Landscape Gardening, Design and Consultation

The Rat Zapper deployed along the wall of a chicken coop at Rancho Pillow.

One the most effective method methods of rodent control is the Rat Zapper (ratzapper.com). It is a little electric chair for rats that runs on C batteries and can zap rats for months on one charge. I have zapped four rats in past 2 weeks alone. Rats and poultry go hand in hand, so I am always trapping around the coops and in the barn where we keep the food. If you are really serious about rat zapping you can purchase multiple units and a remote that alerts the user when a rat is zapped. I learned about this amazing invention from my mom, who is an expert in all things varmit related.

I picked around 20lbs of tomatoes at Rancho Pillow today. Sarah will be canning most of them on Wednesday as Dale is at Burning Man. We used minimal fertilizer this year in favor of mixing composted manure with native soil. The corn patch pictured below is just getting ripe. After many years of rototilling this garden, we decided to try digging in a winter fava bean crop instead, and the results have been surprisingly good. I did add a dose of EB stone veggie food under each drip emitter.

Corn towers over a sunflower in Peg's garden. Four bees are busy collecting pollen.

A cluster of Big Beef tomatoes overflowing out of a raised bed at Pillow.

Last Saturday’s farm stand was another fun day in the garden. The Easy Leaves played an enthusiastic set, and we welcomed Oceana and Nubi with their wildcrafted seaweed products.

Sepetember schedule:

September 4th- Tomato Workshop- We demonstrate how to can and dry your harvest.

September 11th- Winter Fruit Workshop- Make a plan for how to preserve the winter bounty.

September 18th- Cider Making Workshop

September 25th- Redwood Hill Farmer Scott Bice brings his baby goats and talks about making goat cheese.

12 farms were represented at our second Farmer’s Brunch. We featured Sarah Silva and Marc Felton’s pastured chickens along with mushroom pizza and a tomato and chevre dish. Almost all of the ingredients were donated by the farmers. We had a productive discussion with insights from business leaders like Meg Hill of Gourmet Mushrooms, and input from sous chef Tara Wachtel who prepared the meal with Casey, my friend Andrew and my sister Sarah. Sarah will be coordinating the Fall Gardening Workshop on Saturday. Come for the beer and music, and be enlightened!

My sister Sarah preparing a delicious fruit salad.

On the way down from Gunsight Rock last Sunday I came quite close to stepping on a large rattlesnake. The rattler was stretched across the trail and had I taken another step or two I would have certainly been bitten. According to Sonoma County Reptile Rescue, Northern Pacific Rattlesnakes are the only species that reside in Northern California. This deadly pit viper likes to burrow in caves and rock crevices, sometimes with other snake species. The Goodspeed trail to Gunsight rock is one of the most beautiful and rugged hikes in the county. We were lucky to have excellent visibility with views of San Francisco, Mt. Tam and the lovely Sonoma Valley.

A Northern Pacific Rattlesnake courtesy of californiaherps.com. I'll post Andrew's photo of the snake soon.

The snake's perspective

Saturday’s workshop farm stand was a big success. The BLT booth sold out and lot’s of people took advantage of the handouts and advice on winter vegetables and how to grow them. Andrew dispensed design advice along with several handouts on different ways to shelter crops in the winter. On Saturday the 28th the Easy Leaves will be bringing a PA for a free concert at 12pm. We will also be hosting part two of the Fall Gardening Workshop.

Andrew Scheidt manning the workshop table, discussing winter garden structures with some visitors.

Chef Duskie Estes with her mother Carol, daughters Mackenzie and Brighty, and Ziggy's daughter Teal. Mackenzie is holding up a Victory Garden Poster she just bought.

We all had fun at the Sunshine Preserves Farm Stand last Saturday. Ty was back with more beautiful organic produce, and the Easy Leaves played an amazing acoustic set. My sister Sarah ran our workshop table. This weekend will be a workshop on how to plant a vegetable garden now that will provide fresh produce through the winter. We will have a demonstration on how to build a mini-greenhouse, and have handouts on the best veggies to grow in winter. The farm stand is at the restaurant, 3535 Guerneville rd.

Here is the text of Sarah’s sunshine preserves hand-out:

TOO MUCH  FRUIT?
Peaches and Apricots:  Sunshine Preserves, Frozen slices (very lightly sugared), Dried, Low-sugar jam using commercial pectin, Chutney, Leather
Plums: Sunshine Preserves, Dried, Jam, Leather
Prunes and Figs: Dried
Apples:  Applesauce, Apple butter, Dried, Frozen, uncooked pies, Cider, chutney
Sour Cherries:  Freeze whole with very light addition of sugar, Jam
Blueberries:  Freeze whole, Jam
Raspberries, blackberries, boysenberries:  Freeze whole on cookie sheet then pour into a plastic bag, Sunshine Preserves, Jam, Frozen, uncooked pies, Leather
Pears: Pear Butter, Chutney
Quince: Jelly, Chutney, Cooked until tender and frozen, Leather
Grapes:  Jelly, Juice, Dried (raisins)
Persimmons:  Frozen, Dried, Leather

The Easy Leaves play while my sister sarah explains how to preserve fruit using the sun.

NOTE: The interior of a car with the windows just cracked is a great place to dry fruit and vegetables, fruit leather and cook Sunshine Preserves.

SUNSHINE PRESERVES
Peel and slice fruit, if necessary.  Add ¼ cup sugar to each cup of fruit. Stir well and allow to sit for ½ hour to release the juice.   Place in a large shallow pan, bring to a full boil stirring constantly, allow to cool and partially cover with cling wrap and place in sunny place.  Stir several times per day.  When thick, bring back to a boil and pour into hot sterilized containers, seal.  Refrigerate after opening.  If the nights are cloudy bring inside and take back outside when warm again.

PUNA’S CHUTNEY  (for apples, pears, quince)
10 lbs Sliced Fruit                            1 Pkg Currants            2 Heads Garlic
10 lbs Sugar (half brown)                6 Tbs. Ginger root, peeled&minced 4 Tbs. Dr. Chile Peppers
2 Pkg. Sultana Raisins                     2 Quarts White vinegar                     2 Tbs. Salt
Bring vinegar and sugar to a full boil, continue for 10 minutes, add raisins, currants, garlic, chile peppers, fruit, salt and ginger.  Cook at a simmer for one hour.  Put in hot sterilized jars and seal.

The Ceres booth has a delicious saurekraut for sale among other products. Next door Ty and Dillion have a bounty of organic, hand grown produce

Ty's brother Dillion selecting produce for a customer.

Our Tomato Workshop was so well received that we have decided to host a workshop each Saturday in August. This weekend we are hosting a Sun Preserves Workshop. We were excited to welcome Ty Taube to his first farmstand, he brought a bounty of hand grown chemical free produce. Ty, along with being a superb gardener, is also a cook and has supplied zazu with veggies when they were out. He grows with a friend on Scenic drive in Santa Rosa. My sister Sarah ran the booth selling veggie and herb starts, backyard veggies, and berries from Sonoma Swamp Blues. I will be planting many of the starts that we did not sell at the Living Room Center, where I will be working with the kitchen to develop recipes and harvesting plans. We also welcomed the Ceres Project booth, staffed by Kristie and Ruby.  See the post below for Maile’s lecture handout.

My pet chicken Sybil roosting on the porch with a scarlet begonia in the foreground.

Sarah displaying the bounty on offer. She typed up little handouts for each vegetable with growing tips and recipes.

Maile speaking with some examples of fertilizer options on the table. As usual she was filled with infectious enthusiasm.

Maile’s tomato talk captivated a small but attentive crowd at our first zazu farmstand market. Here is the text of her talk:
GROWING TOMATOES by Maile Arnold
Types of tomatoes: Determinate and Indeterminate Determinate varieties of tomatoes, also called “bush” tomatoes, are varieties that are bred to grow to a compact height (approx. 4 feet). They stop growing when fruit sets on the terminal or top bud, ripen all their crop at or near the same time (usually over a 2 week period), and then die. They may require a limited amount of caging and/or staking for support, should NOT be pruned or “suckered” as it severely reduces the crop, and will perform relatively well in a container (minimum size of 5-6 gallon). Examples are: Rutgers, Roma, Celebrity (called a semi-determinate by some), and Marglobe. Indeterminate varieties of tomatoes are also called “vining” tomatoes. They will grow and produce fruit until killed by frost and can reach heights of up to 10 feet although 6 feet is considered the norm. They will bloom, set new fruit and ripen fruit all at the same time throughout the growing season. They require substantial caging and/or staking for support and pruning and the removal of suckers is practiced by many but is not mandatory. Examples are: Big Boy, Beef Master, most “cherry” types, Early Girl, most heirloom varieties, etc.
Heirloom and Hybrid: Heirloom tomatoes come true from seed while hybrids do not. Tomatoes are tropical plants and do not like cold nights. They will be stressed and thus more susceptible to disease. My rule of thumb is after Mother’s Day. I only grow indeterminate tomatoes and like to train them on 4” hog wire so they are very two dimensional. Most of the suckers are removed so that there are 4 main canes with short side shoots. The leaves receive maximum sun and air circulation thus reducing disease. The fruit is easy to pick.The alternative is to cage the plants.Starting seeds: I start seeds that I have saved from the earliest and best tomatoes from the year before. I plant them in flats and transplant to deep paper cups (Vente latte cups) that have holes punched in the bottom. I put the seedling low in the cup and backfill with potting soil as the plant grows. The stem will sprout roots and the plant will have a healthy root system. The cup is easily labeled. When planting, I tear off the bottom and pull apart the side seam and leave the cup close by for ID. I like to start seeds by April 1st. After planting, the plants can be covered with Frostguard Row Cover or surrounded by 1 gallon jugs filled with water for protection from the cool nights.
Saving seeds: I smear the seeds on newspaper so that there is only 1 layer, label and allow to dry. The following year the paper can be torn and planted (think seed tape)
Dealing with the bounty: I blend the tomatoes and cook them to reduce by ½ then can or freeze the sauce. To dry, remove a strip of skin and then slice. Put them on racks in the back of the car, crack the windows and park in the sun. Remove when leathery and seal tightly.
Sources for seed: Superseeds.com, Internet
Sources for plants: Harmony Farm Supply, Oldies and Goodies (sold at Bassignani and Andy’s)

An Armenian cucumber with Provence melons on the left and sweet white corn in the background.

Armenian cucumbers are extremely productive plants. If I don’t harvest this plant every other day, the cucumbers become enormous. I have found that the trick to growing cucumbers is making sure they have even moisture, a rich soil and good drainage.

The white corn in the background is a soil experiment. The plants are growing in half compost and half manure. They seem to be doing well so far, though too much organic matter can cause fungal problems in the soil. My hypothesis is that if you don’t over water, that you can get away with growing vegetables in pure organic matter. After all vegetables evolved as “camp followers”, meaning they emerged out of the food scrap piles of ancient nomadic tribes in Europe and elswhere.