Go Gator Nation!

I visited my Alma mater last week as part of a job interview for Hillsborough county environmental horticulture extension agent. Which is an off-campus faculty member for UF. It is also nice to get another national championship title and have our star quarterback returning next year! I love to go to the Univ. of FL to see what has changed. I got to interview with some of the professors that taught me. It was a good experience. I also visited the student organic gardens next to Lake Alice and the Bat House. I arrived at the gardens at about 7:30 am and it was about 35 degrees F. But is was really nice to see what is growing out there. I saw some beautiful broccoli, cabbage, and a giant red mustard. I am going to try to grow some of those things at my farm. I also was able to break a piece of sugarcane off to grow out at my farm. I also picked some asparagus seeds and some dried luffa seeds. I will just play with them at the farm to see how they do. I also caught up with some advisers and I was introduced to a new professor, Dr. Danielle Treadwell. She spent a good while with me discussing organic vegetables and sustainability which is her area of expertise. I got some good ideas from her and a good bit of information which I will add to the next few posts just to spread it out.

I have ordered our seeds from Johhny's and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. I am already looking forward to try out some new things and some new cultivars. I have also planted our some of our red onions and red potatoes this week. I have also planted some more mustard, kale, romaine lettuce (just to use up the seeds), and some butterhead lettuce.

This is a list of National resources from Dr. Treadwell of the University of Florida:

AFSIC. Alternative Farming Systems Information Center. http://afsic.nal.usda.gov/
The sustainable agriculture component of the National Agriculture Library.

ATTRA .(Formerly Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas and now known as the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service) website: http://www.attra.org/
This site is sponsored by the USDA, and contains a wealth of information on sustainable agriculture, including organic production. Visit the pest management database (see below)

IFOAM International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements. http://www.ifoam.org/
The premier international body of organic agriculture professionals. They publish an annual report on global organic statistics and provide guidance to certifying agencies world-wide.

National Organic Program. http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/indexIE.htm
This site has information for consumers and growers on organic production in the US, including a complete copy of the standards.

NCAT Organic Crops Workbook. http://www.blogger.com/TALKS_2007/GardensGroves_BrevardCo_March31_07/www.attra.ncat.org
In collaboration with ATTRA, a very helpful workbook that guides producers through the process of certification, including creating an organic system plan for your operation.

OFRF Organic Farming Research Foundation http://www.ofrf.org/
From California, this non-profit organization serves the national organic community by providing research updates and grower survey results. They also offer small grants to growers for on-farm research projects.

SARE Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education http://www.sare.org/
SARE is a federally-funded program administered regionally in the U.S. The educational outreach component of SARE is SAN (Sustainable Agriculture Network). They have several online books that are very popular (see below)

Soil Quality Institute. http://soils.usda.gov/sqi/soil_quality/what_is/sqiinfo.html This website features information sheets on a variety of soil quality topics from the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS)

Getting Ready!

We are making preparations for the next crop of summer vegetables. We pretty much keep growing right through fall into late summer. But I like to think of having two seasons. A winter and a summer crop. We will be planting peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, carrots, some Chinese vegetables, sweet potatoes, and regular potatoes. We will be trying a few odds and ends to see what might work well here. I need to make a few seed orders. We will also try out some southern peas this year. Our onions are almost ready and we will plant them with the red potatoes that Jenn bought at the store. I will wait a few days until the moon phase changes to a waning moon before I plant them.

I ate the first loquat (Japanese plum) today. The plants are about three years old. I planted them when Anna was born to celebrate her birth. This is the first crop on them. I think I was a little to excited to see the loquat yellow. I should have waited another few days before I picked it. It was a bit sour. I am amazed at how fragrant the inflorescence are. There are quite a few flowers on the tree. There was an uneven bloom this year due to the temperature. So we have fruit that is almost ripe and we have flowers just opening. The trees are evergreen and virtually pest free. The fruits are yellowy orange, sweet and have a few seeds in the center. That is how these trees were started. You can eat the skin but need to spit out the seeds.

The loquat tree

The loquat flowers

The unripe fruit and leaves of the loquat.

A new year!

We have officially finished our second year in transition and are beginning our third and final. I am looking forward to when we will be USDA certified organic. Our crops are doing as good to be expected with 80 degree winter days and 60 degree nights. Our tomato, pepper, and eggplant starts are doing well and are almost pulling from the trays. I just might plant them in the field instead of pots in the greenhouse. We are harvesting mustards, collards, arugula, herbs (cilantro, mint, oregano, parsley), carrots, and oranges.

I am not too proud of our cover crops this year. We tried a fall mix from Johnny's seeds which contained clover, rye, rye grass, peas, and vetch. We also tried a clover mix. Neither one did as well as the rye grass from last year. I think that they needed more heat to grow better. Maybe I should have planted them earlier in the fall. The clover is starting to grow a little better now but is being outpaced by the weeds that exist.

Fall mix cover crop.

Crimson clover cover crop.

I have added the moon phase to the blog. My brother asked me what does the moon have to do with gardening? There are a few things that I have learned from the moon phases. The moon obviously affects the tides. I am sure that it will affect the water under ground and how far that water will move via capillary action with gravitational pull of the moon. This is some speculation on my part but is not substantiated with data. I will try to find this. I do know that the cold fronts always seem to arrive around the full moon. I also know that lore says that you plant fruiting and above ground crops on an increasing moon (waxing). They also would plant root crops or underground crops with a diminishing moon (waning). I hope this helps some with your gardening/farming.