Underground Magic: Mycorrhizae

Many of you know I am a staunch fan of mycorrhizae!  Studies have shown that mycorrhizal root systems increase the absorptive area of roots 10 to 1000 times thereby greatly improving the ability of the plants to utilize the soil resources.  We talk to our plants, but now we know that Plants Talk to Each Other Through Mycorrhizae, warning each other when they have been attacked by insects like aphids!

The new study, carried out by researchers from the University of Aberdeen, the James Hutton Institute and Rothamsted Research, demonstrates plants’ ability to send warnings about incoming aphids to other plants connected to their network. Plants send out a chemical signal that repels aphids and attracts predatory wasps, who then attack the aphids. However, plants that were not found to be connected to the fungal network did not send out warnings to other plants after being attacked.  Previous findings that have shown plants communicate with similar chemical warnings through the air. Plants in the research network were covered with bags to ensure they were not sending signals through the air.

John Pickett of Rothamsted Research told the BBC the discovery could lead to growers using fungi as an advance warning system for their crops. The theory, he said, is to use a sacrificial plant at a distance from crops and if it fell under attack, it would warn the others, giving them time to build a defense.  In scientific language, the amazing response is like this:  The inoculation of pathogens ’led to increases in disease resistance and activities of the putative defensive enzymes, peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, chitinase, b-1, 3-glucanase, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and lipoxygenase in healthy neighboring ‘receiver’ plants.  The uninfected ‘receiver’ plants also activated six defense-related genes!’  This explains why one plant can be unhealthy and a plant right next to it thrives!

What this means for us veggie gardeners, is we now have another significant reason to sprinkle that mycorrhizae right ON our plants’ roots when we install our transplants!  You can get it in bulk at Island Seed & Feed in Goleta, and it’s worth it!  It saves money too!  You need less Nitrogen and Phosphorus.  Mycorrhiza & Farmers video

My friend says ‘WOW!!!  I guess I shouldn’t keep my plants in “solitary confinement” in pots….’  I replied, use some bigger pots and let a few plants live together; sprinkle on the mycorrhizal fungi when you move them in together!

Squirrels, Birds, Gophers – Save Your Plants!

Pilgrim Terrace Community Garden now has ground squirrels.  Sadly, ground squirrels carry diseases, so trap and release is not even legal.  Dealing with them effectively is more involved than with gophers, and, of course, it requires carefulness not to injure or kill other animals – pets, birds.  Read all about squirrels and their management at the UCANR page.  The main thing is to trap immediately.  A smaller population is easier to deal with.

The most sure is protected beds, above and below ground.

If you have only gophers, 1/2 inch hardware cloth barriers work well.  You can put in an 18 inch to 2′ deep perimeter barrier, or dig out all the soil and install it across the entire underground area.  Just be sure to bind the overlapping areas so the gophers can’t push their way between the layers.  Immediately trap any that come in over ground.

If you have overland travelers, ground squirrels, sometimes gophers, birds, build raised beds but don’t fill ‘em with soil!  Cover them, leaving space for plants to grow tall!  It even protects from cabbage moths if you choose a small enough mesh!  From Empress of Dirt, this cover simply sits on top.  Easy to remove to tend your soil and plants.  A hinged cover is clever, but you can’t work on the side of the box where the hinges are, and eventually the hardware loosens.

Clearly, the days of long single row plantings are over.  It works better to interplant 3 types of plants closely together in blocks if you have limited covered area.  Plant no wider than you can reach to tend and harvest.

The bed below has a vertical barrier, but it’s harder to remove or access your plants, and doesn’t protect from birds.  If you have strawberries, bird protection is a must!

For taller plants, try a hoop house!  The sides can be conveniently rolled up when you want to work or harvest.  Obviously, the perimeter needs to be secure at the ground when it’s down, or critters will sneak under the edge.  Hoop houses can be huge or humble, tall or low, covered with clear plastic, greenhouse film.  Be sure there is ventilation on hot days.  Hoops may be PVC, aluminum, rounded or angled, totally your preference, may depend on materials available.  Nice thing about hoop houses is they can shade your summer lettuces if you choose a shade cloth cover, or keep your summer plants warmer in fall, extend your growing season, and you can start your favorite summer plants in spring a tad sooner!

If building isn’t in your picture book, simply make humble wire covers.  Get the size wire you want, fold it to fit your spot!  Voilà!  Instant.  OR, buy what you want ready made, a pop up with box, cover and all!  Just be sure there is easy access to tending and harvesting your plants, and ventilation.  This one is about $50, perfect for a mini lettuce patch!

Bless us all, humans and creatures!

JUNE Summer Tips – Plant More!

Baby tomatoes are on, corn is singing taller and taller!

Sow or transplant lima and snap beans, beets, carrots, celeriac, celery, chard, corn, cucumbers, egg-plants, oakleaf and other heat-tolerant and bolt-resistant lettuces, melons, okra, peppers, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, radishes, New Zealand spinach, summer and winter squash, and tomatoes.  Keep the party going!

Transplant Terminitus  No, no, not really, but here’s what happens and what to do! You thought you would just run over to the nursery, pick up some plants and pop them in the ground, be home in jig time! Those plants at the nursery have been well fertilized, growing quickly in the warm weather. Root bound! Not the end of the world. Just gently spread out those roots so they can function – breath, drink, pick up nutrients, get their toes tickled by microbes!  Sprinkle mycorrhizal fungi right on their roots for more uptake!  Otherwise, at the end of the season, and you wonder why they didn’t produce very well, pull them out, why, whoa, out comes the little ‘plug’ just the way you put it in, six pack shape. The roots never got to do their job. Maybe your plant wilted frequently. Water didn’t help. Ok, got it?  So just take those extra moments. Everyone will be happy.

Compost well where you want foliage crops – spinach, kale, and lettuce. No compost, especially no manures for carrots or beans. Carrots get hairy and forked when the soil is too rich, you wasted your Nitrogen. Beans will make handsome leaves but no beans. Same with strawberries.  And no chickie manure for strawberries.

Would you believe?! Harvesting takes twice as much time as weeding? It’s true. But know you gotta do it to keep your crops coming! Otherwise, your plant thinks it has done its work and starts quitting.

Here’s a TOMATOES, POTATOES, and especially PEPPERS Tip! Several times during blossoming time, dissolve one tablespoon of Epsom salts in a watering can (gallon), and spray or sprinkle the solution on the leaves and blossoms. Pour the remainder in a ring around the plant at the dripline. This magnesium treatment will give greater yields for eggplants and squashes too!

The first squash blossoms don’t set fruit, don’t worry. They’re male blossoms. The female blossoms (the ones with the miniature squash at the base of the flower) come next, bees pollinate them, you will have fruit!

Lunar Gardening! Just for fun or maybe for real?!

Some swear by it, others say there is no proof for it.  I speculate its a little of both.  Per Maria Thun’s experiments, some plants respond a lot, others not at all, some not as expected!  So if you test the principle for a plant you think is water oriented, and test it only in water signs, but it actually responds to fire, you will miss the real result!  Science is science.  If you are going to test, do it thoroughly for trustworthy results.  That said, here is the opinion of a man named Blagrave, an herbalist in 1671!  And, yes, even believers disagree, of course!  This might make you rethink your lunar premises.

Planting:  Plant when the Moon is waxing [increasing, New to Full] and in a water sign:  Cancer, Scorpio or Pisces.  Use a Lunar Calendar.  Avoid the days before and after the new and full moons. New moons produce weak plants, full moons produce quick growing top-heavy plants that fall over. If flowers are important, plant in a waxing [increasing from New to Full] moon in Taurus or Libra, the Venus signs.  For root plants, plant in a waning [decreasing from Full to New] moon in an earth sign: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn. If you want to eat the root (potatoes, carrots, beets, onions, etc.) plant in a waning moon in a water sign, as earthy signs produce woodiness.

Harvesting:  For long storage and best preservation, harvest in a waning moon in a fire sign: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius.  [Mind you, in 1671, this was important - no fridgies!]

If you get radical, and want more details, check out the Farmers’ Almanac Best Days & Calendars, Gardening Calendar!

Alright!  Now you can all be scientists and see for yourself what works!  Have fun!

Practical Tips for Dry Year Veggie Gardening

Dry farming has been done for centuries in arid places.  With global warming, many will be using these ancient techniques to great advantage!  In Vietnam today, beans and peanuts, that restore the soil, and sesame, are grown season to season between wet rice plantings!  Watch this Vietnamese video, No Water Required! Dry Farming In Âu Lạc Vietnam

I’m sharing this paragraph on DRY GARDENING from the Oregon Biodynamics Group.  We hear about tomatoes being dry gardened, but have you ever done it?  Here are some practical tips from people who have:

When the homesteaders planted their gardens, they needed to feed their family for much of the year. They couldn’t afford to do raised beds or to develop irrigation systems. How did they do that? Part of the answer is to give plants lots of elbowroom. Space rows widely at about 8 times what we do with intensive beds. They also hoed or cultivated to keep a “dust mulch” [see below] between the plants. This technique is quite effective at preserving water so the plants can make it through the summer with only an occasional irrigation. Most of this class is directed at intensive gardening because we have limited areas for garden plots. But if you have the room, one can produce high-quality produce without irrigation. Vegetables must be able to send down deep roots so that they can draw in the water that is stored in the soil. Plants that work are root crops, brassicas, corn, squash, and beans. Ones that don’t work are onions, celery, lettuce, Chinese cabbage, radishes, and spinach. The plants need to get well established in June [Oregon] using the natural soil moisture. Then they can carry themselves through the dry months. It helps to give 5 gallons of compost tea every 2-3 weeks during July-August. Liquid fertilizer helps with the stress of low water.

Clearly, our SoCal weather is different. I’m translating their Oregon June to our May. If you are a coastal gardener, or a foothill gardener, use your judgment how you will do your gardening practice. Dry gardening isn’t for everyone, ie, harvest is generally a tad less.  Plant your dry crops separately from your water-needing crops.  Plant your water lovers more closely together and mulch them well.

• If it is an option, store water for summer use. Set up a grey water system.
• Prepare your soil with well aged water-holding compost, manure, worm castings.
• Plant out of a drying windy zone. If that’s all you have, plant subshrub barriers or build windbreaks.
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• Select plants or plant varieties suited to summer, tolerate heat and being dryer.
• Choose plants that mature more quickly so they will have the early season water.  Plant those that need less water in the latter part of the season.
• Grow only what you need.
• If you don’t need volume, but rather a steady supply, plant high producing dwarfs and minis, like many container varieties, that need less water for smaller leaves.
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• Plant further apart, at least 1½ times or greater the spacing distance recommended on seed packets, 8 times further if you have been doing intensive planting practices. But, do give seeds and seedlings all the water they need until they are established
• Make furrows and plant IN the bottoms of furrows, not on the peaks that drain/dry out.
• Thin out seedlings on time.  No wasting water on plants you won’t use and that will slow others that need all the nutrients and water they can get.  Use scissors; don’t pull up soil causing the other plant’s roots soil to be disturbed, even expose the roots, to dry out, killing that plant too.
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• If you don’t go the entire dry gardening route, but want to use less water, mulch deeply early on. It keeps your soil from drying out and blocks light germinating weed seeds from sprouting.
• Self mulching:  plant in blocks, rather than rows. This creates shade for roots and reduces evaporation.
• Dust mulching is simply soil cultivation to about 2 or 3 inches deep. Cultivation disturbs the soil surface and interrupts the wicking of soil moisture from below to the surface and losing it to evaporation.  Do it after rains or irrigating.
• Remove water-using weeds. Don’t let them seed.
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• When you water, do it by drip or trickle, deeply, early AM if possible, when wind is low and temps are cool. Plants drink during the day.  This is a good time to invest in a ’hose bubbler.’  They deliver water slowly without digging up your soil.
• Cultivate 2″ to 3″ deep before a rain to capture up to 70% of the rainfall! Cultivate afterwards if a salt crust (from manures) has built up.
• Give your plants tasty compost tea, equal parts water and aged compost. Compost tea delivers rich soluble nutrients directly to the plant roots. Harvest on time at peak flavor and texture, using no more water than needed.
• If water becomes critical, consider planting only a couple of containers with vegetables.
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• When your harvest is done, turn the remaining plants under, especially legumes, like beans, that feed your soil.

Be water wise, sleep well, eat hearty, share the bounty!

Probiotics in Your Garden?! YES!

Believe it or not, the homemade common green pickle is an excellent probiotics food source.  So is homemade sauerkraut, considered a probiotic super food! And the ‘sauerkraut’ can be made of any of the Brassica family plants - broccoli, cabbage – green or red is fine, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, kale, bok choy, kohlrabi, etc.  These plants have the same bacteria as in yogurt, and the bacteria does all the work naturally!

Probiotics?  Say what?  What are they and why would you want them?!

Per WebMD.com ’Probiotics are organisms such as bacteria or yeast that are believed to improve health. They are available in supplements and foods. The idea of taking live bacteria or yeast may seem strange at first. After all, we take antibiotics to fight bacteria. But our bodies naturally teem with such organisms. The digestive system is home to more than 500 different types of bacteria. They help keep the intestines healthy and assist in digesting food. They are also believed to help the immune system.’

Pickling cucumbers are fun to grow, crunchy tasty off the vine, and the survivors are easy to make into pickles!  Basically, use any mix of spices that pleases you, add it to your jars.  Wash, leave whole or cut to fit, and puncture your cukes – so the brine is better absorbed, stuff them into the jar too.  Make a salt and water brine, pour it over them a 1/2″ more than the height of the cukes.  Ferment a few days and they’re yours!

HellaDelicious uses a marvelous spice mix (below), and has great tips on her page by page recipe – see all the details!  Or just do water and salt, forget all the spices!  But, I’ll bet you have a few of these spices handy and could quickly throw in a few, just your favorites, of course!  Be creative!  This works for any veggies you would like to pickle – cauliflower, beans, asparagus, onions, carrot slices, beets, tomatoes!

• small handful fennel seeds (you gathered from an unsprayed place)
• 6-10 black peppercorns
• 1 T mustard seeds
• 5-7 cloves
• 5-6 cloves of garlic, sliced (you grew your own)
• dill flower heads and leaves (you grew it next to your cukes)
• small handful of coriander seeds (cilantro you let bolt and seed)
• 1 horseradish root, sliced (fresh is great but it’s highly invasive)
• cinnamon bark

You may enjoy A cheater’s guide to quick pickling almost anything by wild Brooklynite pickler Kenji Magrann-Wells.

Now.  Before you go running off to the grocery store to buy pickles and sauerkraut, know that, per Sarah, the Healthy Home Economist,

Foods that are pickled are those that have been preserved in an acidic medium. In the case of various types of supermarket pickles on the shelf, the pickling comes from vinegar. These vegetables, however, are not fermented (even though vinegar itself is the product of fermentation) and hence do not offer the probiotic and enzymatic value of homemade fermented vegetables.

Vegetables that you ferment in your kitchen using a starter, salt, and some filtered water create their own self preserving, acidic liquid that is a by-product of the fermentation process. This lactic acid is incredibly beneficial to digestion when consumed along with the fermented vegetables or even when sipped alone as anyone on the GAPS Intro Diet has discovered (cabbage juice anyone?). In other words, homemade fermented veggies are both fermented and pickled.  [Be sure to read the comments on her page too!]

She says not only are there probiotics, but these homemade foods

• Enhance the vitamin content of the food.
• Preserve and sometimes enhance the enzyme content of the food.
• Improve nutrient bio-availability in the body.
• Improve the digestibility of the food and even cooked foods that are consumed along with it!

To your excellent health and the great sport of pickling and krauting!

Merry, Muy Delicioso, Mouth Watering May!

If you didn’t plant much in April, now is the time!  Cantaloupe!  Transplants of winter squash asap so they will have time to grow and harden for harvest!  Tomatoes planted now while the soil is warmer and dryer will stand a better chance against soil fungi.  Plant 2nd rounds of late March, early April plantings.

Sow seeds of lima and snap beans, beets, cantaloupe, carrots, celery, chard, chicory, chives, slo-bolt cilantro, corn, WHITE radishes with cucumbers to repel cucumber beetles, radishes with eggplants as a trap plant for flea beetles, leeks, warm-season lettuces, melons, okras, green onions, peanuts, peppers, pumpkins, soybeans, warm-season spinaches, squashes, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes.  At the same time put in transplants of what you can get, and you will have two successive plantings in at once!

Long beans are an exception.  I find they don’t really take off until it’s good and hot, so wait until June to plant them.  Also, they are the last bean producers, filling in at the end of summer.  At the end of summer they are crankin,’ you won’t believe how quickly they get that long!  Even better, they don’t get mildews!  Their taste and texture is slightly different than our standard green beans, but delish also!

Creature Department! Head of the L.A. master gardener program, Yvonne Savio says ‘Interplant cucumbers and beans to repel cucumbers beetles and prevent the wilt diseases they carry. Also plant Cucurbita lagenaria gourds as trap plants for cucumber beetles. Plant potatoes to repel squash bugs.’ And here’s a trick she recommends! ‘When hand-picking those hard-to-see tomato hornworms, sprinkle the plants lightly with water first. Then, as the horn-worms wiggle to shake off the water, you can easily see them and remove them.’ Doncha love it?!

Important to know this: Later this month, when foliage on garlic, bulb onions, and shallots begins to dry naturally, stop irrigating. Dry outer layers needed for long storage will form on the bulbs. When about half of the foliage slumps to the ground naturally, bend the rest to initiate this maturing. The bulbs will be ready for harvest when the foliage is thoroughly dry and crisp. Not pretty, but it’s the way it works!

Be careful with your strawberries! Give them a balanced fertilizer, like a yummy micronutrients fish/kelp mix, now and after each heavy fruit-bearing period for continued strong growth and fruit set.  One of our gardeners fed them this mix every other week and his harvests were outstanding!  However, if you have skunks, etc., don’t use fishy stinky stuff because it attracts these foragers. Avoid mulching with manure, especially chicken, that has a relatively high salt level strawberries don’t like. Even with excellent irrigation and drainage, summer heat will cause its saltiness to burn the berry plants. So what to use if you have skunks and the like? Bunny poop. Get it on Thursdays at the Animal Shelter. You are doubly warned.

Mulching? Do it in summer! Self Mulching! This is the cheapest, easiest technique! Transplant seedlings close enough so that the leaves of mature plants will shade the soil between the plants.  If you choose to do this, alternate plants that get the same diseases or pests with plants that don’t get the same diseases or pests. That’s all there is too it! Roots are cool and comfy, less water needed. Natural mulches feed your soil as they decompose. Avoid any that have been dyed. Strawberries and blueberries like loose, acid mulches – pine needles or rotted sawdust. Raspberries and blackberries enjoy SEEDLESS straw.  Plants are done?  Chop and Drop!  Mulch is just so clever! Besides the underground advantages, above ground, it keeps plant leaves off the soil where snails, other critters, soil diseases, climb onboard. It keeps leaves drier, less molds, mildew. It keeps fruits off the soil, prevents soil splash, so you have clean harvest.

See the entire May newsletter!