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celebrating 20 years
 
the Cutting Edge


"as we gardeners know, the gardening season never stops"
Steve Peters
Seeds of Change Product Development Manager
from "Succession Planting" in eNewsletter #68

Dear Organic Gardeners,

“Got your garden in yet?” Where I live in rural Maine, this has to be one of the most asked questions during the month of June.  While it’s reassuring that so many folks are thinking about gardening at this time of year, (it seems like this year, more than in recent memory) it always throws me off, and I find myself in a long-winded explanation of spring gardening, succession planting and cover cropping. It goes something like this (I’ll try to be brief!):

Actually by this stage in the season some of my garden is already coming out. Unless I’m allowing them to flower for beneficial insect habitat, collecting seed, and/or the sheer beauty of it, my early beds of arugula, lettuce, mustards, spinach and many other greens are making way for tomatoes and peppers, or going into summer cover crops in preparation for late plantings of storage carrots, broccoli, cabbage or any of a multitude of cold hardy leafy greens.

In fact, not a week goes by, from the time the snow melts off the first garden beds, right through to the first fall frosts, that we are not optimistically planting something in the ground. Sprouted pea seeds and spinach go into the first thawed ground of spring while fast-growing greens like Komatsuna or Maruba Santoh, can make a crop in a coldframe long after the first fall frosts have killed off the tender annuals. In between, successive plantings of beans, lettuce, radishes, carrots, beets, corn, and even summer squash keep us busy, and our garden beds full and productive throughout the season. A ready supply of transplants of lettuce, brassicas, and annual flowers fill in any small gaps that develop as things are harvested. A handful of buckwheat or oats is tossed here and there to temporarily protect soil that will be bare for any length of time. It is then cut with a scythe or Kama and left in place as mulch or added to the compost.


Succession Planting
Grow more in your garden by planting throughout the entire season...
Read More >


Research Farm History
A long history of agriculture exists on and around our Research Farm..
Read More >


Farm Report
Visiting owls, intern updates, first summer permaculture class...
Read More >

You get the idea. There is always something to sow. It’s a process, a journey, not a destination, and we can always find a way to make the trip a little sweeter. From the minute we see the bare soil in the spring, until we sow the last cover crop seed or mulch the last bed before the snow covers the garden in it’s protective blanket, we’ve got our garden on.  

I had a conversation recently with Steve Peters along these lines and he has drawn on his decades of organic gardening experience to come up with a myriad of suggestions on how to keep the garden productive throughout the season. He shares them with us in “Succession Planting (or Don’t Stop Now), Part 2.”  Knowing the history of your place is also a great way to look for inspiration on how to get the most from your land. Second year Research Farm intern Evan Snow has done just that, weaving a fascinating tale of the land along the Rio Grande that is now the Seeds of Change Research Farm and Gardens. Kelle Carter, Farm Field Coordinator, get us up to date on the activities there and Joel Reiten reports from the field on some of the seed crops in the ground in the Northwest. Our News and Views this month has some inspiring developments from around the world and finally, intern Kobe Jeschkeit-Hagen reports on an exciting new project at the farm to build a composting toilet to conserve water and recycle waste.

Got your garden on?

Scott Vlaun
Editor


Printable PDF Version:
eNewsletter #68
Text only, 204 kb, 16 pages.

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IN THIS ISSUE

Dear Organic Gardeners
Getting your garden on...


Succession Planting Grow more in your garden by planting throughout the entire season...


Research Farm History A long history of agriculture exists on and around our Research Farm...


Crop Report A cool, wet spring means a late start for West Coast seed growers...


Farm Report Visiting owls, intern updates, first summer permaculture class...


Product Highlights Keep your garden healthy and productive with our high quality, field-tested tools...


Book Review
Two books by Brad Lancaster provide invaluable wisdom for utilizing rainwater...


Composting Toilet Project One intern's vision for helping to close the loop at the farm...


News & Views German pesticide ban saves bees, France extends GMO ban, Group turns abandoned house lots into urban farms, events, and more...

   

Please send letters regarding this eNewsletter to Scott Vlaun by clicking on Editorial Inquiry.





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