December 1 :: Ready for the Winter

Hello!

After a balmy run in November, looks like December is ready to show us that it is officially winter. Last week I officially shut down the greenhouse for the rest of the winter. We turned off the heat, shut off the water, and emptied those few beds with plants still in them. Here's what it looks like now:

compared to what it looked like in August:

Last year the greenhouse stayed running through the cold months but there were lots of crop failures and too much energy expended. This year I decided to call the greenhouse a 'Three-Season Greenhouse' and not to use it over the winter. Because it is made of plastic and not glass, it does not insulate especially well and it is hard to keep a consistent temperature with our downright frosty winters here in Maine. Staying in line with our interest in sustainable practices, for the yield of herbs and veggies we get out of the greenhouse, it is not worth the energy needed to heat it this time of year.

The raised beds are also ready for the winter, which they will spend outside. The garlic is frozen hard into the soil and will stay that way until March, probably.

So I get a break from gardening! I'll spend this time, like many Maine gardeners do, learning about what worked and what didn't from the previous season and planning for the next. I hope to peruse glossy (and non-glossy!) local seed catalogs to decide on some new or repeat plantings for the spring and summer. Sounds like fun to me!

Until Then,

Your Happy Hibernator

November 19 :: Raised Beds to Bed

Hello Again!

This week I am putting the raised beds to sleep for the winter. In one, the garlic is planted and insulated from the cold (or the heat, like last week's balmy spell) by a thick layer of straw. It will stay there through the winter and send up shoots and form bulbs next summer. My friend Ms. Squirrel has been digging holes in that bed again and she uprooted one of my planted garlic cloves. I wanted to check on them anyway, to make sure they were sending out roots downward but not sprouting their greenery upward yet. Garlic should be planted late fall to give the roots time to set before the ground completely freezes, but not too early so that the plant decides to sprout from the warmth. I was worried that last week's high temperatures would start the garlic sprouting, but it didn't seem to. They do have nice, spidery white roots on them, though. Hooray!

Small carrot plants in frosty soil

The other raised bed on the patio still has late carrots in it. I pulled one up today to check their progress and it was so tiny! When i pulled it out, a clump of frozen topsoil came with it, but the soil underneath was not frozen. They'll only have a week or two of growing left before the soil completely freezes. At that point they will also freeze and can be pulled out of the frozen ground to eat. Unfortunately, ours won't be big enough to really use in the dining hall, just good for a snack or two.


The perennial herbs in large pots in the corners of the raised beds have been cut back to help them prepare for dormancy over the winter. Once the ground completely freezes, I will pull the pots out of the raised beds and put them in the greenhouse for the winter. The greenhouse will be turned off next week so even though it won't be heated, it will offer the herbs a little bit of insulation from the elements and hopefully keep their roots alive so they can come back next spring.

Next week I will put the greenhouse to bed until March. Check back!

Until then,
Your Frozen Farmer

November 5 :: Planting Garlic

Hello again!

This week I planted the three types of garlic i bought at the Common Ground Fair. Here's how it went (and how it hopefully will go in the future):

Biggest cloves of garlic of each variety

+ chilly soil in the raised bed

+ bale o' straw from O'Donals Nursery

+ eight months
= Garlic plants! Garlic scapes and bulbs!
(photo from http://ipbeats.wordpress.com/page/20/)

This being my first garlic planting ever, i took advice from a few different sources and tailored it to meet our space requirements and location. We'll see how it goes!

Best,
Your Graceful Gardener

October 20 :: All About Garlic

Hello again!

It's nearly time to plant the amazing crop we affectionately call 'garlic'. So much more than just a culinary addition, garlic acts as a slug and deer repellent and is therefore many an organic farmer's best friend. It's also something that can be planted in the autumn, just as the rest of the crops are coming out of the ground. It'll stay in the ground until almost July, though, so make sure you put it in a place where you won't want to plant something else come spring.

In September I went to the Common Ground fair in search of seed garlic. Seed garlic is technically the same thing as the garlic you eat, but garlic growers reserve the biggest, strongest, and best heads of garlic to replant the next year, and they'll sell all the rest for table garlic. Buying garlic to use as seed, therefore, is a little more expensive and it is even more important that it be top quality.

I bought garlic from two different farms. From the first i purchased Broadlead Czech, a hard neck variety good for cold climates. It is a large head of garlic with large cloves in a single, circular row.



From the second farm i purchased another hard neck variety, German Extra Hardy, which is supposed to be their most rugged and (according to the name) hardy garlic variety. This one also has large cloves, like the Broadleaf Czech.


Also from the second farm i purchased Susanville Softneck. Soft necked garlic is generally more common - it's probably the kind you usually buy in the store - and it has a soft, papery stem that is flexible and can be braided. We thought we'd try it out and see if we could braid some of our heads when they are ready next summer. Soft necked varieties often have multiple layers of cloves where there are cloves in the center of the head and others around the perimeter.


All three varieties are ready to go into the ground next week, after we have a few more hard freezes and no more warm spells. To plant, i'll break all of the cloves apart from the head and plant them pointy side up. Each clove will grow into another head. If we have success, we, like the farmers from which i bought the garlic, will save our biggest and best heads to grow again next season.

Since i haven't yet had a chance to taste these different types of garlic, you'll have to check back in this summer to see which ones were the favorites.

Until then,
Your Garlic Grower

October 15 :: New Season

Welcome back!

Think the growing season is coming to a close? Think again! Maine is the best place to cultivate cold weather crops and we are trying out a few of our own here in the raised beds near the greenhouse.

Two months ago I started carrot seeds in the greenhouse. When the seedlings had their first set of leaves, I carefully transplanted them out into the raised beds where they are thriving. They are currently sharing the bed with impatiens but due to the frost last night, the imapiens are about ready to come out and the carrots can suck up all the sun and nutrients they need.

Happy baby carrot!

Carrots need plenty of depth and nice, soft soil so their roots (the part we eat) can grow straight and strong. Usually people don't transplant carrots but I decided to take my chances.

This morning when i poked my head out into the frosty air to check on the carrots (and to see the damage from the frost) this is what I saw:
As you may be able to see from the above photo, I found the soil all dug up and lumpy, like someone had been trying to eat my little carrots! I glared around for the culprit, finding no one nearby. Opting for the detective approach, i tried to identify the footprints of the irritating fellow. My first thought was human but when i looked again none of the carrots were actually disturbed, just the soil around them. My over-active imagination then leaped to blame deer (where, luckily, it didn't linger long since it would be nearly impossible for a deer to make it up the long, narrow metal staircase onto the patio and even less likely that Kathy at the front desk would have admitted a deer to the dining center).

Upon closer inspection i found a clue that lead me to the answer:
Acorn tops among the carrots! There aren't any trees in the vicinity that could drop their acorns on the patio so some little creature must have brought them. I had noticed a wily squirrel out on the patio a few times, running along the railing. I hadn't paid her much mind at the time but had i known she'd been digging in my gardens i would have done my territorial duty to dissuade her from returning. I'll be more aware next year.

For now i suppose she won't bother my gardens any more since she's planted probably 20 to 40 nuts in them already. For the next month or so we'll see how the carrots grow around them. Unfortunately for Ms. Squirrel, the other bed which is currently empty (and where she also did some visible digging), will not be empty for long as I will be planting garlic in it in the next week or so. I will leave her nuts in the carrot bed, but those in the garlic bed will have to go!

Next week: Garlic!

Grow On,
Your Squirrel Scout

September 30 :: Common Ground Country Fair

Hello again!

My cousin and I went to the Common Ground fair this past weekend in Unity, Maine. Put on by Maine Organic Farmers and Growers Association, the fair includes everything from organic produce, flowers, dairy and meat, to discussions about new farming techniques and lectures about bee keeping. Anything you may have wondered about sustainable living in Maine could be answered if you went to the right tent.

Here is a photo journal of our lovely day there and some of the highlights. If you'd like to see a photo full-size, just click on it. Enjoy!


Banks of solar panels were found around the fairgrounds and on vendor's tents to provide power

So much to see! Which way should we go first?

We decided to head towards the livestock. I really like goats and i'd like to have goats one day. They have great personalities. Did you know that? I'm serious, they do. Really.
Here is one of the GIGANTIC cattle we saw. Beth is tall, so you can get the idea how tall this steer is and he's bending down to eat.
Edible peace sign made of beets and lettuce.
All that wandering around made us hungry. Time for a veggie quesadilla made using solar power.

The farmer's market section was amazing. Here's just a glimpse of some of the things for sale.
One of my reasons for attending the fair was to buy garlic for our gardens here at USM. On the way I got a little distracted...
by good music

and a bike parade!
After our long day we enjoyed a walk through the dappled sunshine of the woods on the way back to the parking lot.

I did buy garlic and met some interesting people. Check back next week for further details.

Until then!

Grow on,

Your Tireless Traveler

September 22 :: Getting Involved

Whether it's what you choose to eat, where you choose to shop, how much (or how little) you choose to recycle, all of your decisions each day affect the environment where you live. Here are a few ways to get more involved, meet people who are already involved, and feel a little better about all those choices we have to face each day.

photo courtesy of: http://www.meepi.org/will/cgcf04/cgcf04.html

The Common Ground Fair, September 25, 26, & 27, 2009

This hugely successful fair takes place in Unity, Maine, once a year and is put on by MOFGA (Maine Organic Farmers and Growers Association). According to the fair's website, "Hundreds of vendors, exhibitors and demonstrators, more than 1,000 volunteers, and tens of thousands of fairgoers will gather to: share knowledge about sustainable living; eat delicious, organic, Maine-grown food; buy and sell beautiful Maine crafts and useful agricultural products; compete in various activities; dance; sing and have a great time."

Sounds good to me! Unity is a little less than two hours away from Portland and it's a beautiful time of year for a drive. Better yet, check out camping options here and bring your bike. You'll save $2 on your admission if you bike to the fair! Tickets are $10 and you can buy them at Whole Foods in Portland. You can also buy them at the fair the lines are rumored to be long.

This will be my first year attending the fair and one of the items on my agenda is to pick up some Maine-grown hardy garlic to plant in our raised beds over the winter. I've already scoped my preferred vendor off the list on the site. Check out all the info here. Hope to see you there!



USM Public Interest Resource Group General Interest Meeting / Kick-Off Party Wednesday, 9/23 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM Student Government Office, Woodbury Campus Center, Portland
or
Thursday, 9/24 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM Lower level, Brooks Student Center, Gorham

USM PIRG is an activist student organization that works on issues important to the USM student body and the members of the group.

Come to our General Interest Meeting to find out more about what we do!

FMI, email Karl Rawstron at karlemail1@gmail.com

photo from "the City as Food Collective", http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/16/dining/16chefs.html

Wednesday Farmer's Market, Monument Square, Portland, 8-2p
Saturday Farmer's Market, Deering Oaks Park, Portland, 8-12p

These weekly markets put other farmer's markets that i have seen to shame... and they run until Thanksgiving! Now that is something to be thankful for. The farmers themselves usually harvest their crops just hours before making the drive into Portland to sell their produce. Farmer's markets are the best ways to support local growers since much more of the profits go directly to the farmer instead of to a distributor or a retail store.

This is the best place to get your nutrients since everything is fresh and many things are organic. Pick up a handful of beets. The roots you can use to make an easy, filling borscht (beet soup), the greens you can saute with onions until soft, toss in some pine nuts and top with a poached egg. There are local eggs and onions available at the farmer's market as well. Yum!

Get out there and be a part of all Maine has to offer!

Grow on,
Your Onion Organizer