Irrigation Test

At the last minute I decided to head out of town for a week, I'm actually writing this from my home for the next week.  I was having a difficult time with the decision because I was worried about irrigating my crops - I hadn't yet done a true test to make sure everything was working correctly and that the timer was properly configured.  I spent about an hour last night doing just that and things do seem to be working.  I also installed drip lines in the raised beds to keep the new carrots happy.

I'm excited to come home in 7 days and see the dramatic growth of everything.  I'm used to looking at the plants every day so it can be difficult to notice the growth, but 7 days should yield demonstrable results.

Trellis Wrap Up

last of the trellises installed in ES7 & EW8.  It's real difficult to pound
those posts 2' into the ground and also keep them plum, so if you look
down the line it's pretty wobbly

Spent the entire day outside in the yard finishing up the trellises and installing irrigation lines EW7 & EW8 (the new tomato beds).  My arm was shot from swinging the sledge hammer to drive in the posts and in fact I was starting to get sloppy and mangle the edges and corners.  I picked up a fence post driver to finish off the last of them, figured it's a good investment, the type of tool you have your whole life.

Ran about 6' of funny pipe from a nearby stubbed out
sprinkler.  Funny pipe is the greatest stuff!  Here you see
the funny pipe connected to a pressure regulator with
the 1/2" irrigation line hoop for 1/4" lateral lines.  The 1/2"
irrigation line goes back under the surface to the bed to
the left.

Programmed and tested the irrigation controller to water the beds every three days for 15 minutes.  I'm planning on leaving town the rest of this week so won't be here to water - it's about time I put the drop lines to use.  I also installed some plastic mesh around NS1 to keep the cat (I found cat shit so I'm assuming my recent pest is a cat) out of the bed.

• repaired punctured 1/2" drip line in the North end of NS2
• installed the twine for tomatoes in EW7 but didn't yet fasten to plants
• fixed leaky plug cap on RB1 1/2" drip line

Freebie Tip!  Paint stir sticks make great crop tags/stakes.  In two trips to Home Depot I've acquired more than 30 of them and of course they are free.  If the drooler in the pain department says anything just tell him you forgot to grab some when you picked up the 20 gallons or pain earlier.  "Oh, sorry.. is there a charge?" - there isn't, but the mere fact you ask will turn things around.

Johnny's charges $59.95 for 100 wooden stakes or $0.59 each!  What a rip!  Based on $0.59 each my ~30 stir sticks saved me about $17.00.  To be honest, it's less about saving money and more about sticking it to Home Depot for all the annoying experiences (14 registers with only one open) and low level morons ("oh, uhmm, this isn't my department" he says while quickly walking away from me to find another isle to hide and piss away his 8 hours)  I've had to deal with while shopping there.

New Trellises

Finally built the new trellises for my tomatoes and pole beans this afternoon.  When I worked out the material list I was surprised with just how much lumbar I actually needed, it's one of those projects that seems like it will be quick and simple but ended up being a bit more involved.

Picked up my old truck from the office to make a home depot run for the (28) 2x2 8' lumbar and some other materials.  Because the truck just sits in the parking lot all the time we(I) haven't kept the registration current - driving the truck around is risky with all the cops in my area.

I sorted the lumber into different categories based on what it would be used for.  Pieces with more knots were used for vertical posts or if the knots where near the ends they would be used to make the (4) 6' pieces I needed.  After sorting things out I built a jig for the table saw to cut the pointed end on the posts.  Jigs are really worth it for cuts like this; not only is it safer but you get a nice consistent result.  I saved the jig for future use when I make more posts.  The only problem I ran into with this operation was that the waste pieces kept getting stuck in the blade opening on the top of the saw so I'd have to shut it down to clear the piece.

My mistake is obvious in this photo - you can see the
pilot hole is not centered correctly and ends up opening
the joint by a fat 1/8"  :(

Next up was to make the cuts for the lap joint where two pieces would meet at a post.  A lap joint is perfect for this as it let's both horizontal boards rest on the post.  I had originally thought about using an angled lap join (rather than notched) but instead just narrowed the joint so that 1/4" or so of each horizontal piece would rest on the post.  The joint worked correctly, but unfortunately I miscalculated my drilling jig and put the hole about 1/6" off-center resulting in a combine 1/8" gap in the joint.  To make things worse, this reduce my 1/4" "ledge" to only 1/8".

Another jig was created to drill out the pilot hole in the tops of the posts.  The idea is that you simply drop a nail in to hold everything together, more like a pin, then you can easily remove it for later disassembly.  The cross-cut for the lap joint was done on the table saw, but the lengthwise cut was with the jig saw which is why it looks a little crappy - I couldn't figure out what other tool to use for the cut!

Posts driven to same depth, well actually to the same
finish height - the depth varies a bit I'm sure

I drove in the posts first using a string and level to guide the depth.  Basically I drove one end post to the desired depth, then drove the opposing end post in far enough to be stable.  I then marked the set post 12" down from the top and strung a string from that point to the opposing post.  Next I marked each of the middle posts 12" from the top and drove them in until the mark lined up with the string.  Finally I used a regular stright level to drive the final end post in.

Next time I do this I need to use something to protect the top of the post as I drive it down with the sledge - it really beat some of them up and I'm worried about splitting the posts during future installations.

Again, you can see my bummer mistake with the pilot hole.  You can also see how little of the left rail is
sitting on the top of the post.  I may end up redoing the lap joint at the end of the season to correct this
stupid mistake

Fortex on the left and Red Noodle on the right - these are my first
pole beans and I'm learning as I go

With the top rails installed it's time to start stringing some things up.  The beans need the attention more than the tomatoes so I took care of them first.  I've never done this before so I was thinking about the different options and methods to train the beans up the twine. I didn't want to anchor or stake the twine into the dirt so I ended up looping the twine under the "shoulders" of the cotyledons then twisting it 4-6" back up the line and tying off to secure it.  This approach will still let me pinch of the cotyledon if needed while still leaving the shoulder stubs for the twine.  As the vine grows I will twist the twine around the main step once a week or so.

I was eager to solve the same problem for the tomatoes; how to attach the twine without using clips or staking the bottom of the line into the ground.  I basically went with the same approach I used for the beans, but I doubled up the twine to account for the substantially heavier load of the tomato plants.  It looks like this could create a problem if you don't consider that there is currently NO "load" on the twine, that is the plant is not being supported by the twin yet so the fact that it's wrapped around the base of the lower branches won't matter.  After I wrap the main stem around the twine 2-3 times it should start to increase the friction to a point that the bottom loop around those lower branches won't have much stress on it.

A Template for the Perfect Morning

The dirt is so soft I can dig it with my hands.  I then set the transplant and
firmly push into the bottom of the hole, followed by a real long soak,
backfill and pat down and finally one last long drink of water

Maybe not "perfect", but certainly the way I'd like to start the majority of days if possible.  The alarm set for 5am, that in itself not a rare event, waking eagerly at it's report however, is!

I went to bed early the previous night with a belly full of carne asada and Sierra and a plan to wake early, get Tomatoes in the ground before my 8:30 physical therapy appointment and then onto the office.  I was excited to be up early and have hands in the dirt while the sun rose; dawn is absolutely my favorite time of day.  The challenge was to finish the work in the narrow slice of morning between darkness and my cutoff to take a shower and be rolling on the freeway to my appointment.

I'm actually trying to not bit my thumbnails so they will be longer and I
can use as a tool for pinching.
That's a double-whamy statement right there; sure to make the girls go wild!

I was able to do it and it was everything I hoped it would be, arguably my best morning in months.  Yet another indicator that this may be the life for me.

I pinched off the bottom 1-2 branches on all the tomatoes before planting deep in their new permanent homes.  A few of the plants had already set flowers but I pinched them off to keep the plant focused on roots and top growth.  Also took care of suckers in just about every plant.  I like the process of pruning and grooming the tomatoes, it's very fitting for my tendency to want to do "many little things".

Other Stuff:

1. Pill bugs continue to be a problem, they are chewing on my new pole beans and have successfully destroyed two of them, chomping them off at the stem.
2. I had a dark aphid-like infestation on a single red noodle pole bean.  I sprayed with a little "vegetable safe oil" (I forget what that is) and they seem to be staying away
3. Carrots in RB1 are doing OK, seem to be taking the heat well

Something's Going to Die

I hope it's not a neighbors cat or a nice little raccoon family cause that would be a sad story, but something is digging up my beds and if I find it I'm going to kill it.

Two nights in a row my arugula has been dug up, each time I've lost 10-15% of my seedlings.





 I've got a couple ideas:

1. Wire mesh cage around the bed - this is a terrible plan, it makes my life considerably more difficult when it comes time to work the bed, additionally it will be an eye sore in the yard.
2. Motion activated cameras - This sounds more fun.  If I can see what it is then I can possibly consider an appropriate trap (either kill trap or live capture).  At this point I have NO IDEA what it is, I'm not a hunter or animal tracker!  I can't look at print spacing and determine gait, breed and age?!  I (to use a military term) Actionable Intel in order to proceed.

To clarify; I don't want to kill some furry critters, I like critters, but when something screws with my most important hobby the "animal lover" in me tends to diminish a bit, or at least hide for a while.

Two More Beds

two new beds, one not yet mixed and groomed

Just barely got the two new beds finished.  My experiment to obtain a laborer outside of my.... normal methods turned out to be largely a failure; the guy was nice, but wore out QUICK and just didn't have the drive I'm used to.  By the time I realized he wasn't up to par it was too late in the morning and I'd lose more time sending him off and finding a replacement.  The responses from the ad were encouraging and I may give it a second shot next time.

The lack of great help meant I had to do more work that I had planned which meant I didn't get the planting done I had hoped to.  Moments after giving a lecture about not breaking pipes I broke a pipe.  Feeling a bit foolish I redeemed myself (or attempted to) by making record breaking time with a high quality repair job.  Save face, always save face.

sod removed in the new bed area

I've got another 26 tomato plants to transplant.  I've started several melons indoors on heat pads and will transplant at the feet of the tomatoes.

Finding that mulch, while very effective at reducing dry out in my beds also appears to be encouraging more pests and in some cases rotting of stems.  I've lost two of my Fortex pole bean seedlings to what appears to be late damping off but could also be the result of critters nibbling on the stem.  Either way, it's caused me to rethink my mulching plans.

I am however happy to see that my Guardsman bunching onions are emerging and pushing through the straw mulch I set when they were sown!  My farmer buddy Chad (www.greenwaveranch.com) told me it was a mistake and he still may end up being correct, however right now they seem to be making it.

Another entry will focus on green wave ranch and the amazing coincidence that two old friends that lost touch for 6 years have ended up interested in the same thing.

Will You Do The Work?

My back is still a mess and I'm just not able to put in 12 hours of steady hard manual labor, the exact type that was needed to add my two new 22' beds. I had to remove approximately 400 sq. ft. of sod, double dig the dirt, amend with compost and manure as well as fill dirt.

I decided I would get a day laborer to help with the majority of the work and I would focus on planting, mixing amendments, fertilizing, etc. As you will see in the below Craigslist ad, I have hired illegal aliens (I have ZERO problem with that term - it's and accurate legal term) in the past and it's always worked well for me. This time I thought I'd try something different.

Craigslist ad - click to view full size version, it's easier to read

I fully expected to receive negative responses as well as positive ones.  I figured there would be people calling me a racist or a hypocrite or a "tea bagger" or god, who knows what.

However what I received was nothing but positive, albeit not exactly supportive, responses from wide variety of people, races, and gender!  Only one post came close to having a bit of attitude but even that wasn't aggressive or combative.  Below are some choice responses.

hey there my name is [redacted] im 19 almost 20 im a freshman in college so i need to make some cash im a hard worker and ima strong and hard working guyand  i am a citizen
thanks and looking forward to hear form you.

This is exactly the type of person I'd like to give the work to:

I am a legal citizen in the military, I do need extra cash and I am Hispanic. The job sounds stereotypical but I don't care (haha). The only day I'd actually be able to help is on Saturday, if this sounds good to you please send me an email. Thanks and have a nice day.

Military guy, would be GREAT to put some money in his pocket:

This is a awesome ad! What you say is right too. My name is [redacted] I am
willing to do some hard work for cash! If you think a woman can do this job then
give me a call at [redacted]. Thank you 

I guess this could be considered supportive:

Hello,

I read your ad and definietely agreed with what you had to say.  I am a female carpenter with over 15 years experience doing various remodels and rehabs.  I have been looking for work now for some time.  I spend a lot of time with sending resumes, etc. but in the end I find that most ads that are placed are ads that are placed in various states, only wanting to gather as much information as they can about someone.  I highly doubt that most of the jobs advertised under "gigs" even exist.

Anyway, I am interested in the manual labor you are requiring.  I would be interested in further discussing if you would like.  Feel free to contact me at [redacted].  If I don't answer please leave me a message and I will call you back.

Thanks. 

I'm not sure what the first part of this is all about, but a female carpenter with 15 years experience?  Damn...

Hi! I ran across your ad and I'm interested in the job.
First off, yes I'm a girl but I am strong and very capable of manual
labor. In fact, I very much enjoy manual labor.
I've worked as a theatrical lighting intern for the past 3 years and
because of that I am used to lifting heavy equipment and working hard
until the job's done. I have also worked as a gardener/landscaper for
a realty company as a summer job.
I work very hard and am usually the last one to stop working.
I take direction very well and work very well with others.
My only concern is when this job takes place. What day are you looking
to have this job done?
Thank you.
[redacted] 

This one is my favorite I think, just a great attitude.  Of course I also wondered if she was some cool, cute girl that was into gardening and making stuff!  :)

ok well me and my partner are interested in this job. we are in good shape and ready to do this!!! when can we start??? if any questions fill free to call. .
thanks for your time. 

Pretty bold response

So all in all the responses thus far have been good.  I'll post later about how the job/day ended up and how the worker I selected performed compared to my historical experience with day laborers.

 

New Things

Just some photos of some new arrivals

red orach pushing up - I'm excited about this stuff, if it
tastes as good as people say, then I think it will be a good
item to bring to the market this summer when salad
"greens" are sparse

Purple haze carrots in the raised beds - 8 rows of these
guys with decent emergence so far.  Lost a few to wind
and heat

First arugula phase, this is my first succession planting experiment, next
phase going in this Friday or Saturday

All Be Damned...

Capturing rain water actually makes sense, I was able to collect more than 35 gallons from a combined 2/5th of an inch of rain off of one small patio cover.  I figured out the math to determine my total potential based on my "collectible roof area" and my region's annual average rainfall.  For this post I will just use said patio cover for the  example.

• The patio measures 17'W x 11'D for an area of 187 sq. ft. or 26,928 sq. in.
• The average rainfall in my zipcode (92866) is 12.6".
• 1 gallon is equal to 231 cu. in.
• If you take the roof area of 26,928 sq. in. multiplied by the average rainfall of 12.6" you get a whopping 339,293 cu. in. of annual water hitting that roof.
• Divide that by the 231 cu. in. in a gallon and you end up with a juicy 1,468.8 gallons a year off that one little patio cover!

Using the ~2/5" of rain in the last 48 hours, I can plug that into the formula and get 46 gallons which isn't too terribly off from the 35 gallons I claim to have collected.  Factor in that I'm not collecting 100% of the runoff and I consider that to largely be a validation of the formula.

Based on that I think I may just rig up some tanks and gutters for next winter.

In other news, I harvested a couple handfulls of beans and they taste alright, nothing too exciting to be honest.  I'm hoping the cool weather is contributing to bland flavors.  I read that you should try to harvest everyday to keep the crop producing, so like a good student I'm doing as I'm told.  The tomatoes that I put in the ground look quite healthy, they've perked up a bit and, now this could be in my head, look to be deeper green in color!!

Tomato Rescue

transplanted real deep, about 8 inches down.  Once they begin to grow a
bit I will trim off the lower branches to reduce the chance of soil born
disease and pests.

Transplanted17 various tomato plants into EW2 (north half).  I say various not because I desire variety or intra-bed mixing but because I'm an idiot and I mixed them all up one day and now can't tell which is which.  I have 6 different species of tomatoes and I honestly can't tell them apart.  So... it'll be a surprise, like having a baby and not finding out the sex.  Just like that.

We had about 1/10" of rain last night and I setup 10 buckets and a (clean) trash can under the drip line of my back patio cover.  After combining the rain contents all the buckets into the trash can I'd say I scored about 28 gallons of rain water.  I've been reading lately that the chlorine or, more likely, chloramine (ammonia and chlorine - yay!) may not be the best thing for plants, especially food crops and young ones at that.  I'm not about to run out and install a filter or anything, but if I can catch some rain water I figure it's an easy way to give the plants a fresh drink of good ol', straight up water.  Of course there is the residue from the roof which for all I know is asbestos based or something - You can't win!

I pulled the last of my first golden beets, combined with a zucchini and a few green onions made a nice side dish for dinner.  I sauteed the beat tops and threw in four zucchini blossoms.  Pretty tasty and about as fresh as you can get.

Chores and Experiments

My Crop Lifecycle Record is working well, you can see the
tag that corresponds to the log entry

My feelings towards my micro farm have been a little blue lately.  I've noticed that tasks that should be enjoyable were instead irritating me!  Now I can be pretty tightly wound sometimes, so "getting annoyed" isn't a shocker, but farming?  Farming is annoying?  No, it's not but trying to do too much with too little time is and I suspect that's the real issue lately; my day job is demanding extra from me, it's my priority so I oblige while simultaneously being pulled to the garden to keep things going.

I'm not complaining, just talkin' it out, makes me feel better.  I made a conscious effort Today to let go of my regular work baggage, relax and get my mind into the farm, into the dirt and the plants.  It worked and I accomplished quite a bit in the few precious hours I was able to commit, singly to my gardening and without distractions.

I picked up some more fish and kelp fertilizer for my tomatoes. I have bone meal which would have been a good phosphorous source but I didn't want to hit them with a combo of things, I'll wait and see how the fish emulsion does first.  While at Orange County Farm Supply I also picked up some 1/4" micro irrigation plugs and a single tine cultivator that I've wanted for months!

1 mo. old carrots recently mulched with
straw.  I used a real think layer because I
also sowed rows of green onions between
the carrots Today and I want them to push through

I've said in the past that I'm an excessive waterer (nice!) and it's true, I am but I also tend to be negligent and FORGET to water sometimes.  Same ol' deal with not having the time to focus on gardening enough, too be consistent with things.  I thought I'd try out some straw mulch on various crops, it should buy me some time when I forget to water or a heat spell comes through.  I mulched around existing crops (beans, onions) and also mulched over some newly sown seeds - this is the experiment, to see if the seedlings will push through the mulch.  I mulched a couple of newly sown rows of carrots as well, it's a risky experiment because it could be that the seedlings never push through and I'll have wasted the seed and time.

Oh yeah, Chui got shaved ;)

I've really go to be consistent about keeping Chui out of the growing area.  90% of the time he's a good boy and just lays down, but if something gets him excited he will run right across the beds, smashing whatever happens to be under his paws.  Then I get pissed off, he gets bummed, thinks he's in big trouble - it's all very unfortunate and better avoided.  No dogs allowed.

My new favorite tool, the single tine cultivator

Quick List:

• Mulched beans in EW4
• Pulled Chard from West end of EW1 due to damping off and weak seedlings
• Sowed (2) 7' rows of :Purple Haze" carrots in place of the chard
• Weeded around the beds, pulled sod clumps
• Installed crop tags with "Crop ID" (CID) on them
• Supplement-sowed "Provider" bush beans in the East end of EW1 where I had poor germination and some pest issues.  Hopefully the supplemental sowings will see 100% germination
• Sowed "Red Orach" in the North end of NS2, (3) 3' rows
• Set out 10 buckets and a trash can to collect the rain water from the storm(s) that should be coming Tonight through Wednesday

Rained Out

"Red Noodle" pole beans emerging nicely.
Theres that damn melon seed again!

Set the alarm for 4:30 this morning, woke up, made coffee, took a shower and thought about all the stuff I needed to do.  I was looking forward to it, a full day to get a bunch of past due projects and tasks done.

Then it rained and sort of blew all my enthusiasm.  Honestly my tomatoes and weakling beet seedlings also put me in a shitty mood.  The tomatoes are stunted and have been looking less healthy lately, this is particularly frustrating because I need to get them in the ground soon.  And the new beats had a very high rate of damping off or general stem breakage which could be from the high winds several days ago, damage from setting the drip lines in place, from watering too often or from watering too hard.  Maybe a little of all those... either way they are in bad shape and I ended up pulling 30% out.

So after about 45 minutes of being outside I called it a (farm) day and went in and programmed for nearly 11 hours straight.

Tomorrow should be clear and I'm going to try again.

Blogger Outage - data lost!

Well, I guess you get what you pay for.  Blogger went down and I've ended up losing 3-4 days of data.  Of course there is no support available so I'm SOL.  I will use this opportunity to search for another blogging platform that can properly restore lost data.

Crop Lifecycle Worksheet

I took a few minutes and banged out a quick first revision of the "Crop Lifecycle Worksheet" that I've been talking about.  I didn't fret too much when designing this, figured I'd take a iterative approach and refine it often as I discover deficiencies and identify new requirements.

I added a blank row in-between just about every "known event" to give myself a little wiggle room to record unanticipated events (e.g. fertilize, 3rd thinning, etc)  Events with specific note details are represented with a sub-field in the main "Notes" field (e.g. "Spacing" on the "Thinning" events).

In a couple days I hope to make myself a stiff drink, turn the radio up and back-log some of my more recent crops.  I went ahead and did two Tonight just to test things out - so far so good!

The Excel 2010 file can be downloaded here:
https://sites.google.com/site/steveklett/CropLifecycleWorksheet.xlsx?attredirects=0&d=1

• Sowed (8) 4' rows of carrots (Vitana (2662.11)) in RB1
• Used doubled-up layer of screen cloth to mulch the carrot seeds to assist with germination
• Sowed (3) 3' rows of Arugula in the North end of NS1 - I spaced this out so that I can do two additional succession plantings for a total of 9' of arugula.  If my calculations are correct this should result in a constant cycle of arugula as it matures in 38 days.  With a two week succession cycle my initial planting should be ready when I'm pulling out the last of the third - we'll see

Waterproof Printer Paper

I mentioned the other day that I had an idea for a new Crop Lifetime log format.While I haven't spent time on the format yet, I did order some water proof printer paper which apparently you can write on with a regular pen.  Well, they'd like you do buy a special pen but some quick research suggests that a regular permanent pen will work fine.

Once I design the worksheet I will print a couple copies on this paper and then put them in a binder.  I may also get them spiral bound at Staples or something.

Expansion Potential

Everyday when I drive to and from my house I pass a big empty lot on the street East of mine.  It's not actually an "empty lot" but rather a neighbor's undeveloped (and unused) backyard.  It's fenced for the most part and is flat and covered with weeds.  I've been thinking that should I decide to expand Maiden Farms next year I could possible work out an arrangement with the owner to grant my farming rights.  Possibly even work out a CSA setup.

View Maiden Farms Expansion in a larger map

Never shoot into the sun!  I can see some nice beds there

 My lonely Zucchini plant is pushing some fruit and I decided to eat the babies now while the blossoms are still fresh.  Sauteed in olive oil with a little garlic and it's an amazing side dish; the texture of the flowers is like nothing you've had before.  I plan to get 10 more plants going so I can market the baby zucchini with flowers still attached.

Bed Prep

I was thinking Today while working (oddly I had Slayer (Rein in Blood) blasting the whole time and could still think) about the "garden journal".  It occured to me that part of my problem is that I'm not doing it correctly - imagine that!  Most seem to state "record planting dates and conditions" and while I was doing that, I thought... well, so what?  How do you cross-reference that with the other events that have occurred (e.g. thinning, fertilizing, cultivating, etc.) - how do you pull it all together?

An old idea came back to me - the planting/sowing worksheet.  While originally used as a "seed starting log" I'm now thinking it can be extended to be much more; more importantly I'm looking at logging crop lifetime in a whole new way.  So the new way would be much more structured (I like that!), consider this:

1. You make a new entry (row) on the crop lifetime record (this could be a single row in a spreadsheet or I'm also considering an entire page) to get things started.  This row would also have a unique numerical ID (+1 from the previous ID, simple increment)
2. You fill out a crop stake including the ID from the log and place it in the bed/row where you have sown/planted - this established an absolute 1:1 relationship between that crop and the log
3. As events and changes happen you update the crop record in the log, for example when a new crop emerges you would record the date.  Another example might be the first thinning.  You get the idea - the nice thing here is that all the data is in a single place, I don't need to try and remember what page, 30, 50, 90 pages back I entered the original planting information
4. Continue recording events ending finally with harvest dates and notes

The virtues of this approach (which is new for me, perhaps not for others) is that I can see the entire lifetime of that crop on a single linear presentation of data - this makes analysis and decision making much more simple than trying to combine data from various sources, pages, etc.

Looking forward I could also imagine using events entered into the log as triggers to mark future events in a calendar - for when I record emergence of carrots and know that I want to thin and mulch in 15 days I can make an entry in my calendar and then review the calendar daily.  Structure! - just what I need to pull this all off.

Of course if anyone reading this is a software engineer you will see what I've done here, this is practically a Use Case for a crop management software application.  Just think!:

• Running aggregate reports grouped on plant type, bed location, etc.
• Automatic recording of current weather conditions
• Reminders, Outlook integration
• Per-Crop rules (and rule engine) - "EmergenceEvent Logged" enqueues a "ThinAndMulch" event in 15 days.  Completion of "ThinAndMulch" event lines up a "FinalThin" event in another 15 days
• Succession planting management, again based on properties of the crop, possibly also taking into consideration bed location, amount of sun, time of year, etc.
• Ohhhhh man...

In other news:

• I ripped all the crops out of the NS1 bed
• Removed the sod around the perimeter of NS1
• Cultivated and re-leveled bringing the final width to a solid 36"
• Did the same for NS2
• Trimmed bottom branches from zucchini to prevent diseases from taking hold
• Realized that if I want to sell the baby zucchini w/ blossoms I will need to plant 20+ more plants - don't think I have the room for this
• Pulled out remaining cardinal spinach
• Mounded up soil around the bunching onions to blanch the lower 1-2"
• Some beans are starting to appear on the EW3 bed
• Tuned the drip lines on the blueberries

Adding Drip/Micro Irrigation to Existing Branch

Vinessa and Junior stopped by Today for a post-ride beer (at 9am - the best time!) and took some produce with them.  I walked down to the Orange Home Grown farmer's market that debuted in my neighborhood Today.  I arrived late so I don't want to judge the show of produce, I'm assuming that great stuff all sold out quickly and I was only seeing the left overs.  I intended to sell at this market, possibly this year - more on that later.

1. I need to keep the sprinkler so a Tee is needed inline

I moved my blueberry bushes over to their intended location and have been meaning to setup drip irrigation for them.  I have a couple sprinkler branch lines that run through the planter so figured I would just tap into one of them to run my 1/2" main line.

I installed my sprinkler system for approximately 4,500 sqft. of lawn, back 5 or 6 years ago.  The project was an excellent learning experience and I picked up some great PVC and irrigation installation techniques.  I figured I'd take some good pictures of Today's project as a sort of "how to".

2. Cut the line 1" out from where you want the Tee
vertical to be.  In this case I wanted it about 2" from
the fence line
TIP: Push pieces of a grain-bread up the pipe to block
the trickling water if you can't wait for the water to
stop trickling - when you are done you activate the
circuit and flush the line

3. Trim a 1" piece from the remaining branch line to
accommodate the 1" burned up in the Tee.
Basically the tee will elongate the line it's installed on
so you need to remove 1" of pipe if you want the
finished length to be the same

4. Pre-assemble the pressure regulator and 1/2" drip line
adapter, then measure the overall height to determine
the length of the riser.  Here you can see the riser
already installed in the bottom of the male-thread PVC

5. Backfill with the excavated dirt. The regulator needs
to vent, so I backfill with pea gravel around it

6. 1/2" drip main line installed, hole backfilled and
mulched.  Now ready for the 1/4" micro lines to the plants

7. Example of one of the pots with a ring of 1/4"
bluestripe drip line connected to the 1/2" trunk line
running behind the pots.  All done.

Consolidation of Effort and a New Format

I've not been very smart about my blogging efforts combined with my paper based garden journal, sometimes I focus more on the blog and rarely I will focus on the journal.  To be honest I've yet to see the value in the journal, I've read from many sources that it's vital to keep one but I just can't see how it will be useful.  Am I expected to flip through the pages looking for when I did certain things?  Do I review the entire journal at the beginning of each new season?

Punching holes for bean seeds - my knuckle is just under
2" from fingernail-chewed tip of finger

And after all, "blog" stands for "web log" ("weblog" became "blog") so why keep a journal and a log?  I can tag entries on my blog, search for posts, include photos, etc.  So this is another one of those circumstances where I thoughtlessly followed the guidance I've read.  I'm susceptible to such behavior when I reach a point where I'm so-out-of-my-league on a new hobby or process; if I don't have the time and mental bandwidth to truly digest a topic and evaluate my own interpretations on a subject I will take the easy route and "do what I'm told" rather than think, understand and execute. ... teach a man to fish and all that....

I wanted 8" spacing for my beans and started to look
around for a piece of wood in the garage that I could cut
to make a quick guide... then I saw the root and just
snipped with my shears

I also have a tendency when writing on paper to write out thoughts and points in list format to which a blog, with it's bulleted list formatting is perfect.  I'm thinking I may use a whole new format for my posts, try to introduce some consistency to them.

Excuse me for thinking out loud, it's a subconscious exercise to make a "thought" a "plan".  On with the farm news!

Spent two hours Today inoculating the bean seeds before sowing.  For those that don't know legumes (beans, peas, alfalfa, etc.) have the ability to convert atmospheric nitrogen (of which our air is ~78%) into ammonia nitrogen which can then be used to feed the plant (as well as subsequent crops).  This conversion is accomplished due to a symbiotic relationship between the rhizobia bacteria and legumes.  Inoculation is the process of introducing supplemental rhizobia bacteria to the legume seed.  The bacteria invades the plant's roots and eventually establishes itself behind a protective layer built by the plant.  Furthermore the plant provides nutrients to the bacteria.  It's like my relationship with top-shelf vodka; I keep it cold and safe in my freezer and use it for only the most respectable of drink and it in turn makes me happy.  For awhile.... then it can start to backfire...

Here's that list format I was talkin' about:

• My beets in NS1 are shot!  I'm pretty sure this is because I let the bed dry out too much, the dirt was real dry and the beets just look like complete shit.  I pulled 5 or 6 and ended up tossing into compost pile
• I need to mulch my beds as it's obvious that I can't water regularly enough, I just don't have the discipline
• The tomato seedlings are looking pretty good and after another week I should be able to differentiate them enough to re-group them after getting the tags all messed up
• Next time I mix inoculate using the slury method I need to use less water
• Carrots are a rad crop, I should grow many, many more carrots next year
• Weeds are getting out of control, I think I will spend a couple hours this weekend and try to get them under control
• A stick or piece of root makes a fine offset guide for planting, either mark with a pen the desired length or cut to length, then compost when done!
• Corn went crazy and decided to set fruit for some reason, I'm thinking it could be due to any or all of the following:
• Not enough sun
• Not enough water
• Not enough nitrogen

Super Smart

Good thing I decided to develop a garden in a part of the yard that is surrounded by trees.

Truly brilliant.
BTW, did you notice Jesus peeking out of that tunnel???

That's a shadow..... from a tree, a shadow that is covering the majority
of my beds.  :(

click to see the full version to truly appreciate my poor planning

Die Hard Melon

melon sprouts... everywhere!

Maybe you remember when I needed "greens" for my compost and I ended up grabbing waste produce from Edible Arrangements?  Yeah, well that seemed like a great idea and I would still be doing it Today if some A-hole didn't keep stealing my plastic tubs I was leaving by the dumpster for the scraps to be tossed in to.

Anyway, so I've got the finished compost and I'm all too happy to dump copious amounts of the rich, black gold in my beds for new plantings... and then the sprouts came, dozens of them... busting through everywhere, healthy and happy as could be!  It's the melon seeds... they didn't die in the heat of the compost and I now have cantaloups, watermelon, honeydew, etc. sprouting all over the place.  The good news is that I don't have any legit melons sown in these beds so it's easy to spot them, but still!

Puppy Extra!

Bolting

Arugula flowers... actually very tasty, even
when the rest of the plant has become
inedible

I can't deny it any longer - my cool season crops are done.  Sure, there are a couple things I can do to squeeze a bit more out but really I need the beds for warm weather stuff so I think I'm just going to yank everything out.  The one exception may be the EW3 bed which is going to get quite a bit of shade this summer.  I think I "could" get another round of spinach to work there, especially if I mulch heavily.

Sad to see you go... by far the Red Cardinal Spinach was my
favorite crop and also most popular with others

Bolting, while a bummer for the farmer does at least make fore some pretty images.  On a side note, arugula and tatsoi (two of the pictured quitters) have quite tasty flowers!

I need to remember to take pictures at this
time... I think it's called the "golden hour"
or something like that...