Organic Gardening Info from Peaceful Valley

They did it! They stayed out all night with a little help from a make shift house made from a large cardboard box, a 40 watt bulb in a plastic drop light, and a couple of sticks forced through it. Just like a kitten in a litter box they knew just what to do once I shoved them all in there after dark. This is always so amazing to me how every little critter acts just like it’s suppose to with almost no help at all. This morning they were all roosting on the sticks toasty and warm. Now the real fun begins.

It’s time to plant the chicken pasture. Here at Peaceful Valley Farm Supply we have this amazing stuff called Omega Chicken forage blend, (item # SPI800). With the new chicken tractor almost finished,( a true work of art if I do say so myself, see pics below) and about three weeks before my last frost date and the same amount of time before these little guys are too big for the cold-frame, the real work begins. The old chicken pen is about to come down and become chicken fodder for the next generation.

First I have to fall a 20 ft. apple tree that has the worst apples I’ve ever tasted. We inherited it with the property. After 5 years of trying to find the right time to pick these little darlings I decided to plant varieties I love and get rid of the monstrosity. I could have been picking good ones by now! Then till and plant. I’ve got just enough time to get all that done before the nice weather hits. Because this has been the chicken yard for two years I’m adding pine shavings and saw dust to cool it off and marble white lime to balance the PH. It works faster than our less expensive oystershell lime. We’ll see what happens and I’ll keep you posted. The soil might still be too hot for this but you never know if you never try. If it works we may plant some corn down there as well. I’m planting another stand of it in a separate section of the yard as a backup/rotation pasture. It’s a pretty mix as well. If nothing happens I’ll try again next year and in the mean time it gets rid of the flies and the smell. That’s worth the effort by itself.

So back to this deluxe chicken tractor. My guy is a genius when it comes to making something out of scrap. We spent some money on the nesting boxes because I have some egg eaters so I found these roll out floors online that you put in wooden boxes (ours are removable for cleaning purposes).

The door in a door was a clever touch I thought. The floor is made from a classifier screen from a local rock plant.

The metal sheeting I found used for $1.00 a sheet. The plywood was free from a construction site. The axle was given to him, the frame he welded up from purchased and scrap angle iron. We had to purchase Metal studs, screws, screen, roll out nesting box floors, and odds and ends which we estimate to total about $350.00 by the time he’s done. Not bad for a 4X7 rolling shed. If I ever have time it might get a paint job but that’s not likely. It will be accompanied by a movable yard, quardened off by 4 ft. tall poly poultry wire secured by conduit posts, ground staples, and game foul netting on top as we have hawks in our yard. At last these guys will truly be free range. Something impossible before now because between the neighbor dogs, coyotes, hawks, lions, and the cost of destroyed landscape, we just couldn’t allow them out.

I’ll share our automatic watering system next time.

TTFN

Grama Pam

In case you don’t know PVFS has a vast array of organic livestock feed and amendments. You can find it on page 46 of the Spring catalog as well as online.

Contributed by Bill Bird, Sacramento gardener & blogger (http://sacramentogardening.blogspot.com).

I’ll admit it. I love getting compliments about my tomato starter plants. I love getting questions such as “how did you do that?” It’s a lot of fun to not only learn from other people, but also share that knowledge with others.

Done correctly, growing vegetable or tomato plants from seed can be a very rewarding experience. Like anything, it does take work and some dedication, but when the payoff is a vine-ripened tomato in the summer, it’s worth it.

The first time I tried growing tomato plants from seed came in 2005 — and I’ll admit it — I had a great deal of “beginner’s luck.” I’m still not sure what I did, but fate smiled upon me that year when I produced the most absolutely gorgeous starter plants I’ve ever seen. Farmer Fred Hoffman even went so far as to proclaim them as “nursery quality stuff,” and I’ll admit, I was pretty darn proud of my accomplishment.

But, upon trying that same feat next year, I struck out. Similar disappointments followed. For whatever reason, I simply could not produce the same kind of plants that I had produced in my very first year of growing tomato plants from seed.

Until now, that is.

I’m not really sure, again, what I’m doing right this year but I’ve been rewarded with starter plants that are of “nursery quality” once again. Could it be the new-fangled fertlizer mix I’m using? The mix I call the “secret sauce?”

It’s not really a secret. In fact — it’s pictured to your immediate left. No it’s not the kegerator. The kegerator is what produces the “secret sauce” for me (and the wife that is Venus). Nope — the REAL “secret sauce” is what’s ON the kegerator. That is a bottle of Omega 666 — the good stuff — purchased from Peaceful Valley Farm & Garden Supply in the Nevada County hamlet of Nevada City.

I aquired this stuff completely by accident. I had intended to stop off at Eisley Nursery in Auburn, when Fred Hoffman inquired if I could buy him a bottle of Omega 666 at Peaceful Valley. And then he warned me it “wasn’t cheap.”

I had never heard of the stuff, but since I was going to be in the neighborhood anyway, I’d go ahead and buy it. The wife was in the market for blue and red potatoes anyway, and since Peaceful Valley stocked both varieties she was looking for, I figured I’d kill two birds with one potato…..ah…..stone.

Fred was right. The stuff isn’t cheap. A one gallon bottle will set you back a cool $40 — not including tax. But — at the same time — this “all organic” product intrigued me. I’d done some research before visiting Peaceful Valley, and growers just RAVED about this stuff.

I’m not one of those “all organic” growers by the way. In my book it’s “whatever works.” Products with the name “Ortho” stenciled on them do not scare me, nor do I think they “poison the environment.” I’m always willing to try something new, so I decided to give Omega 666 a tryout in the garden.

This was one of those good calls. Combined with another powdered ingredient called “Maxicrop,” all sorts of vegetables starting popping out of raised planter beds. That included potatoes, several varieties of radish seed, peas, baby bok choi, lettuce, spinach, you name it.

At that point, I decided to use a weak solution of Omega 666 on the tomato and pepper seedlings growing in a spare bedroom. I had used fish emulsion fertlizer with limited success some years earlier, so why not Omega 666?

Given a choice — what would I use? Fish Emulsion Fertilizer or Omega 666? That’s a tough call. The economical (see = CHEAP) side of me loves the $3 price for a bottle of Fish Emulsion Fertilizer. Then again, Omega 666 doesn’t leave the spare bedroom smelling like DEAD FISH either. So, I think I’ll choose the non-smelly, expensive stuff.

If this success keeps up, I will again produce tomato plant starters that are of “nursery quality.” The plants that you see here were started from seed the weekend following the Super Bowl. I started twice-weekly feedings of Omega 666 in mid-March, soon after the seedlings were transplanted from peat moss pellets into regular starter cups.

I now have starter plants so lush and large that they’re hitting the tops of my grow lights. Better yet — they have the kind of strong and healthy stems that indoor growers pray for, but rarely see.

I don’t often endorse products on this blog. And I certainly don’t accept any payments. I’d be dragged before a Senate Rules Firing Squad for doing such a thing. But I will reccommend products that I think are useful. And — for me — this “not-so-secret-sauce” packs a punch that my garden really does like.

After many years of apartment dwelling, I was finally able to move my family into a house with a cozy front yard, and a (relatively) nice sized back yard for the kids to play in, and for my wife to have a nice garden.

But the problem looks like this (please forgive the mess, still in the moving-in process):

When I was a kid, I used to HATE yard work.  My parents didn’t garden at all, so our maintenance involved raking leaves, watering plants and mowing the lawn — for a kid who likes to see the fruits of his efforts, this wasn’t exactly fulfilling.  Looking out over this relative desolation, I didn’t feel dejected; quite the opposite, in fact.  I saw opportunity, in many forms.

First of all, I have been working at Peaceful Valley for going on 6 years.  When I first started here, I knew zilch about growing.  Nothing.  I’d never so much as planted a flower seed in a pot for Mother’s Day. In my time here, I have gained a vast amount of theoretical knowledge: I knew the hows and the whys, but never had the opportunity to apply what I’d learned.  Seeing this yard sent visions of sugarplums (and other fruits and veggies) dancing in my head.

What I am going to be doing over the next 5 or so months is getting this area cleaned up, put together and ready for growing.  Come Spring, I’m planting a lawn, and my wife is setting up a small vegetable garden, probably with raised beds.  As I do each step, I will be taking pictures and thoroughly documenting each phase.  The goal is not only to do my own yard, but to give a bit of direction for anyone else who wishes to do the same.

Here’s the plan:

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Driving to work at Peaceful Valley Farm and Garden Supply, my shoulders tighten, my stomach churns, my stress level seems to rise.  I am listening to the news and, like many others, wondering about my children’s tomorrow.

I walk into work – in my case, the Peaceful Valley retail store.  I am soon decompressing the news with my co-worker, Kathleen, and just talking about it as we count our register drawers makes me realize I’m not so alone in this economic/political/social dilemma.  Before long, we have the lights on, the curtains up, the fountain flowing and the customers to consult and serve.

Within a very brief time, my shoulders are dropping, my stomach is hungry (if anything),  my stress level is nowhere worth measuring (well, unless we experience a customer rush and everyone is paying in large bills).  PVFS is about the here and now.  Today we need to stock up on BT – the catepillars are running rampant.  Omega is flying off the shelves (when doesn’t it?) – everyone wants blooms, or growth, or vigor!  Shade cloth, bamboo stakes, garlic…my cash register sales are testimony to what we gardeners need in the present.  Today there are actions and products that will create tangible results tomorrow or next week.  Today, the incredibly beautiful bulbs on the PVFS shelves are the promise for my kids’ tomorrow – next Spring.

Working at Peaceful Valley helps me attain what we are so often advised for our well-being – living in the moment.  Soon enough, I’ll be driving home, with the news on and tomorrow’s bigger problems will creep back into my reality  If I’m lucky, tomorrow I’ll be back at my register at PVFS, concentrating on what is actually important and gaining a healthier perspective.