The Giving is Growing! News from the Sharing Gardens

Mmm, lilacs, can you smell 'em?

You may be wondering why you haven't heard from us in awhile. Things have been wonderfully busy with the onset of the garden-season. In addition, we've been working steadily to finish the house re-model so we can move in and make the Sharing Gardens our permanent home. What follows are garden highlights, gratitude to this season's "share-givers" (volunteers), some timely planting info and ways to be involved. Follow the links for step-by-step garden tips. (News of the land-purchase and farmhouse remodel to follow in future posts.) Enjoy!

February: Start peas...

Early to Bed: Garden season begins in mid-February here in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Celery, peas, (LINK- "Tips for Pea-Planting") and onions (LINK - "Growing Onions from Seed") are given a head start in the greenhouse, to be planted out once weather and soil conditions cooperate.

...and onions in the greenhouse.

Many seed crops need two years to develop. Beets, carrots and onions are three examples. In February we re-plant these root-crops (that have lasted since the previous season in our root cellar) into pots, in our greenhouse. Later we will transplant them back into the garden to finish their flowering and seeding process.

Carrots and beets, replanted for seed.

February is also about pruning and planting trees and bushes. OSU students and our neighbor David Crosby joined us in the fun of putting donated plants in the ground, pruning and staking them.

Not the nicest weather but we had a good time anyway. Brad, Chris and Chris planting four-dozen blueberries.

Brad and Llyn, spreading leaves around blueberries for mulch

Brad, planting blueberries. He told us that being in the garden reminded him of hanging out at his immigrant Italian grandparents house when he was a boy.

Getting the fence up was a very important step to protect our new orchard!

David and Llyn tie fruit trees to stakes. We had three dozen trees donated, apples, pears and plums. Next year we'll add hazelnuts and figs!

In early March we start broccoli, lettuce, cauliflower and cabbage. Once they're big enough to be transplanted into the garden, we put collars on them (made from empty soy-milk containers (LINK - "Re-Purposing Things"). We slow down the population of slugs using iron phosphate pellets (Sluggo) which disrupts the digestion of the little critters breaking their cycle of breeding and laying eggs (LINK- "Iron Phosphate; Organic Solution for Slugs"). March is also time to put out nesting boxes for Mason Bees who are emerging from their eggs to re-new the cycle of life (LINK - "Mason Bees - The Friendly Pollinators").

Lettuce and broccoli starts, ready for planting.

Doreen has been a huge help this spring with greenhouse transplanting.

Llyn drills holes in untreated wood-blocks (5/16") for Mason bees.

Gini planting lettuce and showing off a worm. Thanks to all the organic matter we add, our garden is full of them!

Collars made from soy-milk containers protect seedlings from March weather and the few bunnies that manage to squeeze under our fence (left). Lettuce plants in foreground.

Onell piles fresh grass clippings between the plants.

Mulch Mania: All through the spring, we mulch the paths. We use oat or wheat straw (when we can get it) as it has a minimum of seed-heads and spreads easily making a comfortable path for gardeners to crawl along to weed and harvest (LINK - "Benefits of Deep Mulching"). We also put fresh grass clippings between the plants for a slow-release feeding. The clippings act as mulch, keeping moisture near the surface of the ground, feed our resident worm population (our micro-livestock). Their "castings" (worm-poo) then feed the plants.(LINK - "Grass and Leaves - Natural Garden Fertilizers").

Mulching is fun for the whole family, Abel, the youngest of the four Ramos boys lends a hand.

Brianna and Emily - we never heard such giggling in the garden!

Melody and her great-aunt, Doreen.

Onell Ramos and his Mom, Monica.

Onell, Abel and Mom pull last year's old, woody turnips.

Kevin mulches the east gardens.

OSU students plant artichokes and lettuce.

OSU - Service Learning Projects: Several classes at Oregon State Univ. (in Corvallis) have "service-learning" as an integral part of their programs. Each student must complete a four-hour volunteer project and create a simple web-site or poster describing their experience. We have been fortunate to host many of these groups over the years. With two to six students, we can get a lot done in four hours!

Chris and Reilly fill buckets with compost for tomatoes.

Kristen snips the flowers off garlic.

Jason and Chris fill buckets with mint-straw to mulch potatoes.

Potato planting bucket-brigade!

Digging holes and planting potatoes.

Elisa piling compost for tomatoes and squash.

Maple Grove: A year ago we received several dozen maple trees as a donation from Cathy Rose. Here are some pics of OSU students planting them to make two groves for future shade.

Planting our maple groves.

Adri watering peas.

April showers...Through April we continue to start seeds in the greenhouse, transplant the seedlings into bigger pots and transplant starts into the ground. Peas begin to vine up the trellises and it's time to make sure the hoses are fixed and laid out in time for the first hot days. May brings the first harvest of lettuce (yippee!) and anticipation of more fresh, delicious veggies to come.

Chris planting peas - a second crop so we'll have them later in the season!

Courtney and Jenn plant grape cuttings to "root" them.

Doreen and Melody in the greenhouse.

The first planting of peas (in the background) are finally flowering. Won't be long till we can add fresh peas to our salads!

Mid-May lettuce patch.

Let us eat lettuce: Lettuce is finally starting to grow fast! We're harvesting a leaf or two off of each plant. Soon we can harvest whole heads at a time. This year we've planted a new crop of lettuce every 2-3 weeks so, as one crop finishes, the next will be just about ready.

Our first salad of the season!

Gallery of Givers:  The Sharing Gardens operates entirely through volunteers and donations. In addition to all the people you see pictured we also wish to thank: Matt Nelson (our electrician extraordinaire!) and his dad Bob who dropped everything and made fixing up our pump in time to water the gardens his first priority. Ismael Ramos cleans out his rabbit and chicken cages and brings us the goodies. Kate Gillow-Wiles donated a sweet bench for us to take our (far too infrequent) breaks. The Cavenaughs brought us a bunch of Heirloom seeds, Sam and Shirley Stone - windows, firewood, gardening books and more. David Crosby has repeatedly loaned us his tractor and brings us fun-finds from yard sales that we can use in home and garden. The Dillards have donated fencing material and "share" their hired-helper -Thomas- to assist with mowing and weed-wacking when we get overwhelmed. Cindy and Jim Kitchen - though we don't have any pictures of you, we always love to share garden-time. Rick brings us massive amounts of grass-clippings. Mark Frystak delivered two truck-loads of straw on a moment's notice. Lynn and Pat - thank you for your general support and specifically the five buckets of seed potatoes. We think we're finally going to have a decent crop this year!

This tool has your name on i

Ways to get involved: As you can see, folks have been participating in the gardening already though we still don't have regularly scheduled sessions. If you're local and want to come play, just drop us an email and we'll figure out a good time.

Come on down and pick up a tool. We don't want the weeds to grow too high from tools laying idle!

If you're a supporter from far away... Please continue to "forward" and re-post our garden "How-To's" and our posts that you find inspiring. With your help, our readership has risen to over 7,000 hits per month! We have had people coming to our site from just about every country that has a gardening season. It feels good to know that the Sharing Gardens continue to touch people, even when we're staying busy with a hammer or a hoe.

Much love, and we hope to see you soon!

Crocuses, Onions and Peas, Oh My!

First crocuses of 2014

The last of the fourteen inches of our February snow have melted though rivers are still running high from recent heavy rains. Here in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, it still feels like winter is hanging on a bit but just in the last few days we noticed crocuses blooming in our yard; always a sign of spring's approach.

Another sign of spring's arrival includes getting peas and onions started in the greenhouse which is what we did last week.

Here are links to articles we have written about the techniques we use to get a jump-start on pea and onion growing.

We continue to plug away at the old farmhouse renovations. Still lots to be done but we hope we can begin moving in by late-March. Here are a few pics:

An upstairs bedroom. All exterior walls have been retro-fitted with rigid foam insulation and 1/4" paneling. Should be very cozy! Painting begins soon.

We're creating our own kitchen cabinetry out of second-hand drawer-units and old solid-core doors for counter-tops. We're installing our own plumbing but have hired a great guy to re-do all the electric. Don't want to take any chances with faulty wiring.

We're re-sheathing the whole outside as the original siding is over 100 years-old and, in places, showing signs of extreme wear. The upright poles are framing for our wood-shed. We'll be heating exclusively with wood. All windows and doors have been replaced with double-paned glass.

Gratitude to Steve Rose for grape and basket-willow cuttings; Courtney Childs for grape cuttings and his sunny disposition! If they all root, it looks like we'll have plenty of canes to share--let us know if you're interested in starting some grapes in your own garden. And thanks as well to Al and Arlene Looney for their donation of walnut/laminate flooring; it will really tie things together nicely at the old farmhouse.

If you're local and would like to come join the fun, be sure to let us know! Here's a link to our volunteer (share-givers) info-page.

We hope that signs of spring are showing up in your neck of the woods!

Amish Farmers - Reinventing Organic Agriculture

Chris and I were surprised and disturbed to hear that many Amish farmers have resorted to heavy herbicide and pesticide usage in growing their crops. We assumed that their desire to shun many modern mechanical and industrial short-cuts/conveniences would extend to these heavy-handed chemical ways of farming. Apparently we were mistaken. The young Amish farmer in this article is forging a new and inspiring path. Using a combination of science and intuition he is letting the plants and his own experience guide him into a more natural, healthy and more productive way of growing food. (Reprinted from The Atlantic - Oct. 6, 2014)

“In the Second World War,” Samuel Zook began, “my ancestors were conscientious objectors because we don’t believe in combat.” The Amish farmer paused a moment to inspect a mottled leaf on one of his tomato plants before continuing. “If you really stop and think about it, though, when we go out spraying our crops with pesticides, that’s really what we’re doing. It’s chemical warfare, bottom line.”
Eight years ago, it was a war that Zook appeared to be losing. The crops on his 66-acre farm were riddled with funguses and pests that chemical treatments did little to reduce. The now-39-year-old talked haltingly about the despair he felt at the prospect of losing a homestead passed down through five generations of his family. Disillusioned by standard agriculture methods, Zook searched fervently for an alternative. He found what he was looking for in the writings of an 18-year-old Amish farmer from Ohio, a man named John Kempf.

Kempf is the unlikely founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture, a consulting firm established in 2006 to promote science-intensive organic agriculture. The entrepreneur’s story is almost identical to Zook’s. A series of crop failures on his own farm drove the 8th grade-educated Kempf to school himself in the sciences. For two years, he pored over research in biology, chemistry, and agronomy in pursuit of a way to save his fields. The breakthrough came from the study of plant immune systems which, in healthy plants, produce an array of compounds that are toxic to intruders. “The immune response in plants is dependent on well-balanced nutrition,” Kempf concluded, “in much the same way as our own immune system.” Modern agriculture uses fertilizer specifically to increase yields, he added, with little awareness of the nutritional needs of other organic functions. Through plant sap analysis, Kempf has been able to discover deficiencies in important trace minerals which he can then introduce into the soil. With plants able to defend themselves, pesticides can be avoided, allowing the natural predators of pests to flourish.

“Instead of trying to grow crops that are healthy with fungicides and pesticides, I started to grow crops that are healthy with nutrition.”

According to Kempf, the methods he developed through experimentation on his Ohio farm are now being used across North and South America, Hawaii, Europe, and Africa. The entrepreneur promises clients higher-quality crops, bigger yields, better taste, and produce that carries a lucrative “organic” label. Kempf, however, considers his process as an important improvement upon standard organic farming methods. “Organic certification is a negative-process certification,” he explained, “You can do nothing to your field and become certified. In contrast, we focus on actively restoring the balance found in natural systems.”
I recently sought out Samuel Zook, one of Kempf’s earliest converts, at his farm in Lancaster, Pennsylvania to see Advancing Eco Agriculture’s practices in action. After trailing a leisurely horse and carriage in my car for several miles, I was greeted at the farm by a bounding dog and Zook’s young barefoot son. The boy stared silently with his arms wrapped around a watermelon almost as big as himself. In a straw hat and suspenders, he looked like a miniature version of his father. The elder Zook smiled demurely through a neatly trimmed beard and extended his hand before inviting me on a tour of his fields. A hushed gaggle of children tripped along behind us as we walked among the bales of hay and rows of tomatoes, onions, melons, and squash.

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Roc Morin: Can you describe the differences between how you used to farm and how you farm now?
Samuel Zook: The inputs changed drastically. Instead of trying to grow crops that are healthy with fungicides and pesticides, I started to grow crops that are healthy with nutrition.
Morin: What was the hardest part about making the change?
Zook: Well, there was a big psychological block that I had to get through. I’d see a couple bugs out there and feel like I immediately had to do something about it. But, I learned that if I sit back, things will often take care of themselves. That first summer for instance, we saw a lot of horn worms. Before that, I would have sprayed them right away, but this time I waited and a bunch of wasps came along and killed them. Once I saw that, I started getting really excited.
Morin: So, when you use a pesticide you’re killing the predators too, right?
Zook: Right. You’re killing the entire ecosystem.
Morin: Have all of your problems disappeared?
Zook: I wish I could say that, but not entirely. We’re not living in the Garden of Eden yet. The issues I had before have disappeared, but we still have some other issues that we’re working on. One of the main things that has improved is how it feels to farm. Before, if I applied fungicide on my tomatoes, I had to wait three to seven days before I could reenter the area. Now, it’s so nice to just walk in my field any day of the week and not worry a bit. That in itself is huge. The other thing is, when I used to mix these skull-and-cross-bones chemicals to put in my sprayer, I’d have to be suited up. The children would be around and I’d say, “Now, get in the house. It’s not safe.” Now though, if the children want to help, it’s fine. If I want to mix the solutions better, I’ll just put my hand in a stir it around.
Morin: What are some of the problems that you’re dealing with now?
Zook: One of my major issues in the greenhouse is spider mites—little insects that just love a warm, dry environment. It’s very hard to control them, even conventionally. We usually get them under control, but we often lose some yield.
Morin: How do you get them under control?
Zook: Mainly through applying specific trace minerals like iodine and a whole line of ultra-micronutrients. We analyzed the sap of the plants with the help of a lab and I think we’ve narrowed the problem down to excessive ammonium nitrates. If ammonia builds up in the plants, it’s bug food, so we need to figure out a way to convert ammonia fast. I just spent two days with John [Kempf], and he came up with an enzyme cofactor which we’ll use to stimulate that ammonia conversion. We figure things out ourselves now rather than call up the chemical rep.
Morin: What did your chemical rep say when you told him that you didn’t need his services anymore?
Zook: Well, that was an interesting summer. He used to come here every week telling me horror stories about all the diseases in the neighborhood. But, I had made up my made up my mind, “No mas.” He came back every week for eight weeks telling me what I needed to spray. I said, “I’m fine, thanks.” The last time he was here, we were out picking tomatoes and he walked over. He was looking around and talking about this and that, and he didn’t even mention pesticides. “Well,” he said, “your tomatoes look pretty good.” I thought, “Yes!”
Morin: One thing that I immediately noticed is how great everything smells here. Do you still smell it, or are you accustomed to it?
Zook: Oh, I smell it every time I come here. It’s exciting. Those aromas are actually compounds the plants produce to defend themselves from insects and disease attacks. A lot of people don’t realize that plants have immune systems.
Morin: So, you can smell health—can you can smell problems too?
Zook: Yes. There’s a real science to walking through a field and pausing to feel what the plants are feeling. There’s a huge difference between walking in this field and walking in one that has had six fungicide applications. The plants just don’t radiate that same vitality. Another thing I learned is that every time you spray with a fungicide or something, it’s actually suppressing the plant as well as the fungi.
Morin: The same way that antibiotics can weaken a person’s immune system?
Zook: Yes. It might kill the disease, but then because it has weakened the plant, a week later the plant is much more susceptible to that same disease again. That’s the way it is with miticide. If I come in here and spray the mites with it, it would kill some of them, but it kills by messing with their hormones, so the ones that do survive will then mature 50 percent faster. So, it’s pretty much guaranteed that I’d have a huge mite outbreak 10 years later. Instead of doing that, let’s figure out what this plant wants and provide it. They really do respond.
Morin: What else can you tell by looking at your plants?
Zook: Well, one thing we learn is to read the leaves. This asymmetry here indicates zinc deficiency. The spots over here indicate a phosphorus deficiency. And, this here rippling of the leaf usually indicates excess nitrogen.
Morin: Before you started with this method were you able to read the leaves?
Zook: You know, I barely noticed them at all. I just planted and sprayed. Now, it’s much more fun.

Related article written by the Sharing Gardens on our deep-mulch method of organic gardening.

Gallery of Givers

Highlights from 2013

Janeece and Kime, rinsing beets.

Carrots and beets ready for juicing!

With over 13" of snow piled up in our yard, and an icy rain falling, it seems like a good time to reflect back to last year's garden season and celebrate the many people and bounteous fruits and vegetables that helped make the Sharing Gardens possible.

Early in the season. That's a big patch of Fava beans in the foreground (light green) - We use them as a cover-crop; and the dark green row is Toscana Kale that wintered over. Yumm,,,spring greens!

 Beans and other legumes, through a symbiotic relationship with "nitrogen-fixing bacteria" can pull nitrogen (the building block of protein) right out of the air and make it available to the plant. This is why beans are relatively high in protein and why Fava's make a good "green manure" because when you till it in, all that nitrogen is now available for other crops to access.This is what the nodules look like on Fava beans (little pinkish-white clumps on the roots).

Dave Roux was a big help with fencing.

In 2013, we expanded the Sharing Gardens by adding a second greenhouse built out of a carport frame (LINK), and an additional garden area of about 80' x 100'.

Chris roto-tills in a cover-crop of rye-grass.

Llyn and Danielle mulching paths.

Spring time always involves spreading lots of mulch. Leaves, straw and grass clippings from the previous year have mostly been consumed by worms and other "micro-livestock" from below.

Dave Hall and Chris loading grass/hay into a wheelbarrow for distribution.

Jim Kitchen

The gardens are adjacent to a large field that grows waist-high with grass. When mowed and piled it begins to heat up from within beginning the decomposition process. This grass/hay is a great source of fertility for the gardens. That's Jim with an armload (right).

Cindy Kitchen with a big armload.

Another spring-time process to feed the soil is making "tea" from various kinds of manure soaked in water and poured at the roots of plants. We've used rabbit, llama and steer manure for this purpose.

Llyn, straining buckets of manure tea.

Chris and Gini-planting.

Each week, from June through October,we have three regular garden sessions. Our share-givers (volunteers) typically have a regularly scheduled day they come. Together we care for all the garden's needs: planting, weeding, mulching, fertilizing, pruning, harvesting. In turn, share-givers take home the food they can use, receive an education in organic gardening practices and have the satisfaction of contributing to a project that helps feeds many hungry people in our county.

Gail. Chris and Cindy, planting. Little Adri picks marigolds on the right.

Llyn's sister, Jennie (on rt.) helps mulch onions. Jesse, in pink helps too.

Llyn's Mom, Judy always makes an extended visit to the gardens each summer. Here she is picking pears from the trees in our yard.

Grandma Cindy, and Adri in the Swiss chard patch.

Adri's Grandpa Jim rinses beets.

Adri picks dandelion heads to make medicinal tea for their ageing cat. Adri's been coming since she had to be toted around in a back-pack.

  Chris and Anell taking a little time just to sit and visit.

Simple, summer pleasures! Our well-water is delicious. Many of our share-givers fill up jugs each week to take home for drinking water.

Another great year for celery (left). We put collars around it to "blanch" it, keeping it tender and juicy.

A garden cart (right) loaded with beets, cabbage, cucumbers and zucchini to take over to the South Benton Food Pantry. They feed 20 - 30 families a week and often, our produce is the only thing fresh for them to choose from.

Vicki, Gail Doreen and Llyn with harvest for the food pantry. Such abundance!

Onion planting is slow and meditative. That's the 1875 farmhouse we're renovating (back, rt.) and the carport greenhouse on the left.

There's a good reason they named this variety of sunflower Autumn Beauties!

What do you say, let's do it again in 2014!!