Palo Alto Demonstration Garden

Third Year, 2005

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Overview

For 2005, the three international-themed vegetable beds at the Palo Alto Demonstration Garden (PADG) were continued from the year before and an African bed was added. Our gardening methods illustrate UC approved approaches for soil prep, integrated pest management (IPM) and water use. We also conducted a chile pepper demonstration trial to compare growth and production of the same peppers grown at the Master Gardener Garden located in San Jose at 9 Palms Ranch.

Our water-wise garden, now in its second year, was a visual extravaganza starting in early spring with spectacular flower color and continuing throughout the year. It has become a place for the public to see low-water use plants used in an attractive ornamental landscape.

This year's garden events were well attended by the multicultural local community. Activities included the spring plant sale, a neighborhood children's day, a day of chile pepper tasting with a water-wise gardening class and a fall open garden. We also partnered with Common Ground in Palo Alto, providing garden space for a John Jeavons class.

In 2006, we will continue to reach the public with similar events and plan to increase the number of workshops and classes and plan to offer them monthly during the gardening season. Each day that we are at the garden we have visitors who either stop at the kiosk to look at the educational display and pick up UCCE handouts or come into the demo gardens to look around and ask questions.

PADG provides the participating Master Gardeners with a creative, fun project in an attractive location; it fosters good friendships among the volunteers while they learn from each other. The garden is located in the Eleanor Pardee Community Garden on Center Road, just north of Channing, across from Martin Street in Palo Alto.

African Bed:

This year we created an African Bed as the fourth international bed in the edible garden. African food plants were identified through Internet research. Seeds for almost all plants selected for the bed were obtained through the Seed Savers Exchange Yearbook because commercial sources could not be identified.

Most of the selected plants thrive in the hot, dry climate of Africa with flood irrigation in sunken beds. We wanted to see which of them could adapt to being raised in our Mediterranean climate with overhead watering using an Accurain Co. robotic irrigation system that was installed at the manufacturer’s expense in order to determine the suitability of this irrigation system for a vegetable garden and to demonstrate the system to the public.

In the previous winter months, the garden bed had a cover crop of chick peas. By late April, the cover crop was dug in and the bed was further amended with compost and alfalfa pellets. Peanuts, jute and lentils were planted directly from seed in mid to late May, while all the other plants were started in small pots in mid-April and transplanted after 4 to 6 weeks.

To support our vision of highly ornamental food gardens, a five-foot high stick trellis was installed in the center of the bed, and a number of ornamental and flowering plants were included in the planting plan. A painted stepladder made a colorful support for the African horned cucumber.

Comments about specific plants:

• African horned cucumber, kiwano: This plant was spectacular in appearance but none of the more than 100 fruits actually fully ripened on the vine. Even at its best, the fruit was bland and seedy.
• Sorghum: Our three varieties were the towering (10-12 feet tall) stars of the bed. However, the “sweet” sorghum did not taste sweet (sap in the stalk is used to make molasses).
• Cow peas and pigeon peas: Cow peas (black-eyed peas) produced a few pods before being shaded out by the sorghum, and the pigeon peas produced no flowers at all, most likely due to not enough heat.
• Egyptian white squash: Delicious summer squash, but too vigorous for our space.
• Roselle: These were very attractive plants, and we got a small harvest of edible calyces that were very tasty as a tea or jam.
• Peanuts: While the plants grew and “pegged” down into the ground, no peanuts developed, most likely because the plants were deprived of sun and water by the horned cucumber.
• Heidi tomato: Our plant filled its cage and produced large round tomatoes of delicious taste and exquisite texture.
• Amaranth: Prolific, cut back numerous times.
• Celosia argenta: variegated red/green, tasty, keeps red color when cooked.
• Jute: Only 2-3 plants, short and spindly. Late germinating, shaded by sorghum. Did produce a few seed pods full of turquoise color seed.

Lessons Learned:
The African bed was a hit with visitors to the garden, who were fascinated by the unusual edibles it contained. Having a few highly visible rarities, like sorghum, is a wonderful way to attract people to our projects.

While our summer temperatures in California seem adequate to raise most of the crops we tried, we may not have a long enough hot season to bring some of these tropical and semi-tropical varieties to full maturity.

The overhead irrigation system seemed to work well for most plants. Two exceptions were okra, which early on developed some type of leaf spot, and cotton, the bolls of which did not open and/or rotted late in the summer.

Asian Bed:

Cool season 2004-2005:
In early November, cool season crops were seeded and/or transplanted into the bed. Remaining areas (about 30% of the bed) were planted with bell beans and vetch.

Crops from early transplants of Renee’s stir-fry mix continued through March; and fall plantings of snow peas and snap peas, garlic, and scallions gave excellent harvests. In early spring, celtuce, Napa cabbage, turnips, and radishes were planted in their place. Squirrel activity and/or slug damage limited the success of all these spring-planted crops, with the exception of the celtuce.

Warm season 2005: Bell beans and vetch were dug into the bed as green manure. After decomposition of this material, approximately three inches of composted horse manure (Wheeler Farms) was incorporated into the bed. Alfalfa meal was broadcast over the entire bed, and additional alfalfa added in planting holes for heavy feeders such as eggplants and peppers. The drip irrigation system was flushed and laid out over the prepared beds. Watering rate was 45 minutes three times weekly throughout the warm season.

In its second summer, the Asian bed again combined many vegetables widely used in Asian countries (especially China, Japan, India, and Thailand) with flowers and new, sturdier bamboo structures to support plants and add interest and beauty to the garden. Some plants were direct seeded in mid-April to mid-May. All other plants were started from seed in March or April and transplanted into the bed from mid-April to mid-May.

Cool season 2005-06: To have the bed ready for a scheduled visitor dayin early October many summer vegetables were removed in late August and the winter garden was planted as seed and transplants. Some crops wereready for harvest by mid-October, others will be harvested before winter, and some will winter over and produce in the spring.

Conclusions:

The integration of flowers, the improved bamboo structures, and the ornamental vegetable plants made this bed extremely attractive. The edible chrysanthemum, red beard bunching onions, red velvet okra (red stems, red pods), red-stemmed Malabar spinach, Thai pepper, Thai basil, and bitter gourd were particularly ornamental.

Comments about specific plants:

Cool season 2004-2005:

• Super Sugar snap peas grew to 9 feet and produced heavily. Oregon Giant snow peas are shorter vines, but also produced heavily.
• Celtuce, a mild leaf lettuce that produces a succulent, sweet edible stalk if left to mature, grew extremely well and wasn't affected by slugs and snails.
• Napa cabbage, tie to encourage head formation; suffered severe slug damage.
• Edible chrysanthemum grew very well, though few liked the taste. The mature plants, long past edible stage, were almost three feet high and covered with simple chrysanthemum flowers that were either solid yellow or yellow with white tips.
• Red beard onions, a Japanese bunching variety produced well, and is still standing a year after planting, but developed little of the promised red color.
• Georgian crystal garlic performed beautifully, producing large heads of about 12 fat cloves each.

Warm season 2005:

• Asian cucumber hybrid Soarer: two plants grown on a 4-foot wide A-frame trellis steadily produced long, sweet cucumbers.
• Asparagus bean: vigorous, tender and sweet tasting, needs very tall support
• Chu chu and black chu chu eggplants: flea beetle damage reduced the vigor of the plants somewhat. Still, the harvest was quite satisfactory.
• Thai pepper: extremely productive, very ornamental, zillions of pods.
• Red velvet okra: did not grow as tall this year as last. The bright red pods were tender and sweet even at up to 5" long.
• Fuzzy melon (hairy gourd): one plant of this "baby winter melon" produced two to four 6-8” edible gourds per week from late-July to late October.
• Elattaria cardamom, Ginger family, needs shade, frost protection, 3-7 years to maturity.

Lessons Learned:

• The wood chips used throughout the garden for paths are prime habitat for slugs. Constant use of Sluggo was needed to protect early spring crops and seedlings after planting.
• Cooler weather may have reduced the vigor of heat loving plants this year, with eggplants, okra, and bitter gourd producing less than in 2004. Also, pests not present in this bed last year were observed this year - e.g., flea beetles, squash bugs
• Flowers: Canna, celosia, thunbergia (a lovely rose and apricot colored variety), and Thai basil added colorful accents to the bed; while Chinese chives, tulasi, and coriander left to flower attracted a wonderful variety of native bees and wasps. The thunbergia eventually completely covered the Malabar spinach with which it shared the bamboo pyramids
• Edamame germinated very well in one location and very poorly in another, even with a second planting. Plantings of several different vegetables in this particular area of the bed have failed to germinate or have grown poorly, with the exception of celtuce. More investigation is needed!

Blueberry Bed

This was the second spring for our six varieties of blueberries. In March the plants were fed with alfalfa (1 cup per plant) and three inches of Wheeler Farm compost was added to renew the mulch. The plants bloomed well and had good fruit set.

Unfortunately, birds harvested the whole crop before we were really aware of the loss. We have found that not being able to discourage animal and bird pests is one of the disadvantages of a garden that is not in your backyard!

During summer months the plants put on a great deal of new growth. We will start a regular program of fertilization next year, adjusting soil pH if necessary, and will begin pruning in 2007. Netting will be used to protect the crop.

Latin American Bed:

The Latin Bed showcases vegetables and flowers with origins in the Americas. The bed began the year filled with a cover crop of fava beans, except for of the dormant perennial yacon plant. Part of the fava beans provided a cover crop that was turned under to improve the soil and part was harvested.

We planted one pound of Guatemalan purple potatoes in February. They grew well but when we harvested them in early July to make room for chile peppers, we were disappointed to find only 3 pounds of small potatoes produced. The color was an attractive medium purple but the taste was average.

Four varieties of tomatoes were planted in mid-May. They were all grown on tepees made of tall branches. The tepees were an inexpensive alternative to tomato cages and worked well after we stabilized them with foot long rebar stakes pounded into the ground and attached to the stakes. All the tomatoes produced well with the Oli Rose de Domimique having the best flavor. The Mexico variety was good, but the Striped Marvel variety was bland. We would not recommend the Sweet Pea Current. The plant was loaded with pea-sized tomatoes and grew as a somewhat attractive low mound, but the ratio of skin to flesh was too high to be a desirable eating tomato.

The six varieties of chiles planted were: Cubanelle, Corno di Toro, Ring O' Fire Cayenne, New Mex Big Jim, Chilhuacle Negro, and Pimento de Padron. All grew well but were not big producers. Toma Verde tomatillo plants grew well and were loaded with tomatillos. The two herbs grown successfully were Cuban and Mexican oregano.

A late start planting corn meant a late start for the beans that we intended to grow up the corn stalks. The Candy Corn grew well but did not have the bold color of the package photos. To grow beans up corn it would be best to plant a very early corn.

Flowers that helped to make the bed attractive were: nasturtiums, nicotiana, zinnias, and sunflowers. The nasturtiums and nicotiana both reseeded quite readily. Amaranth also provided a decorative accent.

Mediterranean Bed:

The bed has been ongoing since the spring of 2004 and has provided an exhibition ground for year-round gardening: as one crop is harvested, another is planted. There is always something blooming, something edible, and something just planted making it an ideal teaching ground.

Areas are prepared by forking in compost and alfalfa meal before planting. Dr. Earth vegetable fertilizer is used for heavy feeding plants such as eggplant and peppers. Drip irrigation is set according to weather conditions and crop. Floating row cover is used to protect emerging seedlings and low cages made from screening protect small seedlings.

A new trellis was installed to replace the beautiful but deteriorating twig trellis. Other free-form twig structures are used throughout the bed to add a whimsical touch and to support plants.

The following varieties of vegetables were particularly notable:

• Vidi bell pepper - very large, squared, thin-walled green pepper.
• Spanish spice pepper - small, twisted frying pepper
• Green sausage tomato - determinate, not particularly flavorful
• Speckled roman tomato - productive and good tasting paste tomato
• Kwintus pole beans - always a favorite
• Emerite beans - nice French filet pole beans
• Asparagus pea - a novelty, attractive red flowers produce small squared pods. They do taste like asparagus when cooked.
• Many types of lettuce do very well in this garden year-round. We plant Batavians, leaf lettuces, romaines, escaroles and all are healthy, most are very tasty.

As with the other beds of edibles, many flowers are interspersed throughout to add beauty as well as attract pollinators to the garden. Early
pink sweet peas had long stems for cutting and smelled wonderful. During the summer Centaurea Monardella 'Gold Bullion', Monarda Citiodora, Verbascum Chaixii and V. 'Copper Rose' added color. The cherry red hollyhock, in its second year, bloomed well. Scabiosa, Salvia 'Hot Lips', cosmos, dianthus, zinnias and a 'Cinnamon' sunflower added to the color to the garden.

Lessons Learned:

• Early vigilance was necessary to protect the cucumbers and squash from squash bugs.
• A trombocino squash, grown in the same place as last year, to grow on the trellis, did not flourish – do not plant the same vegetable crop in the same place each year!
• A pollinator cucumber was planted for the Amira cucumber and production was moderate throughout a long summer season.
• A determinate tomato was grown in a 6' tomato cage. Pay attention to what you plant!

Water-wise Garden:

Our water-wise garden showcases plants and cultural techniques for summer dry gardening that we want to encourage home gardeners to try in their own gardens. Our strategy is to be as thrifty as possible with water, plant nutrients and gardener labor while we strive to have an attractive and colorful ornamental garden. Each season, we have showy plants blooming while others are growing or dormant.

This year was the garden’s second year and the plants are growing and filling in the beds as we continue to combat bindweed successfully. We have installed two different types of low-flow irrigation systems. The garden is now ready for Master Gardener presentations to teach the public organic, sustainable and low water approaches for home gardening.

To everybody's delight, many of the annual flower seeds, that had been planted the previous year, germinated. California poppies, agrostemma, scabiosa, godetia, nigella, Cerinthe and Amni majus appeared all through the garden! It was an amazing show and attracted a great deal of attention. Some of our winter blooming perennials were equally striking: Arctotis 'Purple Torch', Aloe sp., and Bulbine.

Unfortunately the weed seeds germinated too and we were kept busy identifying desirable seedlings and removing unwanted ones. We had minor frost damage to our Galvesias and Abution palmerii while some succulents needed to be removed because of severe frost damage. In general, the plants that had been put in the previous winter, grew quickly with the winter rains.

Spring:
The late spring rains gave the annuals a long bloom period. During the PADG plant sale in mid April, the water-wise garden was full of color and there were many questions asked about the garden and the plants. Despite our ongoing weeding, many of the weeds and wildflowers grew so vigorously that they began to choke out some of perennials and shrubs. Bindweed was aggressively growing in the pathways. Research was done on bindweed removal and eventually, it was decided to use Round-up for eradication. To minimize the amount of herbicide used, we carefully sponged the herbicide onto the bindweed as it began to bloom.

Summer:
The key tasks for the summer months were to water the beds, install a new irrigation system, and further control the bindweed. In the meantime, we watered the entire beds with hose end sprinklers every two to three weeks. Young plants were hand watered weekly. Most plants continued to thrive but a few showed signs of stress with wilted and dead foliage: Echinacea, Lychnis, Achillea and the hybrid roses.

We applied for and received a grant from the Santa Clara Water District for a water-wise irrigation system. Consultations with Urban Farmer helped us decide the layout and what materials to use. Two different types of low flow systems were installed to compare and also as education for the public. As vandalism was a concern, the valves are located in a concealed underground box and a locked box was installed for the controller unit.

We continued to remove bindweed out of the beds, as well as sponging Round-up on the bindweed in the paths. After the bindweed died back, we had a chipping party! Cardboard and wood chips were collected and the word was sent out. About 25 people came to help. With wheelbarrows and muscles, cardboard was spread out and chips were piled on top.

While the garden slowed down with the removal of the spent annuals, we continued to have strong performers from many perennials. The Abutilon palmerii, Alyogyne huegelii, Rosa mutabilis, Nepeta and the salvias, rosemaries and penstemons all put on quite a show.

Fall:
The garden still looks remarkably good as we wait for the first rains of the season. Watering has tapered off. Some of the plants that struggled in the summer’s heat have been removed or transplanted to shadier spots. The bindweed is under control. The new irrigation system was turned on and tested. Exceptional fall plants have been Verbena 'De La Mina', Pelargonium sidoides, and Oregano 'Hopley's. During PADG's chili tasting, we had a "Walk and Talk" presentation in the Water-wise Garden. About 20 people attended and learned about fall tasks in the ornamental garden. We also had tours and demonstrations at the Water-wise garden during our Open House

Lessons Learned:
We learned a great deal this year about water-wise gardening. We are beginning to see which plants are going to perform best for us. We have developed better techniques for controlling the bindweed. We have irrigated the garden several different ways: by hand, hose end sprinklers and by automated, low-flow systems. We are learning what teaching programs the public is interested in. Several suggestions were made for improved plant labeling and for more information on our bulletin board. We are looking forward to even more public outreach next year. We want to show home gardeners in Santa Clara County that it's possible to have a beautiful home landscape with less water and little or no lawn.