been an unexpected treat. I knew I’d be pinching them out and using them to cook this spring, but somehow the idea that I’d have fresh garlic before I had ripened bulbs hadn’t completely connected for me. So, they have been a treat. I’ve used them to saute fresh snowpeas and king boletes. They’ve been included in garlic-sorrel vinaigrettes for salads. I’ve mixed them with fresh rosemary, sage and thyme to rub on pork loin. Really, they work equally well as a chopped garlic clove. Sometimes I think they may even be better. And, it is important to pinch the scapes out or the cloves within the bulbs won’t achieve maximum growth.
One side note: I did plant a clove of elephant garlic. It sprouted in fall, but it turned to mush after the hard winter snows. So, no elephants in the garden this summer.
Here’s the concept: a plant forms a flower, in this case a garlic scape. If the flower opens and is pollinated, the plant throws a huge amount of energy into forming seed. As it does this, it won’t put much energy at this time into rooting or storage of energy into the roots. So, in the case of garlic, if the potential to form seed is removed by pinching out an unopened, unfertilized, seedless scape, the plant then throws its energy into maximizing its growth potential by beefing up its bulb before it goes dormant. It knows that by storing maximum energy in its root, it has more chance of putting on stronger flowers in the following year to then spread its seed. Plants are patient. What they don’t realize is we’re patient too, just waiting for the bulbs to fill out and the top growth to whither in summer. That’s when we harvest the bulbs! Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: elephant garlic, garlic, garlic scape, vegetable gardening, veggie garden, victory garden, vinaigrette
Posted in Edible Gardens, vegetable gardening | 2 Comments »
June 15th, 2009
It’s garden blogger’s bloom day today, and it’s been months since I put out an update of blooming in my garden.
Goatsbeard Attracting Bees & Adding Beauty Simultaneously
Today I decided to share a bit of what’s blooming. Then, as I was photographing, I found myself more interested in what is fruiting. In any case, following are just a few select shots among a wide array of beautiful blooms and fruits in my June garden.
This first photo illustrates one of the best additions I’ve made to my garden. This native Goatsbeard, also known as Giant Astilbe or by its botanical name Aruncus dioicus, is not only stunning, but every bee in town swarms to it. Tiny sweat bees feed on it; honey bees scramble through it; bumblebees gracelessly tumble through the itsy-bitsy blossoms; even yellowjackets can’t resist its nectar. It is found throughout most of the northern hemisphere and makes a stunning addition to any garden. Plus, placed near your edibles, it will bring in those summer pollinators who will divert to your tomatoes, squash and other delicious blooms as well. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: allium, aruncus, Bloom Day, brassica, cucumber, curcurbit, edibles, garlic, goatsbeard, snowpea, strawberry
Posted in Bloom Day, Edible Gardens | 1 Comment »
June 14th, 2009
I haven’t been writing nearly as much as I do during the colder, dormant season. It’s much more fun, and profitable, for me to spend time in the garden rather than writing about the garden. Yet, as I’m looking down the barrel of summer solstice, I want to share a few quick gardening tips that may prove helpful. Solstice marks the time when days following, sadly, start to become shorter. Plants are greatly in tune with this, and your work, based on timing, can make a huge difference in your gardening successes (and failures):
- Pinching perennials: Not only will deadheading help extend your flowering season for most perennials, but if you tip back (aka a pinch-to-a-node) late flowering types (Mums, especially) with alternating cuts, you can create bushier plants with more blooms that are less likely to flop over when they get top-heavy with blossoms. But, stop tipping around solstice or you may not get any blooms at all. If you’re dealing with plants that you don’t want to bloom, like basil, keep on pinchin’!
- Pruning: Don’t prune plants that bloomed in late winter/early spring or you risk cutting off next winter’s blooms. If you haven’t sheared your hedges, which is best done in late winter/early spring, you’re running out of time. If you shear too late, you risk looking at choppy cuts all winter or forcing soft growth that gets killed in early frosts.
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Big Harvest in June for the Foodbank
- Harvest, Eat, Preserve: As your crops roll in, stay on top of harvesting even if that means you end up making sauerkraut in June or giving away lettuce to the foodbank. By doing this, you’ll make room to rotate in new crops and reduce the likelihood of inviting pests and disease and self-seeded bolting crops into the garden by leaving past-their-prime edibles in the soil.
And finally, enjoy these long days. Soon enough we’ll all be wrapped in polar fleece, snuggling near a warm fire, desperately seeking a bloom somewhere to discuss in the many posts we have time to write up during winter. For me, for now, I’m off to put out more mammoth sunflowers, zinnia, basil and late season tomatoes to enjoy into the many remaining months of summer.
Tags: crops, foodbank, mums, pinching, plant a row for the hungry, Pruning, seeding, solstice, summer solstice, vegetable gardening, veggie garden
Posted in Food, garden coach, seasons, vegetable gardening | 1 Comment »
June 11th, 2009
Robert from New Smyrna Beach, FL recently wrote in to garden help about problems he was experiencing with his zucchini plants. This was a great reminder to share a little bit of detail about the often confusing flowers put out by some of our favorite edibles including melons, cucumbers, squash, pumpkin and all the curcurbits in our veggie gardens. Robert writes:
“my zucchini plants seem to be small to begin with, but they are blooming and the blossoms fall off but no fruit is producing. my yellow and acorn are doing fine, please help. thanks “
Male Flower on Crookneck Squash Plant
Robert, thanks for writing in.
First, your zucchini plants may be small because they are young. Or, they could be planted in an environment that isn’t quite right for them. Have you tested the soil? Are they getting enough sunlight and enough water? Were they planted properly? Are there any pests attacking them? Any of these things could be contributing to their size.
Second, it is important to know that zucchini and other curcurbits (like squash, pumpkin, melon, cucumber) produce both male and female flowers, separately. Many other plants don’t separate their boy and girl parts in different flowers, so this confuses many gardeners. The flowers males are the big ones that usually appear first on the plants. These have no sign of fruit at their base. They are particularly important in attracting the pollinators to the garden and they produce important pollen for pollinating the fruiting flowers. However, they will never provide a fruit. The female flowers form with a tiny fruit at their base (by fruit, this means a zucchini in your situation). When this flower is pollinated, the fruit fattens up and becomes your dinner. So here’s hoping your boys will open at the same time your girls do! Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: curbits, curcurbit, powdery mildew, squash, squash blossom end rot, squash mosaic virus
Posted in Edible Gardens, vegetable gardening | No Comments »
June 5th, 2009
Today I realized our fridge is starting to overflow with veggies from our garden. Greens take up a lot of room in there. We go through them rapidly, but as the garden continues to produce and with our CSA program getting ready to roll in later this month, I found myself looking for what to do with extras (besides putting them in the compost pile). I do get a little tired of green salads after eating them twice a day for weeks on end. But, I remind myself that I pine for fresh salad during the winter months when I’ve run out in the garden and the farmer’s market isn’t offering lettuce. So, with that rounded thought in mind, I make another salad. I saute another batch of greens. I whip up a jar of pesto, and I chop another radish. In the end, I enjoy every fresh, homemade meal. And, I do follow some of these ideas for making good use of any excess I produce: Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: foodbank, harvest, hunger, preserving food, starving, veggie garden
Posted in Edible Gardens, Localvore, vegetable gardening | No Comments »
June 3rd, 2009
Feeling like the garden is getting the most of you or just need a break from gardening to give yourself a treat? If you’re in Seattle, consider attending a special yoga workshop on Saturday, June 13th from 2pm-4pm at Northwest Community Yoga. Last year I attended this workshop focused on the needs of gardeners and athletes, and I loved it. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: stretching, Yoga
Posted in Yoga | No Comments »
June 3rd, 2009
Earlier this week I got a call from a woman looking to buy “aphid eating bees”. I suggested she hang a hot dog out by her aphid-infested plants to attract Yellow Jackets. She didn’t like that idea very much. Apparently, someone at a garden show years ago had sold her “nice bees” that eat aphids. When she described what she bought, it sounded a lot like she’d been sold Orchard Mason Bees. I don’t think they eat aphids, but please correct me if I’m wrong here readers. I’ve seen posts mentioning “aphid bees”, but I have yet to find any real detail on them.
Anyway, back to the ones that do eat aphids and other pest insects — Yellow Jackets and Bald Faced Hornets are notorious meat eaters. They’ll snatch up aphids and clean your plants beautifully. Just steer clear so they don’t come after you. Yes, Yellow Jackets are mean. But, Bald Faced Hornets would rather go about their business than chase you around the garden. Stay away from their nests and don’t swat at them, and odds are they’ll leave you alone. Yellow Jackets on the other hand might just chase you for their own personal amusement.
Hummingbird hovering over Waterfeature
That being said, I was thrilled to find a big, fat Yellow Jacket hiding under my floating row cover just above the cabbages and cauliflowers that have been munched on my cabbage worms over the last few days. I’m not sure why s/he decided to plant herself there, but I’m hoping she’s on guard for worm hatches. This morning, I found no new worms and no new worm damage in the bed. Fortunately, when I peeled back the fleecy row cover, I didn’t manage to touch the Yellow Jacket. She stayed put as I gently draped the cover back over the beds after working. Hopefully, she’s my new pest guard and will make my worm picking work easier.
Not interested in attracting Yellow Jackets or Bald Faced Hornets to your garden to help battle pests? Try creating a Hummingbird-friendly space. I’ve caught them harvesting aphids in my garden more than once, and generally they’re pretty nice. They can be territorial and may dive-bomb you, but that’s pretty rare in my garden. Too, attracting wrens, nuthatches, titmice, and other birds will help keep down pest problems from aphids to mosquitos to root-eating grubs to all sorts of other non-beneficial insects we gardeners love to hate.
Tags: aphid, bee, cabbage, cabbage looper, cauliflower, european cabbage worm, hornet, hummingbird, IPM, orchard mason bee, pests, yellow jacket
Posted in Edible Gardens, IPM, Insects, bees, birds, hummingbirds, pests, vegetable gardening | No Comments »
June 2nd, 2009
Cabbage Loopers, or maybe they’re Imported European Cabbage Worms, are back in my garden. Last year, I handpicked them vigilantly and didn’t sustain too much damage. This year I kept my crops covered with plastic hooping when it was really cold and floating row cover now that it is warmer.
Protective Row Cover Pulled Back Revealing Pest and Edibles
I’ve seen the white adult butterflies with their signature dotted wings flittering about my garden, looking for their favorite hosts (aka my cabbages and cauliflower). I thought the defenses were up and the crops were secured. Then, I pulled back the floating row cover in one bed to do some weeding, seeding and crop inspection. And, dang, there were a couple of worms chomping away. SQUISH! Now they’re gone and my organic veggies are barely damaged.
So, what’s the message? Well, if there’s any opening in the floating row cover, those egg-laying white wonders are going to get into the plants. In one bed, my row cover is tightly secured over hoops with no entry point available. In the infested bed, the row cover is somewhat secured but mostly just floating. That weak link in the chain of defense meant the invaders made their way in.
Now I’m checking daily (if not a couple times a day) for worms on my cabbages. And, the floating row cover is more secured in all areas.
The best part about picking off the worms? Seeing my cabbages starting to tighten up and form yummy purple balls and little buds of cauliflower beginning to appear amid the protective leaves. I think I might even harvest my first cabbage today. Not only will that make a tasty addition to my endless salads, but it will also open up a planting spot for one of my Butternut squashes that are ready to move out of the greenhouse and into the garden beds.
Tags: agricultural fleece, butterfly, cabbage looper, european cabbage worm, floating row cover, hoop house, veggie garden, winter squash
Posted in Edible Gardens, IPM, Insects, Localvore, pests, vegetable gardening | 1 Comment »
May 28th, 2009
Laura from Bartlett, Il writes in:
“We have huge evergreens around our house. Recently they have started to brown and look like they are dying. We had this problem at our other house too. We called Chemlawn out and he said it was from our concrete. We had to go out and buy….This is where I forgot. If it was an acid to put in the dirt or an akaline. It was a powder mixed in the soil. It helped and revived our shrub. I think this is what we need again but, I can’t remember what it was we bought. Can you help?”
Bainbridge, WA arborist, Katy Krokower, has the following insights on this question:
Hi Laura,
I’d like to start the answer to your question by gently scolding you for calling a lawn company to address your tree issues. I will step down from the soap box to say that this is not an uncommon reaction, especially when large beloved trees start declining. People want an answer quickly and often they already have a lawn or landscape care service to ply with their concerns.
An arborist, particularly those who are ISA certified, can better help diagnose tree problems. Unlike most lawn care companies who focus solely on lawn issues (ie, they look down, not up) an arborist not only evaluates a tree from tip to roots but will question you about the trees history, ask about any activity in the surrounding area (including lawn care) and be able to give you a health or vigor assessment of what is going on with the tree at the time of their site visit. Their opinion will be based on more round information than an opinion based solely on one facet of an area affecting your tree.
That said, sometimes the conclusion is that you do have a soil issues that once remedied may help improve the vigor of your trees. If that is the case, a soil test (of which there are a variety of types) can help you determine what nutrients or diseases are present in your soil. However, I’ll say it again: if you don’t start by taking into account the whole picture of how the tree is, improving your soil may not take care of your tree issues.
To find out if there is a qualified certified arborist in your area check the ISA directory . Also, check your yellow pages to see if anyone has a ISA logo. I encourage you to treat your trees like valuable assets and don’t compromise when looking for experienced mature tree care.
Best of luck, Katy
Need help from a Seattle/Bainbridge arborist? Contact Katy here.
Tags: arborist, lawn, tree
Posted in arboriculture, trees | No Comments »
