Composting: Next step... Multi Unit Wooden Bins

Thanks to all gardeners who have consistently brought food waste to our bins, to those of you who have picked up food residuals from the campus cafeteria, to Erika and her students who bring scraps from class and to Ernest who consistently picks up materials from a local produce market and stables.  We now have a finished batch waiting to be stored and three more batches cooking away. Roughly, we compost 185 lbs. of food waste per week!

My hopes are increase our waste contributor base to include 100% of our gardeners and many more students.  In terms of bin structure, we continue to use simple plastic fencing secured with posts, certainly adaptable to our space right now but difficult to turn and not attractive either.

Last Month, I attended a compost bin build workshop at the Red Shed Community Garden in Williamsburg.  The NYC Compost Project in Brooklyn (based at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden) led the event bringing all wood, hardware cloth and required tools.  A large group of us organized by Alison Filosa of Red Shed helped drill, screw, saw and hammer it all together.  It’s a simple construction really of four walls attached to a frame to make three compartments for layering and adding waste.  This is the sort of system we’d like at BC Garden; pretty, clean cedar wood, perhaps set on paving stones.  We may build a four-bin structure to accommodate what we currently process.  We may set this structure  either between the two Hawthorne trees or perpendicular to them.  Good thing is it can be moved when empty.

Now the money part…how to finance this project?  It will cost roughly $750., For the wood and related  supplies.  We originally placed this project post on IOBY (In Our Backyards) in spring but put off advertising because we couldn’t move ahead with any building projects due to the college delay on their construction plans.  Since the Softball field is underway, we can move along with this. 

Please support this project, which we’d like to start at the beginning of December.  Donate as little as you can/as much as you want to make these bins a reality!  When our project is fully funded, IOBY will reimburse us for materials purchased.  click here to find our project and donate!

Please see the IOBY donating page for more info. on how your contribution is processed and how we receive your money.

Share our project with friends and family through email, Facebook, Twitter.  If you have any questions about how to share with friends, please contact me.  Let them know that we are already successfully composting and are ready to beautify our operation and increase participation.

Bins at Red Shed Community Garden

A new batch of compost sifted last week!

Rosita with a compost sifter made last month

In the BC Health Clinic with Launa Smith
weighing finished compost for storage

Thank You!!

Directions, Useful info. When visiting BC Garden

Our Location:

We are located on the western side of the Brooklyn College Campus at Ave. H and Campus Road, just off Ocean Avenue.  If coming by subway, take the Q to Ave. H and walk six blocks east to the college entrance, this takes about 7 minutes.  Please don't take the #2 train, it's so out of the way!!

There is a security booth just outside the garden. If you have a BC student, faculty or staff ID, please show the security guard your valid ID to gain entrance. If you live in the neighborhood or from the city at large, please arrange with me prior to your visit and I will add you to the list of active gardeners maintained by campus security. When you come, show your driver's license to the guard, she/he will check your name on the list.

If you have any problems finding the garden or getting in, just call my cell :) Victoria

Preparing for garden work:

For all new volunteers and gardeners, here’s some suggestions on what to bring when coming for a workday:

• Water: there’s a water fountain in the WEB building, make sure you fill up before entering the garden, you will get thirsty. There’s also soda, water and snack vending machines on the first and second floor of that building.
• Snacks: if you plan to stay for more than a couple of hours, please bring something to re-fuel
• A hat:  even when it’s cool, you may want a hat to keep sun off your face
• Garden gloves: we have an assortment that are shared and get washed when needed.  If you feel averse to using gloves that have cradled others’ hands, please bring your own.
• Sturdy shoes: we have mulched paths, metal tools and dirt surfaces so please wear comfortable shoes and socks that you don't mind getting dirty and will protect your toes, should a tool land on them.  No flip flops please!
• Rain-jacket or slicker:  We work when it's overcast and drizzly but not when it's raining hard. Please bring a rain-jacket if rain is forecasted.
• Camera: there are so many cool insects and plants... you are certain to see something unique and may want to capture!
• Sun-block:  on sunny days, it gets very hot. You can easily develop a burn within an hour.
• Be aware that there are mosquitos in the morning and evening, and we do have both OFF brand-bug repellant containing Deet, and a natural alternative.

Children are definitely welcome, but you’re responsible for keeping an eye on them!

A Sampling of Wildlife in our Garden

I've been meaning to upload some pictures of the insects and other wildlife that make our garden their home.  So far, since April, I've personally either seen or seen the work of the following:
Leaf cutter bees, bumble bees, praying mantids, many dragonflies, earthworms, Butterflies: Black swallowtail, yellow Swallowtail,  Small cabbage white butterfly,  luna moth caterpillar (Chad found it on tree # 7), cricket and even a snake (Mike noticed it last week!).
I'm trying to identify the snake, I don't think it's a garter snake, It may be a Northern Black Racer but the white markings behind the head are throwing me off.  I'm going to ask around.
In the meantime, enjoy these and do comment with any info you have.

cricket

Luna moth caterpillar found on tree # 7

baby mantid, a few weeks later we saw several
others that had grown and changed to green

Baby snake

Tips for fall planting, Pruning Tomatoes and Cucumbers to promote Aeration

Lots of you have been asking, “What vegetables can I grow for fall?”

In general, greens and some roots crops like beets and turnips can be grown in fall.  I found some good information to help determine which plants will produce in our climate by the time the first frost date arrives.  According to Victory seeds, the first frost date for NYC is October 27.  Several factors affect this date pushing it either forward or back. For us, we are nearly surrounded by concrete and brick buildings making a heat island effect which may push the frost date back into early November. Also, many fall crops do fine under a light frost such as beets, cauliflower and lettuce.  Some survive a heavy frost,. like broccoli, kale and collards.  It's important that these plants are established and big enough when the cold comes, but they can definitely withstand a frosty night. For harvesting after a frost, I have to read up more on that!

Victory Seeds’ frost date selector
http://www.victoryseeds.com/frost/ny.html

USDA hardiness zones for NY state
http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/weather/zones.html

Johnny’s seeds has several interactive excel docs where you type in your first frost date and the type of crop you want to grow and it automatically computes when you need to plant, either by transplant (TP) or by direct seed (DS).  This is enormously helpful, because when planting for fall, several factors affect the last planting date.  It can get a little complicated, these factors are: days to maturity; days to germination; days to transplanting (if you plant directly from seed, this is zero), short day factor and days before the first frost.  Once you add all these days up, you get a total, then you count backwards by this total from the first frost date.

For example, according to the book: The New Seed Starter’s Handbook by Nancy Bubel, if you wanted to plant beets, you would have to plant them no later than August 14, 2011, giving a few days later, due to the heat island effect. 

I added 55 (days to maturity) + 5 (days to germination) +14 (short day factor) + 0 (days before the first frost) = 74

Then count back 74 days from Oct 27, and you get: August 14

Johnny’s makes it easy and does all that work for you.

I sent this post as an email, and attached to it the Johnny’s spreadsheet of when to plant based on the first frost date for NYC, Oct 27.  If you want to plant broccoli, do so ASAP!

Johnnny's Seeds Growing guides, Interactive Tools,
fall planting Calculator
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/t-InteractiveTools.aspx

Based on that spreadsheet, below is a list of what you can grow from transplants or from seeds:

• Transplant:  broccoli, Chinese cabbage, cauliflower, collards (leaves will be small to medium size), chicory, radicchio, kale

• Seeds:  carrots (they will be small), Asian greens, Kohlrabi, lettuces, radishes (both round and daikon), spinach, swisschard, turnips, beets

We have seeds for some of these crops in the garden seedbox. The ones we don’t have are: Kohlrabi, daikon radishes, swisschard, and turnips. I suggest you purchase them if you like them!
For mail ordering seeds, I usually pick Johnny's selected seeds or the Cook's garden. 
stores in NYC that sell a selection of seeds include Whole Foods,  City Hydroponic which sells Burpee brand and Red, Rose and Lavender in Williamsburg sells Hart brand seeds (non GMO) which are grown in Connecticut, similar to our climate in NYC.  They sell a bigger selection than City Hydroponic.  Many Asian markets sell seeds for radishes and greens too.

Pruning Tomatoes and Cukes

I also found some helpful advice for pruning tomato and cucumber plants.  Something I didn’t know was that it’s important to keep air circulating through tomato and cucumber plants in order to prevent late blight from establishing.  It’s recommended to prune back any leaves near the bottom of plants that are yellow or wilted. On indeterminate tomatoes (heirlooms), it’s important to prune suckers or side shoots so the plant doesn’t get too heavy and so you concentrate the plant’s energy into fewer fruits. 

Cornell Audio on pruning cucumber and tomato plants from
http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/newstopics.php?tid=46

videos on pruning tomatoes and cukes
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/t-video.aspx

 

I hope that's helpful, let me know if you have any questions.
If you'd like xeroxes on starting from seed from The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch   or  The New Seed Starter’s Handbook by Nancy Bubel  let me know!


 

Planting for the fall and Basil likes to be picked!

Now is the time to plant Kale, beets, arugula and a late planting of summer squash. 

By the end of august will be time to plant fall peas, swisschard, kohlrabi, radishes, fall lettuce, spinach, asian greens (Chinese cabbage, bok choi, choy sum, pak choi, mizuna, mustard greens, tatsoi) turnips too. 

Plant transplants of broccoli, collard greens, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, cauliflower.

Pick your basil!  Every time you pick, you encourage the side shoots to grow and prevent the plant from blooming and going to seed. 

According to Homegrown Harvest by Rita Pelczar, “….the more often you harvest, the busier your and more productive your plants will become.  Pinching top and side stems will encourage the development of more stems and leaves. Frequent harvest also help delay flowering and prolong leaf production.  Herbs such as basil, marjoram and oregano can be cut back by two thirds when the plant reaches 12-18 inches tall” (149). 

If you are planning to purchase transplants, I suggest getting them from the farmers market.  I buy all my plants from the farmers market and I know that most gardeners who did so, have bountiful good tasting veggies. One vendor I really love (so does Joe Sotomayor) is Trina of Silver Heights farm.

She sells at Union Square on Wednesday/Saturday and for fall she’ll have transplants of: 

Peas, Asian greens, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower and lettuce http://www.silverheightsfarm.com/index.php

There are two extra plots

Are you interested planting in these two plots?  

The two requirements to plant the plots are to pay for the cost of purchased soil ($21./per plot) and to plant low growing plants or flowers.

you could plant: lettuce, spinach, beets, kale, asian greens, etc.

How would you like to share the space, say so in the comments. I recommend getting started asap, as summer is half over!

Directions for Sheet Mulching/ Lasagna Gardening

This is for members who have started or will start their plots: 

Sheet Mulching/ Lasagna Gardening

May 17, 2011

Resources:

BBG Brooklyn Compost Project’s Lasagna Mulching Workshop; April 2, 2011

Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture

          There’s many ways to layer materials in a sheet mulched bed (lasagna bed).  It’s basically alternating layers of browns (high carbon) with greens (high nitrogen).  Sheet mulching is similar to composting, but requires a higher percentage of carbon rich materials than in bin composting in order to slow down decomposition.  Sheet mulching has several advantages to traditional growing in tilled soil with added compost. First it’s a space saving method of composting, great for community gardens which have limited space for a composting area.  Old mulched beds can be moved around if needed.  Second, all the nutrients released during decomposition stay where they are, available to growing plants, whereas in bin composting, nutrients tend to leach out the bottom of the pile.  Fewer weeds germinate in piles built carefully and beds maintain moisture for growing plants, again if built well at the start.  Ideally, build your pile in the fall so there’s time for material to break down.  Make sure you have enough materials before starting and that any large pieces of material, such as food waste are chopped up. 

Ingredients: you can use an assortment of materials, but this is what we have at the garden presently (while supplies last):

Fresh manure

Cardboard

Food scraps

Coffee grinds

Leaves

Wood shavings/leaf mix: sticks need to be removed before using

stump grinds— from tree stumps and soil

Chunky compost

Vermicompost

Florist waste-chopped

Straw

Plant tone organic fertilizer

Fish emulsion

Directions:

1.     Water the area well one day before starting, no need if it's been raining

2.     Next day, slash down any weeds/ grass. No need to pull them out.

3.     Add soil amendments (optional)

4.     Make openings into the ground with a digging fork.

5.     Add high nitrogen materials like horse manure or food scraps

6.     lay cardboard, overlapping by 6”, (to prevent weeds from finding a way through) wet completely

7.     Add kitchen scraps, water

8.     Add stump grindings in the ratio of 1 part manure to 4 parts stump grinds, water

9.     Add unfinished compost, then add the following ingredients in roughly this order to total about 20” high.

10.  a light sprinkling of Plant-tone organic fertilizer

11.  leaves

12.  food waste

13.  straw

14.  leaves/wood shavings

15.  vermicompost

16.  Plant-Tone organic fertilizer

17.  compost and soil mix

18.  straw

 ***Water in between each layer***

Tips:

o       Before starting, keep ingredients dry

o       Water in between each layer; material should be the consistency of a wrung-out sponge

o       Don’t walk on the bed, this will compact layers. We want to keep them fluffy.

o      Use a rake to evenly spread material,  its OK for it to be a little chunky for trapping air.  You may need to use a digging fork to keep the corners sharp, and the bed level so you don’t lose planting space.

o       If using raw manure, should build 16 inches above that layer

o       For plant starts (transplants), punch out a hole that’s three times the size of your seedling; add some soil, seedling, a little more soil and tamp into place.

o       For starting seeds, make 3” deep trenches.  Fill with soil/ compost and plant seeds