Garden good-byes, garlic and gratitude

Happy Fall, y’all! The Ethan Allen Homestead these days is alight with shades of ochre, vermillion and gold, peppered with crimson-colored sumac cones and wild bunches of concord grapes. It’s a beautiful yet bittersweet sight to see for us at the Community Teaching Garden because sadly, it means the beginning of the end of the growing season… Just earlier this month, everything was blooming and booming with harvest, and now the gardenscape has shifted very visibly as many of our plants’ energy is ebbing with the shift in daylight. September caused tomatoes to slow down and blush more timidly, flower beds that were a kaleidoscope of colors have taken on more mellow shades, and the days of endless juicy snap peas to snack on became a sweet memory while the tall pole beans grew dry and toughened on their trellises. Even the zucchini finally stopped being their usual zealous selves and admitted defeat to the frost.

 

And yet! These days, the fall raspberries continue to absolutely burst off their branches, our lanky kale palm trees are towering mightily like weathered oaks, and we still have plenty of roots like carrots, beets and daikon radishes nestled in the ground alongside Napa cabbages in our “kimchi” bed. Some black-eyed susans, calendulas, borage and tansies flowers are still beckoning to pollinators as late season snacks. And the growing cycle continues as the tiny peas we planted a few weeks ago are now reaching their new tendrils up in cleared beds to blanket the earth over the winter and fix nitrogen back into it. We tucked baby garlic bulbs into the ground and look forward to the twirls of scapes they will bring early next season. Plus we saw everything really come full circle during some of our last classes as we were still slapping at mosquitoes just like in back June… Some things never change.

A good thing about the chilly weather is that it makes it easier to stay in to process all our produce and also process the events of the season. I think it’s no coincidence that the first cotyledons that emerged back in May were shaped like hearts, as they were a hint at how lovely the months to come would be. It was a fabulous season with memories that will last far longer than my Chaco sandal tan lines and the dirt under our fingernails. True to VCGN tradition, we acknowledged the end with mugs of hot cider, a flower mandala and a whole lot of gratitude. Reflection is just as important for a healthy garden as any good practice– it’s like feeding compost to the soil, trellising wily tomatoes and keeping the ground covered with cover crops.

Best in Show

We had some pretty superlative-worthy plants growing this season! For the best tasting tomato, Pink Berkeley Tie Dye and sun gold cherry tomatoes had our hearts. Napa cabbages were definitely the most beloved by slugs with radicchio as a runner up. Bumper crop veggie: need I even say it? Zucchini of course! (although tomatillos were a close second.) We voted the sugar baby watermelon for sweetest harvest (especially when sprinkled with spicy Tajin!) Peskiest pest goes to The Notorious CPB, who really made themselves comfortable and did a number on our potatoes and eggplants this year…so we have these next couple months to make a plan of action to tackle ‘em next season.

 

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In terms of good looks, marvel of four seasons was voted cutest lettuce, and our purple cabbages earned most adorable brassicas. Our okra and rattlesnake beans gave us the most unexpectedly beautiful blooms, and the magic runner stalk beans won were the almost too pretty to eat champions.  And the overall winners of the CTG beauty pageant were striped Cocozelle zucchini and the lovely lobed Costoluto tomatoes.

Preserved and precious 

And after a season of such abundance, we have so many things brighten the coming winter days with plenty of summer flavors. The herb garden may be brown and dead-looking but the bright shine of summer can live on in the zesty tea mixes we made of lemon-balm, calendula petals, tulsi basil and raspberry leaves. We filled colorful jars of ferments like kimchi, sauerkraut, and fire cider for boosting our gut microflora and immune system. And we’re all set to have the most moisturized skin in Burlington with tins of herbal salve to soften up dry crackly hands in the cold! Oh, and so much tomatillo salsa, too.

Fire cider! (a fermented elixir of oranges, horse radish, jalapeño peppers, lemons, ginger, parsley, garlic and apple cider vinegar)

Garden Grown Lessons

Some say clichés are cheesy, but really, who has ever complained about too much cheese?

“Waste not, want not.” I learned to eat and enjoy beet greens, stinging nettles, carrot tops, sweet potato vines, nasturtium pods and wild invasives like garlic mustard. Rhubarb leaves aren’t all that edible but they make great veggie packs when you forget your basket!

Harvest wrapped in a rhubarb leaf

“Make hay while the sun shines.” Or as I like to say, “Make pesto while the basil goes crazy!”  We turned blight-struck basil into pesto, which will theoretically last in the form of pesto cubes in the freezer to pop into warm pasta dishes all winter long (or they might all disappear by November, who’s to say?)

 

 

“The difference between a weed and a flower is judgement.” (big thanks to Traditional Medicinal tea bags for this one.) It was fun and delicious trying some new wild edibles for the first time that our fantabulous garden instructor Carolina showed us, like henbit, purple deadnettles, dandelions, sorrel, black raspberries, radish poppers and bachelor’s button flowers. I discovered my favorite kind of fast food just grows for free on the side of trails and bike paths! The world is full of abundance (and snacks) if we keep our eyes and minds open.

A garlic mustard and nettles galette garnished with chive blossoms and garlic mustard flowers

“A yellow leaf invites a closer look.” As gardeners, the best thing we can give a plant is attention (okay, it might be a tie with compost). Plants that seemed to be wilting or struggling showed us that they needed more love, like Septoria speckled leaves on tomatoes called out for a good pruning, strange shavings-like residue on our squash indicated squash vine borers living inside of their stems, lacy looking cabbage leaves meant it was time to mobilize tactics to confront the slugs.

And my favorite advice of all…. rub some dirt in it! It felt like a blessing every afternoon I got to dig into into the dark soil of the Winooski floodplain and help grow a healthy community of microorganisms below the soil while getting to be a part of growing our own above it.

The ground may be close to freezing over soon and be a bit harder to play in for a while, but some good news… life is a garden, dig it!

❤ ❤ ❤

Look at that community we grew!

How to Survive and Savor Squash Season

“It grows quickly, cooks quickly and is delicious. What’s not to love?” – Community Teaching Garden student Sylvia.

That’s right, zucchini season is upon us! Those tiny teardrop-shaped seeds have been photosynthesizing like the wind to turn water, air, sunshine and a few minerals into a whole lot of green.

Botanically speaking, zucchini and summer squash are a type of berry called pepos, but they are traditionally treated like vegetables. Thanks to their high water content, zucchini and other summer squash have a delicate flavor and amazing versatility in recipes ranging from savory to sweet.

The zucchini plants of my garden have been comfortable sprawling their spiky stalks and fuzzy leaves sideways into pathways, soaring upwards towards the sky and even right into tomato plant territory. I regularly push their overly zealous branches aside to harvest bike-basketfuls of squash, many of which grow big enough to cradle in both arms if left unchecked just a day or two too long.

These ambitious plants are notorious for taking over refrigerator space just as quickly as garden space. If you, too, have a bunch of zucchini practically the size of yoga mats crowding up your kitchen, never fear! Those squash that have outgrown their lot of the garden plot can become dinner (and breakfast, dessert and snacks…) in no time! And with no peeling necessary. Here are a few recipes from the Community Teaching Gardeners to share with friends, family, kids and any roommates who have graciously let your squash sublet their shelf of the fridge.

What a difference a few days make in zucchini land…

Zucchini Blossoms

The male flowers of zucchini plants will not turn into the zucchini fruit we know and love, so once they have pollinated the female flowers they are ready to be enjoyed! Or harvest the female flowers if you’ve had enough of the squash itself. My favorite way to prepare them is to make fiori di zucca fritti, a fairly simple Italian dish that truly tastes of summer. I lightly blanch them, then stuff each one with with vegan cheese, herbs and garlic, batter them up and fry them. Here is a recipe that explains it nicely!

In Oaxaca, Mexico squash blossoms are sold widely and used to top beautiful tostadas and memelas (pictured above). They are also used in the lovely vegan springtime soup sopa de guías along with corn, young squash tendrils and small squash.

 

Savory Ideas

• Cut zucchini into half moons and they can be thrown into a sauté with just about anything, especially alliums like garlic and shallots. Spiralized, they become zoodles!

Epazote-spiced zucchini and corn tacos served up at Drifter’s.

“Zuccadelle” (pappardelle-style zoodles) with garlic scape pesto and vegan Parmesan

 

• Grill up sliced zucchini (or put in the broiler) and layer with other summer veggies to put on toast to make a tartine.

Roasted zucchini, eggplant and pepper tartine. With herbs of course!

• “I like to just roast up sliced zucchini with a bit of Parmesan on top and I’m a happy camper.” -CTG gardener Rebecca.
• Gardener Huy makes baked zucchini boats stuffed with rice and beef. For a delicious vegetarian version, fill them with mushroom duxelle.
• Whip up some stacks of zucchini pancakes (here is a great recipe for those) or some Greek kolokithokeftedes (fritters!)

Roasted zucchini herb fritters at Drifter’s

• Make zucchini butter to melt those summer squash down into a creamy, delicious spread.

Sweet Recipes

• Shred up your squash and you can stealthily incorporate them into endless baked goods, like this chocolate cake, zucchini bread and also brownies!

A beautiful zucchini bundt cake from Isa Chandra. 

If you’ve tried every squash recipe in the land and can’t manage to find any takers for your bumper crop extras, just shred them and place them in a bag in the freezer to use when you find yourself missing the flavors of summer. Happy cooking!

 

Week 15: A Lesson on Agroforestry

Amidst late summer tomato and sunflower harvests, we welcomed a visit from Meghan Giroux of Vermont Edible Landscapes.

 

Meghan, among many other things, designed and executed an edible forest corner of the Community Teaching Garden at Tommy Thompson. Here’s Meghan in the corner speaking of the need for this style of planting — perennial crops planted to mimic the structure of a forest — to spread through the entire garden. One giant, shared edible forest, she suggested, with annual veggies growing along the perimeter.

 

As for the tansy, Meghan promises that it wasn’t something that she planted. She suggests never planting tansy, which is an ‘opportunistic’ plant, willing and able to spread itself with great vigor! Even though Meghan was cutting the plant down, and speaking on its prolific nature, Meghan emphasized the importance of keeping all of a system’s nutrients within the system. That means taking the tansy plant and laying it down as mulch. Meghan assured the class that even out diseased tomato leaves were okay to leave in the garden – healthy soil should be able to handle that plant’s disease. ‘Leave the detritus on the forest floor,’ she said. ‘It’s a little love shack for all the critters who live in the soil.’

As for the lesson on agroforesty, here’s what I gleaned:

An edible forest is designed using two parameters. One is structure, the layers that make up the forest composition. The second is plant archetypes, the polyculture that works together to create a nutrient rich system.

The agroforest is made up of an overstory, an understory, a shrub layer, an herbaceous layer, a rhizomatic layer, and a vining component. We quickly discovered that each of these categories are loose and relative to the other crops housed within the system. While the red currant bush is most commonly used in the shrub layer, it could easily serve as an overstory in an edible forest of a smaller scale.

With regard to the plants, there are three important archetypes to include: nitrogen fixers, dynamic accumulators, and insectaries & nectaries. Nitrogen fixers have the capacity to pull nitrogen out of the air and send it down into the soil, providing nitrogen for itself and allowing that nitrogen to be captured by nearby plants so long as its needs are met. Dynamic accumulators have long tap roots that reach down into the earth and pull nutrients up into the top soil where it can be accessed by shorter root systems. Nectaries keep non-desirable insects away, insectaries attract the beneficials. Meghan suggested that gardens and edible forests alike should have flowering plants through the length of the season. These flowers should be diverse in terms of color and shape so as to attract the greatest number of beneficial insects.

Week 13:What a key, the bumblebee

It’s a fruitful moment, rounding the corner to late summer now. With each visit to the garden, I am amazed by the generous green jungle that has emerged from the beds that were bare just three months ago.

We planted beans in the squash bed just one month ago. We planted the beans because our squash was taking a beating from a combination of squash bugs and cucumber beetles and we didn’t know if the squash plants would make it. We placed an aluminum foil barrier around the two little plants & hoped for the best. Here they are – bearing fruit and unwilling to stay within the confines of their bed. Carnival squash on the loose!

On a smaller note, but of a similar shape, the husk cherries have begun to fall from our two husk cherry plants. Sweeter than candy, with wrappers that will biodegrade, this fruit inspires curious conversation among its consumers — what is that flavor?

It’s easy to forget about the little things when the garden gets so big. The little things – those little pollinators so crucial to the fruit bearing wonder of the moment. For the tomato, the potato, the eggplant, and the blueberry, it takes a particular pollinator to unlock the pollen that facilitates the plant’s reproduction. According to biologist Anne Leonard, with buzz pollination, ‘the flower is almost like playing hard to get.’

Check this out

Yes, we are delighting in the harvest and yes, we are clearing space for fall planting but this morning, watering our beneficial insect garden, I found myself thinking of the bees — relentless, buzzing, organized, clever, key.

Week 10: For the cabbage that longed to be a sea flower.

Of all the shared beds at the Tommy Thompson teaching garden, I have a soft spot for the cabbage patch. It was one of the first beds we planted – a row of green conehead cabbage on one side, a red cabbage row on the other. As the season went on, we planted a row of beans down the center – offering a wonderful combination of color on the thin growth of the bean stalk to contrast the sturdy round of a head of cabbage. What I love about the bed though, is within the red cabbage row itself – eight heads of cabbage, all of which were planted on the same day, from the same tray of starts, into the same bed, tended by the same gardener with the same regularity and yet, demonstrating the entire spectrum of growth.

                   For me, this is the ultimate lesson of the teaching garden.                                                       What explains the variation in growth when all variables are kept the same?

There’s nature, there’s nurture, and then there is the unique personality of each plant.    This cabbage on the top left is testament to the fact that there are some cabbages who simply long to be sea flowers.

I’ve loved this cabbage bed as a reminder of the unpredictability of the garden. It is a comfort on days when my own bed shows distress and it is humbling when I begin to take credit for the growth of what I’ve planted.

As it goes in the garden, even our favorite beds have their time. And this was the time of the cabbage bed:

Alas, with communal cabbage harvest, there comes communal sauerkraut:

Week 7: the rise of the Colorado Potato Beetle and the resilience of the garden.

It sure seems as if the growth of our potato and tomato plants has been matched by the arrival of the Colorado Potato Beetle. These pests, distinguished by their zebra-striped backs and hearty size (relative to the three-striped beetle that is) have made camp on our potato plants, unafraid to visit the nearby tomatoes.

Two adult Colorado Potato Beetles with a fairly large larvae between. The larvae, hatching from a bright yellow-orange egg, begins its life as a dark red (nearly black) speck. It eats and eats and grows and grows, becoming plumper and lighter in color, eventually developing the markings shown here. Because the larvae must begin feeding as soon as it is born, simply wiping the eggs off of the leaves of the potato (or tomato) prevents the arrival of the next generation. It’s certainly more efficient to target the non-moving eggs!

Contrary to their name, the Colorado Potato Beetle is an invasive species that arrived here from Mexico. In Mexico however, the beetles are not pests because they are controlled by natural predators and distinct environmental conditions. In Vermont, we the gardeners are tasked with the predator role.

Our primary method of control has been careful, daily picking. I quite enjoy the act. It provides the opportunity to tune into each plant, touching its leaves and giving it a good once-over from above and below. I tend to carry a jar of soapy water and gently drop the adults, larvae, and eggs into the jar as they appear on the plants. Picking beetles is time consuming and, despite our best efforts, has not noticeably reduced the population. In fact, it appears to be growing – which makes sense as each cluster of eggs represents the beginnings of 10-30 beetles.

We’ve decided to introduce a foliar spray, hoping to get ahead of the problem and protect the potatoes growing below. We’ve begun an experiment of sorts – spraying a homemade garlic-chili repellent on one-half of the crops (recipe below), and using a store-bought Neem Oil on the other half. Results to follow…

Neem Oil is an insecticide that can control the Colorado Potato Beetle in its egg and larvae stages, while also providing healthy enzymes to the plant. Said to be most effective on young plant growth, neem is used to manage over 200 species of chewing + sucking insects.

As I said, pests are matched by growth and growth allows for bountiful, colorful harvest:

The vital red of the radish

Spectrum of ‘greens’ from purple to red to blue

Not to mention the oranges, yellows, bright whites, and pinks!

And the recipe for the garlic-chili spray:

·         5 garlic cloves

·         2 Tbsp hot pepper flakes

·         3 cups water

·         ½  small onion

·         1 tsp liquid soap

Put all the ingredients (except for the liquid soap) in a blender. Blend well until the solids are broken down. Transfer to a container and mix in 1 tsp of dish soap. Let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. Strain through a sieve and discard the solid bits. Use a spray bottle to evenly distribute the liquid over the foliage in order to deter the beetles from laying eggs.

Week 5: Cucurbits – melons and winter squash

As the Lead Teacher for the Community Teaching Garden, I have the joy-filled responsibility of selecting plant varieties to grow in shared garden spaces within each CTG site.  Week 5 is dedicated to direct seeding plants in the cucurbitaceae family, including cucumbers, squash, and melons.  Students are allowed to plant cucumbers and summer squash in their garden plots, while I select winter squash and melon varieties to plant in shared garden spaces.

My mouth waters at the thought of cutting into a sweet, ripe, and juicy melon.  So way back in February, I looked around for melon varieties best suited to grow in Vermont’s short summer.  Thus, I ended up ordering seeds from the Solstice Seed catalog, an extraordinary seed saving project maintained by Silvia Davatz.  Last year I attended one of her seed saving workshops and made a mental note to buy seeds from her this year.  As Silvia writes in the introduction to her catalog: “Thus began my quest to seek out, rescue, and maintain rare, valuable, interesting, and irreplaceable varieties for our tables, pantries, and root cellars. My current seed collection encompasses about 290 distinct open-pollinated varieties, selected for flavor, beauty, suitability to growing here in the Upper Valley, disease resistance, cold tolerance, ability to be part of our year-round food supply, historical interest, geographic specificity, or quirkiness of name, to list a few of my criteria.”  (To receive a PDF version of the Solstice Seed Catalogue, send an email to Silvia Davatz at sdav@valley.net)

I chose Eden’s Gem, described as a petite, green-fleshed, netted melon weighing in at about one pound each, developed in 1905 at Rocky Ford, Colorado.  Sweet and spicy flavor.  Very productive and well-suited to the small garden.  In early May I started the melon seeds in a greenhouse, and then by week 5 of the CTG course, it was time to transplant the melons into the Ethan Allen CTG site.  We currently have four lovely Eden’s Gems growing on top of a compost pile, with plenty room to ramble and the warmth of the compost mound to encourage their growth.

For winter squash varieties, I decided to plant both bush and vining varieties for students to appreciate different growth patterns in similar plants.  I chose Bush Delicata Squash, described by High Mowing Seeds as “Compact, tidy plants with sweet, oblong fruits. Delicious smooth, nutty flesh with hints of butter and brown sugar. Skin starts creamy white with green stripes and flecks, curing to striped light yellow. Compact plants spread only 4-6 feet”.  Delicata happens to be one of my favorite winter squashes because its thin skin is edible, and sometimes I choose what to grow at the CTG sites simply because I enjoy eating those varieties!

At both CTG sites we planted Honey Nut Mini-Butternut Squash as our vining variety of winter squash that will share a trellis with peas and nasturtiums. These seeds also came from High Mowing and are described as “Adorable serving-sized mini butternut with dark tan skin and great sweet flavor. Simply cut in half and bake! Delectable squash is smaller than Ponca with more uniform butternut shape. Green unripe fruits; early planting is recommended for tan color. Field resistance to powdery mildew”.  I also decided on planting butternuts because they are resistant to common squash pests such as the squash vine borer and squash bugs. Other resistant varieties to take note of include ‘Early Summer Crookneck,’ ‘Improved Green Hubbard,’ and ‘Royal Acorn’.

May your gardens, and especially your cucurbits, grow abundantly this season!

In community,
Carolina Lukac
Garden Education Manager and Lead Teacher for the Community Teaching Garden course

 

Week Four: Acquainting ourselves with the solanaceae family, and with the three-striped potato beetle

Cool weather and a good heavy rain offered sweet relief to our brassicas and good conditions for transplanting starts from the solanaceae family. Solanaceae, also called nightshades, are characterized by their flowering plants and include the many varieties of potatoes, tomatoes, tomatillos, eggplants, and peppers.

The transplant was quite similar to the transplanting of the brassica family. Tomatoes require slightly more attention as they tends to grow into heavily fruit-bearing and therefore top-heavy plants. Our tomato transplants ranged from about six to twelve inches and had a soft, white fuzz quality to the bottom half of the stalk. This fuzz is the beginning of what will become a strong root system, and therefore wants to be submerged fully underground. Tomatoes want to be planted in a hole that is one-half as deep as their overall height (at the time of transplant). This requires the careful removal of low-growing branches. Finally, removing all flowers and suckers will encourage the plant to allocated its energy to the establishment of a strong and developed root system. This is crucial to the health of the plant.

Here is Carolina offering guidance on tomato planting:

Visit the Hudson Seed Library for more on transplanting and tending tomato plants.

 

Eggplant and peppers need not be buried as deep as the tomato. Just slightly above the existing soil line is fine. Pinching off any premature flowering will improve the health of the plant. Below is Alex choosing what to plant from a variety of peppers!

As for the tomatillo, the transplant is just like that of the eggplant and the pepper. The plant itself though will grow to be quite large and so we’ve dedicated one of our communal beds to the tomatillo crop. To no surprise, the three-striped potato beetle arrived within two weeks of planting.

 

Also called the three-lined potato beetle, this pest can live off of the leaves of any member of the solanaceae family but has a preference for the tomatillo. We had the opportunity to observe about twenty beetles spread across our five tomatillo plants. It was mid-morning, they were mating, and the backsides of the plant’s leaves were marked with the yellow-orange eggs of the next generation. These pests cannot merely be pulled off of the plant. They must be removed from the garden – either in a tightly sealed container or in a cup of soapy water. The eggs need only to be wiped off of the leaves for the newborns require immediate sustenance and will not survive if born away from their food source.
Read on for a more thorough look at the three-striped potato beetle.

Week Three: Brassica transplanting and companion planting

Students chose from a variety of starter plants after sitting to a lesson. Below are two students, Jenna and Ute, deciding who will get the red russian kale.

Brassica is a genus of plants in the mustard family. Before planting these brassicas, students sat down to a lesson on Brassica oleracea (the species that the vegetables belong too). Carolina drew pictures of cabbage, brussels sprout, kohlrabi, kale, broccoli and cauliflower, while explaining that what we eat of these plants all differs! For example, kale we grow for its leaves while cauliflower we grow for its flower clusters.

A fun identifier of brassicas is given away by their other name: cruciferous. They are called this because their flowers form of a cross: four petals and four sepals.

Above is Kane planting collards in the communal brassica bed

We also planted potatoes! Here is brian cutting large seed potato into smaller pieces, leaving each part with about two buds.

Two varieties of potatoes ready to be covered and grow in this raised bed below

Companion planting is growing various crops near one another so that they can help each other out. After the brassicas, students planted two rows of potatoes, with marigolds on either end.

A marigold is a lovely companion for potatoes as it produces natural pesticides and protects potatoes from viral and bacterial infections. It’s smell repels insects that may be harmful while also attracting pollinators like butterflies.

To top it off, marigolds are edible (their peppery flowers), beautiful and easy to grow

Learn more about marigolds here: http://www.almanac.com/plant/marigolds

Also: What to dhu-barb (with all that rhubarb)

Nothing like a hot and sticky mid-May heatwave to whet our palates for Vermont summer rains. In the meantime, we have giant rhubarb plants that have gone to flower but won’t go to waste.

We’ve gone ahead and cut the flowers off of each of the rhubarb plants. The cut was made at the base of the stalk that had flowered and the intention was to encourage the plant to continue to send energy to its leaves (rather than allocating it towards the growth of the flower). And from the vital, vibrant stalks that have grown, there have been spreads and cakes and gummies and more:

Rhubarb & Berries Sauce

3 stalks rhubarb

2 cups mixed, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries (frozen)

3 Tbsp raw honey (or a bit more if you want more sweetness)

1 star anise

2 cardamom pods

1 small cinnamon stick

1 Tbsp orange zest

½ cup orange juice

½ tsp aged balsamic vinegar (optional)

Slice the rhubarb in small pieces. Place it in a pot with the berries, orange juice, orange zest, spices and balsamic vinegar. Keep it on low heat until it starts to boil. Simmer the sauce uncovered, stirring frequently to avoid sticking. Once it has acquired the consistency of marmalade, turn off the heat and add the honey to taste. Remove spices before serving.

Rhubarb Pudding Cake from Common Sense Homesteading: http://commonsensehome.com/rhubarb-pudding-cake/

And many more for the curious and the adventurous: http://www.saveur.com/rhubarb-recipes-desserts?image=9

 

Above is rhubard harvest bundled in its leaf and below shows the first potluck… where there was plenty of rhubard (and other creative treats) cooked up!

 

 

Week Two: Garden care, compost and fulfilling comparisons

 

At week two it is time for the students to start helping with garden work: preparing individual and communal spaces for planting. Though Day in the Dirt (read about here) provided a healthy start, at there was still a lot to do. Everyone took up roles: weeding beds, pruning raspberries and shoveling compost were among them.

Above is a student, Hayley, pruning raspberries for a single late season crop.

She is cutting the canes to about 3 inches. Raspberry canes are biennial (live two years) while their roots and crowns are perennial (remain many years). The first year cane is known as “primocane” and after it goes dormant in the winter to wake up to its second spring it is called “floricane”.  Hayley is pruning these second year canes because new canes will grow as the spring moves forward, fruiting sweet red raspberries in late summer.

          

Below is a simplified depiction of the biennial life cycle of the raspberry:

Frank Louws. 1992. Growing Raspberries in Ontario. Ministry of Agriculture and Food. Publication 105.

http://content.ces.ncsu.edu/growing-raspberries-in-north-carolina

 

Before and after: weeding of student beds

The bed on the left is ready for some compost and a garden fork to loosen its subsoil while incorporating the compost deeper into the bed. The goal is to improve soil nutrition before planting. Details of this are described in part one of The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible by Edward Smith. (The book CTG students were assigned to read)