Time to get the Garden Ready for Fall

It may feel hot and muggy in these dog days of summer, but this is the time to get the garden beds ready for fall planting.  As I cut back last years wildflowers and saved the seeds I decided to keep the base of the plant in tact and left some leaves on it to see if it will come back in the spring.  The leaves were still green, so my guess is it will.  I love to see what plants naturalize in my garden.  Annuals to some areas of the country become perennials in my garden!

I decided to dig out the hollyhocks that somehow found there way into my vegetable garden.  They took up too much precious real estate.  Out came the wild amaranth and anything else that was not going to produce food for me this winter.

The sweet pepper plants are holding their own fairly well this summer so they were allowed to stay - one of them is now 18 months in the garden and still producing red sweet peppers! In fact, you will find that sweet peppers will bounced back in the fall and produce another crop!

The basil is doing well, too. There are 2 eggplants that have not produced any fruit yet, nor flowered, but I will leave them in for now and see if they come back once it cools down again.

I also started to amend the soil in another garden bed.  I used my own compost and mixed it in with the existing garden soil with a shovel and water it well with rain water from my rain barrels.  I do a section every few days and it makes the process seem like less work.

The seed nursery is also started - I am using the broccoli seed from my own plant.  I bought some peat pellets (they expand to almost 2 inches when wet) and placed a few seeds in each one last Saturday morning.  By Monday they had sprouted and they are now taller then the little hot house I created using a plastic lettuce container I got from the grocery store. 

These little hot houses work well because they keep the moisture in so the seed scan sprout.  I also use the clear plastic clam shells.

Another thing you can use to make your own small seed starting pots are the cardboard rolls from paper towels and toilet paper.  I just cut them to about 2 inches tall, put them in one of these little hot houses, fill them with potting spoil and plant the seeds.  Then when the seedlings get big enough the entire roll can be planted directly into your garden or a larger pot if the garden is not ready or you wish to give them to someone.

Paper rolls cut for pots

October 1st is the target date for planting seeds into my garden beds.  I may start a few more seeds before then, but mostly seeds in the ground this year.

What about you?  What are your plans for your edible garden this year??

Happy Digging,
The Garden Goddess
http://www.donw2earthgardens.com/

Protecting your Garden from the Birds

I wrote an article last month about using netting as a way to protect your prized fruit trees and vegetable garden from the birds. And I got an education about WHY THAT MAY NOT BE THE BEST SOLUTION!

Deborah, one of my readers, volunteers at Liberty Wildlife in Scottsdale, AZ and took the time to share a few facts about the trouble netting causes the birds:

 

“In our public outings with the Education birds, we attempt to increase the public's awareness about the impact of various materials on wildlife. Topics range from fishing line left on the ground, balloons, plastic, and netting.

 

Right now, at Liberty Wildlife a Cooper's hawk will probably have to be euthanized because his legs were entangled in netting. Blood flow was cut off for too long of a time before he was found, and he can not properly use his talons. He is a beautiful, fully-flighted bird who cannot use his feet, and therefore, unable to survive in the wild. He was not going for the fruit; Cooper's hawks are meat eaters. “

 

Thanks Deborah – I never stopped to think about this – I always cut up the plastic rings from a six-pack of beverages as I remember learning they end up in the ocean and sea life gets trapped in them, but I had not considered the impact of bird netting and the birds!

I did a little more research and found this:  "..but in many cases products like nylon bird netting degrade rapidly and quickly become ineffective due to poor installation. Degraded nylon bird netting also has the potential to entrap wild birds,..." (PiCAS)

 

Here are a few other things you could use:

• Hang old CDs or DVDs in the tree with a sturdy twine. Do not use fishing wire for the same reason that it could get wrapped around a birds led or body.
• Use very sheer curtains you get from a thrift shop, yard sale, or your own linen closet!
• Same for using any sheer material with really small holes so the bird can’t get tangled in them
• Pick the fruit and let it ripen off the tree somewhere safe from the birds.

Always plant more than you need, in case the birds get to it before you!! Share the surplus is a Permaculture ethic and one that goes to animals and as well as humans. You won’t be so discouraged if you have plenty of food in the garden for everyone.

 

By keeping a garden that supports and doesn’t harm the eco-systems you will find that in the long run, you will need less additives to your garden like fertilizers and other chemicals. Birds also eat bugs that may be damaging to your garden, so don’t scare all of them away!!

 

Happy Digging,

The Garden Goddess

http://www.down2earthgardens.com/

 

Creating an On-Line Gardening Community

Creating an On-Line Gardening Community

I have been thinking about starting an on-line garden community so I can teach more people around the world to garden more sustainably. I really love the local commuity I have built here in Phoenix, AZ, USA. My clients and their gardens are very special to me, I enjoy teaching gardening classes face to face with people from the surrounding communities and writing gardening articles for local papers and magazines is always interesting.

I also specialize in low-desert gardening and permaculture. But that doesn't necessarily mean I am limited to the Phoenix area. What about other areas of the world that have equally arid climates? Much of what I teach on sustainable gardening transcends climate.

So my question to you, my faithful readers, is what would you like to see me offer? Don't worry if you are not sure if I offer it or not now, but if you were to be a member of an on-line gardening club what would YOU like to receive in exchange for your membership fee?

I look forward to hearing from you!

Happy Digging

The Garden Goddess

Down 2 Earth Gardens, LLC

Backyard wildlife habitats are just one of many examples of Permaculture. I wrote an article about them for an on-line magazine called "The Big Blend". www.BigBlendMagazine.com. It should be on the site about Monday of next week.

Here's a few paragraphs of the article:

So what can you do to bring nature back into balance and encourage the wildlife to become part of your outdoor environment? It’s easy – go natural! By adding native plants (bushes and trees, too) to an existing landscape and providing the four essential elements necessary to create a habitat you will encourage the birds, bees, butterflies, insects and other creatures to return to your yard.

How to create a habitat
Habitat is defined by four essential elements: food, water, shelter (cover), and space. The foundation of the habitat is the vegetation type that exists on the site. Food sources may include plant material (including roots, pollen, and nectar), insects, or other animals. If preferred food sources are not available but other habitat elements are optimal, then some species will look for new sources of food such as pet food, vegetable gardens, fruit trees, or landscape plants. So be sure to plant native species to provide food and keep them away from your prized plants and gardens. Another way to create a symbiotic environment is to provide a plant for the animals and one for you! Then there will be enough for everyone.

More at www.BigBlendMagazine.com


I will be interviewed on internet radio about backyard habitats on Tuesday, March 3rd about 3:30 in the afternoon AZ time. The link to use for this is http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Garden-Gossip/2009/03/03/Eminent-Domain-Bird-Butterfly-Gardens-More

If you are near a computer I hope you can tune in and hear the show!

Doreen aka The Garden Goddess
www.down2earthgardens.com

It’s BAAACCKKKKKKK!!

ARGGHHHHH! The bermuda is sprouting again! It’s been SIX weeks since I last sprayed and subsequently tilled up the grass, scrapped off the top 3 inches of soil and grass – AND IT IS GROWING BACK!

I have been watering the dirt to keep down the dust and because one of the border gardens is on the same valve. The sprinkler heads are in the same location they were when there was grass. That’s OK as the cover crop will need watering.

But the grass is coming back ALREADY! It is a little different this time. They must be sprouting from seed, because when I pull them up they are not deeply rooted or attached to the stolen. They have fine hair-like roots. And there are probably two dozen blades of grass, a small enough amount I can easily pluck them out of the ground.

But the gall of that grass to even think about growing back – SO SOON! The purslane and spurge are also growing pretty wild. But I think that is all because the dirt was just perfect for seed germinating – it was clear – nothing to get in the way of the seed from making contact with the soil, settling in, and getting a nice shower ever few days. The weather is still HOT – over 100 degrees, perfect for bermuda grass! And it is ALL sun!! No shade – yet.

I am glad I have taken the time to think about what I want to do next. I am in the Permaculture Design Course (32 of 72 hours under my belt or my butt since we sit a lot) and we just had a session on rain water harvesting in the soil using a concept called Earthworks. It is the use of grading, building berms and swales to route and hold the water so it can soak in instead of running off the lot. Much more complex than that but I think you get the picture.

I was going to plant my cover crop in a few weeks, but after consulting with a few ‘permies’ (Permaculturists), I decided to get the yard graded and the Earthworks in prior to doing all of my soil remediation.

Once I have the soil amendments and microorganisms in the soil, I do not want to disturb their environment least I kill them off! Essentially that means not tilling or turn the soil over and moving it around with a shovel AFTER the cover crop has grown and been removed.

So we will be creating the Earthworks mid-October and maybe getting the seeds in – we’ll see. The more help I have doing this, the quicker I can get the seed in. I still have time on the planting calendar, so it is all good.

If you want to be part of creating the rain water harvesting Earthworks, please let me know and I will fill you in on the details!

Happy Digging,

Doreen Pollack aka THE Garden Goddess

The Big Spray

Well, I sprayed – it took me an hour and a half the first morning (it got too hot by 10:30am to continue) and an hour the next day, but it is done. I may have overdone it with the amount of Glyphosate I applied, 7 gallons for about 600 square feet. The back of the bottle said one gallon treats 300 square feet. But they have not seem how thick and lush my grass is, so I feel pretty certain that I got all of the grass blades wet. That was my goal, to wet the grass enough so the chemical would be pulled into the roots and start to do their thing – kill the grass.


One small event happened that MAY have made all my hard work for nothing – It rained about 12 hours after each spray! I was both giddy and upset when it rained at my house Sunday night. I got a chance to watch the rain fill my newly installed barrel. Those thirteen minutes of rain turned into several gallons in my barrel and other catchment devices (kitty litter buckets, watering cans, old trash cans).The weather man had said a 10 - 30% chance of rain, and since we hadn't had much rain yet, I gambled - and lost. But I blogged about it at the Phoenix Permaculture website www.phoenixpermaculture.org and thankfully my grass removal mentor read my pitty-party post and responded: “You should be fine...the chem would have moved into the root zone in a few hours and so the kill will happen. Don’t Panic. Don”

You can visit Don’s website here to see the recommended process I am using. http://www.4dirs.com/fdpc/bermuda.html


Thanks goodness! Of course it wouldn’t have been the end of the world, but I feel a little relieved.

So far now, I go out and look closely at the lawn when I go to my car and watch for the tell tale signs that it is dying. I understand from a fellow gardener –Fred, who is also following the same process, that his took about a week. So watch for my celebratory post in about a week from now!

Until then – Happy Digging!

Doreen Pollack

www.down2earthgardens.com

gardengoddess@down2earthgardens.com

602-275-5368