Sunday, July 11, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
July Already?
It's been too long since my last post. Many things have happened, too many to list in one blog post! This post will be a 'portal' of sorts - I'll give a brief overview (and link) to each post. The posts are listed in chronological order of occurance.
Hail - and not so Hardy
- On June 15th, most of Portland was struck by a freak hailstorm. The resulting effect on the garden is detailed here.
South Campus Tilled
- The northern, weedy-filled half of South Campus was weeded by myself on the 21st, and then tilled several days later on the 26th. Pictures of the newly cleared land and new plans here.
(Re)planting
- Cucumber and cilantro was planted in a newly prepared bed on South Campus on the 31st. The cucumbers have since sprouted. Also, beans and squash were (re)planted to compensate for early losses to the wet beginning of the summer. Pictures and details here.
Deer Attack, the Third
- The deer dealt a devastating blow to the strawberry patch. I'll likely have to replant and hope for the best. Pictures and details here.
Hail - and not so Hardy
- On June 15th, most of Portland was struck by a freak hailstorm. The resulting effect on the garden is detailed here.
South Campus Tilled
- The northern, weedy-filled half of South Campus was weeded by myself on the 21st, and then tilled several days later on the 26th. Pictures of the newly cleared land and new plans here.
(Re)planting
- Cucumber and cilantro was planted in a newly prepared bed on South Campus on the 31st. The cucumbers have since sprouted. Also, beans and squash were (re)planted to compensate for early losses to the wet beginning of the summer. Pictures and details here.
Deer Attack, the Third
- The deer dealt a devastating blow to the strawberry patch. I'll likely have to replant and hope for the best. Pictures and details here.
(Re)Planting
Hello Readers,
As the summer passes by, the correct time to plant things is passing as well. With the cold, rainy June, my plans went slight awry. However, on the 27th, cucumbers and cilantro were planted. The cucumbers are doing great. Many of them have already grown to a couple inches tall. The cilantro is remaining for elusive, but I think I've started to see some sprouts. Also, I replanted a bunch of bean/squash seeds in the corn bed to replace those lost to slugs in early June. So far, the bean have also sprouted over the weekend. Judging from how long it took the squash to sprout the first time (2-3 weeks), it will likely be awhile until they come up. Today I'm going to plant some left-over summer/winter squash seeds in the last remaining 'lower' bed (bed 2). I'll give update as to what is going to be planted in the 'upper' have of the garden (beds 10, 11, and 12) later this week.
As the summer passes by, the correct time to plant things is passing as well. With the cold, rainy June, my plans went slight awry. However, on the 27th, cucumbers and cilantro were planted. The cucumbers are doing great. Many of them have already grown to a couple inches tall. The cilantro is remaining for elusive, but I think I've started to see some sprouts. Also, I replanted a bunch of bean/squash seeds in the corn bed to replace those lost to slugs in early June. So far, the bean have also sprouted over the weekend. Judging from how long it took the squash to sprout the first time (2-3 weeks), it will likely be awhile until they come up. Today I'm going to plant some left-over summer/winter squash seeds in the last remaining 'lower' bed (bed 2). I'll give update as to what is going to be planted in the 'upper' have of the garden (beds 10, 11, and 12) later this week.
Monday, July 5, 2010
South Campus Tilled
Hello Readers,
By tending a small portion fuel toward its entropic fate, the entire northern half of the South Campus garden was weeded and tilled. A good trade-off, in my opinion. The story is this: I used a weed-whacker, borrowed from facilities, to mow the then-enormous weeds down. A few days later, after the ground had dried out, Jerry (an extremely nice and helpful member of facilities) tilled the weeded ground. Here's what the garden looks like now:
By tending a small portion fuel toward its entropic fate, the entire northern half of the South Campus garden was weeded and tilled. A good trade-off, in my opinion. The story is this: I used a weed-whacker, borrowed from facilities, to mow the then-enormous weeds down. A few days later, after the ground had dried out, Jerry (an extremely nice and helpful member of facilities) tilled the weeded ground. Here's what the garden looks like now:
1: Beans/Squash/Corn
2: Unplanted, Tilled
3: Blueberries (2), Onions, Spinach
4: Lavender, Cherry Tomato (1)
5: Strawberries
6: Cherry Tomatoes (2), Blueberry
7: Unplanted, Tilled
8: “Tropical” Bed – Peppers, Cherry Tomatoes, Basil (recovering)
9: Cucumbers, Cilantro
10: Unplanted, Tilled
11: Unplanted, Tilled
12: Unplanted, Tilled
Hail - and not so Hardy
Hello Readers,
From what I have learned in my two-year stint in Portland, summers are usually hot, sunny and dry. As you can tell from previous posts, June was strangely dominated by rainy weather, clearing up for a few precious days towards the end. In total, more than half of June was overcast, at the very least. While I have a few friends that enjoyed avoiding the summer heat, photosynthesis is hard to accomplish with clouds in the sky. So, when a freak hail storm came in the midst of the already poor summer, it had a 'salt on the wound' effect. I watched from my dorm window as thick pellets of ice carpeted the ground, creating a white film on the ground several inches thick. Most of the garden's plants survived, but with different types of damage to their leaves. The species hit the hardest were those close to the ground, with broad, fleshy leaves. Examples include swiss chard, lettuce, and squash. While the squash were young and immediately grew new leaves, the swiss chard are still recovering. The hail punched many holes in this type of leaf, sometime leaving only tattered remains. Strawberries can be included in this category, but only marginally. Strawberry leaves seem more hardy and resilient to puncture, although some showed signs of puncture. Next on the list is a much more poorly defined category, including peas, corn, and blueberries. These plants showed white, scarring patterns on their leaves. Worst hit were the peas and the corn, with the blueberries being only marginally affected. Although I can't say authoritatively, 'scarred' leaves seem to perform more poorly than their healthy counterparts, resulting in an overall stress on the plant. Some of the worst affected plants, such as swiss chard, had both types of damage. Most other plants seem to have no visible damage (although the chill resulting from the layer of hail could have been damaging). Plants in this category include chives, onions, broccoli, broccolini, blackberries, potatoes (protected by the hay), mint, tomatoes, kale, basil, and peppers.
From what I have learned in my two-year stint in Portland, summers are usually hot, sunny and dry. As you can tell from previous posts, June was strangely dominated by rainy weather, clearing up for a few precious days towards the end. In total, more than half of June was overcast, at the very least. While I have a few friends that enjoyed avoiding the summer heat, photosynthesis is hard to accomplish with clouds in the sky. So, when a freak hail storm came in the midst of the already poor summer, it had a 'salt on the wound' effect. I watched from my dorm window as thick pellets of ice carpeted the ground, creating a white film on the ground several inches thick. Most of the garden's plants survived, but with different types of damage to their leaves. The species hit the hardest were those close to the ground, with broad, fleshy leaves. Examples include swiss chard, lettuce, and squash. While the squash were young and immediately grew new leaves, the swiss chard are still recovering. The hail punched many holes in this type of leaf, sometime leaving only tattered remains. Strawberries can be included in this category, but only marginally. Strawberry leaves seem more hardy and resilient to puncture, although some showed signs of puncture. Next on the list is a much more poorly defined category, including peas, corn, and blueberries. These plants showed white, scarring patterns on their leaves. Worst hit were the peas and the corn, with the blueberries being only marginally affected. Although I can't say authoritatively, 'scarred' leaves seem to perform more poorly than their healthy counterparts, resulting in an overall stress on the plant. Some of the worst affected plants, such as swiss chard, had both types of damage. Most other plants seem to have no visible damage (although the chill resulting from the layer of hail could have been damaging). Plants in this category include chives, onions, broccoli, broccolini, blackberries, potatoes (protected by the hay), mint, tomatoes, kale, basil, and peppers.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Slightly more dry!
Hello Readers,
Things are looking up! The ten-day forecast is predicting (mostly) sunshine and warmer weather. It looks like summer might finally, reluctantly, climb out of bed. I took some pictures of both gardens, which you can view here. Mostly, the pictures are of the plants at the Rosengarden. There are also some older pictures of the tropical bed at South Campus (pre-deer attack) and some pictures of the birds I mentioned before. In terms of projects, this week has been a fairly productive one. The grass at South Campus has started to struggle through the mulch-paths already, so all the paths are due to have a fresh layer of wood-chips by the end of the week. I've mulched, Sluggo'd, and fertilized the corn/beans/squash in an effort to help them survive until good weather appears, and a new bed at SC is almost ready. The Goji berries at the Rosengarden don't seem to be able to support themselves, so I built them small trellises and re-vamped all of the pea trellises as well. The tallest of our pea varieties looks like it's going to outgrow its 8 foot trellis! I've been pampering the cherry tomatoes at the Rosengarden because they've been shuffled around so much, and they seem to be recovering. That's all for now!
Have a good weekend,
Lucien
Things are looking up! The ten-day forecast is predicting (mostly) sunshine and warmer weather. It looks like summer might finally, reluctantly, climb out of bed. I took some pictures of both gardens, which you can view here. Mostly, the pictures are of the plants at the Rosengarden. There are also some older pictures of the tropical bed at South Campus (pre-deer attack) and some pictures of the birds I mentioned before. In terms of projects, this week has been a fairly productive one. The grass at South Campus has started to struggle through the mulch-paths already, so all the paths are due to have a fresh layer of wood-chips by the end of the week. I've mulched, Sluggo'd, and fertilized the corn/beans/squash in an effort to help them survive until good weather appears, and a new bed at SC is almost ready. The Goji berries at the Rosengarden don't seem to be able to support themselves, so I built them small trellises and re-vamped all of the pea trellises as well. The tallest of our pea varieties looks like it's going to outgrow its 8 foot trellis! I've been pampering the cherry tomatoes at the Rosengarden because they've been shuffled around so much, and they seem to be recovering. That's all for now!
Have a good weekend,
Lucien
Sunday, June 6, 2010
As wet as only Kesey could describe...
Hello Readers,
I just wanted to give a quick update on the last week or so in the garden! First and foremost, it's been raining non-stop the entire time! We had a really nice day yesterday, but alas, it was only a taste of sunny weather. The rain was back today, in full force. Despite the rain, however, I've had quite a few encounters with wildlife. Song birds have been especially bold lately. I've seen them mating and building their nests - they have been stealing the straw I put on the potatoes with alarming boldness. It is possible to sit a foot away from them and watch them pick out choice strands. More importantly, the deer have finally found South Campus. Their first visit was fairly disastrous, but it could have been worse. I'll survey the damage today and put up some pictures. I've used some of my own hair to use from a recent haircut around the tropical bed, and have been treating the perimeter with a dilute egg/water mixture. So far, this tact seems to be working, although the egg mixture seems to wash away within a day. While we're on the topic of pest control, I should note that I've become a big fan of Sluggo Plus. Its a great organic solution recommended to me by Naomi of Naomi's Organic Farm Supply. Finally, the swiss chard and lettuce in bed near the tomatoes have really responded well to repeated fertilization. I'm hoping I can develop some sort of regiment based on their success.
Stay dry, Lucien
I just wanted to give a quick update on the last week or so in the garden! First and foremost, it's been raining non-stop the entire time! We had a really nice day yesterday, but alas, it was only a taste of sunny weather. The rain was back today, in full force. Despite the rain, however, I've had quite a few encounters with wildlife. Song birds have been especially bold lately. I've seen them mating and building their nests - they have been stealing the straw I put on the potatoes with alarming boldness. It is possible to sit a foot away from them and watch them pick out choice strands. More importantly, the deer have finally found South Campus. Their first visit was fairly disastrous, but it could have been worse. I'll survey the damage today and put up some pictures. I've used some of my own hair to use from a recent haircut around the tropical bed, and have been treating the perimeter with a dilute egg/water mixture. So far, this tact seems to be working, although the egg mixture seems to wash away within a day. While we're on the topic of pest control, I should note that I've become a big fan of Sluggo Plus. Its a great organic solution recommended to me by Naomi of Naomi's Organic Farm Supply. Finally, the swiss chard and lettuce in bed near the tomatoes have really responded well to repeated fertilization. I'm hoping I can develop some sort of regiment based on their success.
Stay dry, Lucien
Friday, May 28, 2010
Thursday the 27th
Today was not as productive as we had hoped, but we did feed the plants in the Rosengarden pretty well. Mixed up way more "complete organic fertilizer" than we actually needed (don't worry, it's dry under the tarp) and side-sowed it liberally around everything there, especially the unhappy-looking lettuces. Also applied "Sluggo" organic slug repellent around the bok choi, Naomi's recommendation (don't do this more than 3x/mo.). Whatever fertilizer recipe we were using before this morning was some weird variant on Solomon's (no lime at all?), but what I used was nearly exactly what he recommended: 4 parts alfalfa meal, 1/2 part lime, 1/2 part "mineral mix," and 1/2 part kelp.
Purchased lime, straw, minerals, compost with Gabe. Didn't get rocks to border beds. Still would like to have them.
Piled up some straw around the happy-looking potato plants to encourage tuber production. (Why is the rhubarb still so small?) The peas in the Rosengarden are doing really well, but the ones in the middle are only a foot high and flowering already. Not sure whether it's good or bad for such short little pea plants to be fruiting already. Lucien and I are conducting an experiment to see if we can persuade the plants to grow a little bigger before making more flowers, by removing the flowers we found today on one of the three middle rows of peas. The other rows are being allowed to flower and fruit to their hearts' desires. Strung up some more trellis for them to climb, should they be so inclined.
Once we had done all this, it started to rain and thunder and we decided to call it a day, come back inside and do some planning. (Yes, the NPS-style signs are a good idea. We'll make some classy ones once planting season is over. See picture at the top of this post for Laura's interpretation of what kind of classy sign we're looking for, from the Grassi Lakes Trail in Alberta. Photo from Trent University Trail Studies Unit. Why am I not majoring in this?) Still need to get those tomatoes & peppers in the ground at South Campus. Perhaps this morning (since of course I write these posts the next day). Brief gardening hiatus to come as Lucien and I truck up to Seattle for my brother's production of Beauty and the Beast, but Lucien has made it clear that he'd like to take advantage of my raw planning energy to put together some proposals for various garden structures this weekend, so it's not entirely lost time. More dirt under his fingernails starting Monday.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Wednesday the 26th: SoCamp update
This was the first day I managed to put a few useful hours into the garden. Lucien and I added roughly six wheelbarrows full of compost into bed 7 on South Campus, stirred it in as thoroughly as we could stand, and mulched paths leading to the beds so future composting projects would be easier. Bed 7 will receive bell peppers and tomatoes.
Brief notes on the day:
- Worried about soil quality under the strawberries (no compost at all). Keep an eye on them.
- Serious predation on the Kentucky Wonder beans (west half of corn section). Scarlet emperor beans doing much better. Neem oil, or just switch out the Kentuckys? Some bleaching on individuals of the scarlet variety. Corn doing all right.
- Yellow beetle: creature of concern?
Looks like the squash are starting to germinate in the east half of bed 1. Facilities is planning to plow the remaining grass and favas into the entire North half of the garden, so we don't have to. Tasks for tomorrow (today, actually): Get hay, lime, neem oil, border rocks, and a little manure with Gabe at Naomi's. Amend bed 7 with lime and "complete organic fertilizer," then plant tomato and pepper starts. Side-sow "complete organic fertilizer" in Forest.
Check out some pictures taken today.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Projects
Link to Sketchup design of greenhouse concept, courtesy of John-Karl, a Google SketchUp user who posted this design for friendly folks like us to use. (The sketch to the left looks a lot like the structure we'll build, but this one is from ATTRA's handy Solar Greenhouse Resources Page.) We're planning to build this thing on the western edge of the South Campus garden, modified to work well on a hill by relying on cement-encased 4x4s (as per Roger Marshall's recommendations in "How to Build Your Own Greenhouse") instead of cinder blocks as foundation. The base of this structure will end up looking like a deck on a house, with as much open space beneath the floor as the slope of the hill demands. We will likely use a big ol' cistern to store rainwater during the winter, which will then supplement municipal water for summer irrigation. The cistern will be stored in the greenhouse and will help maintain a constant temperature inside the structure (high heat capacity of water and all that). More on this project to come.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Welcome!
Hello Readers,
Welcome to the newly created blog, Venerate the Plow. As you may have guessed, the purpose of this blog is to record the history of the student-run gardens at Lewis and Clark college. My name is Lucien, and I'm a sophomore biology major. I'll be taking care of the gardens this summer, along with many volunteers. I'll start off by saying this - I am a worm. By this, I don't mean that I'm a slimy, spineless, soil-dwelling creature. Instead, it is my hope that I'll be able to digest the events of the summer into a usable format, much like my wriggling compatriots.
There are two student-run gardens. The first was created only last year, molded from an unused volley-ball pit. This is the smaller of the two gardens, ~350 ft^2 in size. It is referred to as the 'David Rosengarden' (or just Rosengarden) because David Rosengard, the Area Director of Forest, was instrumental in the garden's creation. The other, larger garden (~2500 ft^2) is located on the edge of campus, near the Graduate School of Education and Counseling, or 'South Campus.' Accordingly, this garden is referred to as the 'South Campus Garden.'
The Rosengarden is the better maintained of the two (right now, at least). It is almost entirely filled-up right now. I'll try to post a detailed planting map and pictures of it soon. The South Campus Garden has become overgrow as of late. However, with some help, I've managed to create and plant one 150 ft^2 bed (detailed below), and another should be on its way soon.
My vision for these posts is to start with a section written in prose, and then give a typed version of the notes I take, supplemented with pictures. Currently, I'm a little backlogged with notes/pictures - I'm hoping to start chronologically from when I began working (the weekend of 5/8) and catch up to the present. With that said, the weekend of 5/8 was a busy one. School had just ended, so there were still some garden friends around to help work. Below, you'll see pictures of Adrian Guerro and Nicola, two of the leaders of Garden club, pitting themselves against the forces of entropy and creating the beginnings of the 'Three Sisters' plot. I'll post more on this later.
Gardening Notes
Corn/squash/beans bed at the South Campus Garden
o ~ 150 ft^2
o Double dug on 5/8 – 5/9
§ Added 25 lbs of chicken manure and 1 wheel barrow of compost to top layer
§ Split plot into two halves with path
§ Formed six mounds/half, total of twelve mounds
§ Added ~5 wheel barrows of compost, mostly between rows
o Transplanted ~ 60 corn plants on 5/9
§ ~ 6 inches tall
§ Added 1 handful of Naomi's mineral mix and alfalfa/linseed meal to each mound, stirred throughout
§ Sprinkled kelp
o Seeded Scarlet Runner beans on 5/9
§ 4 beans/mound, 2 bean/location
· Total of 48 seeds
Finished Plot as of 5/9
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