2014 Derewood Demonstration Garden Annual Report
Submitted by Darlene Nicholson and Maria Wortman
This Is Maria Wortman’s last year as a co-lead, and we take this opportunity to thank her for her outstanding leadership and contributions to the past and future success of the garden. Next year the co-leads for the garden will be Darlene Nicholson (final year) Bill Newman, and Lily Bruch.
The Derwood Demonstration Garden consists of various kinds of gardens including: *Shade Garden
*Conservation Garden (formerly Wildlife Garden)
*Vegetable Garden, which includes: 100-Square-Foot Garden, Kitchen Garden, potato plot, straw bale garden, container gardens, and small fruit specialties. The main Vegetable Garden coordinates with Grow It Eat It, specifically concentrating on a ”Vegetable of the Year”, 2014 being “The Year of the Cucurbit”.
*Herb & Fragrance Garden
*Children’s Garden
*Therapeutic Horticulture that includes sections for Youth with Autism, and sections for growing flowers to be used in therapeutic settings.
*Butterfly Garden
*Two ponds *Compost area
*Turf Plots
The goal of the Demonstration garden is to educate Montgomery County Residents and Master Gardeners about what plants will grow well under prevailing conditions of soil and climate while illustrating Integrated Pest Management techniques. Our guidelines are in accordance with The University of Maryland Extension philosophies.
Building on the success of last year, we continued to provide an orientation and training to new interns. We provided a list of garden jobs available, thereby increasing their involvement and ownership of Derwood successes and learning opportunities. We had an initial attendance of 60 volunteers in the spring with many staying on for weeks into the season. Because jobs were shared by various teams, it was not necessary for all of them to come every week. Vacations in the summer lowered the attendance, but garden maintenance was covered sufficiently and effectively. A large group of 35 - 40 showed up on the final workday.
The irrigation team was well staffed for most of the season and provided a reasonably successful working operation. A wet area by the central water spigot was dug out and the drainage problem was mitigated. Plans are being considered to expand the irrigated areas to the Herb/Fragrance, Therapeutic Horticulture, Children’s, and Butterfly Gardens.
Correct and complete labeling of plants in the Demo Garden is an ongoing goal. A small group of dedicated volunteers assessed each garden for missing or incorrect signage and created and installed many new plant signs.
The all-weather comment book, located by the main gate, continued to be used regularly by visitors, and we all enjoyed reading the positive comments. The Weed Booklet that began last year was completed over the winter months, and 250 copies were professionally printed, funded by Steve Dubik, and sold at cost for $6.00 per booklet. We identified about 20 additional weeds this year that will be added to the potential 2nd printing of the Weed Booklet. We spent this year compiling a Bug Booklet that will be edited and completed over this coming winter, hopefully to be ready for use by Demo Garden volunteers in the spring of 2015.
The Vegetable Garden report with specific details will follow this one, but it is important to note here that an astonishing 1801 pounds of produce, more than double last year’s record, was donated to Manna Food Center, a food bank in Gaithersburg. A combination of factors may have contributed to this, including fewer harmful insects and an ideal growing season with plenty of rainfall. Our policy on handling dissemination of produce is as follows: Gardeners may take “tasting samples” of what is grown, with the majority of the produce going to Manna. At times when a less well-known crop is harvested it is offered to DDG volunteers, as Manna clients may be less likely to know how to use it. We also harvest produce for use at our annual “Take It Make It” picnic.
The interactive website of the Demo Garden, which can be accessed by going to our website at “mcmgdemogarden.com”, is updated to reflect yearly changes. A QR code is available on the bulletin board near the front gate for quick access to the garden maps. This site contains maps and plant lists of all the gardens, as well as yearly reports. A goal for 2015 is to update the site more often.
The Shade Garden experienced more than usual deer damage over the winter, and it was suggested that we request a deer fence to be installed surrounding the entire Shade Garden. When the fence idea was brought up at a board meeting, Steve Dubik rejected it, pointing out that the garden was originally set up to demonstrate what types of deerresistant vegetation could be grown in a shaded area. The Shade Garden added about ten new trees and shrubs this year. The Shade Garden area was made more attractive by clearing out the materials that were being stored behind the sheds. We inventoried what was there and removed what was not being used and relocated the essentials to the side of the large shed. It was shielded from the Shade Garden by a bamboo fence made by one of our structure experts. The Shade Garden team has discussed using the newly cleared brick paved area behind the sheds to demonstrate potted plants that would work well on a shaded patio and possibly adding a small seating area. Steve walked the Shade Garden boundaries with us and stated that they must remain where they are and not be extended any more, as per an agreement with the Farm Park Managers. He also discussed having the small fruit team plant and maintain 3 of the 10 or so proposed native Pawpaw trees in a boundary area facing the administration building.
The Conservation Garden (formerly the Wildlife Garden) got a new leader this year. We felt that having a garden whose purpose is attracting wildlife while inside a fenced area designed to keep out wildlife is a contradiction, and certainly not a good demonstration. The new lead gardener spent time researching what was currently growing and did research on plants that might be added to the garden to gradually convert it to a conservation garden which would demonstrate the use of sustainable practices. The Conservation Garden will focus on using more native plants, which are adapted to the local soils and climate, thus eliminating the need for fertilizers, pesticides, and additional water. Plants that had a good year included: Ninebark, Clethra, Sweetspire, Hydrangea, Ilex Verticillata, and Trillium. New plants added were Oakleaf Hydrangea and Jack-In-The-Pulpit. For endof -season color some Coleus, Hosta, and Resurrection Lily were added. A chief complaint for this garden was the amount of shade that falls in it. We had some tree pruning done in this garden in mid-summer. The wild Black Cherry tree was thinned, which did not result in a significant reduction in the amount of shade. We discussed with Steve possibly removing one of the large Maple trees which are just outside the fence and which shade parts of the Vegetable Garden as well as the Conservation Garden. He said that we need to be careful in removing plants that were there prior to our establishing the garden. We are going to do more research in an effort to improve the situation.
The Potato Plot grew Yukon Golds and Kennebecs. The major problem was wire worms, although they were not as bad as last year, with the Yukon Golds being most affected. All Red, an organic potato with red skin and flesh, was also grown. Two varieties of fingerlings were grown and did well, but it was discussed that the standard-sized potato would give the home gardener more pounds of potatoes per effort and dollars expended. Sweet potatoes did very well. Only 4 plants were planted in the same amount of space that held 7 plants last year, and this seemed to increase the yield considerably. It seems that they do not like being crowded. One plant grown in a 5-gallon bucket produced 6 lbs. of potatoes.
The Herb and Fragrance Garden looked lovely this year. The Fragrant Tea Olive survived the cold winter but the Gardenia did not, and a new one replaced it. Blue Heliotrope, Geraniums, and basils all had a great year. A beautiful Moon Flower vine grew up and covered the iron bench and trellis near the back of the garden. New plants included: ChocolateScented Daisy, Carolina Allspice, White Phlox, Dahlia, Yarrow and Heather. The main problem in this garden was weeding in between the bricks in the pathway. Perhaps we could research some possible solutions to this ongoing nuisance.
The Autistic Youth Therapeutic Horticulture Group maintained three plots used by two groups of autistic youth from the Community services for Autistic Adults and Children and Sheppard Pratt School. The students met weekly during the growing season and planted, cultivated and harvested a variety of vegetables and flowers. Vegetables were submitted to the Montgomery County Fair. One of the most unusual plants used this year was cotton. Two types were planted; red and regular. Both types did very well, and everyone wanted to come and see how cotton grows! The zinnias were large and beautiful and the peppers produced copiously. Garlic was planted for harvest next summer.
The Therapeutic Horticulture group noted the main successes for this garden were Zinnias and Purple Gomphrena. Problem plants included Black-Eyed Susan having foliar disease for the 2nd year in a row. The Larkspur had very little reseeding this year and the Thai Basil was not as attractive as the African Blue and was not used much. Among the new plants were Nigella, planted from old seed, Strawflowers, which had a modest yield, possibly because of late planting start, and three new mums planted in the fall with hopes of yields for next year. Recommendations for next year are to plant more Nigella and Strawflower, change basil to African Blue, and remove the rest of the Monarda, as it doesn’t do so well in flower arrangements. Flowers from the beds were used for constructing many arrangements for clients in nursing homes and other therapeutic settings.
The Children’s Garden added a very large gourd tunnel structure of bamboo. Many interesting gourds grew on it, but many never quite made it to the top. Revisions for it next year will be to shorten it a bit and research what might be the best possible gourds to plant on such a structure. A kind of mosaicculture turtle was “born” last winter in a gardener’s basement and moved to the garden in the spring where it was planted with succulents that we hope will overwinter. He should have enough plant growth to trim beautifully next year. The cancellation of the Harvest Festival, which normally occurs in October, was a great disappointment since the Children’s Garden is geared towards hosting scores of children on that day. A very interested group of preschoolers was able to enjoy the garden early on in the season. As far as produce, there was tremendous success with kale, carrots and radishes and some of the most beautiful cabbages ever grown. Row covers helped. Red Cotton planting was successful. There was a wonderful crop of Dinosaur Gourds, and as usual the Cardinal Climber vine covered the teepee and the Hyacinth Bean thoroughly covered the tunnel. The Lion’s Mane and Popcorn Plant were stunning this year. On the down side, the peanuts seemed to be eaten by a rabbit and didn’t like the cool, wet spring. Basil and the Shrimp Plant didn’t grow well. The tomato plant produced but not as vigorously as in previous years. There were also Apple Gourds and Birdhouse Gourds. Some were taken home by MG’s, hopefully to return next spring as birdhouses.
The synergistic compost team coordinates with each other and shares not only the workload but goes to compost training as a team so that they are always on the same page. The three large compost bins were each divided into two smaller segments early in the spring for better management of the operation. In order to speed up the composting process, the area received a dedicated water source and 8 perforated PVC pipes were placed under the piles for better aeration. This team was available for 3 GIEI functions and received lots of questions and inspired people to compost more. They were also interviewed by garden editor from the Washington Post, Adrian Higgins, and were cited in his very thorough article. As a side project, they planted what is now a very robust cover crop, to see if that area yields a more productive growing area than the space around it. The main problem they had was a need for more leaves and more nitrogen/greens. Because of our composting practices (i.e. no weeds with seeds in the compost) as well as the high temperatures achieved in the piles, there were far fewer viable weed seeds in the finished compost which is spread on the garden beds – ergo, not many weeds to add to the compost pile. They also requested leaves with a minimum of pine needles included. We will try to get this for them. One last request was to have a few more people help them out occasionally with sifting or turning the piles. It was also noted that a refresher/new interns training be held each spring to educate gardeners as to the proper practices for composting various types of materials.
There are two ponds at DDG. The fabricated one in the Conservation Garden was emptied and thoroughly cleaned in late spring. It hadn’t been cleaned in 2 years and it was time. Before cleaning, we removed fish and plants to the other pond. Afterwards, we added submerged plants and floaters, i.e., Water Hyacinth, and some Chinese Snails to help clean and filter the water. The Chinese Snails didn’t live very long, and as they are relatively expensive we won’t use them again. We are aware that some of the plants we use in the pond are invasive in natural ponds or waterways and we always explain to visitors that they are annuals and we compost them at the end of each season. The fish and plants seem to keep the water clear and free of mosquito population without having to use dunks. Unfortunately, most of the goldfish disappeared, perhaps eaten by a snake, leaving only one small one to survive the winter. We will restock in the spring. The pond in the Children’s Garden was completely re-dug this spring. We were having problems with it being too shallow, so basically keeping the same footprint we deepened the pond to 19” in the deepest part and dug a shelf that went about 12” down to hold the various plants more securely. We used a new liner and padding, and after filling and waiting 3 days added plants and fish. Frogs quickly appeared and produced an abundance of frog eggs. The pond balanced itself quickly with just minimal algae accumulations later in the season. Some algae eliminator was added. We also used some barley straw in both ponds to help clear them. We cut back or removed debris from both ponds to prepare them for the winter. We had an overabundance of frogs all summer. We often fed them some not-so-beneficial insects, which they greedily consumed, providing quite a delightful show for all.
The small fruit section is located in the Vegetable Garden. It had two new leads beginning this spring. They began by taking an inventory of the small fruit beds and labeling woody plants. Jerusalem Artichokes were dug up and put in large flowerpots. This helped to stop them from spreading and invading nearby garden space. Strawberries were planted in a vertical pallet container. The resulting harvest was not as great as expected, which may have been due to dry conditions, and they are considering giving it another go next year. A trellis was added for the new Concord grape, which tripled its size this season and was pruned carefully to assure there is a single trunk. Both the Goji Berry and Beach Plums flowered for the first time but did not produce fruit. The Issai Kiwi produced a small but incredibly delicious fruit for the first time. The female Siberian Kiwi dropped its leaves early but the stem appears to be green. The new male is questionable. The Red Currant produced fruit, but the newer Black Currant, which dropped its leaves early, did not. There was a good crop of blackberries compared to a not-so-productive raspberry crop. Rhubarb produced well. A tactic of sharing the blackberries and raspberries during GIEI events enticed visitors to see the small fruit beds. A proposal was written and given to Steve Dubik requesting permission for a garden space for a native Pawpaw tree grove to be established. Permission was granted, and the Pawpaw copse is being planned for the spring. Overall, few problems were reported, but next year an effort will be made to discuss methods of repelling birds as more fruits will be coming to maturity. A product called Bird Repellent tape will be employed next year in a trial effort.
After the extremely cold winter which seemed to have knocked back many of the harmful insects in the garden, the Butterfly Garden volunteers worried that we wouldn’t be seeing many butterflies either. And, indeed, there weren’t as many as in previous years. In mid-June we started seeing Cabbage Whites, and by July other species appeared, but not very many. We were delighted in September to find several Monarch larvae! Because of our many Monarch-friendly plants we have been designated as an official “Monarch Waystation”. We hope to have more Monarchs visit next year. A volunteer created a wonderful database of butterflies seen in the garden, including where, when, and on what plant they were seen. The following butterflies/skippers visited DDG during 2014 season: Cabbage White, Clouded Sulfur, Sootywing, Silver-Spotted Skipper, Black Swallowtail, Peck’s Skipper, Sachem, Northern Buckeye, American Painted Lady, Hummingbird Sphinx Moth, Duskywing, Great Spangled Fritillary, Zabulon (skipper), Monarch, Spicebush Swallowtail, Fiery Skipper, Little Glassywing, Variegated Fritillary. A flowerpot saucer was filled with sand and shallow water to offer the butterfly visitors a drink, but the frogs seemed to think it was for them. The overly vigorous Heliopsis and Goldenrod were tamed down and thinned to allow the Zinnias, Lantana, Marigolds, Coneflowers, Cleomes, Verbenas, and Hibiscus more room to do their thing. The reblooming Lilac, ‘Bloomerang’, did as its name suggests. The Abelia and butterfly bushes had a good season. The Elderberry bush continues to be a problem by suckering and taking up so much space. A patch of daylilies was removed to make way for more milkweed. The Fringe Tree had beautiful blossoms. Pink Turtlehead was traded for a sizable patch of White Turtlehead plants that were planted near Penstemon. By providing these plants, the hope is to attract the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly to the garden.
The One Hundred-Square-Foot Garden produced an amazing 390 pounds of produce. That was almost 8 times the national average in the Grow It Eat It competition as reported by Jon Traunfeld. It was much more than last year’s total of 170 pounds. Due to favorable growing conditions, there was a great spring run of lettuce, kale, collards, and onions. In the summer there were large harvests of beans, zucchini, and cucumbers due in part to successive plantings. Due to the success and experiences of this garden, a talk by the 100-sq.-ft. gardeners on intensive gardening will be shared at the GIEI Open House next spring. As reported in the rest of the garden, relatively few pests came early in the season. Of the pests that did appear, the cabbage worm was a problem, although early and consistent use of row covers helped to control them. The problems came when the row covers had to be lifted to allow pollinators in. Tight spacing of plants meant that it was not always possible to leave row cover on for plants that would benefit from it when others nearby needed to be accessible to pollinators.
Tomatoes were not up to usual standards. The yields were lower as was true of tomatoes in other parts of the garden. We haven’t really pinpointed the reason. Flea beetles on eggplant were, as usual, a major deterrent in growing them. A suggestion was made to try Surround (kaolin clay) next season. Fungal diseases generally were a problem this year, with early blight affecting tomatoes and downy mildew affecting basil, especially the Genovese type. Spice Basil seemed to be unaffected by the downy mildew. There was some poor germination of some beets and spinach. In keeping with GIEI’s “Year of the Cucurbit” theme, cucumbers and zucchini were added to this year’s plant list. They were grown vertically, which allowed high yields on a small footprint. ‘Black Raven’ a compact bush zucchini singly produced 55 pounds. The ‘Komatsuna Red’ Asian green (a spinach/mustard hybrid) grown in the fall lettuce bed was both beautiful and productive. This team would like to pursue a new approach to intensive gardening next year citing that the objective of maximizing output may not best serves the needs of our clientele. They plan to focus more on providing visitors with demonstrations of concrete ideas for using intensive techniques to grow vegetables in a small space. Using an explicit spring/summer/fall garden approach may help more homeowners develop plans for their gardens. Another idea is to support the efforts of the new Urban Gardening team by incorporating some of their approaches to small-space gardening. Derwood Demo Garden Highlights of 2014
• Provided orientation for interns and new-to-garden MG’s for approx. 50 people
• Provided a weekly message that included photos and weed and bug reports from Apr. 2 to Oct. 30
• Had 250 copies of Weed Booklet printed for sale to other gardeners
• Added 20 new weed entries to weekly reports
• Created new 25-card bug book to be edited this winter
• Participated in 4 Grow It Eat it Events; One was for MG’s from other counties attending a GIEI training
• Held workshops for MG volunteers at DDG on structure building, rose bead making, composting, and herbs
• Donated over 1801 pounds of fresh produce to Manna Food Center
• Provided flowers for hundreds of flower arrangements for the Therapeutic Horticulture program
• Added many new plant labels in an ongoing goal to label all plants
• Enjoyed the Third Annual “Take It, Make It” picnic
• Conducted tours for visiting groups and individuals, including daycare class of young prospective gardeners
• Won Award of Excellence in the Keep Mont. Co. Beautiful contest (fifth year)
• Took over 1000 images from the garden that may be used for slide shows and are available upon request
• Cited as composting source in Washington Post by gardening reporter, Adrian Higgins • Submitted several articles about the Demo Garden to “The Seed”
• Submitted and received acceptance for a new Pawpaw copse
• Remained an official Tuesday morning Plant Clinic
The Edibles Garden report is the next attachment. Thanks to the following garden leaders who submitted an end-of-year garden assessment or information used to compile this report.
Lily Bruch
Melitta Carter
Bonita Condon/Patti Oseroff
Linda Davis
Susan Eisendrath
Marty Isaacson/ Kathleen Tsai
Barbara Knapp
BobbyMaxwell/ Peggy Stanford
JoAnn Mueller
Mary Anne Normile
Robin Ritterhoff
Erica Smith
Ida Wallenmeyer
Derwood Demonstration Garden: Vegetable Beds 2014 Report and Planning for 2015 Season 11 November 2014 - Robin Ritterhoff & Erica Smith
We had a good and extremely productive 2014 season, likely due in part to a very cold 2013-4 winter, a mild summer, and plenty of rain. We delivered 1801 pounds of fresh produce to Manna: a record that will be challenging to break. For Grow It Eat It, 2014 was the Year of Cucurbits so Derwood veggie plantings highlighted those.
Vegetable Garden Work Arrangements and Projects
What worked well in 2014, and what needs to be improved in 2015:
o Labeling and Mapping
• We improved labeling, mostly thanks to the efforts of one volunteer (LeeAnne Gelletly) who hand-printed (using a weatherproof marker) labels for nearly every planting and kept a log.
• We did not include culture guidance on labels for the most part, due to lack of space. Perhaps this would be better done on larger signs in appropriate places in the garden.
• We did not explore computer printing the labels. Weatherproof ink and/or labels would be necessary.
• Despite attempts to recruit additional volunteers to help with mapping, LeeAnne was our only support here, and she didn’t end up having time to pursue the project. Erica made a map using GrowVeg software at the beginning of the season, but didn’t update it, and keeping the map up to date is not likely to happen without additional help.
• The demo garden’s GrowVeg subscription will expire this year, but Sue K. has obtained a subscription for the MG association in general, and is willing to let the demo garden create maps on it. The software seems appropriate to the project.
• Our intent is to keep an up-to-date map of the vegetable garden. Achieving this is a labor issue rather than an informational or technical one. 2015: recruit additional volunteer(s) committed for the entire growing season to do labeling and mapping, working together. More signage in garden.
o Drip irrigation system worked better this year, and Joe trained additional helpers. 2015: keep it up, and add capacity as noted below.
o Special projects:
• 100 square foot garden: See their report. This project is well underway with good leadership. 2015: Repeat, with changes as outlined in Mary Anne’s report.
• Containers: Not productive this year. Sickly plants. Late attachment to irrigation may have contributed. New siting in full sun may be worse than part shade. 2015: consider new arrangement, start irrigation right away.
• Straw Bales: Produced well this year, much better than containers. Used similar plants in each for comparison. Positioning and new configuration may have contributed. 2015: use more bales, sited to ameliorate bad soil (see under Tomatoes for more info).
•New raised bed built in late summer – worked well for fall root crops.
• Cover crop patch added where fennel removed, growing well. 2015: plan to do more with cover crops.
• Season extension: Some use of cold frames and low tunnels. 2015: plan ahead to make better use of these in fall.
Winter Planning For 2015 Season
o Robin has developed a folder of recipes for uncommon vegetables, for use by Manna clients and MGs. 2015: Get more organized about creating these and handing them out. Work with Wendy Smith on nutritional information.
o We have insufficient capacity for seedling production. 2015: Find and if necessary train additional volunteers. Look into using high school greenhouses.
o Repeated from last year: Consider what to put in the mailboxes – laminated basic HGIC reference docs like HGIC16 – can we attach this by a chain somehow?
Pests
o Low numbers of pests in general throughout the season, probably due to deaths in the unusually cold winter and/or fluctuating spring. o In particular, we had very few cucurbit pests, which meant more cucurbit plants survived to produce (good timing for GIEI cucurbit year!). This helped our Manna poundage a lot. Some cucumber beetles, but little or no resulting bacterial wilt. Practically no squash bugs and apparently no squash vine borers.
o Japanese beetles were present at moderately high levels, causing some damage to beans and other plants, but nothing like 2013.
o Mexican bean beetles arrived late and in small numbers. o Harlequin bugs were present in low numbers, but didn’t affect even uncovered brassicas greatly. o Cabbage loopers and other caterpillars did only small damage. Covering the brassicas helped to protect against these. o Some wireworms were found in potatoes and other root crops, but at far lower numbers than in 2013.
o The strategies we’d planned for combating pests (especially cucurbit pests) didn’t need to be put into action, but we will keep them in mind for the future. These include injecting BT into squash stems against borers, and spraying kaolin clay on cucumbers and melons to keep cucumber beetles off. 2015: Maintain vigilance and combat pests as needed. Get a better sprayer for kaolin clay. Continue to use row covers early and often. Diseases
o Fungal diseases present again, due to wet spring, especially in tomatoes.
o One tomato died of southern blight, which probably came in on a purchased seedling.
o Powdery mildew infected some plants, but didn’t affect harvest much in high-producing crops. Overall low presence of disease.
o 2015: Consider prophylactic measures against fungal diseases.
2015 Crop Focus
2015 is GIEI’s Year of the Bean.
o Beans have grown well for us in the past, so we don’t anticipate huge problems aside from Japanese beetles and Mexican bean beetles, which may or may not be present in large numbers. Use vigilance. o Succession planting (and taking out plants when needed) will be a challenge. Plan a strategy ahead. Ask 100-sq-ft team for advice.
o Will need trellises for pole beans and garden space for bush types. o Research inoculants. Do phaseolus beans use a different type from other beans? We will probably use inoculants throughout if cost-effective. Comparative trials of inoculated versus non-inoculated crops are probably not reasonable because we don’t know exactly where we have grown beans before and where rhizobia are present.
o We plan to grow a wide variety of beans from all continents.
What We Grew in 2014 Note: we have taken all fruit out of our report as we now have a fruit team reporting separately.
• Perennials:
o Asparagus: Seems to be doing well. Continue same care methods.
o Jerusalem artichoke: In spring 2014 we dug up most of the JAs and transplanted the remaining ones into containers. The containers were not irrigated, and the JAs shriveled up and died. They may resurrect and if not there are still plenty in the ground (in fact we will be digging them out for years). 2015: Try again but irrigate.
o Cardoons: Last year’s plants came back despite cold winter. They flowered impressively and attracted bees. We did not harvest stalks for eating; we could do this next year, either with spring growth or fall regrowth. 2015: if the plants survive, explore recipes. If they die, consider replanting in 2016.
• Annuals:
o Beta:
• Spring beets average, not a large planting. Fall beets doing OK in raised beds.
• Chard: Still finding holes in leaves; not sure what is causing this. Row covers did not seem to help. 2015: Try in containers? o Brassicaceae:
• We grew kale, mustard greens, collards, pac choi, fall turnips and rutabaga.
• Everything that we protected with row cover did reasonably well in spring and fall.
• Cool and rainy spring and slow onset of heat meant that brassicas produced for longer into the early summer.
• Some spring kale plants lasted until fall and are still growing.
o Cucurbitaceae: We had a fantastic year. Few pest problems, low rate of disease.
• Cucumbers: Huge and regular harvests. Plants lasted until end of August. Succession planting might have yielded more, but there was no place to put them.
• Mouse melons: Great as usual.
• Melons: Better than usual – we actually harvested a few! Still need to work on melon success.
• Squash: Very productive especially Tromboncino and Costata Romanesco zucchini. Some winter squash production from Greek Sweet Red and others.
• Gourds: A volunteer gourd, probably seeded by the compost since plants came up all over, did very well. One plant yielded over a dozen enormous bottle gourds; it may have taken space away from edible crops, but it was impressive. Fuzzy gourd or mao gwa did well on a trellis, producing enough edible fruit to experiment with.
o Fabaceae:
• Bush beans: ‘Provider’ did well; purple bush bean was stifled by other plants in ground planting but did well in containers.
Pole beans: ‘Blue Lake’ produced well. ‘Speckled Cranberry’ and ‘Cherokee Trail of Tears’, grown out to dry stage, gave us plenty of seed to save and some extra for eating.
Bush limas: We had a crop! 2015: grow these again, as well as Ken Hoyle’s pole limas.
Yardlong beans: Got overwhelmed by other plants in our garden, but produced well in the children’s garden – a red type.
Hyacinth beans: Grew beautifully and produced abundantly. We read contradictory advice and didn’t know what to do with them, but an Indian volunteer with the autistic kids’ garden harvested some immature pods for personal use. 2015: Grow again. Check recipes and safety advice.
• Peas: Good spring crop thanks to cool wet weather.
• Cowpeas: Planted in summer, did very well. 2015: Grow again; make recipe sheet. • Fava beans: Planted in fall for harvest next spring, if they survive the winter. Really cold winter may kill them, but spring plantings have not worked for us before.
o Solanaceae:
• Tomatoes did poorly in 2014. Reasons uncertain: may include poor compacted soil, location by faucet and minor flood/leak, stressed seedlings, cool late spring weather, rain, disease taking advantage of weakness. Plants never thrived, lacking usual lavish growth. Some late production on some varieties; Indigo Blue Berry noted in particular. 2015: grow in different area (we always rotate anyway) – this year’s bed will be renovated with straw bales. Use stronger seedlings, put in later, take soil temperature, warm soil ahead.
• Peppers: Not great – again not sure why but maybe cool spring factored in. 2015: later planting and stronger seedlings, warm soil.
• Potatoes: Less wireworm damage than in 2013, perhaps because of earlier harvest (as well as new location). No Harvest Festival meant that we felt free to harvest earlier. Again tried second planting but didn’t get anywhere. 2015: Figure out how to get in a second planting!
• Ground cherries: Grew well, delicious. 2015: Grow again, try to give them some space.
• Wonderberry: A curiosity, but save it for the year we feature tomatoes and their relatives. Production moderate but it was hard to do anything with the little berries but eat them out of hand. Plant resembled related weeds so closely that it repeatedly barely escaped pulling by MGs (including Robin); when replanting, label prominently.
o Ipomoea: Sweet potatoes.
• Better productivity due to (Barbara K. thinks) fewer plants in bed.
• Some harvest of leaves.
• Plant in 5-gallon container, totally ignored and not irrigated, produced an astounding 6 lbs.
o Leafy greens:
• Not a focus this year.
• Lettuce in salad table, moderate harvest. The 100 sq ft garden produced majority of lettuce, gorgeous.
• Malabar spinach on trellis not too productive – overwhelmed by other plants.
• Radicchio made two harvests.
• Edible chrysanthemum grown in fall is beautiful, productive.
• 2015: try to fit in more lettuce, get recipe for chrysanthemum, give Malabar more space, emphasize lovely radicchio.
o Yacon:
As we found last year, it’s hard to get volunteers to try the tubers of this impressive plant, but we should continue to grow it because it’s unusual. We do have a recipe.
o Roselle hibiscus:
Attractive plant, good conversation starter, more of our volunteers are becoming interested in using it for tea. Leaves also edible; the Indian visitor noted above took some for a chutney loved by South Indians.
This Is Maria Wortman’s last year as a co-lead, and we take this opportunity to thank her for her outstanding leadership and contributions to the past and future success of the garden. Next year the co-leads for the garden will be Darlene Nicholson (final year) Bill Newman, and Lily Bruch.
The Derwood Demonstration Garden consists of various kinds of gardens including: *Shade Garden
*Conservation Garden (formerly Wildlife Garden)
*Vegetable Garden, which includes: 100-Square-Foot Garden, Kitchen Garden, potato plot, straw bale garden, container gardens, and small fruit specialties. The main Vegetable Garden coordinates with Grow It Eat It, specifically concentrating on a ”Vegetable of the Year”, 2014 being “The Year of the Cucurbit”.
*Herb & Fragrance Garden
*Children’s Garden
*Therapeutic Horticulture that includes sections for Youth with Autism, and sections for growing flowers to be used in therapeutic settings.
*Butterfly Garden
*Two ponds *Compost area
*Turf Plots
The goal of the Demonstration garden is to educate Montgomery County Residents and Master Gardeners about what plants will grow well under prevailing conditions of soil and climate while illustrating Integrated Pest Management techniques. Our guidelines are in accordance with The University of Maryland Extension philosophies.
Building on the success of last year, we continued to provide an orientation and training to new interns. We provided a list of garden jobs available, thereby increasing their involvement and ownership of Derwood successes and learning opportunities. We had an initial attendance of 60 volunteers in the spring with many staying on for weeks into the season. Because jobs were shared by various teams, it was not necessary for all of them to come every week. Vacations in the summer lowered the attendance, but garden maintenance was covered sufficiently and effectively. A large group of 35 - 40 showed up on the final workday.
The irrigation team was well staffed for most of the season and provided a reasonably successful working operation. A wet area by the central water spigot was dug out and the drainage problem was mitigated. Plans are being considered to expand the irrigated areas to the Herb/Fragrance, Therapeutic Horticulture, Children’s, and Butterfly Gardens.
Correct and complete labeling of plants in the Demo Garden is an ongoing goal. A small group of dedicated volunteers assessed each garden for missing or incorrect signage and created and installed many new plant signs.
The all-weather comment book, located by the main gate, continued to be used regularly by visitors, and we all enjoyed reading the positive comments. The Weed Booklet that began last year was completed over the winter months, and 250 copies were professionally printed, funded by Steve Dubik, and sold at cost for $6.00 per booklet. We identified about 20 additional weeds this year that will be added to the potential 2nd printing of the Weed Booklet. We spent this year compiling a Bug Booklet that will be edited and completed over this coming winter, hopefully to be ready for use by Demo Garden volunteers in the spring of 2015.
The Vegetable Garden report with specific details will follow this one, but it is important to note here that an astonishing 1801 pounds of produce, more than double last year’s record, was donated to Manna Food Center, a food bank in Gaithersburg. A combination of factors may have contributed to this, including fewer harmful insects and an ideal growing season with plenty of rainfall. Our policy on handling dissemination of produce is as follows: Gardeners may take “tasting samples” of what is grown, with the majority of the produce going to Manna. At times when a less well-known crop is harvested it is offered to DDG volunteers, as Manna clients may be less likely to know how to use it. We also harvest produce for use at our annual “Take It Make It” picnic.
The interactive website of the Demo Garden, which can be accessed by going to our website at “mcmgdemogarden.com”, is updated to reflect yearly changes. A QR code is available on the bulletin board near the front gate for quick access to the garden maps. This site contains maps and plant lists of all the gardens, as well as yearly reports. A goal for 2015 is to update the site more often.
The Shade Garden experienced more than usual deer damage over the winter, and it was suggested that we request a deer fence to be installed surrounding the entire Shade Garden. When the fence idea was brought up at a board meeting, Steve Dubik rejected it, pointing out that the garden was originally set up to demonstrate what types of deerresistant vegetation could be grown in a shaded area. The Shade Garden added about ten new trees and shrubs this year. The Shade Garden area was made more attractive by clearing out the materials that were being stored behind the sheds. We inventoried what was there and removed what was not being used and relocated the essentials to the side of the large shed. It was shielded from the Shade Garden by a bamboo fence made by one of our structure experts. The Shade Garden team has discussed using the newly cleared brick paved area behind the sheds to demonstrate potted plants that would work well on a shaded patio and possibly adding a small seating area. Steve walked the Shade Garden boundaries with us and stated that they must remain where they are and not be extended any more, as per an agreement with the Farm Park Managers. He also discussed having the small fruit team plant and maintain 3 of the 10 or so proposed native Pawpaw trees in a boundary area facing the administration building.
The Conservation Garden (formerly the Wildlife Garden) got a new leader this year. We felt that having a garden whose purpose is attracting wildlife while inside a fenced area designed to keep out wildlife is a contradiction, and certainly not a good demonstration. The new lead gardener spent time researching what was currently growing and did research on plants that might be added to the garden to gradually convert it to a conservation garden which would demonstrate the use of sustainable practices. The Conservation Garden will focus on using more native plants, which are adapted to the local soils and climate, thus eliminating the need for fertilizers, pesticides, and additional water. Plants that had a good year included: Ninebark, Clethra, Sweetspire, Hydrangea, Ilex Verticillata, and Trillium. New plants added were Oakleaf Hydrangea and Jack-In-The-Pulpit. For endof -season color some Coleus, Hosta, and Resurrection Lily were added. A chief complaint for this garden was the amount of shade that falls in it. We had some tree pruning done in this garden in mid-summer. The wild Black Cherry tree was thinned, which did not result in a significant reduction in the amount of shade. We discussed with Steve possibly removing one of the large Maple trees which are just outside the fence and which shade parts of the Vegetable Garden as well as the Conservation Garden. He said that we need to be careful in removing plants that were there prior to our establishing the garden. We are going to do more research in an effort to improve the situation.
The Potato Plot grew Yukon Golds and Kennebecs. The major problem was wire worms, although they were not as bad as last year, with the Yukon Golds being most affected. All Red, an organic potato with red skin and flesh, was also grown. Two varieties of fingerlings were grown and did well, but it was discussed that the standard-sized potato would give the home gardener more pounds of potatoes per effort and dollars expended. Sweet potatoes did very well. Only 4 plants were planted in the same amount of space that held 7 plants last year, and this seemed to increase the yield considerably. It seems that they do not like being crowded. One plant grown in a 5-gallon bucket produced 6 lbs. of potatoes.
The Herb and Fragrance Garden looked lovely this year. The Fragrant Tea Olive survived the cold winter but the Gardenia did not, and a new one replaced it. Blue Heliotrope, Geraniums, and basils all had a great year. A beautiful Moon Flower vine grew up and covered the iron bench and trellis near the back of the garden. New plants included: ChocolateScented Daisy, Carolina Allspice, White Phlox, Dahlia, Yarrow and Heather. The main problem in this garden was weeding in between the bricks in the pathway. Perhaps we could research some possible solutions to this ongoing nuisance.
The Autistic Youth Therapeutic Horticulture Group maintained three plots used by two groups of autistic youth from the Community services for Autistic Adults and Children and Sheppard Pratt School. The students met weekly during the growing season and planted, cultivated and harvested a variety of vegetables and flowers. Vegetables were submitted to the Montgomery County Fair. One of the most unusual plants used this year was cotton. Two types were planted; red and regular. Both types did very well, and everyone wanted to come and see how cotton grows! The zinnias were large and beautiful and the peppers produced copiously. Garlic was planted for harvest next summer.
The Therapeutic Horticulture group noted the main successes for this garden were Zinnias and Purple Gomphrena. Problem plants included Black-Eyed Susan having foliar disease for the 2nd year in a row. The Larkspur had very little reseeding this year and the Thai Basil was not as attractive as the African Blue and was not used much. Among the new plants were Nigella, planted from old seed, Strawflowers, which had a modest yield, possibly because of late planting start, and three new mums planted in the fall with hopes of yields for next year. Recommendations for next year are to plant more Nigella and Strawflower, change basil to African Blue, and remove the rest of the Monarda, as it doesn’t do so well in flower arrangements. Flowers from the beds were used for constructing many arrangements for clients in nursing homes and other therapeutic settings.
The Children’s Garden added a very large gourd tunnel structure of bamboo. Many interesting gourds grew on it, but many never quite made it to the top. Revisions for it next year will be to shorten it a bit and research what might be the best possible gourds to plant on such a structure. A kind of mosaicculture turtle was “born” last winter in a gardener’s basement and moved to the garden in the spring where it was planted with succulents that we hope will overwinter. He should have enough plant growth to trim beautifully next year. The cancellation of the Harvest Festival, which normally occurs in October, was a great disappointment since the Children’s Garden is geared towards hosting scores of children on that day. A very interested group of preschoolers was able to enjoy the garden early on in the season. As far as produce, there was tremendous success with kale, carrots and radishes and some of the most beautiful cabbages ever grown. Row covers helped. Red Cotton planting was successful. There was a wonderful crop of Dinosaur Gourds, and as usual the Cardinal Climber vine covered the teepee and the Hyacinth Bean thoroughly covered the tunnel. The Lion’s Mane and Popcorn Plant were stunning this year. On the down side, the peanuts seemed to be eaten by a rabbit and didn’t like the cool, wet spring. Basil and the Shrimp Plant didn’t grow well. The tomato plant produced but not as vigorously as in previous years. There were also Apple Gourds and Birdhouse Gourds. Some were taken home by MG’s, hopefully to return next spring as birdhouses.
The synergistic compost team coordinates with each other and shares not only the workload but goes to compost training as a team so that they are always on the same page. The three large compost bins were each divided into two smaller segments early in the spring for better management of the operation. In order to speed up the composting process, the area received a dedicated water source and 8 perforated PVC pipes were placed under the piles for better aeration. This team was available for 3 GIEI functions and received lots of questions and inspired people to compost more. They were also interviewed by garden editor from the Washington Post, Adrian Higgins, and were cited in his very thorough article. As a side project, they planted what is now a very robust cover crop, to see if that area yields a more productive growing area than the space around it. The main problem they had was a need for more leaves and more nitrogen/greens. Because of our composting practices (i.e. no weeds with seeds in the compost) as well as the high temperatures achieved in the piles, there were far fewer viable weed seeds in the finished compost which is spread on the garden beds – ergo, not many weeds to add to the compost pile. They also requested leaves with a minimum of pine needles included. We will try to get this for them. One last request was to have a few more people help them out occasionally with sifting or turning the piles. It was also noted that a refresher/new interns training be held each spring to educate gardeners as to the proper practices for composting various types of materials.
There are two ponds at DDG. The fabricated one in the Conservation Garden was emptied and thoroughly cleaned in late spring. It hadn’t been cleaned in 2 years and it was time. Before cleaning, we removed fish and plants to the other pond. Afterwards, we added submerged plants and floaters, i.e., Water Hyacinth, and some Chinese Snails to help clean and filter the water. The Chinese Snails didn’t live very long, and as they are relatively expensive we won’t use them again. We are aware that some of the plants we use in the pond are invasive in natural ponds or waterways and we always explain to visitors that they are annuals and we compost them at the end of each season. The fish and plants seem to keep the water clear and free of mosquito population without having to use dunks. Unfortunately, most of the goldfish disappeared, perhaps eaten by a snake, leaving only one small one to survive the winter. We will restock in the spring. The pond in the Children’s Garden was completely re-dug this spring. We were having problems with it being too shallow, so basically keeping the same footprint we deepened the pond to 19” in the deepest part and dug a shelf that went about 12” down to hold the various plants more securely. We used a new liner and padding, and after filling and waiting 3 days added plants and fish. Frogs quickly appeared and produced an abundance of frog eggs. The pond balanced itself quickly with just minimal algae accumulations later in the season. Some algae eliminator was added. We also used some barley straw in both ponds to help clear them. We cut back or removed debris from both ponds to prepare them for the winter. We had an overabundance of frogs all summer. We often fed them some not-so-beneficial insects, which they greedily consumed, providing quite a delightful show for all.
The small fruit section is located in the Vegetable Garden. It had two new leads beginning this spring. They began by taking an inventory of the small fruit beds and labeling woody plants. Jerusalem Artichokes were dug up and put in large flowerpots. This helped to stop them from spreading and invading nearby garden space. Strawberries were planted in a vertical pallet container. The resulting harvest was not as great as expected, which may have been due to dry conditions, and they are considering giving it another go next year. A trellis was added for the new Concord grape, which tripled its size this season and was pruned carefully to assure there is a single trunk. Both the Goji Berry and Beach Plums flowered for the first time but did not produce fruit. The Issai Kiwi produced a small but incredibly delicious fruit for the first time. The female Siberian Kiwi dropped its leaves early but the stem appears to be green. The new male is questionable. The Red Currant produced fruit, but the newer Black Currant, which dropped its leaves early, did not. There was a good crop of blackberries compared to a not-so-productive raspberry crop. Rhubarb produced well. A tactic of sharing the blackberries and raspberries during GIEI events enticed visitors to see the small fruit beds. A proposal was written and given to Steve Dubik requesting permission for a garden space for a native Pawpaw tree grove to be established. Permission was granted, and the Pawpaw copse is being planned for the spring. Overall, few problems were reported, but next year an effort will be made to discuss methods of repelling birds as more fruits will be coming to maturity. A product called Bird Repellent tape will be employed next year in a trial effort.
After the extremely cold winter which seemed to have knocked back many of the harmful insects in the garden, the Butterfly Garden volunteers worried that we wouldn’t be seeing many butterflies either. And, indeed, there weren’t as many as in previous years. In mid-June we started seeing Cabbage Whites, and by July other species appeared, but not very many. We were delighted in September to find several Monarch larvae! Because of our many Monarch-friendly plants we have been designated as an official “Monarch Waystation”. We hope to have more Monarchs visit next year. A volunteer created a wonderful database of butterflies seen in the garden, including where, when, and on what plant they were seen. The following butterflies/skippers visited DDG during 2014 season: Cabbage White, Clouded Sulfur, Sootywing, Silver-Spotted Skipper, Black Swallowtail, Peck’s Skipper, Sachem, Northern Buckeye, American Painted Lady, Hummingbird Sphinx Moth, Duskywing, Great Spangled Fritillary, Zabulon (skipper), Monarch, Spicebush Swallowtail, Fiery Skipper, Little Glassywing, Variegated Fritillary. A flowerpot saucer was filled with sand and shallow water to offer the butterfly visitors a drink, but the frogs seemed to think it was for them. The overly vigorous Heliopsis and Goldenrod were tamed down and thinned to allow the Zinnias, Lantana, Marigolds, Coneflowers, Cleomes, Verbenas, and Hibiscus more room to do their thing. The reblooming Lilac, ‘Bloomerang’, did as its name suggests. The Abelia and butterfly bushes had a good season. The Elderberry bush continues to be a problem by suckering and taking up so much space. A patch of daylilies was removed to make way for more milkweed. The Fringe Tree had beautiful blossoms. Pink Turtlehead was traded for a sizable patch of White Turtlehead plants that were planted near Penstemon. By providing these plants, the hope is to attract the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly to the garden.
The One Hundred-Square-Foot Garden produced an amazing 390 pounds of produce. That was almost 8 times the national average in the Grow It Eat It competition as reported by Jon Traunfeld. It was much more than last year’s total of 170 pounds. Due to favorable growing conditions, there was a great spring run of lettuce, kale, collards, and onions. In the summer there were large harvests of beans, zucchini, and cucumbers due in part to successive plantings. Due to the success and experiences of this garden, a talk by the 100-sq.-ft. gardeners on intensive gardening will be shared at the GIEI Open House next spring. As reported in the rest of the garden, relatively few pests came early in the season. Of the pests that did appear, the cabbage worm was a problem, although early and consistent use of row covers helped to control them. The problems came when the row covers had to be lifted to allow pollinators in. Tight spacing of plants meant that it was not always possible to leave row cover on for plants that would benefit from it when others nearby needed to be accessible to pollinators.
Tomatoes were not up to usual standards. The yields were lower as was true of tomatoes in other parts of the garden. We haven’t really pinpointed the reason. Flea beetles on eggplant were, as usual, a major deterrent in growing them. A suggestion was made to try Surround (kaolin clay) next season. Fungal diseases generally were a problem this year, with early blight affecting tomatoes and downy mildew affecting basil, especially the Genovese type. Spice Basil seemed to be unaffected by the downy mildew. There was some poor germination of some beets and spinach. In keeping with GIEI’s “Year of the Cucurbit” theme, cucumbers and zucchini were added to this year’s plant list. They were grown vertically, which allowed high yields on a small footprint. ‘Black Raven’ a compact bush zucchini singly produced 55 pounds. The ‘Komatsuna Red’ Asian green (a spinach/mustard hybrid) grown in the fall lettuce bed was both beautiful and productive. This team would like to pursue a new approach to intensive gardening next year citing that the objective of maximizing output may not best serves the needs of our clientele. They plan to focus more on providing visitors with demonstrations of concrete ideas for using intensive techniques to grow vegetables in a small space. Using an explicit spring/summer/fall garden approach may help more homeowners develop plans for their gardens. Another idea is to support the efforts of the new Urban Gardening team by incorporating some of their approaches to small-space gardening. Derwood Demo Garden Highlights of 2014
• Provided orientation for interns and new-to-garden MG’s for approx. 50 people
• Provided a weekly message that included photos and weed and bug reports from Apr. 2 to Oct. 30
• Had 250 copies of Weed Booklet printed for sale to other gardeners
• Added 20 new weed entries to weekly reports
• Created new 25-card bug book to be edited this winter
• Participated in 4 Grow It Eat it Events; One was for MG’s from other counties attending a GIEI training
• Held workshops for MG volunteers at DDG on structure building, rose bead making, composting, and herbs
• Donated over 1801 pounds of fresh produce to Manna Food Center
• Provided flowers for hundreds of flower arrangements for the Therapeutic Horticulture program
• Added many new plant labels in an ongoing goal to label all plants
• Enjoyed the Third Annual “Take It, Make It” picnic
• Conducted tours for visiting groups and individuals, including daycare class of young prospective gardeners
• Won Award of Excellence in the Keep Mont. Co. Beautiful contest (fifth year)
• Took over 1000 images from the garden that may be used for slide shows and are available upon request
• Cited as composting source in Washington Post by gardening reporter, Adrian Higgins • Submitted several articles about the Demo Garden to “The Seed”
• Submitted and received acceptance for a new Pawpaw copse
• Remained an official Tuesday morning Plant Clinic
The Edibles Garden report is the next attachment. Thanks to the following garden leaders who submitted an end-of-year garden assessment or information used to compile this report.
Lily Bruch
Melitta Carter
Bonita Condon/Patti Oseroff
Linda Davis
Susan Eisendrath
Marty Isaacson/ Kathleen Tsai
Barbara Knapp
BobbyMaxwell/ Peggy Stanford
JoAnn Mueller
Mary Anne Normile
Robin Ritterhoff
Erica Smith
Ida Wallenmeyer
Derwood Demonstration Garden: Vegetable Beds 2014 Report and Planning for 2015 Season 11 November 2014 - Robin Ritterhoff & Erica Smith
We had a good and extremely productive 2014 season, likely due in part to a very cold 2013-4 winter, a mild summer, and plenty of rain. We delivered 1801 pounds of fresh produce to Manna: a record that will be challenging to break. For Grow It Eat It, 2014 was the Year of Cucurbits so Derwood veggie plantings highlighted those.
Vegetable Garden Work Arrangements and Projects
What worked well in 2014, and what needs to be improved in 2015:
o Labeling and Mapping
• We improved labeling, mostly thanks to the efforts of one volunteer (LeeAnne Gelletly) who hand-printed (using a weatherproof marker) labels for nearly every planting and kept a log.
• We did not include culture guidance on labels for the most part, due to lack of space. Perhaps this would be better done on larger signs in appropriate places in the garden.
• We did not explore computer printing the labels. Weatherproof ink and/or labels would be necessary.
• Despite attempts to recruit additional volunteers to help with mapping, LeeAnne was our only support here, and she didn’t end up having time to pursue the project. Erica made a map using GrowVeg software at the beginning of the season, but didn’t update it, and keeping the map up to date is not likely to happen without additional help.
• The demo garden’s GrowVeg subscription will expire this year, but Sue K. has obtained a subscription for the MG association in general, and is willing to let the demo garden create maps on it. The software seems appropriate to the project.
• Our intent is to keep an up-to-date map of the vegetable garden. Achieving this is a labor issue rather than an informational or technical one. 2015: recruit additional volunteer(s) committed for the entire growing season to do labeling and mapping, working together. More signage in garden.
o Drip irrigation system worked better this year, and Joe trained additional helpers. 2015: keep it up, and add capacity as noted below.
o Special projects:
• 100 square foot garden: See their report. This project is well underway with good leadership. 2015: Repeat, with changes as outlined in Mary Anne’s report.
• Containers: Not productive this year. Sickly plants. Late attachment to irrigation may have contributed. New siting in full sun may be worse than part shade. 2015: consider new arrangement, start irrigation right away.
• Straw Bales: Produced well this year, much better than containers. Used similar plants in each for comparison. Positioning and new configuration may have contributed. 2015: use more bales, sited to ameliorate bad soil (see under Tomatoes for more info).
•New raised bed built in late summer – worked well for fall root crops.
• Cover crop patch added where fennel removed, growing well. 2015: plan to do more with cover crops.
• Season extension: Some use of cold frames and low tunnels. 2015: plan ahead to make better use of these in fall.
Winter Planning For 2015 Season
o Robin has developed a folder of recipes for uncommon vegetables, for use by Manna clients and MGs. 2015: Get more organized about creating these and handing them out. Work with Wendy Smith on nutritional information.
o We have insufficient capacity for seedling production. 2015: Find and if necessary train additional volunteers. Look into using high school greenhouses.
o Repeated from last year: Consider what to put in the mailboxes – laminated basic HGIC reference docs like HGIC16 – can we attach this by a chain somehow?
Pests
o Low numbers of pests in general throughout the season, probably due to deaths in the unusually cold winter and/or fluctuating spring. o In particular, we had very few cucurbit pests, which meant more cucurbit plants survived to produce (good timing for GIEI cucurbit year!). This helped our Manna poundage a lot. Some cucumber beetles, but little or no resulting bacterial wilt. Practically no squash bugs and apparently no squash vine borers.
o Japanese beetles were present at moderately high levels, causing some damage to beans and other plants, but nothing like 2013.
o Mexican bean beetles arrived late and in small numbers. o Harlequin bugs were present in low numbers, but didn’t affect even uncovered brassicas greatly. o Cabbage loopers and other caterpillars did only small damage. Covering the brassicas helped to protect against these. o Some wireworms were found in potatoes and other root crops, but at far lower numbers than in 2013.
o The strategies we’d planned for combating pests (especially cucurbit pests) didn’t need to be put into action, but we will keep them in mind for the future. These include injecting BT into squash stems against borers, and spraying kaolin clay on cucumbers and melons to keep cucumber beetles off. 2015: Maintain vigilance and combat pests as needed. Get a better sprayer for kaolin clay. Continue to use row covers early and often. Diseases
o Fungal diseases present again, due to wet spring, especially in tomatoes.
o One tomato died of southern blight, which probably came in on a purchased seedling.
o Powdery mildew infected some plants, but didn’t affect harvest much in high-producing crops. Overall low presence of disease.
o 2015: Consider prophylactic measures against fungal diseases.
2015 Crop Focus
2015 is GIEI’s Year of the Bean.
o Beans have grown well for us in the past, so we don’t anticipate huge problems aside from Japanese beetles and Mexican bean beetles, which may or may not be present in large numbers. Use vigilance. o Succession planting (and taking out plants when needed) will be a challenge. Plan a strategy ahead. Ask 100-sq-ft team for advice.
o Will need trellises for pole beans and garden space for bush types. o Research inoculants. Do phaseolus beans use a different type from other beans? We will probably use inoculants throughout if cost-effective. Comparative trials of inoculated versus non-inoculated crops are probably not reasonable because we don’t know exactly where we have grown beans before and where rhizobia are present.
o We plan to grow a wide variety of beans from all continents.
What We Grew in 2014 Note: we have taken all fruit out of our report as we now have a fruit team reporting separately.
• Perennials:
o Asparagus: Seems to be doing well. Continue same care methods.
o Jerusalem artichoke: In spring 2014 we dug up most of the JAs and transplanted the remaining ones into containers. The containers were not irrigated, and the JAs shriveled up and died. They may resurrect and if not there are still plenty in the ground (in fact we will be digging them out for years). 2015: Try again but irrigate.
o Cardoons: Last year’s plants came back despite cold winter. They flowered impressively and attracted bees. We did not harvest stalks for eating; we could do this next year, either with spring growth or fall regrowth. 2015: if the plants survive, explore recipes. If they die, consider replanting in 2016.
• Annuals:
o Beta:
• Spring beets average, not a large planting. Fall beets doing OK in raised beds.
• Chard: Still finding holes in leaves; not sure what is causing this. Row covers did not seem to help. 2015: Try in containers? o Brassicaceae:
• We grew kale, mustard greens, collards, pac choi, fall turnips and rutabaga.
• Everything that we protected with row cover did reasonably well in spring and fall.
• Cool and rainy spring and slow onset of heat meant that brassicas produced for longer into the early summer.
• Some spring kale plants lasted until fall and are still growing.
o Cucurbitaceae: We had a fantastic year. Few pest problems, low rate of disease.
• Cucumbers: Huge and regular harvests. Plants lasted until end of August. Succession planting might have yielded more, but there was no place to put them.
• Mouse melons: Great as usual.
• Melons: Better than usual – we actually harvested a few! Still need to work on melon success.
• Squash: Very productive especially Tromboncino and Costata Romanesco zucchini. Some winter squash production from Greek Sweet Red and others.
• Gourds: A volunteer gourd, probably seeded by the compost since plants came up all over, did very well. One plant yielded over a dozen enormous bottle gourds; it may have taken space away from edible crops, but it was impressive. Fuzzy gourd or mao gwa did well on a trellis, producing enough edible fruit to experiment with.
o Fabaceae:
• Bush beans: ‘Provider’ did well; purple bush bean was stifled by other plants in ground planting but did well in containers.
Pole beans: ‘Blue Lake’ produced well. ‘Speckled Cranberry’ and ‘Cherokee Trail of Tears’, grown out to dry stage, gave us plenty of seed to save and some extra for eating.
Bush limas: We had a crop! 2015: grow these again, as well as Ken Hoyle’s pole limas.
Yardlong beans: Got overwhelmed by other plants in our garden, but produced well in the children’s garden – a red type.
Hyacinth beans: Grew beautifully and produced abundantly. We read contradictory advice and didn’t know what to do with them, but an Indian volunteer with the autistic kids’ garden harvested some immature pods for personal use. 2015: Grow again. Check recipes and safety advice.
• Peas: Good spring crop thanks to cool wet weather.
• Cowpeas: Planted in summer, did very well. 2015: Grow again; make recipe sheet. • Fava beans: Planted in fall for harvest next spring, if they survive the winter. Really cold winter may kill them, but spring plantings have not worked for us before.
o Solanaceae:
• Tomatoes did poorly in 2014. Reasons uncertain: may include poor compacted soil, location by faucet and minor flood/leak, stressed seedlings, cool late spring weather, rain, disease taking advantage of weakness. Plants never thrived, lacking usual lavish growth. Some late production on some varieties; Indigo Blue Berry noted in particular. 2015: grow in different area (we always rotate anyway) – this year’s bed will be renovated with straw bales. Use stronger seedlings, put in later, take soil temperature, warm soil ahead.
• Peppers: Not great – again not sure why but maybe cool spring factored in. 2015: later planting and stronger seedlings, warm soil.
• Potatoes: Less wireworm damage than in 2013, perhaps because of earlier harvest (as well as new location). No Harvest Festival meant that we felt free to harvest earlier. Again tried second planting but didn’t get anywhere. 2015: Figure out how to get in a second planting!
• Ground cherries: Grew well, delicious. 2015: Grow again, try to give them some space.
• Wonderberry: A curiosity, but save it for the year we feature tomatoes and their relatives. Production moderate but it was hard to do anything with the little berries but eat them out of hand. Plant resembled related weeds so closely that it repeatedly barely escaped pulling by MGs (including Robin); when replanting, label prominently.
o Ipomoea: Sweet potatoes.
• Better productivity due to (Barbara K. thinks) fewer plants in bed.
• Some harvest of leaves.
• Plant in 5-gallon container, totally ignored and not irrigated, produced an astounding 6 lbs.
o Leafy greens:
• Not a focus this year.
• Lettuce in salad table, moderate harvest. The 100 sq ft garden produced majority of lettuce, gorgeous.
• Malabar spinach on trellis not too productive – overwhelmed by other plants.
• Radicchio made two harvests.
• Edible chrysanthemum grown in fall is beautiful, productive.
• 2015: try to fit in more lettuce, get recipe for chrysanthemum, give Malabar more space, emphasize lovely radicchio.
o Yacon:
As we found last year, it’s hard to get volunteers to try the tubers of this impressive plant, but we should continue to grow it because it’s unusual. We do have a recipe.
o Roselle hibiscus:
Attractive plant, good conversation starter, more of our volunteers are becoming interested in using it for tea. Leaves also edible; the Indian visitor noted above took some for a chutney loved by South Indians.