I'm Kaye and I'm a late bloomer.
Two goals I set for the late bloomer garden
this summer were to have the biggest
garden yet and the most biodiverse.
We'll take a look at the garden
and see how I'm doing,
But first, what is biodiversity,
why is it important,
and how do we get it?
(soft guitar music plays)
I don't know if I'd use the word balance.
I mean there's like....
It doesn't have to be any way.
It was one way and now,
people have changed it.
This is my friend Dr. Jim Hogue,
and Jim, tell my audience what you do.
I work here in the department of biology
as California State University Northridge,
and my main job here is
I'm a collections manager and I
take care of collections of specimens
of insects and plants and reptiles and
amphibians and birds and mammals.
What is biodiversity, can you tell me?
The entirety of all of the living material
and their associations,
on our planet from ecosystems
and communities of organisms
down to their genes
and the products of those genes.
All of that is what is
thought of, or considered to be biodiversity,
all of life in its entirety and all of its
parts and all of its products.
When things get out of balance,
people often reach for chemicals
to solve problems.
That may be a temporary fix, but
other things like soil micro-organisms
may be adversely affected.
Sort of like the side effects from
taking medications.
So much of what you see is,
is not natural landscapes.
They're agricultural landscapes and
it's very different than what you see
in natural landscapes, much more
homogeneous, and, uh,
this biodiversity we're talking about
is much reduced.
So, in some instances the landscape is
literally a monoculture of one kind
of organism, typically some plant.
and that's all there is living in that
one particular place and that's
very different from the natural world.
The trick is to find out some
way that we can do both
of those things without destroying
one or the other, cause we can't,
we can't do without modern agriculture,
but we also can't do without
biodiversity and natural ecosystems,
even though us human beings tend
to behave as if we could.
Right!
That's why us humans have gardens,
and one of the things we like about
gardens is that they are not just one thing,
they are lots of things and they are
continually changing.
They also interact with the rest of the
world and it makes our life interesting
and rewarding. Our gardens produce
things that we can eat, but they also
produce things that we just see
and we spend time with.
And that makes us happy, because
we are a part of biodiversity.
That's our home. Ha, ha!
Nowhere is it better to initiate biodiversity
than in your own garden.
Plus it's empowering to know you're
making a positive difference
to the biosphere.
So, how do we do that?
Take out your lawn and grow food there.
I met a biodynamic farmer in 2012,
And he told me to take out my lawn,
and my bushes,
plant two citrus trees, surround them
with herbs and once I did that,
I never looked back.
And now.....
I have a microfarm in my front yard.
Develop your soil.
The easiest way to do that
is with woodchip mulching
which suppresses weeds and conserves water.
(sound of bird chirping)
And it saves your back from a lot of
hard digging.
Connect with seed savers.
Join the online garden community,
and start sharing seeds and knowledge.
Mix it up.
Plant fruit and nut trees, berries,
veggies, annuals, perennials,
and lots of flowers, for the pollinators.
Speaking of pollinators,
plant milkweed, for the Monarchs.
The Monarch butterfly is North America's
most iconic pollinator and
most beautiful butterfly.
They cover thousands of miles in their
fall migration, however the majority
of wild milkweed has been killed
with chemicals. And after a
ten-fold drop in the Eastern Monarch
population, the probability is high
it will go extinct in 20 years.
So, it's up to us home gardeners
to plant milkweed
to supply the Monarch butterfly.
Because the females only lay eggs
on milkweed, because that's all
the caterpillars will eat.
So plant milkweed, native to your
area and help the Monarch butterfly.
Filter your tap water.
City water is loaded with salts and
chemicals that destroy soil biology.
Create habitat for wildlife.
Except raccoons...
and moles and voles and...
groundhogs and bunny rabbits and deer...
rats...
Make or buy your own bee home,
worm tower,
hummingbird feeder,
birdbath,
bat house! Ha, ha.
I'm very excited about my bat house.
I hope they find me.
A recent trip to Phoenix to visit
Jacq Davis' permaculture style
Epic Yard Farm garden
inspired me to look for more
opportunities to create dense blocks
of multi-species plantings.
But, I cannot plant anything
under my tomatoes like she does,
because I such a problem with
powdery mildew.
So, you have to find what's right
for your garden and your weather
and your zone.
I was asked recently why I have
so much borage.
Well, once you plant borage,
you never have to plant it again.
It just self-seeds everywhere.
But, it protects your tomatoes,
peppers, and eggplant from
the tomato and tobacco hornworm.
So,...
there's the balance.
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
Someone remarked recently at all
the different varieties of plants
I have growing this year,
and encouraged me to take a
2016 census.
Now, keeping track
of the names of the plants that
I'm growing is one of my greatest
challenges, ha, ha.
I start out well
with all those little plant tags
and by the time things get potted up
twice, I don't know what anything is.
But here goes.
(pretty guitar music plays)
Half the things I'm growing this year
people sent me, so,
if you recognize your stuff,
please let me know.
(soft guitar music plays)
(bees buzzing)
So... how did I do
with the biggest garden ever?
This shortage of space
and desire to have a packed garden,
has required purchased compost
and organic amendments,
but, Patrick at One Yard Revolution,
has inspired my goal for next year
to use no purchased amendments.
After summer season ends,
(buzzing of hummingbird)
I plan to pile the rest of
my wood chips on my beds
to break down over winter
and let the biodiversity build.
(jazzy guitar plays)
mmmmmmm!
If you enjoyed this episode,
please give me a thumbs up
and share with a friend. I'm Kaye,
I'm a late bloomer,
thanks for watching,
and I'll see you next time!
(sound of whistle as part of logo)
(bloopers begin) More....
intensely, densely...
ppuuuuu....
Okay, so why is biodiversity...
no, no, uh, ...
my third question,... Okay.
my third question is why...
uh, no, no,... Okay.
I already asked that question.
This question is...
...plantings. From ground cover to
something that shades that, to
a fruit tree, she's got it all going on!
What is a nematode?
I can't see it right? It's too small.
Well, some are big. Oh!
Yeah, so, like you can...
humans can be infested...
with some nematodes, big, old...
things like this...
that live inside your body.
Oh, oh, in your body....
I'm sorry I asked, ha, ha!
(shrill duck quack)
(jazzy electric guitar plays)
(bees buzz)