Soil & Compost

I've heard many times that the key to a successful garden is great soil. Good dirt is like a bank account- you have to keep making deposits. When I started the garden I had the misperception that once you buy good soil your garden for the rest of the garden's life. With some of the plants not thriving as I had hoped over the summer, decided it best to spend the last six weeks amending the soil and holding off on planting anything else until September. The whole process started with my friend Georgie helping me dig up all the garden beds a foot deep to break up the soil. It was not pretty.

hopefully won't have to buy too much more of this...

Added this too and some blocks of coconut core for water retention along with worm castings- since everyone thinks they're the absolute ultimate for boosting your soil.

Kate gave me a great tip- City of Santa Barbara sells compost buckets for $40 at the dump.

I was a little hesistant to start a compost since my last experience with composting was sullied by a stinky dirt pile that smelled like a garbage pit and was crawling with pests- it was my roomate's project and made me a skeptical composter ever since. However; since I've dropped way too much money on buying dirt, compost and other soil boosters- I decided to give it a run. Mine is still brewing- so far no big stink, rats, or major yuck. Here's some tips that helped me....

:: chop up everything small- it will compost faster. Don't throw big things in there because it will take too long to digest. I've heard of people even having a composting blender

:: algae and seaweed are great addition if you live by the sea

:: to start your compost, add some of a friend's compost (who you trust)- it will help speed up the process

:: it needs a diet of green (nitrogen-rich) & brown (carbon-rich) materials. GREEN includes: veggie/fruit scraps, rice, pasta, egg shells, tea bags, yard greens, hair (it has lots of nitrogen) BROWN: compostable napkins, paper, dried leaves, twigs, etc. Your compost should be 2 to 3 parts brown waste to 1 part green waste

:: DON'T compost sauces, meat, fish, dairy, weeds, citrus peels, ashes or any plants in your garden that are diseased or aren't growing well- you don't want to propogate that.

:: stir your compost-it needs oxygen. I use a small pitchfork. Add some water if it seems too dry- it should feel like a damp towel.

:: your compost will be ready anywhere from 6 wks to 6 months- depending on how great your mixture is. Put your bin in the sun to get the compost cooking- optimum temperature is 90-135 degrees F!

:: finished compost should be half of what you started with but denser and richer. Add finished compost to your garden 2-4 weeks before you plant to give it time to integrate with the soil.

summer garden

heirloom tomatoes

lavender

cherry tomatoes and potted things

The funky weather this summer hasn't been great for growing things. The cherry tomatoes were a success, but many things didn't grow as well as I had hoped. Looking forward to fall planting!

basil.

Ricki from South Africa

perfect summer evening: flatbread pizza, vino and good company.

time for oils and elephants...

This was an elephant I saw while visiting the Angkor Wat temples in Siem Reap, Cambodia on my birthday.

Almost any time I paint anything- it involves the sea, swimming, or surfing. I decided to pick a subject that didn't involve water. Also decided I wanted to try oils instead of acrylics... we'll see how it goes.

lettuce and herbs....

This basil was from the farmers market- we transplanted it. Although it looks nice here, we ended up pulling it out because Meg tried to cook with it and it was disgusting.

little herb patch- thyme, cilantro, sage, parsley & dill.

Here's the plants I bought at ACE before they went in the ground.

that's some good dirt.

lettuce patch. From the back: Romaine, butter lettuce, arugula, spinach in the front row (not pictured.)

planted herbs and poppies in the cinder blocks.

lavender by the door.

Peas...

borrowed a staple gun from Gino to put up the trellis netting for the peas to climb.

Strawberries!

This is the garden gate. I finished putting the mulch up to the door, but had ran out when I took this photo.

Planted six strawberry plants in these cinder blocks- they're pictured above as you enter the gate. Apparently strawberries like to grow in pots.

Put a pot under the table...

put a strawberry in it. Strawberries grow year round here.

Tips for growing strawberries...

• Bees carry more pollen to strawberry blossoms than the wind- so try to attract bees to your garden. more pollen= bigger berries.
• Strawberries should not be planted where tomatoes, eggplant raspberries or potatoes have grown since these plants can harbor verticillium- a bad disease for strawberries.
• They need good drainage, sun and prefer sandy, nutrient rich soil
• All varieties of strawberries have the same care/planting procedure but vary in sweetness and harvest time. A few of the best-tasting, disease-resistant June bearers are "earligrow," "tristar," and "jewel."
• If you're planting them as perennials pinch off all the flowers and runners the first year- this will ensure your berries develop a good root system.

Lanterns.

The garden lantern idea is from Apartment Therapy (http://www.apartmentherapy.com/) a great blog about home design. Meg found these mason jars at the Junk Store in Carp.

Loop the wire around the top and make a hook.

Fill partway with sand and drop a tea light inside. This sand is kind of special because it's from Hammonds, my favorite place to be in Santa Barbara.

This is a lame picture because they look much better when its dark, they're lit and you're actually there. We had a big garden feast- we lit all the lanterns, roasted a chicken, pulled out all the tables and improvised seating we could find. There was plenty of friends and even more food and the whole affair wouldn't have been nearly as magical or possible without the lanterns.