Garden Anxiety

Every year I go through this!  We work and clear weeds, repair the irrigation, plant the seeds then wait...  Will my seeds germinate?  Will they survive the gophers, rabbits, slugs?  Will they be fruitfull?  Then I go up there and see that something new has emerged and I rejoice that all our work was not in vain!  Here are a few pics of the most recent arrivals in our garden.

Compost Tea

Compost tea is compost that has been mixed with water and fermented.  The benefits include a biodynamic culture of healthy bacterial and fungi that not only feed the plants with nutrients but also ward off bad bacteria, molds and fungi. While the jury is still out on whether or not it is better than using regular compost we decided to give it a try.  At the very least there are asthetic benefits to using a tea rather than sprinkling compost or fertilizer on our lawn :)

I found the directions to build a fermenter online here http://www.care2.com/greenliving/guide-to-compost-tea.html.  It cost me about $25 in parts and 15 minutes to put it together and start it up.  After letting it run for about 4 days (the weather stopped me from doing it any earlier) we opened the lid and were greeted by the very pungent aroma of fermented, decayed plant material...yum.  We strained it and used a watering can to sprinkle the new grass coming up on the lawn.  We also plan on adding it to the soil of our vegetable garden before we put in our new seedlings.  The directions also recommend using the tea on the folliage to prevent diseases.  I'll keep you posted on how it works out.  In the mean time we think compost tea is a great way to get living micro organizims back into the soil.

Our Terraced Garden

Ok, so this is part 3 of our series on terraced gardening.  In this post we wanted to show how we have used our terraced garden to plant our community victory garden.  As you have read earlier we have only planted peas, lettuce, arugula, garlic, onions, swiss chard, fava beans and potatoes so far.  Many things have already sprouted! The rest of the plants have been started in a greenhouse and are kept warm at night with a heating pad.  They are doing beautifully and will be ready to put into the ground as early as April (if the weather cooperates)

Here is the link to a drawing of our garden and the plants we are growing http://www.hiddenvalleyspa.com/images/garden2011.jpg.

Sorry about the blurry pics but you get the idea, stuff is growing!

Arugula

Strawberry

Peas

Radishes

Hunza Garden

This is part 2 of our series on terraced farming.  Dr Jensen was equally inspired by the people of the Hunza Valley not only for their healthy diet and longevity but also for their resourcefulness.  They farmed an area that was was abundant in nothing but rocks.  Similarly, Dr Jensen named the rockiest garden of the Hidden Valley the "Hunza Garden".  We do have some native vegetation that makes it's homes among the rocks and hard soil, mostly succulents, native grasses and of course weeds.  Which leads me to another similarity between HV and Hunza, everything is done by hand.  Hunzakuts had a very "labor-intensive culture" and we too have experienced clearing, planting and cultivation all done by our callused yet loving hands.  Lastly the Hunzakuts were crazy about apricots and mulberries, both of which thrive abundantly on the property.  They dried the apricots for winter consumption, a note right out of Dr. Jensen's books.  The more we learn the more we realize Hidden Valley is a melting pot of cultures from around the world and everything was done with purpose.