How to Plant the Garden of Your Daily Living

Thanks to Sandy Wilson, one of our adopt-a-plotters, for sending this to me:

How To Plant Your Garden 

First, you Come to the garden alone,  while the dew is still on the roses. 

 

 

 

 

 

FOR THE  GARDEN OF YOUR DAILY LIVING,  

    PLANT THREE ROWS  OF PEAS: 

 

 

 

1. Peace of  mind   

2. Peace of heart     

3. Peace of soul  

      PLANT FOUR  ROWS OF SQUASH: 

 

 

 

1. Squash gossip 
2. Squash indifference 
3. Squash grumbling  
4. Squash  selfishness

PLANT  FOUR ROWS OF LETTUCE: 

 

1. Lettuce be faithful  
2. Lettuce be kind 
3. Lettuce be patient 
4. Lettuce really love one another

NO  GARDEN IS WITHOUT TURNIPS:  

 

1. Turnip for meetings  

2. Turnip for service

3. Turnip to help one another

TO CONCLUDE OUR GARDEN YOU MUST  HAVE  THYME: 

 

 

   1. Thyme for God
   2. Thyme for each other  
   3. Thyme for family  
   4. Thyme for friends

WATER FREELY WITH PATIENCE AND CULTIVATE WITH LOVE.  THERE IS MUCH FRUIT IN YOUR GARDEN BECAUSE YOU  REAP WHAT YOU  SOW.

News - Somethings Old and Somethings New

Hi Gardeners!  I thought it would be good to backtrack and include some information on our blog that I sent you in my welcome  to the Edible Schoolyard Adopt-A-Plot email.

This year we have an electric tiller, thanks to the support of all the University College academic programs.  There is an electrical outlet by the backdoor of the LLC.  This is a small, lightweight tiller meant for little jobs.  Take care and use it safely.

Compost has been delivered to add to your garden plot.  Compost is the best fertilizer ever!  I add it to my garden soil before I plant and then side dress my plants later in the season, as you would with fertilizer.  Compost tea is also fantastic.  Just take a bucket and fill it half full with compost and top it with water.  Cover with a tight fitting lid and leave it to steep for 7-10 days.  Strain into another bucket and dilute one part tea to 2 parts water (if you have two more buckets of equal size simply pour a third into each of the other buckets and fill all three with water).  Recipe from The Organic Gardeners Handbook by Frank Tozer.

Speaking of compost, we have compost bins behind the garden shed.  Anything organic can go into the compost bins except for meat, dairy, diseased plants, or weeds with seeds or flowers on them.  Some really good compost additives are coffee or tea grounds, crushed eggshells, leftover dirt from pots, and of course, any vegetable or fruit waste.

Mulch has also been delivered to put around the flower beds.  We are awaiting a delivery of wood chips so we can put them down in the walkways between plots to cut down on the weeds.  In the meantime, please weed your walkways around your plot.

A reminder to make a wind-weather proof sign for your garden that has your name on it with any artistic touches you would care to add.

SOME MORE EXCELLENT RESOURCES:

Here are some good garden resources for beginners from a handout I received from the Watauga County NC Cooperative Extension office (http://watauga.ces.ncsu.edu):
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/hortinfo.html - This site has numerous factsheets covering flowers, shrubs, trees, vegetables, houseplants, and other horticultural topics.
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/ag_publications.html - This website brings you to NCSU and North Carolina Cooperative Extension Horticultural Publications, available as PDF documents.
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/hortinternet/ - The NCSU Horticulture Department has compiled information on various types of plants and garden topics at this website.

The Watauga County NC  Cooperative Extension office will also be having "Organic Gardening 101" - Designed for beginning gardeners or those who would like to switch to organic methods.  Topics include garden planning, seed starting, companion planting, how to attract beneficial bugs, pest management, soil tests and amendments, composting and vermi-composting and dealing with common plant problems.  The course will be held at the previous ASU Sustainable Development Farm in Valle Crucis.  Cost is $20.00 for all 4 days.  Space is liminted, so reserve your spot by paying in advance at the NC Cooperative Extension office at 971 West King Street, Boone.  For more information contact: Margie Mansure (828) 264-3061, margie_mansure@ncsu.edu.  (See dates of events at http://watauga.ces.ncsu.edu.)

The Watauga County NC Cooperative also has a blog at:  http://wataugaces.blogspot.com/.

Well, I'm taking the plunge this week and putting in my tomato plants!!!  The 10-day forecast shows all evening temperatures above 50.  Wish me luck!

See you in the Edible Schoolyard!
-Debbie

Companion Planting

Hey Fellow Gardeners!
As you begin your gardens this season I would love to share with you some good information from Carrots Love Tomatoes (by Louise Riotte) on companion planting.  This is just the best resource I've come across in a long time.  Here we go:

Asparagus loves parsley, basil, and tomatoes
Bush beans love celery, cucumbers, strawberries and in alternate rows with corn
Pole beans love corn and summer savory
Beets love bush beans, onions, and kohlrabi
Broccoli loves dill, celery, camomile, sage, peppermint, rosemary, potatoes, beets and onions
Cabbage, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, collards and brussel sprouts love the same things that broccoli loves
Carrots love tomatoes, leaf lettuce, chives, onions, leeks, rosemary, sage, and radishes
Corn loves potatoes, peas, beans, cucumbers, pumpkin and squash
Cucumbers love corn, beans, peas, radishes, and sunflowers
Eggplant loves green beans
Leeks love celery, onions, and carrots
Lettuce loves green onions, strawberries, cucumbers, and carrots
Okra loves bell peppers and eggplant
Onions loves all members of the cabbage family, beets, strawberries, tomatoes, summer savory, and camomile
Parsley loves carrots
Peas love carrots, turnips, radishes, cucumbers, beans, potatoes, and aromatic herbs
Peppers love basil and okra
Pumpkins love corn and jimsonweed (thorn apple)
Radishes love redroot pigweed, nasturtiums, mustard greens, beets, spinach, carrots, parsnips, cucumbers, squash, melons, kohlrabi, bush beans, pole beans, and leaf lettuce
Salsify loves mustard greens and watermelon
Shallots love most garden vegetables, but like onions and garlic not near peas or beans
Spinach loves strawberries
Squash loves radishes and nasturtiums
Sweet Potatoes love white hellebore
Tomatoes love asparagus, chives, onions, parsley, marigolds, nasturtiums, carrots, garlic, stinging nettle
Turnips-Rutabagas love peas, radishes and vetch

This is just the tip of the iceberg for this resource.  I recommend every gardener have a copy on their bookshelf.  By the end of the season it will have soiled fingerprints in it--the best sign of a great gardening book!!

Thanks to Patience Perry's class and workshops the Edible Schoolyard (ESY) is really shaping up this growing season.  I (Debbie Bauer) will be managing the garden this summer with super-intern Ben Loomis.  We have lots planned and hope to have the ESY in great shape this season.

We have seven students, staff and faculty that have joined our adopt-a-plot program this season.  Also joining us in the garden are the Master Gardeners from the Watauga County Agricultural Extension Office and Lee Ball of the Technology Department with his Living Green Community.

Lee and his crew are completing our cob greenhouse and plan to build cob cold frames this summer.  We are grateful for their hard work, expertise, and presence in the ESY.

New plantings this season include blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, asparagus, rhubarb, garlic, herbs, and many beautiful perennials.

Our ESY also has established grapes, pears, apples, cherries, raspberries, lavender, oregano, lemon balm, comfrey, thyme, and other herbs, and shiitake mushroom logs. 

This growing season we plan on having a community pickin' garden, so that folks that live during the summer at the Living Learning Center or guests passing by can pick a veggie or two and leave some for others.

I've just finished a couple of really great books you might be interested in.  My favorite was Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening by Louise Riotte.  A delightful book full of information about companion planting, home fruit growing, garden techniques, soil improvement, pest control and nice hand-drawn garden plans, as well as other subjects.  It is a must have.

I also found a wealth of information in The Organic Gardeners Handbook by Frank Tozer.  This book goes through everything you need to know: site selection, soil, fertilizer, bed prep, crop planning, seed sowing, transplanting, watering, weeds, pests and disease, harvesting, seed saving, greenhouses, tools, and more!  A complete guide for organic gardening.

Lastly, I am reading Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer by Novella Carpenter (I just love her name!).  This is Appalachian State University's Summer Reading Program book for all the incoming freshmen.  I have volunteered to to head a reading discussion group in August.  This is a wonderful book.  Novella has written a great book; she's funny, witty, brave, earthy.  I highly recommend this and I'm only on page 41!

I want to thank University College, Appalachian Studies, Sustainable Development, Interdisciplinary Studies, Women's Studies, Global Studies, and Watauga Global Community for their support of the Edible Schoolyard.  It promises to be a fruitful year!

I'll be back soon with news, gardening tips, resources, etc.  Let me know if there's anything in particular that you'd like to see on this blog.

Here's some photos I took of the Edible Schoolyard in March.

The Edible Schoolyard at Appalachian State University, Summer 2012 - coming soon