I went through and turned all the soil in the garden box tonight after being inspired by an insipid conversation about agribusiness online. I’m hoping to put in a first planting of early season seeds tomorrow, and get some seedlings going. Before I do so, I wanted to write down the notes I scribbled after last year. I’m sure you’re all looking forward to vegetable growing tips for the Richmond Annex micro-climate..
Successes:
- Chard – Our most bountiful crop. Two squares fed both of us all season.
- Tomatoes – The favorite of course. The plants in the garden were infinitely more flavorful than the plants in half barrels. I think it was probably the quality of the soil, but it might have been the variety. Best flavor came from the Stupice variety cherry tomatoes and the Enchantment variety plums.
- Lettuce – Very productive, built somewhat quick to bolt. Best to stage in one square every four to six weeks.
- Arugula – Now I know why they call this rocket, the second fastest growing weed in the garden (radishes are amazingly fast growers). I’m a huge fan of baby arugula, so this year I’m going to plant them a little tighter and keep them cut way back. Probably stage these in like the lettuce.
- Pole Beans – These tasted great but the seeds sprouted behind some fast growing radishes, so they never grew very heartily.
- Radishes – These things always amazed me. When we were playing with hydroponics as a kid I’d see radish seeds sprout within four hours of getting wet. They grew so damn fast that they overshadowed everything behind them.
- Thyme – My only viable herb. In fact, it’s still growing now! (I had to dig it up so I could turn the rest of the soil.
Failures:
- Cucumbers, bush beans, bell peppers – The seedlings wouldn’t take, they just never grew past their original size. Same with basil, very dissapointing.
- Spinach – Grew well, but it got eaten. Bok Choy even more so…so much I’m planting a lot just to attract the bugs this year!
- Carrots – Never grew too big, never got anything bigger than fingerlings.
- Cilantro/Parsley – Bolted too quickly.
- Brocolli – Slow growing for something you only get one harvest from in one square.
Rand Wacker 
Pest control ideas:
1) Companion planting of plants which deter pests (as opposed to your “honeypot” strategy)
2) Ladybugs
3) For slugs, Muscovy duck(s). They are actually a (non-swimming) meat duck, and I definitely couldn’t keep them in my garden (it’s in Diane’s mom’s yard) so this is really just a theory at this point…
Although possibly an egg duck like a Khaki Campbell would eat slugs too, and you wouldn’t have to kill it to make it productive. But then you’d need a pond. Fish pond? Like the Tilapia/Rice poly culture? Someone hose me down; my ideas are always spinning out of control…
Since our last planting in San Leandro was a complete loss (too hot and claylike soil was not tilled adequately) this is basically our first year… I will be focussing mainly on yield for minimal labor and dry heat resistance.
But I do like ducks.