Frogs have an anti-bacterial bio-film on their skin

Frogs have an anti-bacterial bio-film on their skin.  In fact there is an ancient Russian practice of placing a frog in milk to keep it fresh longer.    My bioponic systems are teaming with frogs and tadpoles.  Nitrification continues but it makes me wonder if I'm deriving a special advantage from the frogs that may help prevent diseases such as bacterial canker, soft rot, leaf spot, and wilt.  I rarely experience these problems, so maybe it's a gift from the frogs.  At night their singing it very loud but I like the sounds of nature..

Money In Your Garden

If you can relate with this image, you may want to read this article. 

Many vegetables can be expensive to purchase by growing the most expensive vegetables in your garden and buying the least inexpensive vegetables at your grocery store you can easily help drop your food budget.  This especially important for people like me with very limited space to grow everything that I consume.  [READ MORE]

Vegetable	USD Value/SF
Cilantro	$ 21.20
Arugula-Roquette	$ 20.92
Green Salad Mix	$ 17.55
Chives	$ 16.40
Dill	$ 16.40
Lettuce	$ 16.20
Tomato, Cherry, small & medium	$ 15.57
Turnip	$ 9.90
Tomato, large	$ 9.50
Squash, Winter	$ 8.40
Tomatillo	$ 8.00
Cucumber	$ 7.74
Basil	$ 6.63
Radish, Red	$ 6.22
Pumpkin	$ 6.20
Chard, Swiss	$ 6.14
Celery	$ 6.00
Squash, Summer	$ 5.96
Choi	$ 5.70
Peas, Snow	$ 4.50
Pepper, Jalapeno	$ 4.50
Squash, Summer, Zucchini	$ 4.17
Onion, Bunching	$ 4.14
Pepper, Bell	$ 3.60
Brussels Sprouts	$ 3.59
Carrots	$ 3.56
Rhubarb	$ 3.25
Squash, Winter, Butternut	$ 3.20
Kale	$ 3.07
Grass, Lemon	$ 3.00
Peas, English	$ 3.00
Onion, Bulb	$ 2.63
Radish, White	$ 2.60
Bean, Bush	$ 2.51
Peas, Edible Pod	$ 2.50
Artichoke, Globe	$ 2.40
Cabbage, Chinese Napa	$ 2.24
Squash, Winter, Delicata	$ 2.10
Spinach, Spring/Fall	$ 1.80
Leeks	$ 1.75
Potatoes	$ 1.50
Parsnips	$ 1.50
Garlic	$ 1.37
Squash, Summer, Yellow	$ 1.34
Parsley	$ 1.31
Corn	$ 1.25
Squash, Winter, Acorn	$ 1.20
Squash, Winter, Hubbard	$ 1.20
Eggplant	$ 1.10
Greens, Mustard	$ 1.10
Rutabaga	$ 1.00
Beet	$ 0.89
Cabbage, Savoy	$ 0.80
Broccoli	$ 0.80
Kohlrabi	$ 0.75
Cauliflower	$ 0.60
Broccoli, Chinese	$ 0.60
Cabbage	$ 0.50

Sources: http://www.mcgoodwin.net/pages/ppatch.html for plant yield information, http://shop.safeway.com for current produce prices

Drought

http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/products/rescond.pdf

Daily Reservoir Storage Summary 

http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/reservoirs/RES

http://cdec.water.ca.gov/jspplot/jspPlotServlet.jsp?sensor_no=3379&end=03%2F30%2F2014+07%3A47&geom=huge&interval=360&cookies=cdec01

http://cdec.water.ca.gov/histPlot/DataPlotter.jsp?staid=sha&sensor_no=15&duration=D&start=04%2F06%2F198814%3A21&end=03%2F15%2F2014+08%3A22&geom=Small

The Earthan Beds I build waste no water at all. 

Mycorrhizae Growing on Worm Castings

Four days ago I mixed a some mycorrhizae and oat meal into these worm castings.  I moistened with water and placed it in a dark cabinet at about 70 degrees.

My intention is to get a lot of mycorrhizae started and then mix it into the soil near my trees and in my vegetable beds.

I may try this experiment again without adding any mycorrhizae.  I believe the worm casting are already rich with mycorrhizae, but I did not want to chance failure this time around.

Local Nursery Crawl March 8-9, 2014

Walipini (playlist)

A Walipini is an underground green house.  Some of these videos demonstrate zero degrees outside and 70 degrees in the green house.  Over heating seems to be more of a problem, but simply opening a vent is all that is required.   Year around gardening of out of season crops!

CLICK THE TITLE "Walipini (playlist)" to play an entire YouTube playlist

Controling Nematodes

Rob Bob made a couple good videos about how he rid his wicking beds of nematodes.
For his ' Bugs, grubs & other garden critters.. ' Playlist click this link

Root knot nematode control using French marigolds & mustard 

Wicking bed prep for cool weather crops & root knot nematode update