Back in Action!

Hey All,

We’re back! Our semester is underway, and we’re excited about the gardening prospects that it will hold. We kicked off our first workshop of the semester last week, teaching everyone how to grow their own fresh sprouts right in their kitchen! The flavorful freshness proved beneficial to all in these never ending days of winter.

More good gardening news is to come with guest speaker Josh Slotnick coming on March 7th, and our March workshop of bread and butter making just around the corner! Stop by the Foodshed (516 N. Ave. E.) tomorrow, Tuesday, February 28th at 6:00p.m. to find out more about what’s new this semester and how you can get involved!

We’d love to see all of your lovely faces there!

Aspen and Ian

1,000 New Gardens

First Meeting of The New Year!

Gardeners one and all! Come join us for the first 1000 New Gardens Meeting in 2016! We will discuss who we are, what we want to do this spring and celebrate the new year with a 2 part meeting/potluck. You can bring a dish to share if you so desire.

Tuesday 2/2/16 4:56pm

The Food Shed 516 North Ave Missoula MT 59801

Let’s get growing. See you there!

Baby sprouts!

Stay Tuned… work zone!

We are currently updating the website! Please bear with us as work on it!

Between now and then, please feel free to contact us at 1000newgardens@gmail.com

CHANGE OF WEBSITE…REDIRECT YOURSELF TO GROW…

We’ve moved and would like to invite you to our new ning website.  It is loads classier, and more accessible! Check it out at 1000NEWGARDENS.NING.COM – if you see the banner below, you’re in the right place!  Peas, Max

You can also contact an organizer(s) directly depending on where you live …

 

In Missoula:
Emerald LaFortune & Kelli Roemer(208)301-0535
1000newgardens@gmail.com

In Bozeman:
Max Smith(406)214-6664
1000newgardensbozeman@gmail.com

We Dig Plants

I just got word about a new radio show on the incredible Heritage Radio Network out of NY. If you don’t know about HRN, the station’s got a station for every sort of local foodie–the cook, the grower, the local food system policymaker. And for the musically inclined there’s Snacky Tunes which had they listened to the crack of my leek whip would have been called Carrot Noise. But owell. The new show is called We Dig Plants and you can stream each program here.

I’m not sure whether it’s completely relevant to the whole vegetable/pseudo wiccan/community organizing principles of 1kng, but no one can argue against its value…With such a stunning description that makes me think of the Pollan’s Botany of Desire, I can only think of its importance as we proceed forward with this community redevelopment project.

“Garden designers, Carmen Devito & Alice Marcus Krieg of Groundworks Inc, will delve into our human relationship with plants: as food, medicine, fodder and as a source of beauty and inspiration. We’ll bring the “culture” to horticulture and discuss such topics as: botany how to, cultivation, horticultural history, garden design trends and all things generally budding.”

Plus…it’s winter. Is there a better time to listen casually about plants?

Gardeners Don’t Hibernate in January

It’s cold and windy, the Montana environment is at its most formidable. For first-time and returning gardeners alike, the weather conditions couldn’t be more aligned with the Winter gardening tasks–curling up on a tea-stained couch at night with seed catalogs and a mock-diagram of your garden plot.

1,000 New Gardens cultivator, Geoff Badenoch (ie. Tiger Prawn) spied a neat, hopefully less intimidating website for new gardeners to peruse. He writes, “www.gardeners.com is obviously a commercial gardening source, but I thought this was an interesting way to picture and plan a garden.” For all practical purposes, it’s all there. The plot design function (dimensions and plant makeup) is worthy of any new gardeners’ attention. It’s ripened for you to start visualizing your space, especially if you’re considering companion planting or any sort of vegetable organization (read: control in the garden patch). If you’re in search of the ultimate resource for companion planting (or anything really, from ordering seeds to planting to preparing soil and harvesting) look no further than the local gardening expert Sandra Perrin’s book Organic Gardening in Cold Climates (pages 59-63). The Missoula Public and University of Montana Libraries are loaded with copies.

SEEDS–1kng organizers in Missoula have begun planning the 2nd Annual Seedluck (seed ordering potluck) to take place in late February or early March. Last year’s gathering at the public library was littered with great food and words from long-time Missoula  gardeners. We’d like to pack the room with new growers this year so stay in the loop for specific information on the winter feast!

HOPS–If you’d like to expand your repertoire this year or you’re something of an avid homebrewer, consider starting your own hop vines with rhizomes this spring. The illuminary brewery, Crannog Ales, which brews certified organic beer on-site published a free manual for beginners. It’s called “For a Small Scale & Organic Hops Production. Another mentionable is that last fall I got a tip that the local homebrew store within the Lolo Peak Winery gives away hop rhizomes (pruned from the owner’s plants) each spring–hopefully someone will send out the alert when the goin’ gets hoppy!

JANUARY DIY TIP written by our partners at the Missoula Urban Demonstration site:

Even the best-managed compost pile turns to ice in the winter. The secret to a compost pile that cooks all winter long is to surround it with earth’s natural insulation properties. The technique is called pit composting, and it retains heat in the soil to keep the pile from freezing. All you need are the following: large plastic garbage can, straw bales or bags of dry leaves, and a couple tools you can check out from the Tool Library – a saw or utility knife, drill, and shovel. Cut the bottom off of the garbage can, drill holes in the top 2/3rds of the can for ventilation, and set the can in a hole 6+ inches deep and as wide as the can. Surround it with the straw or leaves, but don’t block all the ventilation holes. Keep the lid on when you’re not adding kitchen scraps and other compostable material. The process is a little slower than composting in warm weather, but the pile shouldn’t freeze. For complete instructions, click the Organic Gardening magazine online link:

WORKSHOPS–Several MUD workshops are playing on channel 7 cable! Check out that link if you’re like me (no tv) and want to watch the instructions online!

–Basics of Beer Brewing workshop: January 8, 2010 from 9pm to 10:30pm & January 9, 2010 from 8:30pm to 10pm

–Electric Fencing For Gardens and Wildlife workshop: January 12, 2010 from 10pm to 11:45pm

–Sewing Basics (Sew Your Own Grocery Bag) workshop: January 15, 2010 from 4:30pm to 6pm

As always, MUD’s upcoming events are also online at http://mudproject.ning.com/events

My Floating Island Raised Bed

I was excited when I won the opportunity to have a Floating Island Raised Bed. When I picked it up, I became more intrigued than excited. Would this really work? And what in the heck kind of oddball material is it made out of ? I still don’t know the answer to the second question. But to the first, the answer is a resounding YES. We had a bit of a late start putting plants into the little quarter-of-a-pie shaped raised bed, but once we put the starts of basil, sunflower, and seeds of more sunflowers, they took OFF. They got bigger and healthier than I’ve ever seen in my gardening experience. We tucked the bed into an ugly corner of our yard and once the plants got nice, big, and green, the visual was much improved. I’ve attached some pictures of the bed and plants. I’ve enjoyed the ease of the raised bed and of watching it morph from a funny looking chunk of plastic into a nice green food machine.

Update on garden!

So this is my second blog about my above ground garden. All is doing very well! I have gotten to enjoy an Italian white eggplant already, and my yellow bell pepper is coming right along! I was concerned about all the rain that we got a couple weeks ago because my garden is below the roof of a shed and water was literally pooling inside of it, but it drained it out and is thriving! My tomato plant is getting very big, and my zucchini has a beautiful orange flower. I ought to take some pictures.. I’ll work on that! So far I am very content with my garden, and love every single day of seeing it grow. Cheers to gardening!

Speaking of Downsizing…

I know it’s totally the wrong time of year to move strawberries, but nevertheless, here I am. I am moving some of my garden beds around and have dug up a bunch of June-bearing plants (variety is ‘Honeyloe’). They need to get in the ground ASAP. Please shoot me an email if you can take them off my hands quickly.

UPDATE: My dug-up plants found a home with a friend and some of her friends, but if you’re desperate for strawberries, let me know. I have 2 more people lined up to take some, but I have a feeling I’ll still have some extras.

Looking Ahead

I know that there is still probably enough time to get a quick lettuce or spinach crop in, but it feels like the end of the season to me. Most likely, it’s because I am trying to fit in the monumental task of shuffling my garden beds to accomodate a new, smaller version of my garden for next year. I want to get the move done now, so in the spring, I can stroll blithely out to my garden and just plant away.

In light of that, I have been compiling a mental list of things I learned this year, and before they evaporate from my brain, I thought I’d get them down here:

Next year, I will:

• put only one tomato in a tomato cage (ok…maybe two, but definitely NOT three)
• plant only cherry tomatoes
• grow ‘blue lake’ green beans again
• remember to use legume innoculant on peas and green beans
• thin early and brutally
• put out wasp traps in May, and replenish them all summer
• remember that squash, zuchini and pumpkin plants get huge
• cut back the pumpkin plants when they even hint at exceeding their bounds (that is, if I grow them again)
• try birdhouse gourds again

Next year, I won’t:

• start anything from seed
• plant corn
• plant more than 3 zuchini or squash seeds
• let the volunteer sunflowers grow in the middle of my (soon-to-be) strawberry bed
• forget to harvest my herbs

Side note: just how late can you start lettuce, carrots and spinach seeds?

Of Pests and Parasites

I may just have to stop reading my gardening literature. Twice in the last few weeks, I have read about a garden problem and then stumbled across it in my own plot just days later.

It started with the fall issue of Zone 4 magazine, where I read an article about raspberries. The berry expert profiled in the article mentioned that yellowjackets can be quite troublesome in raspberry patches, burrowing into the fruit and sucking it dry. “Note to self,” I thought, since my raspberries are coming along nicely and should produce well next year. I filed the tidbit away for future use. Not two days later, I wandered out to my strawberry patch, to find it literally buzzing with yellowjackets, sucking the life out of my STRAWBERRIES!! Ugh. I bought a trap, which has since accumulated quite a collection of corpses. But not before they laid waste to just about every beautiful berry on the plants. Damn, damn, damn!

A few days later, I was perusing my “Weeds of the West” reference book, trying to figure out if what was growing in one of my perennial beds was yarrow (it was common tansy). While flipping through the book, I came across a yucky-looking weed called Dodder. It looks like thin yakisoba noodles, draped all over the host plant. “Ick,” I thought, and quickly turned the page. This weekend, while weeding my garden with the help of my sister and her husband, we discovered the nasty stuff draped all over my corn! I was so mad….like irrationally mad. This weed is a parasitic annual, which explains why my corn had been looking a little iffy. We pulled it out and stuffed it in a garbage can, but I haven’t had the chance to go back out to inspect the damage. Here’s the thing though…further research this evening shows that corn is supposed to be resistant to dodder. Something’s not adding up. Anyone have any ideas? My next step is to go pull out all my corn, just as it’s setting ears….

Seed Saving Workshop: August 22, 2009

It’s about time to leave pea pods on their vines (so the seeds fully mature) and a few biennial carrots in the ground (until next year for them to flower). The Basics of Seed Saving Workshop is also just around the corner at the Missoula Urban Demonstration site. The cost is $10 for members and $20 for non-members–well worth picking up the skills you’ll need Peak Oil or when your peaking interest in hybrid seeds plunges. The workshop is scheduled for August 22 and lasts from 1-3 PM. Think of it this way–once you’ve harvested a sweet crop of seeds, you’ll be able to trade with other Missoulians at the Seed Saver Swap in late October (Date & Time TBA).

 

Another workshop that we highly recommend is the canning how-to on September 11.

 

Here’s how MUD describes the workshop: Rumor has it that last April Burpee’s sold out of all its seeds and had to put thousands of orders on backorder. Don’t let this happen to you! Yvonne will teach you how to collect and store your precious heirlooms for next season, and tell you which seeds are hybrids and which are sterile. Also, keep your eyes open for a Seed Saver Swap in late October! 

Filling a void (the sharecrop and fall planting)

Earlier this week a new friend, Marco, and I began a contemporary voyage into (the once abused term) ‘sharecropping.’  At two households that have, for all practical purposes, been in fallow for years (visual of one), the lords of the land are letting us fill the void by weeding or tilling, llama manuring or composting, and planting this week.

I’ll provide an updated photo showing the progression tomorrow.

Our goal is to return this ground to a more holy state–not that we’re improving on nature’s inclinations–what I mean is more directed at the ecstatic skin of the Earth, the soil. As Franco put it importantly, “we are growing the soil, not the plants.” Astrologically, Leo (July 23-August 23) is the best time to work the soil.

Our plan is to work a bit with the moon cycle, grow some species of the root (radish, beet, carrot) because today was the first day of the full moon. [To be full-fledged biodynamic guys, we would incorporate many other techniques, but I feel like especially at this late juncture, we are making an effort to become connected to the seasons & intuitively (suprisingly) timing our work together. We’ll expand our repertoire next year.] It’s really an experiment and even with the infinite powers of natural cycles, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we can pull of this late season dance. If you’d like to bow to yer neighbor and do see do, we’re willing to sell directly to you. Let me know if yer interested and I’ll get back to you in approximately 48-70 days letting you have a pick of the roots, basil and cucumber.

Has anyone tried garden cover crops before and have advice regarding winter wheat/rye or tritacale? Would anyone like to give it a go fer the first time and buy bulk with us? The plan is to plant whatever we order in September.

This crop serves such a dual purpose–one leg of which belongs to a hairy homebrewer. I’m pondering using a bit of the grain in an ale this spring with hops grown by Lifeline Farm. It could be a loco local beer. We’re also going to be gleaning the neighborhood of its apples, making cider (hard and soft), applesauce, jam and pie. Let me know if you’d like to be a part of any or all of this process. By the way, if you’re a member of MUD you can vie for access to two cider presses in these, the Apple Days.

Peas, BBH

the economy of growing your own food

In an effort to not be redundant and post this in a third spot, I am going to just invite you all over to read my recent post at The Hip Homemaker on how I have tried to be economical in creating my first year garden… See you over there!

Onion

A Little Payoff and Some Meandering

Depsite one of the most persistent stomach bugs I’ve had the misfortune to encounter, I did manage to wander out to the garden for a few minutes this weekend to hunt for the zuchinis that I knew would be out there. Sure ’nuff, I nabbed 4 good-sized beauties plus a couple of summer squash. Last year, I started both of these veggies indoors, and didn’t have much luck with the summer squash. This year, I threw ’em right in the ground and they are doing quite well.

Other updates: I have some green tomatoes but not a ton. I was so excited to get eggplant in the ground AND to see 4 or 5 blossoms, but I don’t think they’re going to do anything. The plants are looking a little yellow and wilty. I’ve been having a really hard time thinning my carrots…I just hate pulling out plants and tossing them. I get tough with them every few days though, and they’re starting to actually look like carrots when I thin them now.

I was so excited to have a bunch of volunteer sunflowers from last year, but it turns out they have invited along a big, fat infestation of aphids. I’ve tried not to be too freaked out about it…the ladybugs are plentiful. Unfortunately, so are the ants. I’ve picked off a few of the worst infested leaves, but have left the ladybugs to their work. They’ve always been my favorite bug…actually the only one I like. Except for worms. And bees.