Garden Planning

Monday, January 05, 2009

There’s no more local food than that you grow in your own backyard, and now’s the time to start planning - which is my favorite part. I love planning and organizing things, looking through seed catalogs, and of course in the planning stage every garden is perfect - no mysteriously dead or dying plants, no diseases, no pests, no weeds, and not a whole lot of work .

I’m going to give a brief description of my planning process for 2009.  While reading, please keep in mind three things: 1) I have a relatively decent sized yard, considering, so if you have an apartment or smaller garden don’t feel the need to be as crazily organized as I am, 2) I’m a fairly experienced gardener and am trying for a 4 season garden this year (see The 4 Season Harvest at your local library) so my succession planting is overkill for a less experienced or less obsessed gardner, 3) I like planning, so if this looks crazy to you, you’re probably perfectly normal.

Step 1 List the seeds (and perennial plants) from previous years. I don’t know about you but even the smallest seed packets are usually too large for my needs so I pop them in the freezer (in ziplock bags inside a larger ziplock to prevent condensation from forming on the seeds).  During this step I evaluate how the seeds did last year and decide if I really want to try again. This list includes plant type (ex. swiss chard), variety (ex. bright lights), days (i.e. how long it takes from planting to harvest), plant time (permissible dates/conditions to plant), and any other notes.

Step 2 Heaven! Browse all those seed catalogs that keep piling up and circle all the ones I want to plant.  Apply some common sense and narrow this down to things I really want to plant and have a hope of keeping alive.  Then I make a list with the same info as in Step 1, along with source (i.e. where I’m going to buy it), cost, and amount (ex. 1 lb for potatoes).

Step 3 I lay out a diagram of my garden space. I use graph paper and break down each area in to 1 square foot sections. This makes it easy to place the plants later. This picture is roughly laid out like my actual garden area, but with the space between beds scrunched, and the flower beds mostly eliminated. I mostly use the Square Foot Gardening method and I really recommend it.

Step 4 Next I sort my seed lists into several categories: transplants (ones I start indoors), early spring plants, early summer plants, mid summer plants, and late summer plants. Then the hard work starts - I try to fit two or three plants in to one garden plot.  I make a time line with start and mid-month sections, and mark the last and first frost dates.  Then I plot on the time line when the plants will be planted, transplanted, ready to harvest, and done harvesting. Then I fit complementary plants together. Note, if you’d like to try this keep in mind that most plants are harvest-able for a few weeks (except for say, head lettuce) so you don’t want to schedule to plant the second plant as soon as the first one is ready to harvest. I also do a little summary line that shows when that plot will be planted or fallow and note if it will need to be covered in the winter. Invariably, a few of the plants on the wish list don’t fit in to this planning step and are sadly crossed off the list. (This step is on the right side of the picture below.)

Step 5 Once I’ve scheduled all of the plots, I then place them in my garden diagram, and decide how many square feet to devote to each set of plants. On the left side of the above picture is a filled in version of my garden diagram - each letter corresponds to a plant group. Most of the items written in are perennials (or a few annual herbs). I also add little icons to say which spots need trellises, cages, or protection from the cold.

Step 6I order the seeds and plants that I need from the sources on my list.

Step 7Lastly, I create a schedule of what to do when in the garden.  I break this down (like the time line in step 4) in to roughly bi-weekly periods (i.e Feb 1 - Feb 15, Feb 16 - Feb 28). This gives me leeway for doing stuff in the garden when the weather and my life permits without feeling like I’m behind. Basically for this step I go through the time lines from step 4 and list everything that needs to be done for each time period. Here’s an example:

April 15 - April 30th
Plant Red Samurai Carrots and Arugula in A plots
Plant Mizuna and Mesclun in E plots
Then I just look a the diagram and know exactly where to plant stuff.

Of course, I had to put all that hand drawn stuff onto the computer and I repeat the process for my herb and flower beds - but I’m sure you get the idea.  I’m very excited for my garden this year - especially the fairy tale pumpkins - my favorite kind of winter squash.  Speaking of winter squash, ...

Catching up

Friday, January 02, 2009

Phillyist has posted their 2009 resolutions - eating locally grown produce and gardening has made the cut.  They’ll also be talking about how to join a CSA program.  I’m wondering who they’ll recommend.

There are a few CSA programs that I can think of that deliver within Philadelphia city limits (and probably a bunch more that I don’t know of or haven’t thought of)....

Landisdale Farm - Clark Park
Dancing Hen Farm - TBD
Emerson Farm - 6th & Lehigh
Greensgrow Farm - Kensington
Lancaster Farm Fresh - Reading Terminal & just about everywhere else in the city

And there are dozens more that have pick up and drop off locations in the burbs.  Just take a trip to Local Harvest, plug in your zip code, and you’ll find more than you know what to do with.

Finding a CSA join isn’t too difficult, but I’ve always wondered if there was an easy way to find community gardens in Philadelphia.  Years ago I used to live right down the street from a large garden, but aside from stalking the gardeners and asking for information I didn’t have a clue how to join.  The Philadelphia Lands Trust does have an online map of their community garden locations, although it doesn’t tell you how to become part of their gardens.  The site does contain valuable information, though - how to start your own community garden.  There is also a list of Philadelphia area garden associations at the at the American Community Gardening Association.  Rough Terrain is also a good online resource for community gardens. 

Still, none of them really talk about how to become a member of a particular garden.  I know from talking to people involved in community garden plots that there are sign ups and waiting lists and all sorts of things.  It would be a useful resource to have online - it’s where most people start their searches.

Anatomical produce - true food porn!

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Over Thanksgiving at the Fair Food Farmstand, we noticed two carrots that had grown wrapped around each other.  It was sort of sweet, in a weird way.  Vegetable weirdness is everywhere, though.  Lisa Kerschner from North Star Orchards recently emailed me these two photos [click the photo for a bigger look]:

She says: “We picked “Mr. and Mrs. Carrot” (on the same day from the same planting ‘bed’), and also a ‘rude pear’.
Farming is a lot of hard work....finding treasures like these really is a joy!”

Oh, by the way, if you’re interested in North Star Orchard’s CSA program (both fruit and veggies), sign ups will begin in February.

Garden Porn: the 2009 gardening season beckons

Monday, December 29, 2008

I was at a holiday gathering recently with my friends Buzz and Pat, first-time participants in the 2008 One Local Summer challenge and first-time gardeners.  We were chatting about this past year’s harvest (they had tremendous luck with potatoes and pepper, I had great luck with various greens, garlic, and turnips), and it reminded me that it’s time to start fantasizing about next season’s garden.

My first 2009 seed catalog arrived the other day, as fate would have it, giving me ample garden porn to pour over.

Really, my 2009 garden is already started - I planted garlic a few months ago.  Normally, my gardening goals revolve around planting stuff I don’t think I’ll get through the CSA.  However, unless I can find a CSA program that plans to deliver to Head House Square it’s not looking like we’ll be part of a CSA next year...so that sort of frees me up to plant what I want.  That said, I still intend to plant things that perhaps are not as readily available at the farmer’s markets.

But I also want to be smart about things.  As much as I would love to grow these very awesome pointy cabbages, I don’t really love cabbage.  So I not only want to grow things I can’t find everywhere, but also things that I will have no problem finding ways to eat.

Sadly, the lesson I have learned over the last several years is that I am better off buying tomatoes rather than growing them.  The squirrels conspire against me every year, making off with my tomatoes.  I’ve tried everything short of hiring a sharp shooter to guard my garden.  So I concede defeat.  Luckily, great-tasting heirloom tomatoes are easy to find here, and I won’t go wanting for tomatoes.

So what am I thinking about for 2009?  Well...I may give zucchini another try.  I may be the only person on the planet who has super bad luck with zucchini.  I think it’s a pollination issue, so I’m going to try to plant some bee-attracting flowers right up next to the zucchini plants this year and see if it makes a difference.  And I’ll also try hand pollinating.

As I said, I really want to grow things you generally just can’t find at the farmer’s market.  I chose some possibilities with that in mind.  The Bush Baby from Johnny’s looks interesting - little stripey zucchinis meant to be picked small.  Or possibly the Kamo Kamo squash or Lemon Squash from Baker Creek.  I like the idea of the Kamo Kamo - it’s an heirloom pumpkin, meant to be a Winter squash but the young fruits can be eaten like zucchini.  And the Lemon Squash are just unique-looking.

More to come on the 2009 garden!

Putting the garden to bed

Sunday, November 16, 2008

I’m trying something I did last year which worked pretty well for keeping the container perennials over the winter. I push them together and pile the leaves and stems and even the rootballs of annuals over the top to make a wind barrier. Over the next week, I’ll collect more leaves and things and arrange them around the container bases as insulation.Then we’ll see if the coneflowers and verbena come back.
Another tactic has been to put a container in a container rather than disturb the plant’s roots twice by taking out the one it’s in, putting it into a bigger, more insulated container for winter, and then digging it out again in the spring. I’ll be burying this in leaves, too.
At the lower edge of this photo are some helleborus plants (Lenten Roses) swaddled in leaves. I’ve been piling them around my new this season raspberry bushes as well.
Last, but not least, the compost “silo” (yard is too small for a “pile") for the rest of the leaves and the vegetable scraps. Apart from a squirrel or two diving in, it’s working pretty well. It’s in a corner that doesn’t work for in-ground planting, so I hope to keep it going all next year.

Grow your own fennel seeds

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

I grew fennel this year in the garden.  It didn’t really work out so well for me in terms of harvesting it for use as a vegetable - it never bulbed up for me.  It did get nice foilage, though, so I did have fresh fennel fronds all Summer to cook with.

While I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get fat fennel bulbs out of the deal, I am now being rewarded - with fennel seeds.

Seed heads started forming on my plants a few weeks ago, and I noticed that Urban Girls was selling fresh seed heads at the Clark Park market this past Saturday.  I started harvesting my own dried seed heads today, although there are many more fresh seed heads in the garden I will have to keep my eye on.

One of the most common uses of fennel seed is with pork roasts.  Very delicious.  But fennel seeds have many other uses, including tea and keeping away fleas!  Who knew?  And fennel seeds have all sorts of uses in herbal home remedies.

Onions at the top

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

I have never in my life seen top onions for sale.  Anywhere.  But Margerum’s had them recently at the Headhouse Square farmer’s market.  I could not resist buying a few - they were 15 cents per top onion, and if I remember correctly, they were some kind of heirloom variety.

Top onions are also known as tree onions, walking onions, or Egyptian onions.  I haven’t tried them yet, but I’m told they taste more like shallots than onions.

Now is the time to plant top onions for next year’s harvest.  Interestingly, they are perennials.  They’re very difficult to find for sale, although I did find a few places that sells bulbs.

late season garden + questions for readers

Saturday, October 11, 2008

1) Green Tomatoes. The garden in winding down, not because of the weather (obviously—it’s a gorgeous 75+ today) but because from the end of August my garden has been in near total darkness. New house = learning curve. At any rate, after July’s $75 tomato, the one productive plant is busting out with them, all green, not much of a shot at redness. Does anyone out there have a tried and true use for them besides frying? I was thinking about using them like tomatillos for salsa, but after that, I draw a blank.

2) Rose Affliction. See these near perfectly round holes on my rose? I’ve looked under the leaves and on the stems, and I don’t see any creatures. But it must be some kind of precisely munching creature. This didn’t start until the end of the summer. Ideas?

3) Happy Shady Flowers. If your garden goes dark, literally, at this time of year, I can recommend these pretty purple monkshood. I got them at Greensgrow a few weeks ago, and they have been thriving. (They do get a couple hours of sun early in the morning, but after that, all shadow.) (The littel red flower in the background is a salvia that rarely blooms and is in the reshuffling plan I have in mind for November.)

Garlic breath

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

This Summer and Autumn are really flying by, leaving me behind the eight ball a little when it comes to Fall gardening.  I only just ordered my garlic for Autumn planting today.  My options were limited, but I’m happy with what I’ll be planting.

Elephant Garlic.  I’ve been hearing about elephant garlic for years.  How gigantic the heads get.  How much milder the flavor is than regular garlic.  Well, I’m finally going to find out.  Interestingly, elephant garlic is more closely related to leeks than garlic.  This garlic will mature in mid- to late- Summer.  And here’s something useful to note: elephant garlic does send up a scape, but I’ll have to pick them quickly - they get woody very quickly.

Oregon Blue Garlic. I’m finally going to try some softneck garlic!  It won’t produce any scapes at all, but does have a sort of purple-y clove skin.  I have no idea what to expect.

Western Rose Garlic.  This is supposed to be a very long-keeping garlic, perfect for braiding.  It’s another softneck variety.

I will also be planting a few cloves from the garlic harvested this Summer, just so I have a supply of garlic scapes.

Garden Migration

Monday, September 22, 2008

I discovered that the backyard of my new house is overtaken by shade in mid-August. So I moved quite a bit to the sidewalk in the front. These Jimmy Nardello peppers from Seed Savers Exchange have thanked me for it by producing a bumper crop. And one of them made a nice little chaise for a grasshopper.

Jack and the Heirloom Beanstalk

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Every year I grow at least one new thing in the garden.  I try to make it something I’ve never seen in a grocery store.  This year it was a dried bean called Akahana Mame from Kitazawa Seed.  Are they not gorgeous?  The photo on the Kitazawa site shows them as red and black, but mine are lavender and black. 

From Kitazawa:

This rare and beautiful Japanese bean is also called “flower bean.” Grown as a pole bean, this variety produces gorgeous red flowers and pods up to 8” long. The striking 1” beans are a deep red color dappled with purple and black. Best if wrinkled beans are soaked before boiling. After cooking, rinse beans, and then add sugar and salt. Dissolve sugar by heating again. Toss with a large spoon so as to not break the beans.

The vines really do produce a very pretty red flower.  I was almost sorry to see them make way for the beans pods, which sort of look like lima beans a little.

As with all garden experiments, I had no idea what to expect from Akahana Mame beans.  You just never know how any vegetable will do in your particular soil, in your particular climate.  The beans did fantastically!  The vines got huge and is producing vigorously.  I haven’t tasted the beans yet.  But providing the beans are a good tasting variety, I will definitely be adding Akahana Mame as a permanent part of my garden...and planting a lot more of them.

I’ve grown dried beans before - cranberry, cannellini...you know, normal varieties.  For some, the space they take up in the garden isn’t really worth the yield.  And locally grown dried beans are readily available via Margerum’s (Clark Park and Headhouse Square markets).  But I do think dried beans are worth growing yourself IF you seed out more unusual varieties. 

For next year’s garden, I’m considering a few more varieties of dried beans.  Victory Seeds sells a nice variety of both bush and pole type dried beans, as does Salt Springs Seeds.  I also saw these great-looking orange Tiger’s Eye dried beans at Seeds of Change.

The $75 tomato

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Sometimes all the effort, locally sourced seedlings, good intentions, and compost in Greater Philadelphia will not make for a good crop. Here’s a photo of only part of my heirloom tomato jungle. Big healthy plants, organically fed (easy on the nitrogen—I was careful about that), appearing to the casual observer as one heck of a tomato wonderland.

This little guy is the first one this summer. Halfway through August. Not exactly $75 tomato—the squat patio tomato plants have been producing, thank goodness, but still.

In early July when I should have been seeing lots of little green gumdrops and did not, I did see that lots of flowers had fallen off. I hit the books and the web for the solution. My guess is that the extreme heat caused them to drop because the night temps stayed in the high 70s and low 80s for weeks. Now, my plants are flowering again, it’s cooler outside, and I’m hoping for a late bumper crop. So hang in there to all of you who set out on the path of locavoracious righteousness and have yet to reach the mountain top.

Little Bouquets

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

I like to make little bouquets to have around the house. And this is a good thing because, while I’m figuring out what grows best where in my new garden, I don’t have a lot of long or even medium stemmed flowers out there. But with these little bottles, even a sprig of basil and a marigold make a nice combo. (In the photo, #3 from left has a stem of tiny oregano flowers.) In May, I put a little bouquet on my nightstand, and in the morning I found a little inchworm on my clock radio. (S/he went back outside.)

The first of the garlic

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Trying to figure out when to harvest garlic can be tricky.  You can’t see what’s going on under the dirt, so how do you make a decision?  Hardneck garlic at least gives you some indicator: it sends up a central flower stalk.  We call that a scape, and it should be cut off and made into all sorts of delicious things.  The rule of thumb is that the garlic should be picked about a month after the scape shoots up.

Well, in theory.  Not all garlic will be ready a month later.  Another indicator of harvest readiness (with all garlic) is the color of the leaves.  Garlic will let you know when it’s ready to be picked when the leaves start to turn brown and die.  In the case of softneck garlic, which I’ve never grown, I hear that with some varieties you should pick it the second the lower leaves turn brown, and with others you should wait until all but the top couple of leaves have died off.  With hardneck garlic, you typically pick it when 50% of the leaves are brown.

There’s also a theory that letting garlic in the ground longer will make it more flavorful and potent.  And that withholding water for a week or two prior to your planned harvest is beneficial.

Friday night I harvested one variety of garlic out of my garden.  The stalks were all leaned over and mostly dead.  It was time, even though I harvested the scapes about three weeks ago.  And the other three varieties of garlic in my garden are all just beginning to turn brown.  I think the garlic I harvested (pictured) is the Georgian Crystal Purple variety.  This variety produces a smallish bulb with a very hot, strong flavor.  I would guess that I got about 15 heads of it or so.  And I easily have another 30-40 heads of garlic out in the garden between the other three varieties I planted. Woohoo!

The garlic I harvested on Friday is currently tied together, hanging out my back porch.  After harvest you should remove the dirt from the garlic, leave the roots on, and hang it somewhere with good air circulation but out of direct sunlight to dry, or ‘cure’.  A curing time of 2-3 weeks is ideal.  Yes, you can eat fresh garlic immediately (called green garlic), but if you intend to store garlic for any length of time it needs to be cured.

It’s not too early to start thinking about planting garlic.  Garlic has to be planted in the Fall, and it does pretty well in the clay soil of my garden.  It’s super easy to grow.

South Philly garden update

Sunday, June 22, 2008

(Mints and sorrel)

(Patio tomato with raspberry in background)

(Another patio tomato with zinnias)

(Chard)
Considering the clay in my soil—amended with mighty but not nearly enough bags of leaf compost, mushroom soil, and vermiculite—I’m reasonably pleased with the progress. The patio tomatoes are fruiting and the others are flowering (Brandywine, Yellow Pear, and Mortgage Lifter), peppers are ready to flower, chard is happy, sorrel was unhappy in the ground and, alas, remains peevish in its own pot, all the herbs are gangbusters. This was the first year I bought plants at Greensgrow, and I couldn’t be happier with the results.

Next update: plants sprouted from Seed Savers Exchange.