Get ready for Garlic!

As fall approaches, it’s time to start thinking about planting garlic. Garlic bulbs, for those who’ve never grown them before, are grown from garlic cloves. As they grow, they divide and create more cloves, growing into full bulbs by harvest time. In Canada, we plant garlic in the fall, allow it to overwinter, and harvest it in the spring and summer.

Like any crop, once you learn a bit about garlic you realize the great diversity within garlic varieties.  The first factor is whether it is a hardneck type, with a hard central core surrounded by one or two layers of cloves, or softneck, which has a flexible stem perfect for braiding. Generally speaking, hardneck is better suited to cold climates, and softneck to regions with mild winters.  Both types come in a huge array of varieties, with varying flavour strength, number of bulbs, and storability. Some examples are listed below and for more detail check out this site.

Variety		Storability	Cloves	Flavour	Comments
Ukrainian		Very good	8-12	Hot	For the spicy food lovers
Tibetan		Excellent	4-8	Mild and rich	Yummy, yummy, yummy
Korean		Very good	8-12	Medium	Long fat cloves.Hits the roof of the mouth
Russian		Very good	3-6	Mild and full	Large cloves = less peeling
Persian		Outstanding	10-14	Spicy	Each pointed clove has red stripes
Italian		Very good	8-12	Mild,flavourful	Vibrant flavour
Sicilian		Very good	12-16	Mild	Most cloves per bulb make it a great choice for growers

from www.thecuttingveg.com/global-garlic/varieties-available.html

When planting, use the largest cloves for plants whose bulbs you plan to harvest, as the size of the clove directly influences the size of the bulb. Save the smaller bulbs too, and plant them elsewhere to be harvested for their greens, which can be used like chives.

To plant, choose a spot that gets plenty of sun and compost the bed well. Plant cloves 2 to 4 inches deep and about 4 to 8 inches apart. In cold climates, like Canada, it’s good to insulate the bed with up to 6 inches of dry leaves, grass or straw. In spring the foliage will grow quickly, and once about half the foliage has turned brown the bulbs are ready to be harvested.

When harvesting, it is best to pitchfork or dig up the bulbs rather than pulling them up from the leaves. This prevents the bulbs from becoming damaged, which will shorten their storage life. To store, hang the bulbs to dry in a covered location with good air circulation. The bulbs can easily become sunburnt, so sun-drying is not recommended.

For those of you who aren’t great fans of garlic in the culinary sense, it is still an invaluable plant for your garden. Garlic and other members of the onion family repel the majority of garden pests, including borers, mites, spiders and underground pests like root maggots. It also encourages growth in plants like beets and roses, and prevents a variety of diseases, including black spot and mildew. Garlic is said to inhibit growth in legumes, however, so try to keep it away from your peas and beans. 

Garlic bulbs can be chopped and steeped in water to create a variety of organic pest sprays as well, and repellents for squirrels, cats, and dogs. Additionally, garlic has many  medicinal uses. It has been shown to be an excellent immune booster and is known for its anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties, making it an excellent natural remedy for a whole host of ailments.

If you’d like to start growing garlic, these are two great Canadian suppliers. You can also try planting cloves from leftover organic bulbs you have in the kitchen, but if you want to be sure of a good harvest, try these links:

Boundary Garlic Farm  – British Columbia

The Cutting Veg – Toronto

Biodynamics, Permaculture, and Square Foot Gardening

Last week at the garden we had a brief discussion of some more “unconventional” approaches to growing food. We focused on three techniques, biodynamic farming, permaculture, and square foot gardening. These are three approaches with a lot of interesting information, and for gardeners not looking for a whole new framework to adhere to, they can be useful as a way to see your garden’s potential with new eyes. Permaculture and square foot gardening, specifically offer a great deal of creative ideas and freedom for the gardener, and once you start thinking of things in these ways it can lead to more and more innovation.

Biodynamic Farming: A method started in 1924 by Rudolph Steiner (also known for his involvement in developing the Waldorf School method) which treats the farm as an organism unto itself wherein the lifecycles of plants and animals create no external outputs and  require no external inputs; it is a holistic closed-loop system. Some aspects of biodynamics are familiar to the average sustainable gardener, while others seem much more spiritual and esoteric.Generally though, farms which observe biodynamic practices, however unconventional, enjoy increased yields and soil health, so it is a compelling body of work.

One important aspect of Biodynamics (used by non Biodynamic farmers as well), is planting with the phases of the moon. The idea is that in the same way the moon pulls the tides, it pulls smaller bodies of water as well, making ground water closer to the surface. The four phases of the moon are related to different aspects of plant growth:
 

New moon – Balanced leaf and root growth. Plant and transplant above ground annuals that produce seeds outside the fruit. Plant short and extra-long germinating seeds
Second Quarter – Increased leaf growth. Plant and transplant above ground annuals that form seeds inside the fruit. Mow lawns for increased growth.
Full Moon – Increased root growth. Plant long germinating (two weeks) seeds, bulbs, biennials, perennials and root crops that need stimulated root growth. A good time for transplanting, pruning, and harvesting fruits for storage and drying. Mow lawns to slow.
Fourth Quarter – Resting period. Neither root nor leaf are active. Harvest, cultivate, prone destroy pests and weeds, harvest for storage and herbs for drying. Start compost piles.

The astrological sign the moon is travelling through changes every few days, and also exerts an impact on plant growth. Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces) are fertile and beneficial to many plants, root crops like earth signs ( Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn) and flowers thrive in Libra. Fire signs (Aries, Leo and Sagittarius) and remaining air signs (Gemini and Aquarius) are barren and dry, and better for cultivating, harvesting, and controlling weeds and pests. Ideally, crops should be planted in the optimal moon phase and zodiac sign to promote their specific growth. For example, carrots or beets would do best planted when the moon is full and in Capricorn.Gardening by the moon calendars are available, and more in depth information can be found at www.gardeningbythemoon.com

Another aspect of biodynamics is the nine different soil preparations used to enhance soil fertility. These preparations include two different humus-creating techniques (filling a cow horn with manure or ground quartz and burying it from autumn to spring), and seven compost  enhancing techniques which involve adding herbs such as yarrow,  camomile and stinging nettle to compost in homeopathic doses.

Whether or not it can be made clear if biodynamic practices are substantially better than other organic approaches, biodynamic farming is gaining adherents, and has an international certification organization called Demeter, whose label you may have seen on health food products.

Permaculture: Developed by two Australians, Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in the 1970’s, permaculture is a combination of “permanent agriculture” or “permanent culture” and is a technique of designing agricultural areas as ecosystems which minimize work by overlapping functions. Rather than the division of crops and animals, wastes and inputs, seen in conventional agriculture, permaculture focuses on the integration and interconnectedness of life on the farm; using crop waste to feed animals and animal waste to feed crops instead of purchasing feed and fertilizer and discarding manure and plant litter.

Modeled after nature, permaculture believes that every aspect of the farm should serve more than one function and every needed function should be accomplished by more than one aspect of the farm. For example, rather than making garden paths out of compacted soil, they should be made from think layers of sawdust poured into trenches. The sawdust serves multiple functions by not only acting as a path, but also storing water runoff underground, recycling a potential waste product, and decomposing underground to later be incorporated into the compost. These same functions should also be performed by other parts of the farm or garden, by having cisterns or swales to collect water and other compost generating materials onsite.

The 12 principles of permaculture focus on working with nature in a variety of compelling ways. Guilds, for example, are groups of plants which grow symbiotically together, such as the well-known example of corn, beans and squash. Permaculture identifies many other guilds combining plants that require shade, trellising or nutrients with others that provide them. Permaculture also combines aspects of farms which are usually isolated, such as greenhouses and chicken coops, to create a more efficient greenhouse that is warmed by the chickens’ body heat.

As a design theory, permaculture is all about designing things properly so that there is a place for everything and everything in its place, and so that unnecessary work is minimized. This means putting initial thought into plantings so that the most frequently  used and most labour intensive crops are located closest to the home, groundwater storage is done uphill so that gravity can be used to help irrigate, or using chickens and pigs to dig and till fields, allowing them to feed themselves in the process while reducing compaction from heavy machinery.

for more about permaculture check out www.permacultureprinciples.com

Square foot gardening: The least “unconventional” of the three, square foot gardening was developed in 1976, and is much more applicable to gardens than farms. The idea is that rather than planting in rows, if the garden is divided into small plots of one square foot (1’x1′). This approach is meant to waste much less space, be higher yielding, and reduce garden compaction as the square foot plots are organized into 4’x4′ beds, an area small enough that gardeners should be able to do all their work by reaching in from the perimeter. The number of vegetables to be planted in each plot is dependent on the relative size of the full-grown crops. Larger crops, such as peppers or broccoli will have only one plant per square foot, while crops that take up less ground area, such as spinach or carrots can have up to 9 or 16 plants respectively.

Besides the details of garden layout, square foot gardening practices are focussed on increasing yields from small spaces, techniques which can be used in conventional gardens as well. Trellising, for example, is a key aspect of gardening in small spaces. Bartholemew promotes trellising not only peas and beans, but larger crops: tomatoes,  zucchini, and even watermelons (provided the variety used doesn’t surpass 8 pounds). The idea of maximizing vertical space continues underground as well; square foot gardening also promotes digging extra deep beds for underground crops like leeks and potatoes and then gradually filling in soil as the shoots break through, as a way to force the plants to grow taller than they otherwise would and increase yields. In this high yielding intensive style of gardening, maintaining extremely healthy soil is of the utmost importance, so it is critical to add compost, other organic amendments and try to incorporate green manures or cover crops in the off season

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I hate Powdery Mildew!…and other squash problems

Our biggest harvest yet!

Last week we had an incredible harvest to donate. Zucchini, cucumber, carrots, beets, a few peppers and a variety of beans and greens are coming into season. This week is already not looking as great due to a serious attack on our cucumbers. Initially I thought the damage we’d seen on a few of our cukes was the work of mice that have been spotted in the native plant beds, so I tried to cut them off at the source by positioning the cucumbers as far off the ground as possible. After the long weekend though, it became clear that squirrels, or something equally as agile, were responsible as all of our cucumbers had been devoured, regardless of height from the ground. Although there are many recommended sprays out there to deter squirrels, and a variety of tips such as placing cat hair or blood meal around the plants to make them feel like predators are nearby, I think that the secluded area created by the cucumber leaves give the squirrels enough of a secure feeling that these attempts wouldn’t be effective. I’m currently researching ways to enclose either the entire plant or just the fruits in a protective mesh or net, perhaps screen door material. Any suggestions would be very welcome!

Powdery Mildew - WHY???

 

Another squash related problem presenting in the garden is Powdery Mildew. As the title of this post suggests, I hate it!! Even if it isn’t killing your plants it just makes the garden look sick and sad. Powdery mildew is a fungus which is especially common on plants in the squash family, but can affect other crops, such as peas, as well. It starts out as a dusty, white coating on leaves which causes them to yellow, wilt, and begin to decay. If not kept in check it spreads down stems and onto fruits, infecting the whole plant. Perhaps the most frustrating thing about powdery mildew is that there is so much disagreement on how to treat it. There is general agreement on the basic steps: fallen leaves and flowers should consistently and promptly be removed from beneath the plant, and any infected leaves should be removed, cutting them as close to the main stem as possible to control the spread before it starts. This should be done with discretion, cutting as many affected leaves as you can, but without removing so many that the plant can no longer photosynthesize. As usual, any infected leaves should be destroyed or thrown in the garbage, rather than composted in order to avoid spreading the fungus to next year’s crop. 

 Following steps, however, are where the controversy begins. For example, for years my one hard and fast rule about powdery mildew was don’t water the leaves. I was constantly nagging people about not getting water on the leaves and blaming watery leaves when mildew did eventually appear. Now, upon further research, it looks as if watering leaves is associated with other fungi, but not powdery mildew. In fact, some sources say that spraying leaves with water can reduce the likelihood of powdery mildew developing as it blasts the spores away! Other sources I’ve read (all fairly reputable) recommend the following: 

Mix one teaspoon of baking soda with one litre of warm water. Add one teaspoon of liquid dish soap and spray this on the leaves of the affected plants, making sure to spray the underside of the leaves as well. 

Milk in a ratio of 1 part milk to 9 parts water, sprayed weekly 

Compost or worm tea sprays in a ratio of no less than 10:1 

I’ve decided to try them all in the garden this year and see if any are dramatically better than others. I think a major contributing factor to powdery mildew is lack of airflow due to overcrowded plants, so its important to space them adequately from the beginning, which I’m worrying we haven’t really done in some places. This may complicate the results if the plants are close enough to spread the fungus between eachother, but I’ll try this experiment anyways and report back with the results. 

Poorly Pollinated Cantaloupe

 

One final problem I’d noticed with our squash plants (so complicated!) is that our cantaloupes, which have been growing quite well, have had some small melons form only to yellow and shrivel after becoming about two inches long. Initially I worried these small yellowed melons were being attacked by a pest or disease, but further research indicated it was the result of poor pollination. This is actually good news, because poor pollination is a contained problem (not something infectious which will spread) and easy to remedy. In our case there are two options: wait, and see if subsequent melons pollinate well, which they probably will, or hand pollinate.  

Male Flowers

 

Hand pollinating squash and melon plants means identifying male flowers (those which appear first and grow on a longer straight stem) from female flowers (second ones on the scene, with a small swelling – the soon-to-be fruit – between the flower and the vine). Once identified, pollination involves removing a male flower, plucking its petals to expose the  pollen-covered anthers, and using it to pollinate no more than three female flowers. If you get good traffic from 

Female Flowers

 

bees and other pollinators in the garden this step is probably unnecessary, but its a good thing to know and important for balcony or greenhouse gardeners who don’t have many pollen-hungry visitors coming through.