Chabot Terrace Community Garden - Suburbilicious!

What to do in February?!!? Plan!!

2012-02-01T21:05:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been a slow going winter. Grew nothin' but weeds and a few herbs. But my urge to dig is growing. The discouraging part of it all - I still have nothing but crab grass over taking the front yard garden. So, back to the drawing board. First, I need to decide what I want to have this year. I did pick up some grape and raspberry canes! $5 each at Summer Winds Nursery. They won't go into the ground until it warms up a bit. This gives me some time to do a bit of research and it will be another experiment for our family since we have soooooo many squirrels and birds around here - those fruits may not make it to the table :))

Thanks to the Master Gardeners of Santa Clara, we have a link for you too. What are you doing in February? http://www.mastergardeners.org/picks/let-gro.html

Primary Source of Nourishment

2012-01-02T15:06:00.000-08:00

"The foods you eat are secondary to all the other things that feed you—your relationships, career, spirituality, and exercise routine. Those are the things we call primary foods." ~IIN

2012 Garden Tip of the Day!

2011-12-31T23:56:00.000-08:00

Tip: Add mulch to better protect tender plants
January is often the coldest month of the year, so be sure to protect your most vulnerable plants. Mulch will help keep roots warm. What? Don't have any? How about chopping up that dried-out Christmas tree and putting that around the base of some of your outdoor plants?

-mastergardeners.org

It's been a while!! Bougainvillea Tunnel Pic

2011-08-12T09:32:00.000-07:00

Well, to say it's been a while is an understatement - OVER 2 YEARS!!

Here's a quick update to the garden:

This year's plantings include:

Green Beans
Snap Peas
Zucchini
Pumpkins
Squash
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Sunflowers
Watermelon
Basil, Thyme, mint and oregano
Last year's onions

Check out this picture of the Bougainvillea plant that we have spent the last 6 years training and pruning into a tunnel. This plant is a stunning example of this elegant flowering bush.

Cheers and more updates to come!

Lots of Growth!! Sunflowers and zucch are the stars.

2009-08-08T09:32:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest picture from the progression photo shoot.

First fruits! (metaphorically speaking)

2009-07-18T19:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of our latest growings-on in the Chabot Terrace Garden.

The Zucchini sure is delicious! BBQ slices with seasonings and olive oil. Scrumptous indeed!

Young Pumpkin

Health Zucchini

Cute Cuke

Green Tomatoes

We got "Linked"!

2009-07-06T22:01:00.000-07:00

Check out the cool article on Mike Lanza's front yard. We got mentioned at the bottom of the article as a cool, related website. Nice to see a little momentum building!

Click here for the article.

Happy Gardening and here's to meeting your neighbors!

Finally an update!

2009-06-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long hiatus, but the author has been rather busy with summer stuff, getting the kids out of school and getting some R&R himself. Then he got laid off, so that is keeping him busy, too.

Although we have been neglecting the blog about the garden, rest assured we have NOT been neglecting the garden itself. We have been faithfully watering and weeding, nurturing and worrying. WE have also been taking pictures all along the way.

Today we present our first "Progression movie". It is a midseason production, so it has no sound track, but the final one will.

It shows you the slow transformation of the plot from sod to garden. Play it over and over to see the different aspects.

So far in the plot we have the following edibles:

Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Strawberries
String Beans
Pumpkins
Watermelon
Zucchini
Carrots
Basil
Thyme
Red Lettuce
Edible Flowers

More to follow (we promise!)

Step 6 - Adding Alfalfa Meal and the First Plants

2009-05-12T12:52:00.000-07:00

The garden is almost ready for prime-time, just a few finishing touches needed.

First, on the recommendation of a local master gardener, we bought (ouch) a 25 lb bag of alfalfa meal, which is high in Nitrogen content. The bag says to mix 5-10 lbs per 100 sqft. We sprinkled it liberally over the area where the tomatoes, herbs and strawberries are destined to be planted and mixed it in about 2-3 inches deep.

From Chabot Terrace Community Garden

We also employed a little child labor: namely Aladdin and Cinderella!

From Chabot Terrace Community Garden

The first plants were then added: tomatoes, strawberries and beneficial insect attracting flowers.

From Chabot Terrace Community Garden

Next Step - finishing the twine and building the cuke/zuke trellis!

Step 5 - Mulching the Path and First Plants!

2009-05-08T16:42:00.000-07:00

Now that the border is in, it's time to keep our feet from getting muddy when we are watering and provide a means to remind the kids where it is OK to walk (OK, the adults, too!)

Almost Eden has some great folks volunteering their time and effort. They are more than willing to dispense expert advice and they were also willing to part with a few cubic feet of mulch.

From Chabot Terrace Community Garden

Jake and #2 victoriously proclaiming "Kings of the Hill!"

From Chabot Terrace Community Garden

Loading it into the farm truck - also known as the family van.

Mulch is just ground up trees, so most tree trimming companies will give it to you for free - but there is a catch. You have to take their whole truckload which is usually 15 cubic yards or roughly the size of a standard shipping container! We couldn't use that much mulch in 50 years, so we were glad to get a small amount "on the house". Thanks a bunch to Almost Eden.

From Chabot Terrace Community Garden

The mulch was laid down on the areas that were scraped clean for the paths. After a little settling and manual breaking up of the big branches, it laid down quite nicely. Jake and Brandy can walk on it with bare feet - the kids are a little less comfortable

From Chabot Terrace Community Garden

You'll notice that the first plants went in - some lavender bushes to provide visual punctuation and nice flowers.

Next Step - alfalfa meal and planting!

Step 4 - Adding borders and walkways

2009-05-05T13:25:00.000-07:00

Now that the soil is nearly ready for planting, it's time to get the boundaries laid and paths established.

Keeping the zero cost goal in mind, Jake hit up the neighbors who just replaced some of their fencing for the left over redwood planks.
Using my grandfathers table saw, I ripped the planks into 3 to 4 inch wide borders. For the area adjacent to the sidewalk, we wanted to achieve a raised-bed feel, so we used full width board segments for the border. Since the sidewalk is curved, it was a great place to use up the 16" plank sections left over from the new fence build.

From Chabot Terrace Community Garden

To create walkways to allow access to the fully populated garden and also so we didn't waste the valuable conditioned soil for walking on, we scraped the areas for the paths down to the clay soil and heaped the soil up on either side. This created a raised-bed feel to our garden and established discrete areas for different plant types.

Next up - mulching the paths!

Step 3 - Rototill and soil conditioning

2009-05-01T13:54:00.000-07:00

Now that the sod has been removed, it is time to condition the soil. We were fortunate to have help to get us the compost queued up and ready to go.

All of Palo Alto is considered a flood zone and, in fact, our street was badly flooded in 1998. As a result of being so low-lying, the soil is very silty clay. Clay makes for stable soil, but not great to growing lush gardens.

Jake, being the penny-miser that he is, was determined not to rent any expensive equipment to do this job. He foolishly thought that a shovel and some elbow grease would suffice. But smarter heads prevailed and he was talked into renting a rototiller by the wiser and more sore-prone neighbors. It was Saturday afternoon on Easter weekend when Brandy called Redwood Rentals in Redwood City. She called to confirm availability and price ($17.50/hr with 2 hr min or $80/day) and we decided to go for it. But, because it was after 2PM and they were closed Easter Sunday we realized that we didn't have enough time to do a complete job and get the equipment back before closing. Brandy called back to offer $50 for us to return the machine at 830AM Monday. Chad said yes - so it was a go. Thanks, Chad!

The rototiller worked wonders! Jake was so delusional to think that he could have approximated this effort with a shovel, rake, and hoe. It was well worth the $50 spent and twice as much could easily have been justified.

This process is best accomplished with three or four people.
The process was this:
First, run over the entire area with the tiller to break up and turn the soil to at least 8 inches, preferably 10-12.

From Chabot Terrace Community Garden

Then, using a wheel barrow to place loads of compost throughout the area, use the tiller to turn the piles of compost into the soil.
Two people moving compost, one person running the tiller and one person alternating with a shovel and rake to keep the soil evenly distributed over the area.

From Chabot Terrace Community Garden

The tiller is quite effective at both moving soil and turning it over, when you get the hang of the operation.

Next: Installing a border!

Step 2 - Compost Acquisition and Sod Removal

2009-04-30T17:00:00.000-07:00

COMPOST

We live in Palo Alto, which likes to take care of its residents. Since they have their own dump (euphemistically called a "Recycling Center"), they create their own compost. Several times in the spring and summer they have compost give-away days. We swooped on a timely Sunday give-away and, with a little help from our next-door neighbor, we acquired almost two cubic yards of compost for nothing more than a few hours' labor. We dumped in on the driveway in preparation for our soil conditioning step.

From Chabot Terrace Community Garden

SOD REMOVAL

After we had agreement on the garden footprint, it was time to remove the grass.

We explored two ways of doing this: 1) Use a shovel to dig straight down and just turn the soil upside down or 2) Use a shovel or hoe to dig under the sod, parallel to the ground, to cut the sod off the top.

Although Jake had it in his mind that method 1) was more efficient, the ladies (Jyoti and Brandy) showed him that method 2) was better. This is primarily because method 1) requires several steps (dig, turn, separate soil from roots, throw sod away) whereas method 2) just required two steps (remove sod, throw away).

This was a laborious step and it took a couple of days to get it done.

From Chabot Terrace Community Garden

Incidentally, we were left with over two cubic yards of sod to dispose of. Although it is possible to compost it, the sheer volume of it prevented us from being to process it any time within the next couple of years. We filled our greenwaste container with sod (which made a small dent in the overall pile), muscled it out to the sidewalk and hoped the collection services would take it. We kept our fingers crossed, knowing that they wouldn't have to lift it (it was probably between 200-300 lbs) since their trucks are mechanized for the greenwaste. They took it, but they left a note that the material didn't comply for two reasons: 1) the material is not compostable (I dispute that claim) and 2) it was too heavy. So from now on we will have to get rid of the sod in small piles at the bottom of the greenwaste. No problem, since we all know that compost is 1/3 dirt and 2/3 compostable material (just like sod!).

Here's a shot of the area with the sod removed and clue as to what the next step is!

From Chabot Terrace Community Garden

Step 1 - Size-up and Planning

2009-04-30T08:41:00.000-07:00

So, where did this crazy idea come from anyway? It's something that has been on Brandy's mind and heart for quite a few months, perhaps even years. To say she has a green thumb would be an understatement and now that we have three kids, food choices have been something we both consider seriously almost every day.

Jake had the idea last year to remove the sod to the right of our driveway, but it seemed unrealistic at the time. We thought about it more over the time since then and, with the recent pummeling of the economy, there has been talk in the media remembering the "Victory Gardens" from WWII. The ideas spurred us on.

We have great relationships with our neighbors:

Right across the street is a wonderful Indian family whose culinary convictions are aligned with the Ayurvedic diet. When one cooks food in the Ayurvedic style, it is vegan, organic, and only fresh. They have often shared with us many wonderful and exotic dishes after dinner and guests. Their young boy is a playmate of all three of our kids which makes the relationship more consistent. Since she is a culinary instructor and has a strong interest in the purity of her ingredients, they are a natural partner in this effort to bring out food from the earth.
Next door is a great older couple that has been growing strawberries and tomatoes for years. They have agreed to sacrifice a little of the grass on their side of the property line and also allow use of their lawn irrigation to install a drip system for plants on their side.
Other neighbors are showing interest, but not necessarily participating. We fully expect that as the plants grow, the interest will grow with it, especially with a total of 9 kids on our small street.

So we decided, after conferring and getting commitment from our two closest neighbors, to go for it.

We started by stringing line on the ground to lay out the sod that would be removed. We left it up for over a week to get a sense of how it would feel to walk around it every day. As a result, we adjusted the side on our neighbor's lawn to accommodate more room for getting in and out of the car.

From Chabot Terrace Community Garden

From Chabot Terrace Community Garden

Next update - Sod removal!

Kicking it off

2009-04-29T22:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this will be a blow-by-blow on the creation of our little community garden.

WHAT: We ripped out a section of lawn and replaced it with a garden. It was done on the front lawn, on a section that was adjacent to our neighbor. We got buy-in from our neighbor to support the garden from creation to maintenance. We also enlisted the help of neighbors across the street to pitch in.

WHY: We want to eat local and organic. We can't imagine a more local food source than 15 feet outside out front door! A side benefit is a garden is infinately more interesting than a patch of grass. With our three young kids, interesting is more than just the opposite of boring - it's education!

HOW: For as little $$ as possible. All aspects will take cost first into account, followed closely by an evaluation of safety and health. Aesthetics will also play a large role in the design and evolution of the garden. The goal is to create food with the lowest cost and impact on the environment. To that end, recycling, water conservation and minimal extras will be the controlling factors.

This blog will be a repository for all of our learnings, successes, failures and a documentary of the experience. We plan to include pictures, video, how-to guides and probably quite a few how-not-to guides as well.

We're off!

Jake and Brandy Olsen