Katxena's journal
Member since: May 08 | Last seen: Mar 12 | Years gardening: 10 | Organic gardener
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23 Feb 2010Tiny Farm garden
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I just ordered my seeds for 2010. I didn’t need many this year. Here’s what I bought: From Fedco Mexican Sour Gherkin Cucumber OG Cylindra Beet Cracoviensis Lettuce OG Hyper Red Rumple Waved Lettuce OG Perpetual Spinach or Leaf Beet Pan di Zucchero Chicory Wrinkled Crinkled Crum...Cloudy 2°C / 35°F -
21 Feb 2010The Worm Factory and Worm Poo garden
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I dumped another tray from the worm bin to the worm bin annex. That makes 3 trays that I have had to dump in the annex since December 18, which is about 1 per month. The annex is now full. Next month, I will have to start dumping outside. The annex works fine, but with 3 trays worth of stuff i...Cloudy 3°C / 37°F -
09 Feb 2010Big Pretty Pruple Azalea and Frontyard garden
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The pretty purple azalea got flattened by the snow. Do we have a milestone for that? I used the hoe to knock the snow off and pull the branches up. It still looks a little deformed, but none of the branches appear broken. We’ll see what happens in the next blizzard, which is scheduled t...Cloudy -1°C / 30°F -
01 Feb 2010
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Front yard garden plan, Spring 2010
Sunny -4°C / 24°FCan you all help me with this plan? I want to create two new garden beds out front, out of lawn. I’ll probably create them lasagna-style, with layers of cardboard and dirt. I’ll haul in a bunch of amendments, and I’ll create a Victorian edge and heap them higher than the lawn....
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01 Feb 2010The Worm Factory and Worm Poo garden
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I think I’ve reached the apogee of worm bin management — I chewed coir. See, a while ago, I posted a question about rinsing coir. I purchased pet store coir instead of horticultural coir because it is cheaper, but it also carries some risks. Horticultural coir is rinsed more thoroug...Sunny -3°C / 26°F -
27 Jan 2010
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I just found out that a little friend of mine, 9 years old, has brain cancer. The thing is, she’s already had brain cancer — and beat it — twice. Damn, damn, damn.4°C / 39°F -
18 Jan 2010The Worm Factory
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I had to empty another tray of my worm bin (a 5-tray Worm Factory system) into my worm bin annex (a rubbermaid-type container I’m using for the winter to store vermicompost as my trays get full). The top tray was full, so I needed to empty a tray to put on the top. It’s been exactl...Sunny 13°C / 55°F -
07 Jan 2010The Worm Factory and Worm Poo garden
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So this morning, as I was putting stuff in my worm bin — I sang to my worms. I couldn’t help myself. See, today is their birthday. I got the bin and the worms exactly 1 year ago (thanks Folia for tracking that for me!). After serenading them with the “Happy Birthday” s...Cloudy -2°C / 28°F -
05 Jan 2010The Worm Factory
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My worm bin is heating up. It’s noticeably warm to the touch. It doesn’t seem to be bothering the worms — there’s no exodus or anything like that. Could this be due to the few shrimp shells I added to the bin? The heating seems to be in about the same place. Shrimp she...Cloudy -2°C / 28°F -
03 Jan 2010The Worm Factory
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Composted shrimp and crab shells are supposed to be really good for a garden. The same bacteria that feed on them also feed on nematodes (presumably the good and bad ones both). We had shrimp the other night — I’m afraid of the smell the shells might create, so I only put 4 of them i...-7°C / 20°F -
01 Jan 2010Tiny Farm garden
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Just a brief update — I took the lid off my compost bin yesterday, and I noticed that the volume inside has reduced by about 20%. That’s got to be a good sign, right?-3°C / 26°F -
01 Jan 2010Tiny Farm garden
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-3°C / 26°FHere’s my garden plan for spring. There’s one for my garden beds, and one for containers. For ease of viewing, you might want to follow these links to see larger pictures: Raised beds Containers Comments are gratefully appreciated, especially about the location of (and type of) flow...
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29 Dec 2009Tiny Farm garden , Swiss chard, oriole Harvesting, Beta mix Harvesting, Corn Salad Harvesting, Mizspoona Ha...
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-2°C / 28°FI’m still harvesting greens for salad. Imagine how much I’d be harvesting if I hadn’t been too lazy to put out my row covers? Yesterday afternoon, I harvested some Swiss chard, beet greens, corn salad, mizspoona, komatsuna, Tokyo bekana, French sorrel and creasy greens. ItR...
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29 Dec 2009Frontyard garden , Artichoke, Cal Green Globe (WS) Pruning, and Tiny Farm garden
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-2°C / 28°FMy artichoke was huge, but during last week’s snowpocalypse it was was buried under about 3 feet of snow. Most of the big leaves broke and bent over, so I pruned them off. I hate leaving the stems wounded at this time of the year, but they already were wounded from the breaks, so I don...
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21 Dec 2009Tiny Farm garden
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I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want in a spring salad. I like salads that are a crazy mix of everything — the more greens in the party, the better, as far as I’m concerned. Here are my initial ideas for what to plant, with notes about why: Recurring Characters. I’...Overcast 2°C / 35°F -
18 Dec 2009The Worm Factory
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Snow -4°C / 25°FMy worm bin is full. I have a 5-tray Worm Factory system. As I showed in this post, the top tray holds paper only. I could start adding scraps to it, but I don’t want to. The paper in the top tray helps prevent fruit flies. I need to harvest the bottom tray. But it’s winter. If ...
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18 Dec 2009The Worm Factory
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Snow -2°C / 28°FFor your viewing pleasure, I took pictures of each level of my worm bin. Picture #1: The whole bin. The top tray is full of shredded paper. I found that this helps control the fruit fly problem. The bottle in the top is a vinegar fruit fly trap. I could probably remove them — I haven&#...
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18 Dec 2009The Worm Factory
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I added about a cup of left over oatmeal (steel cut, cooked with spices but without milk) to the bin a few days ago. I didn’t mix it in. The clump is between two pieces of cardboard with some tea leaves and other kitchen waste. It has heated considerably as it decomposes and is warm to th...-1°C / 30°F -
13 Dec 2009The Worm Factory
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I was cleaning up the altar at my church this morning, when I found a bunch of rotting decorative pumpkins and gourds in the sacristy (they had been used in flower arrangements). Score! I brought them home, scooped out the seeds, chopped them up and dumped them in the worm bin. Pumpkins break ...Rainy 1°C / 34°F -
13 Dec 2009
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Colonel Wind did it, in the back yard with the cold
0°C / 32°FMy garden is finally done for for the year. It wasn’t the snow that killed it, it was the bitter cold and wind that came after the snow melted. The leeks will probably survive, but I doubt much else will. Question: If I want the remaining greenery to serve as ground cover/mulch, should I...
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06 Dec 2009Tiny Farm garden , Beet, mystery greens , Mizspoona , Bok Choy, purple stalk , and Leeks, Lancelot
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Sunny -3°C / 26°FIt snowed yesterday — the first of the season. Although it snowed all day, we only got about an inch of accumulation, a bit more in the backyard for some reason, and most of it melted very fast this morning. Picture #1: The whole back yard. Picture #2: My compost bin. Picture #3: Myster...
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30 Nov 2009The Worm Factory
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Every year, my husband and I go somewhere different for the week of American Thanksgiving. We figure the best way to celebrate this holiday is to see more of the U.S. We left town on November 21 and came back on the 28th. We went to the Outer Banks in North Carolina and had a great time. A nei...Rainy 10°C / 50°F -
29 Nov 2009Arugula (summer) Harvesting, Pea, Super sugar snap (shoots) Harvesting, Cabbage, Tokyo Bekana Harvesting, M...
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I just harvested greens for salad. I can’t believe that I’m still harvesting this late in November, but it has been an exceptionally mild Fall and my garden has held quite well. There’s no direct sun reaching either bed now, so everything is shaded. Here’s an update on ...Sunny 14°C / 57°F -
16 Nov 2009Frontyard garden
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While digging in my front garden yesterday, I found a really big worm — 6+ inches long and super fat. I was really happy to see him. I have never seen a worm in my front garden before, not one and not once. So I must be doing something right out there. My guess is that it’s a comb...16°C / 61°F -
15 Nov 2009Tiny Farm garden , Frontyard garden , and Leeks, Lancelot
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Sunny 17°C / 62°FToday was a beautiful day — sunny, warm and dry. So I cleaned up my front and back gardens. In the front, I removed all the annuals — the nasturtiums, the marigolds, and the cleomes. I had meant to rent a chipper to shred my fall waste, but for various reasons I didn’t get it ...
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11 Nov 2009
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Grounds of Eastern State Penitentiary
Visited gardenRainy 7°C / 45°FEastern State Penitentiary is one of the oldest prisons in the US. It was in operation from 1829 to 1971. It’s a historic site now, and is open to tourists. I visited there last weekend. I thought the grounds surrounding the prison walls were beautiful. There was a sign explaining how th...
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09 Nov 2009
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My lightbulb moment (re: compost/cover crops)
Tiny Farm gardenI’ve been reading Second Nature by Michael Pollan, and a book about composting, and I had a huge lightbulb moment — or, to be honest, more like a “no duh” moment about 3 days ago. I’ve read a lot about compost crops and cover crops before, but I’ve never quite ...14°C / 58°F -
09 Nov 2009Tiny Farm garden
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I went outside this morning to make my morning slug killing rounds (I try to do this twice a day). I squished about 12 of the little bastards. I hate squishing them, but it’s the quickest and most efficient way to deal with them. I’m like some kind of slug demon goddess of doom ...14°C / 58°F -
06 Nov 2009Tiny Farm garden
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Just to update my records. My first light frost this year was Friday night, November 6.21°C / 69°F -
06 Nov 2009
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Compost remodel & Freeze warning
Tiny Farm gardenMy average first frost date is October 15. Here we are 22 days past that date, and I still have not had a frost. I think my luck is over though, because there is a freeze warning in the forecast for tonight. I’m not going to cover anything. The most I did was lightly cultivate an area w...Sunny 6°C / 42°F -
26 Oct 2009Tiny Farm garden , Cabbage, Tokyo Bekana , Mustard, Ruby Streaks , Mizuna , Creasy Greens , Corn Salad , Ar...
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In theory, I should have amazing fall gardens — I live in zone 7, in the DC-metro areas, and we have long, wet-but-not-sopping autumns. However, I have tricky light conditions in my backyard, and I haven’t had a lot of success with fall greens. This year was better than last year. ...Sunny 20°C / 68°F -
23 Oct 2009African Violet garden , African violet, fuscia/purple Fertilising, African violet, Rose pink with backside ...
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Just a note that I fed my homemade brew to the AVs just now. Just before I applied it, I added 5 ounces of old, left over tea, because I have read that AVs like old, left over tea. I gave it all a good shake and poured it carefully onto the plants. At the last, I spooned out the solids onto th...19°C / 66°F -
22 Oct 2009African Violet garden
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I just mixed up some food for my African Violets. Here’s the recipe: 18 ounces water 2 small handfuls vermicompost (from the bottom tray of my bin — it has visable root bits and paper bits, but seems otherwise processed) 1/2 teaspoon Osmocote organic fertilizer (10-3-8)* I mixed them...Sunny 16°C / 61°F -
22 Oct 2009
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Osaka Purple mustard, greening
Mustard, Osaka purple (self-sown)During the time my Osakas were flowering, I tried hard to not let other mustards flower, but I was not entirely successful. Some komatsuna from a mix flowered, some tyfon-holland flowered, and some mizuna flowered. Most of these I removed within a day of the flowers emerging, but the mizuna was...Sunny 17°C / 63°F -
16 Oct 2009Worm Poo garden
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About 6 weeks ago, I noticed these tiny bugs in the worm bin. They have wings, but they didn’t fly, they just kinda hopped around. I thought they might be fruit flies, but the hopping confused me. I was a bit concerned, but figured I’d just watch them to see what happened. Over th...Cloudy 4°C / 39°F -
14 Oct 2009Chinese cabbage, Tokyo Bekana Harvesting, Mustard, Osaka purple (self-sown) , Mustard, Asian baby leaf mix ...
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I harvested some beautiful salad greens a few minutes ago, including my fall Tokyo bekana. I’m really glad to have this beautiful and tasty green in my salad bowl again. It’s not only good by itself, but it also balances the other brassicas nicely. I also harvested some really crun...Rainy 8°C / 47°F -
13 Oct 2009African violet, fuscia/purple , African Violet garden , African violet, Rose pink with backside surprise , ...
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Sunny 13°C / 55°FAll of my African violets are blooming. They are all so pretty — I really love having them in my office. The purple/fuscia one is slowing down, and several of them have yellowing leaves. I think I should have fertilized them sooner. I’m going to make some worm tea for them tomorro...
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12 Oct 2009
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To mulch or not to mulch, that is the question
Tiny Farm gardenI have a ready supply of as many leaves as I want, and I just found that I can rent a chipper to shred them for not much money at all ($20 for a whole day) from a store that’s 1/4 a mile away (so I can walk to the store and wheel the chipper home, and don’t have to put an awful dirty ...Cloudy 8°C / 46°F -
11 Oct 2009Basil in long container Harvesting
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It’s getting cold at night, in the 40s, and my backyard isn’t getting a lot of sun. My basil was starting to look a bit sad, so I harvested most of it. There are one or two stems left for fresh eating, if it survives. I made more pesto and more basil logs. My total winter stash of ...16°C / 60°F -
20 Sep 2009Tiny Farm garden and Tomato, Beef Master Harvesting
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I really want to learn to can, but I never bother because it doesn’t seem worth it to do so in small way. However, Gayla Trail’s Snack food for the apocalypse approach to canning might just win me over. I feel the same way about freezing stuff. My garden is so small that it produces...Sunny 26°C / 79°F
