Today was the last of 3 Saturdays that I have spent at the Marana Heritage Farm. I have completed the necessary workshops to apply for the Community Cultivators Program at the Marana Farm. This program is an 18 month program where participants are given a quarter of an acre to farm and sell the veggies at the Farmer's Market. Due to time restraints and distance of travel, I will not be involved in this program at this time.
The Marana Farm has full time staff involved in composting, vermiculture (worm composting), teen farming program, volunteer coordinator, and Monday Evening Farmer's Market. It is a very active place. I learned more than I expected. Here is what I remember off the top of my head:
(1) G&M have good gardening supplies
(2)ARBICO has excellent organic products to improve your soil and deter pests
(3) Fish emulsion is good for soil and nitrogen levels
(4)D.E. is good to put on plants to hurt bad bugs by cutting their bodies with the little shards of rock.
(4) The sea shell type things I find in my soil is actually larvae to the tomato horn worm. I HATE that caterpillar. Destroys my tomatoes every year. But not anymore now that I know what it is.
(5) Some purslane is better to eat than others but I can't tell the difference at this point. All tastes good to me.
(6)Burmuda grass is evil unless you want to feed it to livestock, then it is a cheap source of food.
(7) You can eat most weeds. Purslane, prickly pear, amaranth, mustard weed. I didn't think prickly pears were a weed either, but they are according to the book Weeds of the West. Awesome book, btw.
(8) Vermiculture (worm composting) is the way to go when gardening on a small scale. Keep moist or they die.
(9) Making your soil is the most important thing when growing food. The better your soil is, the better your veggies will be.
(10) EM from ARBICO is lots of good bacteria that eat the bad stuff. Put this in your soil for best results.
I'm exhausted from being in the sun today. My thoughts are random but at least I got it on paper for now. And sadly, no pictures. Perhaps some day I will be a better blogger but for now, this will do.
The Marana Farm has full time staff involved in composting, vermiculture (worm composting), teen farming program, volunteer coordinator, and Monday Evening Farmer's Market. It is a very active place. I learned more than I expected. Here is what I remember off the top of my head:
(1) G&M have good gardening supplies
(2)ARBICO has excellent organic products to improve your soil and deter pests
(3) Fish emulsion is good for soil and nitrogen levels
(4)D.E. is good to put on plants to hurt bad bugs by cutting their bodies with the little shards of rock.
(4) The sea shell type things I find in my soil is actually larvae to the tomato horn worm. I HATE that caterpillar. Destroys my tomatoes every year. But not anymore now that I know what it is.
(5) Some purslane is better to eat than others but I can't tell the difference at this point. All tastes good to me.
(6)Burmuda grass is evil unless you want to feed it to livestock, then it is a cheap source of food.
(7) You can eat most weeds. Purslane, prickly pear, amaranth, mustard weed. I didn't think prickly pears were a weed either, but they are according to the book Weeds of the West. Awesome book, btw.
(8) Vermiculture (worm composting) is the way to go when gardening on a small scale. Keep moist or they die.
(9) Making your soil is the most important thing when growing food. The better your soil is, the better your veggies will be.
(10) EM from ARBICO is lots of good bacteria that eat the bad stuff. Put this in your soil for best results.
I'm exhausted from being in the sun today. My thoughts are random but at least I got it on paper for now. And sadly, no pictures. Perhaps some day I will be a better blogger but for now, this will do.
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