June in the Garden:

Frog Hollow Garden is an organic-styled vegetable garden 2 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean on the central Oregon Coast.  We're off to a promising start this year which has put us approximately 2 months ahead of where we've been at this time in past years.  Because our garden borders a tidal wetland we're normally about 2 months behind conventional gardens as we have to wait for the soil to dry enough to till.  Our growing season often starts in late June or early July which in turn limits the crops that we are able to grow.  This year, we used a modified version of Charles Dowding's "No-Dig" system which allows one to plant without tilling.  Serendipitously, we also discovered a source of extra compost which is essential to the No-Dig system.  To illustrate, here are side by side photos of the garden on this day last year and today:

In addition to trying the No-Dig system, we have planted Yacon a new/ancient food source which is reputed to have multiple health benefits.  Our interest in Yacon led us to another serendipitous discovery, Dr. Alan Kapuler's Peace Seeds research farm, where he breeds new varieties of plants and gives the rights to the public in order to thwart Monsanto's aim to own all new plant development.  May he live forever!  

Please visit our 2015 Season page for more photos and in-depth description of what we're up to.