You GOTTA' Grow This: Mouse Melons

OMG! Y'ALL! You NEED to grow these! Seriously!  They go by many names: Cucamelon, Mexican Sour Gherkin, Pepquinos, and my favorite Mouse Melons, but their botanical name is Melothria scabra, so as long as you get those, you're golden.

They're so cute that that alone is reason enough to grow them.  

But wait! There's more! They're tasty, too! Tart like pre-dilled cucumbers. Tangy and crispy and yummy. Bite sized even, right off the vine no slicing or dicing needed. I think they'll be great in a salad. Wonder if they'll last long enough for my mesclun that's just sprouting to join them. I'm going to leave a few in the fridge to see if they do, then make some 'frigerator pickles out of a some, then can the rest for later.

They've been growing out there all year and I didn't think they'd made anything, so never really looked. I did see a few on there a while back, picked a couple, and ate them. They were pretty great, better than regular cukes I thought, so I made a mental note to grow them again next year, starting earlier and paying more attention to them, then thought no more of it.

Last week's frost nipped the vines enough that I could see through them, and lo and behold, there was a shit load of the little buggers on there!  Five little plants that covered a 3' wide by 4' tall trellis made a half gallon or so fruit. Interestingly, they also sent out a couple or three vines across the ground, shooting out singly in different directions.  One was about eight or ten feet out, headed to the squash bed, and made little melons even right on the ground!  

I'm impressed with them since it was so hot and dry this year, plus they were in a shadier spot.  Next year they'll get much better accommodations.

Now I'm off to make pickles as the cold front rolls in.  Ahh, bliss...

Cutting Back Tomatoes

If you haven't already, it's time to cut back your tomatoes.  By now they're likely
growing out the top of the cages and all the way back down to the ground again, making such a mess that you hardly know where one stops and another begins.  They stopped setting fruit over a month ago, you've picked all the ones set before that, and you're getting tired of looking at them.  Hornworms are more plentiful than fruit, especially the BIG ones that scream at you when you grab them, and you're probably noticing the beginnings of a spider mite infestation.  Wouldn't it be great to just wipe the slate clean and start over?

Well, go ahead then.  Just cut off the tops and there ya' go.  That's all there is to it.  Really.

Some people pull up their plants and replant this time of year, but I think that's such a waste.  You've spent months growing a big healthy rootball, so why pull all that up and replace it with a baby that will have to grow it all back?  Why not leave the rootball, and just get rid of the raggedy part?  That's what I do, and it works wonderfully.

Sometimes, they'll try to regrow from the base themselves, but those sprouts won't get very far if they're shaded by the old growth.  This time of year, the vines are so long and leggy that half of the plant's energy is taken up pushing water and nutrients through yards of stem just to get to the few leaves left on the ends.  It's like the plant knows that, so is trying to deal with it by regrowing from new.  Removing all the old top helps it do that.

If you want details, here they are: all you have to do is cut about a foot up from the ground, right above a node, preferably one with a little sprout already.  Remove all the foliage, throw down some more fertilizer, and top that with a bit of compost.  Watch the watering - without leaves, the plants won't need as much water now, so don't overwater.

That's all there is to it!  Really.  If you get it done now, they'll have plenty of time to regrow their tops in time to set more fruit when it cools off again.  So get out there and do it!  It looks so much better when you're done.

No more mud in the garden

Hauled five tractor bucket loads of mulch from the pile in the pasture to the new garden today.  Got it spread in the pathways, too.  Now I can work out there without having so much mud stuck to my shoes that I'm two inches taller.  I even moved a little metal pen to one corner so I can enclose it and turn it into a duck house.  Yep, I'm going to get ducks.  DUUUUUCKS!!  Garden ducks!  I can't WAIT.  

Gonna' feel this tomorrow...  But tonight I'm a happy woman.



~*~

Growing Your Own Sweet Potato Slips

As I'm writing this, we are still in the midst of the coronavirus lockdown.  Yesterday our governor issued a statewide stay-at-home order, so all non-essential businesses are closed, and this will likely continue for a month, if not more.  Seeds and some transplants were already being sold for a while before the lockdown, so you may think you have everything you need to plant your vegetable garden.  

But not sweet potatoes!  Most likely not anyway.  Sweet potatoes like really warm weather, so usually aren't sold 'til later in the year.  Mid April or so actually, and on into May.  Sweet potato slips are already hard to find in a normal year, so with all this, they're going to be even HARDER to find now.  So you may think you're out of luck for planting them this year.

Nope!  Just grow your own!

Roots coming off them are normal, and good.

You won't believe how easy it is.  Really.  You can grow them from any sweet potato you have already or can buy from the grocery store.  Grocery stores are still open, and I don't see them closing at all.  So there ya' go!  They may be out of some things when you go, but we're not talking toilet paper here, so just check back and I'm sure you'll find them restocked.

One caveat though: Since diseases that affect plants don't transfer to people (not that I've heard of anyway), supermarket produce meant to be eaten isn't tested for them, so if you do this it's possible that you can infect your soil with a disease that will live in your soil for years.  But it's really unlikely.  I don't know of any offhand.  Still, if it does happen, most of them you can kill by solarizing the soil, so at most you'll only lose a season or two of growing time.  Or just don't plant anything in the sweet potato family for a few years and starve it out.  (In case you didn't know, that's their cousins the morning glories.  I know, right?!)  

Seven sprouts!  Each is counted as one slip.

So, back to growing your own...  

All you have to do is plant that sweet potato and keep it in a sunny spot.  Really.  It's that simple.  Plant it in some potting soil, pointed end down, water it well, and sit it in a sunny window or on the porch.  

You can even suspend it in a glass of water with toothpicks if you want, sitting it in that same sunny window or out on that same porch.  Do you remember your mom or grandma doing that in the kitchen window, ending up with the longest and most gorgeous green vines growing up and over and around the window?  Yep, same thing.  

I put this one in water about a week ago.

Once you have your potato suspended in water or planted, it won't take that long for sprouts to appear.  Depending on how long the potato has been in cold storage, it could be a couple weeks, but some of mine take only a week.  But once they get going, they're going.  They usually sprout from multiple places on one end, as many as eight or more.  

When those sprouts get some size on them, say more than six inches or so, break them off and put them in a jar of water in that same sunny spot.  Don't worry if they don't have roots.  They'll form them over the next week or so.  

Keep breaking them off and putting them in your jar of water until you have enough.  Then simply plant them out in the garden a couple feet or so apart, keep well watered 'til the start to actively grow, and you're off to the races.  

I like to plant them under my okra to maximize the use of space.  Okra plants are upright while sweet potato vines sprawl over the ground, so there is room for both in the same spot.  Just remember you'll have to water and fertilize a bit more, but I think it's worth it.  And you will, too, come Thanksgiving when you're the only one with homemade pie from home grown 'taters. 

More sprouts will grow soon. You can see one at the top of that
beige-ish stem/growth point already.  See the tiny little green leaf?
Cute little thing.

~*~

Fermented Vegetables: Class Handout

Here is the handout for Neil Schmidt's Fermented Veggies class.  If you're interested in taking this class, keep an eye on The Natural Gardener's events calendar for the next time Neil will be presenting it.  

~*~

Lacto-Fermented Veggies

(Class Notes)
by Neil Schmidt
Education Coordinator & Presenter

The Natural Gardener

Brining the cabbage

Food Preservation:     Lacto-fermentation is due to Lactobacillus bacteria that produce lactic-acid in anaerobic environments.  These bacteria are found on the surfaces of vegetables and the digestive systems of humans and other animals. Lacto-fermentation not only retains the nutrients in the veggies but they are more easily digested since they have been slightly broken down. Most food processing for storage decreases the nutrient content of the food.  Lacto-fermentation allows for medium to long term storage without losing nutritional content.  It is also less resource and labor intensive than canning or freezing. On top of these benefits the microorganisms in lacto-fermentation are highly beneficial probiotics for intestinal health.

Whole cabbage leaf to hold down smaller pieces.

Traditional Fermented Foods:  Every culture on Earth has developed some types of fermented foods.  We will focus on the veggies!  Pickles, Sauerkraut, Kimchi and Escabeche are just the tip of the iceberg!

Materials:

                                          Container w/ lid – Fermentation vessel needs to be large enough to hold all veggies and at least 1-2” of brine above.

            Weight – Ceramic, glass, sterilized rock, wedged chopsticks (anything to keep the veggies submerged)

            Large Metal Bowl – Large enough to mix veggies with salt and squeeze thoroughly.

            Jar Funnel – Helps keep the area cleaner and easier to pack jars.

            Large Spoon – Used to get veggies in and out of the fermenter and jars.

Fermentation vessels each with a different airlock system.

 

Process:  3 rules to keep in mind: Use fresh organic produce, keep it salty and submerged.  If you follow these tips your finished product will be delicious!

1)      Clean all equipment thoroughly.  It does not need to be sterilized.

2)      Cut veggies to desired size, place in large metal mixing bowl and coat with salt. Massage salt into veggies and squeeze out all liquid possible. Let sit for 2 hrs.

“The salt pulls water out of the cabbage (through osmosis), and this creates the brine in which the cabbage can ferment and sour without rotting.” Sandor Katz

(I prefer to leave the veggies in larger pieces so the bubbles can escape to the surface keeping the veggies from lifting out of the brine.)

Kahm yeast – edible but can impart off flavors. 
Increase salt content of brine and the issue should go away.

     3)      Squeeze out all liquid again.  Then spoon into fermentation vessel pouring brine on top to cover veggies. More brine can be made and added if there isn’t enough. 1 tsp-1 tbs/cup of cold clean water.

     4)      Cover the surface of veggies by layering whole cabbage leaves to keep pieces from floating to the top. Place weight on top on cabbage leaves.

     5)      When the desired sourness is achieved (5 days- 2wks) skim all growth from the surface of the brine and unpack fermentation vessel.  Pack into clean jars, fill with brine and refrigerate.

Kahm yeast again.

Contamination by mold or other harmful organisms is not very common when the 3 major tips above are followed.  If mold is found or the veggies have started to disintegrate and become mushy you will want to discard that batch!  Basically when in doubt through it out! However, strong smells do not indicate a problem.  I have found it always smells worse (stronger) during the ferment than once it is harvested. Kahm yeast is a common organism that can grow on the surface but presents no problem other than slightly off flavors.  If Kahm yeast becomes a problem make your brine a little saltier. If the batch seems too salty or vinegary the veggies can be rinsed and new less salty brine added to the jars when putting them in the fridge.

More information from Sandor Katz's website WildFermentation.com

Making Sauerkraut

Vegetable Fermentation Further Simplified
And from elsewhere on the 'net:
Easy, Fast Kimchi Recipe (Mak Kimchi)

Now go ferment something!

Food Preservation Class Notes

Preserving the Harvest

For an online copy of this handout and others, go to TheRedneckHippie.com and click on the “Tutorials” tab.

Freezing

Most foods can be frozen easily preserving the texture more than canning. 

Before freezing, most vegetables must be blanched using either boiling water or steam.

Water Blanching: dunking the vegetables in boiling water for a few seconds or a few minutes. 

Steam Blanching: steaming the vegetables in a single layer held over boiling water.

What vegetable you are preserving will determine the best method and time - consult the table on the “Freezing” page on NCHFP’s website (url below). 

Once the time is up, remove the vegetables from the boiling water and dunk them immediately in either cold or ice water.

Pack into freezer bags, label with contents and date, and freeze. 

Drying

Whole: There are a lot of vegetables that are almost designed to be stored by simply drying them once they are mature: winter squash, garlic, onions, soup beans, soup peas, cowpeas, and hot peppers.  Simply let them mature completely on the vine/plant, then store indoors or out of the weather.  Beans and peas will need winnowing to remove the husks.

Sliced: Other vegetables take a bit more work to dry.  Tomatoes, green beans, peaches, apples, apricots, and many more can be washed, sliced, and dried on racks, then stored in vacuum-sealed jars or frozen.  In less humid climates, people can simply put the food on covered racks and leave them outside where there’s a good air flow.  It’s quite humid here, so using an electric dehydrator or your oven is wise.

Oven-Dried Tomatoes: Best done with small, cherry types.  Slice them in half or thirds, lay in a single layer in a baking pan or cookie sheet, and bake in the oven on it’s lowest setting until dry and leathery (Some gas stoves have a pilot light that alone will dry tomatoes overnight.).  Store in the refrigerator in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid, or freeze. 

Leather Britches: Green beans strung on a string, ends and "strings" removed, then hung to dry until leathery.  

Canning

There are two canning processes - which type of process to use and why:

• Water-bath canning = to preserve very acidic foods (at least 4.6pH) - heating sealed jars of food in boiling water for a specified time. Kills all bacteria and toxins except botulinum spores, so only food that is 4.6pH or more acidic should be preserved this way (that level of acidity keeps those spores dormant). 
• Pressure canning = to preserve foods more alkaline than 4.6pH - heating sealed jars of food under pressure which raises temperatures above 212 degrees, so kills even the botulinum toxin spores. 
• Both processes are exactly the same in their methods until you do the actual cooking/boiling. 
  
  Then the only differences are the type of canning pot, the amount of water in those canning pots (only 2 to 3 inches in pressure canning – completely covering the jars in water-bath canning), the application of pressure, and possibly the amount of time to process. 

Basic equipment for water bath canning

• Ball Blue Book.
• Large pot with lid and rack, large enough to hold jars  along with enough water to cover them well.  A pasta pot with colander insert works well for small batches, or soup pot with vegetable steamer in the bottom. 
• Canning jars - Only use jars made and sold for canning.  
• Rings and NEW lids - Rings can be re-used, but lids cannot (unless they are Tattler re-usables).
• Cooking pot - Anything big enough to prepare the food you are going to put in the jars.
• Clean kitchen towels and hot pads, spoons, measuring cups, butter knife for “bubbling” jars (working air bubbles out of filled jars)
• Tongs for removing jars, rings, and lids from hot water - Special canning tongs are recommended for this, but you can use anything that will allow you to safely and firmly grasp and lift hot jars and lids from boiling water.
• Stove or other heat source capable of boiling water.  Glass-top stoves are not recommended. 
• Labeling supplies
• Timer
• And, of course, food to be canned

Extra equipment that is recommended but not essential

• Canning tool kit: Magnetic lid “lifter”, canning jar funnel, canning jar tongs
• Food mill, food processor, tomato mill, etc.
• Water-bath canner with rack

How to water-bath can high-acid foods, step by step:

1. Bring lids, rings, and jars just to a simmer in your canning pot, then turn off heat.  To avoid lime deposits on jars, add a cup vinegar per gallon of water.
2. While jars are heating, prepare food to be canned according to your recipe or method:

·         Use ONLY lab-tested recipes to ensure acidity stays in the safe range, and follow them exactly.  Even something as simple as substituting “whole” for “sliced” can adjust the pH to dangerous levels later.

·         Be sure to use vinegar of the exact percentage of acidity your recipe calls for.  

·         A note about tomatoes: Some tomatoes aren’t really as acidic as commonly thought, so need acidity added to make them safe to water-bath can.  Refer to your recipe or the Ball Blue Book for specifics. 

3.  Remove jars, lids, and rings onto clean kitchen towel laid out on counter.  Immediately fill jars, being careful to keep rims clean, leaving at least half an inch of headspace (empty space between top of food and rim of jar).  
4. “Bubble” them, ie insert a thin utensil to work out air bubbles.  Wipe rims with clean kitchen towel.
5. Working quickly, put lids and rings on jars, not tightening, just applying ‘til snug.  The lids and
   
   rings are designed to form a one-way valve, allowing pressure that builds up inside the jar to exhaust during processing (also called venting).  If you tighten the rings too tight, the jars may break or explode.  Venting is also why you leave the half-inch of headspace - so your food doesn’t get pushed out of the jars as they vent, dirtying the rim and possibly getting in the way of a safe seal forming between the lid and the jar rim.
6. Place jars back in canning pot, making sure water is covering top of jars by an inch.  If you stack jars, don’t stack directly on top of each other: instead, place one jar “staggered” over two below so they can vent.  
7. Cover pot, bring back to a boil and start timing.  Process (boil) for the time recommended by your recipe.  If canning in altitudes higher than 1000 feet above sea level, consult the link below about adjustments.
8. When time is up, remove the jars from the canner to a towel on the counter.  Using towels as hot pads, tighten lids.  
9. Let cool slowly, keeping them out of drafts (if they cool too quickly, the jars make break).  
10. Smile as you hear the pings of the jars sealing while you’re drinking that well-earned beer to celebrate your first canning success.  
11. Next day, test every seal (see below, under “Problems you may encounter”), then label and date all jars and store in a cool, dark place.    

Problems you may encounter

• Jars not “pinging” when sealing -  Wait ‘til jars are completely cool (next day is good) and feel the center of the lid.  If it’s convex (“caved in/down”), your jar is sealed.  I double-check by removing the ring and trying to pick up the jar by the lid; if it holds, I’ve got a good seal.  If the jar fails any of these tests, I refrigerate and eat promptly.
• Lime deposits on jars - Add one cup vinegar per gallon of water to canner pot before boiling jars.
• Jars breaking - This doesn’t happen often, but it’s usually because the rings were tightened too much before processing or they were exposed to drafts or cold while still hot from the canner.  

Helpful links:

Ball Company Canning Website at FreshPreserving.com

National Center for Home Food Preservation at Nchfp.uga.edu

Organic Weed Control Class Notes

When Ben Franklin said, “Nothing is certain except for death and taxes,” he revealed that he was not a gardener. Gardeners know that weeds should be added to that list.

Sadly, there is no magic bullet.  There is not a product alive that does what Roundup promises.  Not even Roundup does what Roundup promises.  So, unless you want to pave your entire yard, you will have to deal with weeds. 

First, Know Thy Enemy:  what kind of weed are you dealing with?  This will dictate how you will control them. 

Types of weeds:

v  Annuals ~ Weeds that complete their entire life cycle in one season. Easiest to get rid of physically, but quickest to reseed.  Examples: Cleavers, Chickweed, Henbit, Hedge Parsley (Torilis), Annual bluegrass,

v  Biennials ~ Plants that complete their life cycle in two years. Easier than perennials to get rid of, but harder than annuals. Examples: Wild carrot and it's incredibly toxic lookalike Poison Hemlock.  (Note: LEARN about poison hemlock, then always use gloves when eradicating it. It really IS as toxic as they say.)

v  Perennials ~ Weeds that live for years, going dormant in winter (usually) and sprouting again to grow in spring/summer/fall.  This includes many types including creeping, rhizomatous, and bulbous.  Examples: Bermuda grass, Nut grass (Nutsedge), Sheep Sorrel, Johnson grass, Dallisgrass, and Crabgrass.

Basic ways to control weeds:

v  Annuals ~ Cut them off at ground level or just below the soil surface.  Don’t let them go to seed.

v  Biennials ~ Same as annual control when they’re young, more like perennial control when they’re older.

v  Perennials ~ Dig them out, sheet mulch, repeated vinegar/orange oil sprayings, repeated pruning to ground.

Some Tips

v  First, avoid weeds.  One year of seeds means seven years of weeds, so don’t let any go to seed if they get away from you. 

v  Don’t put those that have gone to seed in the compost pile or they will come back to haunt you.

v  Increasing soil fertility and organic matter content discourages many weeds. 

v  Damp soil is easier to pull weeds from.  Not wet – you never want to work wet soil as it can cause clods that take forever to “melt”.  And not dry – dry soil can be rock hard, and harder to pull weed roots from. 

Ways to control weeds:

About weed barrier fabric – I’m not a big fan.  It stops natural cycles (leaves falling on soil and breaking down, and soil moisture level fluctuations) and many times don’t work anyway, leaving a mess of plastic threads you have to pull up (which isn’t always easy if Bermuda has clambered across it and pinned it to the ground).  If you do use it, try to use a thick paper one so it will eventually break down and not leave you with that mess to clean up.  In extreme circumstances, when sheet mulching hasn’t worked, use heavy black contractor’s plastic covered with mulch, then pull up in a year or two. 

In the lawn:

v  Keep the grass as healthy as you can so it can choke out most weeds.  Also, increasing soil fertility and organic matter content discourages many weeds while encouraging turf grass. 

v  Corn gluten – A pre-emergent weed killer used at least twice a year just before the two main weed-sprouting times: at the change of cool weather to warm weather and warm back to cool. 

v  Hand digging/hand removal – There are a number of hand tools that will help you with this.  Check into Lawn Jaws, Cobra tool, hori hori knife, Cape Cod weeder, rockery trowel, radius weeder, ball weeder, cork screw weeding tool, daisy grubber and weed jack type tools. You can also use a knife or screwdriver for some things, and a regular dinner fork and/or longer-handled barbecue fork.

v  Weed popper for clumping weeds and those with large taproot systems.

v  In extreme cases, use a spading fork to loosen the area in and around the weeds, pull them up roots and all, then carefully replace the grass.  Care will need to be taken for the grass after this as you’ve effectively just transplanted it.  Seaweed and extra watering will be needed.

In planted beds:

v  Mulching – A good, thick layer of mulch will shade out most weed seeds and make any others easier to pull since they won’t be as well-rooted.

v  Hoes – stirrup hoe (aka oscillating hoe) is my favorite.

v  20% Vinegar – This extra-strong vinegar can be sprayed as is, or mixed with orange oil and soap. 

v  In extreme cases, use a spading fork to loosen the area in and around the weeds, pull them up roots and all, then carefully replace the grass.  Care will need to be taken to avoid roots of established plants if possible.  If not, seaweed will help them get over it.

In veggie beds:

v  Intensive planting – Planting crops so close together that they act as a living mulch.

v  No-Till, or minimizing soil disturbance – Some weed seeds can lay dormant for decades and only need the briefest light exposure to germinate, so tilling actually increases weed seed germination.  It’s best to avoid if you can. 

v  Cover cropping – Cover crops shade out the newly sprouted weeds and add organic matter to the soil, increasing its organic matter content and nitrogen content (when using legumes as a cover crop), discouraging weeds in the process.  Cool season cover crops good for our area are crimson clover, Australian winter pea, elbon rye, perennial rye, and annual rye.  Warm season cover crops are buckwheat and cowpeas (black eyed peas, purple hull peas, cream peas). 

v  In extreme cases, use a spading fork to loosen the area in and around the weeds, pull them up roots and all, then carefully replace the grass.  Care will need to be taken to avoid roots of established plants if possible.  If not, seaweed will help them get over it.

In new areas that will be planted beds or veggie beds or lawn:

v  Sheet mulching – Multiple layers of compost-newspaper-cardboard to shade out and rot weeds below.  It must be left in place for at least two seasons before planting through it, longer for certain hard-to-kill weeds.

v  Pre-Sprouting – Watering the area to encourage weed seeds to sprout, then tilling again or using a hoe to kill them while they’re still small.  You can do this for a month, hoeing once or more a week, and you will presprout and kill 90% of the weed seeds. 

Tom's Double Digging Class

At the double digging class last Saturday, Tom gave a link to the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at the University of California Santa Cruz.  I tried it, but it didn't come up for me.  I did a search for the center under it's full name and got this link:

Center for Agroecology

And here is the section he said to look at specifically:

Garden and Field Tillage and Cultivation

We'll be giving this class again in late spring or early summer, when we resume classes in May.  Keep an eye on the events calendar at the Natural Gardener website.  We'll post dates and times there.

Veggie Gardening 201 Class Notes

Got a year or two of veggie growing experience under your belt and now looking for a bit more of a challenge?  Come to one of my Vegetable Gardening 201 classes at The Natural Gardener.  These are the class notes, so if you need a hard copy to bring to class with you, copy the individual url to this blog post and go to PrintFriendly.com.

Veggie Gardening 201

Timing:  You already know planting times in Texas are different than the rest of the country.  But did you know you can tweak them even more?  Gambling a bit by planting things even earlier than the calendar says can really pay off.  We do it here at The Natural Gardener occasionally, I do it at home, and many market growers do it regularly.  But remember that sometimes, when there's a HARD frost later in the season or a week of 100+ temps later than you think, it's a complete bust.  

Season Extenders: Things to either warm up or cool down vegetable plants.

Frost Cloth – The one you may have already been using.

Shade Cloth – You may have already been using this as well.

Candle Warmers – Prayer candles in glass, buried partway and lit with a pot over it.

Christmas Lights (incandescent) – C7 or C9 type.

Cold Frames – “Mini greenhouses.”  Usually covered with glass, but sometimes row cover or plastic (sheeting or corrugated plastic panels).

Plastic Sheeting – Be sure to get UV resistant.  

Greenhouses - Traditional greenhouses aren't usually financially viable and certainly not needed

Lettuce and kale will wane and the tomatoes
will mature and take their place.

Interplanting: Planting two or more crops in the same area, close to and among each other.  Sometimes they can grow in the same season compatibly, other times one crop will wane as the other matures.  Some examples…

Sweet potatoes under peppers

Cole crops under tomatoes

Creeping herbs under other things

Strawberries under asparagus

Okra with artichokes    

Crop Rotation: Rotating planting spots around the garden each season so no type of vegetable is planted in the same spot two years in a row. 

To avoid disease buildup and mineral deficiencies over time

Vegetable Families

Cover Cropping: Growing plants for the express purpose of improving the soil.  They can be tilled into the soil when they are a few weeks or months old, or allowed to die and decompose in place naturally.  If tilled in, allow at least two weeks for decomposition before replanting the bed.

Warm season:

Cowpeas – This one’s a legume, so fixes nitrogen. 

Buckwheat

Cool season:

Annual Rye

Perennial Rye

Crimson Clover – Another legume.

Australian Winter Pea – Another legume.

Hairy Vetch – Still another legume. 

Record Keeping is an important way of not losing what you've learned.  There are numerous ways to do it.  Pick one that works for you.  Some I've used are:  

Photos saved on your phone or computer in dated folders.

Good old fashioned paper and pen
Blog - combines photos and text, and it's fun!  

Using "cues" in photos: I planted THESE .....   THIS WAY ........................................... in THIS BED.  

Fertilizing and Soil Life

How pH affects nutrient availability.

Desertification - how the summer heat and dryness affects our garden and what to do about it.

Alkalinity and how it affects soil chemistry, making some nutrients unavailable. The average soil pH in our area that I see on customer's soil tests over and over again is 7.8.

Nutrient/Mineral Deficiencies: The most common we encounter are:

Nitrogen - Pale, stunted, yellow plant.  Fertilize with a food with a high first number.

Iron - Yellow leaves with bright green veins. Give Seaweed with iron or Copperas.

Magnesium – Yellow “halo-ed” edges on leaves (width dependent on plant and severity), green centers.

NOTE: If you attempt to correct the deficiency (for instance add Epsom salt for magnesium deficiency) and there is no change after two weeks, you can suspect a different deficiency or other cause as many things look alike.  For instance, these photos all depict iron deficiency:

And this is magnesium deficiency:

And these deficiencies are, from left, potassium, boron, and nitrogen.

Planting by the Phases of the Moon

Waxing (growing) moon: Time to sow and transplant things that grow above ground.

Waning (declining) moon: Time to sow and transplant things that grow below ground.

New moon: "Dark of the moon". Dormant period. Kill pests and weeds, turn soil.

Garden Experiments: You can learn a lot by experimenting with different products, methods, or varieties.  Be sure to do them side-by-side in the same year to evaluate them fairly.  If you simply try something one year and something else the next, there may be variables you don't notice that unfairly affect one or the other.  For instance, if you use one fertilizer in a year that is mild, then another in a year that got extra hot extra early, any negative effects are likely because of the differences in weather and not the fertilizer's fault.

Variety trials - Spend one year using all the extra space in your garden to try growing multiple varieties of the same vegetable.  I've found many of my favorite varieties during "The Year of the Bean" or "The Year of the Squash."  
Different fertilizers
Different watering regimens
Different soil additives such as sulphur or seaweed - use these on one bed, but not another
Mulch or no mulch

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