Week 5 - ...In With the New II

Time in: 5:15pm
Time out: 7:15pm

Another useful resource I learned about when visiting the L.A. Arboretum Library was their plant information phone number (located at the bottom of the library link). I gave it a try when I couldn't quite figure out when and how long to water after sowing the seeds.

Initially, they suggested, hand-watering a couple minutes every day is the best thing to do. The seeds need to be kept moist at all times in order to sprout. However, since I no longer live in the area, I have to rely on my irrigation system to do it for me.

This made me reevaluate my set-up. Is the water pressure from my single sprinkler enough to keep the soil moist?

When I visited the plot Monday night, I figured the first thing to do was to remove the remaining tomato plant (goodbye summer, hello fall) till and hand water the soil, then sow the seeds. I decided the best way to sow them was by alphabetical order: Aquadulce Fava Beans in the north-west square, Braco Mustard to its right, Cereal Rye below the fava beans, then Crimson Clover on the south-east square.

After the seeds were sown, I checked the water pressure on my sprinkler. I have a slight suspicion that it just isn't quite enough to do the job on its own. To be sure, I decided to test it out for the week.

Week 3 - Out With the Old...

Time in: 5pm
Time out: 7:15pm

The time has come to dig out our tomato patch and to start preparing for the next season. I'm looking forward to it because Fall is quite frankly my favorite time of the year. I can't wait to feel the cool, fresh air after the very warm, very firey summer we had here in the San Gabriel Valley. I'm also interested in experiencing Fall through the natural perspective: the baring of deciduous trees and plants that simultaneously feed and slumber through winter's end, the prepping and replenishing of the soil to help enhance the following season's crops.

With Jared's help, we were able to clear away all but one tomato plant, keeping the last one rooted until its remaining fruit was ready to be picked (as per mom's request). I also decided to keep one Gopher Purge plant since it is still looking quite vigorous and healthy.


I believe the trickiest process will be the reconfiguration of the drip irrigation system to fit the needs of the current project. I have a few ideas in mind: one is to change the mini inline drippers into mini sprinkler heads. Another is to scrap the existing system entirely and go with a larger hose drip system I once saw at the local nursery. I have a feeling that a 360 degree sprinkler head would be the best scenario for this particular project since I need to evenly cover a large area as oppose to focusing in on a particular root system. Plus, it would be more cost effective.


Additional steps consist of :

• Deeper tilling of the soil to enhance aeration
• Creating a makeshift wall on the north side of the plot due to the inconsistency of the lawn sprinklers (more on that later)
• Adding compost and soil to the two narrow plots to even out the soil level
• Also adding compost to the plot with the grape plant to increase the nutrient value.

On another note, the seeds came in sometime last week, I was very impressed by the quantity of seeds I received and customer service was incredibly helpful. Thank you, Sustainable Seed Co., I believe I just became a life long customer!

Week 1 - Getting Everything Started

Part 1 - Looking into Green Manuring

Time in: 8:30am

Time out: 10:30am

It seems to me that green manuring is the easiest and most economical way to go if you don't feel like using chemically treated composts and other products that would synthetically enhance your soil's nutrient value and productivity. That is because these cover crops are particularly nitrogen fixed, a key building block to plant life.

There are so many green manure cover crops to choose from! The Sustainable Seed Co. website helped guide me to my final choices. And of course I had to choose the right cover crops for the right season. After some research, I decided to stick with the basics. Here they are:

• Aquadulce Fava Beans
• Cereal Rye
• Braco Mustard
• Crimson Clover
• Dundale Peas

I will get into more detail about each cover crop once I start to plant. First thing's first though , I will order the seeds from the Sustainable Seed Co. website and hopefully they'll be here by the end of the week!

Oh, and here's a well written article that Times Online came out with August of last year, an overview about green manuring. Take a look:

The goodness of green manure by Alice Bowe