Home » Groups » PPO working group: Preparedness

spring gardening outline - draft

Submitted by Jeremy on February 27, 2006 - 8:41am

This is the first draft of the outline for my part of wednesday night. It is likely to change based on comments from the community and the prep group.

Intro and context

  • why is a peak oil group talking about gardening

  • modern ag is about using soil to convert fossil fuels into food
    • strip mining the soils
    • brutal effects on ....
    • extremely inefficient use of energy


Getting Started

  • banishing grass and weeds
    • smother them
      • lay down newspaper, cardboard or black plastic
      • wait at least one month
      • remove the covering or cover it with more soil
      • watch out for
        • thistle
        • morning glory
        • quack grass
    • dig them out
      • remove the grass, shaking the dirt off
      • bury the grass as you are digging up the beds
  • creating the beds
    • beds should be no bigger than 4' across
    • raised beds drain better and beat up more quickly in the spring
    • methods of creating raised beds
      • double dig
      • sheet mulch
      • add soil from the pathways
      • purcase compose or planting mix
  • preparing the soil
    • healthy soil
      • grows bigger, sturdier plants
      • protects plants from disease and pests
      • manages moisture better
    • to create healthy soil
      • add compost every year (2-6")
      • soil micro-organisms

      • keep the soil loose by stepping only on paths
      • do not plant crops in the same spot every year
      • add a complete organic fertilizer when planting and throughout the season
      • cover crops as living mulch

  • when to plant - annual plants
    • cool season crops
      • beets, carrots, turnips, parsnips
      • peas
      • lettuce, mustard greens, kale collard greens, spinach & chard
      • broccoli, cabbage & cauliflower
      • cilantro
      • potatoes
    • warm season crops
      • tomatoes and tomatilos
      • peppers
      • eggplant
      • cucumbers
      • summer and winter squash
      • melons
      • basil
      • corn
    • succession planting
      • radishes
      • lettuce
      • spinach
      • carrots
      • beets
      • cilantro
      • bush beans
    • planting methods
      • transplant
        • tomatoes
        • peppers
        • eggplant
      • direct seed
        • beans & peas
        • cucmbers, squash and melons
        • corn
        • potatoes
        • garlic
      • either
        • lettuce & greens
        • broccoli, caulifower and cabbage
        • basil & cilantro
        • onions and leeks

  • perennial plants
    • very brief into to food forest
    • fruit & nut trees
    • polycultures
  • important gardening tasks
    • thinning
      • provides space for plants to grow
      • when plants develop 2st set of true leaves
      • pull out or cut at root
    • weeding
      • critical in 1st four weeks
      • dig weeds out by roots
    • watering
      • water early in the morning or after the sun is down
      • mulch to conserve water
      • put the water where the plants need it
        • do not water the leaves
        • roots can grow twice as wide as the plant is tall
      • water deeply and infrequently
        • saturate the root zone
        • once or twice a week
Groups:
  • PPO working group: Preparedness

    • The Emperor's New Garden

    Submitted by Terry on March 7, 2006 - 10:47pm.

    I have a concern about growing our own food on any urban land, and wonder if anyone else sees the same problem.

    My concern is about the various human-made chemicals that find their way into our urban soils. I think of the lead contaminating the soil around older (lead-painted) houses, the pesticides applied to lawns and gardens (also carried on the wind from neighbors' spraying), the runoff of dripping motor oil (with its carcinogenic components), and... well, you get the idea.

    So, my question: What solutions for this polution might there be? Has this problem been addressed by those with some expertise, or at least interest, in localizing our food production? Or am I raising unwelcome issues? I hope someone who knows more than I can convince me that the risk is "acceptable" (to me). Thanks in advance if you can!

    The only solution I can think of is obtaining and transporting (from where?) clean soil sufficient to cover that which is polluted. Not very energy efficient, though!

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    it depends

    Submitted by Jeremy on March 7, 2006 - 11:10pm.

    There are a number of plants that won't translocate toxics into the fruit. If you have a really good compost pile it will process quite a few different chemicals. Metals you really need to avoid the metals which are fairly easy to test for. Along the there are a number of plants like blackberries that will actively translocate toxics into the fruit.

    Jeremy O'Leary, Working to suport my biology habit.

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