Water Use and Soil Surveys

On July 27th, Ed talked to us about drip irrigation materials and methods. He mentioned the WUCOLS, which is the "Water Use Classification of Landscape Species." You can look up the water use data for your plants in our region, published by the University of California Extension.

On August 3rd, Garrett talked to us about soil care and chemistry. He mentioned the USDA Soil Survey, which you can use to find the soil type and characteristics found in your own yard.

Good Bugs / Bad Bugs

Learn which bugs to keep around and which bugs to evict from your garden. Sometimes the ugly ones (like ladybug larvae and centipedes) are the good guys who defend your plants from pests. And sometimes the pretty ones (like the harlequin beetle) are the ones munching your veggies!

Bill Maynard talked about some of these at the crop swap this evening, and showed us an illustrated identification card from Mac's Field Guide. You can get a full-color, laminated guide from Amazon for five bucks.

June 6 Crop Swap

The first official Oak Park Crop Swap of the season commenced on June 6th. We had a fantastic turn out and would like to thank all the new growers who came for the first time! The specific tally will be up on the website soon- but your neighbors grew and traded over 40 lbs of produce! That's impressive considering the unusual weather we had in June.

Pesticide Watch organized a viewing of Food Inc. at the Crest theater this past Friday, this documentary demonstrates many problems with our food system. Specifically that lack of control farmers have over what they grow and how that can endanger our food security. This is a huge problem and it is hard to know what we as individuals can do to solve it. At the Crop Swap our answer is to grow our own food, in our own yards and trade with our neighbors for what we can't grow ourselves.

Some members of the Crop Swap are taking this a step further and saving seeds and preserving their harvests. One member brought chipotle peppers that he smoked himself. Many members brought herbs that can be dried and used later in the year. Finally one member brought onion seed pods- saving seeds protects the diversity of our crops and allows us to have some control over our food supply!

Tomatoes on the way...

The tomatoes are following my little plan without much intervention. In the last month they have grown up to the poultry fencing and, with a little manipulation, latched onto it.

The Stupice (right) and Paul Robeson (front) plants already have extensive fruit set on widely branched, three-to-four foot vines. The Pearson (left), which I just learned is a determinate, has just put out its first fruit and is growing a bit more slowly. And the Garden Peach (back), which are the only plants I started from seed, are just putting out their flowers.

I've got basil growing in between the plants to ward off pests (and eat with the tomatoes!) The Italian Basil on the right has done much better than the Sweet Basil on the left...

Installing Raised Beds- NeighborWorks Week!

The Oak Park Crop Swap teamed up NeighborWorks HomeOwnership Center Sacramento Region, during NeighborWorks Week this past Saturday, to install raised beds for a neighbor who needs a little help getting started.

Installing raised beds may seem like a difficult and expensive project, however one of the Crop Swap Members came up with a great idea. He figured out a way to construct a raised bed for around $25.00 (not including the cost of the soil and plants). We'll be posting a material list and directions in the next few weeks.


This past Saturday eight members of the Crop Swap gathered on a beautiful sunny day to construct 4 large raised beds and two small raised beds for a neighbor. The construction leader Chuck made the job easy for the group. He assembled three raised beds before we arrived and had the materials cut and ready for the other three. Chuck designed the beds out of redwood fencing material.



We loaded our truck full of gardening supplies and building supplies: 2 wheelbarrows, tables, shovels, sawhorses, plywood and of course plants. The plants were donated by Soil Born Farm. Thanks Soil Born Farm!

While we were getting set up the volunteers with tucks went to get two loads of soil mix. When they returned the rest of us had to get busy. The boxes were assembled, positioned into place and filled with soil, then the starts were planted.



Before nothing but lawn:

































After: A beautiful raised bed garden that will be easy to maintain!















This was a great project and really shows how much can be accomplished in a short time when neighbors work together. Volunteers got some exercise, our neighbor a garden and the Crop Swap gained a new member! Thanks to everyone who volunteered on Saturday!

Bring on the tomatoes!

Something about the soil in our garden turns tomato plants into raging beasts. They end up as 10' x 10' mats of tendrils, covering whatever was unlucky enough to be planted nearby.

I'm trying something new this year--no more laissez faire tomato gardening, with tomato vines sprawling all over the place. I've made a sort of uber-cage for all four of my tomatoes. It's about 8' x 8', and has chickenwire (or "poultry-fencing," as my coworker insists it is properly called) to about 5 feet in height. I've got plants in each of the four corners, and I intend to train all of the vines up onto the wire.



Right now the cage is filled with pride and optimism. Once it fills up with the full weight of four unruly tomatoes, we'll see how this idea actually turns out...

How do you manage your tomatoes? Leave a comment. Predictions of how my uber-cage will fall short are also welcome (especially now, when it's not too late to make adjustments!)

Legalize Chickens in Sacramento!

Happy Earth Day!

Some Members of the Oak Park Crop Swap gathered at McClatchy Park yesterday to support a press conference to legalize hens in Sacramento. Hens make a great addition to your garden. They eat your kitchen scraps, provide free fertilizer for your garden, eat bugs and best of all provide eggs!

Some of our local Council Members stopped by to learn more about the benefits of backyard hens. Lauren Hammond and Rob Fong had an opportunity to see what all the fuss was about and visit the chicks pictured below who also made a special appearance! The support from our Council Members is very much appreciated!

While we have some support there is a lot of work that still has to be done to get the law changed in Sacramento. To learn more about changing this outdated law please visit this website: www.eatsacramento.org.

In the meantime the weather is getting hot! Now is a great time to be working on your garden- tomatoes love the heat!