Cedar Experiment, week 2

I went to check on the two experimental garden beds to see if cedar really does inhibit germination in seeds, and if so, if lining with cardboard prevents this phenomenon.  I planted 4 beans, 6 beets, and 8 carrots in each bed.

Here's the verdict after 7 days:
Cedar bed with cardboard:

And Cedar Bed without cardboard:

They look fairly similar right?  There are slight differences; in one of them, there are more beets.  An interesting thing to note about beets:  their "seeds" are not seeds per se, but dried berries that may have one or more seeds within.   So, often a beet seed will give 1-3 seedlings.  It appears that one of the bush beans didn't sprout, but I can see it just under the surface.


But wait!  What's this in the cardboard bed?  Could it be the first carrot seedling??!

Alas, no it is not.  It's a weed.  One of the downsides of home-made compost.

Tally for the two beds so far:
Cedar without cardboard:
Pole beans: 2/2
Bush Beans: 2/2
Carrots: 0/8
Beets: 4/8

Cedar with cardboard:
Pole beans: 2/2
Bush Beans: 1/2 (but almost 2/2!!)
Carrots: 0/8
Beets: 4/8

Plans Verses Reality

Last fall I created my first official garden plan. Years before, I would just draw it out on graph paper by hand and then lose the paper somewhere. This garden plan was created using Territorial Seed's garden planner and can be found here.

 This is my front yard plan. It's the main area of the garden. Every year we add about 16 square feet to it. Let's see how the plan stacked up to the reality as of July.

Tomatoes with their protective flower buddies.  The flowers nearby serve many purposes.  First, Marigolds repel man insects, and attract slugs to the marigolds, and not the tomatoes.  I also planted alyssium and borage near the tomatoes to encourage pollinators.  Originally I planned only borage and basil, but I honestly forgot the basil and I always had great luck with extra marigolds.  The alyssium is good for pollinators, and it's the first year I've grown it successfully from seed.  Last year I tried and planted it next to the potatoes but they quickly overshadowed and buried the alyssium.

The peppers and beans look good too!

I'm pleasantly surprised by the size of the beets and how many tomatoes are growing already.  The peas were amazing too!  I wish I'd thought about the best place to put the peppers and the carrots; some of the peppers are not doing well because water from the beans landed on the leaves.  I had to buy a different type of sprinkler and the carrots are overshadowed by the parsnips.  I had no idea parsnip greens could get 2 feet tall!  

Berries - final if not complete tally

I harvested the last of the berries on Friday. 2 pounds overall, mostly blueberries and currants. A few late strawberries too. I should have grabbed a pic of the strawberries but I forgot. I got six quarts of strawberry jam, enough eating strawberries to make myself puke, and a few gallons frozen in the freezer as well. We also have two honeydew berry plants, but those are pretty much Josh's only so I don't have claim to them. The white currants are on their 3rd year, the blackcurrants are on their second. The blueberries are on their fourth year. So far, I love the white currants the most. I think I'll get some more bushes. The south side of my house will soon be a perennial food forest, mostly including fruiting bushes and trees. It's been so hard to think about giving up that area, since it's been so productive the last two years, but I know it can't last. We left it as native meadow for two years to build the soil, but I've been using it for vegetables for the past two years, it ought to go to something sustainable next. The food forest will have currants, apples, maybe a pear tree, strawberries, and a perennial onion species of some sort. Of course I'll continue to put in side species of beneficial flowers to feed my local pollenators.

almost two pounds of berries and I'd already eaten a bunch? not too shabby...

Cedar experiment, week one

I'm testing to see if cedar really prevents germination in vegetable seeds, and if so, will a biodegradable barrier such as cardboard help the seedlings germinate? To test, josh built me two cedar boxes, a cubic foot in volume each. One is lined with cardboard on the inside, one is just soil against the planks.

In each box I've placed seeds for vegetables that grow best directly sown into the soil: carrots (8 in each box), beets (6 in each box), bush beans (2) and pole beans (2).  The seeds are new this year and are growing well in other established beds already.

If the seeds germinate at the same rate but poorly, i will know that cedar really does inhibit germination and a biodegradable barrier will not help germination.

If the seeds germinate well and at the same rate, i will know that cedar does not negatively impact germination and cardboard is not required.

If the seeds do not germinate at the same rate, i will know that either cedar or cardboard inhibits germination.

To control mitigating factors, I've filled each box with the same mix: homemade compost, coir, vermiculite, crushed eggshells, and the Solomon's fertilizer mix, recioe from the Territorial seed company book.  The beds are also next to each other so they have the same solar exposure and micro-climate. I will also keep them on the same watering regime.

First ever knitting pattern!

Funyuns and Mt Dew

By Nikki Haas

This little many-eyed monster was created using 3 sport weight yarns and 1 worsted-weight yarn that contrasts nicely to the Body color. I used light yellow for the Body, cream for the whites of the eyes, black for the pupils, and a dark gold for the tentacles and lips. This is mostly knitted in the round, so use double pointed needles. I used 3.75mm needles for the bulk of the project, and 2.25mm needles for the smaller eyes. If you use different weights or needles, please post a picture on Ravelry so I can see!

Please acquaint yourself with the following knitting methods before working on this project. YouTube has many helpful tutorials:

• Knitting in the Round
• Cable Cast-on (this is a good one)
• Provisional Cast-on
• I-Cord
• Kitchener stitch grafting.
• Picot Bind-off.

For the Body:

Using sport weight yarn, cast on 4 sts, join into round. Continue in round:

Row 1: kfb around. (8 sts)
Row 2: knit
Row 3: kfb around. (16 sts)
Row 4: knit.
Row 5: (kfb, k1) Repeat to end of row. (24 sts)
Row 6: knit.
Row 7: (kfb, k2) Repeat to the end of row. (32 sts)
Row 8: knit.
Row 9: (kfb, k3) Repeat to the end of row. (40 sts)
Row 10: knit.
Row 11: (kfb, k4) Repeat to the end of row. (48 sts)
Rows 12-20: knit
Row 21: (k2tog, k4) Repeat to the end of row (40 sts)
Row 22: knit.
Row 23: (k2tog, k3) Repeat to the end of row. (32 sts)
Row 24: knit.
Row 25: (k2tog, k2) Repeat to the end of row. (24 sts)
Row 26: knit.

****fill with fiberfill and shape to be a sphere; continue:
Row 27: (k2tog, k1) Repeat to the end of row. (16 sts)
Row 28: knit.
Row 29: k2tog around. (8 sts)

Row 30: k2tog around (4 sts)
Break yarn; pull through remaining stitches to close.

Main Eye:

Using light-colored sport weight yarn, cast on 4 sts, join into round. Continue in round:

Row 1: kfb around. (8 sts)
Row 2: knit
Row 3: kfb around. (16 sts)
Row 4: knit.
Row 5: (kfb, k1) Repeat to end of row. (24 sts)
Row 6: knit.
Row 7: (kfb, k2) Repeat to the end of row. (32 sts)
Rows 8-10: knit.

Bind off tightly, leaving a long tail. Fill loosely with fiber fill and using tapestry needle, attach towards the top of Body.

Main Pupil:

Using dark-colored sport weight yarn, cast on 1 st.

Row 1: kfb (2 sts)

Row 2: purl

Row 3: kfb kfb (4 sts)

Row 4: purl

Row 5: kfb, k2, kfb (6 sts)

Row 6: purl.

Row 7: knit.

Row 8: purl.

Row 9: ssk, k2, k2tog (4 sts)

Row 10: purl.

Row 11: ssk, k2tog (2 sts)

Row 12: purl.

Row 13: ssk (1sts)

Bind off, leaving a long tail. Using tapestry needle, sew pupil onto the center of eye.

Mouth:

Lips:

Cast on 4 sts using the provisional cast-on method. Continue in worsted-weight contrasting color.

Knit I-cord that is about 6 and a quarter inches (you want the inside diameter to be 2 inches). When the I-cord is to desired length, pick up cast on sts and graft the two ends using the kitchener stitch, making a ring.

Teeth:

Using light-colored sport weight yarn, cast on 24 sts using the cable cast on method.

Make a picot edge as follows:

K2, (inc by 2, b.o. 5, slip st back onto active needle) 3 times. Repeat.

You should now have chain with a jagged edge a little less than six inches long. Join ends to form a chain. Sew the flat side of the chain onto the inner edge of the lips, making sure the seam is at the corner of one side of the lips.

Using a tapestry needle, attach the moth to the Body, directly under the Eye. Make sure the jagged edge of the chain is protruding to resemble teeth.

Tentacles – make as many as you want, I went with five

Using the contrasting color in worsted weight, cast on 4 sts, Knit as an I-cord as follows:

Rows 1-8: knit

Row 9: k2tog, k2 (3sts)

Rows 10-16: knit

Row 17: k2tog, k1 (2sts)

Rows 19-22: knit

Follow on using light-colored sport weight yarn and using smaller needles to make the mini-eyes

Row 23: kfb around (4 sts)

Row 24: kfb around (8 sts)

Rows 25-26: knit

switch to dark-color sport weight yarn and continue:

Row 27: k2tog around (4 sts)

Row 28: knit

Row 29: k2tog around (2 sts)

Break yarn and pull through sts.

If desired, stick pipe cleaners in the tentacles to make them adjustable.

Attach tentacles to the top of Body above and to either side of main Eye. You can do this any way you want, but I did a star-shape pattern to add depth. Weave in all loose yarn securely.

Mutant Lettuce

I never expected that one day after months of dutiful watering and fertilizing, I'd notice that 4 tomato plants are as tall as I am. Or that the lettuce is crowding each other and are each larger than the heads I find in the grocery store. Of that I'd have thousands of nasturtiums blooming along my drive.

The beds, which once looked so empty are now overflowing with squash leaves and parsley. The chives are dwarfed by everything else. The red onions are as tall as my knee. I was wondering why I didn't need to weed, and looking up in shock, I notice it's because everything else is shading the ground.

The radishes bolted the second they could, but I've replaced them with turnips, which seem to have no aspirations to bolt. I've had zucchini's and crooknecks every other day for the past week and you wouldn't know by looking at their parent plants.

Josh and I have had salads twice now and we've got plenty more lettuce where that came from. Soon, the carrots will grace those bowls :)

Not much to tell

I haven't updated in a while because there's not much to tell. June was so wet and cold that nothing grew. July's had a few warm days but mostly it's just low 70's. Today I don't even think I'll take my sweater off. The chill seems to be stunting the growth of all my plants, well except the tomatillos.

The greenbeans have wound about 3 feet high up their posts now, and they've all got flowers on them. One of the tomatoes gave up the ghost, an early girl, 3rd one I've killed this year. The full size tomato plants haven't make tomatoes yet, but the grapes and cherries all have little green fruits and one of them has an almost orange fruit. Most of the squashes died except for 2 crooknecks and a zuchinni, who just opened his first flower yesterday. The crooknecks are making squashes, but most of the squashes have died, except one which is getting bigger every day. All except two of the radishes bolted and made such yucky leaves that I didn't even get the greens. The two radishes were very nice and radishy. Carrots are working their way into being carrots.

Tomatillos are going gangbuster, so I'll definitely do them again next year. I must have a hundred little paper lanterns started, and the plants are getting taller every day. Hope everyone I know likes salsa verde. The jalepeno just opened it's flowers. Here's hoping September's warm, or else many of my veggies won't get to harvest. The neighbor gave me 12 red onions, and about half of them are doing well. The others are just kinda seeing how small they can be.

I wonder if the colder weather has anything to do with all the ash put up by that Icelandic volcano last spring. I've read in geology books that volcanos can make summers colder if enough particles block the sun. Much as I'd like to blame my current climatic woes on BP....

My friend at work gave me 4 dahila bulbs, and one of them is already a foot high. The others are looking good too ^.^