Harvest passes 500 Lbs

Today the total produce harvested in the garden passed 500 lbs and there's more to come before we "put the garden to bed" for the winter. Great job everybody!

Gophers in bed 12

Cas found evidence that gophers have found bed 12.

Potatoes

I was at the garden earlier this afternoon (Loretta and I stopped by to water the salad mix direct sown seeds in Bed 6) and also noticed flowers on the potatoes...more specifically, the Desiree potatoes.

In my own backyard experiments I have tried a dozen or so potato varieties and Desiree has consistently out-yielded the others (well, Rose Finn and All Blue are also high yielders).  I typically get yields of 2.5 - 4 lbs per Desiree plant versus 1 - 2.5 lbs for the other kinds (Yukon gold, etc.).

So it's very interesting for me to see the Desiree plants about twice as big as the yukon gold plants that are in the same bed, as well as the other potato plants in the other beds. And that the Desriee's are also flowering first.  When we harvest it will be interesting to watch the yields.

Luckily, the Desiree is a tasy variety and easy to grow. Ronnigers catalog describes it as:

The most popular “red” potato in Europe. Round to oblong tubers, satin-like pinkish/red skin and gourmet quality creamy-yellow flesh. Prolific yields of excellent all-around cooking potatoes. Very resistant to common diseases. An easy and very reliable gourmet potato to grow.

Cleared Failed Crops

Per Loretta's instructions from the Saturday workday, went by the garden this morning (Wed) and removed the insect eaten purple bush beans in the west fence/sunflower bed. Got 14 oz of edible beans from the plants. Also removed most of the failed pumpkin vines in the north fence /sunflower bed. I left 3 plants as they had viable fruit on them.
Potatoes are starting to flower.
Ann

Fava Harvest

The last of the favas got harvested today.
25.5 lbs today... a total of 49.25 lbs from bed 9

First Section of Herb/Natives Mandala planted!

This past weekend (Saturday), Dina and friends planted the first section M1, of the Mandala with medicinal herbs. After lots of digging and cover cropping, it's finally starting to take form.

Salad Mix for Fundraiser Planted Today

This evening Loretta and I planted salad mix in Bed 6 (72 sq ft) intended to be harvested for the fundraiser dinner. If all goes well we'll have endive, lettuce dalla rosa (sp?), green and red lettuce mix, beet greens, and chard (to be harvested as baby chard) by Oct 18! The entire bed is covered in agribon so be sure to keep it wet until things germinate. Arugula will be planted in another bed in a week or two since it matures faster, and also some baby spinach.

Emily harvests Kentucky Wonders

Emily (2 years old) has come to the garden a number of times to help out on work-day Saturdays. Last Saturday she helped pull out cover crops for composting and harvested 4 oz of Kentucky Wonder beans. Thanks Emily.

Harvest 8-30-2008

Loretta says she harvested 1/2 lb of corn from Bed 1, and 10 heads of lettuce from Bed 12. And Emily (2 years old) harvested 4oz of Kentucky Wonder beans from Bed 10. (not recorded in the Data).

Insects in bed 10 favas

Ann left a note in the "closet" indicating bugs have infested the favas in bed 10.

Big harvest today

11.5 lbs of favas plus zuchs, kale, beans and chard from C-1, and beets, beans and chard from bed 2.

Garden Data

The garden data page on the web site now contains real numbers that will update as we harvest.

Carrots planted in bed 6

Elmer double dug and planted 25 sq' of carrots on Saturday

Sod-wall composting

Alan dug into the first section of the wall and found rich beautiful compost. It's working. Congratulations to Loretta for inventing a great way to use sod and create a fertile planting space.

9 composters completed

There are now 9 working composters in the composting area!

To-Do list for Sat 8/23/08

- Work on construction of composters
- Remove cover crop from bed 6 and add to partial compost pile
- Build new sections of "the wall" with green waste from FoodTown
- Prep beds C-11 and C-12 for cover crop seeding
- Continue flatting seed for fall planting