Archive for Gardening
Gwow Youw Own, You Wascaws!
by John Weckerle
Having enhanced Bed 5’s ability to deter invasion from above, about a week and a half ago we found ourselves suddenly plagued with visitors from below…
Wabbits. And squiwwews.
We were faced with a nightmare of Fuddian proportions: for the first time, wildlife was digging under the side of the bed, at a point where the bed simply rests on the ground rather than extending beneath the land surface. Casual efforts to halt the incursion – placing rabbit fencing and debris in the way – had no effect, so we dug down to about a foot, set chicken wire and some pieces of 2 x 12 lumber in the trench, and extended chicken wire another 3 feet out along the ground. We then buried the chicken wire under several inches of dirt. Of course, the squirrels, at least, just burrowed in at another spot. In the end, we stapled chicken wire (or, in a couple of places, poultry fencing) to the bed at ground level, and spread it across the surface, extending a barrier three feet across the ground in all directions. We covered this with wood mulch, and this seems to have done the trick as there have been no additional excavations.
Bed 5, inside and out.
The damage was, in some cases, substantial. We think the kale and broccoli will recover, but the future of the Japanese eggplant, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts are uncertain. Fortunately for us, the tomatoes, squashes, and peppers (all of them) came through relatively unscathed.
To complete the summer planting, we’ve added eggplant, some more yellow squash and zucchini, mustard greens, dill, and cilantro. Every plant has its own adjustable drip emitter except the string beans, for which we used dripline. The beans have just begun popping up from under the mulch; at last count, five of the twenty positions had a plant above ground. There are also already some tiny fruits on the green bell and hot chile peppers. With luck, we can now leave planting and protection efforts behind us, and look forward to the start of the harvest!
Public Service Announcement: Public Presentation with Brad Lancaster: Rainwater Harvesting
Provided by Christian Meuli
Event: Turning Water Scarcity Into Water Abundance
Date: Friday, June 7
Time: 6 – 8 pm
Place: George Pearl Hall, UNM School of Architecture and Planning, Central Ave. NE and UNM Cornell Mall, Albuquerque
Sponsors:ErdaGardens and LearningCenter, Kalyx Studio, Querencia Green, and UNM Sustainability Studies Program
Brad Lancaster will present his work on Rainwater Harvesting on Friday, June 7, in George Pearl Hall on the UNM campus at 6 pm, at no cost to the public. The presentation, Turning Water Scarcity Into Water Abundance, will be followed by a book-signing party for Lancaster’s “Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond.” Event sponsors include ErdaGardens and LearningCenter, Kalyx Studio, Querencia Green, and UNM Sustainability Studies Program. Refreshments will be provided by La Montanita Coop during the book-signing session.
Brad Lancaster is a permaculture teacher, designer, consultant, the author of the award-winning books “Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond,” Volumes 1 and 2, and co-founder of Desert Harvesters. Brad harvests an average of 100,000 gallons of rainwater a year from his property near downtown Tucson, Arizona, where rainfall is twelve inches on average annually. Brad and his brother Rodd have created an oasis in the desert by incorporating rainwater into living air conditioners of food-bearing shade trees, abundant gardens, and a thriving landscape that includes habitat for wildlife.
Brad has inspired thousands of citizens and numerous businesses in Tucson and across the nation to harvest water and sustainably grow local resources. Joanne McEntire of Querencia Green, a community organization, observes that “Rainwater harvesting from rooftops is encouraged in Tucson, along with stormwater capture from paved areas. In Albuquerque our annual average precipitation is less than ten inches. As we acknowledge long-term drought and fluctuating rainstorm patterns, we’ve begun to practice water harvesting. As more neighbors capture rainwater to support gardens, trees and wildlife, more benefits would result.”
On Sunday, June 9, Brad Lancaster will lead a hands-on workshop at KalyxStudioLearningCenter in BernalilloCounty’s SouthValley. Participants will learn and practice earthwork techniques used in water harvesting systems. The workshop will focus specifically on earthworks that can be implemented to improve the efficiency of acequia irrigation for the home garden. Workshop organizer Leslie Buerk comments: “Although we will be constructing a system that combines traditional desert gardening practices with water harvesting techniques as applied to acequia irrigation, all of the techniques relate directly to working with rainwater and greywater systems.” Additional information is available by e-mail directed to info@kalyxstudio.com.
Grow Your Own – Son Of The Return Of Bed 5
by John Weckerle
Return of the Son of Bed 5.
Growing season is upon us once again! Those who have been following New Mexico Central’s experimental gardening exploits have watched as we moved from four foot-square raised beds to the 12 x 24 foot extravaganza that is Bed 5, including its rise, fall, rise, and so on. Initially intended to provide a good rooting depth (24 to 30 inches through most of it) and protection from the elements and the herbivores (except, of course, us), the bed has served us well but needed improvement. Recent developments include replacement of the rabbit fencing and bird netting with poultry fencing, which is more durable than the bird netting. The latter simply did not stand up well to our local wind. The “hill and trough” configuration watered with soaker hose has been replaced with raised beds watered by drip irrigation, which should greatly reduce the water needed to produce the produce, as it were. We appear to have substantially more growing area, as well. Currently in the ground are tomatoes (Roma, Brandywine, Mortgage Lifter, Black Krim, and Black Cherry), Brussels sprouts, broccoli, kale, chard, bell peppers (green, gold, and orange), chiles (Chimayo and New Mexico 6), zucchini, and yellow squash. Still to be planted are cauliflower, eggplant, tomatillos, dill, and basil.
A word about drip irrigation and the installation thereof. At some point in the distant past, your editor became somehow convinced that this was a very difficult and complicated thing. It is not; installing drip irrigation is about as uncomplicated as it gets. Bed 5 was the first foray into this arena, and we have since installed a total of 500 feet of supply line and a multitude of emitters. This ends the tedious hand-watering of trees and shrubs that were looking much worse for the wear, but are now looking much better. Of course, the wildlife have noticed this, and some of our trees and shrubs are now looking a little chewed up by deer that have jumped the fence.
Grow Your Own – Baby, It’s Cold Outside…
by John Weckerle
…But not so cold that we’re not thinking about growing vegetables and the subsequent feasting.
January’s far too early to plant outdoors and a little early for starting most seeds, but it’s certainly not too early to start conceptualizing with respect to the coming season. After reviewing the lessons learned from Bed 5 over the last couple of years (particularly those associated with muddy shoes, holes in soaker hose and fighting through a jungle to get to the produce), we’ve decided that it would be more effective to construct individual raised beds within the structure to use water more efficiently and make maintenance and harvesting easier. We are also still deciding whether to do a little reinforcing on the existing hoop structure or go to a wider diameter PVC – something we can do either in the Spring or the Fall, depending on what time permits, and when.
In the spirit of planning, we decided to check out the fully functional, 30-day free trial of the Mother Earth News Vegetable Garden Planner ($25 annual subscription, but no credit card required for the trial) as a way to work out the revamped arrangement of Bed 6. This is a slick tool capable of some fairly complicated layouts, and it includes features including a plant database that automatically calculates spacing for the veggies. Subscribers can receive e-mail reminders regarding when to plant various veggies, which can be a big help with succession planting. We came up with this preliminary layout which also includes the repurposed Beds 1 and 2:
Preliminary Garden Layout – Beds 1, 2, and 5.
We knocked this out in a short time this morning, so those who don’t wish to subscribe to the planner can at least get a layout together easily during the 30-day trial. Some the labels – bok choy, lettuce, and others – are a little difficult to see in this figure, but overall this worked out very well, and with very little effort. Some things may change, but this gave us the opportunity to quickly design a vegetable patch that will a) produce food, and b) be a much more pleasant place in which to work. This was actually quite a bit of fun, and we recommend that those of our readers who are planning on gardening this year sign up for the free trial and take it for a spin.
Grow Your Own: It’s A Jungle Out There, Kiddies…
by John Weckerle
We interrupt this hiatus to bring our readers an update on our horticultural efforts, which this year have focused primarily on Bed 5, dedicated to vegetables, and Bed 6, the herb garden. (Bed 1 has been moved to the vicinity of Bed 5, as Beds 2 and 3 will be; Bed 4 is mainly floral this year, although we got some great snow peas out of it at the beginning of the season) Bed 6 is doing just fine and we look forward to some basil pesto here before too long.
Bed 5
As the photo of Bed 5 shows, most of our veggies this year are coming along nicely. We still have not seen any tomatoes, although given the emergence of flowers we expect to see them before long. The eggplants have started setting fruit, and we’ll keep a close watch in anticipation of eggplant parmigiana, eggplant lasagna, and a host of other nifty dishes beginning sometime in the next couple of weeks or so. The cauliflower looks extremely healthy. Unfortunately, the broccoli took a beating from some sort of tiny beetle, although several have survived and seem to be doing well. Something is eating the fruits of the green bell peppers, and we fear that we may have to set a mouse trap; however, we have heard rumors of a beetle that usually feeds on alfalfa that has gotten food-eclectic this year, so we’ll try picking up some diatomaceous earth to see if that helps.
Today’s Loot!
Our current big producers are the green beans (several bush varieties). As the photo shows, we’re pulling in some fairly good quantities and are enjoying them greatly. They go great with the dill growing next to the tomatoes, and we have a number of recipes lined up given the amount we have to eat. If all else fails, we can blanch and freeze them.
Have a very fruitful day!
Start Your Own!
Update: Upon further examination, we find there are a few small green beans on the bush bean plants.
by John Weckerle
With the hoop house repair nearly complete (all that remains is to reattach the door and the bird netting), we find ourselves eagerly awaiting some warmer weather for planting, even if it’s just cool weather crops. To get a head start on the growing season, we bought a couple of inexpensive shop lights for starting plants. Shown here are several varieties of bush beans (Maxibel, Contender, and Blue Lake), mustard and collard greens, broccoli, and oregano. The white window box in the back contains basil, dill, and cilantro. Not yet under the lights because they haven’t sprouted yet are this year’s tomatoes. As we mentioned previously, we’re going with Romas plus four heirloom varieties. A total of 18 starter pots have been primed with three seeds each, and we hope to see sprouting within a week or two.
Our early seed starting efforts are yielding results.
The beans have done very well – they’re already beginning to flower – but the greens are having a tough time. For some reason, they have been repeatedly attacked by aphids. We’ve knocked these back a couple of times, but they showed up again recently. We’ll keep fighting them but we’re looking forward to hardening the plants off and getting them in the ground.
Last year’s kale has already started putting out leaves (one plant actually stayed active all winter, and we’re nearly ready for kale and white bean stew). The carrots we didn’t harvest in the fall have also started sending up greens, and early taste tests have been positive. On the herb front, the tarragon and parsley have begun leafing out, and the sage stayed awake through the winter. Additions to the herb bed this year will include basil, dill, cilantro, chives, and maybe a few others. We’ll take another run at rosemary, although we don’t think we’ll put it in the herb bed given that it does tend to get pretty big and makes a nice stand-alone shrub.
Grow Your Own – They Call The Wind Mariah, But Right Now We Just Might Have Another Name In Mind
by John Weckerle
Here we go again... Note: the door was not yet attached.
The recent storm that graciously dropped 8 to 10 inches of snow and a bit of rain apparently dropped something else – the hoop house at Bed 5, again. We followed some of the recommendations of Senior Structural Engineering Correspondent Wilson and reinforced the uprights, revised the hoop/end frame attachment scheme, and were confident that we could get the cool weather vegetables in. Unfortunately, both we and our subject matter expert failed to realize that the strain would now be transferred to the corners of the bed, which were unfortunately not up to the task. Are we doomed?
Well, possibly, but not with respect to the garden. At the recommendation of Senior Disaster Recovery Correspondent Wilson (we all wear multiple hats around here), we’ve purchased two large L-brackets for each end of the board, and we’ll put it back together using those and some lag screws. We’ll also drive some rebar into the ground in front of and behind the horizontal board to help minimize any flexing that may result from wind load on the front. We hope to get this done soon, as the various bush beans we started under lights are beginning to flower.
At this point, it seems almost pointless to cover the structure with plastic for the Spring season, so we’ll start out with cool weather plantings – collard and mustard greens, various bush beans, kale, spinach, snow peas, and broccoli to start. In the meantime, we’ll get our tomatoes a-sprouting. We’ve decided to go with Romas for sauce and several heirloom varieties this year: Mortgage Lifter, Black Krim, Black Cherry, and Brandywine. We’ll have the structure ready to receive plastic in advance of the fall season, into which we hope to extend our growing efforts long enough to reap a few tomatoes – and then of course it’ll be time for cool-weather crops again.
Grow Your Own: Like The Phoenix, Sort Of…
by Senior Structural Engineering Correspondent Wilson
Well, the Pack Leader, Boss Lady and I were noodling around in the woods the other day and wandered past the big square thing with the pipes over it. It had been squashed pretty much flat to the ground – I’m not sure why – but we were all surprised to see that it had partially popped back up! The Pack Leader says this means he might be able to reinforce it. He grows stuff that he, the Boss Lady, and Grandma eat, although I’m not sure why he bothers – the only things worth eating in there were the round things at the far end. I took a look over the situation and had a few ideas.
Senior Structural Engineering Correspondent Wilson examines the storm damage at Bed 5.
First: Let’s get those ends built right. They’re too wimpy, and nothing should stick up past the pipes. Second, it would be a good idea to put in some support to hold up the center hoops; that might keep the whole thing from getting mashed. Third, let’s trim the door down and put either chicken wire or bird mesh on it; the screen didn’t even make it through the first season. Fourth, let’s move the ends of the pipes to the inside of the box; that’ll be a lot of work but would make life easier when it’s time to put on or take off the plastic sheeting.
And finally, let’s plant some chickens or meatballs or something in there; otherwise, I think the whole enterprise is just stupid.
Happy New Year!
by John Weckerle
It is January 1, and we find ourselves looking eagerly forward to 2012. With some positive life changes having occurred during the latter months of 2011, the denizens of New Mexico Central Headquarters find themselves more optimistic about the coming year’s prospects. We hope that our readers do, also.
Over the last few days, your editor has been giving some thought to how the year is looking and what it may mean for New Mexico Central. A few thoughts:
- Photography may play a more important, or at least a more routine, role in NM-Central’s content. This is in part because your editor is planning an equipment upgrade, and will be feverishly snapping away at everything in sight in order to learn the nuances of the new camera. We may also be introducing some video; in fact, we have the first one put together but need to make a decision on rendering software so we can post it. We used Adobe Premiere Elements to compile it, but the outputs are inadequate and Premiere Elements 9 was widely panned. If any of our readers have suggestions, we could use them.
- Digital art may also start showing up from time to time, possibly a little later in the year. Fractal and 3D art are a couple of your editor’s occasional hobbies, and designing fractal-art Kindle sleeves (these can be seen at your editor’s Cafe Press site under the Digital Worlds collection) as part of this year’s Christmas present inventory has perhaps reinstated the itch. We’ll see.
- We are excited that our gardening experiments have been successful – successful, that is, in demonstrating that 1/2-inch PVC is not sufficient to withstand heavy winter snows if used for a hoop house. The recent barrage of winter storms provided us with a great “test case” and, despite the fact that we didn’t have the plastic on, the snow on the bird netting was still enough to crush the frame. We’ll repair, redesign, and rebuild with thicker pipe when the weather gets a little nicer.
- We’ve given it some thought and we find ourselves even more fed up than in the past with people dressing up intolerance and dishonesty as patriotism. We’re also sick and tired of people in certain quarters constantly tearing down our government. No government is perfect, including ours, and we think the focus should be on making what we have run as effectively as possible as opposed to rather than cripple it or tear it down. We’re tired of intransigent idealogues monopolizing the discussion and gumming up the works. There’s probably not much we can do about it other than continue to “write the wrongs,” as it were, and we’ll continue to try and do so. However, we may be a bit more pointed in some of our critiques, and may also be looking at the backgrounds of those whose writings we are reviewing, as this puts some perspective on the situation and gives an insight into just how much these people actually know about the subjects upon which they are expostulating.
- The recent omission of the Capulin Snow Play hours was a little embarrassing, and we’re going to try to do a better job at posting the public service announcements and press releases the various agencies send us.
With those thoughts in mind, we’ll move forward into the New Year with a sense of adventure and at least a couple of goals. We wish our readers, and everybody else, a happy and prosperous New Year!
Announcement: Annual Permaculture Gathering At La Resolana In Edgewood, Saturday, October 1, 2011
Editor’s note: This is a great event, with plenty of practical information on strategies for living in our New Mexico environment. We attended last year’s gathering, and learned a great deal (article here), and the food at the potluck was outstanding. We encourage all to attend.
by Christian Meuli
12:00 PM Site Tour
2:00 PM Potluck
3:00 PM Tom Smylie — Human Effects on Wildlife and Wildlife Dynamics
4:00 PM Jan Daniels — Using Cover Crops as Green Manure in Your Garden
This free permaculture gathering will emphasize using what is available in this difficult drought in New Mexico. We will observe the effects of drought during the site tour and share ideas about designing and implementing sustainable and nourishing landscapes. I invite everyone to discuss the variety of possible approaches to dealing with drought and with the increasing effects of global climate warming in this high plains desert.
I think that there is a high probability of longer periods between moisture events (summer rains and winter snows) interspersed with rare and drastic moisture events. The site tour will include path-making, rock terraces, sponge ladders, and possibly rainwater cisterns (allowing time for good food!).
Tom Smylie has been instrumental in the revival of the peregrine falcon in North America and has an amazing breadth and depth of knowledge about our changing environment. Jan Daniels is in the Design Review Department of Santa Fe County for landscaping, rainwater harvesting, and open space and trails and is an avid gardener.
Invite any interested friends and children, and bring your finest sun hat! Please bring a tasty dish that you would be proud to share with others; providing an ingredient list will invite more folks to enjoy your dish. Please car pool and leave pets at home.
Take I-40 to Exit #187 in Edgewood (25 miles east of Albuquerque and 8 miles west of Moriarty). At the end of the off-ramp, go south two blocks to the stoplight at the intersection with Highway #333 (Smith’s Grocery will be on your left and Walgreens to your right). Go straight up the hill on Edgewood Road #7 and in ½ mile turn right onto Moriarty Road (gravel). Go ¼ mile to #24 and turn right into my driveway or go straight ahead and down the hill and park on your left.
I look forward to seeing everyone and meeting new friends! If you need a map or a timely voice message update, please call me at 281-4871.
Looking forward to seeing everyone !
Christian Meuli
Grow Your Own – Quit Playing With Your Food!
by John Weckerle
Yesterday's harvest - Mondays aren't all bad!
Er… No.
Grow Your Own – Mutiny Among The Bounty
by John Weckerle
The garden has been giving us substantial yields pretty much every day. We’ve now dined on the green beans, zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, lettuce, radishes, peppers, and cauliflower. Today’s harvest was special in that we brought in the first four heads of broccoli. These may well end up as cream of broccoli soup, using a recipe from Martha Stewart, that uses a veloute instead of bechemel base. The “test carrots” are noticeably bigger, and I suspect we’ll be hauling those in before long.
However, we’ve been finding some compromised tomatoes and the occasional slightly-chewed green bean, and there are holes in the broccoli leaves – ditto for the cabbage and kale in Bed 4. We suspect that mice are behind the mangled beans and tomatoes, and caterpillars would be the prime suspects in the cabbage/kale caper. We have not yet found any on the affected plants, but we’re keeping an eye out.
Today's harvest, minus the lettuce and green beans.
Grow Your Own – Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na…
by John Weckerle
On Wednesday morning of this week, while harvesting yet more zucchini (as well as yellow squash, string beans, a couple of Roma tomatoes, and a gigantic bell pepper), your editor did the unusual and set his mini-pruners (great for cutting zucchini off the plant) on the ground, and left them there. Late that afternoon a few clouds appeared on the horizon, and it became clear that a trip to the garden to collect the nippers was in order. I moseyed on up to the bed of plenty, and noticed that the tomato plants looked much different than they had just that morning – a lot of leaves were missing, and some of the branches looked wilted on plants that had looked healthy just hours before. Given that we’ve all but critter-proofed the garden (it’s now completely covered with bird netting), such damage was hardly expected. I proceeded cautiously toward the tomatoes, ready for anything.
Suddenly, the whispering sound of leathery wings filled the air, and I froze in place. There could be only one thing that could have wreaked the havoc that lay before me…
Grow Your Own – The Squash Man Cometh
by John Weckerle
Once again, we are awash with squash!
Well, harvest time is upon us, and harvest we have – will continue to do. We’re seeing big volumes on zucchini and yellow squash at present, due in large part to a vacation to West Virginia during which nothing was harvested or eaten. The photo to the right was actually taken last Friday, and we have been hard at work consuming the superfluity of squash. The death of our refrigerator and the week-plus it took to get a new one delivered meant that consumption was a priority. Fortunately, we had some things planned for this past weekend that included a need to provide food. Since the picture was taken, we’ve made and served substantial quantities of zucchini lasagna (using thin lengthwise slices baked before assembly), calabacitas, and zucchini bread. We also grated some up to freeze for future use. As it happens, the garden has continued to produce these cylindrical beauties, so plans are to make some squash and/or zucchini fritters, stuffed squash, plain ol’ fried squash, etc. And no, it’s not getting tedious; this stuff is all just great. Squash production should slow down a bit now that we’re able to visit the garden daily and grab the squash while it’s still reasonably sized.
Grow Your Own – It’s A Jungle Out There
by John Weckerle
Senior Agricultural Security Correspondent Wilson demonstrates proper pest prevention positioning and his signature "Baleful Bunny Stare." This has not saved the chard, but everything else appears untouched.
Well, it’s almost a jungle, and it’s looking like it may get there soon. Thus far, Beds 4 and 5 have produced a few very tasty nibbles: a snow pea here, a green bean there, and the radishes – ah, the radishes. They’re delicious, and they are (or will be) many. The first of the yellow summer squash will be ready today or tomorrow, and we’re already ready for them.
Bed 4, our “veggie decor” bed, appears to be a success. The cabbages, which are just beginning to form heads, are a couple of feet across and flourishing. Four of the six cauliflower plants have begun forming heads, as well, and we suspect that the other two are just a couple of days behind. It is from Bed 4 that we’ve been sampling the snow peas and green beans, and we can take kale, thyme, basil, and oregano any time we like – although kale is best held until cool weather. The bell peppers and eggplant remain an uncertainty; these may be affected by the shade from the surprisingly-resurrected trumpet vine, which has yet to produce any flower buds but which has grown from the ground to a height of six feet in about a month.