organic gardening, actual experiences

   a fun season so far...

  with the soil being fairly heavy here the
drought has been a challenge at times, but
we've kept up with watering well enough that
we are getting crops harvested (compared to
some neighbors in sandy light soil who are
not getting much at all).  only a few
experimental plantings might not produce and
that is ok.  failures encourage more learning.

  with the rains and humidity returning
fungal damage is increasing, but i'm
hoping it will not be a major problem.
continuing to monitoring the situation...


green manure:

  the first crop was green manure (harvested
greens from alfalfa, trefoil, clovers, etc)
and weed trimmings that i've kept feeding the
worm bins.  i've already returned about 300lbs
of refurbished soil (and thousands of worms)
to four gardens.  soon i will get a chance
to see the results in one of the first two
gardens when i turn under the bolted lettuces
and replant.  about 400lbs ready to go back
yet -- waiting for a cooler spell.

  the spiral garden is the source for most
of the green manure.  the spiral is a pattern
of alfalfa and birdsfoot trefoil so there is
a smaller bright yellow flowering plant (the
trefoil) and the taller darker flowering
purple plant (alfalfa).  can't really see
the purple from a distance as the flowers are
smaller, but it is very sweet to smell and
the bees love it.  they like the trefoil too.

  a bit ago i trimmed  the spiral garden back
to simulate it being grazed.  a few piles went
around the rhubarb, a bin was stuffed full for
worm farm food and the rest was scattered on
the surface and then watered in to encourage
the worms out there to feast.  the alfalfa is
already recovered to a foot high.  the clay is
improved a bit after this first full year.  i've
left about 90% of the first year growth on the
soil instead of harvesting it all and leaving
not much behind.  i'm expecting next year it
will grow even thicker as it's got an extra
nitrogen charge now compared to what it had
before.  we shall see.  it's been interesting
to watch up close.


rhubarb:

  the second crop of the season was rhubarb.
all that i had i gave away.  much of it was
stung because i got to pulling it late.  whatever
that was damaged that i could not use i buried
along with the leaves.  about 50lbs harvested
and given away.  the second cutting was much
nicer as i got it before the stingers could
recover -- with the drought it was only about
20lbs.

  this rhubarb patch is being removed (i've
already started a different patch to harvest
from for next year) and divided up to give
away this fall.  i'll let it grow out the
rest of the season.


strawberries:

  the next crop was strawberries.  my
first harvest season with the patch that
was established last year.

  most of them i ate off the vine while
picking others to give away or make jam.  
probably 40lbs total.  no major bug or
fungus troubles.  keeping the fruit picked
and cleaning up any parts that the chippies
left behind kept the little black beetles
from getting going.  i saw one the whole
first harvest.  as the summer has gone on
i've got some leaf curlers using the leaves
for making cocoon spaces.  this doesn't
seem to harm the plant much so i'll keep an
eye on things there but leave them alone.  
the whole patch needs a little thinning out
and i'm going to be potting up more runners
and transplants for expanding production
into the bean patch for next year.  i'd like
to be able to put up enough fruit spread to
keep me supplied for a season or two just
in case there is a bad year.


peas:

  the peas came in ok, but they were mixed
in with spinach and lettuces and didn't have
trellises to climb.  we ate several meals of
pea pods and peas from these small patches
and i've harvested about a pound of dried
peas.  the heat and drought turned down
production somewhat, the clay and shade from
the surrounding plants kept them from
giving up completely.  there are pea plants
still going even now, but i'll be replanting
again as soon as i can hoping for some
fresh pods before the fall does the plants in.
i'm not sure how well they will do with the
squash plants but it's worth a try for a
few hundred seeds that have been grown for
free.  if anything they will provide some
cover and more nitrogen.


beans:

  the green and wax beans that are on the
inside perimiter of the strawberry patch
were initially eaten by grasshoppers.  they
outgrew the damage and produced something
of a first harvest.  in spite of the
predation, the drought and the heat.  this
was only one of three patches of wax and
green beans, the others were not being
eaten so i left them alone to see what
would happen.  they are now overshadowed
by the soybeans planted in the middle on
a hill so i'm not expecting much more from
them, but i'll leave them alone to be a
dry seed crop for next year.

  the rest of the green and wax bean
patches produced enough beans to put up
eleven quarts of three bean salad that we
like so much.  still plenty of blooms and
beans coming along.  we'll see how it goes...

  the other fifteen bean patches are mostly
doing ok.  all are experimental to me in
different ways so it is very interesting
to see how they are all growing.  the lentils
don't seem to be doing much.  another patch
of kidney beans looks like it almost gave up,
but shows some signs if reviving.  it looked
good last week.  then we went away for a bit.
oops.

  i like the pinto bean green beans for
munching upon.  should harvest some and
steam them to see how they turn out that
ways too.  the vines are going all over
the place.  they make me laugh, like don't
turn my back or i'll have to be rescued
by Ma.

  the lima beans are getting plenty of
pods.

  light predation by japanese beetles on the
soybeans and some grasshopper damage in other
patches.  no other major pests seen yet.  the
birds are doing a good job of controlling the
grasshoppers in the new bean patches (where
the birdbaths are nearby).  it having been so
dry for most of the beginning of the season
i've not seen much fungal damage either.  the
ladybug population seems to be active and that
means i've not had any aphid troubles this
season at all.


tomatoes:

  thunder now.  more rain.  better get out
and get the cherry tomatoes picked for dinner.  
be right back.  first picking a few days ago
was about a quart, the second picking a few
minutes ago is a pint.  plenty more on the
vine.  sweet 100s.  fully red they are garden
candy.  i pick a mix of fully ripe to orange
ones as i like some with a bite.

  regular tomatoes coming along nicely.  not
ready yet.

  only five tomato worms so far.  not much
damage, we are catching them early enough.


onions:

  during the dry spell we had raccoons decide
that the onions were planted in yummy eats
and dug some of them up.  not much actual
damage to the bulbs as they were going for
the potting soil that the onions were started
in.  it probably had some kind of fertilizer
that made it smell like food to them.  in
the process they also trampled some others
so we've dug those up and have eaten them too.
it isn't likely going to be a banner onion
year, but we've planted enough so that even
if they are small they will still come through.
some seed heads are done flowering, but not
quite ripe yet to harvest the seeds.  i hope
the goldfinches don't like onion seeds.


grapes:

  not sure what kind of a crop i'll get this
year.  i thought with the work i did last season
in combination with the dry spring and summer
this year that it would break the cycle of
fungal attacks on this plant.  no luck, no
joy.  decided to replace the vine with one
more suitable and will redo the trellis as
the current arbor is wrong for the space too.
on the list of projects for next year.


buckwheat:

  doing well.  it was as tall as i was until
the heavy rains and winds knocked it over.  still
plenty of white flowers and seeds being formed.
this should increase my stock of seed from a few
ounces to a few pounds once harvested.  then i
can use it as a cover crop in other locations as
needed where i want an annual instead of the
deeper rooted perennials.


beets:

  seem to be ok.  probably should start
pulling some soon.


radishes:

  grew them for my brother.  we don't really
eat them.  he never got most of them so they
are putting up nice white flower stalks now.
next year we plant something else we do
eat (more peas please!).  no need to grow
things we don't use.  good cover crop though
as it grows quickly and has nice wide leaves.


  songbird

 

An entertaining breakfast read.  When I have seed that I REALLY want to keep
I find putting a paper bag over the seed head and using a wire tie keeps the
predators away and then when they are dried out a good shake saves the seed
in to the bag making them easier to collect.

Mike

 Bloke Down The Pub wrote:

  thanks Mike.  they are almost ripe enough.
i think i could cut the stalks and hang
them to get the seeds.  my fears of
goldfinches are probably exaggerated as they
are having much fun in the chickory these
days.


  songbird

 

Thanks for the good read, and modeling a good post for everyone.

Thanks for the reminder. I had a trellis set aside for bitter melons,
but ol' Rascally Raccoon dug 3 of 4 up. Peas would be a quick
replacement. Rascally Raccoon seems to like areas that have been
mulched. As a result, most of my garden is under chicken wire. On the
up-side, ol Rascally Raccoon is also looking for grubs, which isn't a
bad thing.


Rascally Raccoon doesn't seem to like walking on chicken wire.

Are the grapes domestic, French hybrid, or European? I don't know much
about domestic grapes, but they evolved with mildew, and I would have
thought that they would have some resistance to odium.

We have passed the point where we look forward to having zucchini, and
are now we are starting to resist the idea.
--
- Billy
Both the House and Senate budget plan would cut Social Security and Medicare,
while cutting taxes on the wealthy.

Kucinich noted that none of the government programs targeted for
elimination or severe cutback in House Republican spending plans
"appeared on the GAO's list of government programs at high risk of
waste, fraud and abuse."
<http://www.politifact.com/ohio/statements/2011/mar/28/dennis-kucinich/re
p-dennis-kucinich-says-gop-budget-cuts-dont-targ/>

[W]e have the situation with the deficit and the debt and spending and jobs. And
it¹s not that difficult to get out of it. The first thing you do is you get rid
of corporate welfare. That¹s hundreds of billions of dollars a year. The second
is you tax corporations so that they don¹t get away with no taxation.
 - Ralph Nader
<http://www.democracynow.org/2011/7/19/ralph_naders_solution_to_debt_crisis>

 Billy wrote:

  you're welcome.

  i forgot the volunteer squash plants.
they are trying to take over two small
gardens.  they were doing really well
until we started getting more rain and
humidity.  the first plant that started
has nothing going on it yet even though
it has flowered profusely.  another
plant which started later has squash
on it.  i was worried that there wouldn't
be the right kind of pollination for them
but it looks like it worked out ok.


...

  the 7ft fence tends to keep the
raccoons out of the garden where this
planting would go.  yes, they love a
good fat worm too.  the raccoons,
skunks and possums stir the wood chip
mulch here on a regular basis.  i
wouldn't mind any of them if they'd
leave the birds alone.  not going to
chicken wire all the mulch we have
here, way too much of it.

  do you have voles there?  them are
some vicious eaters of pretty much
anything.


...

  hey, good idea for next season, will
have to remember.  i think we've already
decided to put the onions inside the fenced
garden next year and that will likely keep
more of them in the ground longer too.



  a domestic concord variety.  not much resistance
to black rot -- we have too much moisture and the
heavy soil makes things worse.  there are others
of the variety that do have resistance, but this
vine wasn't selected for that.  for the first sixish
years of life it was run over by a truck and left
in a heap to grow.  the main trunk is a split and
twisted mess and it's a ways from where i really
wanted the vine to be so it's also bent and twisted
even more to get it to the arbor i put up years ago.
now i'd like to take that all out and start over
with a resistant variety, have a nice trunk without
suckers, splits and twists, etc.

  mildew isn't the trouble.  it's a form of black
rot.  gets in the flowers early and then shows up
later in the berries as they fall off the vine.
i could fight it harder with chemical controls,
but i'd rather just start over at this point.


...

  haha, if someone gives them to us we'll
eat them but i don't grow them.  that space
is too valueable and we'd rather have more
tomatoes, beets, peas, beans, ...  as it is
we are turning more and more of the fenced
garden into veggie production and moving the
perennials out and around.  seems silly to
have a plant in the fenced garden that doesn't
get eaten much or one that we have many of
elsewheres.

  i do want to keep little island gardens
of perennials here or there though to keep
a good population of beneficial critters
handy and some flowers for color and points
of interest.  gotta keep the bees and birdies
happy.


  songbird