Clearing Beds and Fall Planting

For a winter harvest, plant brussel sprouts, lettuce, chard, kale, beets, parsnips, turnips, carrots, spinach, and bok choy in the late summer or early fall.  As tomato plants are removed, cut them up into pieces and spread over raised beds as mulch for the incoming plants.

Hummingbird Food

Perfect Hummer Food Recipe

Hummer Food Recipe:

• One part sugar to four parts water - stir until sugar is dissolved.

  • Measure examples:

  • One cup of sugar to four cups of water

  • 3/4 cup sugar to 3 cups water

  • 1/2 cup sugar to 2 cups of water.

• Bring solution to a boil to kill bacteria and slow spoilage - allow to cool.

• Fill feeders just enough for a day or two of use. Extra solution may be refrigerated if used within one week.

If feeders are cleaned and filled with freshly-made, hot water, sugar solution every day, then it may not be necessary to bring the solution to a boil. If you plan to store solution for two or more days, boiling is a must. Adding red food-dye coloring is unnecessary. The red on a feeder is enough to attract hummers. DO NOT USE HONEY as this can kill hummingbirds.

information taken from:
http://www.audubon.org/local/sanctuary/kernriver/hummer_feeding.htm

Compost

Free Compost:

The Berkeley Gardens Collaborative will deliver high quality compost to any co-op. The contact information is:

Berkeley Community Gardening Collaborative
P.O. Box 2801
Berkeley, CA 94702
510.883.9096

They don’t deliver in the winter so be sure to store up some in late fall.

Worm Tea and Juice

To make worm tea, put one part worm castings to 10 parts water in a jar or spray bottle. Let the mixture steep for awhile before using. You can use a cheesecloth to strain the castings and other debris from the mixture. To make worm juice drain liquid from the worm bin spigot. It is okay to add water to the top of the worm bin and allow it to percolate through for the purpose of collecting worm juice. The purpose of the very bottom layer of the Wriggly Wranch Worm Bin is to collect this drainage. Put the worm juice in a jar or spray bottle and dilute with water as needed. In either case, remember to label the jar!

BSC Garden Funding

Important info from old blog:
http://hipgarden.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html

Funding for Coop Gardens:

How can you get money for your garden from the BSC? The best way is to get it through HAPS or HLBAPS. Talk to Wes at Central Maintenance about the necessary forms. They both need to be approved by your house, so put it on the agenda early in the semester. I estimate that $600/semester and $400/summer is appropriate.

Big Projects:

The best way to get a large project done in your garden in by using HI (house improvement) hours. Most coops have a 4 hr/semester requirement. This is a good way to tackle a large task (irrigation, tool shed, etc.) and teach others about gardening.

Vermiculture Q&A

Dear Alex,

I am gonna set up a worm compost for my house this week and I was hoping you could give me a couple pointers. Do you know any place that sells composting systems? Or instructions online or somethings? What about the worms...? Thanks!

j

Dear j,

You can get a discounted worm bin through the County of Alameda through the website below. Its called the "Wriggly Wranch Worm Bin" and its what we have here at HiP House. I've heard you can get worms at the Berkeley farmers market, but there is a list of worm vendors on the website as well.

https://www.stopwaste.org/AlamedaCommerce/ProductList.aspx?View=Detail&ProductId=14

Once you get the bin, you layer food waste, worms, and then shredded newspaper. Be careful because the worms are rather selective about what they'll eat, for instance no citrus or onions. They also prefer that their food be chopped into small pieces.

I think that website, including the informational video should be enough to get you started, but let me know if you have any other questions, I'm happy to help!  Also, a classic reference is Mary Appelhof's book Worms Eat My Garbage.


Alex

Kiwi Trellis