Corn

La milpa from joe b on Vimeo.

Drying Herbs

When I have excess fresh herbs from my garden, I like to dry them and save them for the winter.  Harvesting is the first step in the process, much time can be saved by using appropriate techniques.  The best time to harvest most herbs is when the herbs have long stems with lots of large developed leaves on them.  The longer the stem, generally the easier it is to remove the leaves from the stem once dried.  It is important to harvest before the main stem starts growing smaller stems; the extra stems are harder to remove.  Remove distressed leaves while harvesting to save work later.

As soon as possible after harvesting, rinse the herbs under running cold water.  A quick pre-soak will clean up more dusty herbs very nicely.  To be extra green, save the wash water to use for irrigating later.  Give your herbs a good shake and then arrange them in a colander, or drying rack with lots of room for air flow.  In a few hours when your herbs are completely free of the rinse water, arrange them into bundles and tie them with string or ribbons. As the herbs dry you may have to retie them to keep the bundle together.  Hang these bundles in a cool dry dust-free place for a few days or weeks until the leaves are dry and fall off easily.

To remove the leaves,  hold the herbs over a large cookie sheet or baking dish with a lip.  Grab the stem of the herb with one hand and with the other, pinch the stem and slide your fingers down to the other end.  The leaves should fall right off.  As you work, pick out any stems that make it into the cookie sheet.  When you are finished, put the leaves in a jar and label it.  These little herb jars make great gifts.

Transplanting

Transplanting is a basic gardening skill, that takes little more to master than a loving touch and common sense.  A few things will help you in your transplanting.

– Water is very important to plants; make sure to water them as soon as possible after transplanting.

– Dirt is your friend; use some dirt to make a little bowl around your plant so the water soaks in by the roots.

– Roots are fragile and easily disturbed; try not to break up the root ball of your starts when planting.

– Sunlight is food; plant your starts in the morning of a day that is going to be sunny to give them a good first day in the ground.

– Timing is everything, most plants have seasons that they prefer to grow in so make sure you are giving your plant what it wants.

– Some plants prefer direct seeding; try to honor this.

– Plants love to be loved; check on your starts every day for the first few days after transplant.

Basil Planting from joe b on Vimeo.

Garden Pigeons

We have a flock of resident pigeons that live in or near the Beach Flats Garden.  Though they are not actually natives, we welcome them into the garden to join the plants, insects, humans, and gophers that reside here.  Daily, Don Domingo throws out corn rice and other grains for them.  Most are a shimmery green gray, but some are white, or brown,  Domingo calls the brown ones canela, or cinnamon.

Turning the land

Before planting your garden for the season, it is essential that you work your soil well.  Turning the dirt in your parcel will aerate the soil, and soften it so the roots of your plant can grow more easily.  When you turn your soil you can dig in compost, manure, fertilizer etc.  This video shows us turning the soil in our parcel.

Turning the Soil from joe b on Vimeo.

Domingo’s Garden Video

This is another video about the Garden made by UCSC students.