Onions

My son recently had a garden onion taste testing. We planted four different onion varieties, red, candy, white, and shallot; with only three shallots planted, I wouldn’t let him pick one. He devoured an entire candy onion announcing its flavor to be as sweet as its name; it did not have an overpowering aroma or taste. Next he tasted a red onion, declaring it less sweet than its candy relative but still not strong enough to keep him from eating the whole onion. Lastly, a white onion was picked, peeled, and slightly nibbled; it had a pungent aroma, sharp and spicy flavor with a tangy aftertaste and made my son’s face contort into all sorts of silly ways. “You can have this one mom,” he said.

I don’t have room in my yard for traditional composting, but I do have worms that work faster than any other composting method I’ve previously used. Believing that organic sustainability does not have to cost a lot of money, I made two worm bins using large storage totes with lids. Holes were drilled around the top 4 inches of a container as well as throughout the bottom; in another bin, I put two bricks on the bottom to allow for drainage and put the drilled bin on top so it nest inside leaving at least the top 4 inches exposed; this ensures an oxygen flow that worms need to survive. I then filled the top container with a mixture of grass clippings, last year’s leaves, a handful of sand, a handful of dirt, some leaf hummus and kitchen scraps (again, no animal matter, oil, ads or construction paper.) Mix it all up, add 500 red wigglers, and watch the wonderful power of worms. Known as vermiculture, composting organically with worms reduces waste. Feed your worms at a 2:1 ratio. One pound of worms will consume ½ pound of organic waste per day. After tunneling though the loose mixture and eating whatever else you feed them, they leave behind castings (AKA worm poop). You could use castings as an addition to your potting soil; about 20% worm castings added to whatever else you normally use should show significant results. Usually I just add a light layer to the garden's topsoil allowing rainwater to work it further down.

Today, I spread one bucket of worms (both red wigglers and young night crawlers)along with their castings and fresh compost to my garden. Last Monday, I released approx. 100 worms along with food scraps and a nice layer of partially decomposed leaves. I'm really working on the new soil of our community garden plot. It still needs much amending; at least that's what my tomatoes are telling me.

Middle 7-1-10

West 7-1-10

East 7-1-10

More tomatoes

Tomatoes; how many will each plant produce? How long does their growing season last? To answer these questions, start by determining whether your variety is indeterminate or determinate. Most of the varieties I planted are indeterminate, meaning they will continue to flower and produce fruits until the local growing season has ended with frost. They grow six feet on average, requiring support by either caging or staking. Continue tying-up growing stalks to support their weight. The earlier they get planted, the earlier they mature, the more tomatoes you can harvest.

My tomatoes: Brandywine, a pink heirloom variety and Cherokee, a purple heirloom are both indeterminate, should begin ripening within 3 weeks; I suspect it may take longer for Cherokee. Sun Gold and Sweet Million are both hybrids, indeterminate, and already producing. Jubilee, indeterminate, expected within 4 weeks. Grape tomatoes are indeterminate; they are already producing. Roma, my only determinate plant, can be expected within 3 weeks. Determinate plants ripen entirely within a few weeks time before going dormant; they produce fruit quickly then stop. I remove the suckers from the bushy tomato plants; these are green leaves with no flowers that suck nutrients away from the fruit producing leaves; not always recommended for determinate varieties.

Put the leaves along with any other garden debris into a compost pile. If you don’t have time, energy, or space for composting, there are two bins located at the community garden that will happily accept your scraps. Be sure to leave out all animal products, oils, newspaper ads, and construction paper.

Let the tomatoes begin

The weeks since my last post have been full of activity. Leaf hummus, coffee grounds and egg shells have been applied to the garden, raising the soil level a total of one inch. Thanks to a fellow gardener, a fresh mix of compost was spread around the tomato plants. All of the plants show growing signs of green appreciation. The heirloom Cherokee tomato plant located in the northwest corner of the garden finally began to get larger but no fruit yet. Sweet Million and grape tomatoes ripen regularly now, providing a delicious addition to our backyard garden lettuce. The Sun Gold and Brandywine tomatoes all have swelling green fruits with flowers still blooming.

Even with frequent trimmings, basil plants remain abundant; I left one stem of each basil plant to flower, providing an invitation to my garden for pollinating bees. Fresh basil can be used in pasta dishes, salads, marinades, soups, and stews; the possibilities for cooking with herbs are endless. With a total of four basil plants, two at the community garden and two in backyard pots, I have leftovers; I remove each leaf, spread them on a paper plate and let them dry for about a week, turning occasionally; dried basil is then put into a zip tight bag and put into the deep freeze for use all winter long.

Five Romanian sweet peppers were harvested from a thriving plant. At about three inches long, these yellow bell shaped peppers will be stuffed with grass-fed ground beef and pork mixed with white rice and tomato for dinner. Unlike traditional stuffed green peppers, Romanian peppers will add a sweeter taste. Also, using grass fed meat reduces cooking time and temperature and has a significantly lower amount of fat; this will allow me to bake the stuffed peppers on the grill instead of heating my kitchen by turning on the oven. As far as the other pepper plants in my garden are concerned, they still need more TLC.

Cabbage plants that have been eaten by an uninvited guest show signs of hope with a reduction in small holes. No, I haven’t done anything to deter the problem; no beer traps or diluted dish soap spray. Cabbage plants and I have a long, rocky history, usually ending in surrender to persistent pests. I have tried everything recommended to me over the years, so this year I decided to do nothing.

This brings me to three dying cantaloupe plants located in the northeast corner of our plot. I dug them out, built 3 mounds with leaf hummus provided by the community garden, replanted and watered with a healthy dose of worm juice. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Let the eating begin

Today’s visit to the garden found healthy green plants with many shows of flowering blooms. It thrills me to no end that four orange cherry tomatoes were found on both Sweet Million plants. I’m somewhat ashamed to say, I ate them all; as soon as my eyes meet their bright orange glow, I just had to have a taste; as my teeth sunk into the firm flesh of a tomato just before ripe, the sweet, juicy pop of flavor exploded in my mouth; then they were gone. With a height of almost two feet, green tomatoes and flowers still blooming, I expect a Sweet Million from these plants on the southern corners of our plot.

The Romanian Sweet Pepper has flowers as did the other tomatoes. Both basil plants were flowering so I cut them down to about six inches. The Mesclun mix I harvested equals about 5 healthy cups. All three cantaloupes have spread to over two feet. It will surely fill in the garden’s bare spots. I replanted some marigolds in between tomatoes making room for another pepper or two. I also see many bare spots that onions will fill nicely. The cabbage is nearly filled with holes; the inside heads have currently been spared. If a spray of organic dish soap and water along with beer traps don’t work, I’m going to pull them and plant something else.

Overall, the garden looked healthy, but I expected better; I need to water it more often as rains have dwindled and daily temperature has risen.

Victory Gardens

Our food travels an average of 1500 miles from farm to table. Packaging and transporting food costs consumers a great deal of money that could be easily saved if you used your feet instead of oil to gain access to fresh produce; rising oil prices directly affect the cost of our food. During WWI and WWII the United States government asked its citizens to plant Victory Gardens in the name of patriotism. They wanted Americans to provide their own fruits and vegetables through family or community gardening efforts. During WWII nearly 20 million Americans planted gardens in backyards, empty lots and on city rooftops.

When World War II ended, so did the government promotion of victory gardens. Unfortunately the long term benefits of the short lived Victory Gardens were not realized. My grandfather returned from the war injured; finding work was hard for him; grandma lost her job to returned soldiers. These circumstances prompted them to continue gardening and preserving food. They also bought a few chickens as a cost effective way to provide eggs. My other grandparents came to the United States during the war; they came hungry. When they found a place to live, they planted vegetables in every spot of dirt they had. I believe it only takes being hungry one time with absolutely no food available to create a lifelong impression. Today I believe it is important to have an available food source growing in my yard. Emphasis was placed on national duty.

Home canning was encouraged in order to save commercially canned foods for the military and became very popular at this time. My grandmother did her part in the war effort and continued doing so for the rest of her life. Her small garden provided her with vegetables and jellies all year long; each year at harvest time, my mother, grandmother and I would spend hours in the kitchen canning. I have fond memories of female bonding along with the life skills I learned while stirring large pots of delicious smelling foods.

I find gardening as a time of inner reflection while enjoying nature. It lets me get my hands dirty and exercise my body. Gardening is absolutely my favorite thing to do.

Square foot garden grid

Day 11 East side

Day 11 West side

Garden overview

May 29th was a busy day of planting. The day began with turning the soil, adding 6" of leaf humus, and mixing in 4 tsp fertilizer per square foot. This year I purchased flats of vegetables from a local garden center, mainly because I didn't purchase a plot until late spring. The first two northern rows consist of 11 tomato plants, supported with bamboo stakes, 3 cantaloupe, 4 mesclun, and 4 marigolds. Marigolds were also planted around the outer edge of the entire plot in an attempt to deter slugs. Peppers, onions, basil, cabbage, and more tomatoes were planted in the southern two rows also hoping to deter wildlife snacking.

My children enjoy the sweet taste of tomatoes, often eating them right off the vines. I planted cherry and grape tomatoes in the southern corners for grazing on our trips to the garden. These already have green tomatoes, growing 2" to 3" each. Going for variety, we planted a Sun Gold cherry which are golden in color, and Sweet Million red cherry; both are vigorous producers and fruity sweet. I'm making my first attempt at an heirloom plant with a Cherokee tomato; weighing up to 1lb, this sweet purple slicing tomato originates with its namesake in Tennessee; 85 days to harvest; ours has grown only 1/2" since planting.

Day 4 east side

Day 4 West side

Planting Day

The beginning of our square foot garden

I've been a backyard gardener for 19 years, but it wasn't until recently that I began to realize the impact of growing my own food. For example, 1/5 of our fossil fuel is used for growing, transporting, and packaging of our food; by growing vegetables from seed in my own backyard, I eliminate some fossil fuel consumption along with the harmful toxins emitted into the atmosphere when they are burned. My personal reduction of fuel may be only a drop in the bucket compared to the 1,950 million pounds of carbon Americans emit into our atmosphere daily. According to Hazel Henderson in Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy, our fossil fuel usage creates about 98% of the United States CO2 emissions (pp 124). With numbers as high as these, I'm willing to do my part on a local level in order to contribute to healthier lives.

After moving to Bay Village, Ohio, where the soil is mainly clay and the backyards shaded, my gardening dwindled to containers. The Bay Village Green Team came to my rescue with the 2010 Community Garden. With my 8ft by 4ft sunny plot, I am provided with the opportunity to feed my family from garden to table. This might seem like a small amount of space for those of you use to planting in rows, but square foot gardening works quite well. Our plot contains 32 square feet which I have laid out into individual squares; we planted a total of 71 plants in a raised bed filled with leaf hummus and all purpose-all organic fertilizer. The Bay Village Community Garden is all organic; no harmful pesticides or fertilizers on our dinner table.

We planted our plot on May 29, 2010. More on that to come.

Happy Gardening,
Jacki