My Northwest Garden: March 2013

Red Onions?

I'm so excited to get my garden back to work! Last month we prepared the raised beds, transplanted raspberries, and did some pruning, but I only planted red onions. -those have actually already started to grow! We've got some perennials budding, and my crocuses are almost through blooming. Spring is coming to Oregon!

Three Happy Hens

The chickens are getting one last peck at the garden. They love looking for bugs in the compost.

Before

Today we will be tilling our compost into the ground and planting some early seeds. Our compost is a mix of mostly rabbit poo, leaves, coffee grounds, fruit scraps, chicken poo, and last year's garden beds. Once tilled it looks beautiful! Salad Greens, Beets, Carrots, and Radishes are going in the ground today!

After

Finished.. for now.  March 9th

Here's a great link to the OSU Garden Calendar

March 11th, makeshift painter's plastic drop cloth blanket.

March 15, Salad Greens!

Don't Mind If I Do

Today, I was driving my Mom home and I couldn't help but notice the piles of black plastic bags on the curbs.  Every third or fourth house on the street had a pile of at least ten big bags.  Recently, our local garbage and recycling service sent out a pick up schedule for leaf litter.  Instructions were clear, you put your leaves in garbage bags on the curb and they will pick them up on a specific day.  
Last year I learned that I can use leaves that fall in my yard and driveway to mulch my garden, but I only have one tree.  This fall we tilled our oldest compost into our backyard garden bed and were planning on buying soil amendments in spring from my local forest products source.  I was even considering buying straw to cover my beds until I was ready to plant.  
Driving by those piles of bags, destined for the local leaf dump, I couldn't help but see big neon "FREE" signs blinking above them.  I stopped and threw three big wet bags of leaf mulch into the back of my Jeep.  When I got home it took five minutes to cover last years small garden bed in a rich blanket of leaves.   Easy, Quick, and Free!  
Tonight I decided to research my free stuff a little better, I found these two wonderful pieces:

ScientificAmerican.com

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=earth-talk-pulling-for-the-planet-using-herbicides

EcosystemGardening.com

http://www.ecosystemgardening.com/life-in-the-leaf-litter-dont-throw-a-good-thing-away.html

Movies About Food

Thanks Netflix for making so many documentaries available.  Especially those that pull the wool off of our eyes, or at least give us some questions to ask.  Most recently I watched a movie called "Food Matters"  http://www.foodmatters.tv/ .  Basically the information I've gleaned is that eating many raw foods is essential to healthy living, but that much of our farmed soil is nutrient poor and, therefore, so is the majority of easily available produce.  There is a woman named Charlotte Gerson http://www.gerson.org/ who has been mentioned in many films about eating healthy.  Her father developed a nutrition therapy program that helps people recover from illness and may even cure cancer!  I have yet to research the best ways to supplement the minerals we can't get from our foods anymore, but here are a few; multi-vitamins (I use Rainbow Light http://www.rainbowlight.com/),  special mineral water (we recently found a drink called "TRC" that we are trying http://www.trccorp.com/products.html ), buy organic whenever possible (http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/Dirty-Dozen-Foods), and of course supplementing your soil and growing your own food (compost and mulch,  organic is best !  http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/mg323 ).
Back on point.  Netflix has been a wonderful source for alternative perspectives ( http://www.netflix.com/ ).  We love watching documentaries.  Keep in mind that you should always consider your source, several documentaries may claim completely different facts.  The internet has the same problem.  Ask questions, open your eyes, and do what is right for you and your family.