Worm Food!

Yummy, delicious smelling worm food!

This is the time of year where there is great competition to acquire enough coffee grounds and filters to work into the soil to feed the worms. Just like people have a favorite fishing hole, I'm not saying where my favorite shop is!

The last time I walked in, I was carrying an orange 5 gallon Home Depot bucket to use to collect the used coffee. I have to admit, I did attract a few odd looks while standing in line with that orange bucket.

My turn came and I was about to explain to the young lady what I wanted and why, when her co-worker just grinned and held out her hands. She knew why I was there!

My worms are going to be in hog heaven now. Luckily I love the smell of coffee because when I was planting my carrot seeds Saturday night, the smell was wafting everywhere.  All thanks to my favorite coffee shop and the very nice employees that work there.

Vicki - Bed 41

Bye Bye Rosemary

This fall when I renovated my bed, I finally took out the rosemary.  I knew it was big and taking up way more space than it should. However, I had NO idea how big it was until we put it in the wheelbarrow! (Thanks Jack for helping me get it out and giving it a good home.)

This plant had never really been babied, protected, or anything. It just got water and had never had a hair cut. Not even when it looked like it was going to die after the Polar Vortex hit it in February.

It is amazing how much "empty" space is in my bed now! Between removing it and the lavender, I got a 4 foot by 2 foot swath back - which is 1/4 of my bed. Ooopss.....

The moral to this story is - be ruthless! Remove any plant when it gets too big for the tiny space it is in, no matter how fond of it you are.

Vicki - Bed 41

Building your soil and grub removal

I have been talking and emailing with Denise about soil building and she had some excellent advice I want to share with you. It was one of those AH HA! moments. Actually there were several AH HA!! moments because it explained things I was subliminally aware of not knowing (grin).

It has never been really clear in my head at what depth I should add the various soil amendments nor how to calculate how much to add back to the bed after I took out my tomato dirt.

What is tomato dirt?
That is the soil that was UNDER your tomato plants during the spring/summer gardening season. In a small 4' x 8' bed it is very difficult to rotate your vegetables very effectively to lower your disease pressure. To increase the chance of successfully growing tomatoes in the same bed the next year, we highly recommend you remove the tomato dirt and then plant the tomatoes at the opposite end of the bed.  EVERY YEAR.

In the fall you are replacing the volume of the tomato dirt that was removed as well as replenishing soil nutrients. In the spring you are adding in amendments to replace the nutrients your plants used during the fall, winter and early spring. In other words, the amount you add in the spring is less than in the fall - usually.

What level your soil amendments should be incorporated:

Our beds are 12 inches deep. You need a base level of 8 inches of soil before you start incorporating any amendments.

If you are starting with one of the beds that has been half emptied out (see picture to the side), fill it with the bagged topsoil until there are only 4 inches remaining (after grub removal and sifting - see bottom of this post for link and why you want to do this). I would mix the bagged topsoil with the soil from the original bed so it is blended well before mixing in any amendments.

You are making a soil cake here and want all your ingredients well blended!

For the healthiest production from soil that provides nutrients on a constant and balanced level, it is important to consider a few different concepts when adding amendments and at what depth to add them.  

1)  Consider the root structures (the main and feeder roots) of what you will grow to make sure food will be readily available at all levels.  For example - if you were growing radishes with short roots. If all your soil amendments were at a depth of 8 inches and below, the plant would be totally dependent on your fertilization practices above ground to thrive or the theory that your soil is already healthy and productive.

2)  Consider your additions.  For example, if you are adding items like leaves, coffee grounds and egg shells, they would be considered unfinished compost items. They need to be placed lower in the soil, closer to the reach of the earthworms.  This will speed their decomposition into available nutrients deep within the soil so when the plant roots get there the food is readily available.

3)   If soil life is already healthy, meaning full of life and visible activity (worms are excellent indicators), turning amendments into the top layers enhances the activity and appetite of earthworms, fungi, and bacteria.  They will all work in harmony to take matter deep within the soil wherever it needs to go. Nutrients will then be readily available at all levels for healthy root development and balanced plant nutrition.
    

Gardeners Math, Part 1

How to calculate how much to add to build up your bed
Our gardening beds are 4' x 8' = 32 square feet.

To replace a third of the bed - you need 10.67 cubic feet of amendments

To replace a quarter of the bed - you need 8 cubic feet of amendments

Jungle Grow  - 2 cubic feet

Mushroom Compost - 1.2 cubic feet

Black Kow Cow Manure  - 1.2 cubic feet

Worm castings (entire bag from Pike's) -  1 cubic foot

Bag of Top Soil   - 1 cubic feet

If you are building a bed from scratch you would need 21 bags to create your 8 inch base layer.

Vermiculite really doesn't take up that much space as it is more of a fine powder that is incorporated through out the bed when you mix it in. It is wonderful at absorbing and then releasing moisture and nutrients back as needed.

Chopped up leaves fluff the area up but don't keep much bulk in the bed after a couple of weeks. It just provides lots of good organic matter while decomposing and feeding the worms.

Coffee grounds and egg shells also don't provide much bulk but are very good additives because the worms utilize them. Whatever makes the worms happy, makes the plants happy.

If your soil has been depleted by heavy feeders you need to ramp up your additives to support growing tomatoes in the spring. And also so your fall and winter vegetables will do well. If your bed doesn't have many worms definitely add in the things that will make them happy because the more worms you have, the better your plants will do.

Compost Tea and Coffee grounds will help activate microbes and get your worms going in your bed before the cold weather arrives. This helps to build healthy soil which leads to healthy plants.  Compost Tea and Coffee grounds are also known to repel some insects and grubs are listed as one of them in the book, Teaming with Microbes, by Jeff Lowenfels & Wayne Lewis.

Approximate Cost of Amendments

Jungle Grow - $6.98

Black Kow Cow Manure - $4.98

Mushroom Compost - $3.96
Worm Castings (20 lb bag) - $20.99

Top Soil -$1.29

Coffee grounds - ask anywhere they brew and serve a lot of coffee if they will save it for you. You need 5 pounds of coffee (with filters) for your bed in the fall and again in the spring.  As for the filters, I just tear them into strips and then into smaller pieces before I dig them in my bed.

Grub Removal:
We highly recommend you work on removing the grubs before filling or refilling your bed with dirt. It makes a world of difference. There is a reservoir of grubs in the first 2 to 3 inches of the red clay that the beds are sitting on. They WILL work their way up into the bed.

Also, if your bed has never been sifted and you plan on growing carrots, now is the time to do it when you have LESS dirt in the bed! If you just got a bed and you don't know if your bed has been sifted, just ask us.  There is not a need for sifting amendments.  However, if you notice any rocks or large particles from their processing, you will want to pick those out.

Here is link to a previous post on how to sift, what to look for and what equipment to use
http://greenmeadowscommunitygarden.blogspot.com/2014/02/what-is-sifting-soil.html

When I dug down through my bed and into the red clay area in Fall 2012, I found 110 grubs. I did it again Spring 2013 and only found 30 grubs. Each time I find fewer grubs moving up through my soil because I've cleared out my reservoir of resident grubs. Unfortunately, you will always have some grubs because you miss a couple and because new ones are "deposited".  Denise's soil continues to remain grub free, with never more than a couple, through what we expect is due the use of compost tea on a regular basis.

Good luck building your soil for the fall/winter growing season!

Vicki & Denise 

What is Sifting the Soil?

A number of gardeners have asked "What do you mean when you say sifting when you talk about soil rejuvenation." 


Cheryle ready to sift the soil in her bed

That is really a good question and it isn't necessarily obvious. Sift? You sift flour and sugar together when making a cake to lighten the texture but how does that work with soil rejuvenation and bed preparation.

 In the garden we use a huge wheelbarrow as our "bowl" and have a piece of hardware cloth nailed into a wooden frame as our "sifter". Place the frame over the wheelbarrow, shovel dirt on top of it and then move the dirt around with your hands.

Sifting removes lovely critters like these grubs (Yuck).  Grubs are really bad critters to have in your vegetable bed since they eat the roots of your tender seedlings. The other bad bugs you want to look for are wireworms and centipedes.

Wireworms eat into root vegetables which spoils them and centipedes eat tiny earthworms. You want earthworms in your garden bed because they are beneficial to your soil structure. The earthworms aerate and leave behind worm castings which is highly desirable.

The other reason you sift the soil is to remove rocks and sticks as well as make the soil "fluffy". If you are trying to grow carrots the lighter and fluffier the soil the better. Also, if a carrot hits a rock or stick, it has to grow around or over it and you end up with carrots that aren't straight and perfect.

The good news is that once you sift your bed to remove "stuff" you don't have to sift it again unless you add amendments that have large bits of "stuff" in them.

Vicki

Soil Moisture - The Tree Bears Way

Too DRY - notice it is pouring out of my hand

Yes...the Three Bears are visiting the garden again! Before you work on your soil or try to plant, you have to look and determine, is the soil TOO wet, TOO dry or JUST right.

 If it is too dry, that is easily solved. Water lightly, wait a couple of hours and then the soil moisture content should be just right. If it is too wet you have to wait for it to dry out.

Too WET - notice it is a wet clump ready to bake

But what if we enter a rainy spell! You need the bed (soil) to dry out but you don't want the rain (or sleet and snow) to add more moisture to the bed than is already there. It can be very aggravating trying to get the timing right. See the previous post about covering your bed to keep OUT rainwater out.  Using plastic to keep water out

It is hard to describe what Too Dry, Too Wet and Just Right look like. Once you learn it, then you just know it. Hopefully these pictures are worth a thousand words!

Why does it matter? If the soil is too dry, it doesn't tuck around the roots of the plant easily. Too wet you create clumps that dry and make hard lumps.  Just right is when the soil stays where you want it and is loose and friable, a total delight to work with.



Just Right
 a clump but it is breaking apart easily

Why keep water out of your bed?

Greg just used a tarp and weighed it down with his bags of dirt
Notice the puddle of water in the back corner that collected
from a rain.

You've decided that now is the time to turn your bed and prepare it for spring. After looking at the weather forecast you see there is one day in the middle of the five day forecast that it is going to rain and put more moisture in your bed than you want. (Too much moisture in the soil when you are working with it destroys the soil structure.)

What to do, what to do.

Why you can do what Vann did and Greg, Cheryle and Dianne are doing. Put a lovely layer of plastic on your bed! That way when it does rain, it runs off and the soil is still workable.

Cheryle bought a roll of plastic to use. The remainder of the roll
is in the shed on the counter and can be used by anyone.

One other thing to remember, look at the hourly weather predictions each day besides just the 10 day forecast. Sometimes the hourly shows rain is likely while the 10 day doesn't show any rain. You don't want to have an unpleasant surprise when the hourly is right!

Be sure and cover your soil if you intend to plant and rain is predicted before you'll  be able to do so.  Otherwise, you'll have that pesky too wet to plant situation to wait out.

The extra effort really pays off!

Dianne used two shower curtains.

Rejuvenating The Soil For Fall - Garden Soil Rejuvenation - Option 2 of 3

Ready To Go!

Hey Everyone,

Garden Soil Rejuvenation is one of my favorite methods for restoration and maintenance of the garden, especially when disease and pests have been present.  This method is for those that want to build their soil naturally over time, starve pathogens by rotating crops within the bed, keep their gardens actively producing, and protect the integrity of the soil food web by keeping it alive and nourished.  Many gardeners believe that building good soil over time is the key to success for not only growing strong vigorous plants, but also growing vegetables with greater nutrient densities.  This requires almost a commitment of stewardship to the dirt.

Option Number Two:  GARDEN SOIL REJUVENATION

Garden Soil Rejuvenation reduces the amount of disease pathogens in the soil by using high quality organic matter, mulches, crop rotation, and simple compost teas to solve problems.   It is a form of restoration and maintenance that can be of great benefit if done properly.  The process is simple.

• Remove a small portion of soil from the bed, preferably from the diseased area.  This instantly removes a substantial portion of undesirable pathogens.  This soil may be re-used as fill dirt in non-vegetable areas. 
• Remove all plant debris and roots from the bed that can potentially harbor pathogens. Dispose of these properly and do not compost any diseased plant material.  This is also an excellent time to check your soil thoroughly for any undesirable pests and remove as needed. 
• Add a substantial influx of high quality organic matter from as many different sources as possible. Most references will recommend at least five sources for the optimum number to hit. Keep in mind that all commercial compost is the by-product of one industry or another; therefore, you need several different kinds to achieve the diversity of micro-organisms in the soil in order for the good microbes to fight off the bad.  A strong army of beneficial organisms can suppress a small army of harmful ones. Homemade compost is always the best, but in its absence, there are several excellent products out there to utilize.  If memory serves me correctly, Gardens Alive even carries one especially designed for fighting blight pathogens in the soil.
• Mulch all new plantings to provide a ground to plant barrier against disease and to provide food for all the good soil organisms you have just added.
• Rotate all new plantings to starve any remaining pathogens naturally.  Each year you are able to rotate a crop to a different place in your bed affords more protection against the same diseases returning.  As an example, Early Blight starts as a soil-borne pathogen and tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and potatoes should not be grown in the same spot next year. One year of rotation is some protection, two years more, and so forth.
• Use compost teas to inoculate the soil and plants as they contain high concentrations of beneficial microbes that will compete with pathogens for food and space.  Teas form protective barriers around the roots of plants and work incredibly well as a barrier on the leaves.  In addition, they have beneficial nutrients that go to work immediately providing food to nourish your plants at any stage of growth.
• Fertilize appropriately.  Remember that organic fertilizers with lower NPK numbers are safer for the soil food web. Avoid over fertilization as this can have an adverse effect by tying up the exact nutrients your plants need to flourish as well as cause herbicide injury.

Pros:  Encouraging soil life in addition to crop rotation is the easiest most dramatic way to improve and solve many garden problems. Enhancing the soil with an influx of organic matter will provide instant results and go a long way to building a foundation for producing healthier plants with greater nutrient densities.  Using this method over time will significantly reduce your pests and disease problems.  Much as you are able to fight off the common cold when your health is at its best, plants are better able to withstand pests and disease pressures when they are at their optimum as well.  

Cons:  The only cons to this method are the additional costs associated with purchasing organic matter.
Most bags of organic matter are priced between $5.00 and $8.00, however, by home composting, buying in bulk, utilizing free coffee grounds and leaves, etc., you are able to reduce your costs significantly.

The links below are for your convenience and contain valuable information from previous posts on prepping garden beds and making simple compost teas.  I do want to mention that the soil recipe used in the linked post is not enough organic matter for the amount of disease many experienced in their gardens.  It is more of a standard prep recipe to build the soil when no disease has been present.  For example, this fall I utilized much the same ingredients but intensified the amounts to add a greater influx of microbes to the bed. The addition of fertilizer remains the same at standard usage rates.

http://greenmeadowscommunitygarden.blogspot.com/2013/03/prepping-garden-beds-for-spring.html - link to prepping garden beds.

http://greenmeadowscommunitygarden.blogspot.com/2013/04/making-worm-tea.html - link to making simple teas.

For anyone who likes to do additional reading, Teaming with Microbes by Jeff Lowenfel & Wayne Lewis is an excellent technical reference on the soil food web and the importance it plays in your garden.

Hope this is of great help,

Denise, Beds 25 & 29

Rejuvenating The Soil For Fall - Biofumigation - Option 1 of 3

Hey Everyone,

Well hard to believe the calendar says it's almost September but coupled along with a few of the chiller evenings and we have a sound reminder that fall is just around the corner.  Many are starting to pull the diseased plant material from their gardens and are taking the necessary steps to prepare the soil for a healthier fall harvest.  With the amount of pests and disease, we experienced over the summer, it is more important than ever to take sound steps now for a healthy fall garden.

This is some nice looking soil!

The easiest way to enhance the health and productivity from your garden is to improve the growing medium or your soil.  Whenever disease and pests have been present, it is important to take steps that break the cycle of the problem for future seasons to come. There are actually three options for re-building your bed and putting pests and soil-borne pathogens at bay.  Each of these options have their own pros and cons so decisions should be made on what works the best for you and what you feel the most comfortable with.  As you see the terms in the next few posts to come, please take the time to educate yourself in order to make informed decisions for a healthier garden.

Option Number One:  BIOFUMIGATION

Biofumication is a process whereby commercial farmers use a synthetic chemical fumigant to kill certain types of soil-borne pathogens.  For the organic home gardener this process is adapted with an all-natural alternative called biofumigation.  Biofumigation utilizes the cover crop of Mighty Mustard to release natural glucosinolates into the soil.  The high levels of glucosinolates found in Mighty Mustard are the chemical properties of the plant that make certain members of the brassica family spicy.  These chemical properties are known to mimic synthetic commercial fungicide treatments and destroy several soil borne pathogens. The glucosinolates are also the basis of many commercial pesticides available to large-scale growers.  In addition, cover crops are of great benefit for adding pure organic matter to the soil.

Pros:  When it comes to using cover crops, the pros are plentiful and live up to the claims they tout if kept healthy and disease free.  For small home gardeners cover crops provide a solution in areas where it is difficult to incorporate long-term crop rotation strategies.  By utilizing the different types of cover crops based on your specific needs and keeping the levels of beneficial microorganisms high and productive, your garden will have a chance to flourish even with pathogenic fungi and bacteria present in the soil.  If you choose to forgo the planting of a fall and winter vegetable garden, this may be an excellent option to re-build your soil.

Cons:  The cons are only a few.  The amount of time it takes to grow a cover crop ties up the planting site for an extended time, which can interfere with planting schedules.  Cover crops can turn a garden into a weedy field if ignored, so do expect extra pests for dinner if neglecting your bed.  For example, the Mighty Mustard mentioned above is known to attract flea beetles.  If you do not currently have flea beetles in your bed, this particular cover crop would introduce them to you.  However, it can work to your advantage as a trap crop if using cover crops on one side of a bed only.  Lastly, would be choosing the wrong type of cover crop based on your particular needs.  For example, if you needed a crop to fix nitrogen into the soil and instead choose one that is nutrient scavenging, it may not accomplish what you set out to do.

As a special note, Mighty Mustard is excellent at destroying pathogens & pests from the soil; however, I cannot find the pathogen that causes early blight on any of its lists of diseases kept at bay.

For those that would like to do some additional reading on biofumigation and cover crops, the links below are for your convenience.

http://www.thegrower.com/issues/the-grower/118501009.html - excellent article on biofumigation.

http://www.mightymustard.com/varieties - A link to the line-up of Mighty Mustard varieties.
http://www.mightymustard.com/uses - link to specific uses for each variety.

http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/cover-crop-basics - link to general cover crop information and types.


Johnny's Selected Seeds Company carries a full line of cover crop seeds under the sub-heading of Farm Seed on their website.

Option Two & Three to follow.................

Happy Gardening,

Denise, Beds 25 & 29