Notes & Dates/ Crop Rotation/ Growing Potatoes

February 9, 2018

We and the bees have been busy in the gardens. I took a moment yesterday to appreciate the flowering quince in our herb garden -full of gorgeous red flowers and abuzz with native bumblebees. 

Taylor has been working hard on clearing out the lower garden, potting up the herbs, and planning irrigation and terraces to make the space more inviting for gardener and pollinator alike. Perhaps you'll check it out during our upcoming garden resource day- tomorrow, 2/10 from 10am-1pm. Taylor will be working in the herb garden in the afternoon tomorrow in case you are inspired to come help out!

We've spent time in a few of the neighborhood gardens facilitating path maintenance and mulching- when we have these warm, dry winters it feels like everything needs to happen NOW and it gets a little overwhelming. But we'll keep plugging away at maintaining our community garden spaces around the Presidio and look forward to each of you doing your part to weed your paths and beds. We're keeping busy tending beds we use for PresidioGrown, too! Lettuce, arugula, potatoes, leeks, onions, carrots, radishes, and peas are all in the ground.

Hayley, one of the Trust's Landscape Gardeners, came to the garden last Thursday to teach us how to prune our roses. We left one bud that has already opened...

And these women from Taylor's Garden for the Environment class have been spending their 40 hours of volunteer time with us. They are a huge help and lots of fun!

Upcoming garden dates:

2/10, Ft. Scott 10-1pm 

Garden Resource Day: compost and a few seedlings available at the garden

Abby helping wash pots

Volunteering in the Garden: help maintain our signature garden site

2/10, Ft. Scott 2-4pm 

2/15 and every Thursday through April, 10am-4pm

Evening garden visits start on 3/20

March 22: Spring Equinox Pizza Potluck, 4-7pm RSVP here

April 17: Spring Planting Deadline (don't wait- there's plenty you can plant now to take advantage of the warm weather!)

Blog Post #8: Crop Rotation

Hey community gardeners! I hope that you all are spending some time this month reflecting on your raised beds and creating planting plans for the next few months. Reflection and planning time is essential to your continued success in the garden. A question to ask yourself that may help in establishing a planting plan is, “what have I grown in my bed in the past year(s)?” Repeatedly growing the same vegetables in your bed year after year, season after season can cause a buildup of pests and diseases. Planning for crop rotation is a dynamic way to avoid this buildup while also making better use of soil nutrients.

When rotating crops, gardeners must look at the different ways to categorize crops in order to make a plan. Some rotate crops based on whether the plant is a heavy or light soil feeder and some rotate by botanical plant families. Neither of these methods are wrong, and a combination of both would probably be the most effective way of rotating crops. I’m going to outline and analyze both methods below to help you all start planning for the year ahead!

(1)    Heavy, neutral, or light soil feeders

Some crops use a larger amount of soil nutrients than others, these crops are called heavy feeders (cucumbers, lettuce, squash, tomatoes). At the opposite end of the spectrum are light feeders. Light feeders use only a small amount of soil nutrients (carrots, onions, chard, potatoes) and have less of an impact on the soil in your raised bed. Neutral feeders have virtually zero impact on soil and can even be turned back into your raised bed to increase nitrogen levels (fava beans, snap beans, peas). A good practice with rotating feeders is to follow heavy feeders with light or neutral feeders and vice versa. So if you planted tomato plants over the summer, you might want to think about planting a light (chard) or neutral (peas) feeder in order to give your bed some time to recover and build up its nutrients. Similarly, follow light or neutral feeders with heavy feeders. This is a great practice and will keep your soil happy and healthy!

(2)    Botanical plant families

It’s important to know that crops in the same botanical plant family are subject to the same pests and diseases. So, when planning your rotation, make sure you are not putting a member of the same crop family into a less than desirable location. Ideally, wait three to five years before growing the same vegetable, or a closely related one, in the same location. For example, root maggots are a serious pest to those growing carrots and parsnips (both crops are members of the carrot family- Apiaceae). If you were to plant carrots one year and parsnips the following year in the same exact spot, odds are that root maggots would end up doing a good amount of damage to your parsnip crop.

I am including a table (from Golden Gate Gardening by Pam Peirce) in this post that will hopefully help you to synthesize these two crop rotation methods. It outlines whether the plant is a heavy, light, or neutral feeder and also lists the botanical plant family that it belongs to.

Thanks for reading! Email me if you have any questions or need some advice with plant planning. tjais@presidiotrust.gov

-Taylor

Heavy Feeders
CROP	FAMILY
Basil	Mint
Beet	Amaranth
Celery	Carrot
Cole crops	Mustard
Corn	Grass
Cucumber	Gourd
Endive and chicory	Aster
Lettuce	Aster
Parsley	Carrot
Spinach	Amaranth
Squash	Gourd
Tomato	Nightshade
Light Feeders
CROP	FAMILY
Carrot	Carrot
Leek	Amaryllis
Mustard	Mustard
Onion	Amaryllis
Parsnip	Carrot
Pepper	Nightshade
Potato	Nightshade
Shallot	Amaryllis
Swiss Chard	Amaranth
Turnip	Mustard
Soil Neutrals
CROP	FAMILY
Fava Bean	Legume
Lima Bean	Legume
Scarlet-Runner Bean	Legume
Snap Bean	Legume
Pea	Legume
Soy bean	Legume

Finally, for those of you interested in growing potatoes, click to read more about how to do that:

Upcoming dates/ GFE classes/ Starting seeds/MLK Day

 

The Presidio is looking very green and signs of a new growing season are everywhere. Yesterday's sun and rain was a nice treat and we spied this full rainbow over the main post. The garlic is up, the onion sets are planted, the first daffodils are blooming, slugs are making appearances in the veggies, and we have a greenhouse full of flats ready to grow. We hope to see you in the gardens soon! 

1/27 Portola from 10am-noon

1/27 Ft. Scott from 1-3pm

1/30 MacArthur from 1-4pm

2/10 Ft. Scott Garden Resource Day from 10am-1pm

Garden for the Environment is a fantastic, and nearby, garden resource for everyone. Check them out!

February is bringing another great set of workshops to GFE at 1590 7th Ave. (at Lawton). Join in and invite your friends!  

Urban Composting- Free!
When: Saturday, February 3rd, 2018, 10am to 12pm
Register: bit.ly/GFEcompost2018

The Edible Garden
When: Saturday, February 10th, 2018, 10am to 12pm
Register: bit.ly/GFEedible2018

Intro to Beekeeping
When: Saturday, February 17th, 2018, 10am to 12pm
Register: bit.ly/GFEbees2018-1 

Urban Chickens
When: Saturday, February 24th, 2018, 10am to 12pm
Register: bit.ly/GFEchickens2018

Sneak peak for March: the Sustainable Gardening Series returns - bit..ly/GFEseriesMar2018.

Thank you, Adam Long

Education Manager, Garden for the Environment

www.gardenfortheenvironment.org

7th Avenue and Lawton Street | San Francisco, CA  (415) 558-8246

Taylor's Blog Post #7: Starting Seeds

Now that we have a greenhouse in the Fort Scott community garden, seed starting has been an absolute breeze. We have been able to grow arugula, cauliflower, kale, and peas from seed to start (aka seedling) in just a few weeks (in the coldest part of winter), and even keep some small basil seedlings alive! We’re really excited about how fast our starts are growing, but we’re even more excited about the possibility of being able to provide community gardeners with a few seedlings at garden resource days in the future.

Here is some helpful information to inspire you to try starting some seeds of your own:

The two ways you can start plants in your bed are (1) transplanting seedlings or (2) starting plants from seed. Transplanting can often be much easier than starting plants from seed, however, there are many plants that just don’t respond well to transplanting. These plants are often characterized by their underground yield- we call them root crops. Carrots, beets, parsnips, turnips, potatoes, onions, and radishes are all root crops, and all need to be started by seed or ‘sets’ (for onions and potatoes). February-March is the ideal time period in the planting year to sow seeds for these root crops. And seeing as February is just around the corner, I thought I’d give you all an introduction (or refresher) on seed starting.

Before you begin, check the date on your seed packet. Seeds generally remain viable for 1-3 years if stored in cool, dry and dark conditions. Larger seeds tend to remain viable longer. Consider sowing more thickly if your seeds are older, or do a germination test before starting.

Cool season crop seeds should be started in a soil temperature that will stay above 40 degrees F as they need some warmth to sprout. Moist soil can help to regulate soil temperature by holding heat, so making sure that soil is moist during sowing and germination can make all the difference! However, too moist of a soil can make it difficult for delicate sprouts to push up towards the surface. Striking a good balance with the amount of moisture in your soil is not too difficult, but very important to seed starting. Weeds can also crowd out seeds and prevent them from sprouting. It’s really important to clean out your bed, or the space where you are going to be starting seeds, before you begin sowing. This will set your seeds up for success.

Once you have decided that your bed is warm enough, moist enough, and cleared of weeds, you can prepare your seedbed for sowing. Turning amendments such as compost or organic fertilizer into your bed before sowing could be an important part of this preparation, especially if you didn’t amend your bed after pulling summer crops. Breaking up large clods of soil and moving rocks or small pieces of bark out of your bed will help seedlings to push through to the top of the soil and sprout. In Golden Gate Gardening Pam Peirce writes, “Use a rake, hoe, or your hands to form a fine seedbed in the top 3 to 4 inches of soil. The seedbed needs to be finer for small seeds than for larger ones; a piece of undecayed bark that a bean seedling can easily push aside will stop a carrot seedling in its tracks.” Ensure that your seeds don’t have any impenetrable obstacles by examining the surface of your soil.

When trying to decide how deep to plant your seeds, consulting the back of the seed packet can be very helpful. The rule of thumb is to plant at a depth 2-3 times the diameter of the seed. Large seeds can be planted individually but with small seeds scattering and sowing thickly may do a better job of ensuring growth.

When growing within the limited space of a bed it can be tempting to pack as much of a crop in as you can. Closer spacing of seeds will give you more plants in your bed, however, the plants may be less productive if they are crowded. Some crops are more sensitive to crowding than others but typically spacing root crops out so that at maturity a ½-1 inch space exists between mature roots is ideal. Your seed packets will offer more precise information, but these are general guidelines for seeding root crops that have been effective for myself and other gardeners.

Once your seeds have been sown and you’ve lightly firmed down the soil around them, remember to water! You won’t need to water long (seeing as deeper soil in the bed will stay moist) but gently watering the top layer of soil where the seed is attempting to establish itself is important. Letting that top portion of soil dry out for more than half of a day is dangerous for the seeds. Seeds need moisture in order to begin growth.

That’s all of the information I’ve got for seed starting! Hope you all start planting some root crops soon (February is just around the corner) and start preparing your garden beds for the heavy planting that comes with the spring season J

Please email me with any questions you might have about seed starting, what to grow at this time of year, or your garden bed- tjais@presidiotrust.gov

Taylor

Finally, in case you are curious what we get up to in the gardens, last week we had 10 volunteers join us from the M.L.K. Day of Service in the Presidio 

Happy 2018/ Spring dates/ Pest info

Happy New Year! 

Taylor and I so excited to dig in for the new year and so far are very happy with the successes the greenhouse has yielded-cauliflower and arugula seedlings sprouted and with a set of true leaves in only 3 weeks. They are a little leggy, I suspect due to reduced winter sun, but otherwise they look really healthy. 

Come out and see the new greenhouse, get some compost, and maybe take home a seedling this Saturday from 10am to 1pm at the Ft. Scott Community Garden. It's a little tricky to find, but if you head towards 1330 Kobbe Avenue and take Wisser Court-the second road on the left (there are 4)- you'll find the garden at the end of the road. The driveway isn't in very good shape, so I'd recommend parking near (but not blocking) the garages.

A few calendar items of note to all gardeners. Ft. Scott volunteer programs are open to everyone to help us with garden improvement projects. Thanks!

January 27, 1-3pm: Ft. Scott volunteer program
February 10, 10am-1pm- Garden Resource Day at Ft. Scott
March 10, 10am-1pm-Garden Resource Day at Ft. Scott
March 22, 4-7pm, Spring Equinox Pizza Potluck at Ft. Scott RSVP here
April 17- Spring Planting Deadline, all gardens plot checks

Starting on March 20, we'll visit each garden for one evening garden session where we'll bring compost and seedlings to you and be available to answer questions in person. Please check the calendar and make a note of when we'll be at your garden.

Here's Taylor's blog posts about pests:

Hello all! In this post I’ll be focusing on pests that you may be encountering in your garden beds.

I thought that this would be a great topic to cover in light of the recent rodent epidemic that most garden beds in the Presidio have fallen victim to. And, though the rodents are doing their best to distract us from the other pests lurking in our raised beds, it is important to remember that there are also many non-beneficial insects that plague our garden beds. In order to give our vegetables the best chance to succeed, we need to understand how to manage these pests in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way. Below, I’ve listed a few of the major pests that community gardeners in the Presidio should be aware of (these are pests that I’ve personally observed over the past few months) and how to manage them in a sustainable way without the use of dangerous chemicals and pesticides.

Rodents: Agh! The scourge of the Presidio community gardens! There has been a huge boom in rodent population this past season and I’m sure many of you have felt the effects. If seedlings are disappearing from your garden bed or it looks like large bites have been taken out of your vegetables, the rodents (most likely) are to blame. Jean and I are hoping that the number of rodent predators (hawks, coyotes, etc) will soon catch up with the rodent population. But for now we are using hardware cloth (gopher wire) to make protective cages to place around our seedlings. As a last resort, we’ve also started using traps (with peanut butter as bait) at some of the gardens. Rodents are actually quite smart and often the traps don’t fool them. With this pest I think the best thing to do is just wait out the population boom, and maybe research rat-deterring plants to grow in your garden bed. *important note- rodenticides can be dangerous because the poisons that work on rodents can also kill humans and other mammals that may accidentally come into contact with them, or kill predators that eat the poisoned rodent. Do not use rodenticides in or around your garden bed (or at all really)!*

Aphids: I’d say aphids are definitely one of the most common pests I’ve seen on our vegetable plants in the Presidio. Aphids are very small insects that you may have seen clustered on the undersides of leaves or flowers in your gardens. They can be gray, black, or light green. Just a few aphids won’t do much damage to your plants, but quite a few can be damaging to your garden as they spread plant diseases and stunt plant growth. There are a few different ways to get rid of aphids. The first is through physical removal. If possible, crush aphids when you see them. If there are too many to crush (or they are in a tough location to reach with your hands) a quick blast of water can remove them from your plants- just make sure to stabilize your plant while you are blasting it with water. If worst comes to worst, using a soapy water spray or an organic/chemical free insecticidal soap with neem oil or essential oils will definitely do the trick.

Snails/Slugs: During the rainy season these pests thrive in our garden beds. They are especially dangerous to new seedlings or a newly planted garden bed. If you see holes in the leaves of your seedlings there is a strong possibility that slugs or snails are the culprit. I’ve found that physical removal and killing of the snail or slug is the best way to stop the problem. Snails and slugs come out to feed after 10 PM and sometimes will feed on your plants well into a wet and foggy morning- so nighttime and early morning hunts may prove fruitful! A thorough garden cleanup is productive step to rid your bed of these pests- take out weeds and any brush that has accumulated in your bed (this is prime snail/slug real estate). Sluggo is an organically approved pesticide that kills snails and slugs. Or you can try saving clean eggshells and crushing them up in a thick ring around the bottom of the plant. If you find any native Banana slugs, toss them in some nearby vegetation.

I think the most important thing to remember about pest control is that the most effective work is often done by hand. Looking carefully and physically removing non-beneficial insects from your plants will go a long way in setting up your garden for success. (And hang in there with your rodent frustrations, you are not alone!)

That’s all for this post- I’ll try to do another pest post in the next couple of months outlining some more pests that I’ve come across in the Presidio community gardens.

Please email me if you have any questions or need advice about how to deal with a certain pest! tjais@presidiotrust.gov

-Taylor