Whew! School is out as of yesterday and the last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. In the meantime, the weeds and grass have been growing happily along with the vegetables we planted. Now it's time to get ahead of them again.
The potatoes had suffered from weed encroachment more than anything else, so they were first on the list this morning. The ground is still pretty moist from the last rain, but the Mantis tiller was able to work the ground pretty well. So now the potatoes are at least partially weeded and have been hilled up again.
The beets are doing very well this year. This is only our second year to grow beets, so I'm not real sure why they are doing great. There are several that look like they will be ready to eat before long. About every other evening I pick some beet greens and take them to the chickens and goats. We have also added some small, tender greens to a salad recently.
The onions are doing their thing, I think. I have yet to grow a good crop of onions, and the verdict is still out on this batch.
The sunflowers are coming up thick and look great. I planted seeds we harvested last summer and didn't know how viable they would be, so I planted them pretty thick. Guess what? They are doing great. Now to plant some more of them here and there to increase the harvest. We are intending this entire harvest, minus some seed saving for next year, to be animal feed. It will be quite amazing to see these rows full of big, beautiful sunflowers.
The corn looks great and is coming right along. It's also lucky, because a few weeks ago, I worked over the grass and weeds in between the rows.
The purple hull peas, or cow peas, are also growing well. They have more competition from the grass and weeds, so they will need attention in the next few days.
The squash looks great. I am hoping that the late tilling and frosts have impacted the squash bug and squash vine borer population. So far I haven't seen any at all, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm sure they will make an appearance before long.
The okra doesn't like the cool weather we've been having lately, so it's growing, just not very fast. This is also the worst patch of weeds, now that the potatoes have been taken care of. That makes them next on the list for some serious weeding and mulching.
The tomatoes are growing and look very healthy despite the cool weather we've been having. We did have a few very warm, humid days before the last rain and the cool north winds today. I found a volunteer tomato coming up in the okra patch as well. There were Roma tomatoes growing close to this area last year. There are also a few volunteer potatoes.
The snap peas are looking great. They have finally started really growing, blooming and producing. I will need to pick our first batch of peas in a few days.
The carrots are growing. It seems they should be farther along, but they look healthy and happy. Another volunteer potato has come up over here as well.
The peppers are still pretty small. I think they have joined the okra in protesting the cool weather. Most of them look healthy, they're just not growing a whole lot.
We had a big handful of potatoes left from last fall that had sprouted and grown these long, spindly sprouts in the house. I was just going to toss them out when I decided to pile them up in the corner of the garden and scoop some dirt on top. Well, now we have this huge potato bush growing there. We've learned another lesson. Don't give up when things don't appear to be doing very well. This is a great lesson that can be applied to many things besides potatoes. Don't ever give up.
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Until next time - Fern
At this stage in the garden, I always want everything to be a little farther along, but it's not. We had two very late frosts this year on the nights of April 30th and May 1st. Neither one was a hard frost, but it was cold enough to put frost on the windshield of the car, so we wanted to protect the tender garden plants. As the dusk was falling, I got the last of the plants covered with a layer of hay for protection. This was at the end of a long busy day, so there were no pictures of this project.
I left the hay over the plants for two nights. Now it's time to uncover everything and see how they fared in the cold weather. I wanted to find a way to do this without a great deal of stooping over, so I decided to try out a new tool that we have had for a while, but I have never used. I thought maybe I could use this three tine cultivator to gently lift the hay off of the plants without damaging them. It worked great and saved my back a lot of bending and stooping.
I had kind of built a tent of hay over the green beans since they were getting fairly tall. I accidentally bent several of them over too far, but most of them look great. While I was uncovering them I realized that all of this hay I had put out could be moved just to the side of the plants and used for mulch. That wasn't my plan originally, but now using the hay to protect from frost is turning into the added benefit of mulch, which is an unplanned bonus.
The cow peas, which are purple hulls, were just starting to come up good when the cold weather was forecast. They didn't mind being covered at all and are looking nice and healthy. We planted more than twice the amount we had last year to provide food for us, and to supplement the feed for the goats and the chickens.
The squash is growing very well and a few of the leaves had already started poking through the hay by the time I got them uncovered.
The okra was just barely breaking through the soil when I covered them. Some of them look pretty pale and others already have two nice green leaves.
The tomatoes were about the same. Some looked a little pale, and none of them are really showing signs of growth yet. I know they didn't appreciate the cold weather.
The peppers are sharing the same sentiments as the tomatoes. They're all alive, but are still pretty small.
The peas are finally growing quite a bit, but still haven't started blooming. I'm beginning to wonder if they will bloom at all.
The carrots are happy and growing right along. This trellis is home to the peas on one side and the tomatoes on the other. I planted the carrots on the east side so they would get morning sun, but be shaded from the hotter western sun in the afternoon. I also tucked the pepper in to the east of this trellis. I'm not sure how well they will like this location, so we will see.
The corn is just beginning to come up and is still quite small. I used my cultivator to get rid of some of the grass coming up between the rows. I will let it get about six inches tall, then mulch between the rows to keep the weeds down. That should take care of it for the rest of the summer.
The cucumbers are growing very well on the east side of this building.
The cabbage, broccoli, beets and onions are doing very well. I need to do some more weeding and then they will all get mulched.
The potatoes are growing great again after the foliage was killed by a harder frost a few weeks ago. The grass and weeds are giving them a lot of competition, so they are in need of some attention. Hopefully, I can get to that sometime this week, then I will hill them up again.
There are two spinach plants doing well in the strawberry bed. The others didn't make it. I don't know if they were eaten or just died, but I am glad to have a few plants we will be able to harvest.
Our new food crops are hopefully on the way to producing this year's harvest for us. There are always different challenges each year that give us the opportunity to learn and develop new skills. We know you can never learn too much and will continue learning every day as if our lives depend upon it. Because it does.
Until next time - Fern
Remember when we showed the pictures of the zinnia and marigold seed heads we had picked one afternoon? After they had dried somewhat, we separated them to make sure they dry completely before we store them for next year. There are millions, well maybe not millions, but thousands of seeds. Most of these came from
volunteer plants that came up this year from the seeds we planted last year. Many of those seeds came from an end-of-the-year sale at a hardware store for 10 cents a package. 10 cents! So for 10 cents, we now have thousands of seeds that we can use for 10 years even if we never save another seed.
So, that got me to thinking. We saved three big cucumbers and kept the seeds from them. Since we don't really like cucumbers (believe it or not, I just like dill pickles) these seeds will last us forever - not counting the ones still in the original package I bought that I have been planting for three years now.
In the past few years we have saved okra, corn, zinnia, marigold and black-eyed pea seeds. If we continue to expand this process with seeds from plants we like to eat that are non-hybrid, pretty soon we will not need to buy any. Wouldn't that be great? One more small step toward independence and self-reliance.
It is always good to have a stock of seeds on hand though. What if the weather doesn't cooperate and you need to replant? What if the bugs kill everything and you need to
replant? What if you can never buy another seed and what you have is all you have? You've heard the old saying 'Never put all of your eggs in one basket'? Well, never plant all of your seeds. Never. Always have some in reserve for the unexpected. Your life may depend on it one day.
I know that sounds odd in our day of plenty, but I truly believe this will not always be the case. I am very grateful for the comfort and luxury of living in a time when failure is an option - that I can go to the store and replenish all I need and want that is within our means. We are truly blessed.
Now, at the end of the season, wisely stock up on extra seeds - more than you think you will ever need in your lifetime. They will be worth more than silver or gold. They may feed your family, your neighbors or your community. They will be tremendous bartering commodities. Providing others with the means to provide for themselves may be one of the most
priceless gifts you will ever be able to give someone.
Until next time - Fern
