January is a good time to start thinking ahead...

January's drippy days often find me thinking ahead to Spring and what I want to sow in the soil.

Now is a great time to think about what you have grown and whether or not you need to plant cover crops or amend the soil for next year.

One resource that I fall back on time and time again is the Seattle Tilth Maritime Planting Guide. I think I picked up my last copy at Portland Nursery but here is the link just in case you haven't check it out.

http://www.seattletilth.org/get-involved/gardenstore

Are you new to gardening and not quite sure what to do?  Try a class at Portland Nursery or through East Multnomah Soil and Water.

http://portlandnursery.com/events/january_events.shtml

https://emswcd.org/workshops-and-events/upcoming-workshops/

If you are a teacher and are struggling to find avenues to bring the garden into your classroom check out this link to Oregon State Extension Services-

http://extension.oregonstate.edu/nep/garden_nutrition/

Vestal Spring Fling was an amazing success.

Great Photos of Vestal Spring Fling. 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/41430185@N08/sets/72157653683068826

MARK you Calendars for 3rd Annual Spring Fling

This year's Spring Fling Celebration is going to be very special. Mark your calendars Saturday, MAY 30th, from 12pm- 3pm.

Our school will dedicate the SUNflowers that are being installed around the exterior. There will be food, games, Master Gardener demonstrations, and stations where you can build your own garden salad planter, paint pots, a bicycle tuning station, summer camp sign up, and music from Vestal's Marimba and String instruments.

Help us celebrate Vestal turning a new leaf with their SUN program and plant seeds for the Fall Harvest.

April 11th Work Party

Hi Gardeners.

Reserve the date.  There will be a work party to prepare the vacated plots for new gardeners.  The work party will be on April 11th from 1:00 to 3:00.  Plan to be there if you can make it.  A flyer for the party is posted on the toolshed.

The water has been turned on.  The water is traditionally turned on around April 1st, after the threat of a hard frost has passed.

I was over to test the temperature of the beds today.  The temperature of the raised bed is 60.  This is warm enough to sprout all but the most heat loving seeds.  Raised bed 2A (next to the fence) has been reserved for Produce for People.  If raised bed 1A is not assigned by early May, we can use it for an additional P4P plot. 

The temperature of the ground level P4P bed is 55.  Not quite warm enough to sprout many seeds, but certainly warm enough to take starts.  I started some lettuce seeds for P4P, and will put the starts out on the table next week.  I'm hardening off the starts this week, so they'll be ready to plant next week.

See you in the garden,

Paul.

Garden harvest

One good thing about Indian Summers is the harvest! Go Vestal school gardeners. 

Back to School And back in the garden.

The diehard gardeners of Vestal having been coming out to help cleanup and harvest food.  Official clubs will start soon.  Thank you green thumbs for all your hard work! 

Companion Planting : Tomatoes & Carrots

Vestal Community Gardener Caitlin Clark's advice for Companion Planting: Tomatoes & Carrots

Companion planting is a wonderful way of gardening that incorporates beneficial plants with unlikely partners who not only keep pests away, but also increases pollination, a must for any garden.

Tomatoes are a delicious and popular plant with a number of edible companion plants: cucumber, carrot, chives, onion, garlic, nasturtium and parsley. Marigold is a favorite companion flower for tomatoes, but opinion is divided about how beneficial the flower really is.

Did you know that all plants of the brassica family such as kale, cabbage and broccoli (and more!) actually repel tomatoes and shouldn’t be grown together? It’s okay if they’re in your plot, just keep them apart. Tomatoes also dislike growing near potatoes and fennel. Keep corn and tomatoes at a distance because they both attract the same pest and together they’re too much of a good thing for the corn earworm a.k.a. tomato fruitworm.

Asparagus and tomatoes are great friends and will enjoy being grown together as they both deter each other’s pests (nematodes and asparagus beetle).

If you’re planning to grow carrots near your tomatoes, go ahead and plant some onions or leeks nearby. All of these are friendly with each other. The onions and leeks repel the carrot fly and a number of tomato pests; rosemary and sage will also deter the carrot fly. Bush beans, pole beans, peas and lettuce are also beneficial to carrots.

Resources: Carrots Love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte, http://www.zenfulneps.com/CompanionPlants/, http://www.tomatodirt.com/companion-plants.html

Photo Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/colemama/9473457079