Summer Schedule

June 3rd, 2009

Now that we are moving into June and I am done teaching, I’ll be available to help people on Thursday mornings (7:30 to 10:00 a.m.) as well as Monday evenings. We would like a few regulars on Thursdays to help balance out the harvest of certain crops (zucchini, cukes, snap peas etc.). We hope that this schedule will help accommodate those of you who sometimes have conflicts on Mondays.

Other news:

• As I write this, Allenhouse Plumbing is putting the finishing touches on a new water line to the garden. This brings me some peace of mind as the weather starts to get hot and the garden begins to need more water.

• I’ve finally caught up with my planting schedule. However, most of our crops are going to be later than usual. Warm season crops such as tomatoes, beans, zucs and cukes are likely to be three or four weeks yet before we can begin to harvest them and I just planted the last of the potato crop (extremely late).

• Harvestables next week include: Head lettuce, mesclun lettuce, radishes, tiny salad turnips, Swiss Chard, Red Russian Kale, Sugar Snap Peas (just beginning), parsley, cilantro, spinach, chives and probably a couple of other things that I’m forgetting.

• These rains the past couple of days were welcome. These extended cool days of spring help our spring crops (lettuce, spinach etc.) last but are delaying the development of the warmer season crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers and green beans.

• If you eat microwave popcorn I urge you to stop or at least stop feeding it to your children. I heard a truly disturbing account on NPR about the chemicals used to keep the popcorn bags from absorbing the oil and the harmful effects of these chemicals (especially when super heated). I’d be glad to give you a demo on how to make popcorn the old fashioned way if you’ve forgotten or don’t know how.

• Dan Murphy has offered to give a chef’s demonstration at our place this coming Monday the 8th at 7:00 at our place. He is going to show us how to make some vinaigrettes and some different ways that we can use the spring greens.

• We are hosting our annual Summer Solstice gathering at our place on Saturday, June 20th. Please save the date! We’ll have more details coming out soon.

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First CSA Night - May 11

May 8th, 2009

We are going to have our first CSA night this coming Monday, May 11th from 6:00 to 8:00. Production-wise we are off to a very slow start this spring. Unfortunately, I can’t promise you more than a medium-sized bag of salad greens these first couple weeks. If you feel like that is not worth your time at this point, I will take no offense. We’ll have a lot more in the months to come.

• Directions: Follow West Adams (the street that runs in front of Sherman Hall) out of town (West) past the Georgetown subdivision. Our place is the very first place on the left after you cross the Lamoine River. Right after you cross the bridge you will take a left at the first graveled entrance (we’ll try to remember to have it marked). You will be parking on the gentle hillside to the East (towards town) of our house. Please do not park in the driveway.

• What to Bring – I recommend bringing the following: quart and gallon sized ziploc-type bags, a knife or garden scissors for cutting salad and a safe insect repellant. We’ll have some of these items available for your use and our large salad spinner on hand as well.

• Thursdays – Our plan for the season includes having some members come out on Thursday mornings instead of Monday evenings. However, I am still teaching through the month of May, so we won’t do Thursday pick-your-own until June. I would like to get a list of names of people who would like to be included in the Thursday group. So, please let me know if you think you are going to prefer that option.

• Children – Children are always welcome, of course. However, our set up at the new place has the potential to be a little more hazardous. My prime concern is the two barn buildings. They are going to be wonderful places for fun and adventure I am sure. However, I still haven’t had time to clean them out completely and to check thoroughly to make sure they are (relatively) safe. For now, I would ask that you help us keep the kids out of the barns or just go ahead explore the barns with them.

• Another potential hazard for very young children is a small lilly pond next to the house. I’ve considered filling it in, but haven’t had the heart to do it. If you have toddling youngsters, please make yourselves familiar with it. I’ll try to have some sort of barrier up by Monday.

• At our new site we have two plants that you and your children will want to be able to recognize. Poison Ivy and Stinging Nettles are abundant along the marginal areas. The stinging nettles produce a burning, bumpy rash that goes away after a few minutes. Poison Ivy can produce an oozy rash that lasts for weeks if you are highly allergic (as I am). In any case, the best prevention is to learn what they look like. Neither of these plants should be a problem if your children stay in the mowed areas.

• Mosquitoes, gnats and ticks are an issue this time of year. I recommend that you not use DEET based repellents on your children’s skin. If you do use a bug repellent with DEET, I suggest that you put it on your children’s clothing and shoes (for ticks). Unfortunately, ticks are a real hazard in the spring. I suggest making CSA night bath night for your children (and for yourselves). Before bathing, check your children carefully for ticks. It is also a good precaution to take their clothes and put them in your washing machine right away. For the record, I haven’t seen as many ticks here as at the Bellingham Road place.

• Potatoes – I would like to invite the kids to help me plant some potatoes this coming Monday (it looks as if it will finally be dry enough!). If you have any potatoes sprouting in your kitchen/pantry bring those along.

• Garden Help – I am going to need some help this coming Saturday (the ninth) between 1:00 and 4:00 to get our place ready for people. I have some difficult perennial weeding and mulching that I need help with as well as some work on the driveway entrance, the barn doors, the porch and much more. If you are interested and able please join us, but please don’t feel obligated in any way.

Karen and I are looking forward to seeing you all!

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April 2009 update

April 7th, 2009

Rain and cold and more rain and cold!  We are experiencing what is known as a late spring.  As a result, our planting and eventual harvest dates get pushed back and many of the seeds that have been sown will germinate late or not at all.  This isn’t unusual.  Some of you may recall the spring two years ago when we had low temperatures in the teens this time of year.  That year it was especially disastrous because it followed a warm spell that caused most of our fruiting trees to blossom. Fortunately, seeds are relatively cheap.  I will probably just end up planting right on top of the ones I planted in March.

Other news:

•    I have an entire fencing system coming in the next day or two.  I’m looking forward to having a deer free zone to plant into.

•    Karen and I ended our negotiations with the county on creating enough parking space for Monday nights.  We had originally hoped to create parking along the road but that idea wasn’t popular with the county engineer that we talked to and we had some safety concerns.  On March 31st,  the county put in an entrance so that people can park on the grassy hill just east of our place.

•    We had just enough dry weather before the rains to enable me to plant a first round of spring crops in late March.  However, given the cool, wet weather we may have to push back our opening day to May 11th or even May 18th.

•    I can use some extra hands on some of the weekends coming up.  If you might have a Saturday afternoon free and don’t mind some (wo)manual labor, please let me know and I’ll add you to the small but growing list of possible weekend garden helpers. Vajo came out last Saturday and helped me dig, clean, move and organize some of the thousands of bricks we have where gardens need to go.

•    Ana is selling tomatoes again this year.  Send her an email to anacurtis@macomb.com if you would like to order from her this year.  She will be growing some of the favorites from years past plus some new promising varieties.

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Plans for 2009

February 23rd, 2009

Karen and I hope you are all surviving these last winter days. Spring must be just around the corner though, the first robins are back and feeding on hackberries outside of our window as I write this.

After much back and forth, Karen and I have decided that we are ready to try a much simplified version of the CSA this year for a limited number of people. The truth is that we can?t bear the thought of not seeing you all on a regular basis during the summer. Another truth is that I need some seed money (literally) to get things in order to run a more full-blown CSA here in 2010.

Our thinking right now is that we will have pickup Monday evenings and/or Thursday mornings beginning at the end of April and running into the fall. The location will be our new place (3201 West Adams) and will run like past season extensions in that members will do their own harvesting. Likewise, there will be no prepared baskets or newsletters but we will be on hand to assist and visit with you. As in years past, we invite you to stay a while, roam the gardens, and socialize. The cost will be $300 for the entire season (approximately 26 weeks).

I want to emphasize the word ?simplified?. I am planning to vastly reduce the number of crop varieties and eliminate planting some crops altogether (see below). We have a mountain of challenges to overcome as we figure out new soils, put in new water lines, and learn how to deal with marauding deer herds. We also plan to travel and be gone during parts of the summer. In short, we might be a bad risk this year (but at least we’ll have wine)!

You might also consider joining Good Hope Gardens (309) 456-3884 this summer. Many of you know Grover and Mary Jo Decounter (the owners/growers) from farmer?s market. Good Hope Gardens is just the kind of extended family operation that we need more of in this region and Grover and Mary Jo are knowledgeable, ecological and proven growers and they deliver to your door! I have just spoken with Mary Jo and know that they still have space available for new members this year. Their deadline for signup is March 1st.

In any case, we have a lot of details to work out. If you think you might be interested in joining us for this experimental growing season (or have follow-up questions), please let us know (barefootgardens2003@yahoo.com).

CROP LIST

The following crops are those that I should be able to produce in quantities similar to years past:

head lettuces
mesclun lettuce
loose leaf lettuces
asian greens
basil
cilantro
butternut squashes
cucumbers
zucchini
green beans
kales
swiss chard
edamame
spinach
zinnias

I will attempt to grow/provide the following crops but the quantities are likely to be smaller than in years past:

sweet potatoes
potatoes
broccoli
sweet peppers
eggplants
tomatoes
leeks
scallions
shallots
onions
garlic
carrots
beets
parsnips
radishes
snap peas

Because of time and (many) other constraints this year I will not be able to grow/supply the following crops for the CSA:

sweet corn
winter squashes (with the exception of butternut squash)
melons
pumpkins
cabbages
strawberries
raspberries
blackberries
apples
fava beans
asparagus
all flowers for cutting except zinnias and (possibly) sunflowers
all herbs except cilantro and basil

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Your Food Coming Along….

March 30th, 2008

Hi all,

I am very glad to have the opportunity to grow more skills this year in planning, planting, and growing food at Barefoot Gardens! I hope to post pictures and notes here along the way so you can see the progress and learn about things too. With this note are two pictures showing some seedlings in our “greenhouse”. As you may know, John uses the “soil block” method, which Elliot Coleman advocates. It is a pretty ingenious way of using the wonderful properties of soil (sand, peat, compost, garden soil, and some fertility amendments) to make “plugs” without the plastic. It also benefits the seedlings by “air pruning”… i.e. when a root hits the “air wall” it stops growing and more root branching occurs. This creates a very healthy transplant so that the plants grow well, once transplanted, with less “shock” and delay. I am experimenting with some plug trays as well, that also try to prevent transplants from becoming “root bound” by having “grooves” or air strips down the sides of the plugs and open-holed bottoms. It seems very appropriate to at least give the “Groove Tubes” a try….being a Gruver. :)
So… in the pictures you’ll see some onions, broccoli, cabbage, and lettuce. We have straw bales in the greenhouse because this greenhouse was actually intended for retail… not production. Thus, the bales help keep things warmer at night. We also made a heating tray with plywood, sand, and a heating cable. This enables us to keep at least some transplants at ~60+ degrees. Plant growth is impacted more by soil temperature than air temperature. Some plants are particularly sensitive to cold soils… like tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers.

Stay tuned..

Lisa

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