Organic Gardening Info from Peaceful Valley

Early this Fall we planted a couple of Improved Meyer Lemon Trees in front of our Grass Valley Location and now they are bristling with citrus goodness.

Of course we had to cover these babies with Agribon during our recent snow storm, but besides this little “Inuit-interlude” they have produced a copious yield. The attractive harvester shown in this picture is our very own Pattie Boudier V.P. getting her hands dirty while wearing a beautiful blue ensemble.

Here is a image of our harvest basket filled with small tasty Meyer Lemons. Pattie said something about making lemon-aid. Lemon-aid in December! Gotta love that!

Concerning Agribon take a Look at Autumn’s Posting here about her Agribon covered garden during the last snow storm here.

We have three raised beds with simple PVC hoop housed built over them. I have agribon floating row cover secured over the hoops to prolong our growing season (we’re in zone 7 at 2000′ in Grass Valley, CA). This is my first year trying to garden through the winter and our little hoop houses received their first BIG test last night when we received about a foot of snow. So far, so good…. all three hoop houses are still standing and the snow is insulating the rows. I’ve since brushed the snow off the top.

It happens every year, the weather warms up and the impulse to plant becomes irresistible. “It’s spring! Let’s go” you say.

And lately, it seems to happen every year: a sneak attack frost in late April zaps your early garden.

The point is, every region has its traditional frost dates… and it’s always later than you expect. Ask around and confirm. Around Nevada City, people say it is around Mother’s Day (do I really have to wait that long?)… take your time, plan things right.

I can heartily recommend a little Agribon frost protection for your garden. We sell it by the roll or as “frost blankets”. It’s good to know when you get growing that you can tuck your plants in at night. Our Freshman Farmers use it as a rule, invest in it and give yourself some peace of mind. We also carry portable greenhouse type devices, like the fantastic Wall O’ Water and Solar Bells. They are essential for protecting from frost when you hear of a plunge in temperature later than you were expecting.

Now is a good time to plant cold season crops in our region, Grass Valley, CA. In our nursery you can find a good variety of things that are good to grow now: chard, mesclun mix, lettuce, mustard, things like that. Pak choy. Good stuff. You can browse our Winter Catalog by clicking here, we featured a good selection of our cold season seeds.. Or you can use our brand new organic seed browser here, at PeacefulValleyOrganicSeeds.com.

While you’re at it, you might want to check out our huge selection of organic vegetable starts, available online.We will have a huge selection of certified-organic, locally-grown, vibrant and unique seedling varieties on April 15th… we’re shipping them out starting April 15th and they go fast, so pre-order now! If you live near us, come on by!

UC Davis supplies California with invaluable information regarding last frost dates, planting schedules and so much more. A great place to start is their home page.

They offer a good overarching guide to California Frost Dates, and they also provide a great spring planting schedule, plus a seed starting schedule.

Some years back I was in charge of a community Garden for a ministry that resided at 5400 ft. directly at the base of a 10,000 ft. Mt. Segal which has snow on it most of the summer in the Pinenut mountains outside of Gardnerville, NV. With 6 weeks between frost dates and 5 percent ambient moisture, (Snow doesn’t melt it evaporates and the rain rarely makes it to the ground) these were the harshest conditions I’d ever tried to grow things in, even worse than Minnesota. Many well meaning folks tried to encourage me to stick with root veggies and zucchini. If your land has the 10 ft. Giant Sage it’s the perfect conditions for root crops.

(You know why you can’t leave your car unlocked in Gardnerville in the summer? Because if you do it will be full of zucchini when you get back!)

So here are some of the things I learned that may help anyone with a gardening addiction like mine and a spot like that to grow things in.

Find similarly addicted successful gardeners and talk to the old timers especially who can tell you what people did before all of this galdern fancy stuff showed up. Then adapt their advice to all our fancy stuff to make it easier. I discovered that in the 1800’s when the area was being settled, that the Bask shepherds grew tomatoes quite successfully by starting seed indoors and setting them out in mid April/early May down in a hole that was about 2 ft. deep and set a window pane over it and covered the whole thing at night with straw and uncovered it during the day. Then they would fill the hole in with good soil as the plant grew upward reaching for the sun so that by mid June the tomato plants had this massive root system that could survive a bomb blast if need be which pretty much describes the scorching sun and cold nights they must endure. I’m sure the sheep manure played a big part in their success as well.

So armed with this folklore I set out to find a way to do this thing. Her are some of the things I found:

• BUILD A FENCE with rock along the border.
• I can have totally different conditions than you do however our soils may be similar. Alkaline, poor in organic matter, and drys out quickly.
• Have you gotten a soil test done yet? If not I would start there to see what you’re working with (or without) and amend accordingly. I use lots of compost, and mulch to keep the moisture levels up. If you live in the Carson Valley May I recommend Full Circle compost. They blend Your compost according to the soil conditions of the valley or they will blend it special for your soil test results. Otherwise buy bags of ours and amend just your planting site.
• Use raised beds with gopher wire bottoms and chicken wire tops to keep out ground squirrels, quail, rabbits, etc…. and only amend that soil. Why pay to amend the dirt you’re going to trample?
• A common problem with blossom drop is a lack of Magnesium which is easily corrected with a sprinkle of Epsom salts in the planting hole. Any nightshade will respond to this. A tablespoon is about right. NV soils are mineral rich but often lack the Mag. that releases them to your plants.
• Believe it or not tomatoes don’t appreciate extreme heat and will not produce fruit in super hot weather. Choose a cooler spot, light shade cloth, and mulch to keep the roots cooler in the heat and warmer in the cold. I found my micro-climates by planting daffodils. The colder the spot the longer it takes for them to bloom and the reading is accurate because those wretched gophers and ground squirrels won’t touch them.
• Hot wind can be hard on them so planting against a wind barrier like a fence line helps. Create a wind break with some rows of corn or pole beans.
• Sufficient water when the plant is first developing is very important so that the main trunk of the mature plant reaches a good diameter. This allows good uptake of water while the plant is producing fruit. Think of a fat straw vs. a skinny one and how freely you can suck liquid through it. I overhead water at 5am to keep the ambient moisture levels up while the plants are putting on growth and leaves.
• Don’t touch your plants in the heat of the day. Many plants stop exchanging water at somewhere around 95 degrees and can be permanently damaged. Early morning is the best time to tend them or pick fruit unless you have cooler evenings.
• Choose early producing varieties (70 days or less) so you can take advantage of the best part of your season. We have some varieties in seed that produce in 56 days. Start your tomatoes in Feb indoors and set them out in Walls O Water. They allow your plants to put down roots in the cold weather so they are ready to set fruit the minute the weather turns warm.
• Cover therm at night if you have extreme temp fluctuation. My days and nights can vary 35 or more degrees during the growing season – ie 100+ degree days, 65- degree nights. When it starts doing that I put a light frost blanket on them to lessen the severity of the change even though they don’t mind 65 degrees they hate all the up and down.
• Cover them with heavier frost blankets or sheet plastic at night when your weather turns cold to extend your season. Our catalog has a plethera of season extenders that are NOT OPTIONAL under these conditions.
• USE A WATERING SYSTEM so that your plants get enough water. No matter how long you stand and hand water you will not give them what they need. I use a combination of overhead and drip to insure sufficient water.

These are all general things that can be done to improve all your veggies or any annuals in desert conditions in general and in the Pinenut Mountains of NV in particular. Your local Ag extension office will be very helpful in more specific problem solving.

Life is too short to hesitate. My 14 year old Grandson, Bronson, raced BMX bicycle competitions from age 8 to age 11. He is a natural born athlete as are many in our family. But he has an unusual ability in this particular sport. He decide to start racing again this summer half way through the season and immediately started winning so he went to the Nationals after 8 races and took 1st in races 1 & 2 and finished 2nd in the finals.

Because he did so well he caught the eye of a pro (Bubba was slated for the Olympics until he shattered his ankle) that invited him to go to his training camp. Well by the time they were done with Brons they told his parents he was good enough to go to the Grand Nationals. So today I sat with my daughter (Bronson’s mom), my mother, husband, oldest son, and several grandchildren and watch this sweet hearted young man beat the pants off of his most dreaded competitor who had the best gate and all the advantage while Bronson had the worst gate and no advantage. HE DUSTED HIM! I could brag for hours but I’ll spare you. The point is he could have let a thousand things stop him and had every reason to be discouraged when he got to Oklahoma but he pushed through every discouragement and won the race.

So how does that carry over to your garden you ask? Let me tell you. Don’t be afraid, press on, just try things. The worst thing that can happen is it won’t work! I get so many questions from gardeners all over the US that want to know if this or that will work in their area. I try to do the best research I can and give the best advice available but I always say in the end, you really don’t know what will work unless you try it. (more…)

It’s November and I still have luscious green basil in my garden!

This is a first for me; I moved to Northern California from Vermont a little less than a year ago, and just about everything green (or even sugar maple orange) is gone by November there. But apparently fresh basil in November is actually a little on the strange side here in Grass Valley as well, so I better watch out for the frost forecast.

I used Agribon to shield it from the last frost, which worked well, but I think it’s about time I just picked it all.

What will I do with all my fresh basil? I don’t care for dried basil, so I’ve come to freezing it in oil. A neat trick is to chop it up, put it in a ziplock bag, add oil and place it in a flat spot in the freezer.  It will harden up so I can just break a thin piece off when I need some basil.

When I have had access to a food processor I’ve made some great pesto. Watch out for adding walnuts and roasted tomatoes though! The mix of acid and walnuts will turn it purple-black instantly!  Does anyone have some great basil recipes? I’d love to branch out from the typical pesto…

The safest way to protect young plants is to exclude bugs from ever reaching them in the first place.  This can be accomplished by using a light weight row fabric like Agribon 19.  You could also consider spreading Diatomaceous Earth (DE) around the seedlings.  It is totally non-toxic, however you should be careful not to breathe it.  DE is comprised of the fossilized skeletons of diatoms, which desiccates insects when they crawl over it.   Another very safe method is to spray a repellent like Garlic Barrier, again, this would prevent insects from reaching your plants at the start.

Beyond these general controls, if you are considering using an organic insecticide, I would  emphasize the wisdom of identifying your pest before choosing a more potent control.  Often times insects come out at night, so you could go out past dark with a flashlight and catch ‘em in the act in order to figure out what they are.  Take a sample to a local nursery or check out a good website with pictures.  I often use www.ipm.ucdavis.edu.  Hope that helps!

How frustrating to go into a bed of newly planted seedlings and discover holes chewed in their tender leaves!

Now’s a good time to get on top of controlling early spring critters, including caterpillars and slugs. Diatomaceous Earth (DE) is really popular in organic gardening, made up of the microscopic, super-sharp, fossilized exoskeletons of Diatoms. One thing, though, is that it’s only effective when dry, so it needs to be applied pretty often. Our nursery manager, Linda, likes to go out at dusk with a nice glass of red wine, lovingly dusting her garden babies.

Another treatment is Sluggo or Sluggo Plus, which works when wet, and the good ol’ beer in a shallow can trick.

Happy protecting!

Oh! There’s a great article in the newest Mother Earth News about using floating row covers (Agribon) to exclude insects from ever reaching your plants. More on that… later…