I'm going to start a weird topic for my area this week....Water Conservation.
This June has been one of the wettest I can remember. I don't think we've had more than 1 or 2 days where we didn't get at least 1 shower, and most days were completely grey and rainy.
I've had more issues with seedlings and potted (outdoor) plants getting too much water than not enough.
Gardens are waterlogged, Lake Hopatcong is actually full...when on Memorial Day there were many lamenting how empty it still was from the winter lowering.
So, before June, we were in a drought.
And, summer drought has become common in our area in the last 10 years, I've heard announcements about lakes and reservoirs being at record lows frequently. And the building boom of the late 1990s and 2000's has not helped.
I have posted about wanting a rain-water capturing system that we just haven't been able to afford yet, so that I don't have to feel nervous about watering our garden from our well. Nor have we been able to find a source for clean used barrels...
We've never had a problem with our well, and as far as I know, no one around us has either. It's just that when you think about the dryness around, lakes lower, less rainfall in the highlands, etc it makes you take note, so I'm going to blog about conserving water, even after a month with 10+ inches of rain.
We get most of our produce from the biodynamic Community Supported Garden (CSG) at Genesis Farm.
Some of it comes home pretty dirty, and for years I was washing it all under running water. For the past year or two, though, I've been trying to do as much as I can with less water.
I start by putting the veggies in a big bowl or use the salad spinner and letting it fill half way, scrubbing the veggies using the water from the bowl; setting aside each scrubbed veggie until the dirt is off and I have a bowl of brown muddy water.
Then I use that water to water plants, and get the benefit of all that biodynamic soil, rather than letting it run down the drain along with gallons and gallons of water....
After getting rid of the "mud", I give the veggies a final rinse, now free of most of their dirt, it only takes a slow stream of running water, again captured in the bowl...and use that for the plants too.
There have been times when I've been "too busy" to do it this way, but when I don't capture the wash water and let it run even a little, I feel guilty.
Water is a precious resource, even when you've had a rainy June.
Showing posts with label earth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label earth. Show all posts
Grow Your own Pancakes?!?!?!?!
I subscribe to Organic Consumers Association newsletters.
Today they had an interesting article which has inspired a whole new train of thought for me.
Growing my own grains, albeit on a small scale.
The grab-line for the e-newsletter was as follows:
How to Grow Your Own Wheat and Make Your Own Flour
The process of of making your own flour is a lot easier than most people imagine. Before the advent of the modern flour mill, grinding wheat or corn into flour was a laborious task. For that reason, most Americans still assume flour is made with some sort of magical machinery in a factory somewhere. In actuality, wheat is one of the easiest crops to grow, even if you have limited space. Once you've grown it, you just need to cut an arm-full, flail it a bit to remove the grain, blow the chaff off the grain, and use a device like your blender to make the flour. From there, the cookie, bread, pasta or pancake recipe you use is up to you!
The link to the whole article online is:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_18082.cfm
The winter wheat sounds like a good option for me...once harvested, other veggies can be grown in the vacant spaces.....let me know what you think...if you've done this before or plan to try it this year along with me!!
Today they had an interesting article which has inspired a whole new train of thought for me.
Growing my own grains, albeit on a small scale.
The grab-line for the e-newsletter was as follows:
How to Grow Your Own Wheat and Make Your Own Flour
The process of of making your own flour is a lot easier than most people imagine. Before the advent of the modern flour mill, grinding wheat or corn into flour was a laborious task. For that reason, most Americans still assume flour is made with some sort of magical machinery in a factory somewhere. In actuality, wheat is one of the easiest crops to grow, even if you have limited space. Once you've grown it, you just need to cut an arm-full, flail it a bit to remove the grain, blow the chaff off the grain, and use a device like your blender to make the flour. From there, the cookie, bread, pasta or pancake recipe you use is up to you!
The link to the whole article online is:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_18082.cfm
The winter wheat sounds like a good option for me...once harvested, other veggies can be grown in the vacant spaces.....let me know what you think...if you've done this before or plan to try it this year along with me!!
The Garden is IN!
So...after last year's garden experiment - which though not a total failure was FAR from a success....I was determined to do better this year!
In March - around the equinox - I got together with some friends to do seed-starting. It was great! We planted almost a dozen varieties of tomato, experimented with some older hot-pepper seeds, onion, leek, shallot, herbs - even artichoke.
All of our seeds started poking up around the same time - and I moved mine from the furnace room to a sunnier spot... and nothing happened. They all got to about 2 inches and STOPPED Growing. At this point it was warm enough to move them to the uninsulated, unheated "greenhouse" shaded by the lilac bush...where they did equally well. I was mentioning this to another friend a couple of states away who promptly said, "Didn't you get new thermal windows last year?" And I had the A-Ha moment - of course - the new windows blocked out all of the harmful rays - harmful for us and the furnishings - but necessary for the plants. Next year I need a cold frame or a grow light (or both!).
So, I have these seeds started, and I've borrowed some garden books on "Lasagna Gardening". At first the concept seems like a lot of work - a lot more than just putting the plants in the ground. BUT - I keep reading - and thinking about all of the rocks in my yard - and the fact that I don't have the world's best soil. AND THEN - I sprain my ankle - rather badly - so digging is really OUT.
SO - I decided to give it a go.
The concept is that you can create a garden anywhere - even over top of sod - without digging. That's not to say that it's easy or not a lot of work, because that would be wrong.
Around the same time - I decided to start some additional seeds - like cukes and squashes in containers so that they can be growing while I was getting the garden beds going.
It took me about a month to complete my 8X10 garden space.
My garden is about 8X10' fenced, with a path down the center and one crossing that about half way - in other words - a + path. So it is broken into 4 beds of about 3X4.
The first step to a lasagna garden is to block whatever is currently growing in the area by laying down a mat of wet newspaper. The first bed took ALL of my newspapers - 2 weeks worth. It also took about 5 cartfuls of compost/mulch over top of the newspapers to build the bed up about 6 inches...just barely enough.
So - I spent the next week asking friends to save me papers - and over the course of the next 2-3 weeks I finished covering the rest of the beds and planting all 4.
Ronnie has helped me many days with hauling the endless cartfuls ofcompost - at least taking the emptied cart back to the compost pile and helping push the full cart back to the garden. and both Ronnie and Evan have helped water the garden - since we're in the middle of another drought.
Currently I have:
Bed 1:
Squash&Cucumbers - pre-started ones from my plantings and some that Ronnie brought home from daycare. I also direct seeded some cucumbers in the garden, because you can't have too many cucumbers - and as insurance against the pre-planted ones dying off. Oh- and a few pole beans in the corner by the fence.
Bed 2:
Herbs - Basil, Cilantro, and Parsely- and I put down dill seed which hasn't come up yet; A few onions, a few bush beans
Bed 3:
Tomatoes, Marigolds and Peppers started from seed. Some from my trays - some from another friend - who's starts got to about 6 inches tall...just to see what happens. And some pole beans in the corner by the fence.
Bed 4:
Purchased tomatoes and peppers; more marigolds from seed and sweet potatoe starts; Garlic and shallots .
So...the experiment begins again.
The garden is planted. ...Hopefully there will be more tales to tell of harvest and consumption.
Next I need to re-visit the formal herb garden which is to become a sanctuary garden - and create some herb beds in the lower garden area.....
One step at a time.
At least I have my veggies started!
In March - around the equinox - I got together with some friends to do seed-starting. It was great! We planted almost a dozen varieties of tomato, experimented with some older hot-pepper seeds, onion, leek, shallot, herbs - even artichoke.
All of our seeds started poking up around the same time - and I moved mine from the furnace room to a sunnier spot... and nothing happened. They all got to about 2 inches and STOPPED Growing. At this point it was warm enough to move them to the uninsulated, unheated "greenhouse" shaded by the lilac bush...where they did equally well. I was mentioning this to another friend a couple of states away who promptly said, "Didn't you get new thermal windows last year?" And I had the A-Ha moment - of course - the new windows blocked out all of the harmful rays - harmful for us and the furnishings - but necessary for the plants. Next year I need a cold frame or a grow light (or both!).
So, I have these seeds started, and I've borrowed some garden books on "Lasagna Gardening". At first the concept seems like a lot of work - a lot more than just putting the plants in the ground. BUT - I keep reading - and thinking about all of the rocks in my yard - and the fact that I don't have the world's best soil. AND THEN - I sprain my ankle - rather badly - so digging is really OUT.
SO - I decided to give it a go.
The concept is that you can create a garden anywhere - even over top of sod - without digging. That's not to say that it's easy or not a lot of work, because that would be wrong.
Around the same time - I decided to start some additional seeds - like cukes and squashes in containers so that they can be growing while I was getting the garden beds going.
It took me about a month to complete my 8X10 garden space.
My garden is about 8X10' fenced, with a path down the center and one crossing that about half way - in other words - a + path. So it is broken into 4 beds of about 3X4.
The first step to a lasagna garden is to block whatever is currently growing in the area by laying down a mat of wet newspaper. The first bed took ALL of my newspapers - 2 weeks worth. It also took about 5 cartfuls of compost/mulch over top of the newspapers to build the bed up about 6 inches...just barely enough.
So - I spent the next week asking friends to save me papers - and over the course of the next 2-3 weeks I finished covering the rest of the beds and planting all 4.
Ronnie has helped me many days with hauling the endless cartfuls ofcompost - at least taking the emptied cart back to the compost pile and helping push the full cart back to the garden. and both Ronnie and Evan have helped water the garden - since we're in the middle of another drought.
Currently I have:
Bed 1:
Squash&Cucumbers - pre-started ones from my plantings and some that Ronnie brought home from daycare. I also direct seeded some cucumbers in the garden, because you can't have too many cucumbers - and as insurance against the pre-planted ones dying off. Oh- and a few pole beans in the corner by the fence.
Bed 2:
Herbs - Basil, Cilantro, and Parsely- and I put down dill seed which hasn't come up yet; A few onions, a few bush beans
Bed 3:
Tomatoes, Marigolds and Peppers started from seed. Some from my trays - some from another friend - who's starts got to about 6 inches tall...just to see what happens. And some pole beans in the corner by the fence.
Bed 4:
Purchased tomatoes and peppers; more marigolds from seed and sweet potatoe starts; Garlic and shallots .
So...the experiment begins again.
The garden is planted. ...Hopefully there will be more tales to tell of harvest and consumption.
Next I need to re-visit the formal herb garden which is to become a sanctuary garden - and create some herb beds in the lower garden area.....
One step at a time.
At least I have my veggies started!
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