Fungi

Fungi, those many formed things that pop up in so of the strangest places, usually in the lawn where you didn't really want them... but don't panic. They are a normal part of the ecology to the soil, in fact they are a prime member of the soil life web. What we call mushrooms are in fact the fruits of fungi. Fungi form strands that can be inches to many yards long, a single fungi can cover thousands of square feet. They can form near, on or even in plants.

The roles of fungi in the garden are many fold. They are the prime decomposers of lignin and cellulose of woody materials. They release acids that break down minerals making them available in the soil. They remove minerals from the organic matter and mineral particles in the soil and transport it to plant roots. They also store Calcium and phosphorus. They bind soil particles and small aggregates into larger aggregates improving soil structure, draining and habitat.

Some Fungi form symbiotic relations with plants that benefit both plant and the fungi. The fungi supplies the plant with resources that the plant can't access (water and minerals), in return the plant supplies simple sugars, complex carbohydrates and proteins. Basically fungi form extended root systems for the plants that they associate with, provide habitat for bacteria and protect the plant from pathogens, pollutants and herbivores.

[rant] Another reason to NOT use glyphosate based herbicides is the it kills fungi not just plants. It's like using a nuclear bomb to kill a mouse in your house, sure it kills the mouse but also the dog, cat and you.[/rant]

Garden On.

Winter's Back

The cold weather has returned :-(
Don't know if it got to 40f today or not. There was a bit of white on the hill to the south of us this afternoon. sigh. Oh well, it's January for crying out loud, it's supposed to be cold.

Saw an article on the damages done by glyphosate herbicide the other day. Apparently it doesn't break down as fast as it is suppose to, building up in the soil, chemically binding the soil minerals up, which weakens the plant allowing disease organisms to attack and kill the plants. The binding of trace minerals also makes the plant less nutritious. And the main seller of that type of herbicide wants our beloved governments permission to release alfalfa that can survive larger doses of the herbicide. NO, NO, NO, WE don't want your chemical crap....OR your genetically altered plants.

Healthy soil with a lot of biomass, bacteria and fungus doesn't need to be treated with external fertilizers. If the bacteria and fungi in the soil are not killed, they can convert the biomass that is in the soil into the nutrients that the growing plants need. So provide biomass for the soil bacteria to eat and your plants will be happy. Don't be super neat in the garden, let the residue from the garden rot in place, the soil bacteria will love it.

Garden On.

A new year, a new garden

As you have probably noticed I don't Blog much. The written word is not my normal mode of communication. I have one heck of a time putting thoughts on paper because of lack of spelling skills which causes a major disruption of thought flow. So please excuse the lack of posts.

The weather here in south central Washington state is being strange again this year. Our normal weather for the end of January is cold (20 to 40F) with snow. Today it was 50ish and rainy and has been so for the last week. Normally December is rainy with chances of snow, this year, Snowy and cold. It will probably be a repeat of last year, cold early winter, cool late winter and a wet cool spring, with a warm (not HOT) summer.

Having read 'Buffalo Bird Woman's Garden', I'm going to growing squash and try drying some. Thinking of doing a three sisters planting with sunflowers instead of corn, as last years corn didn't do well. Also this area has many growers of sweet corn. Beans, lettuce, beets, cabbage and tomatoes are on the list. The Strawberry patch is going to be moved to a new spot. More raspberry plants need to be obtained. The Moon and Stars melons will be repeated as will the cantaloupes.

This fall/winter I have read several books on Perma-culture and gardening (see the book list page), which have given me many ideas that I wish to implement. Water harvesting, fruit/nut tree guides, insect habitat, perennial vegetables. Bactria and fungus, worms and beetles, sheet composting, cold piles and hot piles, ponds and greenhouses, trace minerals and deep rooted nutrient accumulators ,bio mass accumulators and ground covers. The depletion of the soil by current farming practices and how to restore the same. ugh, time to get off the soap box. (but not to far)

The piles of wood chips that were delivered last fall are being moved to the garden paths. The chip that were placed there last spring are decomposing nicely, adding humus to the edges of the beds and holding water for the beds. Several compost piles have been built from the chips and other materials, which will have to rot over the summer.



Have been searching for a source of terra-cotta ollas to use as pither irrigation, But $30-35 per 1.5 gallon jug is a bit excessive IMO. Does anyone throw terra-cotta or know someone that does? Have asked Annie's Granny to check on the availability down in southern AZ. May have to cobble a couple of regular TC flower pot together as others on the net have done.

Garden On.

ugh

Oh, dear. To long gone.

It has finally frosted. With a vengeance. Last week it was still 36-7 over night, last night it was -7F, Brrrrr. The load of bagged leaves I picked up Sunday evening is still in the truck which is O.K. as it adds weight to get through the SNOW, about 6 inches.

Garden On (in yours Dreams if not in the yard)

Brrrr

The weather prognosticators predict the overnight low to be 30F tonight. It's been trying to freeze for the last week with lows in the mid 30s but hasn't quite got that low. Though have had an icy windshield on the truck in the morning.
The parents came down from Spokane Sunday afternoon to get the rest of the Citron I grew. So Saturday evening the wife and I went out the pick them. I don't think I need to grow Citron for a few years. We picked 45 of them. Add the 15 from a couple of weeks ago, that's a total of 60. Didn't weigh them but estimate they weighed 300 lbs total (all 60, average 5lbs).


Also dug the Sweet Potato bed, got 19 lbs of taters. Now I need to process them for freezing/canning seeing as they didn't get cured.

Cleaned the pole beans up today. Have been neglecting them for a couple weeks so have a few more than needed for seed me thinks.

Busy Busy Busy

The last few weeks have been busy in the yard/garden. I have had 3 truck loads (about 25 yards) of wood chips delivered since the last post. I have been spreading them about after work when time and weather allows. The plan is to cover the side and front yards with chips to hold the weeds in check and to start getting some organic matter built up in the soil. Some chips are reserved for the garden paths as weed control/mulch and for composting.

Piles of wood chips

I have finally picked enough tomatoes at the same time to can some tomato sauce. The wife had purchased some Mrs. Wrights Pizza Sauce seasoning mix, so I used that. Got 4 pints of that made on Thursday.

Then on Friday, Mom and I started doing Citron Preserves. Citron is a watermelon like fruit that the rind is used to make the preserves. I remember eating toast with preserved citron on it when I was a lad of 10 or 12 at grandma's farm. It's basically 3/4 inch cubes of rind boiled in syrup with spices (mainly cloves and/or cinnamon) until the rind turns clear.
On Saturday a batch of apple butter was started in the crockpot. Then some bananas and apple slices put in the food drier. Then another batch of Citron was done for total of 13 pints of Citron and 4 apple butter.

A sampling of the preserved goodies

Sunday Mom raided the garden to share with my sisters in Spokane, scoring 43 lbs of Moon and Stars watermelon (20,13 and 10 lbs), plus 25 lbs of Jalapeno peppers, Banana Peppers, Tomatoes, Cantaloupe,cucumbers, green peppers and carrots. Plus 8 more Citron to make preserves to share with the sister's families.

Trunk full of Goodies

Oops, forgot the dried onions done a week ago, 4 largish onions, coarsely chopped and dried.

Garden On.

Hello World !!

I have the Internet. After 2 weeks of waiting I'm reconnected to the world, Yay.
Though sometimes I think the Internet is a HUGH black hole that sucks up all my spare time and some to that is not spare. But I did miss all your gardening adventures. Got a lot of reading done in the last 2 weeks, several novels, Gaia's Garden, The One Straw Revolution and the first third of Edible Forest Gardens Vol.1.

And speaking of gardening (ha ha), the last 3 weeks the garden has been producing like gangbusters. The Clear Pink Early tomato plant has been making 3-4 ripe tomatoes a day, the cherry (don't remember the variety) has made a few a day with a random yellow pear thrown in. The Eve Purple Ball tomatoes are just starting to bear. Boy, are they good, thick fleshed with few seeds.
The peppers are producing so heavily that the plants fall over.
Next year I will NOT be planting 8 cucumber plants which is 4 to many. Though I think I will plant more than 4 Moon and Star watermelon (nicely sweet,large melons). Have harvested 3 so far, a 20 lb, a 19.5 lb and a 13 lb., with 7 more to come.
The cantaloupe are doing well, 6 picked so far. They are on the smallish side, which is O.K. with me.
Garden On.