Tuesday, May 23, 2006
May Open Garden
Saturday was a beautiful day, despite predictions, and about 100 people came to our Open Gardens. I thought some of the questions asked there might interest the rest of you.Why do you still have a floating cover over your carrots?
To keep the bugs off. I usually use floating cover to keep things warm in cool weather, but the small carrot plants are eaten if I don't cover them. (I took it off Sunday. It was getting tight as the carrots grew against it. If I leave it on too long, the tops are singed in the heat.)
After you cut the brocolli, is that the end of that plant?
No, small flowerettes keep coming. I harvest them continually until after Thanksgiving. I throw away the ones in the summer because they are bitter, but in September they beco
me sweet again. Homegrown brocolli is much more sweet than the brocolli you buy in the store. I heard Marion Nestle on NPR this week saying that she discovered that it takes 10-14 days from the time brocolli is harvested in CA until it appears in a NYC store."But brocolli is brocolli!"To squelch the doubts that it could be THAT different, I shared some fresh-picked brocolli with some doubters, and they agreed that my brocolli was far better than any they had tasted before.Why do you leave the flowers on the tops of the collards and
me sweet again. Homegrown brocolli is much more sweet than the brocolli you buy in the store. I heard Marion Nestle on NPR this week saying that she discovered that it takes 10-14 days from the time brocolli is harvested in CA until it appears in a NYC store."But brocolli is brocolli!"To squelch the doubts that it could be THAT different, I shared some fresh-picked brocolli with some doubters, and they agreed that my brocolli was far better than any they had tasted before.Why do you leave the flowers on the tops of the collards and
kale?I have other things to do.
Besides I think they look pretty. (Several nodded that they agreed.) I might have added that they will self-seed and save effort later.How long does compost take?Less than a year. Much less sometimes, as little as two months. Once I put leaves and grass clippings in one
of these rotating barrels that I borrowed on Memorial Day. I turned it once a day, and at the end of a month I had good compost.
Do you turn your compost piles?
No, that lost its charm quickly. Also, adding manure to the compost lost its charm after a few years. For more than a decade I have brought only leaves, grass, and wood chips from off the site. No manure or chemicals. If you get manure from a local stable, be sure to compost it to destroy the bad things before you put it in the garden.
No, that lost its charm quickly. Also, adding manure to the compost lost its charm after a few years. For more than a decade I have brought only leaves, grass, and wood chips from off the site. No manure or chemicals. If you get manure from a local stable, be sure to compost it to destroy the bad things before you put it in the garden.Do you put egg shells in the compost?
Yes, I put all kitchen waste in the compost. We are vegetarians but not vegans, so it includes egg shells.
Yes, I put all kitchen waste in the compost. We are vegetarians but not vegans, so it includes egg shells.
I've heard that you shouldn't put oak leaves in the compost. Is that true?
Oak leaves take a long time to compost, so Fred tries not to pick them up. If he misses -- it's hard to see what is inside a bag -- I put them in
the compost, but often have to put them in a second heap after the
stuff around them has composted. They take longer.
Someone else said, "Oak leaves are like leather." An apt comment.There's a rabbit! It was looking at the group thoughtfully. Yes, it's a very sociable rabbit. It will come within a yard or two of me when I am still, and will let me walk quite close to it without running away.Does it have a name? My four-year-old neighbor first saw it on Easter, so we call it the Easter bunny.
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