The Radishes are coming! The Radishes are coming!
It looks like a cold and wet spring. There are several days in the coming week (just before Memorial Day) that in the forties and one day that NOAA says will be 39F. Of course, with all the cuts at NOAA, who knows if that’s reliable? It’s not like the weather service isn’t a vital service the government supplies, is it?
Regardless, we have many sets in the greenhouse ready to come out but we’re holding off until the weather warms a bit. We did put in the tomatoes as can be seen in the picture. Look along left side of the curved arbors on the right.
The potatoes have come up. (See several of the raised beds in the background.) We’ve moved the strawberry bed and it’s all coming up blossoms. The grapes have sprouted but they are having some caterpillar issues. I usually spray some kind of diatomaceous earth on them (product name Surround) but it washes off readily and—as I said—it’s a cold and wet spring.
Go global warming.
But that doesn’t stop us from having radish salads.
You may notice a curious absence inside the garden but beyond the arbors. That’s because I finally got around to taking down the Granny Smith apple tree. You can just barely see the wood and brush outside of the garden. It has been plaguing me for nearly thirty years. Always growing out. Sometimes it had blossoms that would then furl and die. Sometimes it would actually present apples which would curl and wither. Sometimes it wouldn’t present any blossoms at all. We decided to take it down over the winter and I got to it yesterday. Now I have a lot more applewood to work with.
(I plan to do an entry on my wood preparation saga but it’s on hold along with Many Other Things.)
Regardless, this is a significant expansion of the garden’s square footage. This year, we’re planting squash and pumpkins there. They will do well in mounds of rich soil rather than having to cover that space in manure. It’s never had much in the way of soil there.
The quinces are fully covered in blossoms so I hope for fruit. The pears, paw paws, and other fruit look promising. As I mentioned previously, we had to take down a chestnut that had proven not to be resistant to blight. More wood as mentioned above. We planted a peach tree near the stump and there’s a wee peach waiting to ripen.
I cleared the east garden where we’re going to try 2/3 of a three sisters approach. Corn with pinto beans. We tried pinto beans last year and had limited success. The pintos we bought were reported to be bush beans but instead really, really wanted to vine. This year we’re giving them corn.
I do like growing corn.
The fava beans are in and looking good. We’ve gotten spears from our asparagus patch. I like asparagus but not the after effects. It is interesting that the ability to smell asparagus pee is genetically determined. See here.
The rhubarb is doing well.
We tried growing peanuts last year and but they didn’t take this year. So, no peanuts at this point.
One problem I’ve been having is gourds. I’ve been trying to grow birdhouse gourds and in the last three years, the seeds have just not sprouted. Not sure why. I’ve made a couple of birdhouses out of gourds past and the wrens like them. I’d like to make some more.
We have several experiments going on. We’re trying sugar beets again. Last year they didn’t take. Also, trying amaranth and sorghum. We did sorghum last year and got a good set of heads but we didn’t get very far with it.
We’ve increased the potato and bean crop. As I’ve said before, we’re moving towards food self-sufficiency as much as possible. Given the current political conditions, that’s more important than ever. A great deal of American food is imported and that is clearly at risk. Squash, beans, and potatoes are reasonable calorie returns on investment. Adding in the chestnut flour, I think we’re approaching a 50% sufficiency. That said, it’s mostly carbohydrates. Beans have good protein. Squash has some. But potatoes and chestnuts not so much. We used to get a fair amount of protein from the chickens, both in meat and eggs. But we’re not doing chickens these days.
The banana harvest has been good. We grow these small, very sweet bananas. In fact, when I finish this missive, I plan on going down and making a smoothie.
That’s about it for now about the garden. But I thought I’d include an article from the Guardian regarding the demise of the National Park System. See here.