Raft System before planting

I do love aquaponics gardening.  I make way too many mistakes, but I continue to persevere.  Our raft system is running fairly well.  We have some fantastic basil.  I believe raft aquaponics and basil are the perfect match.  The plants grow tall and the leaves are twice the size of traditionally grown plants.  We have both sweet and purple basil.  Both are performing splendidly.  We have some butter crunch lettuce that is to die for.  The sage is looking good.  I just put some okra and a couple small tomatoes as an experiment.  We’ll see what happens.  I’ll try and get some snapshots of the root systems on these plants.  They are huge. I’ll get some photos this weekend to add.

On the downside, we’ve had some algae bloom that wreaked havoc on our catfish.  I’ve lost most of them.  Fortunately, there is enough ammonia in the system to keep feeding the beneficial bacteria and ultimately the plants.  In the meantime, I’ve treated the algae, added a bacterial supplement and covered the fish tank with shade cloth.  I didn’t have any of these issues when it was an indoor system, but there’s a whole new set of challenges having the unit in the greenhouse.  The plant growth, though, is way superior to indoors under lights.

Once I’ve fixed the ammonia and algae issues, I’ll add some goldfish and run my units off of those for a while.  Much better to learn on 15 cent goldfish than expensive or exotic species.

I have a flood and drain system ready to begin cycling as soon as the timer arrives.  I had some challenges with the auto siphons in the original design and decided to switch it to a timed fill and drain instead.  The flood and drain work great.  The timer should arrive just before Memorial Day, so I’ll cycle it for a few days then add some goldfish.  This unit will mostly grow zucchini and squash. I am told that by growing squash in an aquaponics system I can avoid squash bugs because they need soil to live on.  I can’t wait to get it started.

I have one more single barrel experiment to try before June.  I want to hook up a 55 gallon barrel, with the top third turned into a grow bed.  I will place it in the middle of my earthbox

First 2013 Tomatoes in Earthbox

garden and will run a hose off of the fill line so I can divert water to top up my self watering containers.  Yes, it will mean more frequent water changes in the aquaponics unit, but I believe the fish will benefit from that.  If it works, I will add a larger tank later in the summer.  This single barrel will grow oregano, thyme and dill.

In June, I will order my breeding colony of Tilapia.  They will be kept in an aquarium in the greenhouse.  I have three other aquariums to use for nursery and grow out.  By next spring, I fully expect to be using small swimming pools to grow out large numbers of Tilapia.

We will begin with Blue Tilapia as they are about the hardiest variety.  If all goes well, we will have to build another greenhouse next spring for the Giant Redclaw Crawfish.  I’ve been waiting two years already to get that project going.  I’m close enough to see it  now.  I have three obstacles between where I am and where I want to be; time, money and patience.  I’m a bit short on all three. Then again, who isn’t.

Before I share some photos of our current fall garden, I should give you some details on how this little garden came about.  We live in town.  We have a somewhat small backyard.  When I decided to try my hand at gardening, I was immediately intrigued with Mel Bartholomew’s Square Foot Gardening.  I wanted to start with something small and relatively easy.  The Square Foot Gardening method combined with raised beds, provides a great start for the new gardener.  Raised beds are not free of weeds, but the weeds are fewer then when planting directly into the soil on the ground. 

The first year I started gardening, my dad and I built these two 3×3 beds. 

3×3 raised beds

The following year, we added these three 2×3 beds. 

2×3 raised beds

Mel recommends 4×4 beds.  However, I am 5’5” and that is too wide for me to comfortably reach the center of the bed. 

Here is how the beds are look in my backyard.  I keep them close to the fence so that the kids have plenty of room to play and hopefully not damage the vegetables.

Square foot gardening in the backyard.

These five beds provide a large amount of food for my family of four, plus we often share our surplus with family and friends.   We always add a little more space to our garden each year. 

As I said earlier, fall gardens are rather fickle.  I planted 2-3 rows of lettuce in two boxes.  Only a couple of heads sprouted in each box, but the few that did sprout are growing very nicely and taste very yummy.  The bed below contains some wonderful buttercrunch lettuce and one head of leaf lettuce along with a few weeds and some leaves to add a little color.

Buttercrunch and green leaf lettuce.

The bed below shows two heads of leaf lettuce.  Whenever I need some lettuce, I grab a bowl and a pair of scissors and simply cut a few leaves off each head of lettuce.  If one head is small, I will leave it alone and let it catch up with the rest.

Leaf lettuce

I am harvesting the onions in this bed as I need them.  They are small onions that never grew to their normal proportions due to the summer heat, but they still taste great and can be used immediately upon harvesting.  For instance, if I begin dinner preparations and realize I need an onion for the recipe, I go outside and dig up 2-3 onions and use them for the evening’s meal.   

Red and yellow onions

Now for the exciting part, yes, growing vegetables can be exciting, particularly when you achieve success after failing multiple times with one type of veggie.  This is my zucchini plant.  Most gardeners will tell you that zucchini is very easy to grow.  One plant can provide an obscene amount of zucchini.  This is why many people who garden are always giving them away and know how to cook zucchini 100 different ways.  As for me, I can grow the plant with little effort, but keeping it safe and alive has been impossible for me.  Every single year, squash bugs have attacked every squash plant in my garden.  These bugs will take a plant down in 24-48 hours.  They are lethal, and impossible to get rid of once they are spotted.  I am lucky to get one squash off each plant every year. 

If you follow the photos below, you will notice that I have a beautiful, healthy zucchini plant with two zucchinis beginning to grow.  There is a smaller zucchini plant next to it, but there are no zucchinis on it yet.  You will not find one squash bug.  Apparently, they are gone for the season.  I am more excited than you can know. 

Two zucchini plants

Small zucchini beginning to grow.

Small zucchini growing, large flower still attached.

Did you plant a fall garden?  If so, please share any details or photos in the comments section.  I would love to hear about your adventures. 

The dreaded squash vine borer! Right before leaving for vacation, my two zucchini plants were thriving and we were harvesting zucchini daily.  Thinking I’d whip up a zucchini risotto for dinner the night we got back into town, I headed out to the garden only to find the plants half-dead, with two mini zucchini withering on the vine.  The sawdust-like stuff around the base of the plants (frass) was a sure sign that this was the work of the squash vine borer. Immediate surgery would be required to save the plants!

Gloves. Scalpel. Strong stomach.

Remove the plants from the soil (the stalks practically disintegrate as you do this.) Search up the stalk for the last bit of frass and then cut through the stalk above it. This seems draconian, but zucchini plants are tenacious and what’s left of the stalks will re-root if buried in soil.  Now for the fun part! Using a knife, slit open the frassed-up stalks and search for the ugly, gluttonous vine borer caterpillars which are eating your squash plants from the inside and strangling them. Squish them all! (There can be several per stalk, so don’t stop at the first one you see.) You don’t want to give them a chance to overwinter in your garden.

Squash vine borers exposed!

So long, squash killer!

Throw away all the damaged plant material. Cover the base of the remaining healthy plant with soil and then water well. The plant may look withered for a day or two, but it should recover quickly as the stalk grows new roots.

I hope to be posting zucchini recipes soon!

Then we took a BBQ skewer, and scratched the kids names into it…

Here is what the zucchini looked like a couple weeks later…

Pretty neat eh? This was a great little science lesson, especially so because they helped plant the seeds way back in may!

Little cucumbers getting a good start on top of the straw mulch

So once that garden is all planted – there are some simple things you can do to really help maximize the growth and yields of your vegetable plants.

  So here are our 3 tips to growing a better garden once you’ve planted:

One of the reasons container gardening works so well – is the soil never gets trampled or compressed by heavy feet walking around them – the same can go for your garden

1.  STAY OFF YOUR PLANTS

Whether you have raised beds, raised rows, regular rows, or just a few simple garden plants tucked in to your flowerbed or small space – don’t walk near them.    When you compact the area around a plant with big soil clogging foot prints and heavy foot traffic  - it really does make it harder for the plant to grow bigger roots.  Less roots = less ways for the plant to soak up the valuable water and nutrients from the soil that benefit the plant.  If you leave the area around a plant undisturbed and uncompacted – it makes for much healthier plants.  It’s one reason raised beds and container gardens can be so effective – but even if you don’t have them – you can make a huge difference just by staying off the ground around your plants.

Mulching your garden plants is a great way to regulate soil temperature – suppress weeds, and hold in moisture for the plants.

2.  MULCH YOUR PLANTS

It doesn’t matter if it’s a pepper, cucumber, or tomato plant.  Applying a healthy amount of mulch around the base of the plant really helps.  It helps the plant retain valuable moisture.  It helps the soil temperature around the plant stay more regulated, and helps keep out weeds that compete for nutrients.  It also helps hold in the water to the plants when it rains.  What to use as a mulch?  Old grass clippings, finished compost or straw work great.

Just spraying your garden with a big garden hose can be a no-no for gardening success.

3. WATER SMART

This may be the best advice of all.  Just remember 3 things when it comes to watering that make it simple.  WHEN, HOW and HOW MUCH.

WHEN:

Watering in the early morning is best.  Before the sun has a chance to really get hot.  Water at the base of the plants and let it soak in.  If you water in the afternoon – you not only run the risk of burning the leaves from the sun scorching the water that may hit the plant – but you lose a lot more to evaporation than watering in the early morning.  Besides your beer or favorite beverage gets so much warmer in the hot sun

HOW:

Water slowly and at the base of each plant.  Let it soak in and come back a few times and apply smaller amounts that soak right in where it’s needed most at the root level of the plant  Spraying the whole garden with a big hose and spray nozzle can lead to a lot of problems besides just scorching plants –  like damaging plants, or destroying the blooms that create the vegetables by too hard of a spray, or helping fungus and rot develop on wet moist leaves.

HOW MUCH

Too little water and they shrivel up.  Too much water and they won’t develop the good and deep root structure needed for big plants.  A good rule of thumb is that a garden plant typically needs to receive about 1 inch of water a week.  If mother nature isn’t supplying that  - then you need to supplement.  What most don’t say is that the 1″ of water shouldn’t come all at once.  If you are experiencing a prolonged dry spell – water every two to three days with about a 1/2″ of water to the plant at a time.  This allows enough water to go deeper into the soil and build deeper roots – but gives the plants more consistent watering.  Why not every day you might ask?  If you water every day – the plants will never send their roots deeper looking for water – and you end up with much less hardy and developed plants.  Call it tough love watering  to develop stronger plants – but it works.

Happy Gardening!!!  - Mary and Jim

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Pepper from our garden – plants thrive with compost

It is really fun to plant them and shop for them, and water them every day, but I just had the most depressing thought — these zucchini, even assuming I get 25 or 30 this summer, are going to end up costing me over THREE DOLLARS EACH!

This occured to me while I was out buying mulch and organic fertilizer.  Check my math:

4 zucchini plants — $6.00
4 Big Containers  -   35.00
2 bags Potting Soil-  14.00
2 bags mulch –              8.00
organic fertilizer –     15.00
Water estimate          20.00

Total:      $98.00

Divided by the thirty actual zucchini I will get, and it is organic zucchini,  that means
each zucchini will cost $3.26!

And I’m not counting my time, and the gas to get to the Home Depot, etc.

On the bright side, I will probably have 60-100, instead of 30, and they will taste incredible, and have no pesticides and be wonderfully fresh!

I am diligently researching zucchini recipes so I will be ready in 4 weeks when they are ready to pick.   Send on any great zucchini recipes and I will try them, and photograph them and post the results!

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Prior to doing any planting in my garden, I usually dig in about 4 – 5 inches of finished compost and wait at least a week before I plant. Also known as Italian squash, zucchini is typically started by seed, directly sown into the spring garden row, after the last frost in your area. Seeds should be planted in rows 3 to 4 feet apart in groups of 4 – 6 seeds per spot. Once seeds germinate, usually within 7 – 10 days, I choose the strongest three and remove the rest. One week later, you can choose the strongest one plant and pull out the rest.

Once plants are about one foot in diameter, I lay down a soaker hose the entire length of the row, placing the hose right up against the underside of the plants. Plants should receive at least one inch of water per week throughout their life and mulched with something like wheat straw about 3 – 4 inches thick. This mulching will help to retain moisture and deter most weed growth. The weeds that you do have pop up can be easily pulled by hand, as they are usually weak from having to struggle to grow through the mulch.

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Environmental Conditions

Zucchini is a warm weather crop and is very sensitive to both frost and cold. It can and will grow almost anywhere, but be advised that the growing period will be shorter in colder areas. Being a warm weather crop the zucchini will grow best if you sow it where it will receive full sun. However, it will tolerate slightly shaded areas as well.

Preparing the Garden Soil

As with any crop, you may want to know your current benchmark for minerals and nutrients in your soil, before you start growing zucchini. Grab a test kit at your local hardware store, or bring a soil sample to your county extension office. You want the pH near 6.0, with a good-draining soil mixture.

This fruit (zucchini is technically a fruit) likes to be planted in a mound so prepare your garden soil in mounds of 2 feet in diameter. Build an 8” deep indention so the water drains to the center. Well-rotted manure can be added to the soil before building up the mound.

Planting Your Zucchini Seeds

Once you’ve built up your hills, plant 3 seeds in each mound, about 6 inches apart. Zucchini plants are vines, so they need a large area to grow properly. After you see some germination, you can start thinning to 2 or 3 plants per mound. Unfortunately, uprooting the plant will disturb the other plants nearby, so it’s not practical to transplant from your original grouping. Simply snip the unwanted plants at the base to give the others more room.

If you live in a frost zone, start your seeds indoors in a room that stays above 60 degrees F. Place the seeds 4” apart, moving the growing container to a full sun location. Within 10 days you’ll see the first signs of seedlings sprouting. Transplant these when they reach 3 inches tall. If you’re starting your zucchini gardening with seedlings, give them at least 12” space between the plants and the rows for adequate growth.

If you reside in a cooler climate, placing black plastic bags over the garden area before sowing your seeds or transplanting seedlings can help warm the soil. After a few days of sun, the black bags will absorb the sunlight and transfer the heat to the soil, as well as trapping that warm air right near the ground. Look for a soil temperature of about 70° degrees. Once the soil foundation has warmed up, add some dark-colored mulch. This helps maintain and insulate the warmth much in the same way your black bags do.

The Harvest

Zucchini plants, on average, mature in about 7 weeks. When you see the plants blooming keep a watchful eye on them. The small zucchini are the most tender and tastiest. Additionally, picking the young vegetables inspires more production so you have a season-long supply. After the first harvest, wait for the long squash to reach about 6 inches long and round squash to reach 4 inches in diameter. Larger squashes are best utilized for bread or can be used as a decorative serving container.

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growing zucchini

A small sampling of squash: yellow, "flying saucer", and zucchini

I have an important culinary dilemma that requires my immediate attention.  My fridge does not have enough space to hold even one more leaf of basil!

No.  That’s extreme.

If you gave me a lemon, I could not possibly keep it cold!

Well, not quite.  How much space does a lemon need?

There is no way one more carton of soy milk will fit in my full-size refrigerator.  There simply is not enough room for that!

This is close.  If you gave me a carton of soy milk, it would likely spoil – if soy milk does such a thing – because I would surely have to store it at room temperature.

That’s because my vegetable drawers, my shelves, my butter tray are jammed, packed, stuffed with squash!  I have piles of tiny yellow squash, a couple “flying saucer” squash, and stacks upon stacks of zucchini, some of them longer than my forearm.  The squash is fresh and I need recipes.  Quickly.

Squash on the Farm
But first, a trip into my past.  This squash is so fresh because it comes from my uncle’s farm, where I spent my high school summers.

Picking this summer vegetable is like rolling a ball of yarn around with a cat (or what I imagine this would be like, as I have never had cats).  You try to play nice, but the cat always gets his say.  You may walk away with the ball of yarn, but you also have an armful of tiny scratches for your effort.

Nevertheless, I kind of liked picking zucchini.  It was fun to cut the vegetable from the vine with a knife.  Many other vegetables are broken from the vine by hand; the zucchini shook up my vegetable-picking routine.

Yellow squash is one of the broken-from-vine-by-hand vegetables.  Because the squash is so small, there can be many yellow vegetables on each plant; if you’re slow, like I was, the entire morning is spent in one vegetable row.

I can only infer that white squash is hard to see.  Having worn glasses since I was four, I was never asked to pick them.

Squash in my Food
So I present three squash challenges to myself.  The first, fun and exciting because I like baking and love sweets:  create a healthy zucchini bread recipe for the forearm-long zucchini.  The second – inspired by The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry, a memoir about attending cooking school in Paris – making Patricia Wells’ Fresh Almonds, Zucchini, Curry, and Mint.  And the third, a bit more challenging:  make Mark Bittman’s More-Vegetable-Than-Egg frittata as part of Operation Enjoy Eggs, a ten-day experiment.

As I make these recipes, I remember those mornings on the farm when the air was moist, the dew was fresh, and the day was still cool enough to endure the inevitable cat/yarn fight with the squash plant.  Ah, the experience of picking fresh food.