The first planting of snap beans is coming along quite well. Although the rows look nice and full now that they’re growing out, germination hasn’t been great this year, with annoying gaps that still have to be cultivated. If it’s not a matter of not enough water, I usually end up faulting it to the less-than-precise (but trusty!) Earthway seeder. A couple of days ago, I started looking more closely into what manner of germination troubles can happen underground. Yikes! For example, apparently some larval insects living in the soil (possibly earwigs, which are EVERYWHERE) will sometimes eat the emerging root tip (radicle), leaving the seed to absorb moisture with nowhere to grow, and quickly turn to paste. This would explain lots, starting with the pasty little blobs I discovered where beans should’ve been. I’m not sure if this is HOW it’s happening, but the little blobs are real enough—an exciting first! :) More as I discover it. In any case, we’re on our third planting, a fourth to go in right about now, and the first ones in are starting to flower. The selection this year is basic: green (Derby, Jade), yellow (Indy Gold) and purple (Royal Burgundy). Coming soon!
Veggies
Where carrot seed comes from
This is where those tiny, slow-to-germinate carrot seeds come from! For leaf and root crops, you often have to go out of your way in the veggie garden to see first-hand how exactly their seeds are produced—the crop is harvested and eaten before the flowering stage starts. Carrots are biennials, they go to seed only in their second year, so unless you’re seed-saving, or accidentally leave some behind over the winter (as we did here), the entire flowering process will remain a garden mystery. For carrots, if it was a mystery, no longer…!
Packing station
The post-harvest is a simple, straightforward process that has to be done fast since we don’t have a cooler. The set-up is manual and basic. Today, we packed indoors to get out of a stiff breeze that would’ve taken the salad greens sailing (usually, we do everything outside, in the shade of the barn; the indoor option is part of the new luxury of the Extended Milkhouse). There are a couple of 2 kg kitchen scales for the snap peas and lettuce mix. Everything is sold by bunch and bag, not weight, but the scales are useful for keeping things consistent. It’s quite easy to get the right amount by eye, so it’s into plastic bags and pop onto the scale for a quick check. If it’s underweight, add more, otherwise, somewhat over is just fine!
Doing the rounds
Since the start, the idea of a daily full garden inspection—”doing the rounds”—seemed to make sense. It sounds easy enough, but somehow, it doesn’t get fully done all that often, there’s almost always something that seems absolutely pressing to do early in the morning or in the evening when a stroll about is most practical and pleasant. But of course, I do get around to see everything every couple of days at least: checking for weeds alone insures that. Today, Conall and I managed to do a pretty full walk about. You look to see how things are doing in general, check for the start of new weeds and pests…it’s amazing how things can creep up and then jump out at you if you’re not watching closely. Here, we’re checking out the onions. So far, they’re doing well!
Checking potatoes
Potatoes are looking good, all weeded and hilled, around seven weeks after going in. There’s been a Colorado potato beetle watch on for the last few days, the little guys are out in some force this year, more than in the last couple, although not a major problem so far. Control is time-consuming (what isn’t ! :) but easy: they tend to congregate conveniently on the topmost leaves, munching away, so we pick them or shake ’em off into a small bucket of water. A simple end.
Cloud show
Second only perhaps to badly done snapshots of kittens are unfortunate attempts at capturing majestic cloud formations. Still, this evening, I couldn’t help but point the camera at the sky and snap away… For an hour or more as the sun set, all manner of clouds formed and reformed into the most fantastic combinations and configurations I’ve seen in a while. At one point, the wind suddenly picked up from a breeze to maybe 40km and low, menacing storm clouds, seemingly close enough to jump up and touch, raced across to one side but missed us entirely, then the wind as suddenly died down. Everywhere you looked, fancy cloud action was going on. I spend a fair amount time looking at the sky, usually to see if rain is actually going to make it all the way to us instead of veering away at the last minute. But a lot of the time, as you look around, the sky joins the field, your gaze travels up, and it’s all…good! (Hope the photo manages to stir fun memories of…looking up!)
Three generations…
On the left, watering in the latest of six succession plantings of mesclun with a basic lawn sprinkler that’s quite efficient for shallow irrigation of newly seeded beds, when there’s no wind. Here you see the last three generations. I started planting four beds at a time, a week apart, and stretched that to nearly two weeks as the sun, heat and regular rain we’ve had so far made the growing fast. With the great weather, they’re catching up to each other—you can see the beds on the bottom right are moving up on the previous planting up top—and I’ll be tilling under a lot. This is absolutely strange for me, in past years, cutting every last bit of available salad greens every week was normal. But the people and planting expansion this year make this sort of abundance the new normal, production levels that assure harvests for all the CSA members, market and stand, even if conditions get tough. It’s not WASTED, I tell myself, it’s organic matter and even nutrients, back to the soil… I’m getting used to it!