Presidents Day

Lots of growth is taking place in the raised beds at CACG. We have seedlings of Turnips, Mustard and Sesame pushing through the soil surface. The Lettuce we transplanted out from the greenhouse two weeks ago has taken very well. In this photo Brenna is helping her Dad, Jim, to transplant out the Broccoli that she and her Mom Karen planted in greenhouse trays   


We are needing to water once a week in this dry winter.

Other earlier transplants of kale and Swiss Chard are just about making it ... but would really love some rain!

We purchased some Yakina Savoy plants from Berkeley Hort. in January. New to us this tasty, leafy green is also known as Chinese Cabbage and appears to be very versatile The plants are not marked at this very moment but will be soon. You are invited to try one of their very tender young leaves raw, it's a very tasty surprise. I do notice that about half of the 8 or so plants have attempted to bolt already. This could be as a result of the dry weather. We will see how they fit into our permaculture garden.
We have a variety of starts in the greenhouse. Please step in and take a look. If some of the plants appear to be dry please water them  ... and hopefully there will be water in the two watering cans to do this!

We have just about given up on trying to stake the two rows of Snap Peas. The soil is so hard and it is necessary to make a hole with a metal stake for each stick. Giving the vines a chance to climb might increase the flowering potential and therefore the yield of peas. We should still get a lot of peas with the vines on the ground. We are finding more edible peas each week as the days become longer and warmer.

Colin by the Fava Beans

Right next to the Snap Peas and closer to the street we have two rows of Fava beans. Possibly because of the dry weather they are becoming increasingly infested with aphids commonly called Black Fly or Aphis fabae. Usually autumn planted Favas do not have this problem as much as the late winter planted crop. This year is a little different. The Black Fly are sucking the sap and therefore reducing the vitality and yield. We do have a strong Lady Bug presence so rather than use soap spray or vigorous washing of the leaves we are going to try the age old method of pinching out the top two inches of the flowering head. This is where the aphids particularly like to situate themselves. As long as there are some flowers we will still have beans.

We have planted Potato Tower # two with unspecified, but organic, Red Potato seed plus a few unknown whites. This could also read: Two refrigerators were cleaned out at a time when our order of certified seed potatoes from Peaceful Valley had not yet arrived ...

We also planted a bare root Flame seedless grape vine on the right side of the white entrance arch.
A Black Monukka grape was planted on the left side last week.

Tyler, Angelina and Renee at the planting of a grape vine

We are harvesting Carrots, Lettuce, Mustard greens, Swiss Chard and a lot of Kale. There are still a few Sunchokes still in the ground. They will be starting to sprout soon so this is about the last chance to harvest tasty tubers.

Teresa harvesting Curly Kale leaves. The yellow flowers are Calendulas

MPC Update

Exceptionally little rain at MPC this winter. In January we recorded 3 inches, an average would be about 4.25 inches. So far this month we have recorded only 0.5 inches.
We have 300 gals stored in one rainwater tank, and have already begun using it to water plants. Another couple of tanks are about to be connected to a downspout. More on that soon.

About 12 of us enjoyed the Movie Night on Feb. 17th. There was a lively and informative discussion after the main screening plus 3 short video extras. Thank you to all who attended. The next Movie Night will be on March 23rd, more details soon.

Our 7 hens are laying between 2 and 4 eggs per day, and we are very grateful. Thank you Girls :>

Teresa Bottling Honey

We harvested 12 lbs of honey from the Juniper Bees after the bees left the hive earlier this month.

This is a 6 gal. food grade PVC bucket with a "Honey Gate"

As the bees become more active it is advisable to check on the hives. This is to make sure that they have enough space to develop a larger brood area as the season progresses. Often switching the two lower boxes at this time gives them the feeling of more spacious accommodation and lessens the urge to swarm.
Here David is checking hives at the Silver Springs Ranch in the Alhambra Valley.



In the community

This might be of interest.

Wednesday, February 22, 7-9pm: Learn about edible wild plants of the San Francisco Bay Area. Kevin Feinstein,

co-author of the new book,

The Bay Area Forager, will speak about local foraging and share stories of writing the

book. Kevin is a Bay Area writer, teacher, and researcher of plants, food, sustainability, and natural health. He is

the founder of the Foraging Society (foragingsociety.org) and maintains a website on foraging-related topics,

(feralkevin.com). The talk will be followed by Q&A and book signing. Kevin will bring roasted bay nut samples for

attendees. The event is free, at the Ecology Center Store, 2530 San Pablo Av, Berkeley. Info: (510) 548-3402,

store@ecologycenter.org.

Saturday, March 10 , noon-4pm : Eco-SF “work

Also, a little closer to home, at Heather Farms Park in Walnut Creek this speaker series sounds interesting.

Finally a big Thank You to so many of you for playing a part in building this more resilient, sustainable Permaculture Community.

David

Early February

A small group of CACG participants went on a field trip to the California Rare Fruit Growers (CRFG) Scion Exchange in Oakland on January 21st. We took Sun Choke tubers from CACG and came away with various fruit tree scions.

Emily and Jaunita visiting the garden

CACG receives a See Saw

Lilly supervising her adults at play

Many thanks to Rebecca for donatiing a see saw to the garden. It is such a well constructed and robust item and is receiving lots of attention. It is clearly doing its part in building community.

Thank you Rebecca for your generosity.


Thanks also to Ron for donationg the 1/2 wine barrel that is now home to the Spearmint plant closest to Center Ave. This rambunctious mint did really well in its first year. The bees loved it! Like all mints it wants to spread and the barrel will keep it contained.

We are harvesting:
Lettuce, Kale, White Turnips and Carrots. Many of the harvestable carrots are the Solar Yellow variety which were grown from our own seed saved last summer and planted in September.
The flow of Snap Peas has stopped because the sharp frosts of mid January halted the flowering. I do notice a few flowers this week so we will be enjoying the deliciously sweet pods again soon. We have still not staked the peas because the ground has been so hard. Tuesdays Rain is much welcomed by the garden.

Ron and Renee transplanting out Lettuce from the greenhouse

Last week we transplanted Romane Lettuce from the greenhouse. The variety is Rouge d' Hiver.
We also sowed seeds for White Turnip, Mustard Greens and Scarlet Nantes Carrot in the raised beds plus various other seeds in the greenhouse.

Ron, Jennifer and Mike with the completed tower

Building Potato Tower #1

We have planted our first Potato Tower with Yukon Gold seed Potatoes. The wire mesh frame is recycled from a pallet of rock. The straw lining helps to keep the soil contained.

At MPC this week

David cleaned and adjusted the mulch basins on the laundry to landscape greywater system. If there are no problems evident then this is an annual check up.

Our seven hens are providing us with 1-3 eggs per day.

The Chimney Bees, and now the Juniper Bees, have left home.Gone! No dead bees remaining. Plenty of honey and pollen stored but no sign of brood. Part of the honey was harvested and the rest given to another top bar hive that could use a boost in food supply.  Meanwhile the hives known as The Kitchen Bees, The Spa Bees and Queen Jaci are all doing very well. The Eucalyptus, Flowering Pear and Almond trees are flowering now. I do notice that many bees are taking a drink in the garden, I've actually set water out for them. Bees need water in February more than ever to dilute the stored honey supplies. The growing population relies on last years reserves and the cold weather make the honey thick.
The fruit trees have been pruned. Grafts added to the established apple trees this year were Elstar and Cox's Orange Pippin. We also found space for one more bare root apple tree, a Ashmead's Kernel, which is an old English russet variety. We also planted stem cuttings of Black Monukka and Pierce table grapes.

Happy Valentine's Day to you all.