Daniel creating a trellis, so that we can grow up!
Hello everyone,
Long time no blog. My best friend Ange would start her blog posts with “The Haps.” Ange passed away from breast cancer three years ago. I know she is smiling down on us with two thumbs up ;O) Our organic garden is progressing well (despite the slow start this year.) We are working towards treating a permaculture garden. Some of you might be asking yourself “What’s the difference? Well that is a long and complicated question. Google defines permaculture as:
per·ma·cul·ture
ˈpərməˌkəlCHər/
noun
noun: permaculture
the development of agricultural ecosystems intended to be sustainable and self-sufficient.
This is a very abbreviated definition of the concept of permaculture. Daniel (my husband) and I are working on creating a self-sustained garden and our lifestyle in general. I will publish a blog post on permaculture. In La Crescenta and most of California has had CRAZY weather this spring. El Nino passed us by, so we got very little rain. It has also been down right hot. The past two days have been 98 F, which is closer to our July, August, September and part of October temperatures. I am so grateful to have my “Honey Do”Daniel to do the heavy labor. He is so sweet and never complains. Of course as he said today “I get the most benefit from the greens you grow” and I have to admit he is right :oP I’m working on getting more greens in my diet. As someone who eats a plant-based diet, it is crucial to have an adequate intake of leafy greens. Our oldest son Daniel-Mark has become a gardener as well. He loves to help out in the garden, but makes a hasty retreat when it is too hot.
The biggest fans of our warm (HOT) weather have been the pumpkins of course, followed by the tomatoes. The raised beds that I planted at the beginning of Spring have started to take off and grow finally! Besides being partly shaded, my mix of planter mix was off. I did not have enough vermiculite and lighter mulch in the mix and the soil become compacted quickly. Live and learn! My winter garden will have a re-do as I refresh the soil. I guesstimate is that I mixed- 1/2 heavy compost 1/4 vermiculite and 1/4 Dr. Earth planter soil. The upside is that it holds moisture very well :o) and a positive attitude is exactly how you need to look at gardening as well as life.
I started a MeetUp group a few months ago and it has grown. Check it out it’s Crescenta Valley Organic Gardening http://www.meetup.com/Crescenta-Valley-Organic-Gardening-Meetup/ . Our group is focused on education as well as sharing our resources. Our group’s goal is to help gardeners set up and develop thriving gardens based on organic and permaculture principles.
Thank you for dropping by, see you soon!
Donna
