Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Day 43

After hearing lots of feedback about wanting to help out in the garden, today we had our first organized meeting for the summer term.  The meeting was very helpful for me to be able to organize help for the garden, because it is impossible to keep track of all the help being casually offered my way.  Lots of people showed up right after dinner, and I was able to get a good idea about the different ways people want to be involved.  There are those who are interested in helping out on an ongoing basis, such as with watering and composting, as well as a contingency of those who can't regularly commit to help, but are interested in coming to help on a day by day basis.  This lends itself well to the garden's needs, as I need help both with regular tasks and also with bigger projects that call for many hands.  I will be posting sign up sheets for volunteers by Friday, and hopefully people follow up on their interests.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Day 42

Jill sorting greens yesterday

Monday, June 28, 2010

Day 41

Harvest day!  I woke up early and went up to the garden with Jill where there were lots of happy plants waiting for us.  We cut several full rows of lettuce and spinach, with a variety of other tasty greens like yukina savoy and rhodos endives.  We also harvested the last of the bok choy none too soon as many were beginning to bolt. 

Right after we harvested, we put the bins of veggies right at the entrance to the dining hall so people coming to breakfast could see directly what they would be eating later on that day.  I think it is a great thing for people to have a greater awareness of the processes that go into creating the food we eat, and I think there is often a step missed between seeing a plant growing in the ground (if you ever get to see that at all) and seeing it on your plate. 


With all the food we picked, Laurie and the kitchen staff were able to create a feast of bok choy salad, as well as to fill the salad bar with greens from the garden.  Not only was everything delicious, but people are aware that their food is actually coming from the garden, and have been duly letting me know how wonderful that is.  What an awesome job!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Day 40

Wow, ten days go by just like that here at the Biostation!  This past week and a half has been very busy for me, and the garden is now in cruise-control mode.  Highlights from the past 10 days include:

1) Harvests of bok-choi, lettuce, radishes, and kohlrabi
2) Lots of rain!  Probably around 4" in the past week.  The plants have been soaking it up and growing like crazy!
3) On Wednesday a group of high school AP biology students helped out in the evening weeding and tasting and harvesting.  The group spent the week visiting the Biostation with their teacher Tina, a former Biostation professor and resident, and filled their days getting a taste of what goes on at a field station.  Thanks for the help!
4) Saturday all the summer session students arrived and the Biostation is busier than ever!  This means I have already had a bunch of people offer their help and enthusiasm for the garden.  I need to think up a few projects and events for everyone to work on together!

I started my research job last Monday, so my time in the garden will be limited to mornings and evenings now, but this will be plenty of time to get things done with all the help arriving.  What a great week!  Keep posted for more pictures as the garden has really matured into a thriving area with all the rain.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Day 39

Message board

Friday, June 25, 2010

Day 38

Native tobacco species, Nicotiana sp.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Day 37

Bok-choi, radishes, and kohlrabi

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Day 30

Today was a momentous day for the garden; I harvested the first major fruits of my labor for the dining hall.  I harvested pac choi (bok choy) with Jesse in the morning, and in the afternoon I harvested radishes and greens with the ethnobotany class.  Hip hip hooray!  The afternoon harvest was a little stressful, as the greens were not liking the heat at all, but it was good to have the ethnobotany class up one last time before everyone goes home.  I also offered tomato plants to everyone in the ethnobotany class as a thank you for helping out so much (with the hook that I asked people to save seeds from the tomatoes to bring back to the Biostation next year). 

The signage is up, the plants are prepped, and now I believe I hear the bell announcing dinner.  Time to eat!


Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Day 29


What a rainy day!  Over last night and today we had 1.2", contributed to by a steady downpour all night.  Nonetheless, I spent the morning in the garden and found a little more room to plant some beans.  In the afternoon, I spent some time painting pictures of some of the vegetables I will be harvesting tomorrow for the dining hall in watercolors.  They look really awesome!  Later in the day, I went up to the garden with a couple ethnobotany students to harvest some radishes for their wild harvest dinner this evening.  These are the first radishes I harvested, and they look soooo good!  I must have planted them in the right cycle of the moon.  

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Day 28

Today was a strange day for me.  Skipping breakfast had the effect of putting me in a daze most of the day, and the gloomy weather only intensified things.  I did manage to create and plant another bed in the ethnobotany section where there was nothing going on.  I planted some of my last last seeds, and I am about out of room anyway. 

I spent the afternoon turning over the ecology plot, and made some good headway.  The process was four parted: 1) turning over the soil with a shovel, 2) removing sod, sticks, and roots, 3) spreading compost over the area, and 4) chopping in the compost.  I got half the 35' X 15' section done today, so I think I'm in good shape for now.  Lesson for the day: don't skip breakfast.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Day 27

Today was a good day in the garden.  This morning I had a complaint about the smell the new compost pile is making, and it was a timely complaint as I was just thinking about adding a layer of carbon to the pile.  With a truck from maintenance, I took some shredded oak leaves from a leaf pile, and brought it down to the garden  to spread out over two and a half weeks of compost from the dining hall.  Then I added a layer of finished compost, and I am ready for more food scraps.  Plus the smell is practically gone (though I didn't think it smelled very strongly in the first place). 

I planted some of my last seeds in the SE section of the garden, and I am nearing the very end of planting time.  Amazingly, I have been working in the garden for almost a month now!  Later this week I am excited to harvest the first veggies out of the garden, including an assortment of greens, pac choi, and some radishes.  I talked with Laurie from the kitchen and they are very excited to start having food available from the garden.  Yah!   

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Day 25

More work on the south side of the garden today.  I finished transplanting the tomatoes outside, and have supports ready for all of them when they become laden down with fruit.  I also planted dill and sugar snap peas (a little late, I know) along the back south fence, and hopefully they will do well even in the partial shade from the woods nearby.  Made an early start today so that I could go to Petoskey in the afternoon to buy paint for my new (old) sailboat.  Tomorrow I may even take the whole day off to work on it.  Then, I'll go SAILING!!!

Friday, June 11, 2010

Day 24

Ooof and Owwww! Last night after leaving the garden I went for a run which was going great until I rolled my ankle in a bad way. I spent the night icing it and downing anti-inflammatories. The morning began with me on crutches, though feeling and looking better than the night before. Soon I was hobbling up to the garden to transplant more tomatoes and decided to ditch the crutches. I guess it wasn't as bad as it looked initially, just a sprain probably.



The tomatoes look content in their new environment, and hopefully if the bugs don't find them they will thrive. I planted another bed alongside the path, as well as transplanted more tomato seedlings in the greenhouse. Around 3:00PM it started to rain again, and an hour and a half later .2" had fallen. I am really liking this intermittent rain and so are the plants.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Day 23


Today was time to begin planting the last major section of the garden. On Sunday last I planted some cucumbers and squash around the fence and today I began planting tomatoes, a bed of greens and radishes, and set up the irrigation for this new section. The tomatoes I'm sure are happy to be upgrading their space availability and look wonderful in the ground instead of pots.

Elsewhere in the garden, things are really greening up in a good way, with intentional plants ahead of the weeds. Most beds have germinated, and the first things I planted are looking vigorous and are growing quickly. In the next week I will probably be able to do a limited harvest so that people here for the spring term can have a treat direct from the garden. Yum yum yummmm!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Day 22


Things are looking awesome after coming back from Drummond Island. For that matter, I'm doing awesome too. Drummond Island was beautiful, the work fun and educational, and the company jocular and cheery. It was a whirlwind afternoon in the garden, because shortly after arriving it began to DOWNPOUR! Sheets of rain pelted the garden and greenhouse, and within 45 minutes .4" of rain had come down. All the plants outdoors are established enough to withstand the downpour, and aside from a general plant sigh, nothing looks damaged. Luckily I escaped to the greenhouse mostly dry with a wheelbarrow of soil and compost, and spent the duration of the rain transplanting peppers into larger pots. They are looking very happy already, with little fruit on some plants and flowers on the rest, and I'm sure their roots will appreciate a little more space and nutrients. Hooray rain!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Day 19

Woh the rain! Between last night and today a grand total 1.6" fell, bringing the three day total to 2". With all the rain, I didn't spend too much time in the garden today. Just a little weeding and greenhouse puttering. Late this afternoon I am getting picked up to go on a three day plant survey on Drummond Island, on the east side of the UP. I am thankful to have some help with watering in the greenhouse and checking up on everything while I am gone, so we'll see what three days and some rain will bring!

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Day 18


The rain did the garden some good yesterday! It was nice to be able to walk into the garden barefoot and come out muddy. This morning I took a tour of the UMBS Biotron lab with some visiting researchers, and in turn I got to give a tour of the garden. After the tour I planted some pickling cucumbers along the fence on the SE side. Hopefully I can train some of them up the fence while letting a second row trail into the garden. Just thinking about cucumbers is making me salivate! Around lunch Christina is coming in from Alpena, so I will probably take the afternoon off. Also looks like rain again this evening. With how sandy the soil is it will be gladly welcomed.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Day 17

After raising six acres of produce in Wisconsin three years ago, this half acre garden at the Biostation is starting to feel like it is pretty well under control. Today I did some more fiddling around in the morning, planted a bed, worked on my garden borders, and around eleven the Ethnobotany class showed up for a whirlwind visit to help out and check on the progress of the garden. They planted a small triangle bed by the medicine wheel, watered the three sisters mounds, and helped me re-seed a couple rows of beans. Then they were off for their own farm tour to Blackbird Gardens in Petoskey where Matt worked for a couple of years. In the afternoon it rained .4" which was much needed, and I spent my time catching up on the blog and garden map. Check it out!

Day 16


Today was a bit of an organization day. I spent the morning removing the sod from the last bit of garden to prep it for beds and planting. While the ethnobotany class did a decent job turning over the sod, I am worried that if I don't remove the roots we are going to have a big grassy spot again. Also, I spent some time tidying up the entrance to the garden and planting some sunflowers. Once we get the gate up I think it will provide a nice affect when coming into the garden. Today was really pleasant weather to be working in, and I am happy for it. After dinner I organized a garden party (only Jim and Kat showed up) and we finished tilling up the last section of the garden I was working on in the morning. Tomorrow I will hopefully plant some potatoes with Kat that she brought me, as well as some cucumbers and maybe even tomatoes!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Day 15


Oh! Yesterday was the two week point for the garden! It's amazing how fast things are growing. Purslane is coming up thickly in some beds, while others are practically weed free. The green onions have all just about poked through their mounds, and beans are developing lush green leaves. Yum!!! I weeded the worst of the beds today as well as re-seeded some of the greens that did not germinate evenly. Also I planted two rows of pole beans that I will help stake up as they shoot skyward. Things are looking good!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Day 14

A good day to plant seeds in the ground. Today I planted a number of beds in the garden with an assortment of plants. I am experimenting with alternating rows of root and leaf vegetables, and also inserting rows of bush beans to help fix nitrogen and provide some shade for the cooler weather plants. Also I am being more careful in my actual planting techniques to try and get better germination results than I had from the first couple of beds I planted a week ago.