Magnolia Manor Park P-Patch has grown into a crazy quilt of color and textures over the first four months it has existed. As variable as the fruits, flowers and vegetables are so are the growing methods being used by Magnolia’s new gardening corps.
Sharon Knoll, one of those who built the p-patch from scratch, immediately took to soil amendment as the key to her success. Soon after the plots were assigned, Knoll was seen on her hands and knees doing a soil overhaul on every inch of her large plot.
“Soil fertility is vital to life and to society. My plot had a lot of traffic going over it as we were building. The soil had been neglected for many years. The only thing that made sense to me was digging at least a foot to 18 inches down to loosen the clay, mixing in the leaf mold we had available,” she said.
This method is similar to the French intensive double-digging, a gardening technique used to increase soil drainage and aeration: You loosen layers of soil and add organic matter to foster healthy, vibrant plants in a small space with less water.
An experiment in growing
Anna Welland reports on the science experiment going on: the Urban Pollination Project. “The bees are not the only things buzzing around the p-patch. You will see us out in the garden whacking a tuning fork and waving it around the flowers on our tomato plants!”
The “citizen scientists” received three tomato plants: one caged with netting so no pollinators could access the flowers, one uncaged and left alone and the last also uncaged but grown with the tuning fork technique.
“The theory is that a tuning fork will create the same vibration as the buzzing bumblebee wings, which cause the pollen to release and pollinate the flower; and, that’s how we get tomatoes,” Welland explained.
Growers will record the number of fruits for each plant and measure the volume of fruit from each. The Urban Pollinator Project will use the data to determine how pollination works.
Following the elements
Karen Anderson designed her garden using Vastu principles (East Indian feng shui). Each area of her plot represents one of the five elements (earth, water, fire, air and space). The belief is that when these elements are balanced in a garden the plants will be stronger and healthier.
The northeast portion of her plot corresponds to the “water” element, and coincidentally, the water faucet was already placed in that northeast corner. She also planted a white eggplant and a white lupine in this area — white and water correspond.
The northwest area relates to the “air” element, which encourages cross-pollination. She placed blue or purple plants in that corner, as well as a garden decoration with symbols of a butterfly, a bird and a bell, which all relate to the “air” element.
The southeast portion represents the “fire” element and is the best area to encourage disease-free plants that are red or orange, which is where she planted her tomatoes.
The southwest area corresponds to the “earth” element, which is associated with the color yellow. She planted sunflowers and crookneck squash there.
A gardener’s cup of tea
Michael Wade makes compost tea.
The compost tea is made in a 22-gallon brewer, which has brewed “many batches of incredible plant fertilizer, bringing near-dead plants to life, producing huge leaves and blooms on anything,” he said.
“I have a huge worm composter, which gets a constant supply of organic material from our kitchen and yard — coffee grounds, banana peels, eggshells, newspaper, you name it — and gets turned into worm castings. These castings are the key to a good compost tea,” he explained.
He said that it could be sprayed “on anything and everything that is considered a plant, or just use as a root drench if trying to revive a troubled plant. I have noticed over the years it has helped with fungal and insect problems, most notably black spot on roses.”
Another experiment is growing in straw bales, which Mike and Larry Bosi are trying. Mike reports the process is easy: “Obtain organic straw bales. Tie strings on side (straw will drain water faster this way) or strings on top (water holds in straw better) depending on which drainage you want. Soak bales for three to four days to start the heating process. Place organic fertilizer in the middle of the bales to accelerate composting. (I poured compost tea on them and followed with liquid fish fertilizer). Keep moist, and keep checking temperature in middle.”
After a week or so, the temperature will go down, Mike said, and you can plant.
“I have the Urban Pollination Project tomatoes planted in mine. I grabbed handfuls of moist straw out of the middle, placed a large handful of worm castings in and planted. Finish off with some compost, and then you can place loose straw over top,” he said.
It’s all part of the growing season at the Magnolia P-Patch. Visitors are welcome to drop by and visit.
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