The rains have begun!

The season certainly has changed- leaves turning colors, rains falling, and weeds sprouting everywhere! Now is an ideal time to start weeding- get them while they are small and easy to pull. In our gardens we've harvested the pumpkins and planted fava beans. Favas are a hardy crop for winter- ready to harvest in early spring or to turn under as a cover crop after they flower but before they make seedpods. We grow ours to eat! Tomatoes are still ripening, although with the rains I think that will end soon and it will be time to clean out the old vines. We also planted garlic in October for harvest next June and sowed a few beds with a cover crop to add nutrients to the soil. Unfortunately the rodents have decided it makes a great dinner for them :( We're all suffering from rodents- the gardens, the residents, the businesses. My neighbors even have them in their cars! Let's hope the population crashes soon and we can get back to work growing food for our own consumption!

Our last special event of the year is coming up on December 9- winter wreath making at the Presidio Native Plant Nursery. If you have a wreath form from last year, we love to reuse them! RSVP here so we make sure to have enough supplies

Blog Post #3: Microclimates

Hey community gardeners of the Presidio, this is Taylor, Jean’s intern, and this week I’ve got some info for you all about SF microclimates and garden microclimates. I’m hoping this post will help you guys to decide what to plant in your beds and when to plant it for the 2017-2018 season. Keep reading to find out more and to be an informed gardener!

San Francisco’s maritime climate produces a variety of microclimates throughout the Bay area. A microclimate can be described as a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in surrounding areas. You know how on some days it can be 57 degrees Fahrenheit in the Presidio and 67 degrees a few miles away in SOMA? This is a perfect example of San Francisco microclimates. San Francisco microclimates are very important for urban gardeners to be aware of because they help to guide our planting calendars and give us clues about how best to take care of our gardens.

Our microclimate here in the Presidio is a part of San Francisco’s “fog belt.” The fog belt is characterized by cool to moderate temperatures, foggy to clear days, and light winds. Summers in the fog belt are foggier and colder than elsewhere in the city and the winters are generally wetter. Vegetables and other plants that thrive in the Presidio’s fog belt microclimate have specific times of year that they need to be planted in order to produce a bountiful yield.

There are different planting times and plant lists that gardeners in the Presidio’s foggy microclimate need to pay attention to. There is a fantastic plant list and calendar specifically for foggier SF microclimates created by local gardening LEGEND Pam Pierce featured in her book “Golden Gate Gardening.” I believe that Jean included this planting list/calendar in your garden orientation packets but in case you’ve misplaced your packet or just want a refresher, I’ve created an interpretation of Pam’s calendar with this blog post so that you can check out what grows best in SF’s foggier microclimates. This attachment also tells you whether to use seeds or transplants to start the crop that you are trying to grow. (we're working on posting this-look to the right where there are pages to click on.)

There are also some factors that affect microclimate on an even smaller scale within the Presidio. It can be very helpful to go out to your garden plot and assess your “backyard microclimate” by examining the following factors:

1. What is the aspect of your garden plot (the direction of the slope of the land)? An ideal site for a vegetable garden is one with a gentle slope facing south or southwest.
2. Are there any buildings, trees, fences, tall shrubs, etc. that create shade? Shading objects will cover the most area in the garden if they are located on its south side. Typically vegetable gardens are sun loving and need at least 6-8 hours of solid sunlight every day.
3. Are there any buildings, trees, fences, tall shrubs, etc. that help protect plants from wind exposure? In the Presidio, winds typically come in from the west or northwest so tall objects in the immediate west/northwest will do a good job of protecting your gardens from strong winds.
4. Are there concrete surfaces or heated buildings close to your garden plot? Heat radiates from heated buildings and from concrete surfaces. Your garden plot will appreciate the extra warmth.
5. Are there any water features or heavy vegetation nearby? Water features and heavy vegetation increase humidity and can help to moderate climate. Seedlings (in particular) appreciate the increased humidity levels that water features and heavy vegetation produce.
6. Do you have any light colored or dark colored buildings close to your garden plot? The color of a building affects plants growing in front of it (especially in the case of a southern facing wall). Light colored buildings encourage flowering and fruiting, while dark colored buildings encourage leafy growth.

These factors don’t make or break a garden plot, but it is helpful to understand your garden plot’s microclimate so that you can plant accordingly and get the greatest yield from whatever you decide to plant. Right plant, right place! There are many vegetables that do well in sun, but there are also quite a few vegetables that don’t mind shade. Most leafy vegetables (lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, kale) will tolerate shade with no problem. So if your garden plot has a large tree on the south side, don’t panic! Instead plant shade tolerant veggies and research other plants that will thrive in your shady microclimate.

That’s all I’ve got on microclimates, happy gardening-   Taylor    

(Feel free to email me with any questions- tjais@presidiotrust.gov)

Pizzas & pumpkins + all about garden soil

RSVP here for the rescheduled Fall Pizza Potluck and Pumpkin Party- 
Saturday, November 4th, noon to 3pm 
We grew 75 pounds of sugar pie pumpkins to share with our garden community. If there are more people than pumpkins, we'll have a raffle, but I hope that by giving out one per family we should have enough. The wood fired pizza oven will be hot and supplies for make-your-own pizzas available + delicious food that everyone brings (that's you)! RSVP by November 1-thanks!!

Garden resource Day- Saturday November 4th, 10am-noon
While I'm at the Ft. Scott garden getting ready to host the pizza party, the truck will be there with compost. Please come by if you want some to add to your garden. If you haven't been there before, the garden is at the end of Wisser Court- enter by 1330 Kobbe and take the 2nd road on the left (it's gravel and goes past a few garages). Vehicular entry will be closed at noon for the pizza party.

Looking ahead to December: Saturday December 9th, 10am- noon winter wreath making at the Native Plant Nursery. More details in future posts.

Hey everyone! This is Taylor (Jean’s gardening intern) kicking off a series of informational gardening posts with an exciting look into soil health. Healthy soil= healthy plants: providing your plants with soil rich in organic matter helps them to grow faster, resist pests and diseases, and yield a larger crop.

The soil in your raised beds should have a healthy combination of sand, silt, and clay (a “loam” soil) as your bed has been prepared specifically with a loam and compost mixture. A good way to check your soil is to do a simple jar test. I’ve included an image that gives you instructions on how to conduct a jar test below. I just pulled the image off the internet but it actually gives really great instructions!

Once you’ve identified what your soil is composed of, you can start assessing what amendments or organic fertilizers (if any) are necessary. Compost is a great amendment to consistently add to your raised bed because it actively builds up soil health while slowly releasing many nutrients to your plants over time. Mixing 4-8 inches of compost into your raised bed before planting would be a great idea if you think that your soil is nutrient-depleted. Also a 1-3 inch layer of compost would be good to add to your raised bed a few times a year as a top-dressing. HOWEVER it is important to remember that compost is an amendment to build up soil health and NOT a fertilizer.

Your plants need a healthy balance of NPK (as well as other minerals) in order to thrive and yield a bountiful harvest! Only fertilizers can provide your plants with fast acting doses of NPK. NPK=nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.  

*Nitrogen helps with leaf growth, phosphorus with root growth, and potassium with flower/fruit growth.*

It’s important to remember that too much of one element of NPK and not enough of the others could be a serious limiting factor for your plants. Too much nitrogen (without enough phosphorus and potassium) could cause your plant to grow too many leaves while limiting flower/fruit growth. This could pose a problem for fruiting crops (such as tomato or strawberry plants), but might actually be helpful when growing leaf vegetables like lettuce, chard, and spinach. It’s important to cater to your plants needs especially if you want to get the most from your harvest. Adding organic fertilizers that are rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, or potassium is the best way to immediately provide your plants with the nutrients they are missing. I’ll most likely be writing a post about organic fertilizers in a few weeks so stay tuned!

That’s all I’ve got for soil health! Email me if you have any specific questions- tjais@presidiotrust.org

(Next time I’ll be writing about microclimates woohoo!) -Taylor

Fall Pizza Potluck postponed to 11/4

Unfortunately we will be postponing our fall harvest pizza potluck due to the health advisories about air quality. I hope everyone stays safe and our thoughts are with friends, family and communities affected by the fires.

I have a truck full of compost so I will be at the Ft. Scott Community Garden from 10am-1pm tomorrow for the garden resource day- please come by for compost if you need some.

We'll reschedule the pizza party to the next planned garden resource day on November 4th. The pizza party will start at noon and end at 3pm that day.

Thanks so much for being part of our amazing garden community- continue reading to meet my new garden intern, Taylor, and learn about her upcoming year here. 

Hello community gardeners of the Presidio, my name is Taylor Jais and I am Jean’s new gardening intern. I’m extremely excited to help Jean out with the beautiful community gardens of the Presidio for the next year! Jean and I thought that it would be nice for me to tell you all a little bit about myself in a blog post, click to read more about how Taylor will be helping you this year!