Home grown onions

Our onions this year are not very big, but wow do these little reds pack a punch!

Thus Fell the Apricot Tree

I've been talking about felling the apricot tree for some time. This weekend was our neighborhood clean up, with big dumpsters on every street. I woke up this morning after camping out in the backyard and pondered what I might do. I soon heard the sounds of the dumpsters being picked up....So after some consideration of whether to get a tree chipper or to just cut the tree down and toss it to the dumpster; the economics of the situation won out and down came the tree.

Why did I fell the tree. Simple I only like apricot nectar, and the tree is a attractant for earwigs. So goodbye with no farewell to the tree who's fruit can not be given away.

I also needed to fell the tree to get more light to garden bed 6. Garden bed 6 has had much suffering due to it being trapped in a dark shaded tunnel created by the apricot tree and my neighbors maple tree. Even with the apricot tree felled I think Bed 6 is going to continue having problems.

In other news I continue to have issues with ants. The ants have now eaten 5 of my black krim tomatoes. I may have to get professional on this ant issue.

Early blight, Rust, Late blight, powdery mildew, Coryneum Blight, BCTV

Pathogens have hit my little garden and are killing it.....

To date I have seen Early blight, Rust, powdery mildew, and BCTV last year.

This year we see Late blight, Early Blight, BCTV, Fire blight,
Coryneum Blight, apple scab(or
Pear Sawfly), and possibly Rust.

That's 6 0r 7 nasty, evil, plant killing, fungi; and one virus transmitted by an insect.

Today I sprayed copper soap on everything, and hit the area with some seven.

Big changes cometh

Big changes have come to my garden, two days ago I pulled out the last of the peas and decided that the broccoli and cauliflower has passed it's time and pulled it out too. Then I moved the struggling pepper plants out from under the shaded bed and to bed 3 where I had just pulled out the peas and cole plants.

With all the plants I pulled out my compost is starting to have a good start.

ode to lettuce

oh lettuce how tasty you once was, but once cometh up your time is so short.
the days have come and past us by, once eaten by us is eaten no more.
what missed our plate, grew so strong and was also shared by menacing bugs.
ravaged by man and insect you stood strong still and took to heart the shining sun.
now what's left is stretching out, what could our little lettuce seek?
alas the sun's strong heat has poached my prize and set it to beat the seat.
bolting out from little heads is my flowering lettuce that once Fed ted.

Garden Progress

Images where my garden is at

Garden plan images

As promised here is the images from my garden plan

Garden progress - organics issues

The Garden is coming a long, We have a tool for building our garden plan now.

The organics has posed a small problem as some of the plants now show signs of nitrogen and phosphorus deficiency. I think the compost from the county wasn't fully cured and was only one type loaded with wood products. The over abundance of wood and lack of curing pulled the nitrogen out of the soil and tied up other nutrients. I'm sure at some point the organics with reach an equilibrium and free up nutrients.

In other news the garden is growing strong we have had 2 salads from the garden.

We have had some kind of pest eating our peas, not sure what it is. Theories range from birds to grasshoppers (I killed a grasshopper the other day on the back deck)

I'll post the planing images soon and pictures after that.

garden update, the organics is in

So here is a short little note on the developments in our garden.

We got our load of organics from the salt lake county landfill near the last week of March.

This garden compost from the landfill was mixed approximetly 1:1 with the current soil filling the beds. The mixing of the compost and soil was done by shovel and was approximently to the depth of 8 inches the same depth of the box height.

Plantings include red onions, some spinach, peas, leeks, kohlrabi, and brussel sprouts.
looking forward to next week when the peas should start coming up.

planning for the beds has been completed using my modified square foot garden design.

Home testing - learning what ph your soil has

Soil ph is a major factor in how well your plants can take in nutrients. You can easily test your ph at home.

First, you need a small sample of soil from your garden. You should dig down about 4-6 inches and take about a tablespoon of soil. Put this soil sample in a plastic cup. Next add 3 times the about of water as soil for a 3:1 ratio i.e. add 3 tablespoons of water if you have 1 tablespoon of soil. Mix well and let sit for 5 minutes.

For the actual ph measurement you need some type of ph measurement like litmus paper or an electronic ph measuring device. You can make your own ph paper or liquid with red cabbage read how on this link http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryhowtoguide/ht/makephpaper.htm

Last year when I tested my soil, using a store bough soil test kit, we got a ph of 8.8. Good garden soil ph is in the range of 6.5-7.5 with the best being closer to ph7

Once you know your soil ph you can make adjustments to the ph. Adding lime if your soil is too acidic (ph below 7) or adding sulfur if your soil is to alkaline (ph above 7). In western states and Utah never add lime, soils in this region have free lime and are 99.9% too alkaline adding lime will make this problem a much bigger problem.

Getting a good start - Soil

So I do a little gardening and I was pushed to keep a journal about the garden. In keeping the garden journal I want to share a bit with you about what to do and what not to do.

Where do we start? Whether your a seasoned Gardener or a first time hobbyist everything starts from the ground up (pun intended). Last year I started my first garden at my new house and learned a lot about what not to do. First, don't skip getting a professional soil test. If you have never tested your soil you should get a kit from your local extension service and learn what you really have. (for those of you who really are into gardening you should get a professional test every 5-7 years, and do a home test 2 times a year once in the spring and fall) The professional lab test will tell you what kind of soil you have and what you need to do to adjust you soil called adding amendments.

It's adding amendments that change your soil and build it up to be the healthy base for your future healthy plants. If you wanted to skip lab testing don't skip a home test kit. There are four things you need to know about your soil. 1) what is your PH 2) how much nitrogen 3) how much phosphorus and 4) how much potassium.

For my garden out in the west, Utah, we have high alkaline soil or in other words we have a high PH. we also have a problem with something called "free lime" or rather we have a high calcium content in our soil. My soil PH ranged from 8-9. To correct for this I added sulfur about 5lb/100ft^2 (available at most nurseries)

There is a simple test for "free lime" in soil you can do at home. Get a small amount of soil from your garden, about 1/8 cup, place the soil in a plastic disposable cup. add to the cup about 1tbs of white vinegar to the soil. watch as you add the vinegar to the soil for bubbling and fizzing. If you get a lot of bubbling and fizzing then you likely have "free lime."

Once you have you Lab results or your home test results you can work your soil towards health.

But even with out testing the one thing that will help your soil more then anything is adding organic matter. On average garden soils need 1-2 inches of new organic matter (compost) added every year. If your starting with bad soil you could need 8-12 inches of organic matter for the first year and 1-2 inches for every year after. Last year I added about 1/2 inch of organic matter to my garden beds, I didn't have great results. This year I plan on filling my garden beds to 6 inches with organic matter and mixing with the current soil.

No matter how you look at it, building up your soil will build up your garden plants.