Monday 30 July 2012

crop rotation


One of the components of growing vegetables organically is planning your crop rotation. While I am not very good at and don't enjoy crossword puzzles, I do love figuring out each year's rotation plan. It is helpful to have various garden beds or, as I now have in the field, a big area that can be divided according to that year's plan.

The first thing to consider is the effect a crop can have on the bed and/or the soil. There are "cleaning" crops which are good for planting in the first year an area has been cleared. Potatoes are good for this because the process of hilling up throughout the season can keep the rows weeded on a regular basis. Also the fact that potatoes produce underground tubers can help to loosen the soil.
By the time the potatoes are just about to die down the foliage has almost extended to obscure the rows

Another crop good for cleaning a virgin bed is squash, both summer and winter. Since both squashes produce huge leaves and cover a big area, weeds tend to be shaded out as the season progresses. Of course, while this is the theory, weeds get a good start between the hills at the beginning of the season and if you don't keep pulling them out they can be pretty established by the time the squashes have really gotten going. Squashes are also heavy feeders so my squash hills are usually composed of nothing but manure and compost with a sprinkling of soil on top of the seeds. That manure and compost helps enrich the soil too.
The huge leaves of a fruiting zucchini plant mid summer.
The winter squash leaves are a little smaller than those of zucchini but they can send out shoots up to 10 feet from the roots. Unfortunately you can also see the prolific weeds between the hills.

Once the ground has been cleared (at least somewhat) and loosened by a cleaning crop that area can be planted to beans or peas the next year. Both fix nitrogen in the soil. When the harvest is done the plants should be roughly chopped and turned back into the soil at the end of the season.
These double rows of beans were planted a foot apart but now the growth is totally contiguous  (which will make picking a pain)

The following year that area is then ready to be planted to greens which benefit from the extra nitrogen and what is now starting to be friable soil, good for the fine seeds of lettuce and other greens like kale, mustard and arugula.

The final group of crops to be planted in that area is the root crops like beets and carrots which need soil that has a good tilth so the roots can grow down easily and, especially for carrots, straight. Raised beds can be also be helpful for root crops. Beets are partial to a little sprinkling of wood ash too.

But of course the plot thickens when you take into account members of the same family which should not be planted in the same area in consecutive years. So tomatoes and eggplants can't go where potatoes were for at least three years. And of course I always seem to miss some potatoes when I am digging. These then overwinter and pop up the next year totally ruining my best laid plans. Ultimately all of my beds seem to be partially potato beds...

And I have read that because tomatoes are perennial in their native countries they like it best if kept in the same bed at least two years. Other people absolutely insist that tomatoes must not be in the same soil for at least four years.

There are no hard and fast rules. Just lots of general principles and an infinite number of opinions. I have seen garden plans with 4 different beds but 8 and even 16! And most rotation plans show a four year schedule but some three years and other much longer. The permutations are endless...And unlike a crossword puzzle there isn't always the satisfaction of coming up with perfect solution!

when vegetables flower


It may seem a little strange not to write about the drought. That is not only the big story but really the only story right now. But it is all a little overwhelming and quite depressing. So I'll give that subject the perspective time can offer and talk about vegetables whose flowers offer various possibilities for gardeners.

The biggest imperative for any vegetable is propagation. The biggest imperative for the gardener is to produce the best crop possible - both quality and quantity.

For many of the most popular vegetables the sequence from flower to fruit is clear - think of peas and beans, tomatoes and peppers, squash and pumpkins. As gardeners we can use the flowers to our own purposes. One classic example is the competitive growers of pumpkins - their aim is to grow the single biggest pumpkin possible. To help achieve that they remove virtually all the flowers so the pumpkin will concentrate all its effort on the one fruit it has been allowed to produce. Summer squash, zucchini or courgette, all have beautiful lush flowers that can be used for fritters or stuffing. The male flowers, which won't produce any fruit, can be removed while the female is allowed to remain and produce a squash. The different sexes are very easy to distinguish: the male has a slender stem while the female is full and rounded and in fact is the baby zucchini.

female zucchini flower with nascent squash at its base 
male zucchini flowers with slender stems 

The opposite scenario is illustrated with peas and beans where proliferation is the order of the day; the more flowers, the more produce. The best strategy for the gardener is to pick regularly, every couple of days, so the plant's efforts to propagate are frustrated and it will continue to produce more blooms (which means more peas or beans for us!).
each flower will produce a bean
Depending on the type, tomatoes can be treated in different ways. In the case of the small cherry, pear, grape and currant tomatoes lots of fruit is desired so flowers are encouraged. But for people who would like really big tomatoes for the table then many of the blooms can be removed in the hope of getting fewer but bigger fruits.
an heirloom cherry tomato with many blooms and tiny fruits lining the stem

For greens like lettuce, kale and mustard, it is the leaves that the gardener harvests. But from the plant's point of view the cycle of flower and then seed is its raison d'etre. If the variety being grown is open pollinated then the seeds can be harvested and saved for next year's crop.
an open pollinated heirloom lettuce in bloom 
Red Russian kale with seed pods 

Crops like garlic are usually propagated vegetatively by planting the individual cloves from the current season's harvest. But garlic will flower if its scape, or flowering stalk, has not been removed. The flowers produce little bulbils which can then be planted. It will take a few years for these seed "cloves" to reach full size but fresh stock maintains vigour and strength in the garlic bed.
onion flower - each separate pod is a potential new onion
Garlic bulbils at the time of a forgotten scape

sunflower before the seeds have formed
And finally there are the plants like sunflowers where the flower is beautiful but it is the seed which is cherished by feathered and two legged creatures alike.

Sunday 15 July 2012

planning for biodiversity

One of the tenets of organic gardening and farming is to sustain or even enhance the ecology of the land. To me this is a very romantic notion - to be charged with the stewardship of one's own corner of the planet. While the size of one's plot obviously allows for varying degrees of involvement even in a city backyard there is opportunity for action.

On our thirteen acres we were given certain advantages: a creek running along the south border, a mature hedgerow along two sides of the field and sandy loam considered Class 2 agricultural soil. The hedgerow provides refuge for wildlife and the long grasses provide a hospitable setting for nesting birds.
The hedgerow provides refuge for wildlife (and domestic too!) 

The creek is like a bird "highway"- birds constantly traversing its length. Along its edge there is a Joe Pye Weed walk. When in bloom it is filled with bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.

Path down to the Joe Pye weed walk
In the area where we have planted more than 1500 trees, both hard and softwood, and native shrubs, you can see indentations where deer sleep at night.
The deer "bed"
A young black walnut planted as a whip
One section of the field between the garden and the wooded area has been left to naturalize and has been colonized by milkweed, beloved by Monarch butterflies. Later in the summer goldenrod and wild aster take over.
Milkweed

 Trees and shrubs attract birds through their fruit (like mulberries), or seeds (like pine and spruce), through their sap and by providing nesting sites. Leaves can also catch droplets of water for birds and animals.
One of the mulberries which attract cedar waxwings, brown thrashers, kingbirds...

In the garden bird baths provide water, especially welcome in periods of drought like we have been experiencing these past few weeks.
Birdbath

Plants can also be selected to provide nectar for birds and butterflies and pollen for other pollinators like bumble bees. And hummingbirds love their feeders (where the nectar does not have to be red) and many flowers, again not just the red ones.
Beebalm earning its name
Bumblebee at the hollyhock

And bird houses and bat houses provide homes for birds which, along with dragonflies, eat insects.
Bird house occupied by house wrens which are incredibly melodious

Sunflowers, in August when they have formed their seeds, are a delicacy for the goldfinches.
Sunflowers in bloom

But we notice the absence of peepers and bullfrogs and swallows which used to mass by the dozens on the telephone wires. This year it has been generally observed that there have been more butterflies than other years. There are cyclical changes but the question we need to answer os whether we want to inhabit a world where birdlife is characterized by starlings and seagulls, insects by Asiatic lily beetles and pine beetles and flora by Manitoba Maple and Dog Strangling Vine. It seems incumbent upon each and every one of us to do everything we can to protect and foster the diversity and health of our small piece of earth.

Wednesday 11 July 2012

growing garlic

Ontario is a good place to grow garlic. So it's not surprising that there are many dedicated garlic festivals from Perth's in August to Stratford's in September and Evergreen at the Brickworks in October this year. But for the garlic grower there is a progression of activity in the garlic bed all year long except in the winter.

There are two types of garlic - hardneck which produces a scape and soft neck which can be braided. Different varieties range in size from the very large Porcelain often with only four cloves to smaller varieties which tend to have six to ten cloves per head.

Garlic is planted in the late summer or early fall not unlike other spring bulbs. It is best if it doesn't sprout in the fall when the tender emerging growth could later suffer winter damage. It is usually the first crop to make an appearance in the vegetable garden in the spring. Growth is fast and by early June (or late May this year) the hardneck varieties have developed a flower stalk or scape. Scapes are removed to allow the plant's energy to be focussed on the bulb.
The garlic bed masquerading as a flower bed (filled with self seeded annuals)

Then about a month later green garlic is ready. For this the bulb will be smaller than in the mature bulb and the foliage has not yet died back.
Different varieties of green garlic

Then a few weeks later when a half to two thirds of the foliage has yellowed the garlic bulb has matured and is ready to be harvested.
Garlic hanging to dry in preparation for winter storage

The bulbs are hung for a week to ten days until they are dried sufficiently to be stored for the winter. The stalk is cut off, the roots clipped and the top dirt-laden skin is removed to reveal a beautiful white papery protective skin. Garlic likes to be hung with lots of air circulation at a relatively warm temperature.
The end result

Then at the time the festivals are happening the best heads are used for seed for the next year's crop. Heads are broken into separate cloves and the whole process starts again.

And it is worth noting that garlic from your local farmers' market or CSA will not be irradiated - literally exposed to radiation to promote shelf life. So the Ontario garlic may seem expensive compared to those net bags of five perfect looking garlic bulbs from China but you really do get what you pay for.

Wednesday 4 July 2012

in support of small farm operations

The future of farming sustainably to feed the world's population is beyond the scope of these posts. But it is a question that should be of interest to all of us.

 Every time we see a farmer interviewed on TV they are complaining. And every farmer I talk is too. But the big difference between these two farmers is the scale and type of operation they have. The farmers we see on TV tend to have huge operations based on monocultures or one kind of livestock. Their complaints are always about the weather but usually also government policy and agricultural subsidies. The farmers I talk to have small mixed farms often including market gardens, livestock and some grain production. And their complaints are always about the weather and the fact they have to buy wholesale and sell retail.

So the vagaries of the weather is a huge issue for farmers. It must take a toll to work in a profession where one has so little control.

However the small farmer has much more control than the farmer of a large scale single commodity operation. In fact, per acre, small farms are much more productive than large farms.  In The Case for Small Farms, An Interview with Peter Rosset, he says "For every country for which data is available, smaller farms are anywhere from 200 to 1,000 percent more productive per unit area."

This year the heat in March and then the cold weather in May has made for a poor crop of hay. So all the beef farmers I know are worrying about whether there will be enough to last the winter.
Baling the hay in the field

And there has been a lot in the news about how devastating the same weather conditions have been for the apple crop this year.  So the price of apples will go up for consumers but it doesn't mean there will be any more money in the pockets of farmers.

But if the farmer doesn't have all his eggs in one basket then there is a good possibility that other things will be thriving. What's good for the goose is not always good for the gander...

At my modest level, this year is a challenge for growing greens. Both the heat and lack of moisture means they tend to bolt quickly and seeds are very reluctant to germinate. I'm experimenting with alternating rows of bolted lettuces with rows of new seedings. The bolted lettuces should provide some shade for the new greens. At least that's the theory...

When you need to leave space for machinery to get through then rows can be close together and as the plants grow they end up providing shade which also helps conserve moisture.
Beets ready to be thinned
 Rainbow, Ruby, Lucullus and Orange Fantasia Chard

This heat is good for tomatoes and potatoes although they do like sufficient moisture when flowering - which they are now. So if we don't get any rain some hand watering from the rain barrels may be required.
Tomatoes flowering
Banana potatoes in the foreground, Blue potatoes in the middle and sunflowers at the back

And sometimes rather fighting it, going with nature can have surprising rewards. Here are a couple of links to eating daylilies.  http://honest-food.net/2010/06/29/dining-on-daylilies,  http://www.crystallizedflowerco.com/articles_1.html

Daylily flowers and buds

A very moody sky on July 1