OVF NEWSSummer 2009

Melody Girard, EditorPublished by Ocean View FarmsP.O. Box 66534 Los Angeles, CA 90066

What’s in this issue...Water Conservation | Tomato TastingHosting Good Bugs | Summer SalsaGarden Medicine | New VP Welcomed

LADWP BREAKS ITDOWN FOR US

In an effort to clarify how LA’s mandatory water-userestrictions impact Ocean View Farms gardeners,LADWP representative Jane Galbraith addressed

OVF’s membership at the general membership meetingon June 13, 2009.

Summarizing the history behind L.A.’s currentwater woes, Ms. Galraith explained that a 3-yeardrought and the loss of key water supplies necessitatedmandatory conservation measures. A judicial decisionrequires LADWP to replenish water to abate un-healthful dust levels and protect endangered species inthe Owens River and Mono Lake Basin. In addition,the Metropolitan Water District, a major water whole-saler, has stipulated that Angelenos must reduce con-sumption by 15 percent or pay premium prices forwater.

WHAT DO THE DROUGHT-YEAR WATER RE-STRICTIONS MEAN FOR US AT OVF?• OVF cannot at this time be exempt from drought-year restrictions.

• Ocean View Farms gardeners who water by hand —as opposed to with sprinklers—may water any day ofthe week, but only before 9 a.m. and after 4 p.m.

• All customer classes may water by sprinkler on Mon-days and Thursdays only and not during the prohib-ited hours. Seep hoses are not low flow, thus they fallunder the same watering restrictions.

• OVF gardeners may fill containers with water dur-ing the permissible hours for use during the restrictedhours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Gardeners must keep water-filled containers tightly covered.

AND WE’RE THE LUCKY ONESGalbraith said that we should consider ourselves luck-ier than residential customers. As a non-profit organi-zation, OVF pays less for its water than any other classof customer. Residential users must reduce their wateruse by 15 percent or experience significant rate hikes.OVF’s water rates, however, are not linked to con-sumption.

OVF gardenerslisten raptly asJane Galbraithdiscusses thenew, mandatoryconservationmeasures at theJune member-ship meeting.Judith Morris’swingman, Ralph,prefers to take atime out in thenoon sun.

(Gardenmaster continued...)

Please make sure that OVF has updated information on filein advance of workdays. Your phase rep can help you updateyour information in OVF’s records.

SPECIFIC DETAILS OF WHAT YOU NEED TO DOTO GET CREDIT FOR HOURS WORKED

• The worker’s name must be in OVF’s databaseas a member, an associate or a person living in thehousehold of either a member or the associate.

• The worker must be over the age of 12.• On arriving, the worker must clearly print his or

her name in the log book.• The worker must clearly write the household’s plot

number in the log book next to his or her name.• On leaving, the worker must sign out only for himself

or herself.• Associates must check the appropriate box to

indicate associateship.

If we cannot track down the member to clarify informationin 7 days, we will file confusing or incomplete entries in the“NO CREDIT” folder.

–––– Ed Mosman, Gardenmaster

WANTED Old salvage pipe that may be in your plot. Pleaseput it on the east side of the toolshed where other pipes arestored.

EARN EXTRA CREDIT FOR COMPOSTING If you workcompost in the pits, you will automatically receive an extrahour of work credit if you put a “C” next to your name onthe sign-in sheet.

SEPARATING SHEDDING MATERIAL You are doing agood job of separating the woody material from the greenweed material. This is a big help to the shredding crew onTuesdays. But be careful to remove metal objects beforedumping weeds. Metal items can damage the shredder andinjure operators. Place your trash items in the black L.A. Citybarrel next to the woody section. Thank you very much foryour help.

ORCHARD FRUIT You are welcome to pick ripe fruit fromthe orchard. Remember to take only 3 or 4 pieces. Do nottake a bag full because your garden membership can be ter-minated. You may ask a member who has an Independentproject for some fruit from their trees and they will be glad toshare with you. Do not pick fruit or flowers from an Inde-pendent Project without permission as that is also a cause formembership termination.

MULTIPLE PLOTS The waiting list has more than 350names on it. If you are having difficulty maintaining multipleplots in good condition, please consider giving up a plot, sothat it can be reassigned to a new member. It will lighten yourworkload and give someone else a chance to enjoy OVF.

SECURITY BREACH An incident recently where a youngcouple were picking mulberries off the tree by the Centinelagate underscores the need to keep gates locked. The male wasin the tree shaking it to knock the berries to the ground. JoanKlotz, Lower Phase I Rep., asked them who their Phase Rep.was and they replied “What is that?” When asked how theygot in, they replied. “There’s always always a gate open some-where.” LOCK THE GATES!!!

STOP WEST NILE VIRUS Vector control was in the gardenFriday, June 12th, checking for mosquito larvae. Mosquitoscan spread West Nile Virus. Please cover water storage con-tainers with a tight-fitting lids. OVF will be cited if larvae arefound.

TO GET CREDIT FOR HOURS WORKED Clearly printall required information in the Work Log Book. Without it,we cannot give credit for work. Can’t recall your plot num-ber? Then, ask the timekeeper to look it up. Want other mem-bers of your household to earn workday credit? Then makesure that his or her name is in the OVF database.

Gardenmaster’s Report CLCA SHOW STILL GREENAFTER 30 YEARS

February 25–26 the California Landscape Contractors’ Associ-ation Landscape Industry Show once again lured OVF’s Gar-denmaster Ed Mosman and OVF members, Bob Gallion, JackSchoenwetter and Richard Nortman to the Los Angeles Con-vention Center. In its 30th year, CLCA’s annual event is one oflargest and oldest green industry shows in the west. With morethan 350 exhibitors, the convention featured items ranging fromnew gardening tools to large, high-powered mulching and cut-ting equipment. “We powered some up, but didn’t buy any-thing—at this time,” said Ed Mosman.

Mosquito season is upon us. Big time.

West Nile VirusAlert!!! Dumpall standing

water.

Empty all pots,buckets, and

ponds (withoutmosquito fish.)

by Robin Berger

When asked about the most annoying pests found inthe garden, a small sampling of OVF membersplaced snails and slugs at the top of the list. The

runner-ups were aphids, ants, cabbage caterpillars, earwigsand something described as “green worms.”

Some experts believe it’s impossible to totally eliminatepests like ants from an outdoor area. Other gardeners grabpesticides or a variety of home remedies, including beer forsnails. But a new crop of cultivators are creating environmentsthat attract beneficial insects, which eat or otherwise repel thepests.

According to general knowledge website About.com,“pesticides can’t distinguish the good guys from the badguys.” It advocates planting an “insectary”: Turf dedicated toattract and sustain the good guys. To optimize the insectary,it recommends planting early bloomers, including plants ofvaried heights, and keeping the plot well mulched. Mulch at-tracts slug-munching ground beetles, which also eat caterpil-lars.

Russell Ackerman, sustainable landscape and water spe-cialist for the City of Santa Monica, recommends creating ayear-round nectar source from seasonal plants. This might in-clude California lilac (February-May), yarrow (April-July),and California buckwheat or asters (May/June through De-cember). They attract the ladybugs, tachinid flies and preda-tor wasps that get rid of aphids and cabbage caterpillars.

But sometimes, Ackerman concedes, other measures areneeded. He mulches dried out coffee grounds aroundslug/snail-magnets like artichokes, and hosts “snail parties”at dusk to handpick them. He sprays down plants infestedwith ants (which also attack lady bugs), and uses moist, rolledup newspapers to draw away earwigs.

In 2000, expert Rex Dufour wrote about a “whole-farm,ecological approach to pest management” called “Farmscap-ing” for the National Sustainable Agriculture InformationService (www.attra.org.) Claiming its tenets still hold truetoday, he described the practice as the “use of hedgerows, in-sectary plants, cover crops, and water reservoirs to attract andsupport populations of beneficial organisms.” It requires awell-timed, environmentally suitable, supply of food and shel-ter to attract and sustain beneficial populations.

Dufour suggests seed blends, specific plants, and spraysto increase the good guys’ attraction to the plot, mulches tokeep them happy, and a flexible approach to adjusting themix, based on good records of when and where specific pestsoccur, as well as their successful elimination. Thewww.attra.org website also provides a handy chart that iden-tifies pests, their predators, and which plants attract thesehelpful critters. (For more info, please see box at left.)

In 2008, the first OVF tomato tasting had an unex-pectedly high turnout for a first-time event. Garden-ers tasted and rated more than 30 varieties of

tomatoes. This year, tasting will commence on at 2:00p.m. on Sunday, August 9. The event will be a blindtomato tasting—not a potluck. No cooking or shoppingrequired. Just bring your taste buds and your favoritetomato varieties grown in OVF’s soil. Guests are wel-come, as are all garden members, with or without toma-toes.

Bring your tomatoes, knives and cutting boards. Volun-teers are needed, too. Please contact Melody Girard ateducation-chair@oceanviewfarms.net, or leave a mes-sage in the education chair’s mailbox at the wheelbar-row shed.

If the novelty of not having to cook for an event in-trigues you, drop on by—or better yet, enter yourtomato varieties in the taste test. Last year, the top tast-ing tomatoes were the Kellogg’s Breakfast and the SunGold cherry varieties. Perhaps one of your tomatoes willwin the “blue ribbon” this year.

IT’S TOMATO TASTINGTIME ONCE AGAIN

Creature ComfortsKeeping the Good BugsDown on the Farm

OVF’S 2NDANNUALTOMATOTASTINGSCHEDULEDFORAUGUST 9THAT 2:00 P.M.

RECOMMENDED SITES FOR BUG SURFINGhttp://insects.about.com/od/insectpests/p/attbeneficials.htm

http://insects.about.com/od/insectpests/tp/top10beneficialinsects.htmwww.attra.org/attra-pub/farmscape.htmlwww.attra.org/attra-pub/farmscaping/fsappendixa.html

Lists the good bugs and the plants that attract them.

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/farmscaping/fsappendixc.htmlLists seed blends that attract good guys.

www.smgov.net/uploadedFiles/Departments/OSE/SLP_Residential2009.pdf

www.smgovt.net/departments/ose/categories/landscape.aspx

www.sustainablesm.org/landscape(subcategory Plants and Soil)

JULY11 Sat 9-12 Work18 Sat 9:30 Board Mtg26 Sun 1-4 Work

AUGUST8 Sat 9-12 Work

12 Potluck1 Gen. Mtg.

30 Sun 1-4 Work

SEPTEMBER12 Sat 9-12 Work19 Sat 9:30 Board Mtg27 Sun 1-4 Work

For the entire year’sschedule of workdaysand other events, visitour Web site calendar:www/oceanviewfarms.net/calendar.html

WORKDAYSCHEDULE

by Gholam Fatemi

• A few almonds a day can satisfy your

hunger and help you lose weight.

• Tomatoes may reduce blood pressure.

• Blueberries may be helpful in

controlling cholesterol.

• Salad greens and other vegetables with

bulk may help irritable bowel syndrome.

• Some people believe that herbs such as

mint can improve memory.

• Pumpkin seeds may contain a lot of zinc

and could also be helpful in getting

restful sleep.

• Ginger may help relieve arthritis pain.

Statements from this column have not been scientificallysubstantiated and are not endorsed as medical treat-ments by the Ocean View Farms Board of Directors northe editor of this newsletter. Information herein is notintended to take the place of consultation with a licensedmedical doctor.

APRIL OVF ELECTIONREVIVES VICEPRESIDENT POSITIONAFTER 6-YEARDORMANCYby Melody Girard, editor

The position of vice president, whichhas remained unfilled since Decem-ber 2003, has finally been filled. At

the April 11, 2009 General Meeting, themembership elected Lisa Carnahan to the re-cently reestablished vice president position.

Lisa is a fourth generation farmer whohails from far western Oklahoma, which shecalls, “a land of few distractions.” She cre-ated sufficient distractions on her own, how-ever, including gardening in every availablespace and founding and operating Okla-homa’s largest organic produce company onthe family farm. She graduated from Okla-homa Baptist University, then earned herM.Ed. from Southwestern Oklahoma StateUniversity and studied drama at Yale andthe National Theater in London. Lisamoved to Los Angeles to work in the enter-tainment industry. Her longing to reconnectwith the soil was satisfied after a two andone-half years wait until she finally becomea member of OVF. She not only found thesoil she was hoping to tend, but a sense ofcommunity.

“Community gardening is a delightfulexperience because of the interaction withfellow gardeners being unusual as gardeningcan often be a very solitary experience whenworking on your own property. OVF is alsoa beautiful island in the sea of humanity thatis the city,” said Lisa Carnahan.

The OVF community extends a warmwelcome to Lisa! We look forward to herenthusiastic leadership in this newly-revivedposition.

MEDICINE FROMYOUR GARDEN

Summer is Salsa SeasonSummer is barbeque time. Time for chips, dips and intensely flavored foods. And makingyour own salsa from vegetables you’ve grown yourself is one of the great pleasures ofsummer gardening. These Web pages can help you grow and savor those delicious sum-mer vegetables:

The University of California at Davis’ Web site is a reliable and fast California-centricpest management resource. Identify symptoms and look at “mug” shots of the bad guyswho attack peppers, tomatoes and other vegetables:

www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/menu.homegarden.html

The Internet was created for recipe lovers. And Gourmet Magazine’s epicurious.com isone of the best recipe sites on the Web. A search for “salsa” yields about 440 recipes.Large numbers of readers test and rate recipes.

An excellent source for recipes and garden advice is: www.sunset.com/food-wine/enter-taining/10-sensational-salsas-00400000016882/. While you’re there, look at their tipsfor growing cilantro and other herbs: www.sunset.com/garden/flowers-plants/nine-indis-pensable-herbs-00400000011943/page12.html

OVF BOOKMARKS: ONLINE GARDENING RESOURCES

2007