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.

So Much Zucchini!!!

Anyone who has grown zucchini knows that once it comes, it comes in mass quantities all at once.  And you can't neglect it otherwise you end up with something that looks like this.

GIGANTIC, MONSTER ZUCCHINI!!!

In case you can't tell, that zucchini is as long as my arm from elbow to fingertip.  And there wasn't just one, there were 6 this size. 

That being said, we have had to get creative with the recipes.  Here is a recipe we've been enjoying for the world's best, super moist zucchini bread.  My friend Daune came up with the recipe and it has been getting eaten as quickly as it is getting baked.  Plus, it freezes well and lasts in the fridge for up to a week.

Ingredients:

6 c AP Flour

2 tsp Salt

2 tsp Baking Soda

2 tsp Baking Powder

2 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Nutmeg

1 tsp Allspice

1 tsp Cloves

6 Eggs

1 c Vegetable Oil

1 c Applesauce

2 c White Sugar

2 c Brown Sugar

2 Tbsp Vanilla

6 c Grated Zucchini (with the excess moisture squeezed out)

Directions:

1. preheat oven to 325 degrees

2. Grease and flour a 4"x8" loaf pan

3.Sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl (everything up to the cloves)

4. Beat eggs, oil, apple sauce, vanilla and sugar together

5. Add tthe wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix to combine.

6. Add the zucchini and fold to combine.

7. Pour batter into pans (about half way up)

8. Bake 1 hour or until the a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

This recipe make 3-4 loaves

It took me about 1 hour and 25 minutes to cook 2 loves at once but it was well worth the wait.  Enjoy!!

Organic Pest Control

As many of you know we are trying for a completely organic property. That being said, there are some creatures we would rather not have on the property like: mosquitos, mice, rabbits (in the garden) and gophers. The organic way to control the pests and balance our ecosystem is to encourage preditors to live on the property.

In the case of bats and owls we are building them homes. Bat boxes and owl boxes are easy to build and you can find the plans for free online. You can also find kits and prebuilt ones as well. We have an owl that lives in the palm tree by the deck and if you sit out there at dusk you might see it leave to hunt. Watch carefully because when they fly they are completely silent.

Here is a link to the Bat Conservation page which has tons of resources including step by step plans to build your own bat box http://www.batconservation.org/

Same for the owl boxes. http://www.owlcam.com/whatever/boxbuild.htm

In our garden, we have a family of gopher snakes that keep the rabbits and gophers at bay. We didn't need to build them a home, we just avoid approching them so they don't get scared away. Since they are completely harmeless they are invaluable to anyone with a garden.

If you give nature a chance it will balance itself out and benefits our guests in the process.

Garden Update

Here are the current pics of our veggie garden.  As you can see it is doing very well.  Our sunflower has bloomed, we have a ton of baby zucchinis growing, the beans are blossoming and our watermelon is starting to vine.  It's so exciting to see all our seeds grow into such huge plants.  Our hard work is soon to be rewarded with fresh vegetables.

Dr Jensen left us all the tools...

...we just had to learn to use them.

While reading an article in an organic gardening magazine I read about a 100 year old farm tool called a wheel hoe. It is still used today and has changed very little since 1890. I immediatly thought about getting one to assist in preparing the garden beds rather than using a pick, shovel and hoe like we had been doing.

The funny thing is that while walking the property last week I realized I had a wheel hoe sitting right next to the barn. All this time we had the tools; we just didn't realize it! So here are a few pics of Van sharpening the blade then using it to plow our new children's garden (more details to come). I'm sure this wheel hoe is at least 50 years old so it must have been used while Dr Jensen was here. Thanks Dr. J!

Our Veggie Garden!

Now that the rain and cold has finally passed, it is now time to put in our summer vegetable garden. Putting in a garden takes a little more time and energy but the results are well worth it. Since we do everyting organic and made by hand, we got into action. First we turned the soil and pulled any big weeds. Then we needed to prepare the beds for the seeds. We planted zucchini, squash, 4 types of tomatoes, pole beans, snap beans, corn, watermelon, canteloupe, cucumber, celery, asparagus, strawberries, and basil. Yum! As things begin to come up I will be posting more pictures.