It’s already May and I’m overwhelmed with how much planting I still have to do on Smyth Family Farm. I bought new Bootstrap Farmer seed starter seed trays recommended to me by my friend Annie. I had my garden club over and she noticed how large my seed starter trays were. These new ones she told me about are remarkable. They are sturdy, just the right size and my seedlings love them. In today’s post I will be sharing my organic gardening practices.
The chickens give me organic manure which I compost in my compost pile. Every day, I take out the old newspapers from the coop and replace them with new ones. My sister in law Kathleen gives us her read newspapers and I’ve got quite a collection of them now. These soiled papers are layered in my compost pile along with kitchen scraps, peels and anything from the fridge that has gone bad. I layer with green grass, dry leaves when available and I turn the pile every other day or so. I have the most beautiful worms in this soil which the chickens love eating.
Early March, I started Pepper, Tomato and Cucumber seedlings. I was a little late as it’s best to begin planting seeds on Valentines Day according to my garden neighbor Robert. He grows a fantastic garden every year and doesn’t have the ground squirrel problem and gopher problem that Ken and I have. When planting my seedlings in my raised beds, I add new soil called Recipe 420 from Ace Hardware and I add several buckets of fresh compost from my compost pile.
This year I purchased ranunculus bulbs from Eden Brothers and Anemone bulbs from Longfield Gardens. These flowers bloomed profusely and gave me an abundance of joy every time I walked out into my back patio. I didn’t take any chances and I planted them in raised beds or containers to keep the critters from eating them.
I purchased several papaver somniferum at Annie Annuals located in Richmond back in the Fall. These poppies have just begun to open and they are incredible. I have white, “lady bird” red, “heirloom pink peony”, and more that haven’t opened yet. The hardest part of growing these vegetables and flowers is keeping the critters from eating them. Every plant had a broadcloth wire cage under it, even if it is in a raised bed. Yes, because the rats, gophers, moles and voles can climb into the raised beds even if we put netting up around them. Just recently I learned about black cutworms, which are caterpillar-like insects that curl up when disturbed. They spend their days in soil, coming out to feed at night. Last year these guys decimated every plant in my raised bed, by cutting the plants off at the bottom. Now I use Sluggo Plus around every plant to help curb this problem. I will keep trying to grow my own food no matter what problems the farm throws at me.
This year I bought new seeds, even though I have loads and loads of them. I grew Brandywine, Red and Yellow Pear, Black Krim, Roma, Sweetie, Cherokee Purple Tomatoes and Marketmore Cucumbers, peppers, corn, basil, tithonia, zinnias, White Swan and Purple echinacea, mullein, and sunflowers. Every plant needs to be transplanted in a larger container every three to four weeks depending on how fast they grow. I add bat guano, fish emulsion, kelp, perlite and fish bone meal to the Recipe 420 soil. I top each plant with vermiculite to keep the nats out of the soil and get sticky strips to capture as many as I can.
I had grow lights and heat mats set up in Ken’s office and the garage. I picked up six cannabis plants (Wedding Pie, Oreo, Banjo, and three others) at Harborside Dispensary in Oakland.
Ron and Andrew were helpful about how to grow them under lights. Eighteen hours of lights on, then six hours of no lights. These conditions are challenging for new growers like me. I have already lost 2 plants to teeny nats that live in the soil. I have a fan to keep these flying insects from devouring the stems and killing the plants. They need to be fed regularly and I should be waiting until mid June to plant outside. My babies are going out this week, since it is uncommon for rain in the Bay Area in May.
I did try to grow my own plants for the third year. I found Humboldt Raspberry Parfait while in Oregon Weedery Oregon last year and shared 2 of the seeds with my Dad’s cousin Skip. Skip was my inspiration and was the guy to get me started with this project a few years ago. His seeds germinated (mine did too, but I forgot to water them), and are doing fantastic. This plant has 20% Indica ad 80% Sativa. It is a hybrid of Raspberry Parfait, Truffula Tree and Shishka-Berry. Everyone always asks me what I do with my cannabis buds. Even my Mother asked me about them last weekend. I don’t smoke or vape. It’s not my thing. If anything, I will make cookies, cakes and hopefully gummies that I can use for sleep. I also make a healing balm for my feet that contains the leaves of Mendo breath, olive oil, coconut oil and almond oil. It helps with the pain from arthritis in my toes.
Besides writing today, I will be planting my cucurbits. I am growing spaghetti squash, butternut squash, mini pumpkins, uchiki kuri squash, large brown pumpkins, Medium size orange pumpkins, mini pumpkins, and more. I collect these pumpkins in the Fall and save the seeds. I’m super excited to see that I can grow. Many babies were planted out this past week before the Spring rain showers last Saturday.
Here’s hoping you are getting outside and enjoying the sunshine. Try growing your own food. It’s rewarding to pick fresh kale greens and herbs like rosemary, thyme, parsley. I will either make them a part of our dinner or share them with the chickens Bee Bee, Mabel, Harper and Lu Lu. It was very sad to say goodbye to Mary Kate our most prolific layer last week. She became ill, stopped eating and had to be euthanized. The Avian and Exotic Animal Hospital found a cancer growing in her which is common in the breeds that lay eggs often. It’s very hard to see her best friend Mabel wandering around looking for her. I hope to get more chicks closer to the end of summer when I can keep them in the garage for the winter. This is how I handled the first set of chicks and I was able to get them comfortable with me by handling them often.
Thanks for reading. I hope to post my Mother in law’s famous potato salad recipe soon.
Teri
Let's Make Mud Pies 