Rachel
Pacific Northwest
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Medicinal herbs, food for family, sustainable gardening and organic practices
USDA Zone: 8
Soil: clay, raised beds
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Broccoli didn't produce any buds. I should learn...I never have any luck with broccoli. Tons of green, lush leaves but no nummy broccoli nibbles!
Rachel
Pacific Northwest | clay, raised beds | Zone 8
Pacific Northwest | clay, raised beds | Zone 8
I got one pretty decent head a few weeks ago, then just last night I had a small one that's huge now!! Pics this evening :) but otherwise, not too much. Are you doing seeds or starts? I did both and the starts are what did well.
Maybe give them a shot of liquid bloom booster or some bone meal-something with no nitrogen. If they are big and leafy it sounds like there may be more N and a little less of the magnesium and calcium, maybe? I had a good response with that, the liquid is immediate and the bone meal breaks down.
Although, when I put bone meal down I have to keep Otis from truffling around for it LOL.
ShannonTomey
Jul 30, 2010
I grew Chinese broccoli from seed, and I'm having exactly the same problem. Flowers, but no real heads.
Jade
Jul 30, 2010
Having troubles with gophers trying to get into my raised beds. I have chicken wire underneath but that won't last forever. Whenever I water there, they come out in full force. Little buggers.
Rachel
Pacific Northwest | clay, raised beds | Zone 8
Pacific Northwest | clay, raised beds | Zone 8
Are they moles or gophers?
I've heard both are attracted to places with over-watering. I have the same problem in my vegetable beds. I sometimes over-water because I don't want the seedlings to dry out.
Moles are annoying, but I don't think they actually damage your plants unless they knock them over. They eat bugs, not roots. Voles are the ones you have to watch out for around here. Do we get gophers in Oregon?
This article is interesting:
http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/eb1028/eb1028.html
I think I have moles, not gophers. Annoying, but not destructive. Maybe even helpful because they till the soil. Although they are annoying!
Jade
Jul 30, 2010
Anyone use rain barrels for garden watering? Where is a good place to get them? Our garden is a ways from the house, so need to think of some system to get the water out to them. And what about the plastics of the barrels? Sustainable? Alternatives? Looking to create a sustainable watering system out here but not knowing where to begin.
Rachel
Pacific Northwest | clay, raised beds | Zone 8
Pacific Northwest | clay, raised beds | Zone 8
Water barrels are cool and are one way to save water and potentially divert water from our sewers. If you want to get them cheaply and use a product that is a used product, you can search craigslist, and there is almost always someone selling barrels that have been used for food products. Different sellers will sell either just the barrel, or some degree of collection setup. Since the barrels are a food-grade plastic, I wouldn't worry too much about the plastic affecting the water significantly. Finally, you need to be very sure that the system is carefully designed to allow for overflow (which you will have lots of in the NW) and to collect debris so that the collection system doesn't get clogged. Not being careful about such issues can easily result in trouble such as a flooded basement if your barrels are near the edge of your house. All that said, I think you might want to consider some things before going for a water barrel system. First, you are only going to get 50 gallons per barrel, and here in the NW we get our rain almost all at the wrong time. So, the barrels get filled up, but then we don't get rain when the garden needs it for weeks at a time. To give you an idea of how small 50 gallons is, my city-water supplied hose that I use in the garden filled a five gallon bucket in three minutes when I tested it. Unless you are willing to have a fairly large number of barrels setup in a fairly complicated system, you may find that you run out of water quite quickly for your trouble. Recently when building a bathroom (after having done a lot of research on small and large scale rain water collection), I started doing research on water efficiency and discovered it was much easier and cheaper to save water in my house than to build a system that would collect significant quantities of water outside for my garden. For example, I replaced an old toilet that was using somewhere between 3 and 7 gallons of water per flush with a Toto Aquia toilet that uses either .9 or1.6 gallons of water per flush and handles just about everything with only the .9 gallon flush. Now assuming the best of my old toilet, and taking into account that my wife and I don't flush every time we pee, with 3 small and 1 big flush a day my new toilet will use 1569.5 gallons per year and the old toilet, if it used only 3 gallons per flush would use 4380 gallons per year. A free way to reduce the usage of an older toilet is to put a bottle of water in the tank, but you'll get a lower quality of flush without the flushing technology that has been developed in recent years for the high-efficiency toilets. According to an article I read, switching from the mandated 2.5 gpm shower heads to a 1.6 gpm low flow head will save on average 4000 gallons per per person per year. Now that I have done those things, and also worked obsessively to save water in the small ways in my household (short showers, reusing water where ever possible, turning off the water when brushing my teeth, etc.), I still want to conserve water in the garden, so I'm refining my techniques in the garden to use less water by hand watering with a can directly where the plants need it, trying "square foot gardening", and any new ideas I can find. I still do want a water collection system, and if I had my way financially, I'd have a several thousand gallon cistern buried in my yard. In the mean time, I might go with a few hundred gallons at each gutter spout with tanks from this company in Vancouver http://www.plastic-mart.com/.
Well, I probably wrote too much, and I certainly don't mean to trash the idea of using water barrels, but hopefully this is somewhat helpful. Oh, and here a couple of interesting links: http://www.gasustainability.org/files_pdf/cwmbs.pdf and http://www.weathersealtechnology.com/rainwater_design.html. Good luck figuring out the best solution for you needs!
Ben
Ben
Jul 27, 2010
Wow, this is a great summary, Farmer Ben!
Ironic that you will save thousands of gallons for such a simple change!
Do you also need to worry about the type of roof? I've heard that normal roofing materials can sometimes be not so great for water quality.
Jade
Jul 27, 2010
I'd heard the same about the roofs. Of course, now that I've replied, I can't get water conservation issues out of my head. Couple of more things: This gave me the reminder to bring a five gallon bucket into my shower and catch the water as I wait for the shower to heat up for garden use. Also, one advantage of saving water inside the house is that you don't send the water to our over taxed sewer system where it all has to be treated in a very energy costly fashion. Water from the city supply used on the garden doesn't have to be treated, as it doesn't end up in sewer system.
Ben
Jul 27, 2010
Wow Ben! What a powerhouse of an answer. All very great thoughts. I especially love the bucket in the shower idea. Our hot water takes FOREVER to heat up at the other end of the house, and it would be great to collect this. I even think I have some of those 5 gallon buckets in my shop! Thanks for all the great advice!
Rachel
Jul 29, 2010
Echinacea in full force. I have two gargantuan plants this year. Echinacea tinctures will be made from the root, flower, seeds, and leaves and stems. It's a must as we move into fall and winter.
Rachel
Pacific Northwest | clay, raised beds | Zone 8
Pacific Northwest | clay, raised beds | Zone 8
I'm so jealous... the ones I put in last year didn't really come back, they aren't getting enough sun I think. I'm going to move them when it cools down a little and see how it goes. You must be putting together some awesome bouquets right now.
ShannonTomey
Jul 25, 2010
My echinacea didn't come back either:(
Kirsten
Jul 29, 2010
Feverfew and St. John's Wort in bloom. I think since these plants are transplants this year, I will honor them with one full cycle before I harvest any. So next year, will make new teas and oils from the blooms.
Rachel
Pacific Northwest | clay, raised beds | Zone 8
Pacific Northwest | clay, raised beds | Zone 8
Does anyone know about harvesting/planting by moon cycles or times of day? Curious...
Rachel
Pacific Northwest | clay, raised beds | Zone 8
Pacific Northwest | clay, raised beds | Zone 8
I have heard people swear that planting by the phases of the moon make a difference. But I have no idea if it really does, and I can't imagine how you would prove it either way.
Jade
Jul 17, 2010
I read to harvest corn in the morning, that's when it's at it's peak sugar-wise. For moon cycle harvesting, maybe plant 2 beds, one done by lunar cycle and one done regularly as a control? I would suspect that it varies by plant... peas may not be as affected by the moon than say strawberries, etc. Or if you live say, by the river/ocean as opposed to inland? Hmm..
ShannonTomey
Jul 17, 2010
I have also read it's good to harvest in the morning, for many plants. The problem with the lunar cycle is that timing would also confound the experiment. Maybe you would need to do it in a completely controlled greenhouse, with controlled lighting and environment. That would actually probably work. That would be interesting to test.
Jade
Jul 20, 2010
Checked the garden today. Echinacea blooming beautifully, feverfew ready to be harvested, and st. johns wort already almost past collecting since I haven't had time. Good thing I have gobs in another field.
Rachel
Pacific Northwest | clay, raised beds | Zone 8
Pacific Northwest | clay, raised beds | Zone 8
I'm curious what feverfew looks like. I like the echinacea photo in your profile!
Jade
Jul 20, 2010
Just joined. Waiting for the St. John's Wort to bloom so I can make infused oils for burns and joint pain. It's a must to harvest each summer.
Rachel
Pacific Northwest | clay, raised beds | Zone
Pacific Northwest | clay, raised beds | Zone
It's nice to see you here!! BTW let me know if you need any more, I have a lot of it growing...everywhere.. at the Longview house.
ShannonTomey
Jul 11, 2010
Welcome, Rachel! I know almost nothing about herbal remedies, so I will be interested in your posts. If you get a chance, post a photo of the bloom before you harvest. And if you have any suggestions for the site, feel free to let me know!
Jade
Jul 12, 2010
Thank you Jade! I will help make medicinal herbalism friendly :) Curious...can you upload photos from an iPhone here? Not quite sure how to get pics on here.
Shannon, I will for sure need some blooms. Collect them just as they are opening, preferably at noon in the sun, and pop them in a jar with some sweet almond oil, covering them. Check them once in a while and wipe out any water sweat. Next time I see you I can get and maybe give you some salves and oils in return :)
Rachel
Jul 16, 2010
I am definitely planning an iPhone app. It is a lot of work to write it and get it on the app store, but I think it is a great idea and I can't wait to be able to do it myself!
I might charge a few dollars for it, but I'll probably give away free copies to people already on the site, or something like that.
In the meantime, what I do is take the photos on my phone, and then sync up with my computer and export them from iPhoto. I upload them directly to the site from my computer. Unfortunately, iPhones don't allow you to upload photos directly using Safari on the iPhone. :(
Jade
Jul 17, 2010
©2012 Email Jade
Pacific Northwest | clay, raised beds | Zone 8
Yum! Do you just squish them and strain the juice, or do you use some sort of juicer?
Jade
Jul 30, 2010
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