Wednesday, July 22, 2015

7-22-15 Harvest, activities on the plot and a visit to Hirt's Gardens

Harvest
 Blue lake bush beans

 Swiss chard, bush beans, patio tomatoes and green onions

 Green onions, unripe kidney beans, tomato, bush beans



Good and Bad Bugs!
 Pink spotted lady beetle (Coleomegilla maculata) -- Good

 Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica) -- Not Good

 Released ladybug (Hippodamia convergens)

 Ladybirds mating under our Calendula leaf

 Mexican bean lady beetle (Epilachna varivestis) -- Not Good

 Large milkweed bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus) -- Neutral




Interesting things on the plot!
 Edamame

 Notice the rhizobiomes on the Crimson clover roots?

 Spider web + water





A visit to Hirt's Garden
 Lime/lemon + drawf banana 

Clockwise from dwarf banana -- Goji berry, Pandan, lime/lemon, Fig, Aloe vera, white starberry, Coffee

Monday, June 29, 2015

6-26-15 It's so green!

 Can you see Edamame among the Nutsedge and cover crops?
Buckwheat at 11 o'clock
New plot with cardboard sheet mulching at 2 o'clock


 Flowering tobacco (Nicotiana alata) grown in soft pot/grow bag
Fragrance of Jasmine and spider lily


 Bush beans + Corn 


 Teeming with wildlife at our plot! 


 Sprouting Moringa
Trying to establish some trees in our plot to create some microclimates
We chose Moringa because it's beneficial for both humans and soil
Also it's a tropical plant, will winter-kill (hopefully not the roots), easy to control


 Crimson clover dominated plot
One of the ways to suppress Nutsedge


 Our new plot
Sheet mulch with cardboards 
Sowed different cover crops, monarch buttefly kit seeds
Hopefully they will establish the ground before weeds come up


 Raised bed update
Top left corner - kidney beans, hop and lima beans
Moving towards bottom right corner - Peppers (not doing too well), tomatoes
Brocolli, chards

Buckwheat



Mason bee at work


Useful reference of different cover crops for different conditions:

http://www.permaculturenews.org/files/CoverCropSolutionsweb2013.pdf

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Do you see it?



A row of rye on the side (right), crimson clover and tillage radish in the middle


 Buckwheat with the light green leaves. 
Crimson clover in the middle
Tillage radish with white tags


 Buckwheat and rye (top)
Crimson clover and tillage radish in the middle


 Patches of crimson clover
I may either put some compost as soil amendment the clay soil or let nature landscape for us


 This plot looks very fertile
Japanese daikon in the middle with white tags
Buckwheat on the right


 Raised bed


 A row of rye in patches


Rye and Buckwheat



Monday, May 25, 2015

Raised bed floor plan


5-25-15 It's alive !!!

Modified 3 sisters  (Corn, Bush beans, Sunflower)


 Middle (Circle) flower bed -- Aster


 Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) sprouts


 Crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L) sprouts
Traditional farmers call them weeds... we call them companions


 Lima bean sprouts


 Nasturtium sprouts or crimson clover or grass...?


 Raised bed vegetable -- looking OK

Found some red wigglers, ants, spiders and other crawlies at the bottom of the damped plastic bag (bottom left). It seems like a haven for these creatures which helps to aerate the soil and degrade organic matter. Perhaps the reason for mulch being so essential is because of this? Haven for earthworms = haven for roots

Placed 5 red wigglers onto our raised bed and they had a hard time penetrating through our soil... took them sometime to get comfortable. I have to start mulching my raised bed to provide a fluffier surface soil for a haven for earthworms. With what? Ideally cover crops... but they are still growing =.=" Maybe I should get some hay


 Rye (Secale cereale L) sprouts
Soon to be my mulch, hopefully


 Tillage radish
For decompaction purposes


 Viola sprouts


White onion

Note for the day:
Most gardeners are now working on their plots. Roto-tillers being used, traditional monoculture crops, using the word "production", "suppressing weeds". And here we are, planting "weeds" such as crimson clover, plants that attract pollinators such as sunflowers and buckwheat. To be honest, it feels weird to be non-traditional.

Let's see if our method actually works. Does this really help to nurture the soil? Does this really provide a sanctuary for pollinators, balancing pests and predators etc. Let's observe the science behind living soil and see if doing less work, mimicking nature, actually give us a better yield.

I really hope we don't get a warning for a messy/weedy garden :D

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

5-20-15 Monocots and dicots

 White onion

 Sunflower

 Turnip
Gonna sacrifice a few seedlings to decrease competition

Hmm... that seedling looks like sunflower, not corn.



Monday, May 18, 2015

5-17-15 Cover crops seed sowing

 Picture taken from the side (closest to parking)
Sowed cover crops:
Rye, Foxtail millet, Crimson clover, Tillage radish, Buckwheat


 Center
Replaced tomatoes and peppers (killed by the one cold night we had)



Furthest away from parking


 Our cover crop floor plan