eNewsletter #10, April 20, 2000

Dear Gardener,

For those of you where Spring is warming up, we hope your gardening season is fully underway and that you enjoy having your hands once again in the soil with the sun on your back...

Our New Mexico farm is in full activity with over a thousand varieties in various stages of germination and growth. See our farm manager's report below.

Last call for Seedling Orders. While we have sold out a few, we still have plenty of seedlings we can ship you. We have knocked 20% off the price of a few overstocked seedlings...the rest are 5% off our catalog price when purchased on our website (see below).

We urge you to join us in celebrating and participating in Earth Day in your community! For further information on where to go and what to do on Earth Day, visit the Earth Day website.

Dave Smith, Editor

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In this issue...

• Our Spring Farm Report
• Physician to Plants - a garden story
• More Garden Tips from our eGroup forum
• Is Organic food more nutritious?
• Oldways Preservation Trust/Chef's Collaborative
• Seed Donation Story
• Our Spring Farm Report

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Hello from Rancho La Paz,
the Seeds of Change Research Farm in Northern New Mexico...

Cover crops greening the landscape, tulips in bloom, and buds popping on fruit trees signal the beginning of another spring. Here in northern New Mexico, spring temperatures can fluctuate from the mid 80's to freezing with chances of snow and thunderstormsÉor brilliant blue sky. Peas and spinach, which don't mind a cold snap, are already planted and coming up in the field. Perennial plants are putting on new growth with the promise of another year's bloom. Beets, which spent the winter under a cover of clear plastic, are now deliciously sweet and reminding us of the returns our investment in the garden can bring. With a smile I look forward to another season as farm manager at the Seeds of Change Research Farm. We have a solid staff of gardeners dedicated to discovery and learning. This year's core staff includes: newcomer Mark Bibbo, who studied and taught in the Agroecology Department, University of California, Santa Cruz, and most recently ran a demonstration garden with the San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners (SLUG); Emily, an avid Permaculture gardener and experienced seed cleaner; and Joe, a native New Mexican who has been gardening since he was able to walk, keeps our sense of humor alive, and is an incredible jack of all trades.

Tending the soil is the first step. Most of our vetch and rye cover crops are reaching knee high and ready to be mowed and incorporated into the garden. Annual wheelbarrow loads of compost are also being spread on each of our beds to provide well-balanced nutrition. We try to work up as much of our ground as possible by hand with digging forks, which have less impact on soil structure and soil organisms than rototillers or plows. Although we won't begin transplanting until late May, we like to work up our ground well enough in advance so that spring weed seedlings can germinate before we plant. When we are ready to plant we will hula hoe out the first round of weed seedlings and plant into a clean slate.

Our irrigation water comes from an acequia (ditch) diverted from the Rio Grande river. This time of year crews of people can be seen working together cleaning out the local ditches preparing for opening of the floodgates. In this agricultural community there is a sense of interdependence. It is everyone's responsibility to help maintain the extensive system of acequias here in New Mexico that connects each farm border to the next.

This year our research trials will include over 1,000 varieties of vegetables, herbs and flowers. We are growing all of our own varieties to ensure our open-pollinated lines of seed are pure and to record more information about how they grow and what they require in the garden. In addition, many varieties from other seed companies will be grown to check that the seed selections we offer are as good as or better than others on the market. As well, we always satisfy our own love of gardening by growing new and unusual varieties from around the world in search of future favorites. Evaluating this many varieties requires everyone involved keeping their eyes open and minds attentive to detail. Information gathering has already begun. Days from seeding to emergence, uniformity of plant varieties, and vigor of seedlings are some of the characteristics we are taking notes of at this stage of growth.

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Our more tender plants are being started in the greenhouse to get a jump on the season. The greenhouse is already full of onions, tomatoes, chiles, brassicas, flowers, and herbs. Healthy organic seedlings come from starting with quality seeds, healthy soil, and careful attention. We feed our seedlings by including well-aged compost in our seedling mix and spraying seedlings with Maxicrop, a seaweed based product rich in micronutrients. In addition, this year we are experimenting with inoculations of endomicorhyzae which are strains of soil fungi that form a symbiotic relationship with plants and can dramatically aid in nutrient uptake, drought tolerance and disease suppression. We are trying a commercially available spore formulation of micorhyzae, which is sprinkled into each seedling tray at the time of planting.

Starting seeds is exciting and rewarding. In a world of instant gratification, however, it is an act that requires patience. I've met many good gardeners who shy away from starting their own seeds and opt for purchasing seedlings. I encourage everyone to keep trying some seed starting at home. Starting seeds builds your confidence as a gardener, enables growing varieties not available as seedlings, and is an important step in the participation of securing good seed stock for future generations. Starting seeds successfully has more to do with discovering what nature intended than anything else. I'm always amazed that if supplied with proper light, nutrients, water and a little care, they usually grow. If some don't make it, I do more research and try again. If seeds need cold to germinate, placing them in the refrigerator is easy. Some may need the seed surface scratched to allow water absorption, or simply more time for those that are slow germinators. Starting seeds only requires finding out what they need and supplying it. Over the years the beauty of witnessing the emergence of new seedlings and the excitement of seeing them grow into mature plants and trees makes it all worth the effort.

Meanwhile, we are happy to supply you with seedlings grown from our own seeds.

Plant on with a smile...
Micaela Colley, Farm Manager
and the staff of the Seeds of Change Research Farm

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Physician to Plants - a garden story

There was something I never understood about Dad. As a child, I knew his patients loved him....But I never realized what most of his appeal was until the evening I just happened to be playing behind the honeysuckle vines when he came down to his vegetable garden. For the rest of the story...

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More Garden Tips from our Seeds of Change eGroup Forum

"I had several new starts nibbled to the ground by rabbits last year, until I tried a very simple thing. I use square foot gardening and every four foot square is marked off. I put string around stakes at the four corners of the square to make an outline of the square. Then I tied rags every couple of feet on the string. The rags blow in the wind because only one end is secured to the string. I guess the movement scares the rabbits. It sounds too simple, but it worked for me." - Jim

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"II grew up with a deer problem in Washington state. I would strongly recommend a very tall fence. Nothing else will be very effective. They will eat lots of things... they will ignore your clover bait when they find the other goodies you've planted. They can be deterred from fruit trees by hanging bars of Irish Spring soap on a string...my parents also tried sacks of bloodmeal. I don't remember if that worked. Another solution you might consider is keeping a reasonable size dog. If you put a doghouse near the garden, and you can train it not to run through sensitive areas, it might be very effective. But it's a chancy bet. The citrus hedge is a good idea if it gets to at least six feet and doesn't have any breaks... it sounds like a lot of work. The only sure solution is a fence. You may come to it after years of heartbreak from deer destroying your garden. My parents finally put in a tall fence this year... after 25 years! My mom is so excited to plant now that she doesn't have to worry anymore." - Hans

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"The only success that I have had is with a fence. What I call a "unjumpable fence"...I saw it first in a electric fence catalog. Rather than being built straight up and down like a regular fence it is built on a slant. It confuses deer that have poor depth perspective and they will not jump over it. I think that the fence was 8 -10 ft tall and 6 ft across and could be electrified." - Flo

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As far as deer go, I have found they love daylillies. I have them all over the yard, and they come and browse freely but rarely touch anything else. I see several family groups on a regular basis each evening, and although I grow lots of flowers and vegetables, I fence nothing. Once in a while they nibble on my irises and hyacinths, which I prefer they not touch. If it gets too frequent (I am assuming an individual deer may develop a taste for them), then I sprinkle pepper around them. That seems to resolve it.

My deer seem to walk right over spinach, greens, tomatoes, carrots, beets, dahlias, etc; all in order to eat the daylilly greens. My daylillies flower hardly at all, as all of their energy is dedicated to growing from the ground up each day. They are literally eaten right to the earth. Because there are so many different patches of them, they only feast on one patch each time they visit and seem to understand rotation eating!

Last fall, I planted probably one hundred ornamental lillies. As I write this, I wonder if I have opened a Pandora's box and perhaps it isn't just daylillies that are a delicacy to my deer--perhaps they will like all lillies! oh no...." - Barb

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Did anyone see the article in Prevention mag. this month about the Genetically engineered food? It is scary to think how much we are eating already, and some of the effects this food has had on rats. I am so glad I grow my own. My Grandpa has always said that open pollinated food is better nutritionally. He was a farmer all his life and grew corn to feed his sheep. He switched to open pollinated one year and he said by feeding his sheep the usual amount the sheep got fat, he had to cut back on the amout of corn. So he realized that the open pollinated provided more to his sheep than the other." - MAX

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Is Organic Food More Nutritious?

Over a 2 yr period, organically and conventionally grown apples, potatoes, pears, wheat, and sweet corn were purchased in the western suburbs of Chicago and analyzed for mineral content... See story.

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Oldways Preservation Trust

If you've ever wondered how some of the world's healthiest and best-tasting foods are offered in your favorite restaurants, it's not by accident. The Oldways Preservation Trust's stated goals are that people adopt healthful diets based on traditional healthy cuisines from around the world and use foods grown in environmentally sustainable ways. They were the ones who released their innovative Diet Pyramids (see website link above) and founded the Chefs Collaborative 2000 which promotes sustainable cuisine by teaching children, supporting local farmers, educating one another, and inspiring the public to choose good, clean food.

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Seed Donation Story (Photos by Joseph Desciose)

Enclosed please find slides taken at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's annual Harvest Fair. In addition to a flower and vegetable contests, we had tables with gardening and composting information, on-the-spot pH testing, and of course, wonderful free seeds from you(two packs per person).

We distribute your seeds to Brooklyn community gardeners of all ages. With so little green open space (but so many vacant lots), and with such a lack of commitment from the city, your seeds give a big boost to struggling gardens.

Our purpose at Brooklyn GreenBridge, the community horticulture program of Brooklyn Botanic Garden, is to provide technical assistance and resources throughout the borough. We work with block associations, community centers, schools, libraries, and over 100 community gardens to promote conservation and community through gardening. A small non-profit ourselves, we must often look to others to help us assist gardens.

The herb and flower seeds you included along with the vegetables were a big hit. Thanks so much.

Julie Warsowe
Community Horticulture Program Manager
Brooklyn GreenBridge