The Art of Seed Storage, Organization and Sowing

Most of our seeds have arrived and we have been starting to organize and plan what we will be sowing into flats and what we will be sowing into pots. The rest will be sown directly into the farm beds.

I've been organizing our seeds similar to how I do it at work at the Redwood Creek Nursery. I bought a bin that has just enough space to store most of the seed we will be buying except for the bulk seed and potatoes. In the bin I have file folders that are labeled by month and then I also have some labeled with letters of the alphabet. Basically the way it's organized is by seed sowing timing for this year and then the seed that will be stored can be filed alphabetically. So for instance, onions and leeks are filed in the February folder, while tomatoes and squash and beans are filed under the May folder. In the front of the bin I have seeds that can be sown at any time of year, like beets and radishes and some leafy greens. I can't say that I came up with this system, but rather I have "borrowed" the idea from work and I have to say it's rather clever. I find that this helps to remind me of what time of year to sow things.

Since this is the first year that we really have a much larger diversity of veggies we are growing, I also have a calender specifically for noting what we sowed and when it was sowed. I am also noting the weather and rain to as it will help me remember exactly what the year was like weatherwise and maybe give some insight into how well things do or don't grow this year. We also have a spreadsheet with a multitude of things we are keeping track of such as  sowing info, we have farm bed schematics, we are tracking what seeds we have bought and from where and how much it cost and well... let's just say a lot of stuff. More than I want to get into in this post (we'll save all those organizational systems for a later date).

For our seed sowing needs I thought I would go a more "wholesome" route when it comes to sowing seeds in flats. I decided that I would build seed germination boxes rather than using plastic flats like I do at the nursery. My hope is that these boxes will last for a few years (maybe many??) before needing to be repaired or discarded. I bought rough redwood 1x4s from our local Mill Valley Lumber, cut to varying lengths. Most of my boxes ended up being made with lengths 14"x23", but some are 12"x12". I'm not sure yet how I like the really long flat compared to a square flat. Instead of having wood bottoms I am testing out using hardware cloth for the base.

My thought was that the wood might rot out quickly with it being moist all the time and also having roots that would penetrate the wood surface, thereby degrading it faster. With the hardware cloth my hope is that it allows for easy drainage, yet is durable and easy to use. I don't know yet if my idea will get me in trouble more quickly down the line as the hardware cloth rusts or breaks down. I also have some boxes with a double layer of hardware cloth (the outer layer has 1 cm size square galvanized cloth while the inner layer is a much smaller weave) while some just have a single layer. My guess is that the single layer will break down and rust within the year.

But trial and error will allow me to decide if this really isn't the way to go and that I should probably stick with a wooden bottom like most people! So, I put the boxes together with outdoor wood screws and then stapled on the hardware cloth on the bottom. They seem to work out just fine for keeping the soil in the box, but I did notice that the long box is very heavy once the soil is wet, so the double layer seems to really help keep it from breaking apart.

Once the germination boxes are completed, it's time for the fun part of seed sowing! Since we are working on becoming certified organic, we must use organic materials. We bought Organic Blend Sunshine Mix from Harmony Farm Supply. In an ideal world we would be creating our own germination mix from the soil on our farm, but we have yet to create our own compost which will be necessary to maintain a more sustainable system of soil being renewable and enhanced rather than degraded. In the future the goal is to provide all the soil fertility we will need for both germinating seeds in flats as well as in the beds themselves. For now we have resigned to buying a seed germination mix. In case you are wondering, a seed germination mix is very light and fluffy and seedlings love to grow in it.

First, I need to make sure that the germination mix is clump free and moist (not too wet and not too dry - like a wrung out sponge).

You can de-clump the mix  by hand as it gets put into the box. The box gets filled to the brim with the mix and is then tamped down gently.

The seeds are then sprinkled by hand in an even manner, first one direction and then the other so that the seeds generally land in a grid pattern allowing maximum space between seeds.

You want to make sure that you are not oversowing seed (too much competition), while also not undersowing (you want to maximize the amount of seedlings you can fit in the flat for healthy growth). Then, the seeds are tamped to provide good contact with the soil.

 Next, you take a little bit of drier germination mix and use either hardware cloth or a sieve to shake more soil over the soil to cover the seeds. Depending on the size of seed will depend on how much soil is needed to cover them (smaller seeds need less soil, while bigger seeds need more). It then gets tamped one more time.

Lastly, you are ready to mist the soil down, label your flat with what you have (a very important detail, leeks and onions look exactly the same when they germinate) and place them in your "greenhouse" and watch them grow.

What's that you say? You don't have a greenhouse?!  Well, I have obviously taken up too much of your time with this post, so greenhouses and building your own will be discussed in another post.

But, you are ready to get your hands dirty and start sowing! Happy germinating!

Baby American Flag Leeks after 17 days (Australian Brown Onions in the box in the background). How cute! Peppers have yet to germinate in the pots.

 

seeds... seeds... and more seeds

It's that time of year that every gardener looks forward to. The time of year where one's eyes start to wander the seed catalogs, the seed websites, and dreams about all the vegetables and fruits one will be growing that year. It's the time for hope; hope that everything you have spent your hard earned money on will grow and multiply and be fruitful.

We've been on the hunt for the most interesting seeds that we can buy, but the only hitch is that we must find seed that is organic seed. You see, we are in the process of becoming a certified organic farm (more on this in the future). This presents itself with limitation on the seeds available to purchase by us from seed companies. Some organic seeds are everyday varieties that many people have heard of (who wants to grow Kentucky Wonder pole beans? Everyone and their great great grandpa has been growing it since 1864, which on the one hand makes it an heirloom and on the other makes it common place). But, we are after varieties that might be a bit more unusual (look out Turkey Craw and Mayflower beans!).

seeds from Horizon herbs: wild arugula, chilhuacle pepper, hopi yellow bean, hopi red lima bean, palla rosa chicory, chinese wild yam (couldn't help myself), Chadwick's cherry tomato, principe borghese tomato

We have been pouring over lots of great seed companies and seed saver websites. Maybe you might be interested in looking at them too for your own garden? Maybe those kids might want to grow something their classmates might never have heard of or would have ever imagined eating?
Here's a quick list of the places we have purchased from:
Seed Savers Exchange
Sustainable Seed Company 
Horizon Herbs
The Natural Gardening Company
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
Bountiful Gardens
and for potatoes
The Main Potato Lady

seeds from Sustainable Seed Company: chiogga beet, american flag leek, hungarian black pepper, australian brown onion, and a free packet of speckles lettuce

In general, we found most of these organic seed websites and more from the CCOF website
organic seed resources

What we have learned though, is that there is a loop hole....
You must use organic seed if you are a certified organic farm, BUT if you cannot source a particular seed as organic and have records showing that you have searched for said organic seed, but can only find commercially available conventionally grown seed, then you are allowed to grow that seed. The other stipulation is that the seed must be non-gmo, and either untreated, or treated only with allowed substances.

With this in mind we have agreed to abide by this rule and only source organically grown seeds. This presents us with the challenge of a treasure hunt for these special, heirloom, rare, or unusual organically grown seeds. We have purchased a first round of seeds, but will be getting our next treasures within the week.



and here's a little sneak peak for the next post...

what does 22 feet of schedule 40 1/2" PVC,  3sided 1/2" PVC elbows and male adapter fittings create when it's all cut to length and fitted together?

tune in next time for a post about the art of seed sowing and building your own mini greenhouses.

Updates of the First Winter

Greetings Everyone,

We hope that the winter is going well. We are doing great! The farm is too...

Despite the fact that there is no "farming" to do right now, there are still projects to complete and observations to make.

PROJECTS:

First, we started cutting back the huge blackberry bush that is starting to invade the farm. It is well established (hasn't been pruned for about 5 years!), so we have a lot of work to do to completely remove it. The first step is to cut all of the canes and just leave them barely sticking out of the ground. Once we have completed this, we will come back through and dig out the roots. The problem is further complicated by the fact that the canes are growing around and through some large rosemary bushes. Getting access to the canes is a bit tricky... its a twisted game of Twister. "Twisted" because we have to navigate the thorny "spikes" that we left sticking out of the ground and because of the the dangling thorny canes that seemingly reach out and grab us.

First cut the canes. Then dig the roots. We are about 1/3 done.

We have also started to replace the fencing. The original fence was installed by Yeti over 15 years ago, and much of it is falling apart. The owner offered to buy the materials if we install it. Deal! While it is a challenge, it is something (somewhat) new for us. So far, we have completed about 3/4 of the fence. Our goal is to have it completely done by Spring... we hope.

We also have to start cleaning out and around the shed. Much of it is completely disheveled, so it needs a whole day of organizing and cleaning. We need a less-cluttered place to store our tools and an area to germinate our seeds for the coming year. But, all of the stuff in/around the shed is Yeti's, so we have to wait for him... He is busy pruning fruit trees this time of year, so this project will likely not get started for another month.

Gopher-ing and Mole-ing. Be glad that there are no pictures for this one. It's an ongoing communication with these guys to keep them out of the garden. We try to "tell" them that they can live and eat just outside the fence line, but coming inside poses a threat to both of us. Yeti says that, over the course of the first 3 years that he farmed here, he trapped more than 1,000 gophers!

OBSERVATIONS:

The results of our Seed Sowing - Moon Phase experiment are inconclusive at the moment. Neither of the plants, those sown according to the moon and those not, is growing too well. They're not doing poorly, it's just that we sowed them too late, it has been very cold for a prolonged period of time, and there has been little/no rain (until now!). Even so, we will continue to experiment with such phenomena as we continue to plant in the future.

It finally rained!

Finally, we want to thank all of you, one for actually reading this blarney, and two for continuing to encourage us. Also, we want to thank you for helping us get some tools and supplies that we need. Thanks to you, we have recently added goodies both big and small to our tool-chest: a wheel-barrow, a hoe, and a Farmer's Almanac, just to name a few. Shortly, we plan to equip our irrigation system. So, once again, thank you!

New Wheelbarrow. Putting it to good use already.

Snoozing in the sun...

There will be more pictures soon...


C + C

New, Additional Project

We have undertaken a new adventure... a new project.

We have decided to take over the management of a small vineyard!

We completely filled our metaphorical plates (hopefully with lots of fresh produce from the farm), and we are now filling our metaphorical glasses (hopefully with wine from grapes that we grow on the vineyard).

Please check out our blog for the vineyard:

Barnett Valley Vineyard


C + C

Farm Layout

We realize that something important has been missing from this blog, something that we fail to capture with our out-of-focus pictures... an overview/layout of the farm. Therefore, we have created a schematic that we hope can somewhat orient you with our space. Also, notice the glaring fact: we have prepared only a small part of our available space... reminding us that we have a lot of work to do before Spring. Sorry for the small text, but rest assured that those details are insignificant. The point is to see the 'big picture'.

Farm Bed Layout

Cover Cropping

But first, a quick update:

We did rake the clumps out of the block (from the previous post), and we piled them in a windrow on the perimeter of the block for 2 reasons: to keep any weeds from being introduced into a different area, and allow the soil that remains on the clumps to be washed back into the area from whence it came.

Raked Beds. "Keyhole" Shape

Windrow of grass 'scrapings'

 Now, the entry.

Only 2 of the 3 blocks could be completely prepared in time to broadcast the cover crop seeds on 08 Nov (two days before the full moon). Ironically, the one remaining block is the first one that we started on. Nevertheless, we have begun the informal experiment about the influence of the moon on the resulting crop. We will sow the cover crop now in the 2 blocks that are prepared, and we will sow the remaining block a few days after the full moon.

The first step in the process was to spread the fertilizers.

In this case, we used both dolomite and Cal-Phos. The dolomite is an acid neutralizer. We knew that the soil was acidic because of the presence of sheep sorrel. It thrives in acidic soils, and it is doing pretty darn well in our beds at the moment. Therefore, the dolomite will change the pH of the soil to a more neutral level. It is a fine dust that can cause serious lung damage over long periods of inhalation, so a mask is a must. The Cal-Phos provides Phosphorus, which is important for overall plant health (think ATP and DNA).

We are ambivalent about using the fertilizers. We feel that a healthy farm should not need such inputs, but we realize that we are starting from scratch, so we need some additional help to get the system going.

After spreading the fertilizer, it gets raked evenly and chopped into the soil. Then, the beds are smoothed, and the ‘micro’-furrows are prepared. The furrows serve to minimize seed erosion and predation as well as to maximize germination by keeping the seeds from washing/blowing off the beds.

Tines and Furrows

Finally, it’s the moment we’ve all (read: C + C) been waiting for: the sowing of the cover crops! It’s the first milestone of our working farm, a big goal reached in our preparations for next season’s crops. Cover crops are important for many reasons, including erosion control and soil tilth, nitrogen fixation and nutrient retention, beneficial insect habitat, compost material, etc.

We’ve chosen bell beans, Lana vetch, and barley.

Bell Beans

 Bell beans are similar to fava beans, only much smaller (about 1/2 the size). They are legumes that help fix a substantial amount of Nitrogen in the soil, and they serve as a scaffolding for the vetch to climb on.

The Lana vetch is a 'vine-y' legume used to fix Nitrogen. As a mid-story plant, it helps keep weeds down and minimize erosion.

Lana vetch

Barley is a cereal grain that helps improve the structure and health of the soil because of its root systems. The roots help keep the soil from compacting and ensure that nutrients do not get leeched.

Barley

We inoculate the bell beans and vetch with specific bacteria, which have formed symbiotic relationships with legumes. These bacteria form nodules on the roots of the legumes. These guys are responsible for the fixation of Nitrogen. Some people debate whether it is necessary to inoculate or not, but Yeti insists that doing so is a beneficial practice that equates to buying an extended warranty.

After inoculation, we add the barley, mix it in with the legumes, and broadcast. Then, we gently rake the beds smooth to cover the seeds in the furrows.

Seed Mix

Finally, we cover the beds with some rice straw to further protect against erosion and predation. (Note: We used way too much straw. Oops. Won't do that again!).

These beds are now completely prepared. We have the remaining block to sow, and there’s still much to do around the garden, but the first major goal has been reached!

Sacrifices to Reality

Unfortunately, we are not going to have all of the blocks prepared in time to plant a winter cover crop in them. Therefore, we have to decide which areas we want to focus on for the time being. We chose a small block of beds in the middle of the garden.

Given that we are starting late in the season, we had to submit our ideal to our idea. That is, if we want to have as much of the space mowed as possible - to have the largest possible garden - then we have to be able to mow faster. While we promote the ideal of mowing without the use of a weed whacker, we understand that we don't have the skill to wield the scythe effectively. So, we made a sacrifice to reality in which Chris used a weed whacker to finish the job.

Weed Whacking

After mowing the grass and raking it into piles, it was time to hoe the beds.

The strenuous activity is becoming less pain inducing, but this set of beds came with a problem. A weed that spreads by rhizomes, sheep sorrel, is creeping all throughout the block. Therefore, Chris had to take more care in hoeing by both digging deeper and removing many of the sorrel plants.

This cost valuable time in our race to sow all of the cover crops on 08 November. One interesting consequence, however, is that we’ll be running an extremely informal experiment with regard to sowing seeds and the phases of the moon.

The next step is to rake the clumps out of the beds and into piles. Then, we can spread the fertilizer and sow the seeds. Hopefully the beds will be prepared before the rains come in a few days.