A lot has been happening.....

Even though I have not posted for awhile, all due to a very busy few months, I have been quite active in both getting the garden set for winter and experimenting with winter gardening.  I hope that everything settles down to a point where I can post more often.

Most people shut their gardens down after the typical season is over and stop all activity after removing all the dead plants.  There is nothing wrong with that.  That was what I typically did every year.  But after seeing a plateau in both the quality and quantity of production in my gardens, I did research on how to improve the soil.  I soon realized the value of using cover crops in my garden beds.  I have written about this in previous posts but I certainly believe it bears another mention.

Cover crops can be a whole array of plants that you grow in your beds that will add structure and nutrients to your garden.  They can be planted any time of the year but I do it at the end of the planting cycle.  I have settled into a pattern of growing winter rye every year.  Winter Rye grows well into early winter and remains quite vibrant throughout.  I was a little delayed in getting it started this year but it has done pretty well given it's late start.  As can be seen in the picture below, it is filling in pretty well.  If I had been able to start it earlier, the growth would have been much more robust.  A reminder that in gardening, it's about the timing.

This will suffice though as it will continue to grow over the winter season.  It will prevent soil erosion, give me a green manure that I can cut in the Spring and the roots will supply structure and nutrients over the next growing season.  

While the rest of the garden is on auto pilot, I decided to experiment with growing cold weather crops in a structure.  It has it's challenges for sure.  In the mid-atlantic area, we get some pretty cold temps and snow during the December through February period.  So, I have decided to utilize the structure as seen below.  

By itself, it will not offer enough protection for the whole season.  While I am not an expert, I am going to use a multiple layer approach to see if it will work.  I have no illusions that I will get robust crops on my first attempt.  As I said earlier, this is an experiment.  But, any crop I do get, will be a bonus.  

So, here is a chronological look at where I am at this point in time.

I planted the crops about 3 weeks ago and they have grown as seen in this above photo I took Saturday.  I have various lettuces in the first set of rows with spinach in the middle set and in the far row I have onions, carrots and La Rosa lettuce.  

Temps have been dropping steadily lately and we are under a frost warning tonight.  So, this morning, I went out and added layers to move my effective zone up probably 2-3 levels.  From my guess, this is now probably at a zone 9-10 area.  That supposedly will get me to lower Georgia or northern Florida zones.  

I first put a layer of vegetable spun fiber over the crops inside the structure.  I put in sticks and then pinned the fabric down on the ends so it would be taut.  The fabric does not touch the plants that way. Then, I took some UV heavy duty plastic and put it over the structure itself as seen below. 

This should allow the air inside to warm up during the day and slowly cool off during the night. Again, no assurances this will work but I think it gives me a fairly decent chance. 

I am also doing the last of composting that can be achieved.  I cut my front lawn for what I hope is the last time.  In doing so, I cut it very low which produced a pretty large amount of clippings.  I collect the last cuttings of the season as I believe they do not decompose fully and thus can cause various issues in the Spring.  So, here is the final collection.

Given they were very wet when I cut them, I am going to let them sit out overnight to dry.  This insures that there will not be any ammonia smell due to their fresh state.  Once dried, I will use them in each of the three composters I have.  This will add bulk and allow me to add leaves to get one last burst before the real cold weather hits.
Another facet of the year end gardening around here is rounding up of leaves that are currently falling.  As seen below, I get a pretty good supply from my tree.  I do have to augment it by picking up my neighbors leaves.  I've even been known to stop on my way to or from work and pick up a few bags.  It always has amazed me that people don't use this free source of nutrients in place of the artificially produce fertilizers that they do use.  I really have no issue with grabbing the bags regardless of what people may think.  I can't seriously remember the last time I bought any soil for my garden.  It makes sense to me both monetarily and environmentally.

Well, that sums up the activities in the garden at my house.  Hopefully you are enjoying the last of the season and are doing your necessary prep work for a great start to your garden season next year. Until next time, Happy Gardening everyone! 

Garden renovation progress

As I have related in my previous posts, I am in the process of renovating my garden this fall.  I am doing this because the beds were uneven and it just looked bad to me.  So, after having to delay the work due to family issues, I have begun in earnest to relocate the beds.  What I have desired is to bring everything into alignment including where they end.

I would never harm the tree for garden symmetry

Sunday morning was a beautiful day with a low temperatures and a gentle breeze.  I cranked up the Sirius radio and off I went.  One issue I ran into was that in the bed I was working on, the Oak tree in our yard has a big root running right where the one border is located.  I naturally had to concede that this was not an issue I could solve by removing the root.  It is quite large and I would be concerned that cutting the root would harm the tree.  It's a beautiful tree so I had to figure out how I was going to work around the root.
The issue was that the cement block over the root was standing up higher than all the rest of the blocks and looked out of place.  So, I devised a plan to build up the blocks in the border so that there would be a slight rise to the block and then a slight decline after this block.  As you can see, it's noticeable but not overpowering.

Granted, it wasn't perfect, but it did solve the issue with the least cost.  If I leveled all the other blocks to this one block, I would have had to buy a lot of soil to put under the rest of the other blocks.
I worked for about two hours getting the blocks in alignment and leveled as seen in this photo.

I also made sure that the two block borders were 48" apart which is what I consider the optimum width.  It allows you to work on the bed on each side and you can reach every plant in the bed.  My previous bed was 44" wide and that did not quite allow me to plant my vegetables with their correct spacing.

Cement blocks: a concern in vegetable gardens.

One concern I have heard people express is that my borders are cement bricks.  People are concerned that the blocks will cause the soil to turn alkaline.  While I understand the concern, research is inconclusive as to the mobility of the acids coming off the blocks.  But I also know that the bricks I have are at least 20 years old and were out in the elements their entire life.  My neighbor gave me about 100 of them because he just wanted to get rid of them.  I would think their age would negate the issue of acid bleaching.
Cement blocks are extremely durable so I know that I will not have to do this again.  My reasoning for doing this is to first widen each bed to 4 feet widths.  Additionally, I can now use drip irrigation to water them if we have another dry spell next summer like we did this year.  I am also doing this to get an aesthetic look to the beds.  I plan to fill the holes in the blocks with dirt and grow bee attracting flowers in them.  That will also anchor the blocks in place so they won't shift.
So, in two hours time, I was able to get the first plot about 70% completed.  There is supposed to be a period of about 16 hours of on and off again rains.  It supposed to be clear most of the weekend so I am hoping to complete the first plot and then maybe get the second plot about 50 % complete.
You may be saying that you don't have this much space at your house to do something of this proportion.  You should remember that everything can be scaled to fit whatever space you do have. Even a small garden can produce great abundance.  It's all in the planning you do.  Don't rule out a garden just because you think it cant be done in your case.  The rewards are too high not to have a garden that fits your space.
So, there you have the status of the project at this time.  I will follow up with more reports as I work through this.  So, until next time, happy gardening everyone!

Saturday at the community garden

The Remington Improvement association held their fall cleanup for their area and the community garden.  It was an overcast day so it was actually pretty nice out.  Along with the various neighborhood volunteers and gardeners, there were about 70 volunteer students from a local college. They ably assisted the various leaders with projects around the neighborhood and in the gardens. There certainly was a lot to be accomplished

The gardens needed some weeding along the paths and the application of mulch spread over the areas.  I must say the students I worked with were very determined and worked at a very steady pace. Between the waste from the neighborhood alleys and all the weeds and tree branches that were trimmed at the garden, at the end of three hours we filled a large trailer and a full sized pickup truck with green waste.

The garden looks beautiful and is now ready for fall preparation.  We agreed that we need to come back to the gardens in a few weeks and spread winter rye onto the individual beds so that we can grow it as a green manure for the spring.  
In speaking with the students, there was an overwhelming opinion that endeavors such as the community garden were efforts they felt good about assisting.  We told them that the gardens were organic for the most part as we leave what the various gardeners do to their plots up to them.  There was talk about food deserts in most of the major cities such as Baltimore and that community gardens were seen as a big answer to some of the issues involved.  There also was discussion with regards to freshness, safety and the carbon footprint of most food we consume.  And again, the gardens were seen as a solution to this issue along with the various farmer's markets we have here in Baltimore.  It was really a pleasure to speak to them and hear their concerns and their admiration for what we had started in this section of the city.
I left the gardens that day a bit tired but also very satisfied that the efforts of all the people associated with our gardens were being noticed and appreciated by the young women and men we met.  It gives me a boost to know that I am not alone in my opinion of just how important gardening in these times has become.  I cannot think of a better endeavor for any family to undertake than gardening.      

Composting deluxe

Before I begin writing about my continuing composting activities, I must relate that today and tomorrow are very sad days for my wife's family.  We begin the funeral process of saying goodbye to her beloved grandmother who passed away on Saturday after living for 90 wonderful years.  I have known this fine lady for almost 20 years now and I can honestly say - I have never met a sweeter, kinder, more loving and accepting person in my life.  She truly epitomize the very essence of being a lady living under grace.  I will deeply miss having her in my life.

I decided to look into the progress of my composters as I had some kitchen scraps to add to my current working pile.  I have three units which I have lined up behind my garage as seen here.

 I have one composter with finished product which I will add to my beds once I finish the reconfiguration of my beds which I an currently working on.  It's the furthest composter in the above picture.  Here is a picture of how much is available.

 












Additionally, I have one pile that is probably 80% through the process as seen below. It's the nearest composter in the first picture.

And, I have one that I just recently have been adding product to so I can get the last possible compost for the year as seen by these two pictures.  It is in the middle as I am going to take steps to attempt winter composting and I figured it may insulate it from the winds.  

 

As can be seen, the decomposition process is underway already as attested to by the gray pores developing on the compost.  They showed up at about day 4.  Those are fungi and actinomycetes which are generally prevalent at the beginning the breakdown process.  They prepare the waste for further breakdown by other actors in the pile.  I wanted to show you how it looks when the fungi appear.  So after I took these pictures, I added leaves, watered it down a little and turned the product in order to get the proper breakdown process underway.  

I will continue to add product and water to the middle pile through the winter - snow permitting.  I will also continue to add moisture to the other pile to assist with the ongoing breakdown of that pile. By the beginning of next Spring, I should have two composters filled with ready to use product.  

Composting is an ongoing year long process.  It pays dividends to do this if you want to control what your produce is taking up.  

One misconception is that compost is only for vegetable gardens.  It is actually a great amendment to a variety of items.  I use it as a planting medium for flowers and grass seed.  You can use it as a foliar spray on any plant by making compost tea.  It can also be used as a fertilizer for your lawn by spreading the compost over the lawn.  Additionally, it can also be used as a side dressing for any plant.  And on an environmental note, if you compost, the waste you recycle through composting is kept out of the landfills.

Composting saves you money.  It has been a long time since I bought commercially produced compost or fertilizer for any part of my landscape.  And, I know that the compost I produce is as fresh as it can be.
You may be thinking that you don't have the space to compost in your yard.  While I have 3 what I consider larger composters, there are alternatives for small space composting.  There are numerous small composters offered online that fit into every urban landscape quite well.  And, you have to keep in mind, that with a small landscape/garden, you have less demand for compost.      

So, there you have it.  If you have any questions regarding composting or any other gardening subject, you can add a comment or you can email me through this site.  Happy Gardening everyone!  

Fall composting?

Most people think that at this time of the year, composting would be drawing to a close.  Nothing could be further from the truth actually.  I am currently loading my 3 composters with all the materials that I can find.  I still have many bags of leaves that I collected both last fall and this spring that I need to use.  I am collecting as many table scraps that I can find and am combining that with the leaves and cardboard to get a last pile into play before the weather turns colder.
This is a perfect time of year to actually begin to compost as the wealth of items are outstanding.  I use newspapers, cardboard, fresh cut grass, kitchen scraps, tea and coffee grounds and of course, my bags of leaves.  Also, this is the time of year that if you have a garden, you can put your clean spent plants into the composter.  You have to be vigilant to not put any plant waste that died from a disease or fungus.  You would only be adding that to your garden next year.  You can always look online to find more extensive lists of materials you can use.
The point is, now is the time to either begin to compost or get your last loads in before the snow and cold weather begins.  It is a fact that if the pile is big enough, it will continue to breakdown over the winter.  It will just happen on a smaller scale and at a much slower rate.  But, it still happens.
Naturally, those of us who live in the warmer climes of the south can compost year round.
I cant emphasize enough as to the importance that composting plays in the scheme of gardening.  It is the black gold of soil as it renews the ground and recycles the natural resources we have at our disposal.
If you have never composted, you can check out my guest post that I did for Brennan Young at The-Urban-Farmer.com. that will explain the details of composting in much better detail.  I hope you like it!