Today i planted lettuce, and a couple bulbs i had laying around. So far this year i have worked on the landscaping of my plot twice. This inspired me to discuss planning. If i wasnt so confused, and weary of vancouvers unusually warm winter/ early spring i would have started at the beginning of febraury.
I just wrote a big post on densification and its 3 am so i probably wont finish this tonight and will add more likely after sundays work party when im inspired.
Make a map, put your plants on it, this helps in a couple ways: figure out what works/ where you want to plant next year, know where you planted things, weeding out your seedlings is not fun (then again if your doing row hills probably not as much of an issue). When you create your map or planting plan keep in mind the sun path and any shade provided by outside obstacles, where are things going to end up a couple months down the road?. Also when deciding where to plant consider densification (see densification right up) and soil. Different plants like different soil. Some plants want a normal layer then a layer of sand and all sorts of varities. Soil itself i do not know that well, and even less about which plants like which type. Drainage is an important aspect of soil, as you will see in densification the hydrologic ecology influences when plants go to different stages of growth. The entire hydrologic system of the world is something that needs to be allowed to heal and agriculture has been one of the influences on where it is now.
I dont use nails, i pile logs and when using boards i stack them on top of each other then use a stick stuck in the ground to hold them in place. Its an exercise in impermanence. So at this time of year i often have a few repairs in which i remove the slanted board, use the shovel to edge out a flat surface and put the board back into its place. After one year (this will be my 4th at cottonwood community gardens, 3 in the same plot) the ground becomes compact enough to stand on its own and the boards are there as a little extra help in case a dog steps in the garden or something. I havent used rows much, this year though i plan to. My issue for the last 3 years has been how to hide the "good" plants in plain site so that they dont get stolen. This coming year i think ive learned enough about hiding that i can have some rows. My gardens physical landscape is going to be based on a tiered layers and the continuous bed is pretty much a spiral. If i could i would build a cone, but the path way underneath/ in it would be spiraling in and i would have tiers down the side of the cone.
Where are you going to compost?. Where are you putting invasive plants you have no use for?
I often plan to grow a couple plants that have leaves suitable for mulching. I also in general put all of my non- invasive composting right on the soil. Some plants such as rhubarb and pumpkin/squash leaves have been reported to work at keeping some pests out. this form of mulching/composting puts nutrients back into the soil and if placed properly provides shade and moisture for the other plants.Kale is a good source of mulching, it grows leaves vigorously and manages to either bio-synthesize or uptake a lot of nutrients. My invasive weeds i put in a corner of my plot on the other side of the far west path. I do not have a whole lot of direct light in the summer but if i had an abundance i would put them in it so that the sun would dry and scorch the ivnasive roots to death. Where they are now they do die fairly well, but in mid summer they get lots of humidity and shade which their roots thrive in.
K its almost 4 am, i will finish and re-vise on sunday night.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Densification
There is this strange balance with garden ecology. no its not strange, its undeniably normal and in constant use by the processes of nature. It is a peculiar process that balances the growth of things.
Growing two plants of the same species with in its parameters of allotted or optimal sun. One plant each in two of the categories: full, partial (morning, mid, evening), and the variants of shade.
In this case lets take two plants of the same variety that thrive in full and partial sun and place one in full sun and one partial sun, morning and evening. The variety of plant flowers in early summer when grown in full sun. The plant in partial sun would then, (if given the same amount of water or no odd variables interact) flower in mid summer when the moisture/ heat variables are similar since the more shade the longer the moisture remains and the heat stays low. At the further extreme this same variety of plant placed in mostly shade will flower at the end of summer, or, as in many occasions shade and full sun the plant may flower in fall as would be the case the camellia (north side of building ) and Scotch broom (in full sun often flowers a second time but much less flowers). Likewise a plant which would die normally if planted in full/mostly shade will survive if given less water and a plant that would bolt (maybe die, i havent tried though) in full sun if given enough water will continue to stay in vegetative growth.
This becomes important if your garden is to have layers, which is a step towards dense bio-systems. When creating a dense garden one ought to be weary of water consumption, if you need to use a lot of water then the plants that are in it are not well balanced for the ecosystem. After all gardening attempts to be your opportunity to mold an ecosystem. Besides your ecologys' hydrologic system you should be aware of air flow. Sharing your crop with insects is one thing but mold is not very fun. This is important to remember if you've been mulching through out summer as mold is naturally going to be there as a part of a healthy ecosystem, dealing with decay and transformation. Proper wind flow will help the plants that are susceptible. Wind flow will be based on a few variants; The wind outside of your small contained ecosystem, temperature of your area and physical shape of the area including the plants shape. It will be the warming of the cool air from shaded areas that rises until it hits the hotter air from the not shaded area that will drop that air before it warms up. Or when you water the garden the cold air will push across the surface (see anecdote about urban thicket and watering the balcony to bring cold air through the house).
The term forest floor gardening speaks volumes of the method of layering. Plants in the spaces up high, medium height and on the ground. The next step towards densification is accounting for the root shapes. There are roots that are short and span a half circle these plants often need more water when in full sun as the top layer of ground dries first, if there is no upper layer to shade it i recommend mulching and not taking off any of the first leaves. Plants furthest reaching leaves are there to shade the roots, you can use the shading and the sun to minimize or encourage a plants growth. There are plants with tap roots which are thick and usually one or a few root branches. These usually will need less watering if left alone in full sun compared to the previous type and work well with the previous variety because they take different niches in the ecosystem. Another type of root is cylindrical and usually thin, such as morning glory roots and rhizomes. Each type of root has varieties of shapes branching type and other form related adaptations.
Hills and landscape construction elevations is another way to densify , both are methods of literally expanding the amount of growing space. As an example if you built a pergola and grew gords on it, or train a fruit tree along it, you now have the space underneath that is partially shade and still has room for plants in the ground reaching high medium and low. Hills make a bit of a difference also. consider a flat line, now make it a right angle triangle, the hypotenuse is longer. A pyramids hypotenuses are shorter then they would be if it was a right angle triangle but there is more of them and it adds up to a bit more. Pyramids are also better in that the sun crosses the sky and comes down at different angles. In the morning the east side of the pyramid and half of south and north are lit. In the evening the west and half of north half of south. Depending on longitude/ time of year mid day may light up south/ half east/half west or the entire pyramid. With hills one must keep in mind that the bottom of the hill will hold a lot more water then the top and should plant accordingly.
Some plants do not do well with other plants keeping their lower section shaded, i believe it is the moisture provided by the shade. Some plants do not do well with mulching, apple trees for example. Be weary that rot can happen with some plants, while roots in others, speed or inhibit growth.
Growing two plants of the same species with in its parameters of allotted or optimal sun. One plant each in two of the categories: full, partial (morning, mid, evening), and the variants of shade.
In this case lets take two plants of the same variety that thrive in full and partial sun and place one in full sun and one partial sun, morning and evening. The variety of plant flowers in early summer when grown in full sun. The plant in partial sun would then, (if given the same amount of water or no odd variables interact) flower in mid summer when the moisture/ heat variables are similar since the more shade the longer the moisture remains and the heat stays low. At the further extreme this same variety of plant placed in mostly shade will flower at the end of summer, or, as in many occasions shade and full sun the plant may flower in fall as would be the case the camellia (north side of building ) and Scotch broom (in full sun often flowers a second time but much less flowers). Likewise a plant which would die normally if planted in full/mostly shade will survive if given less water and a plant that would bolt (maybe die, i havent tried though) in full sun if given enough water will continue to stay in vegetative growth.
This becomes important if your garden is to have layers, which is a step towards dense bio-systems. When creating a dense garden one ought to be weary of water consumption, if you need to use a lot of water then the plants that are in it are not well balanced for the ecosystem. After all gardening attempts to be your opportunity to mold an ecosystem. Besides your ecologys' hydrologic system you should be aware of air flow. Sharing your crop with insects is one thing but mold is not very fun. This is important to remember if you've been mulching through out summer as mold is naturally going to be there as a part of a healthy ecosystem, dealing with decay and transformation. Proper wind flow will help the plants that are susceptible. Wind flow will be based on a few variants; The wind outside of your small contained ecosystem, temperature of your area and physical shape of the area including the plants shape. It will be the warming of the cool air from shaded areas that rises until it hits the hotter air from the not shaded area that will drop that air before it warms up. Or when you water the garden the cold air will push across the surface (see anecdote about urban thicket and watering the balcony to bring cold air through the house).
The term forest floor gardening speaks volumes of the method of layering. Plants in the spaces up high, medium height and on the ground. The next step towards densification is accounting for the root shapes. There are roots that are short and span a half circle these plants often need more water when in full sun as the top layer of ground dries first, if there is no upper layer to shade it i recommend mulching and not taking off any of the first leaves. Plants furthest reaching leaves are there to shade the roots, you can use the shading and the sun to minimize or encourage a plants growth. There are plants with tap roots which are thick and usually one or a few root branches. These usually will need less watering if left alone in full sun compared to the previous type and work well with the previous variety because they take different niches in the ecosystem. Another type of root is cylindrical and usually thin, such as morning glory roots and rhizomes. Each type of root has varieties of shapes branching type and other form related adaptations.
Hills and landscape construction elevations is another way to densify , both are methods of literally expanding the amount of growing space. As an example if you built a pergola and grew gords on it, or train a fruit tree along it, you now have the space underneath that is partially shade and still has room for plants in the ground reaching high medium and low. Hills make a bit of a difference also. consider a flat line, now make it a right angle triangle, the hypotenuse is longer. A pyramids hypotenuses are shorter then they would be if it was a right angle triangle but there is more of them and it adds up to a bit more. Pyramids are also better in that the sun crosses the sky and comes down at different angles. In the morning the east side of the pyramid and half of south and north are lit. In the evening the west and half of north half of south. Depending on longitude/ time of year mid day may light up south/ half east/half west or the entire pyramid. With hills one must keep in mind that the bottom of the hill will hold a lot more water then the top and should plant accordingly.
Some plants do not do well with other plants keeping their lower section shaded, i believe it is the moisture provided by the shade. Some plants do not do well with mulching, apple trees for example. Be weary that rot can happen with some plants, while roots in others, speed or inhibit growth.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Feb 16th cottonwood community gardens.
i did not take a lot f photos this day as i was focused on some repairs to my garden boxes, terraces and other landscape needs. Non of these are of my plot.
Blueberry bush budding.
A goose berry bush In early spring. I plan on eventually doing write ups on various individual plants, including photos through out their growing phases. Of not about gooseberries is that they collect a lot of natural yeasts making them ideal for a catalyst in making homemade alcohol, which is something i will also do a write up on in the future, as i further develop the site.
This is the west entrance to cottonwood community gardens. The eagle nest is to the right of this picture.The original picture are all on a friends computer, which is lame because i had to save these from my facebook account which im pretty sure degrades the quality. Originally oi named every plant in the first 3 garden plots because the quality was so goo d i could zoom right in.
Blueberry bush budding.
A goose berry bush In early spring. I plan on eventually doing write ups on various individual plants, including photos through out their growing phases. Of not about gooseberries is that they collect a lot of natural yeasts making them ideal for a catalyst in making homemade alcohol, which is something i will also do a write up on in the future, as i further develop the site.
These are my indoor yam plant at about a week since the start of growth The first one, in the blue dish is hydroponic. The second is in a large plastic salad box with dirt. My father built a rectangle out of 1x1 boards for it to grow along. I need to be careful with the ditrt one because fungal growth will cause an out brake of fungus gnats in the house, which i may post pictures of the amount fo dead gnats that were around the house.
This is one of the eagles that lives in cottonwood community gardens. This one is hanging out a couple trees west of the gardens
One of the eagles that lives near the gardens. this is their second nest ive seen them live in since ive started visiting cottonwood community gardens. This next and eagle are near the north west corner of the gardens.
This is the west entrance to cottonwood community gardens. The eagle nest is to the right of this picture.The original picture are all on a friends computer, which is lame because i had to save these from my facebook account which im pretty sure degrades the quality. Originally oi named every plant in the first 3 garden plots because the quality was so goo d i could zoom right in.
This is facing east 180 degrees of where i was facing previous. The placement of the other pictures is messed up and wont give me a place to write up on the other photos, so i will make note of them here.The first is a hollyhock, i do not name the succulent that is under neath it, though i have 3 varieties in my garden.One variety is edible, i have it booked marked somewhere and if i find it i will update. Theres also a plant in the top left that i can see very well in this format but i believe its mellisa officianalis. The next photo should be crocuses in a tribute plot, i cant see the other plants well enough to idnetify them, but with a good picture viewer this is an amazing picture the colours and the textures are great. The next photo is of a magenta primrose. The photo after that is one of the elder gardeners of the community gardens gardens, wow, does that sentence make sense. He use to be the benevolent dictator until some fools wanted democratic process. Democracy in this situation takes to long, we only spend an hour and a bit talking all together at the work parties. He new the layout of the whole gardens and being benevolent and all was fair and allowed people to do things as long as it wasnt going to be harmful to the gardens.
Monday, February 1, 2010
I now have 43 house plants and at least another 12 cuttings on the go. I havent been to my garden in 3 months, but am planning on going soon to bury a pumpkin and a squash. The urban thicket is needing some reworking as the owner now has a young bow who will be two in the summer, roses dangling everywhere may not be so good.
Its very mild right now in vancouver, crocuses, snowdrops, tulips are all sprouting. I have cat grass growing on my balcony and many trees are starting to bud. If we have a cold snap in February or march as we have in other years i wonder what the affects on the plant life will be. As soon as i have a way to upload pictures from my digital camera i will post pictures of my house plants, which include cat grass growing in a medium mostly of coffee grounds, indoor catnip (my apartment is north facing so this was a little surprising) and a yam plant that is growing in my kitchen. I a yam plant two months ago that was hydroponic and it grew so incredibly fast. We put some wood across the top of our cupboards so that it could grow along looked really nice. That one died because my place became infested with fungus gnats. so trying again.
Its very mild right now in vancouver, crocuses, snowdrops, tulips are all sprouting. I have cat grass growing on my balcony and many trees are starting to bud. If we have a cold snap in February or march as we have in other years i wonder what the affects on the plant life will be. As soon as i have a way to upload pictures from my digital camera i will post pictures of my house plants, which include cat grass growing in a medium mostly of coffee grounds, indoor catnip (my apartment is north facing so this was a little surprising) and a yam plant that is growing in my kitchen. I a yam plant two months ago that was hydroponic and it grew so incredibly fast. We put some wood across the top of our cupboards so that it could grow along looked really nice. That one died because my place became infested with fungus gnats. so trying again.
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