European honey bee...

Broccoli

We planted this "Blue Wind" broccoli at the very end of March and have been harvesting beautiful bunches for a couple of weeks now. Here is the most recent harvest:

Garden update 6/26

This is a quick report from the garden. The sun is very intense at 7000 feet and the high temperatures have been into the upper 80s during the last 15-20 days. As a result, our recently planted (14 days ago) tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, and mixed seedlings are growing rapidly. The tomatoes planted in the ground and in containers are growing at a rate of approximately ½ inch per day. Fruit is starting to set on the tomatoes and peppers. We’re starting to stake tomatoes for two reasons—rapid growth and our destructive winds. This year our winds are blowing longer than usual and our seasonal monsoons have not started.

At the same time last year (2010), our garden was only a 1/3 of its current size and none of the tomatoes or chiles had been planted. If 2010 was an indication of the garden production we may expect this year…then 2011 should be amazingly productive.

Those plants and seed we still need to plant, corn, bean, eggplant, cantaloupe, honey dew, pumpkins, and other mixed cucurbits.

Our onions are just starting to bulb and hopes are high that we’ll have nice 3 in. diameter, short-day onions.

Cool season crops: small cabbages are starting to form and we’ve been harvesting broccoli for a week.

Yesterday we went through our herb and perennial bulb bed cleaning out spent plants and preparing the soil for more herbs and pumpkins.

Finally, we’ve just mulched half the garden with straw to reduce evaporation and hopefully heat stress. Our very low humidity during this dry and windy period is a good reason to mulch.

Gray fox in the garden

Last Sunday morning at 6am, I had the good fortune to receive a visit from an adult gray fox.

Working in the garden, I looked up to see a fox looking back at me. After the initial startle, I started to analyze why she was there. I didn’t react and was surprised to see her relaxed posture and maneuvers throughout the garden. I began to realize she knew the garden and the lay of the land.

This vixen knew all the gaps in gates and fences. She growled in my direction, suggesting some portion of this garden was her domain. She wanted me to know I was trespassing. Her beautiful coat suggested good health and an abundance of food.

Tilling and containing

We found one of our beds to be a little on the shallow side so it was tilled with this super tiller:

Also, we've potted up various tomatoes and peppers as well as some artichokes in some 7-15 gallong nursery containers.

Spring is here, and even though it snowed May 1st and 2nd, the bees are buzzing about! Here's one collecting pollen from the turnip flowers in the garden:

Super soil amending

The following is a list of soil amendments for (at-grade) garden preparation:
4 parts – existing and/or native soils (cultivate and loosen as deep as possible before adding amendments)
2 parts – Soil Mender Topsoil
2 parts -- Soil Mender Composted Cotton Burrs
5 lbs. per 100 sq. ft. – Soil Mender Planters II
5 lbs. per 100 sq. ft. – Yum Yum Mix
5 lbs. per 100 sq. ft. – Soil Mender Stimulate (Molasses+Humates)

Soil amendments (backfill for containers and raised planters):
2 parts – High Country Gardens potting soil or Sungro #902 and/or #702 potting soils
2 parts – Soil Mender Topsoil
1 part – Soil Mender Composted Cotton Burrs
1 part – existing site and/or native soil
5 lbs. per 20 cu. ft. – Soil Mender Planters II
5 lbs. per 20 cu. ft. – Yum Yum Mix
5 lbs. per 20 cu. ft. – Soil Mender Stimulate (Molasses+Humates)
40 lbs. per 20 cu. ft. – Scoria (vesicular lava)

Notes:
1. 1 cu. yd. = 27 cu. ft., Example: 1 cu. yd., 4 in. deep, will cover 81 sq. ft.
2. We used these named “Soil Mender“ products, because they are readily available in Northern New Mexico and are composted. Good composting techniques will kill most weed seed and is easier to work with when cultivating. These amendments are not the only sources, they are just the ones we used.
3. We also added coffee grounds, compost, worm castings, old potting soils, and other products, when available.
4. We tried to be 90-95% ‘organic’ in our approaches to soil preparation. Like anyone else, we’d like to minimize our exposure to toxic materials.