2 things...

First of all, here is an update from The Urban Homestead.

The Dervaes family lives in Pasedena, California and has, over the past few decades, transformed their 1/5 acre lot into an urban farm.



As unlikly as that seems, this family has managed, at their peak, to pull 6000 pounds of fruits and veggies from their 4350 sq ft garden. That's huge!!!



It seems as though there have been some doubts about their harvests. I, for one, have not a one! These 4 are completely committed to their lifestyle and to making their experiment work.

Each month, they post their bounty on their blog so that others may see how they are progressing. Here's the breakdown for this month:



October Harvest Totals
388 lbs Produce
6 Duck Eggs (molting season)
24 Chicken Eggs (molting season)

2010 YEAR TO DATE TALLY
5,904 lbs Produce
131 lbs Honey
293 Duck Eggs
706 Chicken Eggs

So...they're already at 5900 pounds and they still have 2 months to go - UNBELIEVABLE!!!

I only wish that my green thumb were that good. I suppose that I have to keep in mind that this family has been at it A LOT longer than I have.

Second, an update on my AeroGarden. Here is a pic - this is after just 4 days!!



At this rate, we'll be eating salads by Thanksgiving!

Note: You may have noticed that the number of posts has slowed down quite a bit - not a lot going on here in Wisconsin now that it's fall. Remeber that over the winter, I'll be posting regularily about planning for next year's garden. I've been doing a lot of research into new methods and historical 'great gardens' and I can't wait to share it all. With the snow on the way, all we can do is dream of spring!!

Basement Hydroponics

Last year I was given one of these

as a Christmas gift.

It's an

Which is basically a hydroponic growing system.

If you've never heard of hydroponics, it's basically growing without dirt. The plant is held in place in a variety of ways and it's roots are suspended constantly in water. It's fed by nutrients which are added to the water.

While it is possible to make these systems yourself, this one is nice because it has a little electronic controller

which makes sure that everything is OK. It controls the amount of light that the plants receive (about 16 hrs per day), makes sure that there are enought nutrients in the water, and makes sure that the water level doesn't get too low. All of that for just $100 dollars!!

Seriously, though, I can't say if I had not received it as a gift, I would have invested in one of these or not. Last year, I grew herbs (they were included with the kit) and although the plants absolutely exploded (and I probably could have made more that the cost of the machine by selling the basil alone), I thought that lettuce would be more valuable for us throughout the winter so I ordered that seed pack this year.

Once the seed pods are inserted into the machine and the water and nutrients are added, the machine creates something of a mini-greenhouse effect

so that the seeds germinate faster.

The seed pods say that the seeds will germinate in 1-7 days

and WOW!!! they did they ever!

After just 24 hours...

...the seedlings have indeed sprouted! Can't get that growing in dirt.

Still hanging on...

I still have a couple of summer plants that are hanging on...despit being only 1 week away from November. The mid-thirties last night may have put an end to them...but I am still hoping!

One zucchinni...

2 zucchinni!!

A few Wisconsin 55 tomatoes...despite a lot of dead plant.

Of the 4 Siberian tomatoes that I trialed, this one was the best. I thought that potting it up would let me keep it protected from the cold nights. Looks pretty good!

Late Fall Prep for Earlier Spring Planting

I don't know about you, but here in the midwest, after we've waited for months for the snow to melt and the ground to thaw, us growers want nothing more than to go out and get our hands dirty! Every year we try to push the calendar a little bit farther. The nip might still be in the air; our fingers might be stiff with cold as we dig through the earth with the same emotion as if we were seeing a long-lost friend but our excitement simply can't be contained.

Then, like a bad dream, we are jolted awake but the reality of soil prep. As the dissapointment sinks in that we can't plant just yet, we set to work on digging and adding compost.

But is doesn't have to be this way!

Right now, with autumn in full swing, you and I have a huge opportunity - we can prep our gardens now!! If you've got trees in your yard...even better - FREE COMPOST!!

As trees drop their leaves in fall, there is a wonderful opportunity waiting for us. With some of these

and one of these

amazing things can happen!!

Here's the scoop. The tool made by Toro is typically used as a leaf blower. With the added attachments, though, it functions as a leaf vaccuum!! The best part is that as it sucks the leaves up, it also shreds them. This not only condenses a leaf pile tremendously, it also speeds the breakdown of the leaves (i.e. faster dirt!!).

I don't have a big yard (though I do have a huge oak tree) so the handheld tool works fine. If you have a bigger space, you may need something larger.

Ok...on with the bed prep. First, the top layer of soil needs to be dug up to make room for the leaves

Here's another look at the difference between a dug bed and a full one

Where did all of that dirt go, you might ask. Onto another part of the garden, of course (but only temporarily).

Ok - now it's time to vaccuum leaves. After sucking/shredding the leaves, thay are dumped onto the garden...

...in a layer, in my case, about 8 inches deep!!

After dumping the leaves and spreading them out, they need to be covered with a layer of dirt to speed up the dirt-making (use the dirt which was dug out earlier)

Here it is completely covered

and again (vs. the dug area)

The only thing to remember about leaf vaccuums - they don't like sticks, twigs, or bark. For those, you'll need a bigger tool. Until then, though, I will be left with a pile like this


So...just a few more leaves to collect this year and then I'll have the whole garden prepped. In a few weeks, right before the freeze, I'll add a little menure and, after the winter freeze and spring thaw, this garden will be ready for an early spring planting!!

Note: over the winter I'll be doing many posts on prep, planning, and garden wisdom. I'll be referencing this post as I explore the concepts of intensive and extensive gardening/farming.

A week in Pictures

It's been a while since I did an update of my own kitchen garden.

To begin with, I learned the value of a little protection for seedlings. I have been planting lettuce about once a week for a solid winter harvest from cold frames. Here are some of the first:


The problem here is that I didn't protect these from the wind while they were first sprouting. They got blown all over the place and became weak. I'll probably just dig them under because they won't become much more than what you see here.

These are a little stronger because I used just a little protection:

These should grow into some nice lettuce for the winter harvest. I wish, though, that it would already be as mature as this:

I planted this on August 29th for a fall harvest. The lettuce in the first two pictures I started seeding a week later on September 6th (following Elliot Coleman's planting charts.)

Here's what I've learned: not only does one week make a huge difference, so does the amount of sunlight. Elliot Coleman talks about thte sunlight that he receives in Maine vs the sunlight in France, the country from which he learned much about planting systems. He stresses the importance of the amount of sunlight that plants receive but I have now seen it first hand. My coldframes get flooded with sunlight in the spring but are quite shaded in the fall. This has apparently made a HUGE difference (the best looking lettuce in the third picture is planted in a different location that gets 6-8 hours of sunlight each day.)

On a more positive note, here is some nice arugula:

Garlic:

And, although tired, a still producing tomato (Wisconsin 55):

Finally, I've got two questions for ya'll...

1. Anybody got a greenhouse? Here are some strong Siberian Tomato seedlings that I threw into the garden on August 25th.


They are 6 weeks old and would probably still work in a greenhouse given their cold tolerance (down to 38 degrees!!). I planted the seeds on August 25th simply so that I could establish a baseline for seeding in coming years. I think that in the future, August 1st could work well. That way, I might be able to get tomatoes 'til November!!

2. The second question and last pic - anybody need parsley? Look at this monster: