2019 Edible Garden Tours

Grow UP! – Using Structure in the Edible Garden

 

Offered by the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition’s Food Action Team’s 

Edible Garden Group and Bountiful Backyard

FREE toursfeature stops at local gardens and farms where gardeners exhibit their work.

Discussions are welcome.  Come get inspired with us!

bountifulbackyard.org/edible-garden-tours

https://sustainablecorvallis.org/action-teams/food/edible-garden-tours/

How Can You Make your Vegetable Garden More Sustainable

By June most of our seeds have been planted and are up and growing.  And yet we may be leaving bare areas in our garden for tomatoes or squashes to grow. We don’t want too much of that.

What we want in our garden is living soil.  Soil scientists tell us that most of the life in our garden is beneath the surface and needs plant roots in order to thrive.  We need to feed those micro-organisms around our plants’ roots by making sure there is little or no bare areas in our gardens. 

These little guys include -- but are not limited to -- bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, and micro-arthropods as well as earthworms.  Most of these soil organisms live near the roots of our plants.  As they eat, grow, and poop in the soil, they make it possible to have cleaner water, cleaner air, and healthier plants. 

So, what do we do with bare soil that is waiting for our tomatoes and squashes to spread over it? Several things come to mind: 

We can plant quick-growing plant seeds like radishes that will cover the ground until our crops fill in the space, preventing weed seeds from finding a home and giving food to the millions of micro-organisms in our soil, or plant flower seeds – both native and domestic – that also attract pollinators to our gardens. 

What to do in the Garden in June

Planning

Construct trellises for tomatoes, cucumbers, pole beans, and vining ornamentals.  See this link for instructions on a bamboo tomato trellis. If necessary, skip ahead to 21:26 into the video.

Bamboo canes or sticks tied with string make great custom trellises.

Livestock panels, cut and bent to size, make very strong trellises.

 For a brief video on how to make this strong trellis, click here.

Measure your water use by placing empty cans (or jars or mugs) where your irrigation water lands and prevent wasted water.  Only irrigate plants that need the water and consider replacing water wasting plants. Click here to learn more about catch can testing.

Planting/Propagation

Be aware - potting media dries out much faster than soil and necessitates more frequent watering, and perhaps temporary shade, until roots have time to spread into native soil.  Something as simple as setting a lawn chair to the southwest of a new plant for a week or so can make a big difference in how well it adapts to its new home.

Insects

Learn to identify beneficial insects and plant some insectary plants (e.g. Alyssum, Phacelia, coriander, candytuft, sunflower, yarrow, dill) to attract them to your garden.  An important goal is to have insectary plants blooming for as much of the year as possible.  For more information, see this link.

photo from NPIC

 More on Beneficial Insects

Another article with lists of flowering plants by bloom time.

Attracting Beneficials with Native Plants

Monitor azaleas, primroses and other broadleaf ornamentals for root weevils. If you have notching at leaf edges and would like to minimize damage, try sticky trap products on plant trunks to trap adult weevils. Protect against damaging the bark by applying the sticky material on a 4-inch wide band of poly sheeting or burlap wrapped around the trunk. If root weevils are a consistent problem, consider removing plants and choosing resistant varieties.  See this link

From Benton County Master Gardeners -

Membership meetings:  3rd Monday Oct. to May 7:00pm Benton County Extension office.

Plant sale:  May 2 at the Benton County Fairgrounds