Organic Gardening Info from Peaceful Valley

There’s been some interest of late in our Glaser Wheel Hoe’s.  These are worth taking a look at for the small garden or full production farms.  We carry two different styles and sizes.  One is the Standard and the other the Professional. Now for those of you that can remember sting ray bicycles you’ll recognize the same type of handles on the Standard Wheel Hoe.  You can ride that puppy through your garden making short work (and a whole lot less bending) of those new weeds that the recent rains have encouraged to grow.  The Professional is a little beefier and has wider coverage than the Standard, as well as more attachment options.  I have used the Standard and I must say they do take those young weeds out in a jiffy.  The blade sits on top of the ground and you push it along digging just underneath the soil line popping off weeds in one swift pass.  If they are bigger plants with bigger root systems it may take a couple passes.  The blades are designed so you can “rock” back and forth if you need to, they cut from both sides of the blade.  This long honored farmer’s tool has several blade sizes to fit most garden designs.  The Standard can take 5″ - 10″ stirrup hoe blades, center or offset.  The Professional can take 11″- 14″ stirrup hoe blades, center or offset, as well as hiller/furrower, goosefoot and 3-tine cultivator attachments.  This is one versatile tool.  Made of rust-protected steel hardware and galvanized tubular steel handles, which are exceptionally light and maneuverable.  If you are in the area stop by our store,  hold and touch one to see how it might feel out in your own field.   You’ll be surprised how light they are.  Happy Weeding!  I mean Happy Halloween!

We have a fantastic lineup of workshops for 2009… come by our store and glean some gardening wisdom from some excellent speakers.

February 7
Hands on Pruning & Planting Tips (FREE)

Linda Nowak-Carlson, Peaceful Valley Nursery Manager

February 14
Growing Cool Season Veggies; Starting Summer Veggies
Linnie MacNaughton, Green Blessings

March 7
All About Soil: Microbes, Nutrients & Testing
TBA

April 4
Attracting Native Bees
Randy Oliver, Golden West Apiaries

May 2
Making Compost & Compost Tea
Marney Blair, Fulcrum Farm

June 6
Integrated Pest Management including Weed Control

Luci Wilson, Garden Coach

June 13
Intro to Permaculture
Paul Racko, Sierra Permaculture Design

July 11
Summer Cover Crops; Summer Pruning
TBA

July 18
Growing Medicinal Herbs

Kathy Keville, Oak Valley Herb Farm

August 1
Fall Veggie; Fall Cover Crops
Willow Hein, Peaceful Valley Freshman Farmer

September 5
Intro to Landscape Design

TBA

October 10
Fall Planting; Focus on Native and Deer Resistant Plants
Carolyn Singer, Foothill Cottage Garden

November 14
Fruit Trees; Winter Pruning and Care
Ellen Solomon, Arborist

December 5
Wreath making; Live Christmas Tree Care ($20)
Janet Jensen & Linda Nowak-Carlson, PVF&GS

Right about now, folks all over the country are enjoying their first homegrown tomato of the season.  I’ll bet most folks would like to have that magical first date be a little earlier next year too… How do you do it?

In 2007, my first tomato date was July 15th, which is absolutely pitiful for my Northern California climate (I received my seeds from a mail order company, before I knew of PV, a little late, oh, in about MARCH!).  This year we had a ripe tomato on June 4th, and next year I hope to break the June barrier by having a ripe tomato over Memorial Day weekend.  I’ll push it a little further by saying I hope to have salsa over Memorial Day weekend!

How did I shave off a month from my tomatoes?  Simple really.

First, I started my tomatoes inside from seed in late January, eight weeks before my last frost date.  I prefer to start my tomatoes from seed rather than buy transplants because there is so much more variety this way, and you’re not forced to choose from the 6 or so types that are usually offered in nurseries.

Second, about four weeks later, I moved them outside into Wall O’Waters.  Peaceful Valley carries a whole line of season extenders, including the fabulous Wall O’Waters.  I will never grow tomatoes without using these again!

Third, I removed the Wall O’Waters when it was warm enough outside overnight that I wouldn’t have to worry about scrambling to cover my tomatoes in case of a late frost (which we indeed had this year!)

If everyone followed this recipe, we could all have wonderful ripe tomatoes earlier each year!

Maybe instead of salsa, I’ll settle for the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich, with local cheddar, and my homegrown onions and tomatoes.  Mmmmmm.

When my garden hose hasn’t been used for a while, the water that comes out first has a chemical odor. What might this be & is it harmful to my “organic” garden? It sure smells like it would be. I returned one last year for the same problem & bought this better quality one, but it still stinks!

Morty

Last week I mentioned that this is my first year growing sunflowers. And finally, the big one has bloomed!

I wanted to share a neat project that is going on this summer called The Great Sunflower Project. Researchers are recruiting people across the country do a “bee census” of sorts by sitting and watching their sunflowers for 30 minutes a couple times this summer, counting the bees that visit them, and sending in their bee tallies.

They are sending free seeds to anyone who signs up (you have 3 days left to sign up and get free seeds, hurry on over!).

I planted more sunflower seeds recently, and can’t wait to be able to sit in my garden and count the bees with a cool beverage in hand.

We received this email from a customer the other day (reprinted with their permission), and I have to say, it is good that people are asking about this BEFORE the neighbors let them know…

“Hello, does the diffusion qualities of this material (Super Strong Woven Poly) provide sufficient visual distortion for nude gardening in my greenhouse? Does the visual distortion increase when the distance is increased from the material?

In other words, if I am standing 1 foot from the material as compared to 3 to 6 feet? Also, is the visual diffusion increased from a by neighbor’s viewpoint which is about 20 feet? What if I used two layers, with a separation of 2 to 3 inches?”

- Submitted by Katie in Customer Service 

In Winter, once leaves have dropped, fruit trees should be sprayed three times with dormant oil and fungicide (lime sulfur or copper sulfate) to control fungal diseases and insect infestation.This week marks with Valentine’s Day when the third and last spray should ideally happen (first is around Thanksgiving, second around Christmas).

This is really important for peaches and nectarines which are very susceptible to Peach Leaf Curl, especially in a wet winter.

Remember that apricots can’t be sprayed with lime sulfur (use copper sulfate instead).

Also, sprays should be allowed to dry on the bark, so don’t spray if rain is expected shortly thereafter.

Soon, it will be too late as you shouldn’t spray your trees once their swollen buds have bloomed.

I just sprayed my 50 trees and I will be glad I did this coming Spring!

Welcome to the very first post on the new Peaceful Valley blog “In The Loop”. Ahem.

I feel almost nervous.

Like this is a big moment.

Well we hope it is.What does big mean? I hope that big in the case of this blog means that you check in on it regularly to see how it is growing, and maybe even feed it once and a while with your thoughts and observations. I hope that you turn to it when you need inspiration and ideas for your garden, and I hope that it is healthy and ripe by the time we are all sick of fresh apple pies, around the end of Summertime.

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