Planting Calander

Monday, June 27, 2011

Progress

The garden has taken off.  Nonie has requested a spot for container gardening.  She misses the spot she gave to Linda.
Planted two pumpkins in the back area.
Tested the soil that George brought in.  PH 75., Nitrogen Med. , Potassium Med , Phosporus High.
Good soil for first year.

The lettuce I planted, 3/4 of the packets labeled as lettuce had tomatoe seeds....

Planning winter garden now.
Re-did the drip system in one section.  Seems to work better.  1/4 spray one directions, 1/4 soaker hose the other direction.  12" spacing.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Lettuce planted

I put the lettuce in the seedhouse.  I have some trays that fit 50 plants each, three of them.
Lettuce is in two, Misc in the third.

Expansion Done

We are entering our second summer growing season with the new expansion project complete with the fence in place the two new boxes are ready for planting. After the board meeting on 5/1 a few members expressed interest in participating in the community garden project.

Neal Wooley said he would help dig holes for future expansion and will contribute some cash. Neal will take half of one of the new planter boxes. Once the dead oak near the end of the garden is removed two more posts can be set, extending the perimeter of the garden. I'll mark the where the holes need to be dug after the tree is down on 5/9. Neal please feel free to start planting now.

Joanne Woldhagen helped move a few yards of soil and contributed cash and started planting in the low box. I would like to rebuild this box to match the lumber and height of the original planter boxes at the end of this summer season.

I thought I heard that the couple who are the web masters for the Chemeketa website are interested in participating. Linda, I don't have their contact information, can you check with them to see if they would like to join? If so the other half of the box Neal is in is available and if they decline that box is available for someone else. 

Dan will take one of the two new smaller planter boxes adjacent to his current boxes. 

Linda expressed interest in the second smaller box. Nonie Mosby indicated that Linda can take her spot where the strawberries are planted, Linda can you please confirm.

Jody, Claire, Yelena and I are taking one of the two new large planter boxes and will stay in our original planter box.

As for the expenses for the expansion project, I purchased wood from Mintons Lumber when they were going our of business last September. I needed to get some additional lumber and supplies to complete the expansion. The additional materials came to $800 which included additional planter box lumber, fence posts, cement, cloth wire to keep the moles out, screws, cement, soil/compost and the dump truck rental. So far I've collected $590 in donations, thanks to all that have contributed!

We now have enough area for 4 to 6 additional 6'x4'x2' planter boxes, depending on how they are laid out. I estimate the cost for one planter box including lumber, soil, truck rental and tax cost $400. If we butt them end to end and build more than one at a time the cost would go down. Once we have the current expenses covered we can gauge interest in expansion for existing participants or new participants and begin fundraising. I'm sure we would all enjoy more area for planting.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

SeedHouse Spinach "New Zeland" (Spinacia oleracea)

Spinach Sprouts:
This is a very old Heirloom, said to have been brought to England by Captain Cook's expedition.  It has been grown in North America since the colonial times.

The spinach has sprouted in the seedhouse, seems to be keeping warm inside.
The Spinach is "New Zeland" (Spinacia oleracea) - 60 days to harvest
I bought these seeds from VictorySeeds.com last year.
by it's very nature, it naturally has a low germination rate and is dificult to start.
The federal germination standard is 40%.  I soaked the seeds in warm water for a couple of hours.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Santa Clara County Master Gardener Sale / Tomotoes planted

Annual Master Gardner Sale: On saturday I picked up some tomatoes, lettuce, peppers.
They had a recommendation to plant two like type tomotoes in the same cage.  In their experiece the plants together will yield the same amount as a single plant.  I am going to try this and I planted them today.
Planted:  I put two Classics tomatoes together: Stupice and Glory of Moldova
and I put two Beefsteak together:  Aker's West Virginia and Brandywine from Croatia.
Like all the plants in the Garden, All are Open Pollinated varieties.
Stupice:  Czech origin, very early, cold tolerant, highly productive, small very flavorful fruit. Holds well. Red Indet  52 days
Glory of Moldova:  Gorgeous golden globes grow in clusters of 4-6.  Flesh is a deep golden orange and flavor is fruity & Sweet.  Highly rated in taste tests.  Early and consistently productive throughout the season.  Gold, Semi 80 days.
Aker's West Virginia:  Vigorous plants produce big harvests of delicious 1 lb tomatoes with sweet, rich flavor and very little cracking or other blemishes.  Family heirloom from West Virginia,  Taste test winner.  Red Indet 80 days
Brandywine from Croatia:  Productive, large, meaty pink tomato with delicious, complex flavor.  Very tender skin.  Regular leaf.  Rare, only available from Santa Clara Master Gardeners.  Pink Indet 85 days

I need to get a calender together to track days to Harvest.
Although the Nitrogen tested higher than last year, I am a little reserved about planting the tomotoes in the same place as last year.

all the walls and roof are on the seed house.  I still need to seal the panels in and I am going to tile the bottom to increase the thermal mass of the space.  I need to put in a shelf also.  Seems to working well.  I moved my seeds into it and also put the lettuce, peppers, eggplant and remaining tomatoes I got from the sale that still needs to harden off.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Spring has Arrived - March 13, 2011

I pulled out most of the overwinter compost crop from section 2 and put it in the composter.  The soil underneath appeared to be darker and richer.  The mix of plants is supposed to increase the nitrogen in the soil, which will be needed as the tomatoes were in Section 2 last summer.
I started some seeds today, lettuce and spinach.
I also tested the soil from Section 2.  PH is 6.5, Nitrogen in Med, Phosphorus is high and Potasium is medium.  This is improved from last spring, all were low.