Potato (or Multiplier) Onions

In February we will having a class on growing Potato Onions by Kelly Winterton who developed large multiplier onions here in northern Utah! These onions grow like garlic, with 2-8 onions cloning from each onion. The onions are 1-3" in size and they store well. You can plant them in the fall at the same time as your garlic, or in the spring. Kelly will be bringing seed for us to grow out, which we can then grow as clones.

If you are interested in getting seeds, please read this booklet now by Kelli to learn about them.

Rockin' Rampicante

I'm falling more and more in love with the versatility of Rampicante!  Tonight I made my favorite lasagna recipe, substituting mandalin sliced Rampicante for the pasta.  So yummy!  Peel the Rampicante, cut into 4-6" pieces or as long as you can slice on your mandalin lengthwise, the thickness should be the same as lasagna noodles, do not precook - stack in your lasagna raw, and use in your favorite lasagna recipe.  Cooking time should be the same as your recipe calls for, I cooked mine at 350 degrees for 50 min.

Companion Planting - Peas

Peas grow well with Carrots, Turnips, Radishes, Cucumbers, Corn, Beans, and Potatoes as well as many aromatic herbs.

Peas do not grow well with Onions, Garlic and Gladiolus.

Pea plants and roots contain large amounts of Nitrogen, so compost them!

Wood ashes used around the base of pea vines help to control aphids.

Companion Planting - Onions

Onions are a pest repellent for Carrots

Onions and all members of the Cabbage family get along well.  Onions also like Beets, Strawberries, Tomatoes, Lettuce, Summer Savory and Camomile (sparsely).

Onions do not like Peas and Beans.

Onion maggots travel from plant to plant when set in a row, so scatter your onion plants throughout the garden.

Pesto Rampicante with fresh Tomato for lunch!

I cooked with Rampicante for the first time today, just throwing together some things I had in the garden and fridge, and so enjoyed the results, that I thought I'd share.  I found that I like the flavor of Rampicante better than zucchini, it's very mild, and the texture sautéed was perfectly crisp.  I loved that it was solid flesh throughout most of the squash which lended beautifully to julienne slicing, and I only needed 6" of it for my meal.

Rampicante Pesto with Fresh Tomato

6" of young Rampicante, julienne sliced
small hand full of Red Onion, sliced
Sea Salt to taste
Olive or Coconut Oil

Heat oil in a skillet on medium, sauté Rampicante and Onions seasoned with salt until just tender.

Pesto

Add the pesto to the skillet and mix, as soon as the pesto is warmed up, remove from heat and serve.

Garnish with fresh sliced Tomatoes and Basil

Companion Planting - Carrots

Growing different varieties together can help or hurt your plants.  Here are the plants that help or inhibit carrots, watch for more companion guides to come.

Carrot pest repellents: Onions, Leeks, Rosemary, Wormwood, Sage, Black Salsify
Carrots love Tomatoes, they keep them cool and use up the surrounding nitrogen, which carrots don't like.
Carrot roots have an exudate that are beneficial to the growth of Peas.
Carrots do not like Dill

Heirloom, Organically grown plants available

If you need plants this season, you can still get them at Woodhead Gardens in Orem.  See their website for the location at woodheadgardens.com.  They have a self serve plant stand, so you can go at any time.

 If you haven't yet toured their garden or would like to see it again, they have tours starting on the hour between 10am and 7pm every Thursday.  It is an amazing example of a self sustaining, mass producing garden in a small space.

Free Planting Festival May 4th 1-5pm

Spring Planting Festival - May 4th from 1-5pm at Allred Orchards -  2109 North University Avenue, Provo.

Bring your own chair for classes!  They will be outside, so you might want a hat, water, and sun screen.
  

Parking is available in the lot to the south of the building, and on the street.

   

Class Schedule:

1:15 Healthier Plants and Greater Production through Soil Health and Nutrients by Michelle Roberts

2:15 Vermiculture (worm composting) by Logan Lyons (Worms will be available)
3:15 Growing Mushrooms by Biocentric Bros. (Kits will be available)
4:15 Organic Pest and Disease Control by Alex Grover

 

 (if there are any changes, they will be posted on our website at www.utahseedexchange.org, you can also check www.springplantingfestival.com)

Vendors will have many things you need to get your spring/summer garden going including:

- Heirloom, organic vegetable starts, strawberries and herbs

- Red Wiggler worms for vermiculture
- Azomite - organic soil nutrient additive - see azomite.com
- Coconut Coir

Event with Caleb Warnock

Caleb Warnock with be doing an hour presentation on gardening at an Emergency Preparedness Event on April 27th at 3pm at 950 East 850 North, American Fork, Utah.  The event goes from 1-4pm and will have many other presentations from 1-3pm.  The event coordinators have graciously invited anyone to attend. 

Caleb is the author of the three books:
The Forgotten Self Survival Skills Used by the Mormon Pioneers
The Art of Baking with Natural Yeast
Backyard Winter Gardening

Organic Methods by our Members

I have a new Page on the right hand side of the website called Organic Methods by our Members.  Send me your tested and true ideas for organic fertilization, pest control and disease control and I'll keep them posted there.  We have one already submitted by Kassie on how to increase calcium for your tomatoes to prevent blossom-end rot.

Soil Health and Nutrients

I've been doing some research and trying to simplify and put all in one place; information about the nutrients our plants need in the soil, how to spot deficiencies, and how to organically supply these nutrients to my plants.

I've created a page called Minerals That Plants Need, please look under Pages on the right hand side and click on it to view.

 

Nature's Rototiller

If you have hard, compacted soil that you want to aerate and loosen, you can plant nature's own rototiller - the Daikon Radish.  This tough radish will grow deep into your compacted soil, breaking up the hard subsurface soil layers and bringing up minerals and micronutrients from the subsoil that shallow-rooted crops have a hard time reaching.  Put a couple of inches of good compost as a top layer and it get those nutrients down in your soil and speed up your soil amending.  All this without dragging up weed seeds like tilling does!

List of Potato Leaf Tomato Varieties

Potato Leaf Tomato varieties will cross pollinate by insects which makes them difficult to save pure seed from.  Regular, or Tomato Leaf varieties are self pollinating and the risk of cross pollination is low.

This website is a fairly comprehensive list of Potato Leaf varieties.  Please note that there are 2 pages to this list.

http://tatianastomatobase.com/w/index.php?title=Category:Potato_Leaf_Tomatoes&until=Ninas+Heirloom

Jerusalem Artichokes aka Sunchokes - Clone reproduction

Jerusalem Artichokes are a member of the Sunflower family that has edible tubers that grow similarly to potatoes.  They are regrown, like potatoes, from sprouting tubers - or from tubers you missed from last year!  Because of this, they can be a bit invasive and you can grow them in containers if you are concerned about missing any.

Like their family members of sunflowers, they can grow from 3 to 12 feet high with large leaves and flowers that are 1 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter. They grow well in almost all soil with the exception of very heavy clay soil, but do best in alkaline soil.

Sunchokes are easy to grow from tubers that weigh about 2 oz. and have 2 or 3 sprouts emerging.  Plant them deep, about 3 to 4 inches underground.  They do best when planted in little hills for better water retention and to make harvesting easier.  Plant them in the spring through early summer, and harvest them fall through early winter.

Here is a good link for more information http://www.vegparadise.com/highestperch26.html

Egyptian Walking Onions

Egyptian Walking Onions will walk right across your yard and keep giving you onions forever without your help!

In the ground, the Egyptian Walking Onion plant produces a small shallot-like onion which can be harvested. Once harvested, however, the plant will not grow back.  If left in the ground, the onion will produce shoots on which the end will form a cluster of onion bulbs. New shoots and topsets will grow from the onions each year which fall over from the weight in the fall where the new bulb roots and it starts all over again!
 

Egyptian Walking Onions are perennial plants and will grow back each year and yield new and bigger clusters of sets on the top and new onion offsets in the soil - they will divide. During their first year of growth they will not produce topsets. You might see only greens. But don't be disappointed, your Egyptian Walking Onion plants will grow back the following year in full force and produce their first clusters of topsets. Once established, plants may be propagated by division or by planting the sets that grow from the top. Egyptian Walking Onions are extremely hardy plants that grow well in zones 3-9.

See http://www.egyptianwalkingonion.com/ for lots of great information.

 

Squash that don't Cross!

Rambicante (Tomboncino) and Cushaw Squash don't cross with other varieties.  Caleb Warnock plants both of these squashes each year in his garden because he doesn't have to hand pollenate them.  Rambicante is a vining squash that you can eat as a summer squash like you would zucchini, or you can leave it on the vine to harden and store as a winter squash that I hear tastes kind of like Butternut Squash.

No Cross Pollinating Spinach

See page 215-216 of Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth.

New Zealand Spinach is the only member of it's family!  There are only 3 types of New Zealand Spinach, so if you only grow one, you don't have to do anything to keep the seed pure.  It likes the heat, not the cold, so it will grow when other spinach bolts.  You'll want to eat this one cooked, it has a bitter taste if eaten raw.  It reseeds itself, so that makes it kind of invasive, make sure you contain it!

Please read the description in Seed to Seed, and let me know when you come across or plant something interesting.

"Growing Food is Like Printing Your own Money" Ron Finley

This is a great quote from Ron Finley, the Guerilla Gardener from South Central LA.

Back to Eden Wood Chips

BACK TO EDEN WOOD CHIPS

There are many sources of wood chips, this is a good one for large amounts, or share with a friend.  It's just green material.

Tucker Tree Service
John Tucker 801-787-6203
Will need a few days notice before delivery

$5/yard for Back to Eden Chips - these are a mix of sizes 4-6" and there can be plastic that will need to be picked out.  This material will take a very long time to break down because of it's large size.  There is not much variety of size.
$16/yard for 1" composted chips that have been cleaned (no plastic).

John will deliver in a dump truck that holds 20 tons, delivery costs $50-$100 depending on your proximity to Lehi.  Provo is $50, Santaquin is $100.

The Payson City Dump has composted wood chips for $15/yard that only has green material in it.  This is where I get my wood chips from and I love it.  They do run out each year in about June.

January Classes on Video

There were three presentations given at our January seed exchange which can be accessed by clicking on the links below. 
Presentation by Allaire
Presentation by Barbara
Presentation by Wendy

Archived Seed Savers Exchange Webinars

http://www.seedsavers.org/Education/Webinar-Archive/?utm_source=SSE+Newsletter&utm_campaign=0e557c0ced-JanuaryNewsletter&utm_medium=email

This link will take you the Seed Savers Exchange website for all of the informative webinars they've had.

Seed Starting Method

I've posted the sprouting seed starting method under Pages on the right.  It is called Seed Starting Method.

Utah County Seed Exchange

On January 24th we'll be joining with Mapleton Ready for a seed exchange and instruction on starting seeds and extending our growing season.  Please see the information on the upcoming class/event on the right for the time and location.

6th Annual Wasatch Seed Exchange

For those of you in the Salt Lake area, the Salt Lake City People's Market sponsors an annual seed exchange with workshops each January.  You can exchange seeds, or get some of the seeds many seeds that are given away.  This year is on January 26th from 2-6pm at the Sorenson Unity Center, 1383 S 900  W, SLC.   I went last year and really enjoyed it! Please click here to register.