Locally Sustainable Gardening in the Face of Supply-Chain Shortages

Originally posted at the beginning of the pandemic, in May of 2020, this post is even more relevant this year!

 

For years, the Sharing Gardens has been anticipating shortages, and higher prices on fertilizers and soil amendments. This is why we've been developing and perfecting our methods of creating soil-fertility from locally available materials such as leaves, grass-clippings, wood ash and coffee-grounds. (See links below).

Fertility without fertilizers (commercially-made ones that is...). Sharing Gardens - July 2019

Sharing Gardens - late July - 2019

This year we didn't purchase or use any fertilizers or amendments (including livestock manures) and we created our own potting mix from the worm-castings we harvested from our greenhouse paths, mixed with a courser compost our neighbor produced from hard-wood sawdust, coffee grounds, leaves and grass clippings (with a lot of help from his worms!). Here are articles about this "veganic" method we are using with great success.

Lovely compost!

Making your own "Veganic" (no animal manures) Potting Soil

Grass Clippings and Leaves for Mulch

Coffee Grounds and Wood-Ash for Fertility

 

The Ground to Ground Primer - Coffee grounds for your Garden

We have seen many headlines, and heard from fellow gardeners  about vegetable-seed shortages. If you would like to learn about saving many of your own seeds (the majority of seeds we use, we saved ourselves!) here is a post with info on saving many kinds of seeds in your own garden for use next year.

Saving squash-seeds

Family Heirlooms: Saving Your Own Seed

Please keep in mind that sustainable gardening practices at a local level will be far more successful if you build cooperative relationships with your neighbors instead of trying to do it all alone. Here is a link to many resources about how to start a Sharing Garden in your own community.

Gardening with a group! Many hands make light work...

Garden Gallery - March 2022

Greetings garden-friends, spring has sprung in the southern Willamette Valley where we live. Daffodils and crocuses are in full bloom. Many of the seedlings Chris planted directly in our greenhouse beds are doing well and Llyn has started the heat-loving seedlings in pots in our other greenhouse. 

This post is comprised of a photo gallery of garden activities for February/March and relevant LINKS from previous posts we've written. Enjoy!

Bed-prep: We continue to prepare garden beds, both inside the greenhouses and out in the fields.

Donn and Chris fluff our raised beds after adding worm compost (made right in the paths of our greenhouses - LINK), coffee grounds and wood-ash - LINK. The soil in these beds is amazingly rich and has great tilth!

Here is one of our outside garden areas for heat-loving annual-plants (for example: squash, cabbage, broccoli, garlic, potatoes and more). We've been fortunate in that there have been long enough stretches between rain-storms for the soil to drain so we could roto-till these beds. This will make it easier to plant later in the spring and manage the weeds. That's a long row of basket-willow in the upper left corner of the picture.

Starting seeds: February is time for starting seeds, directly in the ground in the raised beds in our greenhouses and in pots to be transplanted out later in the season. (Image right): Chris waters lettuce seedlings direct-seeded in the ground. Kale plants in foreground are volunteers that sprouted over winter. We have lots to share. Let us know if you want some.

 

Carrot seedlings started in early February. Pot of chives at top, right of picture.

Some plants need to be started in pots on a heat-mat in order to germinate. We drill holes in the bottom of the plastic containers our tofu comes in and and start the seeds in them. Here's a LINK to a post about other ways to Repurpose Things for Re-use.

Later, once the seeds have germinated, we'll transplant them into larger containers so they have enough soil to develop strong root-systems.

Transplanting seedlings takes patience but it's a lovely meditation too.

Sometimes we transplant into standard plastic pots...(here are lettuce seedlings in 6-packs)...

...but egg cartons make great containers for seedlings that don't have a big root system such a s lettuce. The seedlings' roots will grow right through the egg-cartons so all you have to do is tear off a section and plant it directly in the ground.

Planting perennials: If the ground isn't too wet or frozen, January through March are all good months to plant out perennial plants including trees, shrubs and flowers. In the winter, these plants are still be dormant in their pots (or bare-rooted if bought directly from a nursery). This year we have added three more apple trees, a quince and two varieties of plums to our orchards. We have an English walnut, several American chestnuts, a fig-tree and lots of yellow willow that we grew from seeds and cuttings that are ready to go in the ground. And, as for flowering perennials we're expanding our Showy milkweed and Echinacea plantings, also grown from seed.

Llyn, planting trees.

Our perennial plant nursery (summer). All these plants grown from seeds and cuttings benefit from a full year in pots to develop their root systems before being planted in the ground. Our nurseries receive plenty of indirect sunlight through the summer but don't like full sun as it can stress them in summer's heat.

In the winter we move perennial-pots into a sunny place protected from the coldest north winds and surround the pots with bags of dry leaves for insulation.

Our new orchard (foreground). We've had to convert some of our garden space into an orchard because we have an invasion of field bindweed/morning glory (Convolvulus arvensis LINK) which can choke many annual plants.

We are also creating areas dedicated primarily to wildlife habitat. The black plastic is lumber-wrap we collect for free from the garbage dumpsters at lumber-yards. It blocks sunlight to the plants below thus discouraging grasses and weeds from growing between the desirable perennial trees, shrubs and flowers and bulbs we've planted. It will be removed after one year and mulched heavily to slow down the inevitable re-invasion of grasses and weeds.

Pruning: Winter is pruning-time for our fruit and nut trees and grape vines.

Chris, pruning grapes. For an excellent grape-pruning tutorial, see LINK below.

Llyn, pruning our 70' row of basket willow (Salix purpurea LINK). We harvest it every year to make living fences, to start more rows of willow along the edges of our land and occasionally to make baskets.

We're making a living fence (above) with basket willow to give us some privacy from our neighbor's yard. the uprights are actually rooted in the ground, planted approx. 8" apart and will live for many years. The horizontal "wattles" are cut fresh from our willow nursery (see above) and woven between the living uprights. They die and dry in place.

Time to plant cuttings and seedlings of perennials into pots to grow out their roots for next year's plantings. Pictured: yellow willow that grows wild along stream beds in western Oregon, and Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea LINK)

All the prunings are piled in a large brush-pile where they dry out through the summer while providing habitat for ground-nesting birds and bunnies. In the autumn, once it's legal to burn again, and animals are no longer nesting, we'll set the pile on fire.

Repairs and organizing:

We finally got around to investing in, and installing brass hose-bibs for our garden faucets. These will last much longer than the plastic ones we had been using and prevent drips/leaks which waste water.

We use the winter to reorganize both inside and outside areas of the gardens. These hose-hangers are made from foot-long shelf brackets screwed into the upright 4"x4' posts with 5-gallon buckets hung on them. We can put a lot more hoses on them and the buckets keep the hoses rounded instead of kinking into tight bends.

Time for repainting all our signs too...

LINKS for early spring: Here are links to posts we've previously written, relevant to this time of year.

Organic Solution to Slugs - Iron Phosphate - Having trouble with slugs eating your early spring plants? We've had great success with iron phosphate (commercially known as Sluggo).

Early spring is time for Mason bees to emerge from their tube-nests. Here's an article written by a local friend of ours who's had great success at encouraging these docile pollinators to thrive on her land.

Here's the best video we've found on how to prune table grapes (and we've watched quite a few!).  Easy, straight-forward instructions which will allow you to confidently go out to your grape patch and tackle the tangle of vines that have grown since last year (or the last time you attempted to prune your grapes). 

On the lighter side... Here is a LINK to a video about Infectious Laughter on a Train

 

Corvallis Garden Resource Guide: Goods, Services, and Learning for Food Growing

The print version of the garden guide is back! For more than 10 years, the Sustainability Coalition’s Food Action Team has produced a comprehensive, locally-focused Corvallis Garden Resource Guide: Goods, Services, and Learning for Food Growing. The 2022 guide can now be picked up at the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, viewed as a PDF online, or printed in high resolution booklet format.

The guide includes resources for growing vegetables, fruit, herbs, mushrooms, poultry, and bees. It emphasizes organizations and businesses that are local, organic, unique, and perhaps not as well known as they should be. Intended for both new and experienced gardeners, the guide is divided into sections for easy reference.

• If you’re new to gardening or want to learn new techniques in the off-season, you might want to start with Gathering Knowledge on page 3. “Getting Started” provides a starting point for folks about to turn their first beds. In addition to learning centers offering classes and workshops, the guide lists a selection of locally available gardening books with an emphasis on regional focus and local authors.

• When it’s time to work the soil and plant the seeds, turn to Getting What You Need on page 7. The local farm and garden centers are one-stop shops, and multiple local and regional companies offer supplies, soil, amendments, seeds, and plants.

• Gardening doesn’t need to be a solo activity or limited by a lack of space. Growing Together on page 15 includes listings for neighborhood gardening groups and community gardens.

• When you’re swimming in rhubarb or tomatoes, turn to Harvesting the Bounty on page 17. The listed resources will help you preserve your surplus, donate to those in need, or make a little money at the farmers’ market.

• Chickens and ducks don’t exactly grow from the soil, but they go hand-in-hand with backyard gardening. If you have a flock or are looking to buy chicks, turn to the Backyard Poultry section on page 19.

• Beekeeping (page 21) continues to grow in popularity among gardeners wishing to harvest honey and ensure good pollination. For those willing to brave the stings, Corvallis has a local equipment supplier, a bee club, and plenty of learning opportunities.

No matter your level of experience or particular interest, there’s something in the guide for anyone who wants to grow their own food. Pick up your copy of the Garden Guide at the public library - or go straight to the online version at Garden Resource Guide | Corvallis Sustainability Coalition (sustainablecorvallis.org). Enjoy!

Mason Bees - The Friendly Pollinators

Mason Bees appear like a big house fly with a greenish black shine to them.

(Guest writer: Linda Zielinski) Did you know that Mason Bees (Osmia lignaria) are one of the most common hole-nesting bees? They are wonderful pollinators, especially for apples and pears. Researchers claim they can be up to 90% more efficient at pollinating than honeybees due to the fact that Mason Bees will forage in light rain and at cooler temperatures than honeybees and other pollinators. If you are worried or concerned about getting stung then this hard working little Mason Bee may be just what you and your flowers and vegetable gardens are looking for. Mason Bees are not aggressive since they are a solitary bee and are not defending a queen. They are considered quite docile. 

Linda's nesting boxes are hung under the eves, on the southeast side of a shed so they get sun and are protected from prevailing winds/rains. Insets show other styles of nesting boxes.

Nesting boxes for Mason Bees:  I have quite a few nesting boxes. My nesting boxes are hanging under the eaves of my pump house facing towards the southeast so they can be warmed by the early morning sun and protected from direct rain.  Mason bees are easy to care for. You can make new nesting boxes by using a drill press and a 5/16 bit and blocks of UNTREATED wood. You may also purchase nesting straws. I have found the straws at the WildBirdsUnlimited store in Corvallis. For right now I have placed 2 new nesting boxes and a package of straws for the ladies to use as new homes for their eggs. As these begin to fill up I will continue making new boxes. Last year the girls were so prolific that I had to make several new nest blocks 3 different times.

Chris hangs nesting boxes at the Monroe garden

Mason Bee life cycle: This year, my Mason Bees began emerging in early April. The males hatch out first once our temperatures get above 55 degrees for 3 days in a row. The females seem to understand that it is important to lay female eggs at the back of the holes and lay the male egg at the front of each hole. This assures the survival of this species as it only takes one male to mate with several female Mason Bees. Once the weather begins to warm and the males emerge they then wait around for several days for the females to chew through their cocoon and then chew through the mud wall that divides each egg cell until they reach the end of the nesting hole and crawl out to live their short productive life in our wonderful Willamette Valley. The males then fly around chasing the females in a mating dance.

 

Once the males have mated their job is complete and they die. The females immediately begin gathering pollen and laying eggs. They do not excavate holes but look around their environment for a 4-6 inch-long space that is approximately 5/16 of an inch in diameter. They are often seen crawling up under house shingles. No need to worry though. They do not damage your siding but are merely looking for a safe, dry place to lay their eggs. After she has gathered pollen she will return to the nesting tubes/boxes, fly into the holes and turn circles inside which helps the gathered pollen fall off her body as she wiggles her way to the end of the tube. 

Mason Bee larvae with pollen-ball for larval feeding. Image courtesy of Red58Bill.

There she will lay her tiny egg and put a pollen ball on top of that. She will leave about a 1 inch space and she then make a 1/4 inch mud plug to wall off that egg, hence the name "Mason" Bee. For the next 8-10 weeks these busy ladies continue gathering pollen and nectar. Sometime towards the end of June their life's work is over and they die. During the summer months the eggs develop into larvae. The larvae feeds on the pollen and nectar and develop into pupae. The Mason Bee pupae develop into bees protected inside a cocoon. They hibernate over the winter and emerge sometime towards the end of March or early April to start this marvelous life cycle over again. 

 

HappBee Gardening. Linda Zielinski

 

Linda Zielinski is an avid Mason Bee 'farmer' who lives in Philomath, Oregon. She generously provided the "Sharing Gardens" with a starter house of bees which we hope will multiply so we can spread them around the valley and help other gardeners get them established. Thank you, Linda, for writing this article about the bees for us to post on our site.

Note: This was originally published on this site, April 13, 2012. 

Lettuce: From Seed to Feed - Part 2: Saving Seed

By Llyn Peabody 

If you grow your own lettuce, as the weather warms, it's not uncommon to have some of it "bolt" (try to go to seed). Saving lettuce seed is fairly easy and a good entry-point for those new to the process. Here is a re-publishing of a post we wrote back in 2011 but the information is just as relevant today. Happy seed-saving :-).

Saving your own seed is an important aspect of developing local food self-reliance. Relying on commercial seed farmers may become increasingly unreliable as climate change disrupts weather patterns and seed crops falter. Growing your own seed slowly modifies your plants to be uniquely suited to your micro-climate and growing conditions. Networking with other seed-savers in your area builds a sense of community. LINK: Locally Sustainable Gardening in the Face of Supply-Chain Shortages

 

Lettuce flowers - close-up.

Seed-saving can seem intimidating at first. I know I felt that way. Many vegetables will cross with their neighbors yielding inconsistent results. There are many questions that must be answered before moving forward. For this reason I definitely recommend Suzanne Ashworth's "Seed to Seed". It is a comprehensive manual that covers all aspects of seed-saving. I am also grateful to my husband, Chris, for all he has taught me from his 40+ years of gardening. He's helped me translate the book knowledge into experiential learning. Saving seed appeals to the outlaw in me, I guess. Like treating illness with herbs I grew myself, there is something empowering about developing skills usually left to "the experts". As it turns out, it's not really that difficult at all.

"Red Sails" lettuce - blooming. "Red Sails" lettuce - blooming.

Saving Lettuce Seed: Like most things in gardening, a bit of forethought goes a long way. Ashworth recommends 12' - 25' separation between types of lettuce to prevent cross-pollination (the farther the better). Plan your plantings (and harvesting) to leave sufficient distance between the flowering plants. Though you may have enough time to bring a Fall crop of lettuce to seed, we usually do our seed-saving with the lettuce we plant in the Spring.

 

Note: Be sure there is no wild lettuce that is forming seed near the varieties of domesticated lettuce you are saving seed from as it can cross. The plants that grow from these crossed seeds tend to be more bitter and course. There are several varieties of wild lettuce; this one is named Lactuca Serriola LINK.

Lettuce bolting - Black-Seeded Simpson Lettuce bolting - Black-Seeded Simpson

 Lettuce is an "annual" crop. This means that the plants will produce seed in one season (without over-wintering). As the weather gets hotter and drier you will notice on romaine or "leaf" lettuce a definite lengthening of the plant. ("Leaf" types form a loose rosette of leaves but not a tight "head). When it lengthens, it is starting to "bolt". Lettuce that is bolting gets noticeably more bitter (probably nature's way of protecting the plant in this important phase of its reproduction). On "head" lettuce (such as Iceberg), Ashworth says it can be helpful to slit the head, forming a cross-cut with a sharp knife, making it easier for the flower-stalk to emerge. She says some gardeners strike the head of the lettuce with the palm of their hand thus breaking the leaves away from the stalk. Without some effort to free the flower-stalk, head-rot from heat and humidity may kill the plant before it can go to seed. So far we have saved seed mainly from "leaf" lettuce. This summer we will experiment with our red and green "head" lettuces to see what works best for us and report back.

Lettuce marked for seed with bamboo. Lettuce marked for seed with bamboo.

As we are gardening with a group of people, we have found it essential to clearly mark the plants that we are saving for seed, so they are not harvested by accident. We have made small tipi's with bamboo sticks, tied a red ribbon around the plant or put a small sign on a stake and driven it in nearby. Even a plant that is obviously past an edible stage for harvest is not safe as a well-meaning fellow-gardener may assume the responsible thing to do is weed out your seedy lettuce plant and toss it on the compost pile!

Staked lettuce - the flowers get heavy. Staked lettuce - the flowers get heavy.

As the flower stalk grows it will produce a big head of flowers. You may need to tie it to a stake so it doesn't fall over. Seed production occurs 12 - 24 days after flowering. Ashworth says you can harvest seeds daily by shaking the stalk over a large paper sack. The ripe seeds will fall into the bag. The method we have used is to wait until the majority of seeds are ripe and to cut off the whole flower head and place that in a paper sack. Leave the sack open in a warm, dry place (like the top shelf your tool shed) until the flowers are thoroughly dry. Be sure to label the bag with the name of the lettuce variety. If mice are a problem and you have the space, try hanging the open bag from rafters.

To winnow the seeds, roll the flowers between your fingers and the palms of your hands to free them . Lettuce seed is challenging to separate because the seeds are not much heavier than the chaff. Patiently drop small amounts of the seed/chaff over a tray, from a height of a foot or two while blowing gently. The seed should drop and the fluff blow away. Some people run the seed through screens but we have not tried this method. Commercially available seed-sifting screens are another option. They have different sized holes.

Put ripened lettuce flowers into a paper bag to finish drying. Put ripened lettuce flowers into a paper bag to finish drying.

Lettuce seed will remain viable for 2-3 years if kept in a cool, dark place, in an air-tight container.

The Sharing Gardens is a non-profit and tax-exempt organization. We exist entirely through donations. If you have found benefit from our project or our site, please consider making a donation through PayPal. (Click button below.)

Onions and Lettuce and Peas, "Oh My!"

Reprinted from February 2021: It's early Spring in the Sharing Gardens. Oh sure, we could still get plenty more freezing nights and even some significant snowfall before Spring is fully here but the first crocuses and daffodils are budding, the days are noticeably longer and the air carries hints of the earth's slow warming.  Since we have several greenhouses, February is the time for starting the cool-loving crops like lettuce, cabbage, kale, broccoli, collards, celery, parsley, onions and peas. We have also seeded beets and carrots directly in the ground in greenhouse beds. Here are some previously written posts about how to start some of these crops in your own garden.

 

An early crop of red and green lettuce grown in our greenhouse.

Lettuce and other seedlings, Spring 2012

Our first CSA box-2018.

Please note that, while we do our best to update our posts to reflect our current methods, gardening is a dynamic art-form which we're always developing and these posts may not reflect our current practices. Happy gardening!

Valentines Day: Time for Pea Planting: Since our soil outside the greenhouses doesn't really warm up enough to germinate peas till later in the Spring, we've developed a method for starting the peas in pots, in the greenhouse which we then transplant outside once the soil warms up and the plants can outgrow slugs and snails. Valentine's Day: Time for Pea Planting LINK

John and Llyn transplanting peas grown in pots, in our greenhouse.

Lettuce: Growing from Seed: Lettuce is fairly easy to grow in our climate. You won't believe how sweet and delicious home-grown lettuce is compared to lettuce bought from the store! LINK

Lettuce: Saving Your Own Seed: If you leave a lettuce plant in the ground, very often it will "bolt" and go to seed (especially in the heat of summer). Lettuce-seed is easy to save and one plant can produce enough seed to grow lettuce for a whole neighborhood for years to come! That's "nature's economy" at its best! LINK

Delicious, home-grown lettuce.

Onions: Growing from Seed: Here's a method of growing onions from seed that will also produce copious amounts of onion-greens as well. LINK and LINK

Onions, grown from seed.

Carrots: growing from seed:  This post includes instructions for preparing the ground for carrots to grow and a short video-clip about planting carrots. LINK

Wish List: Spring is a time for cleaning out one's sheds and closets to make room for the new. Here's an updated wish-list of items that we can use in the Sharing Gardens or pass along to other gardeners in the area. Let us know if you can use anything and we'll see if we can help you out. Wish List

The Sharing Gardens is a registered non-profit and tax-exempt organization. We exist primarily through donations. If you have found benefit from our project or our site, please consider making a donation through PayPal. A receipt will automatically be provided for your records. (Click button below.)