This week's flower availability: yarrow, valerian, iris, and bee's friend
Thanks to everyone who made it out to the bedding plant sale! I have planted all the leftovers from the sale, aside from the native perennial fruits. I may use some of those to replace trees and shrubs that didn't take off once they were planted in the orchard, but there are quite a few left if anyone is interested. The inventory includes high bush cranberry, lilac, basswood, Juneberry, chokeberry (Aronia), and American wild plum. I am selling them for $6 each or 2 for $10. I also plan to bring whatever is left to the Fond du Lac Resource Management division's Ganawenjigewin Maawanji'idiwin (Taking Care of Things Gathering) farmers' market on September 6 at the pow wow grounds behind the Fond du Lac Ojibwe School. I will also bring cut flowers, winter squash, melons, tomatoes, and whatever else I have by early September.
So far this year's garden is off to a good start. A big buck has been sneaking in occasionally to eat the tops off the peas. The grasshoppers are everywhere for the third year in a row, but once again they mostly don't bother the crops I planted. They destroyed some small, young tomato and pepper plants and skeletonized my rhubarb again, but for the most part they stick to the weeds and the compost when feeding. The fava bean plants all came up but suffered a bit from being splashed with dirt. The dirt seemed to damage the lower leaves, and that combined with the poor, sandy soil has resulted in few flowers on the plants. The fava beans in my work garden are doing better, and the bumblebees seem to love the flowers. I picked two different corn varieties to grow this year. I am hoping they will flower and silk separately, but I have corn condoms in case they don't. The varieties I picked are Lindsay Meyer blue, the corn that matured fastest at work last year, and Glass Gem, the most beautiful corn I've ever seen. I don't think I would mind if they crossed, but I prefer to have "pure"ish seeds if possible (John Navazio's book, "The Organic Seed Grower," stresses that there is no such thing as "pure" seed) .
I mentioned my poor, sandy soil. This year I finally have finished compost, but I have not yet made time to add the biodynamic preparations to it so I can add it to the garden. I will have to get on that soon. I have been spending so much time at work that it has been hard for me to get my butt out to my home garden when I have some free time. I haven't sprayed 500 or 501 yet either! i am thinking I may spray the barrel compost I got at the biodynamic farming conference last fall soon, and spray 500 in the fall. I have also tried using cover crops this year. They are only planted in about 1/4 of the garden, but I have more to plant as the season progresses. Currently there is crimson clover and bee's friend, plus a few volunteer buckwheat and vetch plants.
I just transplanted my sweet potato plants today. They arrived from Sand Hill Preservation Center last week with a note stating that it is in fact okay to plant them so late, and that they would catch up to sweet potato plants that were put in the ground up to a month ago because the warmth of the soil helps the plants grow more than the length or number of days it has to grow. I am trying a few traditionally southern crops this year, including okra, melons, and cotton. I had meant to try peanuts, but put it off for too long and now it is too late to plant them. My work garden got some, and those are doing well. Sand Hill Preservation Center sells black peanuts that have a maturation time of only 100 days, which is about all we have here.
My strawberries are ripening finally also. Are there many other places in the US where strawberries ripen in July? Some animal helped itself to the first few ripe strawberries but I got a handful this morning. Last year only 3 strawberries grew on the plants but there are scores more this year, which is exciting. I also have some alpine strawberries growing, in three different colors: red, yellow, and white. Those probably won't flower this year, but next year I will have some cool treats.
Thanks to everyone who made it out to the bedding plant sale! I have planted all the leftovers from the sale, aside from the native perennial fruits. I may use some of those to replace trees and shrubs that didn't take off once they were planted in the orchard, but there are quite a few left if anyone is interested. The inventory includes high bush cranberry, lilac, basswood, Juneberry, chokeberry (Aronia), and American wild plum. I am selling them for $6 each or 2 for $10. I also plan to bring whatever is left to the Fond du Lac Resource Management division's Ganawenjigewin Maawanji'idiwin (Taking Care of Things Gathering) farmers' market on September 6 at the pow wow grounds behind the Fond du Lac Ojibwe School. I will also bring cut flowers, winter squash, melons, tomatoes, and whatever else I have by early September.
So far this year's garden is off to a good start. A big buck has been sneaking in occasionally to eat the tops off the peas. The grasshoppers are everywhere for the third year in a row, but once again they mostly don't bother the crops I planted. They destroyed some small, young tomato and pepper plants and skeletonized my rhubarb again, but for the most part they stick to the weeds and the compost when feeding. The fava bean plants all came up but suffered a bit from being splashed with dirt. The dirt seemed to damage the lower leaves, and that combined with the poor, sandy soil has resulted in few flowers on the plants. The fava beans in my work garden are doing better, and the bumblebees seem to love the flowers. I picked two different corn varieties to grow this year. I am hoping they will flower and silk separately, but I have corn condoms in case they don't. The varieties I picked are Lindsay Meyer blue, the corn that matured fastest at work last year, and Glass Gem, the most beautiful corn I've ever seen. I don't think I would mind if they crossed, but I prefer to have "pure"ish seeds if possible (John Navazio's book, "The Organic Seed Grower," stresses that there is no such thing as "pure" seed) .
I mentioned my poor, sandy soil. This year I finally have finished compost, but I have not yet made time to add the biodynamic preparations to it so I can add it to the garden. I will have to get on that soon. I have been spending so much time at work that it has been hard for me to get my butt out to my home garden when I have some free time. I haven't sprayed 500 or 501 yet either! i am thinking I may spray the barrel compost I got at the biodynamic farming conference last fall soon, and spray 500 in the fall. I have also tried using cover crops this year. They are only planted in about 1/4 of the garden, but I have more to plant as the season progresses. Currently there is crimson clover and bee's friend, plus a few volunteer buckwheat and vetch plants.
I just transplanted my sweet potato plants today. They arrived from Sand Hill Preservation Center last week with a note stating that it is in fact okay to plant them so late, and that they would catch up to sweet potato plants that were put in the ground up to a month ago because the warmth of the soil helps the plants grow more than the length or number of days it has to grow. I am trying a few traditionally southern crops this year, including okra, melons, and cotton. I had meant to try peanuts, but put it off for too long and now it is too late to plant them. My work garden got some, and those are doing well. Sand Hill Preservation Center sells black peanuts that have a maturation time of only 100 days, which is about all we have here.
My strawberries are ripening finally also. Are there many other places in the US where strawberries ripen in July? Some animal helped itself to the first few ripe strawberries but I got a handful this morning. Last year only 3 strawberries grew on the plants but there are scores more this year, which is exciting. I also have some alpine strawberries growing, in three different colors: red, yellow, and white. Those probably won't flower this year, but next year I will have some cool treats.
