Plot Managers Network

[Peter Kelman]

This is where members who are managing plots will communicate with
Plot Consultant, Peter Kelman and with each other. If you are managing
a plot or would be interested in doing so, please check this Network.

[Peter Kelman]

Plot Planting Progress and Schedule (5/27- 6/2)

5/27 THREE PLOTS LAID OUT
Peter Kelman laid out the first 3 plots (along the fence) with string
and small posts.

5/28 FIRST PLOT PLANTED
Matt Daly and Sabine Fischer ameliorated the soil and then planted the
first plot (Fence Plot #1) under the direction of Plot Coordinator,
Peter Kelman (See Daly-Fischer Planning DIAGRAM) in Files.

Details of what we did to ameliorate the soil in their plot and what
they planted will be entered by Matt & Sabine in Daly-Fischer Planting
DIAGRAM in Files. Matt & Sabine will also regularly report
observations of and changes they make to their plot in Files).

Our very own Prospect Farm Videographer and Photographer, Monique
Peterson, was present to record the event and will be posting video &
photographic evidence in the coming days both here and on her blog:
http://www.cheaptastesgood.com.

Matt and Sabine will post additional photos on Picasa, Google's free
photo storage site; when they've done so, they'll post their Picasa
address here.

5/30 A FOURTH PLOT TO BE PREPPED FOR PLANTING
11 AM: Andrea Weber and Naomi Donabedian dug/sifted Plot #4.

5/31 TWO MORE PLOTS SCHEDULED FOR PLANTING
3:30-5:30 Peter will be coaching Brian Steadman in planting Plot #2
and Andrea Weber and Naomi Donabedian
in planting Plot #4.

6/1 ANOTHER PLOT TO BE PLANTED
3:30-5:30 Peter will be coaching Liz Wollman (and daughter Paulina)
and Megan Andrejco (and 2 sons) in planting Plot #3.

5/31-6/2 GORILLA COFFEE TO CONTRIBUTE USED BURLAP COFFEE BAGS FOR
ORGANIC PATHS
Peter will be picking up 30 burlap bags and will lay out a 2' wide
path between the fence plots and the planned plots up against the
first terraced area.

TEAMS NEEDED TO DIG/SIFT ADDITIONAL PLOTS
We still need a team of 3-6 adults to dig/sift plots 5 and 6. Please
post possible times you can do this so Peter can schedule a work date
next week.

On May 25, 9:17 am, Peter Kelman <pe...@educationworksconsulting.com>
wrote:

[Peter Kelman]

The following first planting recommendations are based on: (1) Using
my modifications of Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening method;
(2) The topography and sun exposure of the Prospect Farm site; (3) The
current condition of the soil and the size of the area we are able to
begin remediating by sheet/trench mulching this weekend (May 23); (4)
the time of year; (5) crops that have a higher probability of success
under the above conditions; (6) some crops that may help remediate
soil (particularly reducing lead content and adding nitrogen) and/or
control pests.

We hope to be able to prepare and plant 18 4' wide and 2.5' deep plots
(Bartholomew calls these "blocks"), each plot organized as follows:

Fence/Trellis:
Four (4) 1' L x 6" W areas suitable for climbing and/or tall plants
needing support; for this year I recommend we do cherry &/or beefsteak
tomatoes (1 plant centered/ft), cucumbers (2 plants 6" apart/ft), pole
beans (2 rows of 4 plants, 3" apart/ft) and sunflowers for lead
remediation (1 plant centered/ft).

Row A:
• Two (2) squares (1'x1') for medium-high plants that are planted 1'
apart
(i.e., 1 plant centered/1' square); for this year I recommend we do
cabbage, eggplant, peppers, rosemary, and sage.

• Two (2) squares (1'x1') for medium-high plants that are planted 6"
apart
(i.e., 4 plants/1' square); for this year I recommend we do head
lettuce, parsley, basil, Swiss chard, cabbage, marigolds (may
discourage some insects), and in the Fall we plant broccoli raab,
kale, collards to come up next spring.

• I also recommend that we "interplant" borders around the squares
with micro-greens (mesclun,
greens, lettuce mixes) and micro-celery, cilantro, or scallions, all
seeded 1" apart.

Row B:
• Two (2) squares (1'x1') for lower plants that are planted 4" apart
(i.e., 9 plants/1' square); for this year I recommend we do bush
beans, spinach, beets (to remove lead), marjoram, and, in the Fall,
that we plant garlic and
leeks (both of which may discourage some insects) to come up next
Spring.

• Two (2) squares (1'x1' ) for low plants that are planted 3" apart
(i.e.,
16 plants/1' square); for this year I recommend we do succession
plantings of radishes and turnips every couple of weeks, as well as
carrots, and onions (may
discourage some insects) for Fall harvest.

On May 25, 9:41 am, Peter Kelman <pe...@educationworksconsulting.com>
wrote:
> To: Plot Managers
> From: Peter Kelman
> If you spoke to me about managing one of the first set of 3 plots,
> please contact me by phone or here to make an appointment for a
> session this week or next week. Also, please read the plot planting
> materials I gave you on Sunday and let me know if there are particular
> plants from those I listed that you want in the plot you're managing,
> so I can be sure to have those ready for your planting session, as
> some seeds need to be pre-soaked and I may need to purchase some
> starter plants, like tomatoes. I'll also bring some organic composted
> material from my garden compost to mix into the sifted soil.
>
> If you want to sign up for the next wave of plots, please reply to
> this posting and I'll be in touch with you about what needs to be done
> t prepare additional plots for planting.
>
> On May 25, 9:30 am, Peter Kelman <pe...@educationworksconsulting.com>
> wrote:
>
> > What: First Plot Planting Session
> > When: Friday May 28, 2010 at 6:30
> > Peter Kelman will be coaching Matt Daly and Sabine Fischer on planting
> > their plot.
> > Others are invited to attend to learn how to use Peter's modification
> > of the Square Foot Gardening method.
> > RSVP: In order to control numbers attending, please reply to this
> > posting if you wish to attend this session and indicate how many
> > adults & children you'd like to bring.

>
> > On May 25, 9:17 am, Peter Kelman <pe...@educationworksconsulting.com>
> > wrote:
>

[Sabine & Matt Fischer-Daly]

Greetings Prospect Farmers,

Enjoy some pictures of the first planting -- thanks to Peter's
guidance and Monique's observant eye, we had a lot of fun planting the
tomatoes, sunflower, beans, cucumbers, mixed greens, lettuce, carrots,
beets...and it's documented. Stay tuned: soon enough we'll have the
plot diagrams maintained in near-real time on this site, and of course
stop by.

Link to photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mmcsorleyd/ProspectFarm02?feat=directlink

Cheers,
sabine & matt fischer-daly

On May 30, 4:36 pm, Peter Kelman <pe...@educationworksconsulting.com>
wrote:
> On May 30, 4:32 pm, Peter Kelman <pe...@educationworksconsulting.com>

[Sabine & Matt Fischer-Daly]

Here is some information regarding the Fischer-Daly plot from the past
week. (We'll note observations weekly, Sunday - Saturday.)

- Everything is watered the same amount except for the tomato plant.
The plot was watered everyday this week 5/31-6/5. The tomato plant
was watered mon 5/31, wed 6/2, fri 6/4.
- All of the starters seem to be thriving, pole beans are coming up,
everything else has germinated.
- The soil seems to dry quite quickly
- pulled a small amount of Japanese Knotweed


On Jun 1, 9:04 pm, "Sabine & Matt Fischer-Daly" <mmcsorl...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[Naomi Donabedian]

Here is Plot 4 Andrea Weber and Naomi Donabedian's week one summary.

I took a few quick photos of the sprouting action. Salad mix sprouts
are still so tender and cute!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cantaloupealone/sets/72157624098806359/

-- Hot and humid, with little rain.
-- Watered every day, mostly evenings.
-- No weeds except possibly one growing next to tomato plant. Waiting
to get advice one whether or not to pull it up.

1 Terrace - Tomato - looking strong, unidentified sprout growing to
the right of tomato. Weed? Maybe.
2 Terrace - Sunflowers - plant looking strong, no sprout from the
seed yet.
3 Terrace - Cukes - left plant still a little runty, right growing
strong.
4 Terrace - Haricot Vert - seeds have sprung up and look great.

1A - Pepper - not much difference, maybe a little taller, a few salad
mix seeds have sprouted.
2A - Lettuce - looking stong, a few salad mix seeds have sprouted.
3A - Celery and Rosemary - Rosemary has grown a little. Celery looks
the same, one celery plant looks like it might not make it.
4A - Basil - Basil is growing the fastest of all the plants. Ovation
salad mix seeds seem to be the strongest variety.

1B - Drying beans - sprouted and look strong.
2B - Radishes - have just begun to sprout.
3B - Beets - a few seeds have sprouted.
4B - Carrots - no sprouts!

[Sabine & Matt Fischer-Daly]

Hello Prospect Farmers,

Sabine & I are excited to see some good growth in plot 1. Here's week
2 update:

Watering schedule - Sunday all, Monday all but no tomato, Tuesday all,
Saturday all. Thanks to some good rains, we did not water Wednesday or
Thursday.

Progress
Fence row - tomato, sunflower and cucumber plants are growing up
strong, and the cucumber has one flower. the pole beans have sprouted
but aren't too tall yet.
Next row in - cabbage is growing, although something is eating its
leaves. lettuce is growing strong. rosemary has grown a couple inches.
basil is really growing well. the spicy meslun greens and ovation
greens planted around the perimeters are beginning to sprout.
path-side row - bush beans are starting to come up, and the radishes
and turnips have sprouted. the beets and carrots have not poked
through the surface yet.

We did pull up some Japanese knot weed from the far side (towards the
compost area). Otherwise, there were not many weeds.

On Jun 7, 10:03 am, Naomi Donabedian <naomidonabed...@gmail.com>
wrote:

> Here is Plot 4 Andrea Weber and Naomi Donabedian's week one summary.
>
> I took a few quick photos of the sprouting action. Salad mix sprouts

> are still so tender and cute!http://www.flickr.com/photos/cantaloupealone/sets/72157624098806359/

[Elizabeth Wollman]

Hi, all:

Plot 3 (Wollman-Andrejko) is coming along very nicely. As in plot 1, the cucumber plant looks hearty and has one flower. The basil and rosemary look terrific, and the radishes and beets are sprouting. The carrots are not, quite yet, with one or two very tiny exceptions.

We've been watering every day or (at the very least) every other. Because of our proximity to the hose, I'm finding that the mist setting works particularly well, and does not disturb even the smallest plants.

All best,
Liz Wollman

[Naomi Donabedian]

Plot 4 Andrea Weber and Naomi Donabedian's week two summary.

More pictures, plots next to the fence are shaping up into a garden,
but I've noticed the rest of the garden is full on weeds.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cantaloupealone/sets/72157624098806359/

--Rain, one good rainy day in the middle of the week, and a few
sprinkles, average heat.
-- Have not watered since rain near the end of the week as the ground
is wet from the rain.
-- Pulled some weeds after the rain over a few days.
-- Turns out Tom's "guerrilla planted cukes" next to the stoned in
dirt area, are squash. Squash are already on the vine. Picture:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cantaloupealone/4696756235/

1 Terrace - Tomato - looking strong,

2 Terrace - Sunflowers - plant looking strong, seed is sprouting.
3 Terrace - Cukes - left plant still needs to catch up, right growing
strong.
4 Terrace - Haricot Vert - look great.

1A - Pepper - not much difference, maybe a little taller, salad seeds
are slow to grow.
2A - Lettuce - looking strong, salad seeds are slow to grow.
3A - Celery and Rosemary - Rosemary creeps along. Celery is better
after the rain. 1 plant kicked it and died.
4A - Basil - Basil continues to grow strong. Ovation
salad mix seeds are starting to look like salad.

1B - Drying beans - look strong, somehow we have 7 plants.
2B - Radishes - only 2 rows have sprouted (Radish Small Tricolored
Easter Egg (x 4), Hybrid Radish, Small Round Red Cherrette Fl. (x4) )
the other 2 rows of turnips are slow.
3B - Beets - select seeds are growing, but beginning to grow nicely
4B - Carrots - saw tiny sprouts on Saturday, carrots are finally
happening.

[Peter Kelman]

We now have 4 planted plots against the fence on Prospect Ave, from
left to right:
Plot #1: Matt Daly and Sabine Fischer
Plot #2: Brian Steadman and Family
Plot #3: Liz Wollman & daughter, Paulina and Megan Andrejco and sons,
Colin and Freddy
Plot #4: Naomi Donabedian and Andrea Weber

See their weekly reports above.

In general, after a rainless week that left our plots looking very dry
and thirsty, we've had a week in which we had some very good rains
that have been terrific for our plants. Unfortunately, the rain has
also been good for the invasive Japanese Knot Weed, which our plot
managers need to get busy carefully pulling out.

As observed, carrots are the slowest of our crops to germinate. Our
beans came up very quickly because we pr-soaked them, causing them to
germinate virtually overnight.

Suggestion: some of our plot managers may wish to experiment with a
technique for multiplying the yield from their basil plants. When one
or two of your plants seem established and have 2-3 sets of leaves,
pinch off the growing tip (and put it in a salad). This will cause the
plant to send out side shoots, becoming bushier, and probably will
cause the top to split into two growing stems. Once those stems are
established, you can repeat the pinching on each of them. In addition,
be sure to pinch off ALL flower buds so they don't get much more than
an inch long. NEVER let a flower go to seed or the plant will
immediately begin to slow down dramatically since it has achieved its
natural goal.

On May 30, 2:23 pm, Peter Kelman <pe...@educationworksconsulting.com>
wrote:

[Peter Kelman]

Liz and everyone else:

Please DO NOT use the hose directly on the plots when watering. While
it may be that the mist setting "works well," there is simply too
great a risk of accidentally watering at too powerful a setting and
washing away shallow-rooted plants; I think that actually already
happened to one row of a plot. Also, misting gets the leaves wet,
which can lead to them burning if sun shines on them while wet or
mildewing if they remain wet over night. Finally, hand-watering almost
guarantees that you'll be looking at your plot at ground level every
time you water and so are much more likely to spot weeds and/or pest
damage.

Speaking of PEST DAMAGE, I have noticed that something is chomping on
some of our plants, most likely snails or cabbage butterfly larvae
(sometimes called cabbage worms). We may want to do another treatment
of Sluggo (Iron Phosphate) for the former and possibly Pepper Spray
(which you can make or buy) for the latter.

[Elizabeth Wollman]

Mea culpa. I shall mist no longer!
liz

---

From: Peter Kelman <pe...@educationworksconsulting.com>
To: prospectfarm <prospe...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Mon, June 14, 2010 4:50:39 PM
Subject: [Prospect Farm] Re: Plot Managers Network

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[Peter Kelman]

On Jun 16, 2010, at 9:33 PM, Elizabeth Wollman wrote:

Peter:

I know these are a dime a dozen, but I have some tomato stakes (about
five, but quite long, so they can be halved at least). Can I donate
them to the cause? I think as the tomatoes and beans get bigger, we
might want to tame them a bit.

Let me know. I should be around in fits and starts this weekend--
certainly around enough to bring them by.

best,
liz

Liz, thanks for your offer of tomato stakes; from many years of
experience growing tomatoes, I can tell you that they are simply not
strong enough to support tomato plants, even very large tomato cages
can't hold up really healthy bountiful plants, which is why I grow as
many tomato plants as I can against fences or on strongly supported
trellises.

That said, I went by the plots yesterday (Wed June 17) and noticed
that the tomatoes have shot up and bushed out over the last week or so
of rain. I should have made clearer to plot managers when we planted
what you need to do to train the tomatoes up the fence. But, better
late than never. As soon as you can get over there, do the following
in this order:

1. Using scissors or pruning shears, cut off side branches that are
reaching back out over the rest of the plot away from the fence; we
want our tomatoes to grow up the fence, not to be bushes that take up
most of the space in our plot and that provide too much shade!

2. Remove suckers that grow out of crotches between vertical growing
stalks and fruiting branches; if these are still small, you can do
this with your fingers; if they have become too big already, cut them
off cleanly with scissors. Although suckers do eventually develop
fruiting branches, they take up far too much energy in doing so and
make the plant far too bushy (space hogs) and heavy. You should remove
suckers whenever you see them (I already removed some from Plot #1 as
they were getting scarily large). Try to do so whenever you water.

3. Carefully thread the main growing stalk and fruiting branches
through the fence whenever and whenever you can do so easily without
breaking them. Start by threading them out toward the sidewalk right
away; then the next time thread them back in towards the plot. Do this
whenever you water as well. Don't worry about what is already too far
down to be threaded; it's not worth breaking the branches/stem trying
to force them back down and through the fence.

Remember, what we are trying to do is to train the main growing stalks
up the fence and supporting the fruiting branches on the fence, so
they don't bush out and take away growing space from the rest of the
plot.

Peter
pe...@educationworksconsulting.com
Check out our new blog on urban-rural sustainable living: www.urbaltea.blogspot.com

On May 25, 9:17 am, Peter Kelman <pe...@educationworksconsulting.com>
wrote:

[Peter Kelman]

I forgot to say: if any of you would like me to be there when you
train tomatoes or weed or to check your watering technique, etc, just
give me a call ahead of time and I can probably meet you there.

I'm available for Weeding 101 anytime today until about 4:30. Tomorrow
could be trickier, but up until noon or so would be possible. I'm away
Sat-Sun. Will be back by late Monday afternoon. Give me a ring at my
home phone (718-369-6934).

On Jun 17, 9:40 am, Peter Kelman <pe...@educationworksconsulting.com>

[Brian]

Steadman plot update, 6-19-10 (day 19):

Trellis 1 - cherry tomato had gotten a bit out of hand, I might of got
a bit more aggressive than even Peter recommended, but I clipped off
all the suckers, most branches that were extending out over the plot
and the ones sticking over into the Fischer's beans. Wove the rest in
and out of the fence to get it growing up rather than all over every
where else. On Peter's advice, I plan to bring some string and make
some loops around the plant to further help it to latch on to things
to help it move vertically.

Trellis 2 - transplanted sunflower didn't make it. The Magic
Roundabout is about 4in tall

Trellis 3 - both cukes are up about 6in tall

Trellis 4 - only 3 of 8 scarlet runner beans up, about 6in tall

Row A1 - unidentified cabbage family plant has grown quite a bit, but
is getting chewed on mightily by something. I noticed the Fischer's is
having the same problem, Peter said the same thing about his cabbage
at home, and I just saw a friend's cabbages this weekend and they were
the same way. ?
Mesculun mix hasn't sprouted much, about 4 little sprigs is all at
this point.

RowA2 - leaf lettuce growing well, I picked quite a bit of it. Encore
lettuce mix 0

RowA3 - Rosemary still about the same as when planted. Celery greens
growing nicely, picked quite a bit of it.

RowA4 - basil growing nicely, picked quite a bit of it. Also pinched
off the growing tips as Peter recommended in order to stimulate more
growth. Cilantro 0 and Ovation greens 0.

RowB1 - 4 of 9 snap bean bushes have sprang up, 2 about 4in tall and 2
about an inch tall.

RowB2 - various radishes and turnips have appeared, all about 3-4in
tall, about 6 of 16 showing so far

Row B3 - 5 of 9 beets have appeared, all about 3-4in tall

Row B4 - no sign of carrots

Pulled a lot of knot weed, both inside the plot and on the sidewalk
side of the fence.

I'd say my watering (and those who have pinch hit for me while I've
traveled) has probably averaged out to about every other day.

Brian

[Sabine & Matt Fischer-Daly]

Fischer-Daly plot update, 6/19/10

Might anyone be able to water our plot on Tuesday and Thursday? (We
are both out of town this week and will be back Friday. Of course if
it rains sufficiently, please refrain from watering.)

Black Krim tomato is growing well. Thanks, Peter, for trimming the
space hogs. We'll start weaving it through the fence.

Both sunflower plants are growing, now about 5 inches tall.

Cucumber is also growing well and bushy. Should we weave them through
the fence as well?

Pole beans are coming up, although I need to count how many exactly
have sprouted. Seems that perhaps not all 8 seeds have grown into
plants.

Basil is growing well. We've picked it twice now. We'll note any
flowers and pluck them. Thanks for the advice Peter.

Rosemary is about 2 inches tall.

4 lettuce lettuce heads are growing well. By the end of the week
they'll probably be ready to cut. What's a good indicator of lettuce
being ready? What's the best technique for cutting?

Cabbage is growing taller, now about 5 inches in height. There is
something eating holes in the leaves, but not a lot.

Spicy mesclun greens, ovation greens and lettuce planted around the
perimeter of the squares in row A are progressing slowly. Some have
sprouted but not all. The lettuce square is basically taken over by
the four main heads of lettuce.

Row B
bush beans are growing in.

Radishes and turnips really accelerated growth this week. Now about 2
inches tall

Beets and carrots are still progressing slowly. There are just a few
sprouts of each poking through the soil.

Weeded Japanese knot weed each time I visited the garden this week.
Watered on Sunday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday.

Cheers,
matt

[Elizabeth Wollman]

Hi:

I should be able to water this week.

The Wollman-Anrejko plot is looking pretty good, all told. The sunflower is doing beautifully, the cucumbers are flowering, and the beets are looking stronger. The herbs are hanging in there; some of the parsley plants are struggling, but still alive. The rosemary looks fine.

I thinned the lettuce and cut back the basil, both of which are growing beautifully. We finally have one (ONE!) little carrot sprout; I am hoping for more soon. Every time I've been by (at least every other day this week), I've pulled a few small weeds. There is some Japanese knotweed growing along the outer fence, and I yanked what I could.

Still no beans, tomatoes, or peppers, but I'm watching for them.

Liz

---

From: Sabine & Matt Fischer-Daly <mmcso...@gmail.com>
To: prospectfarm <prospe...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Sun, June 20, 2010 11:08:36 AM

Subject: [Prospect Farm] Re: Plot Managers Network

[Peter Kelman]

Kudos to all managers on your weekly reports! Also on your watering
and weeding.

Tomatoes
I stopped by briefly Thursday June 24 and noticed that most everyone's
tomatoes are bushing out over the rest of the plot and, in some cases
are reaching far outside the fence as well. I suggest that wherever
possible people carefully weave tomato stems through fence, taking
care not to break them. Do this for vertical and diagonal stems
especially, so as to keep them (as much as possible) inside the
boundaries of your plot. Because these tomatoes have bushed out so
much you may also need to cut (with scissors or knife) some of the
stems reaching far back over your plot and/or into others plots. It
may also help to get some twine and tie back unruly stems. Look at
stems before you cut; if they have flowers or look like they are going
to develop flowers, try to save them by tying back or weaving.

Lettuce
In answer to question about harvesting lettuce, you have two options:
if any heads are so big they're filling the square, you might want to
just pull up one or two and give the others more room to grow some
more OR, if you want to clip them, start at the outside leaves and
clip any that are quite large with scissors or (if you are very
careful) by pinching with your fingers.

The lettuce from seed may be too slow growing to survive with the
started lettuce but they may also take off once those lettuces are
harvested; keep an eye on them.

Radishes and turnips
Lots of very big leaves; check the bottom and see if you have any that
are large enough to eat and, if so, pick those. The turnips will be
radish-sized and can be eaten raw like radishes in salads etc.

Pole beans and cukes
These are both great climbers and don't need to be woven through
fence, as Tomatoes do. But, if any are crawling vertically over the
plot, pull them off and lay them up on the fence; they'll soon send
out clinging tendrils.

Celery
These are not parsley, but a mini-celery, but can be used much like
parsley. Start clipping them to eat when they start getting gangly.
They'll bush out.

Greens
Keep an eye on these and start clipping and eating these when they get
big enough (esp. mustard greens and agugula in mesclun mix) or they'll
quickly go to seed.

Carrots and Beets
These will probably be slow & steady.

Cabbage Family Plant
I don't know what to say except sometimes the pests win; my guess is
snails,slugs, or cabbage worms. You can try some more Sluggo; ask Tom
to put some in a closed labeled glass jar for you all to use. You can
also buy or make some pepper spray. OR, see if they'll survive on
their own.

[sabine]

Hi all
I spent some time at the farm this morning tending to our plot and
plot #3 and #4.
Here are some observation of the various plots:

Plot #1 Fischer-Daly
We have been watering most days.

Trellis Row
Sec 1 – Tomato: We have been weaving our tomato plant into the fence,
trying not to cut too much off but its branches definitely seem to
want to grow over the rest of the garden. No sign of actual tomatoes
yet.
I noticed a few plants that looked like a type of tomato plant
sprinkled throughout our plot. It is a different type of tomato than
we had planted because its leaves are different. Over the weekend we
went ahead and transplanted 3 of these tomato plants to the open plot
next to plot #4.

Sec 2 – Sunflower: Didn’t notice a lot of growth with the sunflower.

Sec 3 – Cucumber: We have about 7 cucumbers on the plant. The larger
ones are about 3 to 4 inches and the others perhaps and inch long.

Sec 4 – Pole Beans: Growing well up the fence. Leaves are quite
large trying to keep it close to the fence.

Row A
Sec 1- Cabbage, Mesculin: The cabbage leaves seem to be a tasty treat
for the snales, there are many holes in these leaves.

Sec 2 – Lettuce: We did not thin the lettuce yet and I think we waited
too long. The bottom leaves and turned yellow and limp. I got rid of
the limp leaves and thinned all four lettuce plants a bit.

Sec 3 – Rosemary, ovation greens, cilantro: The rosemary seems to be
much more delicate than other plots’ rosemary. Im not sure why they
aren’t growing well. The cilantro is not quite there yet. The
cucumber leaves have been quite large and shading this area a bit.

Sec 4 – Basil continues to do really well

Row B
Sec 1 - The bush beans leaves are also quite large and shading out
some greens around them.


Sec 2 - The radishes are doing well, you can see the radishes through
the soil. The radish leaves are quite large and sometimes shade out
some of the mixed greens that we have planted around them.

Sec 3 – Beets seem to be coming along

Sec 4 – have a few carrot sprouts.


Plot #3 Wollman-Andrejko
I weeded plot 3 for a bit, there was mostly Japanese knotweed along
the fence which was getting into the tomato plant. The plot has been
watered the last couple of days.

The tomato plant in this plot is growing quickly both up and out in
every direction. I went ahead and weaved it through the fence because
it was out on the sidewalk a bit. I will go back tomorrow and tie
some of it to the fence. The exciting thing is there are tiny little
green tomatoes in many places of the plant. I think this is one of
the only tomato plants on the farm that have tomatoes that this time.
If it gets too big some of the branches that are growing towards the
rest of the plot may have to be cut.

(I hope it is okay Liz!) I went ahead and thinned the lettuce. I
mainly pinched off the bottom leaves that were being blocked out and
beginning to get limp.

I also thinned the basil by pinching off the largest of the leaves to
prevent it from flowering.

Plot #4 Weber-Donabedian
I weeded this plot mostly of crab grass in a few areas. The plot is
being watered.

I also thinned the lettuce of its bottom leaves (I hope that was okay
with Naomi and Andrea!). The leaves were getting limp on the bottom
so I pinched those off.

I was really excited when I noticed a really large cucumber. The
cucumber is around 5 inches long and quite fat ☺

Everything else seems to be going quite well in this plot:
The tomato plant is growing well and following the fence.
Radishes look strong, you can see it through the soil
Basil is continuing to grow strong
The pepper has a flower
Rosemary looks good.

[Brian]

Steadman plot update, 7-17-10 (day 47):
Trellis 1 - cherry tomato starting to produce. Not as prolifically as
plot #4. My guess is b/c I don't water enough. Who knows.
Trellis 2 - The Magic Roundabout is a good 2ft tall.
Trellis 3 - cukes coming in, should cut some soon. Growing up the
fence nicely.
Trellis 4 - only 3 of 8 scarlet runner beans up, about 6in tall. Not
much has changed on these since last post. I think they are choked out
by plot #3's tomato plant and my cukes. They get very little, if any,
sun.
Row A1 - unidentified cabbage family plant continues to grow but still
not sure what this is.
Mesculun mix sprouted a little and it pretty much fried before it was
even enough to do anything with.
RowA2 - leaf lettuce has continued to grow well. We've picked off it
quite a bit. I think it seems about done though. Should probably just
pull them all up soon. Encore
lettuce mix 0
RowA3 - Rosemary still only about 3 inches tall. Not really taking
off. Celery greens grew nicely for a while, we picked off them
frequently. But they got fried by the heat.
RowA4 - basil growing nicely, continue to pick off it. . Cilantro 0
and Ovation greens 0.
RowB1 - 4 of 9 snap bean bushes have sprang up. Will pick beans soon.
Need to stake them or something as their weight is causing them to
fall over and in one case snap in two.
RowB2 - picked radishes and turnips - all delicious. Can we plant
something in this vacant spot now?
Row B3 - 5 of 9 beets have appeared, when should we pick these?

Row B4 - no sign of carrots

Brian

On Jun 30, 3:57 pm, sabine <sabineafisc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all

> I spent some time at the farm this morning tending to ourplotandplot#3 and #4.

> Here are some observation of the various plots:
>

> Plot#1 Fischer-Daly

> We have been watering most days.
>
> Trellis Row
> Sec 1 – Tomato:  We have been weaving our tomato plant into the fence,
> trying not to cut too much off but its branches definitely seem to
> want to grow over the rest of the garden.  No sign of actual tomatoes
> yet.
> I noticed a few plants that looked like a type of tomato plant

> sprinkled throughout ourplot.  It is a different type of tomato than

> I weededplot3 for a bit, there was mostly Japanese knotweed along
> the fence which was getting into the tomato plant.  Theplothas been

> watered the last couple of days.
>

> The tomato plant in thisplotis growing quickly both up and out in

> every direction.  I went ahead and weaved it through the fence because
> it was out on the sidewalk a bit.  I will go back tomorrow and tie
> some of it to the fence.   The exciting thing is there are tiny little
> green tomatoes in many places of the plant.  I think this is one of
> the only tomato plants on the farm that have tomatoes that this time.
> If it gets too big some of the branches that are growing towards the

> rest of theplotmay have to be cut.

>
> (I hope it is okay Liz!) I went ahead and thinned the lettuce.  I
> mainly pinched off the bottom leaves that were being blocked out and
> beginning to get limp.
>
> I also thinned the basil by pinching off the largest of the leaves to
> prevent it from flowering.
>
> Plot#4 Weber-Donabedian

> I weeded thisplotmostly of crab grass in a few areas.  Theplotis

[Elizabeth Wollman]

Wollman-Andrejko plot, no. 3

Most of the plants look fine--the cherry tomatoes look great. One sunflower has been dwarfed by the tomatoes on one side and a monster sunflower on the other, but the other one is thriving and looks like there are some flowers starting to happen. The cukes are doing beautifully.

In row A, the cabbage is coming along, but it's not exactly flourishing. Looks a little thin and something is gnawing at a few of its leaves. The celery greens look fine, as does the basil, and the pepper plant has a small pepper growing right in the middle of it, which is quite beautiful.

The leaf lettuce is done, more or less, for the summer. Today, I harvested the radishes and turnips, so that plot is now cooked.

We're watching the beets, which don't seem ready yet.

There are plenty of flat beans in our plot, which we picked a small handful of late this afternoon.

Will water often this week, unless the heat breaks and we get more rain.
Liz

[Brian]

Steadman Plot Update, 7-18-10 (Day 48)
I accused plot #3's tomato plant of choking out our scarlet runner
beans too quick. Lo and behold today I noticed scarlet flowers on the
very top of the fence. All this time the scarlet runners have been
winding their way through the tomato next door until they broke out
the top. Persistence.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_BHxGvIhll3I/TEPPF44t0oI/AAAAAAAABoc/z6h8Y-D1ZhY/s144/photo-1.JPG

Our sunflower has a bud.

Picked some beans, a cucumber, the remaining 2 stalks of lettuce, some
celery greens, and some basil today.

Anyone know when we should pull the beets? And if we can plant
anything in the vacated spots once plants have been pulled?

Thanks,
Brian

[Sabine & Matt Fischer-Daly]

Fischer-Daly plot update

Well, we're a bit behind in posting updates - perhaps heat-induced
lethargy - but are glad to say that the plot is doing okay. We've been
watering regularly, at least every other day. Weeds are impressively
low (having recently acquired the square foot gardening bible, we're
now looking to learn how this works in theory as well as practice).
Here's the run down of our plot:

row B: bush beans have come alive and are growing...well, bushy.
radishes and turnips are mostly done, and after reading about lead
levels a bit more we decided against eating them (and other roots).
beets and carrots are still barely showing signs of life.

row A: basil continues to supply us w/ plenty for pesto & such.
rosemary has wilted. mesclun and ovation greens have come in just
barely, perhaps needing more space to grow? lettuce is done growing
after a few salads worth. cabbage is growing steadily.

trellis row: tomato has taken to the fence and has a couple green &
growing fruits. sunflower is slowly growing. cucumber has been
churning out cukes of decent size and enjoyable to eat. pole beans are
starting to come on stronger.

We would like to learn what to do in the plots where lettuce and
turnips/radishes are finished and the rosemary has not flourished. Is
there something else we could plant this season?

wishing you all a nice evening,
matt and sabine

On Jul 19, 12:10 am, Brian <steadman.br...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Steadman Plot Update, 7-18-10 (Day 48)
> I accused plot #3's tomato plant of choking out our scarlet runner
> beans too quick. Lo and behold today I noticed scarlet flowers on the
> very top of the fence. All this time the scarlet runners have been
> winding their way through the tomato next door until they broke out
> the top. Persistence.
>

> http://lh4.ggpht.com/_BHxGvIhll3I/TEPPF44t0oI/AAAAAAAABoc/z6h8Y-D1ZhY...

[Matt Fischer-Daly]

Hello Plot Managers,

After going through the seed catalog (Johnny's Selected Seeds), would
you all like to coordinate a group order? Even if you want extra
quantity for more squares dedicated to a particular crop or other
gardening you might be doing, seems one order would work well,
considering packets come with many seeds. In the "Files" section of
this google group, I've uploaded a list of crops with order
information, selected based on Peter's recommendations and a few
potential experiments that can help us coordinate. Please add your
preferences and make any revisions. (If it makes more sense for any of
you to order individually, just let everyone know.)

We talked a bit about doing small, single crop plots: perhaps carrots
and spinach would be good, b/c don't yield much in a square. We could
use the empty fence plots or discuss other options.

It also seems that we might should probably put the fence plots
through the same soil rejuvenation that the terraced plot is getting.
Post harvest, pre- frozen ground seems like the ideal time. In 1-2
workdays, we could sift and layer the soil w/ compost, manure,
newspaper. If you all agree, we can coordinate w/ Oren, who is
managing the composting & soil rejuvenation.

For now, the next person who'd like to peruse the catalog can pick it
up in the same spot where tools are kept near Tom's front door. Let's
keep each other posted so that we can get orders in and more plants in
the ground.

Cheers,
matt

On Jul 20, 10:32 pm, "Sabine & Matt Fischer-Daly"

[Naomi Donabedian]

Hey Matt,

Nice spread sheet. I will be at the farm on Wednesday (6:30-darkness)
to work and clear. Maybe we could bring your sheet over and decide
what to plant and where. Broccoli is an excellent idea, and I think
garlic would be extremely useful.

Andrea, and Brian would you be around Wednesday to talk about fall
planting? I will ask Tom and Oren to join us too.

Best,
Naomi

[Peter Kelman]

Garlic is best planted in fall for next year's harvest. Broccoli can be very frustrating; takes up a lot of room for modest yield, attracts cabbage worms, easily goes to flower, and needs to be planted very soon if you expect to harvest before shutting garden down in mid-Nov.

PK

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[Elizabeth Wollman]

What's the word on potatoes? And do they, like beets, help absorb heavy metals?

liz

---

From: Peter Kelman <pe...@educationworksconsulting.com>

To: Naomi Donabedian <naomido...@gmail.com>
Cc: prospectfarm <prospe...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Tue, August 3, 2010 6:39:19 AM
Subject: Re: [Prospect Farm] Re: Plot Managers Network

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[Peter Kelman]

I strongly recommend against potatoes: very pest & disease prone; their diseases often migrate to tomatoes; once their diseases and pests get into the soil, very hard to get rid of. There's a good reason that commercial growers spray potatoes heavily. I've grown them in VT and stopped doing so for all the above reasons.

PK

To unsubscribe from this group, send email to prospectfarm...@googlegroups.com.

[Brian]

Steadman Plot Update - FALL PLANTING (9-4-10) Day 89

Steadman plot update, 7-17-10 (day 47):

Trellis 1 - cherry tomato still producing. Left it in to continue
growing. This plant seemed to start producing more tomatoes when I
quit being so meticulous to weave it through the fence.

Trellis 2 - The Magic Roundabout is a good 7ft tall and producing many
flowers.

Trellis 3 - pulled cukes. Only got 2.5 cukes out of these two plants.
Pickled them, were tasty. Planted Romaine lettuce in this spot.

Trellis 4 - Left the 2 Scarlet Runner beans in the ground b/c for the
first time, they are finally producing beans. Figured I've waited all
summer for them, might as well let them see what they can do. Planted
Romaine lettuce in the rest of the area.

Row A1 - Planted broccoli in this spot.

RowA2 - Planted broccoli in this spot.

RowA3 - Moved rosemary to a pot at home. Left a few celery green
plants in the ground b/c they keep producing and are still tasty
addition salads. Planted Romaine lettuce in the rest of this spot.

RowA4 - Planted Romaine lettuce in this spot.

RowB1 - pulled bush bean plants up. Bust beans never really produced.
Maybe 10 beans total. Pickled them, pretty tasty. Planted Swiss Chard
in this spot.

RowB2 - Planted Swiss Chard in this spot.

Row B3 - Planted carrots in this spot.

Row B4 - One carrot has had a few measly leaves sprouted all summer.
Figured I'd let it keep hanging on. Planted carrots in the rest of
this spot.

So that's my fall planting. I decided to go with more greens and
lettuce than anything to try and get more bang for the buck.

I would be interested in planting a big spot of onions and shallots in
one of the other vacant spots along the fence if that's still a
thought out there.

Brian

[Matt Fischer-Daly]

Hello Friends,

Following Brian's lead, we planted the late Summer/Fall crops today.
Check out the files for a plot diagram with the seed names.

Fence row: Kept the black krim tomato, that continues to produce
beautiful dark beauties. Second square planted red cabbage, just 1.
Third square planted shallots, to get a sense of how onion-type plants
do. Fourth square left the pole beans; also still producing quite
well. So from this row, we pulled the sunflower, which never flowered,
and the cucumber, which had worked hard and provided a dozen or more
tasty, smaller-in-size cukes.

Next row: Planted two squares of Swiss chard, one of Romaine lettuce,
and one of broccoli. So we pulled dinosaur kale, whch had produced
some decent leaves, lettuce, which produced for a couple weeks,
rosemary, which never came through, and basil, which did well but was
overcome by its own rapidly appearing flowers.

Path-side row: Planted rutabaga, turnips, beets and carrots with
encore salad mix around each square. We didn't have luck with any of
the root crops during the summer, so we're hoping to do better this
time. From this row, we pulled the bush beans, which grew but barely
produced beans, radishes and turnips, which produced for a couple
weeks, beets and carrots, neither of which produced during the summer.

This round we did not work in compost, manure or sluggo; so we'll see
how it goes. All newly planted crops were from seeds.

Here's to a productive Fall!

Cheers,
matt

[Naomi Donabedian]

Hello Fellow Brooklyn Farmers,

Andrea and met up this morning to harvest the rest of our summer
crops, and plant our cool weather crops. We were both impressed with
the darker, moister, clumpier soil compared to the "dust ball" soil we
began with. A green beans, basil, and celery greens had continue to
give, but we took them out anyways. The cukes and tomato plants seemed
to have finished up by mid-August and are already out. We moved our
pepper plant to the right of our plot as there are some fruiting
flowers still going. Looking forward to seeing if the transplanted
pepper works out. We left our sunflower in its place.

Here is what we planted. Our choices were based on time, thinking the
onions and carrots would take more time then we had.

Fence row 1 - 6 beets
Fence row 2 - Sunflower from summer + 3 lettuce
Fence row 3 - 6 beets
Fence row 4 - 6 beets

1A - 1 broccoli, 8 lettuce
2A - 1 cabbage, 8 lettuce
3A - 4 swiss chard, 8 lettuce
4A - 1 broccoli, 8 lettuce

1B - 16 turnips
2B - 9 rutabaga
3B - 16 turnips
4B - 9 rutabaga

[Yasmin]

Hi, Prospect Farm!

Rachel and I planted and watered two of the three plots by the wild
squash on Thursday the 9th. In the plot next to the squash is:
2 rows of turnips, 3 in each row
2 rows of lettuce
1 row of rutabaga, 3 in that row

In the next plot is:
2 rows of broccoli, 3 in ea. row
3 rows of lettuce

(I also had an accident with the seeds: the rutabaga packet spilled
onto my plot. I was able to retrieve some of the seeds, but there were
a handful which I just left there and covered up, in the hopes that
they'd grow. If we need any more rutabaga in the future, I'd be happy
to pay for them to make up for my clumsiness!)

-- Yasmin

On Aug 3, 6:39 am, Peter Kelman <pe...@educationworksconsulting.com>
wrote:

[Yasmin]

Hey All,
The plots by the squash were covered with leaves which I got rid of,
and there are a couple of small clumps of lettuce growing as well as
some of the rutabaga. Other than that--I noticed some of the squash
leaves had been chewed through-- is that an insect issue that could
become a problem or is it not something to worry about?

Yasmin

[Matt Fischer-Daly]

Hello Friends,

A number of us (Tom, Jay, Astri, Naomi, Oren) have discussed next
steps with growing.

Following the Fall Festival, we'd like to trench compost the four
plots along the fence (which had only been sifted when we began last
spring), remove any crops that have finished or just not growing, and
plant cover crops, in particular, clover. Clover helps to produce
bacteria that help to dilute heavy metals, stays active underground
through the winter, adds top compost, and produces nice flowers
(hopefully in the early spring). Over the winter, we need to draw up a
more comprehensive plan for the farm, including what will be planted
in the spring.

All the best,
matt