Seeds, Sprouts and Blossom Dreams

What a day. Wonderful partly cloudy skies here in Silverton. Yesterday it wasn't the case. Volunteers helped construct our second raised bed garden at Silverton. The rain was coming in sideways but the crew was chipper. We had a coffee break to warm up and made some more plans for our garden. I am hoping to clear out a site for a thick maiz patch somewhere but need to wait for the weather to let up. It is not a good idea to work soil in the winter in general but especially not when its is soggy and saturated. Soil might not always seem like a fragile thing but imagine that you are holding a mini ecosystem. When you work the soil while it is saturated (especially the clay soil of the willamette) they form impenetrable clods of clay, dirt, and detritus. These clods dry out easily and suffocate young and delicate seedling roots. The best practice when preparing soil for planting is to be patient and grab the soil with your hands on a daily basis. Try to form a ball simply by squeezing soil in your palm. If it feels like clay and forms like playdough put it back down, grab some coffee, and dream some more about how your garden will grow. If when you are forming the soil feels dry and breaks when trying to form a ball, drop it and do a rain dance because you just need a bit more water for perfect soil prep. If when you grab the soil it feels like a sponge when you squeeze it and holds a ball but resists clodding jump and dance because it is time to plant. Typically around here you can start planting early spring and summer crops like peas, radish, and some spinach later in February. You could certainly wait until March for peas but sometimes the weather has different ideas and knowing your soils structure and capacity will make your decision more intuitive to your own microclimate...a very important thing for green thumb development. So we need to wait for anything and let our gardens sleep. Completing the second garden was great so our compost and soil will have some time to settle out and cool down before planting. We received some great seed donations the past week. A huge package came in from High Mowing Seeds out of Vermont. Another big package came from Territorial Seed Company out of Cottage Grove. Al's Garden Center donated 12 4in plant starts. American Center for Sustainability is finalizing their plant list and will be donating up to 1000 plant starts for us this year. We are having a propogation party in March and hand planting 75,000 seeds! Phew...I am sweating just thinking about that. Outside the garden in my mind is in full bloom. I see peas and green climbing the sky. I already had to do some weeding in our beds because they are healthy and warmer than surrounding air making germination a pleasure. I can't wait to get growing. Come back to see more of OCDC's garden. Have any thoughts on fun projects to do with families in the garden? Fun activities for kids in the garden? Make a post and let us know your thoughts on how to immerse children and families in gardening and cultivation. We want to hear from you.

Holiday Wish List: One Hill of Steaming Horse Manure???

Well it isn't what I would have put on my wishlist for the holidays, but any garden sure would enjoy some steamy horse poop. We give our gardens exactly what they need. Thanks to Carla and Mark from OCDC for all their hard work. What a day it was. The three of us trekked into Tualatin farm land searching for a stable owner who promised us a HILL of horse manure most of it composted. We got what we wanted. We headed to a miniature horse farm out of Tualatin (name omitted for privacy reasons) and found a stable of about 5o mini horses all of them so cute. On the walk to the horse pilings, they were neighing and swaying because they were just about to be fed. They were excited by us and us by them. Carla is familiar and comfortable around horses so she began petting them and talking to them too. There were a couple big doggies that were concerned with the outsider presence but more confused with why we were shoveling horse poo I am sure. Barking us along the path, the dogs were trying to herd us into the stable doors. The hill of poo itself was 50 square feet and about 20 feet high and eight years old easily the biggest oldest pile I have seen. It was steaming but not smelly at all...least not to me. I can't speak for the others. Mark Carla and I proceeded to take about 10 cart loads of this prized compost away and were encouraged to return for more "anytime you want". It was filled to the max with wriggling worms and cocoons. GOLD. Mark and I drove out the compost to the Silverton garden where we spread it around our garden areas and filled some in ground pots as well. Although it might be a little hot (the compost might be strong and burn the plants if it isn't composted enough) the compost spreading will keep these beds and in ground pots running great for several years eliminating the need for additional soil amendments. Most of the poop we selected was fully composted but there was a mix of ages in there. For now, it is nap time for the garden. It needs a break just like we just had. March we will start some plantings of peas, spinach, salads, and radish. We were generously given 100 seed packets from High Mowing Seeds out of Vermont. All organic seeds too! I am hoping to have some more seeds come from Territorial and some plant starts coming from the American Center for Sustainability in May. If planted in April and May, we should have a strong garden for summer and fall. Still looking for volunteers and hoping to get some work done soon. One more volunteer gained...Jen who worked as a firefighter out in Alaska the last few months will be assisting with some construction and maintenance out at Silverton and possibly Linden. Hoping to lead some organic gardening classes in the Spring so look here for when and where those will be. Like what you see here and want more? Have some questions about OCDC? Are you a parent, student, or volunteer that wants more info or involvement? Contact me at the central office extension 1087 and I will be happy to answer those questions for you. You can also contact me at ocdcgardens@gmail.com .

WE GOT A GRANT!!

Above you can see the pumpkin/sunflower plot lined up. The "GROUND POTS" are made by digging into existing soil and filling the new hole with rich compost and manure. The original soil is then mix in around the top to form small hills. Ground pots are great for anything that needs constant moisture, heat, and nutrients so does well with squash, pumpkin, tomatoes, and peppers.

Oh yes we did. We just got a grant today. Thank you to SOLV and their Project Oregon grant. SOLV is sponsoring our conversion of the Silverton Plot into the children's learning and nutritional garden. We will be removing Himalayan Blackberry (an invasive species here) and all the litter from our site. The ground is soft now and most of the blackberry just needs to be root balled. Basically, Blackberry spreads into thick mats of spiny madness...imagine the scene at the end of snow white with the dragon and the brambles. Blackberry spreads by seed and by root. We have to dig up the root and sever the central "ball". We have approximately 50 to remove from our site. They have been clipped and look pretty bad already so I think we are on the way to a blackberry free garden. We have a litter problem that I have sourced to our Neighbors and their parking lot. Loads of litter blow in and are trapped along the fence line. To help keep Oregon clean and respect our site, we are going to be removing all of the trash. Most of it can be collected along the fence line. Feel free to pick up trash as you see it. The garden will appreciate it. After our major clean up, I hope to share the pictures of all the trash and the garden as it stands to our neighbors. Thanks to SOLV, our neighbors, and all our volunteers. Dates to be announced soon about the volunteer clean up day. Look here for more information.


Things to think about: Right now it is time to start thinking about your spring and summer garden plan. All the seed companies are packaging that 2010 seed and around here if you don't jump on ordering early, you won't get those prized NW producers. What will you be planting? Where will you source you seeds from? Where will everything grow? When and where will you start your seeds for transplant? We have a plan to grow most of our crop by direct seeding. This is what is important for the kids, getting them directly involved with the cultivation of food. The kids will be out planting and monitoring their seeds in early spring. We have some deer problems so we are entertaining some funky kid creations and other green techniques to keep em off our seedlings. Any one have any ideas? The children will also be participating in transplant care. Some of the plants we will grow will have a higher success rate if we grow them into healthy plants before planting them in the ground...tomatoes, peppers etc. The kids will help grow these indoors and harden them off outdoors before transplanting.

15 degrees?? Whats going on inside our gardens.

ABOVE--A shot of the garden at Linden with some cardboard poking up from below the surface. Cardboard is used instead of straw here to test the benefits of sheet mulching in raised beds.
Phew..it hurts a bit to walk outside because of the cold. I can't believe I ever managed western NY winters for college...we had -17 degrees with wind chill. I hope you all have warm places to be today. I just turned my heat on this week!
With all this cold weather, you must be thinking...what the heck happens to the ground when the cold weather gets here. Without solid snow protecting the soil from the elements of winter, we have to pay particular attention to how we maintain our soils. Soils are a stratified living system of organic and inorganic materials that interact with each other. Soil is living and breathing everyday. It is important to let our soil do its thing and not over till it. OVER TILL IS OVER KILL. This disrupts natural cycles for the organisms and bugs and could create a not so healthy living environment.
For our gardens...we have used a technique called sheet mulching to winterize it. Check out sheet mulching here http://extension.oregonstate.edu/lane/sites/default/files/documents/Lasagna.pdf. Basically we are using straw and compost as soil activators and protectors. The straw protects from constant rain and leaching of soil nutrients. It also keeps the soil warm like a blanket and breaks down into a fine material great for early seed sprouting. The compost we use is all organic and from the willamette valley. Among manures, fruit and veggie compost, and forest products it contains good bugs, bacteria, and fungi that create good soil health. We have created a great living environment where the animals and plants can relax and vacation until the heat of spring gets em back to work. Spring planting is only 8 weeks away!!


Here is an article from Oregon State University about it.

What happens when soils are long-soaked?

Rain, rain and more rain. Will prolonged, saturated soils hurt your landscape plants?

"Well, yes, no, maybe," said Oregon State University soil scientist Herb Huddleston. "It depends on how long the soil in the root zone stays saturated, how deeply rooted the plants are, how sensitive they are to temporary saturation."

In general, if the upper foot of soil is saturated for no more than a few days at a time, there will be little or no damage to most plants, explained Huddleston, who studies wetland soils in OSU's Department of Crop and Soil Science.

When soil is as saturated as it is on the west side of the Cascades in the winter, Huddleston said there can be two major effects to your garden.

"In the short run, water-filled soil pores shut off the oxygen supply to plant roots and the microflora and fauna that live in the soil," said Huddleston. "In technical terms, we say the soil becomes 'anaerobic.' This doesn't happen immediately. After a few days, however, we can assume that most of the oxygen is gone, and as long as the soil stays saturated, it is replaced very, very slowly by diffusion from the air above the soil. Then plants that need lots of oxygen for root respiration are going to feel the stress, and eventually will die and begin to rot in the soil."

The second major effect of saturated conditions in soil is both chemical and biological.

"When the soil becomes anaerobic, those microorganisms that need oxygen to live begin to die off, and the anaerobic microflora take over," he said. "Anaerobic processes of decomposition are less efficient, however, so organic carbon levels tend to accumulate in soils that are often wet for long periods of time. That's why wet soils often have blacker colors to greater depths than in better drained soils."

What can a home gardener do to minimize the adverse effects of chronically saturated soils?

- Keep your garden soil well supplied with organic matter, which maximizes both the total porosity and the ability of water to flow through the soil, said Huddleston. Organic material promotes the development and maintenance of good soil structure, which helps the soil to drain readily under natural conditions after the rain stops. -Provide some sort of surface drainage with shallow ditches if your garden area has a natural slope. "But if your soil is on a broad, level terrace and contains naturally restrictive clay layers, or is in a slightly concave, depressional area, about all you can do is wait for it to quit raining and the sun to come out," said Huddleston. - Plant landscape plants that tolerate wet conditions in the wetter places on your property. Don't plant things that need really good drainage in spots that tend to have standing water in the winter. "Douglas fir is particularly sensitive to wet soil conditions, whereas Ponderosa pine is much more tolerant. Some plants actually thrive in wet soil conditions, and they often have special mechanisms to provide oxygen to their roots during the time the soil is saturated. Oregon ash is such a plant, as are the multitude of sedges and rushes that occupy true wetlands." - Plant wet-intolerant species in berms, raised beds or planters. For instance, fruit trees don't like "wet feet." If you must plant them in a wet area, plant them in a bed of soil piled above the winter-saturated zone. Build the beds higher than you think they need to be; they will settle. - Use structures and ground covers to prevent erosion from rainfall. Railroad ties, stone walls, and ground covers such as green manures or ivy all help slow runoff and topsoil loss.

By: Carol Savonen
Source: Herb Huddleston

BRRRR....still working.

Thanks to everyone who helped this week. Linden garden was completed and winterized. It looks really great. Silverton got a new garden this week. Volunteers helped install the boards, dig up the plot, and prepare our pumpkin patch. What a help they were. Our plan is to heavily plant the hillside at Silverton to create a nice big pumpkin patch. Hopefully, the pumpkins can be used not only by Silverton students and families, but shared among the community. I imagine even having a pumpkin patch sale or give away. It would bring the community in and might sponsor some more progress.
The kids got messy finally. They used their hands to till and turn our soil. They helped to winterize the garden by applying compost and straw to the beds. I wanted to explain more about the process but I could tell they were cold. More events to come in the future. Its only winter and I can't wait for spring.

HELP: I need some seeds and plants. This is a call for donations and networking. We need to find some supplies for our gardens. I am hoping to plant lots of peas, spinach, and radishes come February. Our gardens will be sleeping until then for the most part. Contact me at extension 1087 or by email jeremy.katz@ocdc.net...lets collaborate.

Linden Garden Almost Complete

Linden had some garden installation last week. Things are looking good over there although those darn bunny rabbits are going to make some trouble come Spring. The garden is 80 square feet and runs 4 feet wide and 20 feet long. The kids seemed to enjoy the new activity center. Thank you to everyone who helped make the installation such a success especially the facilities crew.

Volunteer times: Want to do some dirty work next week? Check the post for updates but it looks like Thursday and Friday might be some light work days. Filling some soil and covering with straw.

Enjoy the pics once they upload...the blogger has been slow recently.

Guru Katz