PL Meetings -- Four Months At-a-Glance

July 15 or 22, 9:30-12 – Financial Security Advice (location TBA)

August – Canning using the cannery equipment. If we bring it here we can can anything we would like as long as it isn’t liquid. (Anyone who is interested needs to contact Christine Francis by the end of June so we can reserve the equipment.)

September 16 , 9:30-12 – Native plant tour (location TBA)

October 14, 9:30-12, at Amy Rippy’s – Canning demonstrations (bottling) Meats, fruits and vegetables

June Gardening

(from Pat Welsh’s Southern California Gardening a Month to Month Guide)

Do the last thinning on deciduous fruit trees after June drop has occurred. The trees naturally drop an overload of fruit but there might be more to do. Clean up the fallen fruit before it rots and spreads disease. (If it isn’t rotten, chop and add to compost pile.)

Pick outside leaves of lettuce. Pick beans (not early in the day when the dew is on, because doing so can spread rust and mildew) and summer squash daily while still small, but pick tomatoes when fully ripe.

If you didn’t side-dress the rows with fertilizer last month, do it now. Most crops need additional nitrogen at some point during the growing season except beans (unless they show signs of distress). Too much nitrogen for beans prevents them from bearing. Corn needs additional nitrogen and plenty of water when they start to tassel out. The best time to side-dress tomatoes with additional nitrogen is when they start to bloom.

Water regularly and deeply.

It’s not to late to put in seeds – you will just harvest later. (Corn, cucumbers, green beans, lima beans, leaf lettuce, okra, peppers, pumpkins, New Zealand spinach, summer squash, winter squash, melons, beets, carrots, Swiss chard, radishes, turnips and tomatoes.)

Heat lovers such as eggplant , peppers and tomatoes do well and grow rapidly when put in from transplants this month.

Pest control – continue to release beneficial insects and arachnids. (Identify in a book like Starcher’s Good Bugs for Your Gardens) Wash off aphids with soapy water. Handpick large bugs and beetles. Mint, (which is very invasive – try planting it in a 1-gal. can to keep them contained) basil and dill are said to protect tomatoes from hornworm. Marigolds as well as other herbs are also very good to combat pests. Plant them near and in your garden beds.

Clip runners from your strawberry plants. Keep the ground deeply mulched with pine needles or straw. Sprinkle bait under organic and plastic mulches against sowbugs, snails, and slugs. Don’t let the plants go dry now, or fruiting will stop.

Additional Notes for Alternative Cooking Demonstration

1. CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) Training: This free training originated from the police, fire, medical, etc. teams being overwhelmed in a recent fire. The communities are training citizen voluteers to be available to help in a future emergency. They teach (basic medical, search/rescue, how to safely enter buildings, triage, organize people, etc.). You get a vest, a hat and a card that gives you access to areas otherwise blocked off. Jean, my friend from Vista raved about the training she is getting by doing this. If you are interested in getting this training you will want to apply soon for the CERT Training. See more information at:

If you live in San Diego City, they are now taking applications for the next class in October (6 weeks of classes):
http://www.sandiego.gov/fireandems/cert/classes.shtml

If you live in San Diego County, not in San Diego City (ie., Del Mar, Solana Beach, unincorporated areas, etc.), each city has their own arrangement. Del Mar and Solana Beach team up for a 4 week training. Call the contact for your city from the website below to find out more info and to put your name on the list:
http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/oes/community/oes_jl_CERT.html .


2. To get rid of gophers: Ace Hardware has the "Underground Exterminator" for $17.99. See at: http://www.acehardware.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=gopher&origkw=gopher&sr=1
This is a rubber coupling that takes the carbon monoxide from your car, through your garden hose and into their tunnels. It humanely puts them to sleep, including those in the nest and they don't see/smell it coming. All the other methods I have seen are about a 50% kill rate since you have to get them into a trap, eat the poison or be near the bomb to work. I haven't tried it yet because my gopher went to my neighbor's yard, but I have it handy for the next time. It has gotten 5 star reviews on the internet.


3. Mickie Cross demonstrated a dehydrator. It is available at Walmart (ship to store) for $44.88:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=1120727

Alternative Cooking demonstrations

Here’s what I heard at our Provident Living Group meeting today (June 10, 2009):

To combat the rats, mice, moles, rabbits that destroy gardens, fruit on the fruit trees and get in your homes -  

.When planting fruit trees place “Gopher Cages” in the bottom of the hole before you put the tree in and backfill. This will take care of gopher problems.

.Place “hardware cloth” 2’ high in a circle around the trees.  This will take care of bunny problems.  

.Place “hardware cloth” in the bottom of raised beds stapling up the inside of the beds (or outside) before you add your soil.  This takes care of gophers for 5-7 years.  (After that you need to empty your beds and do it again.) 

.Ace hardware sells a product called “The exterminator” (Nancy will verify this).  It is a fitting for your car exhaust pipe that attaches to a hose up to 300’.  Place the other end of the hose into a mole hole (If the hole is exposed it is actually an abandoned hole – you must find a lump of dirt and dig around to find where the currently used hole is).  Run the car for about 30 min.  This will gas out all the tunnels and kill the moles and their young. 

.A rat skull can compress to about an inch in diameter.  To keep them from climbing into your house through small openings, plug up the entry with steel wool. 

.To rid your garden of rats/mice build a tube with 3” in diameter PVC pipe.  Fit two sides together on either end of a “clean-out” center (it is essentially a hole to allow you to pour the poison pellets into).  You then fill the pipes with about two cups of PCQ (purchase a 12 lb. bag at Grandjettos in Encinitas).  You will need to check the pellets every day to see if you need to refill.  This poison causes internal bleeding and takes about 7 days of continuous feeding for the rodents to die. 

.Rabbit problems?  If anyone has any suggestions on how to eliminate rabbits, I would personally love to know!  We have tried every thing any website has suggested and nothing takes care of the amount of rabbits we have on our lawn each day.  (Human hair will be drug off for some birds nest.  Human, coyote, and bobcat urine gets washed away with sprinklers or rain.  We’ve also tried pepper, chili powder and paprika.)  I know not having any bushes where they can hide all day is your best bet.

Now on to our demonstrations –

Thanks to Mickey Cross for demonstrating solar oven cooking and dehydrating.  Thanks to Jan Smoot for demonstrating dutch oven cooking.  The best thing for me was to realize all those things are fairly easily done, giving me courage to put my own hand to all those things.  All the food was fabulous!  

I have some hand-outs on using your solar oven, dutch ovens and a dehydrator.  I will be glad to share with anyone who wants a copy.  These particular cooking alternatives come with their own directions which will educate you on how to use them correctly. 

Here is a great source for emergency preparedness items:  Emergency Essentials www.BePrepared.com/store (I’m going to get some 72-hour kits for my kids that live away for Christmas.  They are currently on sale.) 

Nancy brought up the subject of CERT training.  (I think that stands for Certified Emergency Response Team).  The City of San Diego is providing free training.  She will let you know that information. 

Sherrie Wall is leading the way and has purchased a great 8’ X 8’ raised garden.  She’s researched the best price for this great garden system with a gate and it’s really attractive as well. She found it at Leisure Time Products Inc. for under $600.  Call 800-765-4138 for more information.  (It took me $500 to form my own beds which aren’t anywhere near as nice looking or as practical.) 

 

Citrus/fruit tree info.

Today we had Chuck Badger, citrus/grove expert come and demonstrate how to plant a fruit tree.  He also gave us some good information about care of citrus trees particularly, along with a few recommendations for fruit trees that grow good in our area.  

.Feed your lemon and lime tree's 2 X's a year with Calcium nitrate (4-5 lbs. for large trees, 3-4 lbs. for med. trees and a couple of handfuls for newly planted citrus a month after planting.)  

.Feed your other citrus once a year in the winter.  (Calcium nitrate - same amount as above.)

. Watering fruit trees in general - 15 gal water per hour.  He suggested a P-3 adapter with Olsen Ojet (green ) would be the type of watering that would get you to 15 gal per hour.  Ask at Grandgettos in Encinitas for help with the adapter.  

.Fruit trees don't like to sit in water.  So don't build the land in a bowl around the tree to hold the water into the trunk.  Water should have an ability to drain away from the tree.  When planting fruit trees have them sit a little high on the landscape.  The tree will eventually settle.  

.Buy Mary's decollate snails to eat the regular garden snails that ruin landscaping.  The same goes for the fruit trees.  

.dig your holes a good bit bigger than the rootball of the tree and back fill with the broken up original dirt.  Fill in around the tree with the original dirt.  Water really well after planting.  

.The 5-gal. trees adapt to transplanting easier than the 15-gal. or larger trees.  

.There is a little finger-sized indention above the rootball (5-10 inches up) where the root stock is grafted with the scion  (the main trunk).  When planting -  face that indention to the north to keep sun from burning it as it grows.  

.Any branches that grow off the the root stock is considered a "sucker" and should be removed when pruning.  Those branches don't produce good fruit and deplete the main trunk (scion) of good nutrients.  

.Pruning can be done any time of the year for citrus'.  Dead wood is good to cut out on citrus' anytime of the year.  Pruning on other fruit trees should be done every year.  

.Recommended fruit trees for our area:  Plum - Santa Rosa; Peaches - Red Barron; Apricot (don't give a lot of fruit) - Moorpark, Royal or Katie; Apple - Anna & Fuji; pomegranite - any kind grows well.  All the citrus' do well here, particularly Rio Red Grapefruit, Washington Naval orange.  

Provident Living Meeting at Nancy's 4/23/09

Intro
This system really works for me and is a result of: being evacuated in the fires, being tired of throwing away old food storage, not liking the food in food storage, not liking the expense of the old way of being prepared. These are my own ideas and may not work for you. My hope is that from seeing different ways of being prepared and you will be more inspired to come up with what works for you!

Goals I wanted to achieve: foods that are the healthiest for me, easy and convenient, low cost, fun and tasty.

Be prepared
The big picture:
Spiritual – in a disaster, we may lose all of our food, homes, preparedness items. The MOST important preparedness item is being able to receive personal revelation constantly. (see Apr 09 Gen Conf)
Physical - get in shape and take care of needed medical and dental items.
Knowledge – knowing what may happen is part of preparedness. Our current presidency has stated that he will model FDR’s work. The Forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes, is a current, paper-turner history of that era.
Network – have friends of like mind you can rely on. One of my desires is to share extra food items with. An example---if I have a lot of apricots, I would like to share with someone who has something that I want and need, say Avocados? Meat?
Genealogy, docs, etc – I am the only one in my family that has all the family history materials. They are all hard copy. In a fire, they would be lost forever. I am going to the wonderful Family History Enrichment to learn how to be prepared in this area, as well as doing family Temple work.

72 hour kit
Preparedness can be daunting. How do you eat and elephant? One bite at a time. My first bite was my 72 hour kit because it was a small, definable project. 72 hour kit was too heavy to carry, so I put it in a piece of carryon luggage with wheels. Taught my dog to carry her own (her backpack is from Petsmart.) Everything is in zip lock or larger plastic bags, sorted by type. The bags make it easy to find things, keep them clean and dry and make them easy to transfer to my bicycle pannier (I have a mountain bike and put a rack on the back. I got the rack and panniers (saddle bags) at UC Cyclry near Ralphs across from the Temple). I can walk, ride or throw it in the car. I also have a car 72 hour kit and I have tools stuck in the “secret” compartments of my car and water and sleeping bag next to the car. Water in plastic in the heat gives off toxic chemicals you don’t want to drink.

Food
Overview: Although foodstuffs can technically be stored for many years, the nutritional value decreases over time. Some lose significant amounts, or become rancid rather quickly if stored at 70 degrees or above. Since I did not want to eat old, low value food or be throwing away food storage every year, I decided to make my food storage my current eats….meaning, I fill up my food storage and eat out of that every day. My plan is 2 years because I want everything to be fresh and since I am one person, if I have an opportunity to help the neighborhood, it will go farther. With this method, I get better quality, lower cost and more convenience. Also, I don’t eat wheat, sugar, white rice for health reasons. I found foods that work for me and provide optimum health (proteins, carbs, good fats, vitamins, enzymes, variety, etc.)

Question for me: If I had to live for a full month without anything from the outside, what would I want here?

Dry pack canning: I use vacuum packing of canning jars. Canning jars vs. #10 cans:
Pros:
size is better for a smaller family,
cost—they can be used over and over again (cans are 1 time use),
convenience—I can do it at home when I want and do not have to wait to borrow the cannery tool,
multi use—I can also the wide mouth quart canning jars for wet pack canning
glass is safer than metal for purity and is most impervious to contamination.
Negs:
Not big enough for large families,
They can break
Demo packing. Show storage.

I use the Vacupack http://www.vacupack.com/ It’s a quality machine and expensive. There may be others out there that will do the job as well.

Waffles made from beans and grains. Sample waffles.

Sprouts: are little nuggets of potential fresh foods. (I GOTTA have my fresh foods!!!!)
Pros: nutrition is MUCH higher than the item in its dormant state
It’s easy
It’s fun
It’s tasty
No cooking is required
It’s inexpensive
Demo how to make (Glad type box, soak overnight, thereafter, rinse 3x per day. These are little living things—If they dry out, they die. If they are underwater longer than overnight, they drown. If you do everything right, and they still don’t sprout, they may be dead already (depending on what the seed is). Sprouts can be any bean or grain. Some are easier and tastier than others. The sample I had was lentils + sunflower seeds + garbanzo beans. Eat as is or cover with Italian salad dressing…yum! After you all were gone, I ate the rest in one sitting!

Dry pack bottles: I have one of each bottle on display on my countertop in the kitchen. Very convenient! I have the rest in a bedroom closet on a 6-shelf metal shelf from Costco wedged in so it won’t go anywhere. Also convenient!

In addition, I have an inventory of Canned meats and other products from TJ etc. stored elsewhere. I look forward to learning how to bottle meats!

Ways to cook: Dutch oven (low cost and easy), solar oven (may not work at my house depending on the weather), BBQ with briquets and/or propane, what if I needed to do without? What would I do? Would I be able to eat?

Water: This is the biggest issue: I have yet to fully resolve. I have a small backpacker filter but I understand that they are hard to use. I drink a ½ gallon a day and don’t want to be working the whole time to create drinkable water. We recently were told not to drink the water here in Del Mar for 3 days. A wonderful wake up call! I have water barrels filled with rainwater that can be used to water the garden or for drinking if I clean it and filter it. I have clorine beach on hand. There is one neighbor who has a swimming pool that I might be able to access if it is still intact, and share the purified water with. Salt water is no good (filters don’t work) unless you have a de-salinization plant. The Berkey water filters (Google it for more info) are the best I have found so far, but they are very expensive. I am looking for a less expensive alternative because I just want to use it in emergencies.

Tree Cultivation
Prune to maximize fruit production. Prune before flowers and leaves come out, when dormant. Stone fruits (apricots, nectarines, etc.) and apples, etc need pruning every year. Citrus does not but can be for shaping and strength of scaffolding. Best book I have found is: How to Prune Fruit Trees by R. Sanford Martin available at Armstrong $6.99.

To control aphids, control the ants (they milk the aphids and protect them from natural predators like lady bugs). Use Glad wrap around the trunk and TangleFoot on top of the wrap. It works like fly paper and stops the ants. The plastic protects the tree and stretches for growth. The healthier the tree, the more the fruit and fewer the bugs. I now use “E. B. Stone’s Organic Citrus and Fruit Tree Fertilizer”. It takes a while for it to show results because it is not a powerful drug but the trees are MUCH healthier and produce more. Need to be careful of home-made remedies. I sprayed oil and soap on my lemon and lime trees because of bugs. No problem for the lemon but it nearly killed the lime. With the above fertilizer and washing it every week, it is coming back, slowly. Water (not too much or too little) is very important. Sun also.

What to plant? I plant things I like to eat, are versatile and bear at different times so I enjoy fresh food year-round. I have enough to do, so I find out what is easy to grow and plant only that. Micro climates are very different—even from one side of the freeway to the other. Easy to grow trees: Lemon, Navel orange, mandarins, apricots (vigorous grower), figs (Brown Turkey is a small variety). Also, smaller tomatoes, squash, beans. Not broccoli (attracts aphids and takes a long time till picking because of the coolness of where I live.)

Sometimes, no matter what you do, the plants don’t produce. Sometimes it is the atmosphere. My brothers, both gardeners too, have similar issues to me and at the same time..and they live in Los Angeles and Portland OR!!! So, food storage is important…live gardens can be iffy.

Gardening in a Medium Sized Place
I use a drip system with auto timer that I turn on and off depending on the weather. Cages bring sprawling plants (squash, cukes, melons, etc.) up and keep the fruit off the ground. I don’t plant the same thing in the same place year the next year to rest the soil .

I use a soil test kit if I am having problems growing in a particular area. If things are growing fine, I don’t bother. Tests for pH, P, N, K. Booklet that comes with kit explains how to and tells how to amend and what each type of plant needs. A test kit: Rapidtest Soil Test Kit. Sold many places, you can Google for it. It’s about $15 and is good for several tests. There are at least 3 other reasons for poor growth: 1. not enough sun (that’s huge) 2. too much/ too little water (huge too), 3. bugs (such as nematodes that attach to the roots or aphids).

Integrate multi-purpose plants into your landscape—pick items of similar water, pH, light requirements and plug in with the ornamental plants. Consider deciduous nature. Strawberries are a good ground cover, lavender is fragrant, citrus trees are attractive and everbearing (you can get dwarfs too), blueberries, herbs, lettuce, guavas, loquats, etc work well too. You can get fun plants like scarlet runner beans…a pretty color and are good to eat! There are lots to choose from!

Gardening is not a precise hobby like quilting, knitting or woodworking. If you are not familiar with how to do it, start with something easy and learn, little by little. There is only so much you can learn from books. You just have to do it and there are no consequences for not getting it “right!” I love to garden, I feel wonderfully restored after being out in the fresh air and sunlight. And my little plant buddies and always glad to see me. :o)

Conclusion
I hope this helps, that we will all be inspired as to what to do for each of us to be prepared. I look forward to learning from all of you!

Load up the Pantry

If you listen to Wall Street  - here’s another excuse to listen to a prophet.  I received this last year and going through my old files I found this in an e-mail from my father: 

 

Load Up the Pantry

By BRETT ARENDS, wsj

April 21, 2008

 

 

 I don't want to alarm anybody, but maybe it's time for Americans to start stockpiling food.  No, this is not a drill.  You've seen the TV footage of food riots in parts of the developing world. Yes, they're a long way away from the U.S.  But most foodstuffs operate in a global market. When the cost of wheat soars in Asia, it will do the same here.

 

Reality: Food prices are already rising here much faster than the returns you are likely to get from keeping your money in a bank or money-market fund. And there are very good reasons to believe prices on the shelves are about to start rising a lot faster. "Load up the pantry," says Manu Daftary, one of Wall Street's top investors and the manager of the Quaker Strategic Growth mutual fund. "I think prices are going higher. People are too complacent. They think it isn't going to happen here. But I don't know how the food companies can absorb higher costs." (Full disclosure: I am an investor in Quaker Strategic)

 

Stocking up on food may not replace your long-term investments, but it may make a sensible home for some of your shorter-term cash. Do the math. If you keep your standby cash in a money-market fund you'll be lucky to get a 2.5% interest rate. Even the best one-year certificate of deposit you can find is only going to pay you about 4.1%, according to Bankrate.com. And those yields are before tax.  Meanwhile the most recent government data shows food inflation for the average American household is now running at 4.5% a year.  And some prices are rising even more quickly. The latest data show cereal prices rising by more than 8% a year.  Both flour and rice are up more than 13%. Milk, cheese, bananas and even peanut butter: They're all up by more than 10%. Eggs have rocketed up 30% in a year.  Ground beef prices are up 4.8% and chicken by 5.4%. 

 

These are trends that have been in place for some time.  And if you are hoping they will pass, here's the bad news: They may actually accelerate.  The reason? The prices of many underlying raw materials have risen much more quickly still. Wheat prices, for example, have roughly tripled in the past three years.  Sooner or later, the food companies are going to have to pass those costs on.  Kraft saw its raw material costs soar by about $1.25 billion last year, squeezing profit margins. The company recently warned that higher prices are here to stay. Last month the chief executive of General Mills, Kendall Powell, made a similar point. 

 

The main reason for rising prices, of course, is the surge in demand from China and India. Hundreds of millions of people are joining the middleclass each year, and that means they want to eat more and better food. A secondary reason has been the growing demand for ethanol as a fuel additive. That's soaking up some of the corn supply.  You can't easily stock up on perishables like eggs or milk. But other products will keep. Among them: Dried pasta, rice, cereals, and cans of everything from tuna fish to fruit and vegetables. The kicker: You should also save money by buying them in bulk.  If this seems a stretch, ponder this: The emerging bull market in agricultural products is following in the footsteps of oil. A few years ago, many Americans hoped $2 gas was a temporary spike. Now it's the rosy memory of a bygone age.  The good news is that it's easier to store Cap'n Crunch or cans of Starkist in your home than it is to store lots of gasoline. Safer, too.

 

Write to Brett Arends at brett.arends@ wsj.com

 

 

Heirloom tomatoes!

Hey ladies,  

 

A few of us attended the Cedros Gardens Heirloom Tomato class.  It was fabulous.  Naomi had a great insight(which I probably won’t say as well as she did but you will get the jest.)   -- "this whole gardening thing really is a science - so I guess we have to learn the science in order to do it right."  

 

Here's what I learned:

 

.Heirloom tomatoes have good amount of sugar - that's why the taste is so great

.Tomatoes we get at the grocery store have already been harvested for 6-8 weeks by the time you buy them.  Those tomatoes are picked green, hard and then “gassed” to make them red before they are put out at the store. 

.Commercial fertilizer leaves salt in the soil and are only effective temporarily (anywhere from 3-4 days to a month).  .Organic fertilizers can stay and fertilize up to 6 months.

.Two groups of tomatoes - "Determinate" - shorter stalks, more bushy - better of the two groups for planting in a container.  They also usually produce all at once.  "Indeterminate" - longer stalks (up to 20 feet) and are better grown in ground.  Usually produces gradually.  

.Planting in pots:  Use Azalea/Camelia plant mix by E.B.Stone (1.5 cubic feet costs $8.99) with a little organic compost and "soil Optimizer" made by John & Bobs.  

If you are growing in beds you can layer the following components to get a great return on your garden and you don't have to dig in these layers, but can immediately plant in:  

1^st layer:  Soil

2nd layer:  "Biosolmix" (fertilizer by John & Bobs  - 6 lb. bag covers 1,000 sq. feet and costs $19.99)

3^rd layer:  "Soil Optimizer" (soil conditioner by John & Bobs – 3 lb. bag covers 1,000 sq. feet and costs $18.99)

4th layer:  Worm Castings (normally you have to dig these in and let sit before planting by Agrwinn  - 10 lb bag covers 400 sq. feet and costs $9.99). 

5th layer:  Mulch ½ - 1” deep

 (All these products can of course be purchased at Cedros Gardens.)

 

Biosolmix takes care of a whole bunch of potential diseases/pests including nematodes

 

If you are buying a tomato plant you don't want to buy it with any flowers on.  If there are flowers on your plant, pull off most of the leaves and flowers leaving just a few at the very top and bury the plant including most of that stem up until the leaves you left on.  This forces that plant to go back to the growing stage.  It will force the plant to grow more roots instead of fruit.  (When the flowers are on - that is the fruiting stage - you want your plant to have the whole growing stage first.)  

 

Plant only one plant per container (at least a 5 gal container for "determinate" and at least a 15 gal container for "indeterminate" plant)

 

In the ground:

1.  Plant your tomato plants at least 3-4 feet apart. (Don't break apart the roots - hopefully you won't have a pot-bound plant anyway).  

 

2.  If using organic fertilizer - you may fertilize it the same day you plant.  

 

3.  Watering!  (THIS IS THE BEST INFO I GOT AT THE CLASS):  water thoroughly and slowly for 30 minutes.  Repeat this process 7 days later for a total of 4 times.  If you are using a container - water until it leaches out 3Xs after you plant.  

 

Now about watering - We water because we feel guilty.  We need to water only because the tomato plants tell you to water.  So this how you listen to the plant:  After that first month in the ground go out IN THE MORNING and see if the plant is wilting.  If it is - water it slowly for 30 min.  (Not in the middle of the hot afternoon).  Look every morning AND IF THE PLANT IS WILTING - water it slowly for 30 min.  (You might go 7-14 days between watering at this point).  Just listen to the plant talking in the morning!  

 

If your leaves drop or are yellow - you are watering too much!  

 

Stake your tomatoes before you put the cage around them.  And keep wiring the plant to that stake as it grows to support each flowering branch.  (If the plant gets taller than the steak - wind it back down the stake as it grows.)  

 

A little word about diseases and pest control.  There's a great book called "Tomato Diseases".  This guide provides descriptions and pictures of the more common tomato diseases and disorders.  For each disease and disorder the reader will find the common name, the cause, where it occurs, symptoms, conditions necessary for development and control measures. 

 

A few treatments were recommended as follows:

 

.White flys - "Organic Leaf Wash" by San Diego Organic Supply (SOS) – 1qt costs $24.99 (this also works for fungus problems - it is a soap)

.Tomato Hornworm (Man these are nasty looking creatures) -  “BT Worm Killer” by Greenlight (You need to spray 2 nights after the full Moon.  This will actually kill the newly hatching eggs)  

 

.General bug and aphid killer – “Envirepel" (4 oz. per gal plus 1 tsp vinegar to help the treatment stay on the leaf longer - vinegar actually is good for every kind of application in keeping it on the leaf longer)  This product will kill bees if you spray the bee so use it early in the morning or late in daylight hours to avoid the bees buzzing around.  Gloria Hamson also gave us a recipe for a similar garlic based aphid killer – you may find that on this blog. 

 

The last treatment for soil in general might be helpful for you.  It is a product called "Penetrate" by John and Bobs 8 oz. covers 1,000 feet and costs $17.99.  This breaks up clay soil (sometimes as fast as 48 hours).  It contains the very important beneficial bacterias.  A fabulous product in preparing your soil for planting.  

 

 Have fun gardening with tomatoes! 

If anyone wants to join Naomi and myself at the next free gardening class at Cedros Gardens it is on Herb Container gardening.  You have to register on their website.  It starts this Saturday, March 28 at 10 a.m.

 

 

 

Resources, Resources, Resources

Hey ladies,

I found the preparedness blog that will meet all your preparedness needs FOREVER!  http://letsbeprepared.blogspot.com/.  This has pages and pages of info.  It also has a whole bunch of other websites and blogs on the subject you can tap into.  

I also found another lecture of Wendy DeWitt that you can all view.  I think it's the exact same presentation she gave back east that we viewed at Heidi's.  It is in 9 segments and the sound isn't so great.  http://letusprepare.blogspot.com/2009/01/wendy-dewitt-food-storage-seminar.html

You can also find the booklet I copied for you at http://ourldsfamily.com/madsengarden/EverythingUnderThe Sun.pdf  I do have about 5 copies left if anyone wants one.  (It's 26 pages) I charged $2.50 to cover the copying.    

Sister DeWitt also has her own personal blog that gives a little detailed info on her presentation and also provides a place you can ask her questions.  http://everythingunderthesunblog.blogspot.com/

Now having said that - she does talk about canning butter.  On the "letsbeprepared" blog we have another opinion about canning butter and potential bacteria than can develop if you don't can it right.   So I will do some more research and let you know what I find out.  Unless any of you have some info to share about that particular topic.  I think that might be the same problem with canning some of her prepared breads/desserts.  So I'll try to find out more.  

The last website is Sister Madsen's (whoever she is?)  She has a lot of gardening info.  (Although a lot of it has to do with gardening in Utah - it's still worth the read.)  http://ourldsfamily.com/madsengarden/

Organic homemade garden spray

This is the spray I used last year and it seemed to work. I used it on both roses and vegetables. Be sure to try it on a small spot first just to make sure. And, it is always good to spray early morning - not in the heat of the day.

3oz minced garlic
2T mineral oil
1tsp liquid ivory soap
2 C water
Mix well and let sit over night.

Strain small amount through coffee filter and measure 2T into spray bottle. Add 2 C water and shake well. Spray away. (Can use any size sprayer - just keep the same ratio 2 T mix to every 2 C water.

Soil

The referal I have for good top soil (I haven't tried it yet) is A-1 soil. I understand that they are reliable and you can count on it being good:
A 1 SOILS HANSON AGGREGATES
858-577-2727
9229 Harris Plant Rd
San Diego, CA 92101

A couple of years ago, I ordered a big load of top-soil from Evergreen and couldn't grow anything in it. Upon investigating, I found out that they are recycling various things and you don't know what you are getting. After about a year of leeching with water and doing soil tests and adding amendments, I am now able to grow ice plant in it and some other things. Now that I know, I will go get my soil from a reliable source.

Garden Tour 3/14/09 at Lisa Beaumont's

We visited Lisa's magnificent gardens this morning.  You won't find more inspiration anywhere.  Lisa truly is a master gardener as well as builder/bee keeper and chicken landlord!  We picked her brain clean.  Now hopefully we can use that knowledge to get our garden going!  

Here are some of Lisa's favorite resources:

-two favorite seed catalogs:  Johnny's Select Seeds and Territorial Seed Company

-Lisa wants to order large chickens and would invite anyone to join her in her order - McMurray Hatchery (give her a call if you would be interested)

-Bees - Dadant

-Straw - Mary's Tack

-Berries - Indiana Berry (favorite raspberry is Heritage which is Everbearing)

-good small rotary tiller is "Mantis" - you can order it online.

-BJ's Rentals - rollers for laying Decomposed Granite between your beds to walk on

-Decomposed Granite (tan) Evergreen Nursery

-Soaker hoses - Home Depot

-Top Soil - try A-1 Soil (Nancy will report back about where to get good top soil)

-Motivating books to read about growing your own food:  Barbara Kingslover's "Animal, Vegetable Miracle" and Michael Pollan's "Omnivore's Dilemma".  Mostly it will change the way you eat.  

-Grapes recommended to grow - Thompson seedless Grapes

I can't wait to see the pictures of Lisa's gardens and her bees being hived from her garden shed wall.  It's really amazing.  Thanks Naomi for posting.  I'm excited to see Nancy's garden next month and learn all about her food storage and 72-hour kits.  See you all later!

Pictures of Lisa's Gardens and Bees

This is a faraway view of Lisa's amazing vegetable and raspberry garden. She taught us all about how to install a drip system of watering.




This is a swarm of bees. When they get too big for their home, they leave as a swarm and attach to something. Lisa had a beekeeper help her get them into some new bee boxes in her garden. Some still try to return to their home in the garden shed, but she has tried to repel them with dryer sheets stuck in the walls.






Lisa discovered bees in the walls of her new garden shed (which she is building herself!). She called a beekeeper to help her get them into hives.

March Madness meeting 3/12/09

What a tub full of information we received today at our 2nd Provident Living Enrichment Group!  Yippee!  Thank Naomi for navigating us through the blog.  We can all share now what we learn.  

Today I made a little list of what I want to do together as a group -- here it is:  

- can meat (I need to get a pressure canner/cooker!)

- learn how to use our solar ovens

- learn how to use our dutch ovens

- learn how to use a smoker

- get Naomi to teach us about her Greek yogurt (Is that what it is called?)

- get Gloria to teach us about sour dough starters

- go get some of that mushroom mulch

-dry pack some of the Knox geletin (to be used for egg substitute)

- cook and dry pack all the delicious desserts Sister DeWitt taught us about on the DVD

- storing butter (we'll finish learning that at our next meeting)

- storing fresh eggs (we'll finish learning that at our next meeting)

-learning to dry pack at Nancy's next month

-putting together new 72 hour kits (I have diapers in my current kits - my youngest is 15 -- yikes!)  we'll see Nancy's kits next month 

-make cheese and store

Thanks ladies for jumping on the provident living bandwagon with me -- it's so much nicer than to go at it alone!  

Organic homemade sprays

For information on making your own sprays (using those nifty coffee filters Christine gave us) go here

Mulch - free for the digging

Free mushroom mulch available for your garden

Mountain Meadow Mushroom, Inc.
26948 N. Broadway
Escondido CA 92026

Mr. Robert B. Crouch, Owner

5.8 miles north on North Broadway from Valley Parkway and North Broadway in Escondido

Available 7 days a week – big dark pile inside gate on left

Free if you bring your own bags/buckets and fill them yourselves.

Will load pickup with skip loader on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings for $15.load

Here is some info from the American Mushroom Association.

Commercial mushrooms grow in a specially formulated and processed compost made from wheat straw, hay, corn cobs, cotton seed hulls, gypsum and chicken manure. The 3 to 4 week long composting period is closely supervised and managed to assure that the composting temperatures exceed 160°F for a few days in addition to a steam pasteurization which occurs about one week before mushroom spawn is mixed with the compost. Finally, a layer of sphagnum peat moss mixed with ground limestone is top dressed onto the compost, and mushrooms grow on the peat.

When the harvest if finished, farmers steam pasteurize everything in the growing room and dispose of the peat moss and compost that remain. This product is sold as mushroom soil, spent mushroom compost (SMC) or spent mushroom substrate (SMS). Mushroom soil is great for gardens as a slow release organic fertilizer (2-1-1, pH 6.8) when mixed into soil or as a mulch one year and a soil amendment the next. With SMC there need be no concern about heavy metals or pesticides since the compost ingredients have very low levels of heavy metals. Mushroom farmers have used integrated pest management practices for decades and pesticides are rarely used on mushroom crops. With steam pasteurization, all weed seeds are dead as are any insects and other pests that might be present. It is best not to plant or transplant directly into SMC, mix the SMC with soil at 50-50. Many garden centers on the Southeastern Pennsylvania have SMC available by the truckload or bushel, or a listing of sources for truckload quantities can be obtained from the American Mushroom Institute.

For more information, google mushroom mulch and read to your hearts' content.