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GREENS EXPLODING!

rawutah — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:11:17 +0000

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The greens in the square foot gardens are outgrowing their boxes!  These are some before and after shots of the sq. ft. gardens.  If you have little space, but still want to garden, or even if you have a ton of space…square foot gardening might be for you!

The first shot was taken in late September 2008.

The following shots were taken February 7th 2009.

After our first attempt at this form of gardening, we can definitely recommend it! It’s a 4ft. x 4ft.  square box, made out of lumber purchased locally. The “raised beds” keep the soil warmer, allow for a “specific” soil mix, and is easier for backyard growing because it takes up way less space.   You can also protect the gardens from the weather and pests quite easily! It’s more controlled!

The PVC pipe provides a frame which plastic is draped over, keeping the plants from completely freezing..outside temps are averaging around 30F. The yellow tape hanging from the center pipe attracts flying pests, like gnats and flies. Quite effective, when the gardens are covered!

We highly recommend the book,
All New Square Foot Gardening, by Mel Bartholomew

Mel says after retiring as an engineer he began to garden and approached the garden like an engineer, looking for easier ways to get the same results. After trial and error, he has broken down how many crops you can plant by the “square foot.”

For example: one broccoli can be planted in one square, but the next square to the right can have 4 swiss chard plants.   The wood subdividing each sq ft garden box provides a great way to learn crop rotation and just visualize your garden better.

We also put a weed cloth on the bottom and haven’t had any weeds!

Check out Mel’s book if you have a backyard and don’t want to rip up the ground, are unsure of the soil quality etc…   I’ve even seen pictures of square foot gardens on apartment balconies!

They provide a great way for everyone to grow their own food!!

Grow your own, “wherever” you are! Check out Mel’s book!

COLOR AND GROWTH in the DOME. TOMATOES TOO!

rawutah — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:37:00 +0000

The “purple asparagus” we planted last week has started to sprout! This is all so new to us! All these new signs of life are very exciting! This variety of asparagus is just eaten raw, off the stalk! We’re growing it this first year until it goes to seed, then letting it grow again next year and will harvest at the end of the next growing season. Guess that’s the way of the Asparagus. Ahhhh the genesis of life……!

(click on pictures for larger view)

One of the goals we’ve envisioned…..is to be able to walk around the dome eating as you walk…eating a plant leaf here….or a flower there…or maybe just eat a whole tomato and add some fresh herbs like basil or cilantro for flavor combo fun! By the time you get around the dome….you might be too full to keep eating….sounds nice to me!

There couldn’t be a more peaceful place to enjoy a fine meal off the vine!

Here’s a quick tour as of this morning, outside temp is around 32F. Inside temp at 78F and 60 percent humidity.

East side of the Dome, capturing early morning sunlight

Little tomato plants – “Early Girl” hybrids. We’re seeing if we can produce a bunch of fruit early…then transplant with heirloom varieties in a couple months…..we’ll see!

Close up of tomato plant

I think I’ve found a new love in tomatoes….they’re awesome plants….a lot to learn about! I’ll be doing a post very soon on local tomato growers. Including soil and hydroponics! Not wanting to re-invent the wheel, we’re asking around about local methods and varieties used in growing these amazing plants….more to come!

Splash of color for the beneficial insects and ME!

"Parrot Feather" floating pond plant

Primrose

Little Lemmons

Swiss Chard
We’re planting lots of Chard, as it’s slower than Spinach to bolt in the rising summer heat. Might get warm in the greenhouse!

Little Chard seedlings

Swiss Chard

Violas! Love the color. Hopefully the good bugs will also! Spinach is growing u behind them.

Chard keeping warm next to the lava rock

GROW YOUR OWN!

A FAMILY THAT’S GROWING TOGETHER!

rawutah — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 20:03:00 +0000

This is a short video on a very inspirational family, the Dervaes family. They’re growing their own food! Not only that…they’re doing it on a very small city lot just off the freeway in Pasadena! They’re growing enough for themselves and enough surplus to sell to local restaurants!
Amazing!

“In our society, growing food yourself has become the most radical of acts, it is truly the most effective protest–one that can–and will overturn the corporate powers that be. By the process of directly working in harmony with nature, we do the one thing most essential to change the world…

….we change ourselves!

- Jules Dervaes” -pathtofreedom.com

The “DOME” GREENHOUSE

rawutah — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 03:00:00 +0000

This is a little tour of the Dome. We put it up in November of 08′ and have been working on the garden beds and planting a few things…..more to come! It’s from growingspaces.com ….this company was great to work with and definitely know’s their stuff! We love the Dome!

- for photos of the “dome build” - click here

GROWING GREENS YEAR ROUND!

rawutah — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:02:00 +0000

We’ve been applying some information we read in a book called, “Four Season Harvest” by Eliot Coleman. It’s full of interesting tips on how to successfully grow in any climate, in any season. He lives in Maine on the 44th parallel. He explains that his most recent book is based on the year round agricultural practices of French farmers, also living on the 44th parallel. He has studied their practices and mixed it with his own work! The result is this insightful book on growing food year round! He says that if he can eat great salad in Maine year round, then anywhere to the south of Maine can also!

He shares tips like what crops grow naturally in cold temperatures, crops like: mache, arugula, claytonia, and minutina. All which grow very well and naturally in winter. He explains that even with greenhouse or tunnel covered crops, it’s more natural to work with nature and plant cold hardy crops that enjoy the cold and even increase in flavor as the temperature drops!

Looking down at the tunnel

Venting the tunnel

We’re re-creating something similar to what happens in nature when we put a cover, like plastic, glass or polycarbonate over our garden.

For example: French peasants, at one time, foraged for greens all winter long, by going out into the forest and looking under brush and logs, because they realized cold hardy greens, would often be growing under fresh fallen snow! The greens continued to photosynthesize under the blanket of snow!

This is now re-created through modern innovations like greenhouses, cold frames and low or high covered plastic tunnels.

Another great insight I enjoyed from the book was, in a greenhouse, he says, instead of heating it, just cover your veggie beds with a plastic sheet or floating row cover cloth, supported by arched wire frames. This creates a secondary temperature barrier against the cold. This “twice tempered climate” becomes what he calls a “protected microclimate.” It makes year round growing affordable in greenhouses, especially if you’re not trying to grow tropicals. Just stick to the leafy greens that love the cold!

The picture above is, Collard, Kale and Chard. All grown under a plastic tunnel, in highly mineralized soil, supplemented with local rock dusts, such as volcanic cinders and Azomite, written about in “Secrets of the Soil.” The Azomite deposit is found here, in Utah. We also used ocean water – from growgreens.com !!

The condensation created inside the tunnel evaporates up hits the plastic, dripping back down as moisture for the plants, the additional mulch around the plants retains most of this moisture! I haven’t needed to water most of the winter!

As I mentioned earlier, you can use plant cover cloth, like Agribon, which adds an additional layer of protection. Also, the plants can breathe through it, keep warm, keep protected from insects and wind, and the plants actually push the Agribon up as they grow!

Viola – Pansy (edible) – for the salad….and to attract beneficial insects. They’re beautiful too!

If you don’t have a greenhouse, or a plastic tunnel, he shares that a different method the French have historically used is: cold frames. There is a whole chapter in the book dedicated to these old methods of growing food in winter. Which can be manually vented by the grower everyday, or, you can install an automatic window vent. The venting is created as the bees wax filled cylinder heats up, then through pressure, it forces the tube open. Brilliant! This is also how the dome greenhouse vents itself! The history behind these vents is worth checking out as well!

Since the advent of plastic, French farmers have been using a method which creates “low tunnels” of plastic, supported by PVC pipe or wire, under which plants thrive! “Four Season Harvest” by Elliot Coleman, has definitely helped us extend our grow operation, by helping us with alternative methods of growing greens through winter!

Here’s to the GREEN SMOOTHIES!

We hope to have 4 tunnels by next winter! Supplying our GREEN SMOOTHIE habit!! The dome is only so big inside, and we want to stop buying greens from the grocery store! This book was amazing! We fully recommend it to anyone wanting to grow through the winter and just grow period! It’s full of techniques for composting, root cellars, regular-season growing and on and on!!! Check it out!

lady bugs in winter?

Happy little plants in here….and lady bugs!

Eat home – grown leafy greens year round!!!!

GETTING BETTER!

rawutah — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:53:00 +0000

GROW YOUR OWN FOOD!!!

FOOD CRISIS! SICKNESS! DEPRESSION! SOLUTION…………? One solution may be growing food with OHANA! Meaning family in the Hawaiian language. This blog is about family…in all it’s forms and the nutritional and spiritual holocaust we’re seemingly just emerging from.

Well, after years and years of illness and just feeling sick……..and being sick and tired of being sick and tired……we’re ready for something different! It’s time for CHANGE! Can we be painless and free of ill health as an individual and a family…….even a planetary family??? It just may be possible…….in fact…….it’s feeling more like it everyday…….this is our experience so far. I’ve personally been sick for well over a decade…..no more!!!! This is an attempt to take personal power back and reclaim the synergy of family and community near and far!! Our intention is to share the excitement and exploration of all these things, RAW LIVING FOOD, Bio-dynamic GARDENING, GREENHOUSES, green foods, SPRING WATER, super-outdoor ADVENTURES, …….and…….having no way as way and no limitation as limitation!!!!

Jake