Save the Bees!

Along with soil nutrition, Bees are the most important part of gardening of any type. We can have extremely fertile soil, but without them, we would be out there in the garden with a paintbrush (or a pigtail) moving pollen around on our own! Lots of work on top of tending plants and amending the soil. This is a great blog The Honey Phamplet about urban beekeeping from a guy who does it in the city of Seattle. I am going to get a beehive for my gardens as soon as I can, and sign up all my friends and clients who love honey for his services! He will take care of the hives, and they taste like your flowers- it is amazing. I tasted Lavender and Mint from one hive he has in a friend's yard. He has reviewed a book: A World Without Bees, Benjamin, A. and McCallum, B., Pegasus Books, New York, NY, 2009
It is now on my list to read, but I am afraid of what I will find out! I may have to stock up on those paintbrushes after all.... Another great source for all things about honey and bees is this blog from The Daily Green Beekeeper.

Peas are in the Ground!

I have planted sugar snaps in the ground in three sites so far, and I am hoping the warmer, weather we are supposed to get is going to help them grow. I have more peas to plant if those don't work out, but I am hoping they will! Just remember when you are planting to always plant  more than you need so you can share the bounty with the wildlife (slugs included). You can always thin them by cutting them back with scissors if you have them too close together (2").
I also planted some lettuces in various places, but nothing has grown more than 1/4" tall even in the hoop house. I will continue to plant lettuce seeds every two or three weeks so I will have lettuce to eat through the spring! Mostly I am planting cut and come again varieties outside now, but the head lettuces are started inside. Last year we planted romaine too close together at the community garden, and we never ended up thinning it well enough. It was too wimpy, and then turned bitter and bolted.... That is why we keep planting more- if one batch messes up, just turn it in and plant something else.

Gardening with chickens

Chickens are fun to garden with. They help you dig, although they love to find the worms and eat them, they also add nutrition to the soil with their poop. One of my chickens- the red one named Ms, loved to take a ride on my shovel as I dug. She could get the first worms. All the chickens loved to dig in the chip pile that we had on the side of our house to spread in the pathways. I was never able to keep them all cooped up, so I would let them out- you have to keep either your food or your chickens cooped up. I learned that the hard way- they would sit on the edge of the food bed and eat all the kale leaves and totally ate all the basil- it was really funny to see them jump up to the tops of the kale to get every bite! In the end, they mowed down most of the garden! I was growing food at the farm and at our community garden, so I didn't mind so much, but now we are ready to grow tons in our own yard now, thanks to them!


We started out with chickens a couple of years ago and they did a great job keeping weeds down and eating all of our food scraps. A friend ordered them (25 to share among 3 friends), and her kids raised them from fluffy balls of chirps to pullets (about 6 weeks). We kept the chickens in the garage for the first few weeks, keeping them outside in a small chicken tractor during the days, and back into the garage for the evenings. We let them out in the afternoon to watch their antics. I knew it was time to put them away when they all flew on my lap...  When it was warm enough and the coop and their yard were finished we moved them into their new space. We started out with three, but realized it would be awhile until they started laying, so we got three more slightly older ones who were already laying. We were worried about them figuring out their pecking order, but they figured it out right away- the ones we had first, even though they were younger, were on top! They each laid 1 egg per day with one day off per week, and after they all started laying we had 1/2 dozen every day! being able to give away extra eggs was an amazing plus! Our friends' loved it, and brunches were easy to host- We just had our friends bring the fillings andkept making omelets all morning.


We always called the black one the crow chicken because she was small and wiley- she would get up on the fence and hold watch- she always had to be the highest one. On the first or second day, two crows came down in the backyard (which they usually never do) and looked into the chicken tractor, and then flew away- satisfied I guess that it wasn't one of theirs. They all had many names, but that one had the most - Lips, Crow chicken, po-po (because the was like the police -settling squables), and blackie. Ms or Miz  or Holly or Red was another from my first batch, she is the red one in the picture above- she got her name Ms because Marc was exclaiming "what are we going to do when they stop laying? Just say "see you later mister?" Immediately we said "Ms!" We were not sure which one was going to be named Ms until we saw her...  She just fit the bill... and the other one we named from the beginning was Clucky Star- later a friend renamed her Heady, but we always called her Clucky-her colorings were black and white herringbone pattern (or starburst depending on your view) so that was that! The other three we got later were from an heirloom chicken breeder who sells eggs at the U-District Farmers' Market- he said they are a breed called Isa Warren- They were such good layers! The eggs were huge! Jumbo Jumbo you can't even shut the box jumbo! We named themDottie (she had a spot on her and maybe on her eggs) and Lottie (the biggest eggs)


I wish I had had a better system for moving them around the yard. I think if I were to do it again, I would measure out 3 zones that were the same area, and have a portable fence to house their yard. I never had a top for mine, but I would add one because of the raccoon threat (We have an apartment building near us with an always open dumpster which I think helped keep them away) . The chicken house could move around the zones and work the soil before cover crop goes in for the winter. I always thought we should share the chickens with our neighbors because their kids loved the chicks, and who has time to weed... We did share eggs, and when we were out of town, they always checked in on them and let them in on the nights we were out too late.

After awhile, they had eaten up all the grass, and turned the whole yard up looking for worms and grubs. By then, they were just sitting around most of the day on our deck watching us eat and pooping on the deck! We ended up taking them to Vashon, and a couple of my friends have them at their houses! The black one that laid white eggs, Lips Chicken is still an oddball- but I guess with a name like that, your gonna be weird. She roosts up over the screen door in her new coop and looks out over the others. She was always one to fly the coop, so that is why she is in the enclosed area now. All in all, it was a great experience, but it was also a lot of work the way I did it. I would still like to help other folks raise chickens/eggs in their own backyard, so if you are interested in my consultation or my services (I will even clean out the coop weekly or monthly for the right price!) email me at jayne@sistersageherbs.com.

Let Worms Eat Your Leftovers!

I came across this blog Urban Food Producer  today, and it explains how composting will help save the world! The blogger, Kate Kurtz,  is a soil scientist from Seattle, and she explains how bad landfills are for emitting greenhouse gasses. Why not start a compost pile or at least a worm bin in your own yard, and save the gas used by the compost trucks? We have a great,  and very small worm bin right now at my home, and it works great! We clean out our fridge every few days and feed anything we won't eat soon to the worms! They are our only pets right now, and so low key! They are multiplying like crazy right now!
Let me know if you are interested in receiving a worm bin, and I can source one for you- or check with Seattle Public Utilities for a sale of the green cones specifically made for this purpose. Seattle Tilth has worm bin kits for you to put together on your own as well.

Seed starting soon! Spring is coming

Here are some pictures of some of our clients' yards from 2009 summer of yum! 
I started a lettuce patch yesterday with a mix of lettuces... It is 50 degrees today and that is warm enough. We are seriously starting seeds here in a few weeks, and planning for the busy summer season. We are still eating from our gardens, even though a lot of plants died, the broccoli, kale and even some chard is doing well.
Call for a consultation to do it yourself. Start your garden early with our transplants- Our goal is to be ready to deliver by March 21st depending on the weather.

Fall Garden Special!

It is time to plant new vegetable starts and cover crop areas that need some nutrition. We have been working on season extender designs for some of our gardens that will be overwintered, garden designs and new garden establishments that will become Spring gardens for other clients. If you get your new planting area established early in the fall, the worms will break down the sod in the area, and in the spring it will be much easier to turn over, and have so much more nutrition than if you import all of your compost. Be the first to eat fresh pea vines and peas this coming spring, and avoid worry about irrigation in the Summer by installing permanent lines on a timer this Fall. Make your dreams of growing and processing your own food a reality with our services!

Consultation
New Garden Prep and Planning
Season Extenders Customized for Your Garden
Cover Cropping and Soil Nourishment

Call us soon to set up a consultation for your garden- Jayne @ 206-898-2101 Or Jen @ 206-384-0973.

Let us plant your fall garden, revive your old garden or start a new one and you will receive $25 off of any service
until October 31st.

Tomato Plants for sale 2.50$ Each!

OOPS! We planted way to many plants this year and have decided to offer them at a rate you can't refuse. All plants are currently in 4 inch pots, are being tended and fertilized well, and are ready to be planted now!

You can pick the tomatoes up in West Seattle or on Vashon, or we can deliver in Seattle for a minimum order of 12 plants/30$- get a group order together or plant a huge garden yourself!

We have all Indeterminate tomatoes for sale. They are actually vines that continue growing in length throughout the growing season. Also referred to as "vining" tomatoes, indeterminate tomato varieties will also continue to set and ripen fruit until killed off by frost. You will need to stake these, or use sturdy tomato cages. We put metal stakes in the ground by each tomato, and as they grow we tie them to the stakes, and string twine between the tomatoes so they are supported well. We plant our basil underneath them, but you could put lettuce or another low growing plants there. That will keep the moisture in the ground.
When watering your plants, don't get the leaves wet, and make sure your plant needs water before you irrigate. Dig down about 6 inches to test the soil- if it holds together in your hand you don't need to give it more. The tomato roots go super deep in the ground, and can find water that is there, sooooo make sure you water enough- deep watering every 4-7 days will do much more than a sprinkling everyday! It sounds more difficult than it is, but if you have any questions, call Jayne or Jenn for help, or email goodfoodgardens@gmail.com. Happy Gardening!

Prudens Purple- Early for its size, similar to Brandywine- makes a great sandwich tomato.
span style="font-weight:bold;">Rose de Berne- Vashon Island Farmer's Market taste test winner!This is a superior medium-sized pink tomato that delivers the robust flavor of the bigger types.
Black Cherry Tomato - Two-bite cherries with the dusky color and complex flavor typical of the best black tomatoes.
Juliet Tomato- About 50–80 clusters per plant. The glossy red fruits are good stewing tomatoes and excellent salad tomatoes, and their sauce is tangy with a diverse complex richness and full sweet tomato flavor and good for drying, too.
Sun Gold Cherry Tomato- A perfect combination of deep sweetness with a hint of acid tartness, pop them in your mouth while in the garden weeding- they continue producing until frost.
Sweet Chelsea Cherry Tomato- A reliable heavy producer of luscious big cherries. Another good one for grazing!